Health

Stepping Stones Research Update: November 2008

Posted on by Lisa Kays

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below a summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Liza Getsinger of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

The Urban Institute explores whether low wage workers are are destined for low income at retirement.  (Abstract) (Full text)

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Harry Holzer asks whether living wage laws do (and can) matter. (Abstract) (Full text)

Child Care and Early Education News

The National Center for Children and Poverty finds that chronic absences as early as kindergarten have a significant impact on educational performance in first grade. (Abstract) (Full text)

DC could be a more family-friendly city through investments in education, affordable housing and revitalizing neighborhoods. (Abstract) (Full text)

Health and Safety News

The Kaiser Family Foundation releases new fact sheet on women’s insurance coverage.

Other News and Research

A nationational investment in children before they enter public schools would pay off. (Abstract) (Full text)

Washington Post story on local sex trafficking features work of two Grantee Partners.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

Yesterday, Washington Post reporter Robert Pierre’s story, "Anti-Prostitution Initiative Taken to D.C. Schools," explains how children in D.C. are being coerced into prostitution and sex trafficking, and how agencies throughout the area are working together to stop this phenomenon.

Two of the organizations involved in this work are Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation: Fair Fund and Polaris Project.

Read the full story in the Washington Post here.

For more on Fair Fund’s work on this issue, and the report they just released on trafficking of youth in D.C. and Boston, or for information on how to get involved, click here.

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.

Sex trafficking strikes in D.C. just as it does in Dakar or Dubai.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

When I lived in Africa and worked on girls’ education and HIV/AIDS prevention issues, I encountered what was known as the Sugar Daddy phenomenon.

In various countries in Africa, girls are the first to be pulled from school when money in a family is tight.  They’re also the last to eat, and the last to receive basic necessities like health care or clothes.  Busy with caring for siblings or fetching water, they also often go without much attention or sense of self-worth.

But Sugar Daddies are more than willing to make up for that. 

Older men, usually with means, they prey on these young women–sometimes as young as 11, 12, 13.  At first, they just show them attention, maybe by paying school fees or purchasing a new uniform.  Then, they might take a young woman out to dinner or pay for her to have her hair done.

All innocent enough.  Until he begins to convince her that she owes him and that her debt can be repaid with sex. 

I got all too used to seeing this in various African cities and villages, where poverty is rampant and there are few social services to assist vulnerable youth who may fall through the cracks into such situations.

Of course, now I’m all too used to hearing about it happening on K Street, in my city’s schools, throughout the region where I live.  In our nation’s capital.

It’s not okay that this happens to children anywhere, but there is something about it happening in one of our country’s wealthiest cities, just blocks and miles from the White House and Capitol Building, that I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to.

Which is why I was so pleased to attend an event on Tuesday evening hosted by Fair Fund–a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.  The event brought together members of our community to learn more about how human trafficking and sexual exploitation are impacting youth in Washington, D.C.   

About how young men and women in this city are routinely entrapped by pimps who start out as friends or boyfriends and then demand a return on their kindness with sex, first with them, and then with others. 

And thus the cycle of entrapment in sex trafficking continues, here in Washington, D.C. just as it does throughout the world.

Here though, we are fortunate to have a committed coalition of activists, including Fair Fund and a number of other nonprofits and Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation (including Polaris Project, WEAVE, Latin American Youth Center, SMYAL, AYUDA, DC Rape Crisis Center, and Ascensions Community Services), who are all working together to break this cycle by advocating for a safe house to take teens to when they are pulled out of dangerous situations and building awareness among teachers, social workers and police officers throughout our community who can help identify, assist and protect young people who fall into this trap.

To learn more about this important work or to get involved:

Fair Fund’s new report documenting these trends locally: Pathways Into and Out of Commercial Sexual Exploitation 

3-minute interview with Fair Fund’s Executive Director Andrea Powell in the DC Examiner

WAMU radio piece on Fair Fund’s work and local sex trafficking

To learn more about how to get involved, visit FairFund.org.

Lisa Kays is Director of Communications at The Women’s Foundation.

How a bank account can help a woman escape domestic violence.

Posted on by Emily Appel

CBS Evening News aired a story last week about a mother of three in Washington state who is rebuilding her life after leaving a domestic violence situation.

One of the tools that helped her is an IDA (Individual Development Account) matched savings account, which she used to buy a car, a computer and a home. The three-minute video is on Capital Area Asset Builder’s Web site.

This same tool is available through CAAB for low-income women to help improve their financial situation.  They can earn up to $3,000 to use towards buying a car or a home, starting a small business, paying off medical debt, or continuing education or job training classes.

Christine Walker, a client of CAAB and Lydia’s House–both Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation–used an IDA to help pay for school.  You can read her story here.

Emily Appel is the Matched Savings Program Director at Capital Area Asset Builders, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, which supports CAAB’s IDA program through Stepping Stones.

It's up to all of us to learn to identify, report and assist victims of domestic violence.

Posted on by Debbie Billet-Roumell

In a crowded room at the Catholic Charities, more than 60 people gathered to hear Kathy Zeisel, Domestic Violence Staff Attorney at The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, and Robin Runge, Director of the Commission on Domestic Violence at the American Bar Association and Commissioner at The DC Commission on Women, spoke on learning to recognize red flags for indications of domestic violence and what to do if you suspect someone is a victim.

The event was organized by The DC Women’s Agenda to honor the month of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The event served as an opportunity to reach out to the broader community serving clients and educate them about recognizing and creating a safe comfort environment for victims of domestic violence.

Ms. Runge addressed the prevalence of domestic violence and the need for the public to help victims. Domestic violence effects one out of four individuals in heterosexual and homosexual relationships.  More than 80 percent of domestic violence victims in families become homeless; and 20 percent of women victims become homeless. 

The insidious nature of domestic violence causes individuals to withdraw from society, friends and family, isolating them from potential sources of support. This is why it is imperative that in our professional and personal lives, we look for signs of domestic violence.

Ms. Runge spoke about her work with lawyers who are legally mandated to report domestic violence. When victims gather the courage to speak about their abuse, they are often referred to seek relief through legal channels. Many lawyers are not adequately trained to work with survivors and often seek a protective order, which can cause additional trouble for the victim.  When individuals disclose that they are victims, they should be referred to experts in domestic violence who have the knowledge, updated information and skills in understanding how to navigate the system for victims.

Ms. Zeisel addressed red flags that are often seen with survivors of domestic violence.  If a survivor is with their spouse and is meeting with a third party, the survivor often stays quiet and looks uncomfortable, the spouse controls the conversation and will not allow the survivor to be without him. Another classic sign is that a spouse will become violent toward the victim’s property; for example, they may run over their cat.

The speaker addressed the need to create a safe environment for individuals to disclose that they are victims. When a professional is screening for any type of service, they should always screen partners separately and ask about domestic violence. The screening should be standard policy to ensure that victims don’t get nervous as to why they are being asked. The victim often feels that they are the one to blame in the situation; other times, victims are in denial and will make excuses for the partner. 

Individuals working with clients should always have material available on domestic violence.  Restrooms are an excellent place to put material on domestic violence because the victim is alone.

When screening for domestic violence, it is imperative that you know the limits of your confidentiality. If you are required to report instances of domestic violence, you need to tell the victim before they disclose. Once reported, the victims’ life can be turned upside down. They may lose their job because they have to go to court and their perpetrator may come after them for disclosing.

In conclusion the speakers explained that there are resources available. In addition, the DC Coalition against Domestic Violence can come to organizations and train staff.

Additional information on screening for domestic violence.

Debbie Billet-Roumell is the coordinator of the DC Women’s Agenda, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation that is a coalition of advocacy organizations, service providers, and individuals working to promote the advancement of equality, safety and well-being for women and girls in the District. It is chaired by the DC Employment Justice Center and Wider Opportunities for Women.

Issues impacting elderly women aren't old news.

Posted on by Sherell

I frequently ponder and analyze various issues affecting women, and the lives of women in general.  How far we have come over the last few decades, how grand the numerous obstacles that still hinder us are, what the plentiful definitions of feminism are and how women choose to adopt them.

But lately, my mind has been on a different spectrum of women, namely older women. Specifically, I’ve been thinking more and more about services for older women- or the lack thereof. I don’t really know why, or if there was a specific event that triggered this novel introspection, but I became curious, and began asking myself what services are available for elderly women, what are their needs, and how do their needs differ from those of younger women?

It’s easy, for me at least, to focus on helping young girls and middle-aged women.  I think I’ve always had an ability to conjure up images of little girls, young adults, and middle-aged women when I am doing work around issues specially related to women, or analyzing “women’s issues.”   When I read success stories on women working their way out of economic poverty, landing better jobs, getting landmark promotions, or something of the sort, I generally picture someone in their twenties, thirties or forties.

But now, a change has come. I visualize women like my mom. I wonder about the lives of female baby boomers.

What happens with older women recently released from prison?  What sort of assistance is readily available for them to get back on their feet (e.g., finding safe shelter, food, financial assistance, quality health care, etc?) 

How many are still in prison for non-violent crimes committed decades ago and how do their hardships differ from that of their younger counterparts?

What about the homeless? What kinds of services specially catered to their varying needs are readily available?

How much attention is being paid to the increasing number of retired women who fall prey to investment schemes and lose all or most of their life savings to skyrocketed and/or hidden fees?

How do the ones who are out of work on disability and depend on social security income to make ends meet spend their spare time?

How big of a problem is a lack of health insurance?

My wide spectrum of questions applies to older women all over the world. I wonder what everyday ills plague their lives. These women are mothers, grandmothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, care-takers of their children’s children, widows, divorcees, survivors of war, cancer survivors, retired professionals, etc.

It would behoove me to learn more about the older age bracket, because they always have and always will be an intricate part of my life, and life in general.

Even though so many great projects and initiatives exist today to sustain young girls and help them grow into adulthood with security, success, and the knowledge to fight against discrimination, we can’t afford to forget about the older generation. They might not be creating communities anymore, but they sure are sustaining them, all over the world. They are our bloodline.

I even put these thoughts in connection with recent and past natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the recent earthquake in China that left a daunting amount of fatalities, the May 2008 tsunami in Myanmar, and countless others.  How do these life-changing calamities alter life, particularly for older women?

I don’t really have any answers, yet.  But I think it’s important that we consider these issues, and work towards their solutions. 

I intend to start with me.  Once I learn more, I can also learn what I can do about some of the problems. Just remembering that I have to consider all women when thinking of women is a turn in the right direction.

Just laying these words down helps awaken my senses.

Thankfully, I do know that there are many wonderful people and programs that have been way ahead of me! They are on the front lines working to combat the hardships that are unique to older women.  There’s the Older Women’s League with many initiatives geared towards helping and caring for older women. There’s also The Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, a nonprofit housed in Philadelphia that offers a comprehensive list of activities and services for older adults.

Even some of The Women’s Foundation’s Grantee Partners have services that directly and indirectly benefit older women. The vast array of Grantee Partners’ work focuses on issues such as mental health, homelessness, incarceration, domestic violence, immigration, finding good jobs, etc., and these types of broad issues affect women across the age spectrum.

It’s now my preliminary mission to learn specifically about the problems that plague older women, determine how I can help at an individual level, and discover what other organizations exist for older people, namely women.

I have a feeling that it will be cumbersome to find organizations working solely with the issues affecting older women, but it’ll be interesting to see how I can play a role in fixing that problem.

Sherell Fuller served previously as The Women’s Foundation’s program assistant.

Giving circle's example should inspire greater action on behalf of policymakers.

Posted on by Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat

Imagine my delight yesterday at opening the Washington Post to see a front page article on our African American Women’s Giving Circle. The title of the article said it all, “A Circle With a Deep Center: Black Women Pool Resources in Grass-Roots Effort to Alleviate D.C.’s Social Ills.”

Unfortunately, my delight was tempered upon noticing the article printed just above it, which detailed the Bush Administration’s most recent attempt to limit women’s access to birth control.

An interesting juxtaposition—local women joining together to support organizations providing health care to disenfranchised communities in Southeast D.C., right next to federal efforts to further limit access to health care, particularly for the underserved.

And we wonder why we’re not making headway on health care in the United States?

Earlier in the week, there was an article contrasting federal support for HIV/AIDS programs globally and domestically. According to the article, the District of Columbia has the highest prevalence of HIV infection of any jurisdiction in the U.S. at about 1 in every 20 residents. The DC Department of Health states that women account for nearly one-third of all newly reported HIV/AIDS cases, with African American women accounting for the majority (9 out of 10).

Similarly, a women’s health report card published by the National Women’s Law Center gave D.C. a failing grade in its efforts to meet the health care needs of women. The neighboring jurisdictions of Maryland and Virginia did not fare much better, both receiving unsatisfactory grades.

I am truly inspired by the efforts of the African American Women’s Giving Circle because together they are making critical investments to improve the lives of women and girls in D.C. where others have turned a blind eye.

However, it is disheartening to think that their efforts are not fully supported on a much larger scale by our government, policymakers and other key decision makers, who have the ability to truly enact widespread change and to make  a systematic difference in the lives of women and girls and their health and well-being. 

Because, in the end, it truly does take a village.

Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat is a program officer at The Women’s Foundation, responsible for grantmaking in the realm of health and safety.  She has more than a decade of experience as a policy advocate on reproductive health issues impacting the low-income and uninsured.

FAIR Fund: 'At least I am not dead, but I am still out here.'

Posted on by Andrea Powell

Pimps were everywhere.

That is the first thing that I noticed when I arrived with a colleague in downtown D.C. late in the night last week to conduct outreach to prostituted teen girls. And, the police seemed to be out in large numbers, too.

So, if it’s so easy for us to find the pimps and traffickers, then why don’t the police just arrest and prosecute them – like the 2008 conviction and 96 month sentencing of Levar Simms for the prostitution of a 16 year old minor across state lines?

We hung back and watched young women, most of whom looked between the ages of 20 and 25 but could have been in their teens, as they stood on the corners and watched men go by in cars. The cars would slow down and a girl would look back to her pimp to see if she should get in the car.

Other times, a girl would be alone.

I handed some girls food and my colleague would hand them outreach cards with a hotline number for trafficked persons. As one very thin young woman with a black eye said, “At least I am not dead, but I am still out here.”

Then, she turned to follow a potential client’s car down the street.

A pimp is someone who forces someone else, usually a very young girl, to have sex for money. The pimp takes the money that the girl “earns,” and does so successfully because they are abusive and manipulative. They have strict rules, strict quotas, and dole out punishments to the girls in their "stable".

As some of the teens in our D.C. classrooms told us “Pimps Up, Hoes Down,” which means that if a girl is walking down the sidewalk and another pimp walks onto that street, she must go into the street and cross over.

I find it very disturbing that any 14-year old girl would know so much about prostitution.

Pimps run the largest growing criminal industry by exploiting girls across the globe.  So, how is it that these pimps are just standing around on 14th and K in downtown D.C.?

Pimping is illegal in Washington, D.C., as is prostitution and solicitation. And, if you are minor involved in commercial sex it is considered a form of human trafficking. As a member of the D.C. Anti Trafficking Task Force, our organization, FAIR Fund, has trained some very caring police officers in how to identify and assist victims of trafficking.

Still, the problem is everywhere on the streets – and what seems worse – increasingly moving online.

There are several reasons why an arrest for pimping and paying for sex is so difficult. 

First, both parties would essentially have to incriminate themselves. FAIR Fund has found, though, that the true barrier to ending sex trafficking of minors here in D.C. is that there are few incentives for a young girl (or boy) who is identified to testify against their exploiter because law enforcement and outreach organizations that work to help young victims have very few options to present to him or her.

Typically, she is jailed as the only means of detaining her – not exactly a comforting environment.  Nevermind the irony that In a city where a 15-year old is too young to consent to sex, she can still be charged for prostitution.

And, because there is not a single safe space designed in the District or surrounding areas that is available for a teenager who is being commercially sexually exploited, life away from a pimp means hunger, homelessness, and an uncertain amount of abuse. Trying to convince that young person to testify against her trafficker could very well seem more risky than it does safe.

Imagine, though, if there was a space for these young victims to be safe from their violent exploiters. A space where the District Attorneys Office, our Metropolitan Police Department, and local nonprofits would be able to direct a young victim to the services and support that she needs while advocates are busy working to build a case against a trafficking and pimping network.

Perhaps, then, she might feel supported enough to press charges against a man that has put her on the street since she was 13.

Perhaps, then, she might be the key to arresting, prosecuting, and jailing what we would argue are some of the most dangerous criminals in Washington, D.C. 

Perhaps, then, the scene on the streets would change and the pimps wouldn’t be everywhere.

Andrea Powell is co-founder and executive director of FAIR Fund, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.  She co-wrote this blog with FAIR Fund’s development officer Amelia Korangy.

Beauty isn't just skin deep. It should also be defined by deep pockets.

Posted on by Phyllis Caldwell

I was thrilled when the Dove representative told me how they’d found us.

"We did a Google search for “inspiring women,” she said, and we came up with a blog on your site by Wendy Weaver.

I can’t think of a better Google search I’d like for us to pop up on, since inspiring is really our business.

Our donors and volunteers inspire us, and each other, every day. Our Grantee Partners inspire change in women and girls throughout our region. And those women and girls inspire our staff, board and supporters to continue to give back and grow the powerful wave of women’s philanthropy we’re all creating together.

It feels good any time that this is recognized publicly, even by a search engine.

Dove was looking for inspiring women to invite to be guest columnists on their Campaign for Real Beauty site. They asked me to write a brief reflection on a woman that has inspired me in some way.

I chose to write on a long-term hero of mine, Madame CJ Walker, the first African American woman millionaire, a model of philanthropy and a smart, savvy business woman. She began life as a slave, and ended it a brilliant entrepreneur making the first hair products especially designed for African American women.

As I was writing the piece, which will be posted in the coming weeks on the Dove site, I couldn’t help but think about the relationship between women and body image—the very issue Dove is addressing with their site.

And how for many women, their perception of their worth, their beauty, their self-esteem, their bodies, is dictated by an externally imposed sense of what is beautiful—rather than by an internal acceptance of all the quirks and differences that make us all unique.

Yet, there are far fewer external voices dictating notions of what women should do with their money, how they should feel about their money, what they should expect from their money.

Women are to shop, to buy, to consume.

Buy this face cream, this outfit, these shoes, and you’ll look fine, be fine.

The messages that make it an equally powerful expectation that women will save, build wealth, take control of their finances and feel good about their wealth are rather quiet in comparison, keeping women, and particularly young women, focused on youth-saving face creams, rather than on financial savings—which is crucial to economic security and wealth building.

And to building a secure retirement plan.

Because all the face creams in the world don’t actually stop the aging process or the future from coming.

In retirement, women are far more likely to face poverty than men, because older women are far more likely to be unmarried, they live longer on average, and because Social Security doesn’t tend to pay women as much as men, just to name a few reasons.

But whatever the savings goal—be it retirement, a home, a college degree or a car—I wish that women received more messages that inspired them to invest in their own financial futures than they did to invest in losing weight, looking younger or dressing better.

Because there’s nothing more beautiful than a woman in control of her finances and her future.

Phyllis Caldwell is president of The Women’s Foundation.

Polaris Project on Fox news explaining how youth human trafficking hits home.

Posted on by Tayler Wilhelm

Although many can conjure an image of human trafficking in other countries far from our own homes, the reality is that human trafficking is occurring in every single U.S. state and the large majority of victims are females.

According to the U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report: 2007, 80% percent of transnational victims are women and girls. Research on U.S. victims is limited, but the percentages are likely similar to those globally.

Polaris Project works both locally, nationally and internationally on the issue of modern-day slavery. Polaris Project DC operates the Greater DC Trafficking Intervention Program (DC TIP) to combat human trafficking in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Southern Maryland.

Launched in 2002 to create an effective community-based response to curb local human trafficking network activity, DC TIP provides comprehensive case management services to victims in the Washington metropolitan area and works to prevent human trafficking. In the last year, DC TIP conducted direct outreach to 1,115 at-risk and in-risk victims of trafficking; made over 25 emergency responses to victims in crisis; provided emergency case management to over 40 women and girls; and, received 2,758 crisis hotline calls.

This issue has been in the spotlight this week and our president was called on by Fox news to provide more information on how it is effecting our community.

See the Fox coverage on YouTube.

More about the multi-state FBI raids resulting in the rescue of 21 child victims.

Tayler Wilhelm is development officer at the Polaris Project in Washington, D.C., a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.  For more information or to support the work of Polaris Project, visit PolarisProject.org or email Tayler at twilhelm@polarisproject.org.