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NEW: MISSING - A Diversity of Voices Among Women Governmental Appointees

As MISSING documents, ideology seems to trump expertise in many recent governmental appointments to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An April 2004 report issued by the National Women's Law Center (NCRW Member Center) highlights another aspect of this disturbing trend - at least ten women with close ties to the Independent Women's Forum (IWF) have been appointed to senior government positions, representing a very narrow ideological perspective. IWF takes the ideological stance that the playing fields for women and men are equal and therefore the "special treatment" of women is no longer necessary. As Martha Farnesworth Riche, former director of the Census Bureau, clearly articulates in MISSING, this is not true: inequities between men and women are still present, and further, "without specific attention to gender differences in information collection and publication - gender disaggregation of data - the effects of gender differences are hidden in a black box."

IWF is a harsh critic of many of the very policies that provide the tools women and girls need to succeed, policies that recognize that the playing field for women and men is not yet level. For example, 90 percent of women surveyed in a recent poll have cited equal pay as a top priority.[1] As MISSING documents, the 20 percent gap between the mean wages of men and women has remained consistent for nearly 20 years. Nevertheless, IWF dismisses claims of a gender wage gap as mythical[2] and calls important efforts to highlight these differences - such as Equal Pay Day - "cockamamie."[3] The IWF has also stated that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is based on "ignorance, non-facts, and wishful thinking about the power of the federal government to curb violence between intimate partners."[4] VAWA, since its inception in 1994 and revision in 2000, has become instrumental in promoting the rights and ensuring the protection of victims of violence. IWF is vocal against a program that targets girls' participation in sports (Title IX), calling the administration's reaffirmation of Title IX in 2003 "both disappointing and disheartening."[5] IWF has also been critical of combat roles for women in the military as well as the committee formed to promote the equal rights of women in the services, the Defense Advisory Committee of Women in the Services (DACOWITS). IWF asserted that DACOWITS's agenda, "which promotes gender quotas, women in combat roles, and gender-integrated basic training - weakens the basic purpose of the military: to fight and win wars."[6] As MISSING reported, DACOWITS was nearly disbanded in 2002, only to be reinstated with a new mission that downplays women's equity and access issues. Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM), the only woman of Congress who is as a veteran, was instrumental in assuring that DACOWITS was not disbanded. Rep. Wilson argued that she knew firsthand that "women in the military need opportunities to express concerns without fear of reprisal from their chain of command."[7]

IWF government appointees include: Jessica Gavora, former director of the IWF anti-Title IX project, appointed to the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy; Patricia Ware, IWF National Advisory Board Member, appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS[8]; Nancy Pfotenhauer, President and Chief Executive Officer of IWF, and Margot Hill, a National Advisory Board member of IWF, appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women, which reports to the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services about ways to effectively implement and enforce the Violence Against Women Act.

See the National Women's Law Center for further list of IWF appointees (PDF).

To find out more about Title IX:
www.savetitleix.com/overview.html
www.aauw.org/takeaction/policyissues/titleix.cfm

To find out more about VAWA:
http://endabuse.org/programs/display.php3?DocID=126

To find out more about the gender wage gap see the Institute for Women's Policy Research (NCRW Member Center):
www.iwpr.org/States2004/index.htm

Endnotes

1. Center for the Advancement of Women. (2003, June). Progress and Perils: New Agenda for Women. http://www.advancewomen.org/report/index.php. [Return to text]

2. Independent Women's Forum. (2001, June 1). IWF Busts Wage Gap Myth. http://www.iwf.org/issues/issues_detail.asp?ArticleID=515. [Return to text]

3. Linda Chavez. (1999, April 6). How to Spend Equal Pay Day. Jewish World Review. http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/chavez040699.asp. [Return to text]

4. Anita K. Blair. (2000, January 1). The Fine Print of Federal Domestic Violence Laws.http://www.iwf.org/media/media_detail.asp?ArticleID=396. [Return to text]

5. Independent Women's Forum. (2003, July 23) Title IX Update. http://www.iwf.org/issues/issues_detail.asp?ArticleID=336. [Return to text]

6. Independent Women's Forum. (2002, April 1). New Day for DACOWITS. http://www.iwf.org/issues/issues_detail.asp?ArticleID=363. [Return to text]

7. Morahan, Lawrence. (2002, February 28). Pentagon Lets DACOWITS' Charter Expire. CNSNews.com http://www.cnsnews.com/Pentagon/Archive/200202/PEN20020228b.html. [Return to text]

8. Patricia Ware resigned from her position in February 2003 after Jerry Thacker, chosen for the Presidential Advisory Committee on her recommendation, withdrew his name surrounding controversy over anti-gay comments that he made in speeches and on his website. In addition, the Kaiser Foundation reported that Ware herself "appeared at times . . . [to] blame the gay community for AIDS." (Kaiser Network. [2003, February 5]. Daily HIV/AIDS Report. http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=15872). [Return to text]

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