By Marena Groll
Guest Commentator
NC4ERA
The
introduction of the ERA will mark North Carolina’s commitment to civil rights,
which was supposed to create equal economic opportunity. Women are 51.3% of the North Carolina population, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.
 |
| Groll, June 2014 Bennett College, Greensboro |
As recent history
has shown, pay equity for women remains a significant problem. Although there
are laws on the books against discrimination in pay, the U.S. Constitution does
not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, effectively relegating women
to an unequal or lower class of citizen. This inequality compromises
women by affording them lesser redress and a lower standard of judicial
scrutiny under the Constitution to challenge sex discrimination.
Women continue to be
targets of sex discrimination due to systemic failings threatening our very
survival. We are physically injured, abused and raped in epidemic numbers and
yet this violence is not taken as a serious, egregious violation of our constitutional
rights, resulting in further threats to survival and that of our spouses and
children.
These are not the only
forms of injustice we endure. Moreover, existing laws designed to protect us
from the injustice of sex discrimination are not comprehensive or fully
inclusive and can be rolled back by a simple congressional vote. Therefore,
women cannot continue to be asked to wait for their civil right to equal
constitutional protection to become a priority. It must be a priority now.
No comments:
Post a Comment