2018 -- S 2627

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LC005180

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING MARCH 8, 2018, AS "INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY" IN THE STATE

OF RHODE ISLAND

     

     Introduced By: Senators Nesselbush, Quezada, Crowley, Sosnowski, and Euer

     Date Introduced: March 08, 2018

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

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

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

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active, and demanding of change; and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Unites States and worldwide; and

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

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dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike; and

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     WHEREAS, Gender parity remains elusive in that the World Economic Forum predicted

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in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. One year later, in 2015, due

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to a slowdown in the pace of progress that same group indicated that the gender gap wouldn't

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close entirely until 2133; and

 

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

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workers, women still earn less than men, earning 82 percent of what men earn; and

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     WHEREAS, In 2018, the United Nations has declared the theme for this year's

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International Women's Day celebration as "#PressForProgress." Fueled by the #MeToo

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Movement and #TimesUp, now more than ever there is global, national and local momentum

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striving for gender parity; and

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     WHEREAS, This year Rhode Island has chosen to honor Tina Goncalves, Rhode Island's

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first female local police chief. Chief Goncalves was recently appointed Chief of the Pawtucket

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Police Department; and

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

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hereby recognizes the elite, few women who have blazed trails and burned down barriers in these

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non-traditional careers, and encourages all citizens to celebrate and pay tribute to the

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contributions of these women nationally and in the State of Rhode Island; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby recognizes March 8, 2018, as "International

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Women's Day" in the State of Rhode Island; and be it further

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

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

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Island, the Honorable Gina Raimondo.

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