#PressforProgress: The Time is Now. Green Women Rising Statement International Women’s Day~Women’s M
Posted: 2018-03-13
#PressforProgress: The Time is Now.
Green Women Rising Statement
International Women’s Day~Women’s Month
March 8, 2018
In this era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, International Women’s Day 2018 follows a movement that has arisen from the voices of people globally on the rights of women and equality and justice. The public is demanding change as an outcry against sexual harassment, violence and discrimination against women. The time is now. #PressforProgress
Green Women Rising, the Green Party Women’s Caucus in Utah, joins women world-wide in embracing the opportunity to be part of this movement that is rapidly empowering women in rural and urban settings to raise up their voices and take action for women’s rights and realize the potential of women.
“Green Women Rising believes that women’s rights are human rights, “ says Kimberly Bain, Co-Chair of GWR. “We exist to empower women to stand up and speak up. We promote the protection of the rights of all Utah Women, especially women of color, LGTBQIA+, women with disabilities and women of varying socioeconomic statuses.”
“Now is the time to Press for Progress, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, the launching point for Women’s Month and beyond,” states Dee Taylor, GWR . “One in three women in Utah experiences some type of violence. Violence against women of color and cultural diversity is widespread and often not reported. There is no registry for missing and murdered indigenous women, yet numerous accounts exist of women missing or murdered. Utah’s women are still lagging in wages compared to men with the gender gap widening.”
The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition reports that every year approximately 80 Utah children witness the murder or attempted murder of their mother.
The 2016 report by the Joint Economic Committee Democratic Staff on Gender Pay Inequality show Utah ranking 50th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia with women being paid 68 cents for every dollar paid to a man, caused by cultural bias and discrimination. Statistics show that roughly half of Utah’s population is women.
”Further, climate change fuels violence against women,” states Taylor. “Access to water in certain areas of the world requires women to travel further to obtain life sustaining resources, putting them at risk for rape, kidnapping and murder. Violence against women is often associated with camps at mine and drilling and excavation sites where men take advantage of women in nearby towns. Utah is no exception to these outrageous acts.”
The committee on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), a campaign of the Utah Native and environmental rights organization PANDOS, is actively providing education on indigenous women in Utah who are missing or have been murdered, in an effort to get a registry created to track the incidents.
Bain says that more education and involvement of women in the political process is needed to influence policies that affect women in all areas. “Women are the backbone of human life in Utah. We call for women in Utah to raise their voices against oppression, violence and discrimination. We call for Utah women to become involved in advocacy organizations to learn how to speak up and demand justice. We call for Utah women to run for office and develop legislation that will provide the needed political actions to end disparities between women and men. #PressforProgress”
Green Women Rising is the Women’s Caucus of the Green Party of Utah
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