The Deep South Network for Cancer Control

Alabama has a glorious history of strong women struggling to overcome obstacles, sometimes as movements but often in individual fights for dignity, autonomy, and survival. Imagine the strength and ingenuity it took— and takes—for a slave woman, a sharecropper, a battered wife, or a domestic worker to survive. Women in this state have also fought on behalf of others, through social movements such as the abolitionist, anti-lynching, trade unionist, prison reform, suffrage, anti-poll tax, literacy, and civil rights movements. More recently, such battles have focused on equal rights for women, protection from rape and domestic violence, child support, reproductive rights, child care, educational equity, and inheritance equity. Currently, attempts to improve the status of Alabama women are particularly focused on the continuing problems associated with poverty and relative powerlessness. Alabama organizations are examining poverty, the lack of women in decision-making positions, violence against women in the home and on the streets, and the poor health of women. So far, these contemporary efforts have at times been fragmented and lacked coordination. Now we have a guide. After these many years of struggle, The Status of Women in Alabama examines the progress that we have made and compares the position of Alabama’s women to that of women in the rest of the United States. Specifically, the report examines political, economic, social, and health measures. We can be proud of ou