Zonta District 7 Conference Advocacy Presentation September 15-17 Minneapolis, MN

North American Interdistrict Conference Held on June 2-4, 2017 in Mclean, Virginia Six advocacy programs were presented: Campus violence against women ERA and Equal Pay Gender equality Advocacy at the provincial level Advocacy for campus safety Advocacy at the state level

End Rape on Campus Jessica Davidson, Assistant Managing Director of End Rape on Campus (www.endrapeoncampus.org), stated that the practical solution involved: Broad campus and community involvement, including campus-wide assessments, engaged leadership and on-going training; Effective intervention, including victim services and fair disciplinary processes that hold offenders accountable; and Prevention and education, including making new students aware of policies and comprehensive prevention education.

White Ribbon Campaign World’s largest men’s movement to end violence against women and girls. Asks men to wear white ribbons as a pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women. It’s On Us Pledge: recognize that non-consensual sex is sexual assault; identify situations where sexual assault may occur; intervene in situations where consent has not been given; and create an environment where sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported.

Campus Accountability and Safety Act Federal legislation introduced by Senator McCaskill (D-MO) requires each campus to designate a sexual response coordinator, set up a uniform process for student disciplinary proceedings and conduct minimum training for all campus personnel. Bill (S. 856) was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Equal Rights Amendment Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

Ratification Procedure Must be approved by 2/3 of the House and the Senate and ratified by the legislatures of ¾ of the states. 36 of the required 38 states have ratified. Several strategies to achieve ratification: Reintroduce the ERA and restart the ratification process; Remove the ratification deadline; and Two state strategy – Have two of the 14 states that have not yet ratified the amendment do so. State of Missouri has not yet ratified the ERA.

Advocating for Gender Equality Presentation dealt with: Human trafficking; UN Sustainable Development Goals; and Women’s Empowerment Principles. How to do an advocacy action plan: Identify the subject matter and scope; Identify your team members; Plan and budget; Implement action; and Recap and feedback.

Advocating at State Level Establish clear understanding of the issue to be addressed. Obtain agreement on desired outcome and time frame to accomplish. Consider collaboration with like-minded organizations to enhance achieving the outcome and/or obtaining the attention needed; Determine appropriate target audience required to realize the desired outcome; and Evaluate actions for future follow-up, as needed.

Zonta District 15 Projects Human Trafficking Participated in Michigan State Trafficking Task Force meetings; Entered into agreement with the Task Force; Developed posters to encourage individuals to report suspected trafficking and directing individuals where to seek help; Put posters in highway rest stops in cooperation with state DOT and Social Service offices

Zonta District 15 Projects Equal Pay Joined coalition seeking legislation ensuring equal pay; Participated in coalition meeting to educate about pay disparity; Met with state representatives at the capitol; Arranged media coverage; and Now planning next year’s event.

Zonta Advocacy Efforts Three US Senators have recently signed on as co-sponsors of the ERA ratification amendment that was addressed by Zontians: Gary Peters of Michigan Brian Schatz of Hawaii Maria Cantrell of Washington Two new Senators, Al Franken of Minnesota and Diane Feinstein of California, have co-sponsored the Campus Accountability and Safety Act after their offices were visited by Zontians on Advocacy Day.

District 7 Advocacy Project 2017-2018 This year we will be reading and discussing The Unfinished Revolution: Voices From The Global Fight For Women’s Rights, edited by Minky Worden. Both Amazon and the publisher, Seven Stories Press (sevenstories.com), have new and used paperbacks, as well as e-books.