Did you know that AAUW CA has many Public Policies issues that they care about? These include Economic Security, Human Trafficking, Reproductive Health, Social Justice Reform, Student Debt, Title IX, Voter Education, Student Access to Diverse Materials and the Equal Rights Amendment. You can learn earn more about them HERE.
The AAUW California Public Policy Program establishes policy directives that will guide our members, inform our legislative priorities, serve our mission to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, and are consistent with our values of achieving fair and equitable opportunities for our diverse society. Toward that end, AAUW California advocates policies that promote, enhance and ensure Economic Security for All Women, Equal Access to Quality Public Education for All Students, Social and Racial Justice for All Members of Society, and Social and Racial Justice for All Members of Society. Learn more about the AAUW CA Public Policy Priorities HERE.
Check HERE for the latest AAUW CA Public Policy Newsletter
Check HERE for AAUW CA Public Policy Newsletter Archives
More information about AAUW CA Public Policy can be found HERE.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April
by Claire Noonan, AAUW CA Public Policy Committee
Sexual assault violence prevention calls for the creation of safer communities. Addressing the root causes of this kind of violence is difficult as it involves a multipronged approach, including improving street and housing conditions, providing education, and offering support services. We should work to advance policies at workplaces and schools, discuss sexual assault and its consequences with friends and family, and prioritize prevention in our communities.
Official channels for raising awareness about sexual assault violence and creating and implementing the policies needed for prevention has a long history in the United States; however, given the current administration’s attack on “DEI,” much of this work is now under threat of being dismantled.
Violence awareness began officially when the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) became law in 1984, providing the primary federal funding for domestic violence victims and their children via emergency shelters and related assistance. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), passed by Congress in 1994, is comprehensive federal legislation to end violence against women. In 2001, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center coordinated the first national Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), building on years of advocacy and awareness-building. In 2009, President Barack Obama officially declared April to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which presidents have proclaimed by every year since then.
As part of this wider federal push, awareness-raising and prevention efforts around sexual assault violence have been more firmly embedded in core policies and practices. For instance, the Department of Defense has been trying to create a culture to eliminate sexual assault, requiring a personal commitment from all Service members. Educational institutions have benefited as well: the final Title IX revisions in April 2024 by President Joe Biden reflected the stronger shift to prevent assault actions on school campuses. These revisions also sought to protect more people, expanding the definition of “sex-based harassment” to include harassment based on sex characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex stereotypes, and pregnancy. At the state level, In September 2024 Governor Newsom signed eight bills on domestic violence. The legislation created a new victims’ services fund using penalties from white-collar crimes and expanded the ability of victims to access restraining orders.
While all of this movement has been positive, by the second week of President Donald Trump’s current administration, the Office of Management and Budget had ordered a freeze of all federal financial assistance in all agencies including those that oversee government programs and funding for organizations that provide domestic violence and sexual assault services, such as Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control, and the Department of Justice. Multiple court orders have blocked the freezes from taking effect, but in some cases funds haven’t been received for programs aimed at preventing sexual violence.
In addition, the current Administration has attacked the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services and the Office on Violence Against Women, who must now disclose information that may further eliminate funding and resources, such as whether grants are being used to support “removable or illegal aliens or immigrants;” to “promote gender ideology;” or to advance “illegal DEI” programs–although at the time of writing, early challenges have signaled that enforcement of these provisions and denial of funding may be unconstitutional.
As individuals and non-profit organizations, we can contact our Congressmembers and state officials to back efforts to get the money flowing to relevant organizations and programs that raise awareness of and prevent sexual assault violence.
We can also act in our local communities to reduce sexual assault violence. We can ask to improve lighting to make streets and other public spaces safer. We can make sure our city, county, and public health officials promote policies for families and children, address economic security, and provide access to safe, stable housing. We can collaborate with community-led organizations that coordinate resources and services that help with trauma, mental health and substance use, all of which lead to sexual abuse. (from CDC-Violence Prevention)
Overall, we can all work to support the organizations country-wide that are on the front lines of dealing with sexual assault violence. Click here for downloadable free materials to share from the Domestic Violence Awareness Project.
What Can You Do?
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We Didn’t Start the Fire
The LA Fires are a tragedy. DEI is the solution
By Missy Maceyko, Co-Chair of AAUW California Public Policy Committee
March, 2025
It is January 2025. Populous, beloved, and well-known neighborhoods in Los Angeles, one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world, are on fire. For days, residents have been evacuating, firefighters have been going without sleep, and homes and iconic landmarks have been burning. Even those that are not in immediate danger are breathing in toxic air that can create diseases for generations. It seems like everyone in the city is grieving something or someone. And yet, as the disaster unfolds, people in LA are engaging in a
massive outpouring of collective mutual aid and community support for the people and animals who are displaced and suffering.
On the other hand, as Angelinos are left to cope with displacement, property damage, and loss, leading figures in national politics have seized the moment, not to offer support, but to immediately go on the attack. They are placing blame on who they felt was the most likely culprit for these horrific fires and their aftermath: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
These accusations about DEI would be laughable were they not so problematic. Blaming DEI shows a lack of understanding of what DEI is and does while also simplifying a large and complex problem related to a
multitude of factors such as weather, infrastructure, and climate change. DEI experts say that diversity is valuable for many reasons–for addressing historical marginalization, yes, but also for increasing our problem-
solving capacity and leading to innovation. Both inside and outside of the business world, diversity is associated with higher engagement, reduced turnover, and improved, and more objective, decision-making and problem-
solving. Diversity of thought in inclusive teams has been found to lead to more innovation and better, higher-impact ideas. Indeed, as University of Michigan professor of Complexity, Social Science, and Management, Scott Brown notes, to solve complex problems in the 21st century, like climate change, we need diverse teams who can communicate across difference: “groups of experts, at least as we’re accustomed to thinking about them,are going to have a hard time competing with talented teams of people with relevant diverse perspectives.”
We need to truly understand the problems associated with these fires in order to prevent future loss. Rather than vilifying DEI, we need to acknowledge that DEI is one of the best tools that we have to solve such problems. We need to come together to leverage a diversity of experiences and perspectives.
In the case of the LA fires, DEI has also been singled out as the primary culprit due to the assumption that “DEI hiring” impacts competent leadership. Certain leaders have been targeted for what was labeled as inadequate planning, resourcing, and response, such as Mayor Karen Bass and Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. These leaders have not only been labeled as incompetent, but also as“DEI hires.” The labeling of these leaders as “DEI hires” is likely because they are a woman of color and a woman who is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, respectively. They are holding positions that have historically been held by, and associated with, cisgender and heterosexual (cis-het) white men. Given the leadership positions that they hold, alongside their gender, sexuality, and race, any potential fallibility in their decision-making is not only labeled as incompetence, but is also tacitly attributed to their “DEI” status.
As in this case, any association of DEI with hiring is assumed to be the antithesis of meritocracy. In other words, DEI considerations in hiring are assumed to unfairly divert jobs and benefits to “minority” candidates, who are
positioned as an undeserving majority that get an opportunity because of who they are instead of being considered for their skill sets, experiences, and past accomplishments. This narrative about “DEI” and hiring clearly overlooks the fact that women like Mayor Karen Bass and Fire Chief Kristin Crowley are hired based on merit, regardless of their identity, even as they often have to overcome additional hurdles to enter into historically masculine fields and gain the qualifications and experiences to succeed.
Accusations about the harms of DEI proliferate in the current political environment, rife with threats of increased regulation and retribution. It is necessary to scrutinize the policy and planning of all leaders and decision-makers in LA in order to fully answer questions about fire mitigation and response. However, to pin the blame on DEI is to tacitly pin the blame on only those decision makers who are not cis-het white men and/or on those who
are supportive of the kind of work that is needed to engage a range of perspectives.
Over the last few years, and accelerating after January 20, 2025, state and federal level policy changes and pronouncements in the United States have not only (seemingly) forced DEI from federally funded programs, but also created a chilling effect, leading some large corporations and public universities to (seemingly) pull back from DEI initiatives. However, given the well-known benefits of business-integrated DEI strategies in a globalized
economy, DEI work will—and must—continue in order to solve big problems.
Why AAUW Public Policy Priorities Matter
by Nancy Major, Member AAUW California Public Policy Committee
February, 2025
Why do AAUW’s Public Policy Priorities matter? They shape the actions that we take as an organization, socially and legally.
AAUW’s mission is to advance equity for women and girls. Our Public Policy Priorities guide how we encourage active citizenship toward the goal of advancing our mission. There are four branches to our Public Policy Priorities: Economic Security, Equal Access to Quality Public Education, Social and Racial Justice, and Increased representation of Women in Leadership roles. Each of these priorities is further broken down into several action-oriented subcategories, such as enforcement of Title IX and passage of the ERA. Our 2023-25 priorities can be found at https://www.aauw-ca.org/public-policy-priorities-ppp-revised/.
As active participants in society we can help shape the laws and society that govern us, such as healthcare, environmental policies, sex education, curriculum and book banning, housing, childcare, voting rights, immigrants’ rights, sexual harassment, domestic violence, racial and LGBTQ discrimination, and Title IX enforcement. We “advocate” or promote our mission through research, education and lobbying for legislation on the international, national, state, and local levels.
History has shown that our advocacy has made a big impact on national, state and local laws. In California alone, you can see the laws that AAUW sponsored, authored, and/or promoted, including those that were passed in the most recent session by going to AAUW California Bill Tracking Report 2024 – Google Sheets. AAUW is also doing impactful work internationally, working to curtail human trafficking and promote civil and human rights for all immigrants, including through participation in the UN Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Over the next four years, there will be a lot of opportunities to use this legislative advocacy to push back against attempts to overturn long standing human rights and civil rights protections.
Our Public Policy Priorities also shape our efforts to push forward programs that break through educational and economic barriers for women such as speaker programs, scholarships, oversight of local school boards, leadership and salary training, STEM opportunities for students, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
Why do our Public Policy Priorities matter? They make us the most effective advocates for our collective mission to protect and expand gender equity. At the branch and individual levels, we can take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to operationalize our Public Policy Priorities, and through this work to actively promote AAUW’s mission. AAUW as an organization relies on the branches to stay informed and to keep track of where our Public Policy Priorities may fall short, to form coalitions with local allies who have similar missions, and to assign branch members to focus where we can have the most impact.
Are Gender-based Scholarships Problematic?
Not for AAUW, but the current legal and political climate
has made universities wary to offer them.
by Missy Maceyko, Co-chair AAUW California Public Policy Committee
January, 2025
Title IX of the Higher Education Act of 1972 bans sex-based discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding. An outgrowth of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which offers workplace protections on the basis of ‘sex,’ Title IX was created to address historical marginalization on the basis of sex/gender in education. In sum, Title IX was created to provide women with equal access and success in educational institutions, to redress the historical marginalization of women in educational settings relative to men.
The definition of what counts as sex-based discrimination has necessarily expanded over the years, eventually coming to protect everyday Americans from things like pregnancy discrimination and gender-stereotype discrimination (e.g. not getting a promotion because you are not performing in a way that aligns with the gender you are perceived to be). In 2024, the Biden Administration extended a 2020 Supreme Court decision about LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination to Title IX, providing protections to the LGBTQ+ community by acknowledging that LGBTQ+ discrimination is often the result of animus derived from gender stereotyping.
The spirit of Title IX is to protect those who have been historically marginalized on the basis of sex/gender. However, as part of the larger pushback against social justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), we have seen a sharp uptick in watchdog efforts and legal action around educational programs and scholarships focusing on fostering gender (and racial) equity. Those bringing these lawsuits suggest that programs and scholarships that are explicitly for women violate Title IX because they discriminate against men. For instance, between 2016 and 2022, Mark Perry, an emeritus professor at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, filed 410 Title IX complaints against universities that offer programs or awards for women, but not men.
Lawsuits like those brought by Mark Perry lean in to the concept of equality, the idea that fairness is giving everyone the exact same things. This is opposed to leaning into the concept of equity, where fairness is reaching equilibrium by giving some individuals and groups different protections and support to make sure that everyone has what they need to succeed. If one student scrapes their knee and you give everyone a bandaid, this is equality. If one student scrapes their knee and you give only that student a bandaid, this is equity. Leaning into equality work does not make sense when equity should be the target to redress an historical and/or current harm.
However, given the threats of legal action to DEI programs, and given the ongoing legal wrangling over rules and guidance about gender equity and gender equality under Title IX, many educational institutions are unsure about the legality of their gender equity programs and initiatives. Furthermore, the threat of legal action has had a chilling effect as institutions with shrinking budgets fear the cost and burden of ongoing legal challenges based on gender equality and equity efforts.
Scholarships that seek to target protected groups to overcome historical forms of marginalization have become a target in the larger attack against DEI, Title VII, and Title IX. If a college or university is wary of listing your AAUW scholarship, this might be why. AAUW does not receive federal funding under Title IX, so can offer gender-specific scholarships and programs without this same fear.
From the AAUW National Website
Where We Stand
AAUW’s policy work connects and rallies advocates at the local, state, national, and global levels to empower women and girls. AAUW uses lobbying and grassroots efforts to push forward policies that break through educational and economic barriers for women. Below we highlight our positions and advocacy on major issues.
Economic Security – AAUW advocates for all women to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Look for the QUICK FACTS on the AAUW website for background information on paycheck fairness, retirement security, paid leave, health care.
Education & Title IX – AAUW supports a strong system of public education that promotes gender fairness, equity, and diversity, including vigorous enforcement of Title IX. Read about focused positions on Higher Education, Elem and Secondary Ed Act, School vouchers, STEM Education, Sexual Harassment, Title IX
Civil Rights – AAUW advocates for equality, individual rights, and social justice for a diverse society, Reproductive Rights, LGBTQ Rights.
Take Action – There are lots of ways to get involved with AAUW’s work to advance gender equity. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of women and girls.
Become a Two-Minute Activist – sign up for an issue on the website. Around the country, AAUW activists are helping to advance legislation to protect women and ensure economic security for them and their families. Thank you for joining AAUW!
School Board Project – The State of California Public Policy Team School Board Project is making impactful strides! For a deeper understanding of the vital work performed by California school boards, use the link to find details about their roles and functions. Feel free to share this article with as many people as you can.