The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that women make just 78 cents for every dollar men make.  This is real life for women working in a country with a gender pay gap alive and well. The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau illustrate how that gap affects women, who are the primary source of income for 40 percent of American families.  The gap is even worse for minority women.  Read more HERE.

Last week, the Senate voted to move forward on the Paycheck Fairness Act. But then 20 senators reversed course. It’s time to get mad and hold elected officials to the promise of a conversation through our votes in the 2014 midterm elections and by keeping equal pay on the forefront of our representatives’ minds in the next Congress.

As a founding member of the Riverside Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RCAHT), our philosophy is to bridge the gap of awareness; to establish a common ground of information and knowledge on the issue of human trafficking in order to prevent future cases; identify victims; and provide knowledge and tools to the community, service providers, and law enforcement. RCAHT has created several specialized trainings in English and Spanish to meet the community needs.

Last year, SafeHouse had over 200 human trafficking cases and we are currently managing 45 ongoing long-term cases. 90% are female and 10% are male. The majority of our survivors are children/youth and victims of sex trafficking. Our training programs provided 4,492 individuals a total of 133.25 hours of information and distributed 9,194 in reading materials and referrals. 60-75% of the clients receive appropriate intake and eligibility assessment, referrals for shelter/housing and basic needs, referrals to other regions and services, intensive case management, medical and dental, mental health counseling, education, legal assistance, literacy, advocacy, job training, life skills training, and 24-hour evening and weekend response.

Most everyone knows that, on average, women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns.  This year April 8th was declared Equal Pay Day as the day when women’s pay equaled the pay that men earned in all of 2013.  But did you know that there are several really Unequal Pay Days?

June 12 was moms’ Equal Pay Day, the symbolic day when moms’ earnings catch up to dads’ from the previous year. It takes so long because working mothers typically are paid 69 cents for every dollar working dads are paid. June 16 is African American women’s Equal Pay Day, and November 12 is Latinas’ Equal Pay Day.  Tell Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.