Mayor Eric Garcetti will be celebrating Women’s Equality Day this evening by signing an executive directive calling on city departments to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which the City adopted in 2004.
“Our city only succeeds if everyone has an equal shot at success. For too long, our women and girls have been left behind and counted out, and I want Los Angeles to lead in employing and empowering women,” said Mayor Garcetti. “With this executive directive, we recognize that while we still have far to go, we can make progress — by working collaboratively, measuring what we do, and trying innovative approaches.”
The directive requires each General Manager or Head of Department to submit a Gender Equity Action Plan by February 1, 2016 to implement a gender-equity strategy that:
- upholds an inclusive work environment that promotes fairness and fosters the equal participation of women in leadership positions at all levels;
- tracks recruitment in fields where women remain underrepresented (such as public safety, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and addresses such underrepresentation;
- tracks contracts and promotes ways to ensure equal contracting opportunities for women-owned business enterprises;
- evaluates City services to discover ways to increase gender parity and to promote equal opportunities for, and the advancement of, women and girls;
- provides any raw data regarding sex and gender on the City’s open-data portal;
- identifies and develops baseline metrics regarding the status of women and girls; and
- publishes to the online Gender Equity Dashboard metrics and indicators related to the status of women and girls.
The directive also creates a Gender Equity Coalition, made up of liaisons from each department, that will coordinate with the Commission on the Status of Women to fulfill the City’s responsibilities under the CEDAW ordinance, review and monitor all plans and dashboards, and identify additional goals and critical areas that require focus, including targeting women from particularly vulnerable groups such as transgender women, women living with HIV/AIDS, undocumented women, women of color, seniors, and young women and girls.
Mayor Garcetti also announced today the final results of The Report on the Status of Women and Girls in Los Angeles, the first-ever study focusing on the issues and trends affecting the women and girls in the City of Los Angeles.
In line with his commitment to delivering solutions for Los Angeles that are based on the best possible information, Mayor Garcetti asked the City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women to commission the report to guide policymaking to address economic, social, and other inequalities facing women.
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The five-part report was researched by Mount Saint Mary’s University. The first two parts, released in March, examined gender equity in the areas of Demographics and Leadership. The final three parts focus on Veterans, Education and Workforce Development, and Public Safety.
Key findings of the final three parts of the report include:
- Los Angeles is home to roughly 108,000 veterans, 6% of whom are women, compared with 8% at the national level.
- In Los Angeles, female veterans are more diverse and younger than their male counterparts. Fifty-six percent of female veterans are people of color, compared with 47% of male veterans. Twenty-five percent of female veterans are under the age of 35, compared with 9% of male veterans.
- Employed female veterans in Los Angeles earned a median income more than $9,000 greater than non-veteran females in 2012.
- Los Angeles women with year-round, full-time jobs earn $0.97 for every $1 earned by men. However, for the pool of all employed women, including those with temporary or part-time jobs, 11% have salaries below the poverty line, and women working year-round, full-time jobs in L.A.
- Twenty-five percent of L.A.’s women currently lack a high school degree. An additional 20% have a high school degree but no additional educational attainment.
- Overall crime rates in the City of Los Angeles decreased for 12 consecutive years, yet 2014 and the first half of 2015 saw an increase in reports of violent crimes, including aggravated assaults and domestic violence crimes. In 2014, reports of violent crime in Los Angeles increased 14.3% from the previous year, with reports of spousal abuse increasing 27.7%.
- In 2014, women comprised 19% of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)’s approximately 10,000 police officers. Out of a total LAPD workforce of 12,711 people (including both civilian and sworn staff police officers), 28% are women.
- Out of 3,244 total firefighting positions in 2014, women made up just under 3% of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD)’s force of firefighters. Out of a total LAFD workforce of 3,470 people (including both civilian and sworn staff firefighters), 7% are women.
The report can be viewed at www.lamayor.org/statusofwomen
About Mount Saint Mary’s University
Mount Saint Mary’s is the only women’s university in Los Angeles and one of the most diverse in the nation. The University is known nationally for its research on gender equality, its innovative health and science programs, and its commitment to community service. Since 2012, Mount Saint Mary’s has published an annual Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California, one of the most authoritative and comprehensive compilations of current research focusing on the issues and trends affecting women and girls statewide. Mount Saint Mary’s assists cities and counties throughout the state in creating reports on the status of women and girls in their own communities. As a leading liberal arts institution, Mount Saint Mary’s provides year-round, flexible and online programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. Weekend, evening and graduate programs are offered to both women and men. Mount alums are engaged, active global citizens who use their knowledge and skills to better themselves, their communities and the world. www.msmu.edu 
