Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

National Women’s Conference Plan of Action

National Women’s Conference

Houston, Texas

November 18-21, 1977

Fifty-six state and territorial conventions forwarded recommendations summarized below for ratification by 2000 delegates gathered in Houston in 1977. Apart from gender, it was the most diverse elected body ever assembled.

  1. Arts and Humanities: Equitable representation in management, governance, and decision-making structures in libraries, museums, media and higher education; blind-judging when possible.

  2. Battered Women: Elimination of violence in the home through emergency shelters; training and intervention; strengthening and enforcement of laws; legal services for victims.

  3. Business: Support for women entrepreneurs through government-related activities and contracts; inclusion of women-owned business in Small Business Administration targeting.

  4. Child Abuse: Support for prevention and treatment of abused children including training for public awareness, parent counseling, service and justice agencies.

  5. Child Care: Federally supported efforts and legislation at all levels to promote quality child care programs; labor and business support; education for parenthood.

  6. Credit: Education and enforcement of the 1974 Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

  7. Disabled Women: Enforcement and expansion of legislation on education, employment, housing, and support services recognizing the special needs of disabled women.

  8. Education: Enforcement of laws prohibiting discrimination in education; special consideration for physical education, leadership positions, vocation training, elimination of sex and race stereotyping.

  9. Elective/Appointive Office: Joint effort by federal and state governments, political parties, and other organizations to increase women in office, policy making positions and judgeships.

  10. Employment: A federal full employment policy; enforcement and extension of anti-discrimination laws; efforts by governments, institutions, business, industry and unions to reduce occupational segregation and promote upward mobility; special attention to minority women; amendment of the Veteran’s Preference Act; extensions of the labor standards and the right to unionize; support for flextime jobs.

  11. Equal Rights Amendment: Ratification of the ERA.

  12. Health: Establishment of a national health security program acknowledging the special needs of women; improve community facilities, contraceptive research, reproductive services, substance abuse efforts, representation in professions and on policy boards; increase review of drugs, custodial care, surgical procedures.

  13. Homemakers: Revise marital property, social security, and pension laws; in divorce provide for children’s needs and sharing of economic burden; support displaced homemaker programs.

  14. Insurance: Adoption of Model Regulations to Eliminate Unfair Sex Discrimination amended to cover pregnancy, newborns, policy conversions.

  15. International Affairs: Increased participation by women in foreign policymaking roles; enforcement of anti-discrimination laws; improvement of the image of women in the mass media.

  16. Media: Increased opportunity for women in professional and policy-making roles; enforcement of anti-discrimination laws; improvement of the image of women in the mass media.

  17. Minority Women: Recognition that every Plan recommendation applies to all minority women with recognition of additional burdens through institutionalized bias and inadequate data; enforcement of anti-discrimination laws as they affect education, housing, health, employment; recognition of special needs of American Indian/ Alaskan Native women, Asian Pacific women, Hispanic women, Puerto Rican women, Black women.

  18. Offenders: Review of sentencing laws and practices with discriminatory effects on women in penal facilities; address legal, counseling, health, educational needs of women, especially mothers and juveniles.

  19. Older Women: Support by governments, public and private institutions of services promoting dignity and security in housing, health services, transportation, education, social security, recognition of the changing image of older women and their capacity to contribute to policy making.

  20. Rape: Revise criminal codes to correct inequities against rape victims; rape crisis centers and prevention and self-protection programs; support for the National Center for the Prevention/Control of Rape; victim compensation.

  21. Reproductive Freedom: Support for U.S. Supreme Court decision guaranteeing reproductive freedom; make certain all methods of family planning are available to all women under privately or publicly funded medical services; oppose involuntary sterilization; full access to family planning and education on responsible sexuality for teens, full education programs with child care for teen parents.

  22. Rural Women: Rural education policy to meet isolation, poverty and underemployment affecting women; improved data; full ownership rights for farm wives, review conditions affecting plantation/ migratory workers.

  23. Sexual Preference: Legislation eliminating discrimination based on sexual preference in employment, housing, public accommodations, credit, public facilities, funding, military, repeal of laws restricting private behavior between consenting adults; evaluation of child custody suits based solely on parenting capacity.

  24. Statistics: An analysis of all data collected by the government on the basis of sex and race to assess the impact of programs on women.

  25. Welfare and Poverty: Focus on welfare and poverty by federal and state governments as major women’s issues compounding inequality of opportunity; support for welfare reform program considering social security, child care, minimum wage, education, job opportunities, health insurance, and legal services; federal floor to ensure an adequate standard of living.

  26. Continuing Committee of National Women’s Conference: Establishment of a body to consider steps to achieve the Plan and convene a second conference.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sistersof77/conference.html.

* * * * *

Helen Chenoweth served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001. Here is her address to the Feminists for Life of America at commemorating their 25th anniversary.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"National Women’s Conference Plan Of Action." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_1039.
APA 7th
National Women’s Conference Plan of Action. From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_1039.
CMOS 17th
"National Women’s Conference Plan Of Action." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_1039.