Women

California is the proud home of women who have blazed new trails in business, entrepreneurship, culture, and politics. We proudly and vigorously support a woman’s right to choose how to use her mind, her body and her time. California Democrats respect women as full partners in family and society.

To demonstrate this respect, California Democrats will:

• Address issues of paramount concern to women and families by encouraging and supporting participation of parents and guardians at CDP conventions and meetings or events affiliated with or sponsored by the CDP through providing logistical support such as family rooms and where appropriate, onsite childcare assistance;
• Support equal access for women of all ages to training, jobs and promotions, and equal pay for equal work, and the right to sue for equal pay, capital, equity, and contracts;
• Support affirmative action, the rights accorded to women in Title IX, the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution;
• Support non-discrimination on the basis of gender in professional, collegiate, and recreational sports, particularly events using public venues, with equity for team competitions in access to facilities, resources, competition time, media coverage, and pay;
• Recognize that violence against sex workers must be addressed through reforming law enforcement practice to protect, not alienate, sex workers and reforming a justice system that penalizes sex workers rather than providing a neutral forum;
• Recognize the decline in the number of Democratic Women serving in elected office, particularly women from ethnic minority, LGBTQ, and disability communities, and promote and emphasize the need for equal representation in public office from local levels to the highest state and federal levels;
• Preserve confidential, unrestricted access to affordable, high quality, culturally sensitive health care services, including the full range of reproductive services, contraception and abortion, without requiring guardian, parental, or spousal consent or notification, or judicial intervention;
• Support the programs of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), including educational and preventive initiatives, especially those that serve women at risk of sexual and domestic violence; and, recognize gun violence in domestic violence as a public health issue requiring mental and physical health treatment and intervention;
• Recognize that freedom and protection from violence or abuse, domestic and otherwise, is a fundamental human right;
• Promote age-appropriate sex education in school curriculum in California;
• Advocate for comprehensive coverage by health plans and insurance of mental health services and treatment for women, including early screening and intervention for postpartum depression;
• Work to increase availability of comprehensive educational and training programs for formerly incarcerated women to enhance parenting and job skills;
• Work to expand workplace rights for women including flextime, compensatory time, and pregnancy and family leave;
• Engage young women in our political process in order to develop a pipeline for new leadership;
• Support women’s autonomous decision over reproductive rights by calling for reparations for all women who were sterilized without consent in California jails, prisons, and state institutions;
• Recognize historical instances of human trafficking such as “comfort women” during World War II and Chinese girls in San Francisco used as “mui tsai” / “paper daughters” – indentured servants during the late 1800s to early 1930s – as reminders of the work that must be continued to combat modern day human trafficking from both domestic and foreign sources;
• Support the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-US) and its “Ratify Movement” in efforts to have the U.S. become a signatory to the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the basis for ensuring women’s equal access and opportunity in political, personal, and political life; and, to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognizing as a human right that children should be afforded special care and protection;
• Support efforts to address the epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW), a direct result of colonization, human trafficking, indentured servitude, and commodification, beginning with the California Missions, the Gold Rush, and sanctioned by California laws;
• Recognize that California’s American Indian women continue to suffer through institutional racism and stereotypes where violence is inadequately addressed because of jurisdictional issues, lack of data, poor law enforcement response and training, and a dearth of other necessary services’
• Support the Government-to-Government consultation with federally recognized tribes of California; and,
• Support the creation of an American Indian unit within state Department of Justice (DOJ) and an Office on Violence Against Women Department with an American Indian unit.

Combatting Sexual Harassment and Creating a Climate of Respect and Equity
California Democrats strongly support the rights of all individuals to live, study, and work in a safe and professional environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment and sexual violence. To create a climate of respect and equity, Democrats demand policies at the state and national level that provide: education about gender equity, starting with early childhood education, where discrimination and bullying begin; help for survivors; training and laws holding perpetrators personally accountable; an end to non-disclosure agreements that force survivors to bear the shame of silence; independent investigations; whistleblower protections; and will work toward public and constituent access of any allegations or findings on said allegations of public officials and their staff. Sexual harassment/sexual assault will not be tolerated as a condition of employment or career advancement in any form of employment.