Three women who work on women’s issues in the state say women in the country, and in West Virginia, have made great progress, but still aren’t equal.
“Most people believe that U.S. women have one of the highest standards of equality in the world and that’s simply not true,” said Christina Vogt, the president of West Virginia’s chapter of the National Organization for Women. “We lag behind so many other countries.”
Compared to other states, women in West Virginia are even worse off, she said. They’re less likely to get a four-year college degree and more likely to become pregnant as a teenager.
“I think they’re almost last on every economic indicator that you can imagine,” Vogt said.
Also, women are not paid equally compared to men, Tara Martinez-Toney said. She’s the interim director of the West Virginia Women’s Commission and works to raise awareness about women’s issues.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the worst place [to be a woman] but it’s certainly not the best,” she said.
“We have a lot of work to do. We have made some strides improving equal pay in the state. We’ve made strides in increasing women’s pay comparative to the male counterpart, but there’s still lots of work to be done in several other key areas.”
Delegate Bonnie Brown (D-Kanawha) has served in the Legislature off and on since 1983.
“I chair the women’s caucus and I oftentimes have people say ‘Why isn’t there a men’s caucus,’” she said. “And I say, ‘Oh there is. It’s called the Legislature.’”
In her time in office, she’s seen a huge shift in attitudes towards women. When she was first elected, she remembers discussing domestic violence with her colleagues.
“I remember distinctly talking to a male senator,” she said. “And he told me, ‘It’s nobody’s business if I beat my wife.’ And now that thinking, it’s not even there anymore.”
Women make up only 16 percent of the West Virginia Legislature – compared to about one-quarter of seats nationwide.
The 20 women in the West Virginia House and two in the Senate actually represent a slight decline from a peak in the 1990s.
“Women still aren’t equal, but we’re working on it,” Brown said.