Since gaining the right to vote in 1920,
American women have been engaged in an uphill battle to achieve equality
with American men. Violence against women remains an endemic problem
in American society, and women are still often treated as second-class
citizens in the workplace.
Today, women who work full-time make seventy-five cents
for each dollar a man makes. The disparity is even greater for minority
women, with African American women making 64 cents
to the dollar and Hispanic women making 55 cents
to the dollar. College-educated white women make $13,000 a
year less than do college educated white men. The median income
for men who are doctors and surgeons is $140,000 a year,
while the median income for women in the same field is $88,000 a
year. Men who are corporate executives make on average $95,000 a
year; women who are corporate executives make on average $60,000 a
year.
Each candidate has stated different positions on addressing
the issue of women’s rights.
Bush
Kerry
Believes that the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq have helped liberate women from brutality.
Believes that the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq have improved lives of women, but argues
that not enough is being done to protect their rights in these countries.
Closed the Office for Women’s
Initiatives and Outreach, which coordinated the impact of governmental
policies on women and served as a liaison between the government
and women’s groups.
Cosponsored the Violence
Against Women Act, which has provided more than $1 billion
for battered women’s shelters, hotlines, and other resources, and
which increases penalties for acts of domestic violence.
Introduced a resolution
at the United Nations urging countries to remove barriers to women's
full political participation.
Would enforce existing
laws and disclosure of payment policies to close the gap between
women’s and men’s wages.
Ended Equal Pay Initiative
and removed information on narrowing the pay wage gap from the Department
of Labor’s website.
Defended the Family and
Medical Leave Act while in the Senate.
Reduced the enforcement
of Title IX, which requires equal opportunities for boys and girls
to receive athletic scholarships.
Proposed a 26 percent
reduction in funding for shelters for battered women and domestic
violence hotlines.
