Women’s equality, and especially the concept of feminism, have long been controversial topics. And although so much progress has been made, we still have a long way to go. So how will we know when we’ve “achieved” equality?

There is not one, correct definition of what women’s equality means, or how we will know once it has been achieved. So, today we are turning to some ACLU of Indiana staff, board members, and partners to get their take:
 

"For this woman, equality includes no longer being asked or expected to explain my presence in male-dominated spaces or my claim to a seat at the table."

- Stevie Pactor, Staff Attorney at ACLU of Indiana
 

"Women’s equality means I can live the life I want to live—that I can go as far as my talents and desires take me, without needing to overcome personal, professional or social barriers put in place to constrain my ambitions and/or thwart my life goals simply because I am female."

- Sheila Suess Kennedy, Professor of Law & Public Policy at IUPUI, and former ACLU of Indiana Executive Director
 

“Women’s equality must contain the understanding that womanhood looks a lot of ways. Black, brown, trans, immigrant, sex worker, disabled, homeless, incarcerated. It requires bravery and risk to our comfort on behalf of those most harmed by inequality. That’s something the women I admire know a lot about.”

- Kit Malone, Advocate and Educator at ACLU of Indiana
 

"My incredibly resilient mother has faced significant adversity in her life and discrimination as an immigrant woman of color in the Midwest. In my eyes, women’s equality means fighting for a future where women do not face the same struggles my mother had to face."

- Ashley Toruno, Community Engagement and Policy Advocate at ACLU of Indiana
 

"It means joining with others to work towards world-wide equality for all women and appreciating their struggles, sharing their triumphs, and mourning their losses."

- Sharon Russell, ACLU of Indiana Board Member

"For my 93 year old mother, equality would have meant that she wouldn’t have had to sue her employer after finding out that she was paid much less than men who were sitting at the next desks, doing the same job. For my older sisters, equality would have meant that the experiences available to them had not been dramatically fewer, just because they went to school before Title IX required equality in educational opportunities. For me, equality will mean that I can be confident that my daughter’s path in the world will be defined solely by her own choices, abilities, and hard work."

- Jane Henegar, Executive Director at ACLU of Indiana
 

"Women's equality means the right to bodily autonomy and self-determination that we may live our fullest lives and thrive in the wide-open world of opportunity. Women's equality, as stated by our great predecessor Sarah Grimke means 'I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.'"

- Dr. Caitlin Bernard, Plaintiff in ACLU of Indiana 2019 Reproductive Rights Lawsuit
 

"We will achieve equality when we can walk to our cars alone at night without fear, when we can go to the doctor without the threat of government intrusion, when we get paid as much as our male counterparts, and when we hold the same number of positions of power as men do."

- Katie Blair, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy at ACLU of Indiana
 

Roxane Gay wrote, ‘I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women even if we wouldn’t make certain choices for ourselves.’ This portrays the humility that all people must adapt in order to achieve equality. We all lead very different lives, and come from different backgrounds, but we can work toward equality by respecting one another’s personal decisions.

- Ariella Sult, Director of Communications at ACLU of Indiana

Across Indiana, inmates are being subjected to overcrowded jail cells and inhumane living conditions. Many are forced to sleep on cell floors, exposed to extremely dirty conditions with insects and black mold. Even worse, when prisons and jails are over capacity, the needs of prisoners with medical and mental health needs are often overlooked and unmet.

The ACLU of Indiana has filed overcrowding lawsuits in several county jails over the past decade. The hazardous conditions in these jails result in the denial of basic human needs and constitute violations of the U.S. Constitution's protections against cruel and unusual punishment. With the alarming pattern of jail overcrowding throughout the state, we must push for policies that aim to reduce jail populations whenever possible, and reduce the need for additional cells.

Jails with overcrowded conditions may add triple bunk beds to cells or other bed "alternatives" without appropriate approval, cramming four people into a two-person cell and even forcing people to sleep on cell floors.

In these extreme cases, the construction of new jail cells can be necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals who are incarcerated. But if we also start addressing the systemic causes of jail overcrowding, additional construction of even more cells can be prevented in the future.

Indiana Criminal Justice Policy Reform

Unfortunately, there isn’t one simple solution to jail overcrowding. Overcrowding is the result of decades of tough-on-crime policies, and even some well-intended criminal justice reform.

More recently, Indiana lawmakers restructured the state’s criminal code between 2013 and 2015, acknowledging unsustainable growth. While this reform helped slow the growth of the state-run prison population, it did so by relocating some low-level offenders to county jails. In 2018, an evaluation by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute found 77% of Indiana’s jails to be overcrowded or at capacity.

Now What?

Two factors drive over-crowding: the number of admissions and the length of time a person is incarcerated. Combatting the overcrowding problem in our state will require reducing both. From pre-trial and sentencing reform to eliminating parole revocations for technical violations, view the Indiana Smart Justice Blueprint to learn how our state can cut its incarceration rate in half.

The ACLU of Indiana is urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) not to roll back health care protections for transgender people.

The Trump Administration will stop at nothing to roll back progress towards equality – especially when it comes to the rights of transgender people and those seeking reproductive care. The proposed changes to the Health Care Rights Law, would have devastating health consequences for trans people, those seeking reproductive health care including abortion, people of color, people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency and others in Indiana and across the Nation.

At the ACLU of Indiana, we have a long history of being Indiana’s primary legal defender of the health care rights of Hoosier women, as well as a leading voice in advancing and protecting the rights of all LGBTQ people from religious discrimination.

The administration wants to take away protections against these types of discrimination, an action that will lead to devastating health consequences. The Department fails to even consider the impact that the proposed rule would have on individuals who are protected under the current rule.  According to a recent study by the Williams Institute, 27,600 transgender people currently live in Indiana. Transgender and non-binary people belong in Indiana and we will fight any attempts to erase trans people from our laws.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has attempted to roll back protections for transgender people in education, the military, prisons, and homeless shelters, in addition to health care. And on October 8, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving Aimee Stephens who was fired because she is transgender. But in both health care and employment, the Trump administration cannot erase decades of court decisions saying trans people are protected under laws prohibiting sex discrimination.

Case after case has confirmed that transgender people are protected. In Indiana, for example, the Southern District Court recently ruled that discrimination against our client, J.A.W., who is a trans student, was in fact a form of sex discrimination and that federal nondiscrimination law protects him from discrimination based on his gender identity.

Contrary to earlier decisions, the proposed rule would allow religiously affiliated healthcare providers to discriminate based on sex and to refuse access to necessary medical care. In the U.S., religiously affiliated healthcare providers make up a significant percentage of the healthcare facilities. Indiana has an especially high rate, with 24.4% of acute care beds provided by Catholic healthcare providers. In some Hoosier communities, Catholic facilities are the only available hospitals.

Despite these attacks by the Trump Administration we will continue to fight to ensure equal access to health care and coverage, free from discriminatory treatment or denials. Seven in ten people, including a majority of Hoosiers, support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. We must demand that this administration stop attacking trans people.

Please join the tens of thousands of people telling HHS to abandon the proposed rule, and to keep the current Health Care Rights Law regulations in place.

You can submit a comment opposing this roll back of health care protections through August 13.