California NOW

The Facts on Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is the major federal statute prohibiting sex discrimination in education. It states:

• No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
• Title IX regulations prohibit discrimination based on gender and marital or parental status in:
• Admissions (applies narrowly to vocational, professional, graduate, and public coeducational undergraduate institutions)
• Housing and facilities
• Courses and other educational activities
• Career guidance and counseling services
• Student financial aid
• Student health and insurance benefits
• Scholastic, intercollegiate, club, and intramural athletics.

Military schools, religious schools, fraternities, and sororities are generally exempt from the provisions of Title IX. Title IX prohibits sexual harassment by any employee or agent of a school that receives federal funding.

Our schools, in many respects, are training grounds for sexual harassment. Boys are rarely punished or reprimanded, sending the message that "boys will be boys," while girls are taught that it is their role to tolerate this humiliating conduct.

Eighty-nine percent of girls and women had been sexually harassed in school; 39 percent were harassed on a daily basis during the prior year according to a 1993 survey co-sponsored by the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. Lobby your local school board to make sure that girls are safe from sexual harassment while at school, and ask them to sign on to the California NOW Women Friendly Campuses Campaign.

Title IX's regulations require institutions to provide equitable athletic opportunities for all students, regardless of sex, in three separate areas: participation, treatment of athletes, and athletic scholarships.

California NOW has been a leader in Title IX compliance work. We have brought suit against the University of California system to force compliance with Title IX athletic equity provisions.

Quick Facts on Women's Sports

This month we're highlighting Title IX and women's athletics on our Women's Sports Wednesdays.

During the 10th season of the WNBA in 2006, they averaged 7,500 fans per game. Those who compare their attendance figures with the men's professional teams should remember that the NBA took 18 years to reach a similar attendance figure.

In professional tennis, women's matches have drawn higher television ratings than men's matches (CNN.com), while the sport has also witnessed an increase in attendance and a growing recognizability of superstars such as Maria Sharapova.

The LPGA's TV viewership and attendance on the tour have enjoyed 59% and 11% increases, respectively, over the past three seasons (LPGA.com).

Fan attendance at intercollegiate women's basketball games has increased from 1.9 million to 10 million fans per year   since 1982 (NCAA.org) -- a 900% increase.

Source for the above: Listen Up, Media!: Interest in Women's Sports is Growing,
     Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport

Title IX has helped increase women’s participation sports by more than 400% in colleges and 800% in high schools, according to the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Before Title IX only 36% of women participated in high school sports, after Title IX 55% had participated. (” Title IX Under Assault” By Naomi Graychase, Girlfriends magazine, July 2003).

Female athletic teams receive only 33% of athletic funding (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2001) and receive between 23% and 38% of athletic scholarship money. (National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, 1997)

Only 45 of 321 Division I schools are in compliance with Title IX

Only 23% of NCAA Division I schools provided women with athletic opportunities within five percentage points of female enrollment. (Title IX at 30, National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, 2002)

From 1994 – 1998 The Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Education reviewed 74 Title IX participation cases; only 21 of these schools were found to be in compliance. (National Women’s Law Center, Equal Opportunity for Women in Athletics: A Promise Yet to be Fulfilled, August 2002)

Is the Playing Field Level for Girls?

For the next few weeks we'll be highlighting Title IX and women's sports in our Women's Sports Wednesdays.

All two- and four-year colleges and universities are required by Federal law to make available a copy of their Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act reports. You can send a letter to the Athletic Director or stop by the office for a copy of the reports. The reports, required since 1996, include details about intercollegiate athletic programs–number of athletes, income and expenses, coaches, scholarships, recruiting, etc.

Compare the percentage of women students to that of women athletes. What percentage of funding do the women’s teams receive? What percentage of scholarships? Recruiting budget? Has the school added any women’s teams in the last few years? Have any club teams requested to be upgraded to Varsity status?

If you find that a particular college or university has not done everything you think they should have to comply with Title IX, know that anyone can file a Title IX complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. To find out the number of the regional office in your area call 1-800-421-3481. Request a copy of their complaint form.

Title IX by the Numbers

For the next few weeks we'll be highlighting Title IX and women's sports in our Women's Sports Wednesdays.

Women and girls must have equal access to opportunities—that includes education and sports. Participating in sports increases self-esteem, self-confidence, builds leadership skills and lowers "risk" behaviors in young women.

Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination against girls and women in educational institutions which receive any federal funds, was signed into law on June 23, 1972, by President Richard Nixon. In 2007 we celebrated the 35th anniversary of Title IX. It is important to acknowledge the many changes that have taken place because of this law, but this will also be a great opportunity to identify which institutions are still not providing equal opportunity for their students.

That's Gay: Johnny Weir

Responses to the Tebow Superbowl Ad

You may have heard by now that CBS plans to air a 30-second ad by right-wing anti-abortion group Focus on the Family, starring football player Tim Tebow, during the Super Bowl. And it just got even worse... There's rumor that CBS executives worked closely with Focus on the Family in crafting the ad's script. If this is true, they're not just making a buck at the expense of women's rights, but they're actually working behind the scenes to promote Focus on the Family's radical right wing agenda.

CBS still refuses - after thousands of emails - to withdraw the ad, though they quickly rejected an ad for a gay dating Web site. What hypocrites.

Send a letter to CBS protesting their decision and asking them to pull the ad.
Take action with the Feminist Majority as well.  
Then make a free phone call to CBS.

In the meantime, watch this great video from Planned Parenthood and sports figures supporting women's right to make their own choices, and the hilarious parody ad below.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day - Stay Strong, Play On!

 Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSP), which has evolved from a day honoring fallen Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman, to a day devoted to acknowledging the past accomplishments of female athletes and recognizing current sports achievements, the positive influences of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports.

Edith Green, who would have turned 100 last month, was the mother of Title IX. A Representative from Oregon from 1954-1974, Green introduced and championed Title IX to increase women's access to higher education at a time when colleges routinely limited women's enrollment. Although she may not have foreseen the ways in which Title IX would open up athletics to women and girls, her work was instrumental in creating athletics programs for girls and women in schools, thereby opening up the field of professional athletics to more women as well.

Despite the stunning advances made in the 38 years since Title IX was enacted, high school girls still receive 1.3 million fewer participation opportunities than do boys, and evidence suggests that the money spent on girls' sports programs lags significantly behind the money spent on boys' programs. NGWSD is celebrated in all 50 states with community-based events, award ceremonies, and activities honoring the achievements of female athletes and encouraging participation of girls and women in sports.

In honor of this day, urge your member of Congress to enforce Title IX in our high schools and strengthen its protections.

See a great round-up of coverage on the day on Women Talk Sports.

The Superbowl, Pam Tebow, and My High-Risk Pregnancy

The feminist blogosphere is on fire over the fact that CBS has stated that they'll let an anti-choice advocacy ad from Focus on the Family air during the Superbowl.  In the past, CBS has absolutely refused to allow advocacy ads to air during the Superbowl, including ads from PETA. MoveOn.org, and one from the United Church of Christ taking an LGBT-friendly stance.  Now they say they've changed their policies and will allow "responsible" issues ads to air. 

Unfortunately, their definition of responsible is not mine.  Personally, I think suggesting that women should continue high-risk pregnancies against the advice of their doctors because everything will work out and your child-to-be will grow up to play football (or cure cancer, or whatever) is pretty irresponsible.  And I say that as a mother who went through a high-risk pregnancy herself. 

But I wouldn't attempt to force my choice on anyone else.  I'm glad I had that choice, and if my life circumstances had been just slightly different, I would have chosen abortion as the safer option, despite very much wanting a pregnancy at that point in my life. I'm glad that I didn't get ordered to two months of bedrest and 24-hour medical care, like Pam Tebow, because then I would have had to have an abortion; unlike Tebow, I couldn't have afforded the time off or the medical care.  I'm glad I didn't get legally forced to undergo bedrest, like this woman in Florida, because I would have lost my job and that would have been just great for a new mother.

No matter what your convictions are, if your doctor tells you, "You may die, and your fetus may die anyway, if you choose to continue this pregnancy," that's a hard decision to make.  It is also an immensely personal decision.  I cannot understand how any woman who went through that could believe that her choice would be right for every women, or every family.  I cannot understand how any woman who faced that choice could believe it would be right to take it away from anyone else.

The fact is, anytime we restrict women's ability to control their own bodies and lives, women suffer, children suffer, and families suffer.  Having the right to choose to continue a risky pregnancy is part and parcel of trusting women with all the potential choices that a pregnancy entails.

You can take actions asking CBS to reconsider airing this ad. 

Send an email with the Feminist Majority 

with NARAL 

and with the Women's Media Center 

and email CBS directly. 

Interesting update, apparently Pam Tebow's life was not actually at risk from her pregnancy.  Instead, she was taking drugs to treat dysentery which could have adversely affected fetal development. Again, no one should tell a woman that she *must* take that kind of risk. Not every woman or every family has the mental, emotional or economic resources to raise a child who may need special medical care.

SF NOW on Oakland Raiders Coach Tom Cable & Domestic Violence

San Francisco NOW has been doing some fantastic work recently, around the issue of Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable, his admission of past spousal abuse, and allegations of more recent domestic violence by two other women.

Watch SF NOW President Mona Lisa Wallace on Chronicle Live with Greg Papa speaking on this issue.  You can also read an article on that page which summarizes the interview (no transcript is currently available).

In the interview, Papa seems determined to try to minimize the accusations, and Cable's past history of violence.  The arguments will sound familiar to anyone who followed the Chris Brown/Rihanna case, or listened to Roman Polanski's defenders, "It was so long ago... he only hit her with an open hand... we don't really know the truth of the situation," etc.

Cable has admitted his past abuse, and more recent allegations appear to show a pattern of violence that demands investigation.  The culture of violence associated with football impacts how boys and men think and act towards women and girls.  We cannot allow someone in a position as a mentor and role model for men and boys to support violence against women.

Empowering Play: Games Tackle Violence Against Women

Interview with Ann DeMarle and Lauren Nishikawa of the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College

What do you want people to know about the project?

Ann: My answer to that is two-fold. One, violence against women is a huge global problem; that’s the most important thing for people to know. Secondly, we’re using a medium,games, that has been labeled as promoting violence, and we’re taking it and applying it in the opposite direction, to create behavior changes to end violence. It’s not as easy to accomplish as I wish it would be.

What was your impetus for taking on this project? Why a video game, and why one focused on this issue?

Ann: Games are a natural thing for us to be doing here. I began the degree program at Champlain College in game development, and in 6 years it’s become one of our most popular majors, and it’s the first program for game development in the Northeast. Games are an incredible medium, I compare it to the early days of film, they’re just finding their footing. Games provide an opportunity to accomplish communications goals and related tasks that is immense, and there’s a real potential for education if we can unlock it.

The focus on violence against women didn’t come directly from us. At the Emergent Media Center we work with partners, some corporate and some nonprofit. Population Media Center came to us to collaborate with them. They work with the United Nations on issues such as AIDS, teen pregnancy, overpopulation, education, etc., One of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals is Gender Equality and key is to reduce gender violence. They believe that gender violence is one of the root causes of poverty world wide. And I’ve had direct experiences that mirror those statistics, so it has personal poignancy for me as well.

What do you see as the challenges that face people working to promote respectful treatment of women and girls?

Lauren: One of the biggest barriers is the mentality that’s embedded into the cultures young boys and girls grow up in. When we went to South Africa, they felt that violence against women was just a part of culture and a part of life. So just getting over the idea that it’s a normal part of life is a huge challenge.

Ann: We started the project by doing research here in the U.S., and then in the townships of South Africa, and we came away with this one quote from a girl we spoke with. She said, “If my boyfriend beats me, he loves me the most.” So it pointed out to us that for generations people have assumed that it’s ok for a man to control the life of a woman, in Western nations it’s just as prevalent, but people don’t talk about and address it, it’s gone underground.