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Here at NAWRB, we would like to wish our members and community a happy Women’s Equality Day. This is a day that celebrates the 95th anniversary of American women winning the right to vote in the United States.
Passed by Congress in 1919 and ratified by the states in 1920, the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote after decades of dedicated activism by suffrage leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone. Women’s suffrage was a crucial step towards women’s equality, and if we judge by the political representation women currently receive, there are many steps to go.
Women have been voting more than men since 1980 but still comprise less than a quarter of elected officials at the state and federal level. A graphic released by TIME illustrates why Women’s Equality Day continues to be necessary today. The following are some of the reasons:
- There are just 84 women in the House of Representatives out of 435 seats
- Of the 100 seats in the Senate women only hold 20
- Out of the 50 state governors only 6 are women
- Of the 1,393 mayors for cities larger than 30,000 people, only 256 are women
- Women comprise only 1,793 seats in state legislatures out of more than 7,000
What is evident is that even though women make up more of the votes in our country, they are still widely underrepresented in the government. In his 2015 proclamation of Women’s Equality Day President Barack Obama states, “Since this historic achievement [the 19th amendment], our country has made great progress in building a freer and fairer society, and we continue striving to fully realize justice and equality for all. There is still more to do to secure the promise of our Nation for everyone, including ensuring that women have equal opportunities to participate in the classroom, the economy, the workplace, and our democracy.”
Progress for equality must continue taking place, and the United States must work diligently toward it at a speedier pace than that of the past 95 years.