Veteran Feminists of America:
A Salute to Feminist Lawyers - 1963-1975
The Harvard Club of New York City
35 West 44th St. New York, NY 10036
June 9, 2008
| 9:00-10:00 a.m. | Registration and Continental Breakfast |
| 10:00-12:30 p.m. | Morning Panels and Open Mike |
| 12:30-3:30 p.m. | Awards Luncheon with Special Tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg |
| 3:30-4:45 p.m. | Third Panel, Open Mike |
| 4:45-6:30 p.m. | Reception and Memorials |
For further information about this event, please contact Joan Michel.
THEN: In the 1970s, there were only 3,000 women entering law school yearly and a mere 7,000 in practice. Women were discriminated against (legally), disparaged (without recourse), punished for being married to spouses in the same field, and harassed at will. Rape had to be proved by having a witness. A rape victim's sexual history could be used against her at trial.
NOW: There are nearly 300,000 women at the Bar in the U.S, with a wholesome 40,000 entering law school each year. Today, women comprise 23% of all lawyers, an increase of 600% in the last 30 years. There are statutes prohibiting sexual harassment at the workplace. In some states, hiring barriers based on women's marital status or sexual orientation are illegal. Also prohibited are unequal access to credit, mortgages, public accommodations, team sports, sports scholarships and professional schools, along with unequal pay for essentially equal work. There is significant legal recourse for victims of violence and rape. Women are indispensable (if not yet entirely welcome) to the military and able to enroll in all military academies.
Women lawyers have demonstrated their abilities to do many of the things formerly regarded as outside their interests or capacities. They have become able and assertive litigators, shrewd negotiators, aggressive prosecutors, dogged defenders, and thoughtful mediators.
– Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Sociologist and Author of Women in Law, first edition 1981, second edition 1993
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