The Ohio National Organization for Women (Ohio NOW) was formed in April 1972 in order to more easily connect the Ohio chapters to the National Organization.[1] Ohio NOW has 9 total chapters located in Akron, Ashtabula, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Oberlin, Port Clinton, and Toledo. The National Organization for Women is a non-partisan, non-profit organization funded by private donations and membership dues.
The Ohio NOW chapter focuses on six main issues: reproductive rights, ending sex discrimination/constitutional equality, promoting diversity and ending racism, economic justice, stopping violence against women, and lesbian rights including marriage equality.[2]
Specific issues that have been or are currently a focus of the Ohio National Organization for Women.
Access to safe abortions in Ohio is becoming increasingly difficult due to Ohio abortion laws and the attempts to close many of Ohio's abortion clinics.
Ohio NOW is working towards keeping the Center for Choice abortion clinic open in Toledo by attempting to find a transfer clinic for the center's patients.[3]
The organization works with Changing Campus Culture, an initiative started by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, to help prevent and respond to sexual violence occurring on state campuses. The initiative received $2 million from the state budget to focus on individual campus needs, training programs, and individual grants. The initiative seeks to prevent sexual violence based on received input from campus presidents, advocacy groups, and community experts in order to create recommended practices.
Ohio NOW and the National branch work with the Department of Labor to decrease the pay gap between men and women. On average, full-time working women earn just 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.[5]
Ohio State Rep. Kathleen Clyde (D-Kent) and Rep. Stephanie Howse (D-Cleveland) introduced House Bill 330 in September, aiming to eliminate pay disparities for women. The Bill addresses causes of the pay gap and is divided into three components:
The Ohio NOW organization was on the forefront of the Steubenville High School rape case. Ohio NOW collected signatures to continue the investigation to bring justice to the student who was raped, and protested in Columbus for charges to be brought against the individuals responsible for the rape[7]
NOW Equality PAC (NEP) works at a more local level, as many state and local NOW chapters have political action committees that can support candidates for state, county and city offices, from governors to school board members.
Ronnie Rosen 1972
Janet Burnside 1973
Judith Sidwell 1973-1974
Lana Moresky 1974-1975
Debra Hart 1975-1976
Eva Janecek 1976-1977
Maryann Barrett Baker 1977-1979
Linda Furney 1979-1981
Joan Rourke 1981-1983
Kathy Helmbock 1983-1985
Phyllis Carlson-Riehm 1985-1988,1990-1992
Joyce Barolak 1988-1990
Betsy Marshall 1992-1996
Jacqueline Hillyer 1996-2000, 2010-2013
Diane Dodge 2000-2004, 2006-2010
Susan Bader 2004-2006, 2014-2014
Anita Rios 2013-2014, 2014–present