VALUES & PRINCIPLES
• We believe that Women ’ s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women ’ s Rights . This is the basic and original tenet from which all our values stem .
• We believe Gender Justice is Racial Justice is Economic Justice . We must create a society in which all women — including Black women , Native women , poor women , immigrant women , Muslim women , lesbian , queer and trans women — are free and able to care for and nurture their families , however they are formed , in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments .
• Women deserve to live full and healthy lives , free of violence against our bodies . One in three women have been victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime ; and one in five women have been raped . Further , each year , thousands of women and girls , particularly Black , indigenous and transgender women and girls , are kidnapped , trafficked , or murdered . We honor the lives of those women who were taken before their time and we affirm that we work for a day when all forms of violence against women are eliminated .
• We believe in accountability and justice for police brutality and ending racial profiling and targeting of communities of color . Women of color are killed in police custody at greater rates than white women , and are more likely to be sexually assaulted by police . We also call for an immediate end to arming police with the military grade weapons and military tactics that are wreaking havoc on communities of color . No woman or mother should have to fear that her loved ones will be harmed at the hands of those sworn to protect .
• We believe it is our moral imperative to dismantle the gender and racial inequities within the criminal justice system . The rate of imprisonment has grown faster for women than men , increasing by 700 % since 1980 , and the majority of women in prison have a child under the age of 18 . Incarcerated women also face a high rate of violence and sexual assault . We are committed to ensuring access to gender-responsive programming and dedicated healthcare including substance abuse treatment , mental and maternal health services for women in prison . We believe in the promise of restorative justice and alternatives to incarceration . We are also committed to disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline that prioritizes incarceration over education by systematically funneling our children — particularly children of color , queer and trans youth , foster care children , and girls — into the justice system .
• We believe in Reproductive Freedom . We do not accept any federal , state or local rollbacks , cuts or restrictions on our ability to access quality reproductive healthcare services , birth control , HIV / AIDS care and prevention , or medically accurate sexuality education . This means open access to safe , legal , affordable abortion and birth control for all people , regardless of income , location or education . We understand that we can only have reproductive justice when reproductive health care is accessible to all people regardless of income , location or education .
• We believe in Gender Justice . We must have the power to control our bodies and be free from gender norms , expectations and stereotypes . We must free ourselves and our society from the institution of awarding power , agency and resources disproportionately to masculinity to the exclusion of others .