2008: A Year In Review

by Jen Nedeau

Published December 30, 2008 @ 09:00AM PT

My experience thus far in the women's rights movement has taught me one very important lesson: in order to know where the movement is going, we must know where it has been.

For this reason, it is important to take on the exercise of writing top ten lists at the end of each year; to catalogue the best and worst moments of each year in order to contribute to the historical knowledge base of the movement and help define the future action agenda.

I gave my two cents in my list "Top Ten Moments of Feminism for 2008" but there are a handful of other lists I want to share that further define what 2008 meant to the women's rights movement and what 2009 has to offer:

• Top Ten Feminist Achievements in 2008

• Women's eNews' Top 10 Stories of 2008

• 2008 Top Ten Wins for Women's Health

• The 2008 wowOwow List of 20 Fabulous Female Firsts

• Top 10 Victories for LGBT Equality in 2008

To start, Hugo Schwyzer expands upon my list with a few exciting tidbits in Top Ten Feminist Achievements in 2008:

# 2) The Church of England, the mother church of the Anglican Communion, endorsed the idea of women bishops for the first time this summer.

# 4) Linda Sanchez, Democrat of Orange County, California, becomes the first "unwed mother" to serve in Congress. (The baby won't be born until 2009, but the 39 year-old Sanchez won re-election after her "out-of-wedlock" pregnancy became public knowledge.)

# 9) In both Rwanda and Spain, women moved into the majority of cabinet positions in government - the first time women had held the majority of cabinet positions in any democracy.

# 10) Rachel Maddow (whom I adore) becomes the first openly lesbian host of a prime-time television news program.

Jennifer Thurston writes Women's eNews' Top 10 Stories of 2008 giving "cheers" and "jeers" for moments in the women's rights movement during the past year:

A few notable "cheers" include:

• The United Nations $44 million initiative to reduce female genital mutilation in 28 nations, a cultural practice has affected between 100 million and 140 million girls and women.

• Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero of Spain who declared himself a feminist after his election and then proved it by appointing nine women to his 17-member cabinet in April. Spain's parliament is 36 percent female, nearly double the world average of 19 percent. Zapatero also pushed for loosening restrictions against abortion, which are largely performed under a law that allows abortion to preserve a woman's mental health.

• Signs of reform for Arab women emerged in 2008, starting with an announcement from the Saudi government in January that women would be allowed to check into hotels alone. Saudi women's rights activists continued to press for easing the rules of guardianship, which require them to receive permission from men for nearly every aspect of their lives.

• In the United Arab Emirates presidential decrees led to the appointment of the first female judge and a doubling--from two to four--of the number of women who serve as national ministers.

• King Mohammed VI of Morocco's public declaration in support for women's rights, proclaiming women equal and formally withdrawing the nation's reservations to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the CEDAW treaty.

A few notable "jeers" include:

• Women's unemployment increases were more than double the rate for men's job losses during the economic downturn that hit the United States hard in the final months of the year.

• The Department of Labor reported that women's joblessness increased 9 percent, while men's unemployment increased 4 percent.

• Women comprise the bulk of the low-wage work force in the slumping retail sector.

• Women carried a disproportionate share of the subprime mortgages that helped ignite the economic crisis.

• The Iranian government cracked down hard on women's rights activists this year, especially targeting those involved with the One Million Signatures campaign demanding equal rights for women. Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and dozens of other activists have been subjected to pressure and smear campaigns, detainments, arrests and harassment.

• The U.S. administration pushed ahead with the war on contraception by enacting a federal "conscience" rule in December in the final days of the George W. Bush presidency. The rule allows any health care employee to deny any form of service they personally object to, allowing them to refuse to provide abortion, abortion referrals, birth control prescriptions, emergency contraception for rape victims or any other request from patients, even if it the denial would negatively affect a woman's health. The conscience rule was viewed by many activists as an over-the-top assault on women's rights to impartial health care.

Beth Frederick over at RH Reality Check maintains the positive vibrations about the success' in the women's rights movement with her list - 2008 Top Ten Wins for Women's Health. Here are a few of my favorite wins for women's health, which include next steps for 2009:

# 2) A New "Mexico City Policy" Leads the Way on Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Prior to the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City in August, health and education ministers from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean pledged to invest in comprehensive sexuality education and increase access to health services to strengthen the region's HIV/AIDS response. The resulting Mexico City Declaration on Sex Education in Latin America and the Caribbean was unanimously endorsed. What's next: Advocates, including IWHC, are working with the Pan American Health Organization to assist countries in fulfilling their commitments, including dramatically increasing the number of schools that provide comprehensive sexuality education by 2015.

# 3) U.S. Citizens Turn Back Attempts to Restrict Abortion Access

In November, U.S. voters overwhelmingly rejected ballot measures to restrict access to safe abortion in South Dakota, Colorado, and California. In April, the Council of Europe called for all 47 member countries to make abortion safe and legal. What's next: In South Dakota, abortion opponents insist that they will try to pass an abortion ban in 2010, and a new organization has formed to push measures in 17 other states similar to the measure to provide rights to a fertilized egg defeated in Colorado. These campaigns are costly and out of touch with a wider global trend of liberalizing abortion laws, according to a recent study by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

# 9) U.S. States Prioritize Youth Health Over Ideology

In 2008, the number of U.S. states refusing to participate in the federal government's abstinence-only-until marriage education program (Title V) reached 25, as state governments recognize what research and evaluations have repeatedly shown: abstinence-only programs are ineffective. What's next: Despite pushback from the states, Congress may vote to extend Title V for another year or longer. President-elect Obama has repeatedly called for "age-appropriate" and "science-based" sex education in schools. The U.S. federal government and the states now have a new opportunity to work together to develop state and federal programs that support the comprehensive sexuality education young people need to make informed choices about their bodies and their health.

# 10) Muslim Women in the United Kingdom Granted Equal Rights in Marriage

Muslim leaders in the United Kingdom succeeded in creating a new marriage contract under Sharia'h law that gives husbands and wives equal rights, after four years of negotiations. The new contract no longer permits men to practice polygamy and grants women the right to initiate divorce. What's next: This change represents a powerful example for Muslim leaders and communities throughout the world. In Northern Nigeria, Islamic Sharia'h law was introduced at the state level in 2000. Based in the state of Kano, IWHC partner Action Health Information Projects (AHIP) has built relationships with over 1,000 religious leaders throughout northern Nigeria to encourage their support for women's reproductive health through their sermons and influence in the community. Each of these leaders reaches an average of 5,000 people every week through Friday congregational prayers and sermons. For the complete report, visit IWHC.

The Top 10 Victories for LGBT Equality in 2008 by Juan and Ken Ahonen-Jover note the significant setbacks for equality in losing the ballot initiatives in California, Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas, but also remark on the noteworthy victories that will help to advance equality in 2009 and beyond.

Here are a few notable excerpts from their list:

#3) Supreme Court Decision in Connecticut in Favor of Marriage Equality

The Supreme Court of Connecticut broke legal ground by determining that despite that the legislature had approved Civil Unions, it was not enough and that the state needed to provide full marriage equality. As a result, same sex couples from any state have the right to marry in Connecticut and that right is safe from the forces that want to take it away all over the country.

#5) Electing the Third Openly Gay Member of Congress

Jared Polis (D-CO) was elected to the US House of Representatives. He is openly gay and totally pro equality (including marriage equality). He was an eQualityGiving Endorsed Candidate. Jared Polis joins Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) as the third openly gay Member of Congress.

#6) Defeating the Author of the Marriage Protection Amendment

This was a double victory: Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) was the most anti-equality member of Congress. She not only authored the Federal Marriage Amendment, but also worked very hard to convince Republicans and President Bush to put it for a vote (it was voted twice, but it failed both times). The double victory is that Marilyn Musgrave has been replaced by Betsy Markey (D-CO), who is totally pro-equality, including marriage. She was also an eQualityGiving Endorsed Candidate.

#10) Electing a Pro Equality Attorney General in Oregon

John Kroger (D-OR), an eQualityGiving Endorsed Candidate, won in a landslide as the new, pro equality Attorney General in Oregon. This is an important victory for LGBT equality given the importance of implementing the new Domestic Partnership legislation in that state as well as fending off the continuous efforts from the right to put forward ballot initiatives to discriminate against our community.

Finally, The 2008 wowOwow List of 20 Fabulous Female Firsts catalogs an assortment of women making their mark from Hillary Clinton, the first major party female presidential primary candidate to Carol Landry, the premier female board member of the United Steelworkers Union, to Lt. Gen. Ann Dunwoody who became the United States first four-star female general - just to name a few!