Women in the United States

The legal status of women in the United States is, in comparason to other countries, equal to men, however, among other similar laws, the United States has never ratified the U.N's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Estimates of assaults on women by partners range from approximately 2 to 4 million per year. More than half of women will be physically assaulted during their lifetime. A large proportion of women (64 percent) reporting rape, physical assault and/or stalking, were victimized by a current or former male partner.[3] According to a Gallup poll, 40 percent of women under the age of 30 would like to leave the United States, with most preferring Canada as a place to live for a better life.[4][5]

This article is about women in the United States today. For history of women in the United States, see History of women in the United States.
Women in the United States
Gender Inequality Index
Value0.203 (2015)[1]
Rank43rd out of 159
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)14 (2015)
Women in parliament19.5% (2015)
Females over 25 with secondary education95.4% (2015)
Women in labour force56.0% (2015)
Global Gender Gap Index[2]
Value0.720 (2018)
Rank51st out of 149
Part of a series on
Women in society

Laws

Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

The United States has never ratified the U.N.'s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, although it played an important role in drafting the treaty.[6][7] As of 2014, the United States is thus one of only seven nations which have not ratified it – also including Iran, Palau, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tonga.[8]

Equal Rights Amendment

37 states as of March 2019 have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment; 38 states are required to ratify it to make it an amendment to the Constitution. Several states originally ratified the amendment, but subsequently rescinded the ratification.[9]

Marriage

Child marriage, as defined by UNICEF, is observed in the United States. The UNICEF definition of child marriage includes couples who are formally married, or who live together as a sexually active couple in an informal union, with at least one member — usually the girl — being less than 18 years old.[10][11] The latter practice is more common in the United States, and it is officially called cohabitation. Laws regarding child marriage vary in the different states of the United States. Generally, children 16 and over may marry with parental consent, with the age of 18 being the minimum in all but two states to marry without parental consent. Those under 16 generally require a court order in addition to parental consent.[12]

Parental leave

The United States is the only high income country not to provide required paid parental leave.[13]

Reproductive rights
Main article: Birth control in the United States

Birth control is legal nationwide as of 2014.[14][15] Abortion is legal nationwide as of 2014; however, states are allowed to place regulations on abortion which fall short of prohibition after the first trimester of pregnancy.[16][17]

Politics and government

The first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives was in 1917, Jeannette Rankin, she represented Montana. In 1978 the first woman was elected to the United States Senate. Women who served before her were finishing someone else's term who died in office or had resigned.[18]

In 2017, Melania Trump became first First Lady, Karen Pence the Second Lady. In the cabinet of President Donald Trump are Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security; Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education; and Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor.[19] Also serving high-level positions include Gina Haspel, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and Linda McMahon, head of the Small Business Administration. Trump's older daughter Ivanka Trump is one of his senior advisers. Kellyanne Conway was important in the Trump campaign and is an adviser in the administration. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a spokesperson for President Trump.

As of 2019, there are 102 women of 435 total in the U.S. House of Representatives, 89 Democrats, 13 Republicans. Of 100 members of the U.S. Senate, there are 25 women senators, 17 Democrats, 8 Republicans. There are 9 women state governors, 6 Democrats, 3 Republicans; there are 15 Lt. Governors, 9 Democrats, 6 Republicans. In state legislatures there are 2,121 women.[20]

On the Supreme Court, there are three women justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. The first woman justice was Sandra Day O'Connor.

Desire to leave the United States

According to a Gallup poll from January 2019, 40 percent of women under the age of 30 would like to leave the United States.[21]

Rankings

Gender equality ranking

As of 2017, the United States is ranked 49th of 142 applicable countries in gender equality on the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index.[22]

Statistics

Education

As of 2014, women in the United States earn more post-secondary (college and graduate school) degrees than men do.[23]

Marriage

As of 2013, the most recent year for which statistics are available, average age at first marriage in the United States is 27 for women and 29 for men.[24]

Workforce

As of 2014, women are 46.5% of the total United States workforce.[25]

Sex discrimination has been outlawed in non-ministerial employment in the United States since 1964 nationwide; however, under a judicially created doctrine called the "ministerial exemption," religious organizations are immune from sex discrimination suits brought by "ministerial employees," a category that includes such religious roles as priests, imams or kosher supervisors.[26][27]

A woman's median salary in the United States has increased over time, although as of 2014 it is only 77% of man's median salary, a phenomenon often referred to as the Gender Pay Gap. (A woman's average salary is reported as 84% of a man's average salary.)[28][29] Whether this is due to discrimination is very hotly disputed, while economists and sociologists have provided evidence both supporting[30][31][32] and debunking[33][34] this assertion.

Violence
Main article: Violence against women in the United States

Violence against women has been recognized as a public health concern in the United States.[35] Culture in the country has promoted the trivialization women-directed violence, with media in the United States creating the appearance of violence against women unimportant to the public.[36]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Justice reports that about 1 in every 4 women suffer from at least one physical assault experience from a partner during adulthood.[37] Studies have found that around 20% of women in the United States have been victims of rape[38][39] with many incidents of rape being underreported according to a 2013 study.[40]

In 2017, the United States was ranked the world's 9th safest country for women by the New World Wealth research group.[41]

See also
  • Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

References
  1. "Table 5: Gender Inequality Index - Human Development Reports 2015". United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  2. "The Global Gender Gap Report 2018" (PDF). World Economic Forum. pp. 10–11.
  3. Editors, The. "Facts About Violence Against Women". Illinois Department of Public Health. Retrieved 2019-10-07.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. Editors, The (2019-01-14). "Record Numbers of Americans Want to Leave the U.S." Gallup. Retrieved 2019-10-07.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  5. Editors, The (2019-01-14). "Record Numbers of Americans Want to Leave the U.S." Gallup. Retrieved 2019-10-07.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. Baldez, Lisa. "U.S. drops the ball on women's rights". cnn.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  7. "cedaw2014.org – Just another WordPress site". cedaw2014.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  8. "cedaw2014.org – Just another WordPress site". cedaw2014.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/ accessed 18 March 2019
  10. Child Marriage UNICEF (2011)
  11. Child Marriage ICRW (2010)
  12. www.usmarriagelaws.com
  13. "In Paid Family Leave, U.S. Trails Most of the Globe". New York Times. February 22, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  14. "Griswold v. Connecticut, The Impact of Legal Birth Control and the Challenges that Remain". Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Katharine Dexter McCormick Library. May 2000. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  15. Dunlap, Bridgette (March 22, 2013). "Eisenstadt v. Baird: The 41st Anniversary of Legal Contraception for Single People". RH Reality Check. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  16. "Roe v. Wade". Law.cornell.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  17. "Abortion Rate in 1994 Hit a 20-Year Low". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. January 5, 1997. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  18. "Mississippi Is Sending Its First Woman To Congress. Here's When Your State Did That". National Public Radio. March 21, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  19. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-trump-administration/the-cabinet/ accessed 18 March 2019
  20. Center for American Women in Politics, Rutgers University http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/current-numbers accessed 18 March 2019
  21. Editors, The (2019-01-14). "Record Numbers of Americans Want to Leave the U.S." Gallup. Retrieved 2019-10-07.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  22. "India Slides, US Gains in Gender Equality Ranking". ABC News.
  23. "Mitch McConnell says more women graduate from college than men do". PolitiFact. Retrieved 2014-07-25.
  24. Editors, The (2013-03-15). "Getting Married Later Is Great for College-Educated Women - Eleanor Barkhorn". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2014-07-25.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  25. "Aug 2014 Diversity Jobs Report: Women Make Up 46.5% of Workforce - WCC Blog". blog.womenscareerchannel.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  26. "Featured Document: The 19th Amendment". Archives.gov. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  27. Caroline Mala Corbin (2007). "Above the Law? The Constitutionality of the Ministerial Exemption from Antidiscrimination Law". Fordham Law Review, Volume 75, Issue 4, Article 3. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  28. "Barack Obama, in State of the Union, says women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns". politifact.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  29. Fitzpatrick, Laura (April 20, 2010). "Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?". Time.
  30. Men and Women of the Corporation: New Edition. "Kanter, ''Men and Women of the Corporation'', Basic Books, 1977". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  31. "Office of the White House, Council of Economic Advisors, 1998, IV. Discrimination". Clinton4.nara.gov. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  32. "Levine, Report for Congress, "The Gender Gap and Pay Equity: Is Comparable Worth the Next Step?", Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 2003" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  33. Sommers, Christina Hoff (February 1, 2014). "No, Women DON'T Make Less Money than Men". The Daily Beast.
  34. Biggs, Andrew G., Perry, Mark J. (April 7, 2014). "The '77 Cents on the Dollar' Myth About Women's Pay". The Wall Street Journal.
  35. Wright, Paul J.; Tokunaga, Robert S. (May 2016). "Men's Objectifying Media Consumption, Objectification of Women, and Attitudes Supportive of Violence Against Women". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 45 (4): 955–964. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0644-8.
  36. Stankiewicz, Julie M.; Rosselli, Francine (2008). "Women as Sex Objects and Victims in Print Advertisements". Sex Roles. 58 (7–8): 579–589. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9359-1.
  37. The Violence Against Women Act of 2005, Summary of Provisions. National Network to End Domestic Violence. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  38. Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
  39. Kilpatrick, Dean G.; Resnick, Heidi S.; Ruggiero, Kenneth J.; Conoscenti, Lauren M.; McCauley, Jenna (July 2007). "Drug-facilitated, Incapacitated, and Forcible Rape: A National Study" (PDF). National Criminal Justice Reference Service. United States Department of Justice. pp. 43–45. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  40. National Research Council. Estimating the Incidence of Rape and Sexual Assault. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2013.
  41. Australia, Chris Pash, Business Insider. "The 10 safest countries in the world for women". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-03-23.

Further reading
  • Rosenau, William (2019). Tonight We Bombed the U.S. Capitol: The Explosive Story of M19, America's First Female Terrorist Group. New York: Atria Books. ISBN 978-1501170126.
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