National Women's Law Center

Since 1972, the Center has expanded the possibilities for women and girls in this country. The Center uses the law in all its forms: getting new laws on the books and enforced; litigating ground-breaking cases in state and federal courts all the way to the Supreme Court; and educating the public about ways to make the law and public policies work for women and their families. An experienced staff of more than 50 takes on the issues that cut to the core of women's and girls' lives in education, employment, family economic security, and health -- with special attention given to the needs of low-income women and their families.

Far too many students across the country do not receive an equal chance at a high-quality and affordable education, and young women continue to be denied equal opportunities in many important educational programs. The Center's Education program addresses these gender gaps by fighting for strong enforcement of Title IX and promoting programs that remove barriers to girls' educational opportunities. Current priorities include opening doors to vocational and career education programs that train young women to enter and succeed in non-traditional fields with the promise of greater pay and job opportunities; bringing groundbreaking lawsuits and undertaking other advocacy efforts to enforce Title IX's promise of equal treatment in education, including by leveling the playing field for girls' athletics participation; reducing the school dropout rate for girls; restoring legal protections against unequal sex-segregated education; ensuring that students have legal protections against sexual harassment; strengthening enforcement of anti-discrimination laws; fighting for strong affirmative action policies that take race and gender into account to remedy discrimination and promote diversity in education; and ensuring adequate funding for education at all levels.

Women continue to face pervasive limitations on their opportunities at work. The Center's Employment program addresses these barriers by fighting for equal treatment of women in all aspects of their employment. Current priorities include closing the wage gap and ensuring women are paid fairly; improving benefits for workers, including expanded family and medical leave opportunities; improving anti-discrimination laws, including gaining strong enforcement of laws prohibiting sexual harassment; breaking through the glass ceiling by expanding opportunities for women in non-traditional fields and at the highest levels of their professions; passing an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act; promoting the creation and preservation of valuable affirmative action programs in the workplace; and ending discrimination in the military.

Poverty is a women's issue. More than 14 million women -- one in eight -- live in poverty. The Center's Family Economic Security program advances laws and public policies to help economically vulnerable women -- including single mothers, women of color, and elderly women -- by promoting high-quality, affordable child and dependent care, strong income and work support programs, secure retirement programs, and a fair tax system that raises adequate revenues. Current priorities include expanding federal and state resources for child care and early education; increasing the benefits of family tax credits; improving child support enforcement; expanding access to unemployment insurance; eliminating arbitrary barriers in key income support programs; protecting and strengthening Social Security, including by rejecting proposals to divert revenues into private accounts; increasing women's retirement security; and reforming the tax system to promote fairness, ensure adequate revenues for needed investments; and assure that individuals and corporations pay their fair share.

Women's health is jeopardized by limited access to health care, reproductive rights are under concerted attack, and women's health needs are often overlooked. The Center's Health and Reproductive Rights program is fighting to protect reproductive rights; guarantee accessible, comprehensive health coverage for women and families; and promote policies that advance and protect women's health on the state and federal levels. Current priorities include reducing the number of uninsured women; increasing funding for research and programs that help to prevent and treat health risks for women and their families; protecting a woman's right to decide to have an abortion; expanding access to affordable birth control, including emergency contraception; investing in comprehensive sex education and ending federal funding for abstinence-only programs; educating policy makers and the public about the need to protect and promote women's fundamental reproductive rights; pioneering new legal theories to ensure that health care providers do not refuse to address women's reproductive health needs; highlighting the best public policies for improving women's health; and fighting to protect Medicaid.

In addition, the Center moves quickly to address issues that transcend these program areas. For example, the core legal rights that women have won over the last 35 years -- the right to reproductive choices, the right to equal opportunities in the workplace and schools, and a broad range of other legal protections that promote women's well-being and safety -- have been jeopardized by the appointment of federal judges who do not support the fundamental rights and principles that are critical to women. The Center is leading the way in promoting a fair and independent judiciary with judicial nominees who have a demonstrated commitment to fundamental rights, including by consulting broadly during the judicial nomination process and ensuring that Congress fully exercises its role to advise and consent. The Center's priorities also include enacting a comprehensive federal ban on sex discrimination and adopting the international Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women; fully funding domestic violence programs and ensuring victims have needed supports; strengthening protections against human trafficking; and ensuring fair treatment for immigrants.

The Center has been at the forefront of landmark legal and public policy initiatives to improve the lives of women, girls and families since 1972. For example, the Center was instrumental in passing laws to prohibit pregnancy discrimination in employment and to provide compensation for victims of sexual harassment. The Center improved state and federal tax laws to help millions of families pay for child and dependent care and secured new federal remedies for women seeking child support. The Center has also been a leader in enforcing Title IX, the 1972 federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, including athletics, since it was enacted. For more information on the Center's history of accomplishments, please view "Expanding the Possibilities for Thirty-Five Years" and the biographies of Center Co-Presidents Marcia D. Greenberger and Nancy Duff Campbell.

The Center's work would not be possible without the support of thousands of individual supporters and institutions, including: American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees; American Legacy Foundation; AOL Time Warner; American Express; Arnold & Porter; AT&T Foundation; Beech Street Foundation; BET Holdings; the Annie E. Casey Foundation; Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation; Cigna Foundation; Citigroup; Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Inc.; The Beatrice R. & Joseph A. Coleman Foundation; Marjorie Cook Foundation; The Coca Cola Company; Credit Suisse First Boston; Nathan Cummings Foundation; Deer Creek Foundation; The Dyson Foundation; Equal Justice Works; Fannie Mae Foundation; Ford Foundation; Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation; The George Gund Foundation; Harley-Davidson Motor Company; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; IBM Corporation; Kaiser Family Foundation; W.K. Kellogg Foundation; The MARGARET Fund; The John Merck Fund; Moriah Fund; The Ms. Foundation for Women; National Education Association; New York Stock Exchange; Open Society Institute; Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide; The Ottinger Foundation; The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; PepsiCo Foundation; The William Penn Foundation; The Rockefeller Foundation; Rockefeller Family Foundation; The Sandler Family Supporting Foundation; the Caroline and Sigmund Schott Foundation; Scherman Foundation; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Three Guineas Fund; Turner Foundation; Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering; Wyeth ... and many other generous foundations, law firms, corporations, unions and individuals.

For information about making a contribution to the Center, please call (202) 588-5180 or make a secure donation by credit card or by downloading a contribution form and mailing it with a check to National Women's Law Center, 11 Dupont Circle, NW, #800 Washington, D.C. 20036

The National Women's Law Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Contributions to the Center are tax-deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code as allowed by law.