Page Two of 1992 Brochure by the Iowa Women's Equality Campaign: Empowering Women in Iowa

by Iowa ERA Coalition, 1992

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Empowering Women in Iowa, by Iowa ERA Coalition, 1992. Included in How Did Iowa Coalitions Campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment in 1980 and 1992?, by Dan Itzkowitz, under the direction of Victoria Brown. (Binghamton, NY: State University of New York at Binghamton, 2002).

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Page Two of 1992 Brochure by the Iowa Women's Equality Campaign

Empowering Women in Iowa: The Fight for Equality

An amendment to the State Constitution will appear on the November ballot that guarantees equality of rights to Iowa women. The summary of the amendment, which will be first on the ballot, reads: "The underlined words amend the Constitution to ensure equal rights for men and women."

What will Ballot Issue #1 do?

Quite simply, it will add women to the Iowa State Constitution, which currently gurantees that only "all men are, by nature, free and equal and have certain inalienable rights."

Whom will it help?

The equal rights amendment will help victims of gender discrimination. Primarily, it will help the four groups of women hardest hit by discrimination: older women, young women, working women, and homemakers.

How will it help women?

By adding women to the State Constitution, the amendment outlaws gender discrimination is unlawful in all public and private institutions, policies, and programs in which state, county, or municipal involvement can be shown.

Employment

The proposed amendment will provide state contitutional protection against gender discrimination in

employment, including wages, promotions, hiring, working conditions, and benefits. A recent study conducted for the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women concludes that despite the state's comparable worth law, "bias towards female-dominated [job] classifications when compared to male-dominated classifications remains in the state merit system."

Education

The amendment will prohibit discrimination against women and girls in admission, scholarships, programs, and policies related to education.

Sexual Harassment

The amendment will constitutionally protect women against sexual

Issue #1 amends Section 1 of Article 1 of the Iowa State Constitution by adding the underlined words to an already existing provision: RIGHTS OF PERSONS. All men and women are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights--among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness. Neither the State nor any of its political subdivisions shall, on the basis of gender, deny or restrict the equality of rights under the law.