Democracy & Society
The Status of Women and Girls
The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa
 Dr. Jane Henrici and Sabria Al-Thawr, Gender and Development Advisor for the Youth Leadership Development Foundation of Yemen, at the IFES-IWPR Beirut Regional Meeting (photo taken by Ambar Zobairi)
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The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa (SWMENA) is a gender-focused multi-year project that evaluates the status of women in three countries: Lebanon, Morocco, and Yemen. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), IWPR works with the International Federation for Electoral Systems (IFES) toward improving the status of women in the broader MENA region through strengthening local NGO capacity to effectively advocate on behalf of women.
In order to fill gaps in existing data about women of Lebanon, Morocco, and Yemen, advisors in those nations were aided IFES and IWPR in designing household surveys. Survey research areas include women's political and civil participation, economic participation and well-being, social attitudes toward women's roles, violence, reforming laws, social autonomy (access to education, role in household decision-making, control over household resources), access to health, and level of education. Based on the survey data, IWPR and IFES are preparing analyses in the form of Topic Briefs and making these available on the project web site: www.swmena.org.
In forthcoming months, IWPR and IFES will work with local NGOs on methods to use the survey and other data as part of advocacy efforts to improve the status of women. IWPR brings to the project its specialized expertise in defining, measuring, and analyzing comparative and comprehensive indicators and conducting participatory research concerning the status of women.
Focus on Lebanon Topic Briefs:
Attitudes Toward Policy Change
Civic and Political Participation
Control of Financial Assets
Economic and Educational Status
Freedom of Movement, Freedom from Harassment and Violence
Social Attitudes Toward Women
Focus on Morocco Topic Briefs and Presentations:
Project Overview & Respondent Demographics Brief, Presentation
Civic and Political Participation Brief, Presentation
Educational Attainment and Career Aspirations Brief
Freedom of Movement, Freedom from Harassment and Violence Brief, Presentation
Health Care Access Brief, Presentation
Paid Work and Control of Earnings & Assets Brief
Opinions on the Family Law and Gender Quotas Brief, Presentation
Social Attitudes Toward Women Brief, Presentation
The Status of Women in the States Project
The Status of Women in the States reports are a unique source of comprehensive information on women. Nowhere else are these data available in such an accessible, readable format for each state. The reports are designed with the assistance of State Advisory Committees to enable policymakers and citizens to track the progress women are making in their states, relative to men, to women in other states, and to women and men in the United States as a whole. Each report offers policy recommendations shaped by the research findings for that state.
Visit The Status of Women in the States website, and find out how your state ranks!
Women's Economic Status in the States
Women have made tremendous progress toward gaining economic equality during the last several decades. Nonetheless, throughout the United States, women earn less, are less likely to own a business, and are more likely to live in poverty than men. Disparities abound regionally and by state, and, even more profoundly, race and ethnicity continue to shape women’s economic opportunities.
The Economic Status of Women in the States:
New York State View
South Carolina View
Georgia View
Arizona View
Michigan View
Indiana, 2006: Highlights View
Ohio View
The Best and Worst State Economies for Women
(National Briefing Paper)
View | Order Online
The Economic Status of Women in the States examines women’s economic status, state by state, in five key areas:
- Women’s earnings
- The gender wage ratio
- The percent of women in managerial and professional occupations
- Women’s business ownership
- Women’s poverty
Out of the Shadows: Immigrant Women and Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Congressional Briefing sponsored by Legal Momentum
April 16, 2010
View Dr. Heidi Hartmann's presentation here
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Status of Girls in the States
The Status of Girls in the States is part of a new offshoot of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research report card series Status of Women in the States. It draws upon a variety of data sources to examine the social, economic, and health status of girls and gives recommendations for program and policy change and development to improve the lives of girls for the betterment of all.
The Status of Girls :
New York City View
Minnesota View
Women, Immigration, and Religion
In November 2008, IWPR began a new study on women, immigration, and religion. Funded by the Ford Foundation, this study documents the ways in which religious congregations and nonprofit organizations work to advance the rights, economic status, and general well-being of immigrant women in three regions: Atlanta, Phoenix, and Northern Virginia. IWPR’s research includes data analysis of basic demographics and economic standing of immigrant women in these three regions, a review of recent literature on women and immigration, and in-depth interviews with leaders of congregations and nonprofit organizations that work with Latina immigrants in particular. IWPR has interviewed a total of 290 organizations in the three research sites to gather information about the services they provide, their advocacy for immigrants’ rights, the specific needs and contributions of Latina immigrants, and the impact of public policies on programs and social supports that best serve immigrant women. The findings from the study will be published in a report in the fall of 2010.
View a handout provided at the Phoenix strategy forum on legislation affecting immigrant women.
Gender, Religion, and Civic Involvement: Understanding and Promoting Women’s Public Vision
Visit the Politics, Religion, and Women’s Public Vision website
In 2004, IWPR conducted a series of interviews with leaders and participants in religious and interfaith organizations. The interviews involved in-depth discussions about activists’ values and goals, the content of their work, and their experiences with leadership development. They covered subjects such as the value and contributions of women’s leadership, the nature of recruitment efforts, motivations for activism, and the benefits of their experiences. Based on these interviews, IWPR is identifying successful strategies to encourage participation in civic and political life. A report on the findings from this research was released in 2005. It included recommendations for how to encourage women to become involved in civic and political activism and how to build their leadership skills in that work.
Within the research for this project, IWPR found that religious women activists are deeply committed to a set of moral concepts that includes responsibility for the well-being of others and interconnectedness with the most disadvantaged in society:
- From a Hindu women: “There’s a connection between all human beings, and…[activism] is something that you have to do in order to feel like you can be morally sound.”
- From a Catholic: “A large part of how we deliver ourselves ties back to our faiths…dignity, respect, solidarity, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, participation, community.”
- And from a Buddhist: “The racism and the prejudice and the deprivation… we see it here and-- so I feel like it’s something that we have to take care of.”
Based on these findings, IWPR’s next steps will involve promoting a vision for U.S. policymaking rooted in women’s public vision and values. Many political leaders recognize the need to bring moral values into public discussions of religion, morality, and politics. IWPR hopes to provide a basis for doing so that will bring a variety of women together, in part based on the research we have done.
IWPR is currently convening a Working Group on Women’s Public Vision composed of women leaders in politics, religious organizations, and feminist organizing. This group will generate concrete ways to promote women’s values and vision through specific collaborations, communications strategies, and networking opportunities. The first major meeting of the group will be held at our Eighth International Women’s Policy Research Conference in June, 2005, which will also include a series of sessions devoted to IWPR’s research and outreach work in this area.
The work of the group will be informed by IWPR’s research, which will also be supplemented by two new sets of interviews in 2005: one examining how religious women of color define economic justice, and one examining how national feminist leaders think about values, religion, and morality.
IWPR’s work in this area is funded by the Ford Foundation and the Sister Fund.
Visit the Politics, Religion, and Women’s Public Vision website
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The Journal of Women, Politics and Policy
IWPR continues to co-lead the recently launched Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, published by Haworth press. Co-editors are Heidi Hartmann and Carol Hardy-Fanta (University of Massachusetts, Boston). IWPR members receive discounted or complimentary annual subscriptions to the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. The Journal is aimed at developing and disseminating new research on politics and policy of special interest to women. The Journal is multi-disciplinary and international in reach, and it presents articles from all social science disciplines and all regions of the world.
Contact Ryan Koch, Development Director, to become an IWPR member today!
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PuLSE: Policy Listserv and Strategy Exchange
IWPR moderates online forum for discussion, information and strategy exchange among those who work on policy issues relevant to women's lives. The IWPR Policy Listserv and Strategy Exchange was designed to expand the collaboration and coalition-building initiated by the Status of Women in the States project and to create an efficient tool for sharing information on women's issues. Since its inception in July 2000, the Policy Listserv and Strategy Exchange (PuLSE) has grown steadily, attracting a wide range of participants, including advocates, academics, students, policy makers, and researchers. PuLSE has elicited dialogues on child care, paid family leave, social security, health policy, and the implications of the new presidential administration for women's policy. List Administrators coordinate posts by IWPR researchers in each of the Institute's program areas. IWPR expects PuLSE membership and participation to grow considerably and aims to make the list a premier forum for timely debate on policy issues affecting women.
Sign up for the PuLSE Listserv
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Capitol Hill Briefings on Policies Affecting Women's Status
As co-chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations' Domestic Priorities Task Force (with the National Organization for Women), IWPR coordinates and participates in a series of policy briefings for Congressional staff. The Capitol Hill Briefing Series covers topics such as TANF, WIA, and VAWA reauthorization, women's health, social security, education and training, workplace issues, access to family planning, and violence and poverty. For more information, contact Jennifer Clark at clark@iwpr.org.
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Women's Civic Engagement
"Women's Community Involvement: The Effects of Money, Safety, Parenthood, and Friends" ~ Research-in-Brief
"Does Women's Representation in Elected Office Lead to Women-Friendly Policy?" ~ Briefing Paper
"Transforming the Political Agenda: Gender Differences in Bill Sponsorship on Women's Issues" ~ Research-in-Brief
"The Political Glass Ceiling: Gender, Strategy, and Incumbency in US House Elections, 1978-1998" ~ Research-in-Brief
"Women's Status and Social Capital Across the States" ~ Briefing Paper
Why Gender Matters in Understanding September 11: Women, Militarism, and Violence ~ Report
Mothers and Soldiers: Gender, Citizenship, and Civil Society in Contemporary Russia. ~Book, available through Routledge Press.
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