Community: feminist.bloggers@brooklynmuseum

In the autumn of 2008, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art began an ongoing series on the serious and epidemic issue of sex trafficking and child prostitution throughout the world.

Part 1: “A Global Epidemic: Human Trafficking in Your Neighborhood,” featured a discussion with Sonia Ossorio, President of the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC).

Part 2: “Sex Trafficking and the New Abolitionists,” was moderated by iconic feminist and activist Gloria Steinem, and featured a discussion with panelists Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of Equality Now, and Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director of GEMS, an educational and mentoring service for young women who have been subjected to sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.

Stay tuned for more video from this ongoing series in the coming weeks!

A recent study of the language in more than THREE THOUSAND gallery press releases found some shocking data about the gap in the ratio of male to female artists at art galleries in Chelsea from 2006 to 2007! And according to this article, it appears to be getting worse! What will 2008 hold for women artists?

(Many thanks to our ally Alessandra Almgren for bringing this article to our attention.)

Good news! Last week, the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007.

The bill is named for the plaintiff in the pay discrimination lawsuit earlier decided by the Supreme Court, which said a worker must file a charge of pay discrimination within 180 days of the employer’s first decision to pay someone less for discriminatory reasons. The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, as passed by the House, simply restores the previous interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which says that each paycheck which results from a discriminatory decision is itself a discriminatory act.

Now that Ledbetter has cleared the House, a similar bill will be presented to the Senate. Watch out, though: the White House has already threatened to veto the bill.

Read more about how you can get involved. N.O.W. has a great update on their website, along with information about how you can get involved and let your representatives know what you think.

 (Researched by Lauren Palmor, CFA Intern)

We are a bit late reporting on this bit of news, but feel it is an important Alert! nonetheless. In the recent Ledbetter v. Goodyear case, the Supreme Court ruled–by a one vote margin–that an employee must file a wage discrimination complaint within 180 days of the act of discriminatory pay. This decision greatly effects women, who are all too often the victims of such discrimination (currently only earning 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man) and who, like Lilly Ledbetter in this case, perhaps do not want to rock the boat in a new job. Does it not take time to determine if you are being discriminated against? To learn more about this case, here are some links: National Women’s Law Center; National Organization for Women; PBS; Ms. Magazine; and Women’s E-News.

On a related note, ABC news did a report back in April on the Wage Gap and I was interested in the empowerment message in the article–ask for what you are worth! Certainly its not that simple, but have a read!

If you did not hear about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the nation’s first abortion procedure ban, please read this article on the N.O.W. website to learn more. This decision has dangerous implications for Roe v. Wade and is an assault on women’s rights. Other good sources of information on the issue came from CNN and, as always, PBS.