The 19th: How federal lawmakers achieved a ‘watershed’ year of progress fighting gender-based violence and sexual harassment

December 12. 2022

Executive Director Noreen Farrell is featured in an article in The 19th today discussing how 2022 has been a “watershed” year for legislation and public policy supporting the gender justice movement:

“We have had a couple of great wins in Congress,” Noreen Farrell, executive director of advocacy group Equal Rights Advocates, told The 19th, calling 2022 a watershed year. “And these are wins that I would say advocates, over decades, would have never thought they could see happen at the federal level.”

“A key piece of this has been the silencing agreements,” she noted. Farrell said efforts to limit forced arbitration and NDAs at every level have “really gained momentum in a way that I don’t think anybody who’s represented workers in these cases thought possible.”

“What we like to say is, ‘Pay us more and touch us less,’” Farrell said. “It’s not just about the harassment, it is the whole system that values women’s work. When women’s work is valued as it should be, then women have options.”

Read the article.