Advocacy & Racial Justice Committee
The YWCA Lower Cape Fear is on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women, stand up for social justice, help families and strengthen communities. We’ve been at the forefront of the biggest issues of the day for 105 years: from voting rights to civil rights, from affordable housing to pay equity and from violence prevention to health care reform.
Members of the Advocacy & Racial Justice Committee lend critical voices as we advocate for policies that bring us closer to eliminating racism, empowering women, and ensuring peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. Members also have the opportunity to assist with a variety of advocacy & outreach events, including:
- Annual Stand Against Racism rally
- Potluck For Peace series
- What’s Wrong With Different? programming
- Annual Week Without Violence awareness campaign
- In-District Advocacy days
- Voter Registration drives
- Community Action days
- & more!
Join the Committee
YWCA Advocacy & Racial Justice Committee Application
Advocacy Agenda
Eliminate policies and practices that criminalize people of color
YWCA is committed to ensuring that everyone is afforded equal opportunity and equal protection under the law. Too often, however, stereotypes, biases, and racial power dynamics are embedded in our laws and public policies. They are also reflected in the use of racial profiling, heightened surveillance tactics, targeted enforcement strategies, and other practices that increase policing of certain racial and ethnic communities (but not others) and criminalize people of color.
What we support:
- The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act
- Ending school discipline disparities and the “school to prison pipeline”
- Ending mass incarceration
Download these resources to learn more:
State Advocacy Agenda
At the core of our mission, the YWCA Lower Cape Fear believes that no one should suffer from the negative impacts of institutional and structural racism. The YWCAs of North Carolina have partnered to focus our collective efforts on the unjust treatment of people of color in our communities. We believe that when community members come together, we can come up with solutions that benefit everyone and create safer communities for all.
Eliminate racial profiling by mandating trainings, transparency and accountability for law enforcement.
Position: We aim to eliminate policies and practices -like racial profiling- that criminalize people of color and other marginalized communities. We support efforts to provide law enforcement with tools and resources to address the role that biases and institutional practices play in their interactions with communities of color and other marginalized groups.
Anti-discrimination
Goal: Build relationships and public support around state level anti-discrimination efforts.
Excessive Use of Force
Goal: Garner interest among local decision makers and stakeholders to revise use of force policies to lean towards de-escalation,mandate implicit bias trainings and enforce accountability measures.
Traffic Disparities
Goal: Garner interest among local decision makers and stakeholders to support mandated written consent, adoption of robust data collection and de-prioritizing regulatory stops.
Protect the Rights and Safety of Marginalized Communities
YWCA’s intersectional mission to eliminate racism and empower women demands that we show up to advocate against the oppression that many groups and individuals endure. We recognize the interconnected experiences of discrimination and disadvantage that women face from their overlapping identities.
What we support:
- A full and fair census
- Restoration of the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
- Legal protections for LGTBQ+ people
- Equal rights amendment
Download these resources to learn more:
Improve Women’s Economic Security
Removing barriers and expanding opportunities for women’s successful workplace participation is at the heart of YWCA’s mission to empower women. No one should have to choose between their livelihood and their health, their family, or their safety. Yet far too many women and families, particularly women and families of color, must make this choice every day.
What we support:
- Fair wages and equal pay
- Safe, fair, and inclusive workplaces free of discrimination and harassment
- Job-protected safe leave, paid sick leave, and paid family leave
- Quality, affordable child care and early education programs
- Access to workforce development and STEM opportunities
- Safe, decent, affordable, and fair housing
- Download these resources to learn more:
Prevent Gender-Based Violence and Support Survivors
Women and girls of all ages, income levels, racial and ethnic communities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and religious affiliations continue to experience violence in the form of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and trafficking. As the largest network of domestic violence service providers in the United States, YWCA works for practical solutions to protect survivors, hold perpetrators accountable, and eradicate all forms of gender-based violence.
What we support:
- Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
- Reauthorization of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Reauthorization Act (FVPSA)
- Preserve and increase the cap of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund
- Common-sense solutions that decrease the threat of domestic violence gun homicide
- Job-protected “safe leave” to enable survivors to seek medical and legal support
- Safe school environments free from sexual violence
Download these resources to learn more: