| Although women are 51% of the United States population, they are only 16% of Congress: 16 out of 50 U.S. Senators, and 71 (16.3%) of 435 members of the House of Representatives, of whom 21 are women of color. Women represent only 13 states in the Senate and 29 in the House. Four states have never sent a woman to Washington.
Women were 53% of voters in 2004. Yet women are governors in nine of the 50 states and are only 23.5% of state legislators, with one state as low as nine percent. No women of color serve as governors, but are 19.6 percent of legislators.
Of the 243 majors of cities with populations over 100,000, 35 are women, seven of whom are women of color. (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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