Risks Posed to Sex Workers

    Unlike many other high risk jobs, the sex trade is one of the few that has historically been predominantly female. It also presents the one of the most significant risks to life and health of any high risk job because the employees are more often the victims rather than the responders, and because of the illegal nature of the trade in most places. This operation outside the law means that crimes against female sex workers often go unreported and without investigation, and even if they are they are often swept under the rug or neglected, making sex workers easily victimized. They are at risk of abduction, murder, extortion, assault, lack of health care, and the modern equivalent of slavery. These risks are increased even more for immigrant sex workers, who face language barriers and other types of discrimination as well.
     In areas where the sex trade has been legalized or at least has some legislation protecting sex workers, this risk is decreased, although nowhere near eliminated. In these locations, female workers are able to exercise more power in negotiations, and have the ability to rely on police protection. In her article Condom use, power and HIV/AIDS risk: sex-workers bargain for survival in Hillbrow/Joubert Park/Berea, Johannesburg, Janet Maia Wojcicki discusses the necessity of this power of negotiation in eliminating the image of female sex workers as victims, and destroying the binary of men having power and women being powerless in the sex trade. This binary is an extreme version of the idea of women being second class citizens, and contributes significantly to the image of women as victims. Eliminating this stigma would benefit women as a whole, and empowering women where they are the most powerless would enable women in all sectors to exercise more authority and experience less discrimination.
-Conor Cappe

Women in Traditionally Male High Risk Industries

     Despite years of advancement for equal opportunities and rights for women, many high risk industries in the US and other developed countries remain predominantly male. Logging, fishing, construction, mining, and other occupations have yet to see the influx of female workers that other sectors of industry and manufacturing have. It is part of the psychology of exclusion of women from high risk situations that has resulted from thousands of years of men doing the majority of high risk work. Many of these occupations are also plagued with the issues similar to police and fire departments, and have a reputation of being boys clubs, with most of the female employees experiencing some kind of harassment and discrimination.
    These standards are slowly changing, however. In the construction industry more and more women are being employed, brought on in part by the recession and reduction in availability of more white-collar jobs. One major project in the mid-west, a bridge spanning the Mississippi River, recently reached the one-million man hours mark. Of those million, only five percent were logged by female employees (http://www.stlamerican.com/business/business_briefs/article_ef608672-3372-11e2-b66d-0019bb2963f4.html). While a small number, that five percent is much more than it would have been even five years ago. In a local example, many female construction workers have been working on projects around campus.
-Conor Cappe

Issues Facing Female Emergency Responders

    In the United States there are currently no laws or regulations preventing women from being firefighters, police, or paramedics. In fact, most of these organizations are actively seeking to recruit women to meet diversity standards, and fire departments in particular are trying to draw female members. While the police and EMS services have in general become steadily more integrated, fire departments remain predominantly male. In many regions of the US, female firefighters make up less than five-percent of their organizations. This article written in the UK newspaper The Guardian  (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/16/issues-female-firefighters) cite similar issues in European fire departments too.

     What causes this continued gender segregation? Some point out that the word fireman implies that it is a male only job, and many girls and young women grow up assuming that the job isn't for them. Another obstacle is the high physical standards set for firefighters. However most women who are set on being firefighters are able to meet them, but many drop out after only a short time on the department. The root issues of these drop outs repeatedly prove to be problems with sexual harassment, the lack of separate facilities and accommodations (which aren't invested in because of the low number of female firefighters, creating a Catch-22 situation), and being sidelined from high risk jobs on the department.

-Conor Cappe

Integration of Women into the US Military

President Truman at the signing of the Women's Armed Services  Integration Act

        Prior to the Women's Armed Services Integration Act in 1948, the role of women in the branches of the US armed services occurred only during war time, with the notable exception of nurses. Women had served as nurses in every American war, but their roles outside of the hospital were limited. During World War I, women were recruited by the armed forces in large numbers to meet the shortage of man power. They served mostly in administrative positions, such as quartermasters, stenographers, translators, as well as their traditional role as nurses.World War II saw a similar large scale recruitment of women, and many were captured and killed during the war, primarily nurses serving near the front lines and in major hospitals. During this period, the military still discriminated against African-Americans, and women of color experienced two sets of limitations to advancement and selection for assignments.
        In 1948, President Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which allowed women to be regular members of the branches as well as be members of the reserves. This eliminated the practice of creating special women's components during war that would be disbanded at the end of the conflict. While a significant step in the direction of women's equality the Act still restricted women from combat roles, allowed them to be discharged without specific reason, limited promotions, and set a cap for recruitment numbers.

-Conor Cappe

Women Sue the Pentagon for Combat Roles

      Women have never been allowed to serve in positions that the military has designated combat roles, such as Marine and Army Infantry, combat pilots, and artillery and armored units. It was only the in the early 1990's that they were allowed in "combat support" roles and were officially allowed in combat zones, and it was only within the last two years they were allowed to serve on submarines. Now four veteran servicewomen are suing the Pentagon for the right to be allowed into combat units. The case is centered around the idea that because advancement to the highest ranks of the military often requires that a candidate spend time in a combat unit, women are experiencing significant discrimination in opportunities for promotion to high level policy making positions.

      Opponents to the idea site problems such as the military's policy of different physical standards for women, the changes it could cause to the group dynamic of combat units, and the issues of men and women serving in close proximity in situations where privacy and accommodations are absent. The four women and their supporters are arguing that due to the dynamic nature of the battle zones the US is currently in women are already serving combat roles and are already at equal risk as men, as well as citing the success of other countries who have integrated their combat branches, such as Israel, Australia, and Sweden.  Regardless of the outcome, the case will play a huge role in determining the future of women in the armed forces.

-Conor Cappe (Image from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/four-female-service-members-sue-over-pentagons-combat-exclusion-policy/2012/11/27/460cf994-38da-11e2-83f9-fb7ac9b29fad_story.html)

1825 - The United Tailoresses of New York

In 1858, the first union for women only was formed. They referred to themselves as the United Tailoresses of New York. This photograph was taken at a sit-down strike, organized by the United Tailoresses of New York, at Woolworth's in New York City's Union Square, with sign demanding a forty-hour week. The organization of this union plays a major role in the forming the identity of a woman in the workplace. Despite the social constraints place on them at the time, these women did their best to stand up for themselves for the sake of their union being noticed. Protesting against unfair wages and deplorable conditions, the Tailoresses brought to light the truth about the textile and clothing industry. This act of bravery in the face of overwhelming opposition would inspire working women for decades to come.
-Alan Daniel

1917 – Women Win the Right to Vote

On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified, empowering all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including the right to vote. It took activists and reformers nearly 100 years to win that right, and the campaign was not easy. The video I posted explains a horrific night three years prior to the ratification of the 19^th Amendment. As Woodrow Wilson took office in January of 1917 demonstrators took up positions outside the white house holding round the clock vigils demanding the vote for women. They aimed to humiliate the president and expose the hipocracy of making the world safe for democracy when there was none at home. In reply to these actions 33 innocent women were convicted of “obstructing sidewalk” and were taken into custody. The warden ordered his forty prison guards armed with clubs to teach the suffragists a lesson they would never forget. For weeks, they were subjected to the cruelty of their guards, bent on teaching them the harsh lesson ordered by the President – choking, beating, grabbing, slamming, and kicking them into submission.

-Alan Daniel