REPORT CARD on US Federal Government Action for  Women’s & GIRLS’ Rights and Empowerment Issued By An Assessment of US Implementation of the UN Platform for Action Twelve Critical Areas of Concern for the Five Year Review of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women June 5 - 9, 2000 / UN General Assembly Criteria for grades: A = Fulfillment of Platform for Action objectives; sustained institutional/budgetary integration B = Considerable action; some institutional/ budgetary integration C = Some positive action; needs continued improvement D = Very limited action; needs great improvement E = Total inaction or negative impact
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women & poverty Grade: F

COMMENTS: While the national poverty rate has decreased, the rate of women in poverty has increased. Women-headed households comprise 72% of households receiving rental housing assistance & 2/3 are below the poverty line. The ’96 welfare reform act has actually reduced the average income of women-headed households by 35%. Under the ’98 Workforce Investment Act, education and training for welfare recipients, particularly those unemployed, has been curtailed. Overall, poor women have less access than before to housing, food security, childcare and child support. The increase in minimum wage to $5.15 is not sufficient for women minimum wage workers, 57% of the total, to move out of poverty. Homelessness among women appears to have increased and needs assessment.

COMMENTS: Titles VII and IX changed the face of US education for women, girls and people of color, but recent assaults on affirmative action have eroded many of those gains. Despite federal programs, women and girls lag significantly in math, physical science and technology. Limited progress in mainstreaming women’s contributions, perspectives, and history, and in eliminating sex-stereotyping in school curricula. Widespread sexual harassment still exists in schools. The 1996 welfare law severely restricts the post-secondary education of women on welfare. The administration has made no attempt to establish benchmarks for achieving gender equality in education. Programs in selected developing countries to promote girls’ educational access and women’s literacy are commendable.

COMMENTS: Impressive investments in research/prevention of breast & cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, older women’s health. But health care access is the burning issue for millions of women & children, particularly low-income women & women of color. 21,000,000 women, 1 in 5, are uninsured or were last year. Welfare reform in ‘96 cut Medicaid benefits to many families. The ’97 State Children’s Health Insurance Program helps those with incomes above Medicaid eligibility but less than 200% of poverty. Title X funds family planning services, but Congress has not raised funding to meet the needs. Reproductive rights are in jeopardy, and overseas, the FY 2000 "global gag rule" limits funding for family planning service organizations.

COMMENTS: Major gains include: the Violence Against Women Act; the International Trafficking of Women and Children Victim Protection Act; appropriation of more than $1.6 billion to implement new projects and initiatives; the establishment of the Justice Dept. Office on Violence Against Women; and positive steps to address domestic violence. However, no action has been taken to reauthorize VAWA, set to expire after FY 2000. Violence against girls requires specific attention. Across the federal government, inadequate attention has been given to institutionalizing policies and programs to prevent all forms of violence against women.

COMMENTS: Positive steps: increased recognition of women’s roles and perspectives; better interagency/departmental coordination on trafficking of women and children; strong focus on negative impact of Taliban in Afghanistan; increased gender-sensitive aid programs in conflict areas. Negative steps: US refusal to sign International Criminal Court statute which criminalizes sexual/gender violence; Senate failure to ratify Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; increased defense expenditures (almost half of FY 2000 budget); maintenance of US primacy in arms sales. US should provide stronger international leadership to incorporate women’s voices at all levels of decision making and implementation of conflict prevention, management, resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction, peace building and peacekeeping.

COMMENTS: Globalization exacerbates gender inequalities. Gender perspectives are not adequately included in assessment and development of fair world trade policies. Women’s labor force participation has increased to 48%, but women occupy 70% of minimum wage and part-time positions. Proposed Social Security reforms threaten to increase the elderly women poverty rate. Despite the ’99 Equal Pay Initiative, on average women earn 76 cents on the dollar earned by men. Flexible and safe working conditions and benefits must be addressed. Women-owned businesses are rapidly increasing (now 38%), yet access to adequate financing and markets is limited. Rollbacks in affirmative action erode gains for women and people of color.

COMMENTS: A dramatic increase in the number of women appointed by the Clinton administration to positions of power — more women appointed than by any other president in our history—has heightened the aspirations of women and girls and shattered gender stereotypes held by the general population. Evident in both the executive and judicial branches of our government, such increases are sorely lacking in the legislative branch at every level of government. Neither government bodies nor political parties have made effective efforts to introduce election reforms, statutory measures or party rules such as public financing of campaigns or numerical targets that have been effective in more than 34 countries around the world.

COMMENTS: Giant step forward—Clinton created the President’s Interagency Council for Women in 1995, the first federal-wide women’s body since 1978. Council has effectively promoted and monitored women’s initiatives across departments and agencies. But no statutory basis exists for the Council’s continuation after the 2000 Presidential election. Nor has the Council adequately emphasized integrating a gender perspective in legislation, public policy, programs, and budgets. No overall policy for gender mainstreaming, collection of gender disaggregated data; timebound targets.

COMMENTS: Positive steps: Administration promoted programs overseas to strengthen women’s human rights, spoke out frequently on international violations, including specific section in annual Human Rights Report; led effort to eliminate trafficking in women and girls; granted political asylum for some gender-based violations; within the US, created legal literacy information. Negative steps: Administration and the Senate failed to ratify CEDAW and hindered US participation in the International Criminal Court; ignored indigenous nations within the US; refugee and asylum laws and immigration policy implementation adversely affect women, particularly treatment in detention centers; the basic human rights of incarcerated women require more attention, including prevention of sexual assault and training of prison personnel.

COMMENTS: Government supports some programs for women’s ownership and licensing of media outlets. Government’s loose regulation of public airwaves allows corporations to set standards for the depiction & employment of women in the media. Participation of women in TV/radio and print newsrooms is up but pay remains unequal and few serve at senior decision making levels or on corporate boards. Elimination of EEO requirements in 1998 for airwave licenses correlates with a drop in the percentage of women and people of color in radio/TV news. Limited depictions of women & girls as well as negative stereotypes are linked to a decline in adolescent self-esteem and to teen eating disorders.

COMMENTS: Despite appointment of the first female EPA director, neither the Administration nor Congress has effectively pursued sustainable development policies. The Federal Interagency Working Group on Women’s Health and the Environment could coordinate such efforts. Whether there are sufficient numbers of women employed in agencies responsible for environmental policy is unknown because that data is not available. Although women and girls are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards, studies on pesticides, toxins, and genetically engineered or irradiated food products have not reported gender-disaggregated data, and their impact on the female life cycle. Environmental racism continues to require policy development and implementation.

COMMENTS: The US has failed to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although some government initiatives strive to meet girls’ needs, these efforts are severely inadequate. For example, Girl Power!, a noteworthy federal program, does not address girls’ extreme lack of access to reproductive health care, which is greatly limited by parental consent laws and "abstinence-only" education. While the President’s Interagency Council on Women recently appointed a girls’ issues coordinator, girls still are not integrated into federal policies. Furthermore, government reports and programs usually do not differentiate girls from women and/or children. Government funding of NGO programs for girls is insufficient.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

US Women Connect would like to credit the important work of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) for compiling, editing, and publishing the US NGO "shadow report," Women’s Equality: An Unfinished Agenda (Women’s Organizations Assess U.S. Government Actions on Implementing the Beijing Platform 1995 - 2000). That report, along with the President’s InterAgency Council on Women report, America’s Commitment: Women 2000, are the key sources of information and data for the report card assessments.

Other organizations that contributed to the report and support the report card campaign include: Center for Policy Alternatives; Equality Now; Institute for Women’s Policy Research; Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law; National Black Women’s Health Project; National Congress of Neighborhood Women; and National Council for Research on Women.

About US Women Connect

The Year 2000 is designated by the United Nations as "Women 2000" or "Beijing +5," a time for governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to assess progress in implementing the Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. US Women Connect (USWC) issues this report card as an NGO assessment of Platform implementation by the Federal government.

USWC is a nonprofit organization that developed after the UN Fourth World Conference on Women out of a series of consultations with representatives of over 100 women’s organizations across the country. Objectives are: 1) to link US women and girls working for rights and empowerment with activists and advocates around the world, and 2) to enable US women and girls to use follow-up to the World Conference to strengthen their organizing and advocacy efforts in 2000 and beyond.

USWC is the US focal point for the "Global Communications Network for NGOs & WomenAction 2000," the prime online international NGO network for information-sharing and advocacy to follow-up on the Conference. As the US focal point, USWC serves as the major NGO clearinghouse and Internet gateway for comprehensive Beijing +5 related information and outreach.

Board members

Suzanne Kindervatter, Chair; Commission on the Advancement of Women/ InterAction
Kathy Martinez, Vice President; World Institute on Disability
Alison Pflepsen, Vice Chair; Northwestern University
Shari Miles, Secretary; African American Women’s Institute/Howard University
Kit Cosby, Treasurer; Baha’is of the US
Linda Basch, National Council for Research on Women
Stacy D. Kitahata, Lutheran School of Theology of Chicago
Brownie Williams Ledbetter, Women’s Environment & Development Organization
LaDoris Payne-Bell, Women Spirit/National Council of Neighborhood Women
Olivia Puentes-Reynolds, California Women’s Agenda & MANA, A National Latina Organization
Corrine Sanchez, Tewa Women United
Alexandra Speildoch, Center of Concern
Joan D. Winship, Women Waging Peace
(Organizations listed for identification purposes only.)

Contact: Suzanne Kindervatter, Chair, 202-667-8227 ext.135 or skindervatter@interaction.org 

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