Seeking Equal Rights – Alice Paul
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
October 27, 2024
Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This Sunday at the Meetinghouse is the day we invite the children (and the children at heart) to wear costumes to Meeting. As well, the last several years people have worn witch hats as we have dedicated the Sunday to “Advocating for Witches” as the early Quakers did during the Salem Witch Trials. The reality was that women were being abused by both the religious and political figures of the day. So, this morning, after I read our scripture, I want to take a serious look at women’s rights today and the role Alice Paul played in our Quaker history. The scripture I have chosen for this morning is Galatians 3:28 from the New Revised Standard Version.
There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
This morning, I am starting my message with some bad news. I know some people like to give their listeners the opportunity to choose what they want first – the good or the bad. But by giving you the bad news, I want to highlight the work that still needs to be done in seeking equal rights for woman in our nation and world, today.
To talk about Alice Paul and her passion for women’s rights, without also talking about what work still needs to be done would not be respectful of the work she did. And to leave this conversation at women getting the right to vote alone, would continue to perpetuate a world much different than the one Alice Paul was envisioning for all women of her time. I sense if Alice Paul was still alive, she would be fighting just as hard for the inequalities and injustices that women face around the world in 2024.
Also, before I even start, I want to acknowledge a couple of things:
1. I am male. I apologize upfront for any lack of awareness. I try hard to research before stating any of my comments as to support women and defend their rights. I am not an authority on women’s issues but feel education is critical at this juncture. I know at times my implicit bias will rear its ugly head – but I admit that I am willing to learn, be corrected, and find solutions to make the world better for women.
2. Also, this is probably going to get political – and there is no way around that. Our history as Quakers if you have not already noticed in the first several sermons in this series, is inundated with women and men getting political, standing against political oppressions, meeting with politicians and presidents, and even fighting the system. So, I apologize if any of this upsets you in light of our current political environment. I hope if anything it will shed some light on what work we still need to do, and what we may not want to vote for in the near future.
Now, back to the bad news. Emmaline Soken-Huberty on the Human Rights Careers page has put together the Top 20 issues Women are Facing Today. She admits that,
“Women’s rights have improved over the years, but continued progress is not guaranteed. In a time of escalating conflicts, rising authoritarianism and devastating climate change impacts, women face many issues related to education, work, healthcare, legal rights, violence and much more. By understanding these issues, the world can work together to achieve gender equality, stronger human rights protections and safety for all people.”
As Quakers who believe robustly in affirming a testimony of equality, I want to remind us what stating that actually means.
As Friends we hold that all people are equal in the eyes of God and have equal access to the “inner Light.” This profound sense of equality leads Friends to treat each person with respect, looking for “that of God” in everyone. It also means we reject all forms of discrimination whether based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, immigration status, class, gender, age, ability, or sexual orientation. We work to change the beliefs, practices and institutions that perpetuate prejudice, and we support affected communities in seeking their own liberation and equality. We continually examine our own biases and privileges and strive to achieve greater equality in our Meeting, in our communities, and in our society. (I adapted that from American Friends Service Committee’s list of Quaker Testimonies)
So now, in light of all I have said already, let me finally address those 20 Issues Women are Facing Today. I am just going to highlight them briefly and I hope you will take the time to research them further on your own.
1. Unequal pay: For centuries, society has undervalued the work women perform. Women are even paid less than men for the same work. We saw this first-hand this year with the WNBA and specifically with our own Caitlin Clark.
2. Racial injustice: All women face discrimination, but women belonging to ethnic minorities face compounded inequalities. Just take a moment and ask a woman of color and they will tell you.
3. Gender-based violence: refers to acts that cause (or are likely to cause) physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women. According to experts, over 1/3 of women and girls experience some kind of violence during their lifetimes.
4. Inadequate healthcare: Healthcare access is a human right, but women face unique stigmas and discrimination.
5. Threats to reproductive rights: According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, 40% of women live under restrictive laws, which represents over 750 million women of reproductive age. 6% of women live in countries where abortions are prohibited completely. Access to contraception increased from 900 million in 2000 to almost 1.1 billion in 2021, but barriers like misinformation about contraception, fear of side effects and access remain. According to the UN Populations Fund, around 257 million women who don’t want to become pregnant still aren’t using safe and modern contraception.
6. Lack of education: All children deserve access to education, but girls have historically faced more discrimination. Progress has been made, but according to UNICEF, 129 million girls are still not in school. Reasons include poverty, gender-based violence, early marriage and a lack of safety, hygiene and sanitation resources.
7. Food insecurity: Women face more food insecurity than men, Research from the World Food Programme identifies a few reasons why. The first is that women are more likely to live in extreme poverty. Globally, women earn just 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Women also face unequal treatment during times of crisis and are more vulnerable to malnutrition during pregnancy.
8. Climate change: Research consistently shows that women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. One reason is that women depend on natural resources, so during times of famine or other disasters, women face the added burden of trying to obtain food. In lower-income countries, women also make up a large percentage of the agriculture industry, which is hardest hit by climate change. Women also face increased risks of violence and sexual exploitation during climate-related emergencies. (just think about that as we have just had several recent climate-related emergencies).
9. Unequal political representation: Society can’t achieve gender equality until there’s equal political representation. According to a survey conducted by Plan International, women still feel “consistently excluded” from politics. Half of the survey participants lived in communities where they felt like it wasn’t okay for girls and young women to be involved in politics. 19% said they had been actively discouraged from getting involved.
10. Discriminatory social institutions: Social institutions are the laws (formal and informal), norms and standards that determine how society functions. Unfortunately, gender inequality is embedded into just about every country’s social institutions in one way or another.
11. Human trafficking: All genders can be victims of human trafficking, but women and girls are especially vulnerable. According to research from 2017, girls and women made up 71% of all victims of trafficking. They also make up 96% of the victims trafficked for sexual exploitation. (And trafficking happens the most during major sporting events like the Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, Final Four, etc…which all have happened right in our city.)
12. Limited freedom of movement: Freedom of movement is an individual’s right to live, travel and move within a country or between different countries.
13. Threats during migration: Migration – forced and voluntary – can be risky. According to the International Organization for Migration, more women are migrating independently, especially from the Caribbean and Central America.
14. Discrimination based on disability: Human Rights Watch estimates there are around 300 million women with mental and physical disabilities. In low and middle-income countries, women represent 75% of people with disabilities. Women are more likely than men to become disabled and face increased discrimination due to the intersection of their gender and disability.
15. Poor mental health: The state of mental health can be difficult to measure, but according to data, more women are diagnosed with mental health conditions.
16. The digital divide: Access to technology increases a person’s opportunities for employment, education, public resources, and more. Women don’t get equal access. According to UNICEF, up to 90% of girls and young women in low-income countries can’t access the internet, compared to 78% of boys and young men.
17. Online harassment: is hard to measure, but there’s little doubt it disproportionately affects women and girls. Online harassment has a terrorizing effect which damages a person’s mental health, discourages them from spending time online and frightens them away from other public spaces. Online harassment can also translate into real-life violence.
18. Unpaid labor: Women aren’t only paid less than men in most places; they also take on more unpaid labor. According to research, the added burden of unpaid labor is associated with worse mental health in women.
19. Inadequate maternal healthcare: Pregnancy and childbirth are inherently risky, but maternal healthcare is inadequate for many people. According to the WHO, almost 800 women died in 2020 from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. A striking 95% of these maternal deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries.
20. Period poverty: Periods are a fact of life for many people, but about 500 million women and girls don’t have the supplies they need, according to the OHCHR. “Period poverty” is defined as a lack of access to products, hygienic spaces, education and other resources.
So that may seem overwhelming, but that was just a taste of the issues facing women of the world, today in 2024. Obviously, some of those issues were not realized yet in Alice Paul’s day. But clearly, she recognized that there were still many inequalities and challenges looming even after women received the right to vote.
So, in light of the challenges for today, let me now take you back and tell you Alice Paul’s story so you understand the often-extreme lengths in which she had to go to have her voice heard as a women of her day. I am reading her story from History.com.
Alice Paul was born to suffragist Tracie Parry and successful Quaker businessman William Paul on January 11, 1885, in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. The oldest of four siblings, she lived with her family on a 265-acre farm, and as Hicksite Quakers, was raised to value living simply along with a high importance placed on gender equality and advocacy. In fact, as a girl, she attended suffragist meetings with her mother.
“When the Quakers were founded…one of their principles was, and is, equality of the sexes, Paul said. “So I never had any other idea…the principle was always there.”
Paul, who graduated first in her class in 1901 from a Quaker school, attended the Quaker Swarthmore College, co-founded by her grandfather, Judge William Parry, graduating in 1905 with a biology degree. She then moved to New York, and, in 1907, earned a master’s degree in sociology from the New York School of Philanthropy (today’s Columbia University).
Paul soon moved to England, where she studied social work and joined the British suffrage movement where she learned militant protest strategies, including breaking windows, hunger strikes, forming picket lines and other tactics and forms of civil disobedience. There, she was arrested on seven occasions and jailed three times. While imprisoned, she carried out hunger strikes and was painfully force-fed for weeks through a nasal tube.
Returning to the states in late 1909, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1912 with a Ph.D. in economics, and in 1922, received a law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University.
Along with fellow suffragist Lucy Burns, whom she had met at a London police station, Paul joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association and was tapped as the group’s Washington, D.C., chapter. But while the organization worked at a state level to fight for a woman’s right to vote, Paul was set on amending the U.S. Constitution.
She and Burns organized a protest parade in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1913—the day before the inauguration of President-elect Woodrow Wilson. An estimated 8,000 women turned out to march from the U.S. Capitol to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, with a reported half-million bystanders responding with both cheers and jeers that included verbal and physical attacks ignored by police.
But the protest spurred Wilson to agree to meet with Paul and fellow suffragists, although he told them he would not push for the amendment.
Undeterred, and disagreeing with tactics followed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Paul and Burns formed the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1913, which then founded the National Woman’s Party in 1916 (the groups merged in 1917).
In January 1917, the groups held the first political protest at the White House, with approximately 2,000 women picketing the president’s home and executive offices for the right to vote. Six days a week for 18 months and clad in white dresses, they were called “Silent Sentinels,” as they protested without speaking and carried signs with messages such as “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?” and “An autocrat at home is a poor champion of democracy abroad.” Over the campaign, more than 150 suffragists were arrested on obstruction of traffic charges, harassed, beaten and jailed.
Among those arrested was Paul, who was sentenced to seven months in the Occoquan Workhouse jail. There, she and the other suffragists were beaten, chained and held in deplorable conditions. In protest, Paul began a hunger strike, and was transferred to a psychiatric ward where she was forcibly fed.
Reports of her hunger strike and the prison condition made national headlines and drew sympathy from the public. Coupled with increasing support for the suffragist movement along with women filling roles on the home front following the U.S.’s entry into World War I, Wilson eventually declared support for the 19th Amendment, calling it a “war measure.” In 1919, Congress passed the amendment and, on August 18, 1920, it was ratified.
With the 19th Amendment passed, Paul began work on guaranteeing women the Constitutional right to protection from discrimination. In 1923, she authored the Equal Rights Amendment, debuting it in Seneca Falls, New York, where the first women’s rights convention was held in 1848. It read:
“Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.”
(Paul revised the amendment in 1943 to read, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”)
Paul founded the World Woman’s Party in 1938, and successfully lobbied the League of Nations to include gender equality in the U.N. Charter and to include sex discrimination in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
On July 9, 1977, Paul died at the age of 92 in Moorestown, New Jersey. The farm she grew up on is a National Historic Landmark and the headquarters of the Alice Paul Institute. The Equal Rights Amendment nearly passed in 1982, but was not ratified when votes fell three states short.
Clearly Alice Paul was one bad-ass Quaker and she went to great lengths to have hear voice heard. Every person, but especially every women in this room, should be grateful for what she did for each of us and the legacy she left us.
In this series, I have usually highlighted a current person or family within our meeting. This morning, my focus is solely on the woman of this world. I believe we have strong women in our meeting and I am grateful for each of your unique gifts, talents, and abilities. You are our Friends, our relatives, our spouses, and I believe you are integral to our growth as a community and a nation.
Yet, there is something that Alice Paul would ask of us this morning if she were here. She would ask us to do everything in our power to continue securing the rights and equality of women in our country and world, today.
That is why I am standing here sharing this message with you all, because as a Quaker, as a husband, father, and friend, I want women to have an equal part in this world. Some may say that makes me a feminist, but I believe it just makes me human.
So, the greatest way we can respond to this message is by making our vote count in just over a week -- which clearly Alice Paul fought hard to secure. Now, I know we each have the right to vote as we see fit, but if you want to help secure the rights of women in our country, we need to listen very carefully and research soundly the candidates and their positions on these issues.
The best way you and I can respond to this message and speak our truth to power is when we cast our votes to be educated and informed, mindful of the consequences, and how they could affect the rights of the women in our lives, community, and our world.
I hope this has helped educate you on the issues facing women, and I hope most of all it will continue the legacy of Alice Paul.
As you center down to ponder all that has been said, please take a moment to consider the following queries:
· What issues facing women seem the hardest for me? How might I become more educated on the issues?
· Out of the 20 issues facing women today, is there one in which I can start making a difference, now?
· How am I planning to make my vote count for women in the upcoming election?