Women’s eNews: Pushing for Paid Safe Leave for Survivors
Women’s eNews recently ran my essay on the importance of paid safe leave for survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence, and how absent any comprehensive federal paid leave policies, advocates must focus on policies ensuring survivors’ dignity at the state and local levels.
With the 2024 US election culminating in a Republican trifecta at the federal level, those of us across the nation advocating for universal paid leave policy in the US certainly shouldn’t expect it to come to fruition at least for the next two years, likely more. In fact, it’s a fair assumption that anything disproportionately impacting women and families falls squarely in the incoming administration’s crosshairs as something to make worse for us, not better.
Just as we did during the first Trump administration, we must push state and local governments not only to protect what progress we’ve made across issue areas, but to continue paving the way for equity and dignity as our systems are far from perfect as they stand. When it comes to paid leave, while we see progress in some state and local governments, our advocacy must now pivot to those yet to follow suit in the absence of any federal policy — and in doing so, we must include paid safe leave for survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence, because just like any other protective policies, our dignity shouldn’t depend on where we live or work, and in this case, where we experience life altering trauma.