2010's Top 10 Women's Rights Victories

To get us started on the right foot with 2011, let us remember the victories Change.org members helped achieve in 2010. It's an inspiration for the new year, to keep fighting the good fight on behalf of women's rights, and to remember the power of change.

1. Freedom for the Scott Sisters: Jamie and Gladys Scott were set free today. The two young African-American women had received the overly harsh and discriminatory sentence of life in prison for their role as accomplices to a robbery that netted $11 and physically hurt nobody — while the armed men who performed the actual hold-up got off with only a few years. Jamie developed severe kidney problems while in prison that immediately threatened her life and motivated the push to get her and her sister released after 16 years, a more than adequate sentence, with the Action Committee for Women in Prison mobilizing 10,000 signatures on Change.org. Gladys is donating one of her kidneys to save her sister's life.

2. 18-Year-Old Iranian Women's Rights Blogger Released: Navid Mohebbi kept a blog in which wrote in support of women's rights from time to time, an act that led to his imprisonment in Iran. A Safe World for Women mobilized in defense of this young ally to gender justice, and after coverage from Change.org and other primarily non-mainstream media, Iran released Navid with a "suspended sentence" — a face-saving move in response to international outrage if I ever saw one.

3. NYPD to Fix Sex Crimes Reporting: Attempting to make their crime statistics look more palatable, New York police officers were misreporting rapes as minor misdemeanors, an action that might have allowed a serial rapist to go undiscovered for a longer time. After outrage from women's rights groups and a petition created by Change.org member Jaclyn Munson that garnered over 500 signatures, Amie Newman reported on Christmas Day that the NYPD announced it would be implementing six recommendations from a specially convened Sex Crimes Working Group to address its failures in dealing with sexual assault.

4. Washington Protects Access to Emergency Contraceptive: In our fourth end-of-year victory, the Washington State Board of Pharmacy decided in December to protect women's access to emergency contraception. Faced with the threat of a lawsuit from pharmacies who wanted the ability to refuse to dispense emergency contraception, the Board of Pharmacy seemed set to capitulate. But after thousands of comments from concerned Washington residents, including emails from Change.org members who signed a petition from NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, the Board opted to stand strong and insist women's access to this time-sensitive drug be protected.

5. Sexting DA Replaced by Sexual Assault Survivor: Hundreds of Change.org members called for the removal of Kenneth Kratz, a Wisconsin District Attorney, after it was revealed that he'd been sexually harassing via text a domestic violence survivor whose boyfriend he was supposed to be prosecuting. Kratz resigned in the wake of the outcry, and Gov. Jim Doyle replaced him with a qualified woman who is also a sexual assault survivor, and will bring a very different perspective to the job.

6. Child Rapist Loses Jail-Free Plea Deal: While employed as a Manhattan Family Court counselor, Tony Simmons was accused of sexually assaulting at least three minor girls in his care. For the crime of child rape, Simmons faced zero prison time. But after protests by the NYC-NOW (National Organization of Women) and 1,000 Change.org members emailed demanding that New York take rape seriously, Simmons' plea deal was vacated in November and he now faces trial and potential prison time.

7. Colorado Prisons Stop "Labia Lift" Searches: In Colorado prisons, officials had implemented a invasive new form of the strip search in which female inmates were required to lift up their labia for guard to inspect. These humiliating searches were performed even where there was no reason to suspect an inmate of smuggling contraband, and could cause severe post-traumatic stress episodes for sexual assault survivors. After action by the ACLU and Change.org members, the prison prohibited such unnecessary and degrading searches.

8. FDA Approves New Emergency Contraceptive: When the Religious Right heard that a new, more effective form of emergency contraceptive was pending FDA approval, they immediately took steps to stop the pill on moral rather than scientific grounds. But under the watchful eye and pressure from women's rights advocates and hundreds of Change.org members, in August the FDA did the right thing and approved ellaOne for distribution in the United States.

9. Mississippi School Bans Discrimination Against LGBTQ Students: Constance McMillen just wanted to take her girlfriend to the prom, but her Mississippi high school banned the couple from attending. Her cause garnered the support of nearly half-a-million Facebook users and over 7,000 Change.org members. In July, she won a lawsuit brought on her behalf by the ACLU to the tune of $35,000, and a more priceless gift: a new school policy banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender expression.

10. Domestic Workers Win Bill of Rights in New York: The nannies of New York turned out to demand their rights, and they won. Though the 1930 National Labor Relations Act excluded domestic workers from basic protections such as advance notice of termination, sick days, and paid vacation time, New York finally acted to extend many of these benefits to the primarily immigrant and minority women who work as domestic workers. Similar legislation is under consideration in other states.

Photo credit: Markusram

GOT A TIP FOR US? Is there a story or campaign in your area that we'd want to know about? E-mail us at womensrightstips@change.org. Please also follow Change.org's Women's Rights page on Facebook and Twitter.