Senior Advisor to the National Partnership for Women and Families to speak at Fairfield University for Women's History Month

Senior Advisor to the National Partnership for Women and Families to speak at Fairfield University for Women's History Month

In honor of Women's History Month, Fairfield University will present, "A REAL Family-Friendly America - What Government Can (And Should) Be Doing" a discussion by Judith L. Lichtman, senior advisor and former director and president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, formerly the Women's Legal Defense Fund. The free lecture will take place on March 30, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. in the Barone Campus Center Oak Room at Fairfield University.

Judith Lichtman has been a leader in the struggle for women and children's rights for 30 years. Today Lichtman and the National Partnership are at the forefront of today's fight for fair pay, safe and affordable health care, paid family leave, adequate child care for working parents and other policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family.

In her talk Lichtman will describe how, in spite of official rhetoric extolling family values, the United States has a dismal record of providing support for real families, said Lucy Katz, J.D., holder of the Robert C. Wright Chair in Business Law, Ethics and Dispute Resolution at Fairfield University's Charles F. Dolan School of Business. Although in 78 percent of U.S. families both parents work, often putting in more than 90 hours per week, the United States is alone among the industrialized nations in providing no paid leave after the birth of a child and no adequate care for children, Dr. Katz said.

Lichtman will present her views on what the United States can and should do to bring about paid leave, to end pregnancy discrimination, sex discrimination and sexual harassment, and to guarantee adequate health care and reproductive rights.

"We've come a long way, but our work is far from done," Lichtman said. "My daughters, and all our children, deserve a future where every school and workplace is truly free of discrimination, and where all families have the support they need to succeed at home and on the job. I know from experience - if we can imagine it, we can make it happen."

This event is open to the public free of charge. It is sponsored by the Women's Studies Program, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Wright Chair in Business Law, Ethics and Dispute Resolution and the Program in Law and Ethics, Dolan School of Business. For more information, please contact Lucy Katz at (203) 254-4000 ext. 2840, or Rose Rodrigues, (203) 254-4000 ext. 2784.

Posted On: 03-13-2006 10:03 AM

Volume: 38 Number: 195