Mayor and Council Fight Strong for Equity

CouncilmemberQuirina Orozco, who read the resolution of support for the Convention of theElimination of all forms of Women's Discrimination, initiated the formalizingsupport in December 2023. WEST SACRAMENTO,CA (MPG) -

West Sacramento’s all-women council and mayor passed two resolutionsfighting for female empowerment. The Convention onthe Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and thecommitment to the California Equal Pay Pledge are now formally backed WestSacramento. Councilmember Quirina Orozco said that in December 2023, she andCouncilmember Verna Sulpizio Hull wanted to formally support the Convention onthe Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and in less thansix months, they made it happen. “It is anopportunity to overcome barriers and discrimination in political, social, andeconomic fields,” Orozco said of the program, which also addresses domesticviolence, trafficking, affordable health care and childcare, economic security,educational and vocational opportunities, and other issues. Pointing to herpeers, Orozco said, “This is an issue as the state’s all-female councils I findto be very pressing, and I know we can all equally speak from our ownperspectives as a mother of young children, as a social worker, as a nonprofitCEO, who deals with family services and direct childcare.” The days ofquestioning female victims should be over, according to Orozco, who saidhigh-profile celebrity cases of abuse must stop. “When you have tobring in survivor after survivor after survivor to convince one jury that thereis a problem plaguing our society when it comes to being victimized and thedoubts that we carry,” Orozco said. Equal pay forwomen also received attention. Orozco said officials will conduct a study tosee where they may be “falling short so we can come back and address theseissues as a council and adopt policy changes if necessary.” Chair of theSacramento County Commission on the Status of Women Erin Saberi stepped up tothe podium to personally thanked Orozco, the rest of the council, and the mayorfor the CEDAW resolution.

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“We at theSacramento County Commission want to offer our support for any work andimplementation,” Saberi said. “If you want to pass an ordinance, we are helpingthe other cities in the county, and CEDAW Implementing Cities is one of ourpriorities in our work plan.” Citing Conventionon the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women history to its1979 foundation at the United Nations General Assembly, Saberi detailed how theUnited States never formalized support. “We are just oneof only six countries in the world that have not ratified this importantconvention, so leave it to California cities to start taking it locally,”Saberi said, citing other Golden State cities that adopted Convention on theElimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women resolutions, beginningin 2004 in San Francisco. Erin Saberi, chairof the Sacramento County Commission on the Status of Women, thanks WestSacramento officials for formalizing support in favor of women's equality. Saberi said thatin the last few years, some cities that have also taken a stand include LosAngeles, San Diego, San Jose, and now West Sacramento. “We are currentlyat a time when we think this is extremely important, and as you mentionedtonight when talking about children’s issues,” Saberi said. Saberi said womenwere hard hit by the pandemic and remain stagnant, with data proving the same. “Recently,California data show that on all indicators other than education, women arefalling behind for the first time on some indicators in more than a decade,”Saberi said. Mayor MarthaGuerrero said she wants to see citywide change in favor of the resolution“assuring all women have enough early childcare centers, resources for women toget to work, and a guaranteed income program to help them climb out of poverty. “We are strugglingwith poverty, and families are struggling, so in order for them to be able tobe successful, we are going to have to do a lot more work,” Guerrero said.

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