Women Valued Initiative

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Women continue to be grossly undervalued in our economy, resulting in high rates of women living in poverty and employed in low-wage work.

Since its founding in 2017, Legal Momentum's Women Valued Initiative has fought to correct this problematic trend, advocating for the rights of women nationally and at all points along the socioeconomic spectrum. The Initiative educates, empowers, and elevates ALL women, shaping its programming based on the feedback and needs of women workers who are most marginalized, equipping every worker with stronger legal protections and guidance about their rights. 

Through the Women Valued Initiative, Legal Momentum has produced comprehensive guidance and tools to advance gender equality in 13 core issue areas that impact women's economic security.



Legal Toolkit for Women's Economic Equality

We are strongly committed to strengthening the rights of all women and ensuring that all women are better informed about their rights. Starting with New York State, the Initiative has created an accessible written Legal Toolkit that provides comprehensive guidance to women in New York regarding their rights and benefits in 13 cross-cutting issue areas that relate to women’s economic security. Guidance is targeted at low-income and immigrant women and women in certain high risk industries, including domestic workers, farm-workers, and retail and hospitality workers.

View our Legal Toolkit

Worker Resource: Women, Know Your Rights at Work! 

 

In collaboration with the Center for Urban Pedagogy, Legal Momentum has developed a fold-out poster in English and Spanish that aims to empower women workers. This resource, Women, Know Your Rights at Work!, provides legal information on workers rights, as well as strategies and options to help women workers prevent violations, safeguard their rights and seek support to advocate for themselves. See the link below to access the resource and request physical copies.

 

View Women, Know Your Rights at Work!

Working Woman's Bill of Rights

Through our Working Woman’s Bill of Rights, Legal Momentum sets forth an unprecedented intersectional and holistic legislative agenda for women’s economic equality, setting priorities in the same 13 cross-cutting issue areas. By creating a comprehensive framework for advocacy and assessment, our Bill of Rights seeks to ensure that our laws achieve meaningful and comprehensive workplace equality for ALL women.

Access the Working Woman's Bill of Rights

Helpline Advocacy and Representation

Legal Momentum is advancing Women Valued through our Helpline, tackling pay inequality, sexual harassment, and domestic violence, among other issues. Based on our Helpline calls, Legal Momentum is regularly helping women navigate gender discrimination in the workplace. For example, Legal Momentum:

  • Assisted a caller with navigating her employer’s internal complaint process to obtain accountability for workplace sexual harassment.

  • Won a settlement in a pay discrimination case against a high-profile tech company, securing damages and institutional policy change.

  • Won a settlement in an sexual harassment case against a high-profile non-profit employer, securing damages and institutional policy change. 

  • Won a settlement for a victim of domestic violence, securing institutional change and damages from her employer, which wrongly terminated her for taking time off to protect herself and her family.

Testimony and Public Comments

As part of its ongoing work to promote the rights of women in the workplace at the national and international levels, Women Valued submits testimonies and public comments on policies, regulations, and laws that impact women's economic security. Below are some of our recent submissions.