Women's Rights

Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, we push for a world where women are able to live equally and fully in society.

In a crowd of people at the Women's March, the focal point is on one black sign that reads in white, "Our Voice is Our Power."

From our case to pave the way for the first woman firefighter in New Haven; to our lawsuit to require Quinnipiac University to provide equal athletic opportunities for women; to our lawsuit alongside military sexual assault survivors to force the military to release records of disability benefit claims from survivors of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment; to fighting in the courts and legislature to overturn the state's "manifest danger" law that previously allowed the state to imprison umarried women under the age of 21; to suing employers who only asked women job applicants about their reproductive histories; to fighting to ensure all girls can compete in school sports, the ACLU of Connecticut has a long history of fighting for women's rights.

A look back at history shows that women have made great strides in the fight for equality, including women’s suffrage and inroads in equal opportunity in the workplace and education. Despite the tremendous progress made in the struggle for gender equality, women still face violence, discrimination, and institutional barriers to equal participation in society. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, we push for change to end discrimination against women.

The Latest

Resource
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Firewalls for Freedom

News & Commentary
ACLU of CT Smart Justice leader Terri Ricks sits, smiling and facing the camera. She is wearing glasses and a blue people not prisons sweatshirt, in front of a yellow people not prisons sign.

Schools should be places of learning. Not places for policing.

It didn’t make any sense to me that at a place of learning where I wanted to be focused on my future, instead I was facing just another battle. Police in schools are pre-prepping young people to be traumatized and victimized when they’re just trying to be students.
Press Release
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ACLU Foundation of CT Joins Lawsuit Challenging Breastfeeding Discrimination

The ACLU Foundation of CT will represent a Norwalk mother in a lawsuit that seeks to uphold the right to breastfeed without restriction in public schools under Connecticut’s civil rights law.
Issue Areas: Reproductive Justice, Women's Rights
News & Commentary
In black, on a green background, is the ACLU of Connecticut Rise PAC logo. A semi-circle with prongs, like a sun or crown, is on the left, over the "r" in "rise". Below, it says "ACLU of Connecticut PAC"

Get to Know the Candidates for Governor

Learn more about the candidates for governor in the ACLU of Connecticut Rise PAC questionnaires.
Court Case
Oct 27, 2022

Amanda R. Whitman-Singh v Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and City of Norwalk Board of Education

We're fighting to ensure Connecticut’s civil rights laws, including the right to breastfeed, apply in public schools and public places throughout the state.
Court Case
Dec 08, 2021

Olson v U.S. Coast Guard Academy

The decision to become a parent is deeply personal, and no school or job should be able to interfere with that choice. Yet for cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, that is exactly what their school does.
Court Case
Apr 01, 2021

Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities v Edge Fitness (amicus brief)

The way to prevent men from harassing women in public spaces is to create measures to stop harassment, not to create exceptions to our state’s anti-discrimination law that implicate women as the problem.
Court Case
Mar 29, 2021

Chase v Penney (amicus brief)

When police disbelieve, shame, and punish sexual assault survivors for coming forward, it not only contributes to stigma and trauma around sexual assault – it also violates the Constitution’s protections against discrimination on the basis of sex.