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 improving the 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. Support our 2026 state legislative priorities (to be posted in January 2026) by submitting testimonies in support.
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Outcome of 2025 Legislative Session
(celebrating the 53rd anniversary of Title IX with Governor Green)
Three bills and one resolution AAUW of Hawaiʻi supported passed 2025 legislative session and became state laws.
- Act 203 – preschool open doors
- Act 19 – use of campaign funds for child and dependent care
- Act 139 – expand free school meals
- SCR145 – paid family and medical leave working group where AAUW of Hawaii will represent the voices of working women
Outcome of 2024 Legislative Session
Three bills AAUW of Hawaiʻi supported passed 2024 legislative session and became state laws.
- Act 252 – prevent abusive litigation
- HB2802 – constitutional amendment to remove legislature authority to limit marriage to opposite sex couples
- Act 250 – expand the civil statute of limitation in case of childhood sexual abuse
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.
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
Pay Equity
Since the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963…
- Gender pay gap narrowed from 41% to 16% – women made 58.9% of what men made in 1963 and women made 84% of what men made in 2021
- President Obama signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into a law in 2009
From Hawaii New Now Sunrise
In addition in Hawaii…
New Equal Pay law requires pay secrecy, transparency for employees in Hawaii, From Hawaii News Now on July 18, 2018