Advocacy | AAUW of Hawaii

Reproductive freedom and access. Title IX. Pay equity. End gender-based violence and sexual harassment. Paid family leave. Affordable childcare. Affordable kupuna care. Get involved. By changing public policies, we can improve the lives of women, girls and their families in Hawaii.

Advocacy is AAUW of Hawaii’s top priority. We collaborate with Hawaii state legislators and community advocates to push forward policies that break through educational and economic barriers for women and girls.

Sign up to get email notifications on the bills, advocacy trainings, educational events, rallies and other actions you can take to change the public policies for gender equity. Email us at publicpolicy-hi@aauw.net if you have questions.

Outcome of 2024 Legislative Session

Three bills AAUW of Hawaiʻi supported passed 2024 legislative session and will become state laws on July 10th unless the governor vetoes them.

Prevent abusive litigation (HB2657)
Constitutional Amendment on same sex marriage (HB2802)
Expand the civil statute of limitation in case of childhood sexual abuse (SB2601)

We also worked on paid family and medical leave, affordable childcare, and expanding reproductive access. Reference our tracking report for the details. Watch the recording of the AAUW of Hawaii 2024 Legislative Session Kickoff where we went in-depth on the paid family and medical leave with Nicole Woo, Director of Research and Economic Policy at the Hawaii Children’s Action Network.

Forty one AAUW of Hawaiʻi members and partners had a great time meeting with state legislators to advocate for paid family and medical leave and affordable childcare on March 7th.

Outcome of 2023 Legislative Session

(signing of campus safety and UH confidential advocates bills)

Five bills AAUW of Hawaiʻi supported became Hawaii state laws.

protect and expand abortion access omnibus bill (Act 2)
equal pay – pay transparency, use of “substantially similar work” (Act 203)
campus safety – trauma informed training, awareness + prevention, prohibit disciplinary actions against individuals reporting sexual misconduct (Act 76)
UH confidential advocates: victim-counselor privilege for privacy, DV training (Act 84)
accreditation program and grants for child care providers (Act 169)

We worked closely with Hawaii state legislators and community advocacy partners on the five bills which passed but also on paid family leave, gender equity on board, sexual violence prevention education at DOE, extending CSOL for child sexual abuse, wage subsidy pilot for childcare workers, kupuna care, and free menstrual products at UH. Reference our tracking report for the details.

Outcome of 2022 Legislative Session

In July 2022, the following seven bills which AAUW of Hawaii supported became Hawaii state laws.

Title IX data collection and equity training (Act 242)
Ban workplace NDAs in case of sexual harassement or assault (Act 288)
Childcare workforce registry (Act 292)
Free of charge menstrual products to public school students (Act 113)
Housing assistance to needy families (Act 237)
Minimum wage increase to $18 (Act 114)
Incorporate kupuna caregivers program into kupuna care program, add services for care recipients, caregivers, and employed caregivers (Act 160)

Title IX

On left: Patsy Takemoto Mink, Collection of the U.S. House of of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, unveiled on June 23, 2022; photography courtesy of Sharon Sprung and Gallery Henoch, New York. On right: A commemorative lei ceremony was held on June 23, 2022 at the Patsy Takemoto Mink monument outside the Hawaiʻi State Library to mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark Title IX legislation that Mink championed

Since the passage of Title IX in 1972…

one in 5 girls in the United States played sports by 2016, one in 27 did before Title IX
Percentage of female students in higher education -> 43.1% in 1972 to 56.7% in 2017
Percentage of female STEM workers -> 8% in 1970 to 27% in 2019

In addition in Hawaii…

2018 Hawaii State Session Laws Act 110 protects LGBTQ+ students under Title IX
2022 Hawaii State Session Laws Act 242 requires annual reports on Title IX by public schools, equity training by Hawaii state DOE
2023 Hawaii Session Laws Act 076 requires UH to provide trauma informed training, awareness + prevention, and prohibit disciplinary actions against individuals reporting sexual misconduct
2023 Hawaii Session Laws Act 084 expands victim-counselor privilege for UH confidential advocates, increase DV training