Feminist Agenda Survey Results: Many Issues Linked in Struggle for Women's Equality

February 19, 2009

By Maddie Burton, Communications Intern

The election of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden offered great promise for advancing women's rights. Here at NOW, we're making sure that feminist issues are a top priority with the new administration and in Congress.

Before Obama even took office, NOW released its Feminist Action Agenda for 2009 and Beyond to illuminate specific pathways to achieve women's equality. NOW's action agenda covers nine issue areas: economic justice; reproductive rights and sexual health; equal rights and ending sex discrimination; healthcare for all; stopping violence against women; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights; educational equity; promoting diversity and ending racism; and media fairness and accessibility. The agenda details NOW's specific policy goals for each category.

NOW also asked supporters to rate the importance of each issue through an online survey, using a scale from "least critical" to "most critical." Additionally, we invited respondents to write in a tenth category that they felt deserved a place on our agenda. Many of you responded to this call, sending us clear messages about the concerns of women in the U.S. today.

The results of this web survey were informative and thought-provoking. Very few respondents marked any of NOW's priority agenda issues as "least critical," indicating that progress in each area remains essential to achieving women's equality in our society. Respondents submitted comments asserting that all nine categories were "linked together," and that victory for women's rights could not be claimed unless progress was made on all fronts. And many respondents said that, not only were the categories linked, they were difficult to rank: "It's impossible to say that any one is less important" than another, wrote one respondent. "These are all equally important" and "Every one of these should really be #1"said others.

At the same time, a number of respondents felt particular passion for certain issues. A whopping 84 percent of all respondents rated the issues of reproductive rights/sexual health and healthcare for all as "most critical" or "very critical." One responder commented that "some [issues] are VERY tied to the others," and this no doubt played a part in these two issues rising to a tie at the top. Access for all women (regardless of income level, ability or other factors) to a full range of reproductive health services and medically-accurate information will be achieved only if the goals listed under both these categories are met -- something our respondents appear to understand.

A second group of issues followed closely behind. Violence against women and equal rights/ending sex discrimination were rated "most critical" or "very critical" by 83 percent of respondents, and economic justice was next with 80 percent. Within each of these categories, NOW's agenda promotes specific legislation, enforcement tactics, and institutional reforms to ensure that our government addresses these issues. Whether the problem is sex trafficking or domestic violence, lack of women's constitutional equality or the wage gap, responders emphasized that NOW's proposals on all these fronts should remain priority topics.

The remaining categories all received high marks from our voters, with a clear majority of voters assigning every issue "most" or "very" critical status.

The last question on NOW's survey asked for write-in proposals of a tenth issue for our agenda. Many people emphasized specific topics that, while already covered under the umbrella of one of the nine existing categories, were especially close to their hearts. Others proposed extensions of the Feminist Action Agenda into new arenas. Of those who wrote in with new proposals, some common themes emerged. Most often mentioned were: achieving gender parity in government representation; ensuring the separation of church and state; fighting against age discrimination; and emphasizing environmental concerns.

Responses to this survey helped NOW leaders hear a diversity of voices, and we are using that feedback to better represent your concerns as we strive to make the Feminist Action Agenda a reality. NOW is already hard at work on all nine of the Agenda categories, and the many specifics in each one, and we are thankful for your fresh ideas, suggestions for new topics of focus, and continued passion for the issues that affect you and your loved ones. Our agenda remains centered on achieving full equality for women, and we will continue to incorporate your perspectives into our work in 2009 and beyond.