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GUESTS: Avis Jones DeWeever, Director of the Research, Public Policy and Information Center at the National Council of Negro Women, Vicky Lovell, Director of Employment and Work/Life Programs at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Nearly 100 years ago this Saturday, 15,000 women workers in the so-called “needle trades,” marched through New York City’s Lower East Side, protesting child labor, sweatshop conditions, and demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. Today, that event in 1908 signifies the first major action marking International Women’s Day. On March 8th of every years, thousands of women around the world organize events celebrating women’s rights and acknowledging the work that remains to achieve women’s equality. Today we spend the hour talking to women from all over the world and right here at home, commemorating International Women’s Day. We’ll hear from activists, academics, artists, and workers.

Every year on International Women’s Day, the media cites the incredible progress made in women’s rights globally. While there is still a long way to go, progress, even if slow, is apparently moving in the right direction. But what if, in reality, we are not making progress? Taking a look at women’s actual economic power, American women’s wages in the past year have fallen, not only in absolute terms, but also compared to men’s wages. A report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that progress in closing the gender wage gap has slowed considerably since 1990.

Meanwhile women under the Bush regime have suffered other setbacks too, including a serious erosion of the right to an abortion, and funding for family planning and essential social services for poor women.

For more information, visit www.iwpr.org, and www.ncnw.org.