Women Valued Initiative

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Since its founding in 2016, Women Valued has fought for the rights of working women across New York State and nationally.

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Women continue to be grossly undervalued in our economy. Legal Momentum’s Women Valued Initiative seeks to correct this problematic trend. The Initiative educates, empowers, and elevates ALL women, including those who are most marginalized. We are strongly committed to strengthening the rights of all women and ensuring that all women are better informed about their rights. 

Through Women Valued, Legal Momentum has produced a number of tools advance the rights of women in the workplace in the 13 issue areas below. 

13 topics covered in these resources:

  • Sex and Gender Discrimination

  • Sexual Harassment  

  • Equal Pay

  • Minimum Wage and Fair Wage Practices

  • Economic Opportunity

  • A Safe Workplace and Fair Working Conditions

  • Workplace Protections for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking

  • Reproductive and Maternal Health

  • Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Breastfeeding

  • Paid Family Leave

  • Child Care Assistance and Protections for Caregivers

  • Public Benefits

  • Collective Action

 

Legal Toolkit

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 in13 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.

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.

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 against a high-profile tech company, securing damages and institutional policy change after filing a claim of gender-based pay discrimination.

  • Representing a client against a high-profile non-profit challenging her employer's failure to address sexual harassment in the workplace.

  • Representing a victim of domestic violence to seek justice against her employer, which terminated her for taking time off to protect herself and her family.

Submitted Testimony and Public Comments

As part of its ongoing work to promote the rights of women in the workplace in America and abroad, Women Valued submits testimonies and public comments on policies, regulations, and laws that impact women in the workplace. Here are some of our recent submissions: