WASHINGTON, D.C. — After sitting in limbo for years, NOW applauds the U.S. Senate for finally passing landmark legislation to put an end to forced arbitration – a predatory practice private companies have long wielded to silence and suppress women. We cannot accept policies that discourage and punish survivors of workplace sexual assault and harassment, preventing them from speaking out, while protecting their abusers.
NOW members have pushed lawmakers to make this change for years to support the millions of women who just want to feel safe when they go to work. Forced arbitration is a discriminatory corporate weapon that robs women of their agency; it’s a practice that’s contributed far too much to the structural inequities and economic injustices women face.
NOW hails this victory, and we look forward to seeing President Biden sign this bill into law, alongside Vice President Harris who has long been a supporter of this measure. Our government and its leaders must stop empowering, enabling and protecting predators. While delayed, justice will no longer be denied to these courageous women.
###
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org.