NOW Celebrates ADA Anniversary; Members Call for Dialogue on Disability Rights

By Lisa Bennett, Communications Director

July 27, 2005

The National Organization for Women and hundreds of other advocacy groups celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26. Signed into law in 1990, the ADA is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation that has helped open doors for millions of people in the United States.

Recognizing that women with disabilities experience multiple forms of discrimination, NOW has advocated for disability rights for decades. NOW championed the 1990 ADA so that women with disabilities could have access to employment, public accommodations and transportation, government services and effective communications.

"Thanks to the ADA, more women have been able take control of their own lives and participate in our society," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "But women with disabilities still struggle to overcome obstacles no woman should have to face."

Women with disabilities are disproportionately affected by unequal wages, unemployment, poverty, sexual and physical abuse, and lack of insurance and benefits. At work or school, in the doctor's office, on the sidewalk or the bus, in the courts or the police station, at restaurants or public events, women with disabilities confront challenges every day that slow them down and hold them back.

Currently, disability rights issues are at the forefront of political debate in terms of federal judicial appointments, states' rights, civil rights law enforcement and legislation, health care and more. With this in mind, members at NOW's National Conference this summer passed a resolution committing to new and renewed action on this important issue.

The resolution calls for NOW to sponsor a one-day "Women with Disabilities Feminist Activist Strategy Caucus" to foster discussion among and bring together NOW activists with and without disabilities. Participants in this caucus will help develop new ideas for action to fully integrate issues of women with disabilities into our ongoing feminist work on domestic violence, child custody, health care, equality in employment and education, lesbian rights, body image, reproductive and abortion rights and much more.

The Women with Disabilities Feminist Activist Strategy Caucus will be held no later than October 2006, with the date and location to be determined. Details will be posted on the NOW web site as they become available.

• Read the full resolution
• Read more about NOW's work on disability rights