SJ City Council unanimously votes to move forward with a CEDAW Ordinance(Women’s Bill of Rights) for City of San Jose!
We did it! 16 months ago Voices of Women for Change led the effort and reached out to the women and women’s organizations that were the pioneers and leaders in their advocacy for women’s rights and Gender Equality in Santa Clara County. We formed the Silicon Valley CEDAW Task Force and asked the Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrasco to champion our cause to pass a CEDAW Ordinance (Women’s Bill of Rights) for the City of San Jose. Thanks to the Vice Mayor’s leadership and vision, today all of the City Council members voted unanimously to move forward with a Women’s Bill of Rights Ordinance (of course this is a very short version of everything we did!). This is a big victory for all of us but most importantly this is a huge victory for all women living in this area and beyond. This Ordinance will create policies to protect women against violence and sexual assault, provides economic security and pay equity for women, addresses housing issues for women including homeless women, and ends discriminatory practices against women. Also a big thank you to our wonderful Task Force members, the most amazing women I have ever worked with. Our work is not over yet as we work to draft the Ordinance and ensure funding and implementation but together we have achieved a big milestone. Congratulations to all!