| Although women are 51% of the United States population, they are only 17% of Congress: 17 out of 50 U.S. Senators, and 73 (17%) of 435 members of the House of Representatives, of whom 21 are women of color. Four states have never sent a woman to Washington.
Women were 53% of voters in 2004. Yet women are governors in only six of the 50 states and are only 24.5% of state legislators, with one state as low as ten percent. No women of color serve as governors, but women of color are 4.8% of state legislators.
Of the 1156 mayors in cities with over 30,000 people, 17.6% are women.
(Data compiled by the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP), Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University.) For fact sheets on women in Congress and in our statehouses, click here.
This must change. Increased female representation in elected office at the local, state, and national levels is needed for equity and social justice. Women currently have little voice in the critical decisions that affect their businesses, wages, jobs, families, health care, retirement, or personal lives.
Equal Voice works to actualize this change by implementing a nationwide program to foster a sense of public confidence in women’s capacity as leaders so that Americans will vote for them. Through research and a public information campaign that includes forums in cities and towns throughout America, Equal Voice increases voter exposure to women leaders from both the public and private sectors, thereby enhancing awareness of women's ideas and abilities and encouraging a greater sense of comfort with women as leaders.
©2008 Equal Voice
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