A2: Gender Equality

In a guest column published by the Detroit Free Press, Rebekah Warren – a Democratic state senator from Ann Arbor – reflects on Women’s Equality Day in the context of the upcoming Nov. 6 elections. Warren writes: “There is no doubt that the disproportionate number of men holding elected office in this country creates an unbalanced debate on women’s issues. For example, if Missouri re-elects Sen. Claire McCaskill instead of Rep. Todd Akin for U.S. Senate, we will have one fewer voice in the discussion throwing around words like ‘legitimate rape’ without concrete understanding of their consequences. Female elected officials make up just 20.9% of the Michigan Legislature and 16.8% of Congress, which is a statistic that must change.” [Source]