Women's Issues Platform

The Women's Caucus of the Virginia Young Democrats promotes the involvement of young women in the political process and the activities of the Democratic Party at the local and state level and is committed to supporting and working with regional, state, and local chapters to recruit young women. We actively strive for the advancement of women in elected positions and leadership roles within the Democratic Party. We seek to identify pertinent issues that affect young women, affect legislation relating to women's issues, and advocate forcefully for the interest's of women in all aspects of the political process.

We affirm our support of equal rights for women in the work place, and strive to ensure full gender equality. We recognize the importance of encouraging women entrepreneurs in Virginia, and fully support efforts to encourage the development of women-owned businesses. We are committed to policies that will eliminate pay disparities between women and men for equal work. We believe strongly in the need to punish gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. We are strong proponents of increased investment in after-school programs and work-based day care services, to better support women juggling job and family responsibilities.

We recognize that our health care system must be improved to better serve the needs of women of all ages, and will work to ensure access to quality, affordable health care coverage for all women. We support the right the right to reproductive choice free from government interference, and believe that the government should make a concerted effort to provide women with expanded access to contraception, health information and preventive services to reduce unintended pregnancies. We believe strongly in increased investment into research on women's health issues, and support legislation that will eliminate health care disparities between men and women.

We believe that domestic and gender violence, which affects nearly one in four women, is a monstrous crime and affirm our commitment to combating it in the United States and throughout the world. We support partnerships between domestic violence prevention organizations, expanded training opportunities for staff in domestic violence services, and seek broader provision of services to families affected by domestic violence. We understand that domestic violence crosses all borders, and support efforts to help women in Darfur who have been particularly affected by the genocide there.

We understand that education disparities still exist between men and women, and seek to remove any remaining barriers to full education equality. We recognize the role that Title IX has played for more than thirty years, serving a bulwark against sex discrimination against students and employees at all levels of education. We believe that in order to compete in a global economy and in light of the fact that women make up nearly half or our workforce but less than twelve percent of science and engineer jobs, we must broaden our efforts to support greater access for women to math, science, and technology education programs.

Do you agree? If so, join the Women's Caucus and Pledge to Vote for Democrats on November 4!