Gender Equity
LAS–ELC’s Gender Equity Program focuses on ending the unlawful, artificial barriers to employment based on gender, and addresses discrimination issues affecting low-income women in the workplace, such as safety on the job, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, equal pay violations, and discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.
Title IX Project
More than Thirty-five years after the passage of Title IX, schools in our communities still fail to provide young women with equal access to athletic programs. Participation in athletics tremendously improves education, health, and employment outcomes for females, especially young women of color.
Girls who participate in sports earn better grades and are more likely to graduate, compared to girls who don’t play sports. This correlation is especially strong among minority girls. In addition, young women who graduate from high school and college are more likely to succeed in the workplace.
Recognizing the connection between access to athletics and success in school and work, Title IX is a federal law that requires schools to provide female students access to athletic programs equal to the programs and facilities offered to male students. Our Title IX Project provides advice, counseling, and advocacy to enforce existing laws, and works with school districts to bring them into compliance with Title IX.
The tools we use include:
- Legal help: LAS–ELC represents individuals who encounter discrimination at work or school in lawsuits and administrative proceedings.
- Class action lawsuits: LAS–ELC engages in class action litigation on behalf of women workers and students to remove barriers to their full participation at work and in school.
- Advocacy: LAS–ELC drafts appellate and amicus (Friends of the Court) briefs, and advocates to enhance and expand legal protections for working women and female students.
- Tools: LAS–ELC provides advice, counseling, and self-help tools, such as fact sheets and sample letters to employers, and may provide limited representation to women and girls facing discrimination at work or school.
- Collaboration: Recognizing the importance of equality in sports, the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund, in collaboration the LAS–ELC and The Women’s Sports Foundation, has launched the Program Title IX Compliance: Know the Score—Program in a Box. Get started with “Know the Score” download materials and listen to a webinar about “Know the Score.”