What is discrimination? Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different groups of people based on race, age, sex, or many other categories. Many different groups of people face discrimination in the United States. Women have always faced the most discrimination in America. Some places they are discriminated against are in the workplace, in the different branches of the military, and in society. Discrimination against women is not limited to foreign countries, it happens here too. Women in America have come a very long way, but they still have a ways to go. Although there are many laws and regulations to protect women in the US, discrimination still happens every day. In order …show more content…
The first law, the Equal Pay Act, was established in 1963. It prohibits discrimination against any groups, including women. A more recently enacted law regarding discrimination in the workplace is the Lily Ledbetter Act of 2009. This law prohibits the unequally treatment of women and older workers. The FMLA or Family Medical Leave Act protect people who need time off to receive medical care or provide care for an immediate family member. This applies more so to women whenever they need time off for maternity leave. Women are also generally the primary caregivers whenever a family member, such as a child, is sick. Women also reach the “glass ceiling” in most careers. The glass ceiling is when a group hits the highest level on the career ladder that they will be able to reach within a company. The group is not promoted to more prestigious positions within the company based on discrimination (Mayhew, Ruth). In US society, men are “more suited” towards CEO and higher leadership positions than women. The recently appointed CEO of General Motors is Mary Barra. She is the first female ever to run GM and also to run any global car manufacturing company. Unfortunately she is …show more content…
The average rate of sexual assault of women in the military by a man is about twice the civilian average, at 1 in 3 women. That is over 30%, or around 65,000 women of the 200,000 in the armed forces. The pentagon estimates nearly 10,000 cases of sexual assault per year, but only about 3,000 are reported. Military academies also have a growing epidemic of sexual assaults on campus (Hagopian, Joachim). The reason most aren’t reported is most likely due to the court system. A very high-ranking military commander in charge of persecuting sexual assault in the US Army was being investigated for sexual misconduct, according to the New York Times. Even some of the men in charge of programs for reducing the number of assaults and providing education to prevent these behaviors have been convicted of the same crimes. Recently the commander in chief of Fort Bragg, North Carolina was given a “slap on the hand” punishment. He served no jail time and was given a mere $20,000 fine. He was not demoted, he was allowed to stay in the Army, and he is going to be able to retire with full benefits even though he plead guilty to sexual assault of a women in the Army. Many women do not feel safe reporting sexual assault within the Army due to the way it is handled. An estimated .1% of cases result in a conviction (Hagopian,