The Rights of Women

Throughout much of American history, discrimination against women has been rooted in the legal system. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott called the first women s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, one of their major concerns was a legal system that profoundly discriminated against women. It deprived all women of the right to vote and also prohibited women from engaging in many occupations and professions, including the practice of law. The legal system was particularly hard on the married women, depriving them of all rights in effect rendering them "civilly dead." The system is hardly perfect now, but women have fought and won major legal battles that provide significantly more protection under the law. Using a question-and-answer format, this ACLU handbook explains in detail how women can use the laws currently on the books in their continuing struggle to gain real equality in the family, marketplace, workplace, and academia. Topics covered include employment, education, parenting, family law, and reproductive freedom. This handbook also examines criminal proceedings, insurance, the military, credit, and the rights of homeless women."