2016 -- S 2666

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING MARCH 8, 2016, AS "INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY" IN THE STATE

OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Senators Nesselbush, Paiva Weed, Goodwin, Gallo, and Walaska

     Date Introduced: March 08, 2016

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, International Women's Day has been observed since the early 1900's, at a

time when women's oppression and inequality was causing women to become more vocal, active,

and demanding of change; and

     WHEREAS, The first National Women's Day was observed in the United States on

February 28, 1909, in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York City, where women

protested and demanded shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights; and

     WHEREAS, The first countries to honor International Women's Day in 1911 were

Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where together more than one million women and

men attended International Women's Day rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote,

hold public office, and to end discrimination in general; and

     WHEREAS, Over the last century, countries throughout the world have honored women

on different days throughout the year; and

     WHEREAS, In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed, once and for all,

throughout the world, March 8th as International Women's Day, a day that is celebrated in the

Unites States and worldwide; and

     WHEREAS, International Women's Day has more recently assumed a new, global

dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike; and

     WHEREAS, In 2016, the United Nations has declared the theme for this year's

International Women's Day celebration to be a "Pledge for Parity"; and

     WHEREAS, Gender parity appears ever more elusive in that the World Economic Forum

predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. One year later, in

2015, due to a slowdown in the pace of progress that same group indicated that the gender gap

wouldn't close entirely until 2133; and

     WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of Labor, among full-time

workers, women still earn less than men, earning 78.6 percent of what men earn. Additionally, a

wage gap persists between the genders when further analyzing by educational attainment, age

groups, race and ethnicity; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Commission on Human Rights accepted 394 new cases in

FY 2015, of which 108 cases, the second largest group of claims, contained allegations of sex

discrimination, including pregnancy and sexual harassment claims. Ninety-four of those claims

involved employment issues; and

     WHEREAS, Numerous charges of sex discrimination and pregnancy discrimination are

filed every year with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency responsible for

enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the United States; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby encourages all citizens to celebrate and pay tribute to the contributions of women

nationally and in the State of Rhode Island, while making and participating in the Pledge for

Parity; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby recognizes March 8, 2016, as "International

Women's Day" and acknowledges this year's theme as a "Pledge for Parity"; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the first woman Governor of the State of Rhode

Island, Governor Gina Raimondo.

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