FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24,
2012
Contact: Diane Ramsey
Executive Director, IWLC
Iowa Women’s Leadership
Conference
319-263-2841 or
dhramsey@rockwellcollins.com
“SHE MATTERS” DETAILS THE STATUS
OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN IOWA
IOWA CITY, IOWA – A newly-released report
provides a comprehensive portrait of the achievements and challenges for Iowa’s
female population—and the report’s publishers vow to work together to engage
state leaders and other stakeholders in improving conditions for women and
girls statewide.
“SHE
MATTERS: 2012 Status of Women and Girls in Iowa” was developed by the Iowa
Women’s Leadership Project, a public-private partnership of organizations
focused on supporting Iowa’s girls and women.
“The
measure of the status of women is an indicator of quality of life in a
community,” says San Wong, Director of the Iowa Department of Human Rights,
which oversees the state’s commission on women’s issues. “If women and girls do
not have equal access to education, health care, and career growth, the lives
of their children and families are affected, ultimately impacting our society
as a whole.”
Among the
52-page report’s more troubling findings, Wong notes, are statistics such as
these:
- Nearly 14% of Iowa’s women live in poverty
- 1 in 3 Iowa women do not have health insurance
- Females comprise 58% of Iowa’s homeless and over
20% of the state’s offender population
However,
Wong explains, not all statistics are discouraging:
- 6 in 10 Iowa college students are women
- Nearly equal numbers of Iowa women and men hold
advanced degrees
- A greater percentage of Iowa women than men are
registered voters
- 80% of Iowa women ages 16 to 64 are in the
labor force
- More than half of the state’s working women
consider themselves the family’s “primary breadwinner”
Evolving
from annual events sponsored by the Iowa Women’s Leadership Conference (IWLC),
the Iowa Women’s Leadership Project formed in 2011 to collectively address the
members’ common goals, and is chaired by IWLC Executive Director Diane Ramsey
of Cedar Rapids.
“This
report clearly shows that we have a great deal of work to do in ensuring that
women and girls have equal opportunities to succeed,” Ramsey says. “We believe
the Iowa Women’s Leadership Project provides the impetus and the data to
influence state and corporate leaders, policymakers, educators and the
nonprofit sector in helping us affect positive change. Our partnership has a
permanent stake in the well-being of girls and women in Iowa, and we plan to
continue our efforts on their behalf.”
“SHE
MATTERS” will be the topic of a post-luncheon work session at IWLC’s April 25
“State of Change 2012” leadership conference at the Coralville Marriott Hotel
and Convention Center. The conference is a sell-out, with 900 women from across
the state registered to attend.
Terry
Hernandez, Executive Director of the Chrysalis Foundation in Des Moines and the
report’s author, summarizes the philosophy of the Iowa Women’s Leadership
Project. “Women who have the education, employment, and assets to provide a
meaningful and healthy life for themselves and their families are economically
secure,” she says. “To meet this goal, women must be safe, be educated and
employed, have access to health care and child care, and have equal
opportunities for career and leadership advancement. Once these needs are met,
women become independent, vital, and contributing citizens of Iowa. The Status
report provides our roadmap. ”
Iowa
Women’s Leadership Project partner organizations include:
IWLC
(Iowa Women’s Leadership Conference)
Chrysalis
NEXUS
Executive Women’s Alliance
Carrie
Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University
Iowa
Department of Human Rights
Iowa
Women’s Foundation
Friends
of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women
Iowa
Network for Women in Higher Education
Women’s
Connection, Quad Cities and Muscatine
Women
Aware, Sioux City
The
Way Up Conference
Business
and Professional Women/Iowa
Women’s
Leadership Network, Dubuque
Des
Moines Women Connected
Mapping
Strategies
“SHE
MATTERS: 2012 Status of Women and Girls in Iowa” is available on all partner organization
websites, or by calling 319-263-2841.
