Women make up half the population and half the workforce in Santa Clara County. Yet, women represent only 31 percent of councilmembers in Santa Clara County’s 15 cities. A woman’s ability to advance and move to greater economic prosperity is compromised whenever women experience discrimination, inequity, or lack of opportunity. These effects are damaging, not only to women, but to the entire community. SCCDP recognizes the need for true equity for women in decision-making, leadership and elected office. The Santa Clara County Democratic Party: 

• Supports increasing funding for domestic violence programs and other services for vulnerable populations.
• Strongly supports pay equity, and believes that remedial measures are required to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.
• Supports access to safe, reliable, high quality, and affordable dependent care, especially for working single mothers, and supports subsidized or free dependent care low-income families.
• Strongly supports free childcare services during all public meetings, so that parents with young children have an equal opportunity to serve their community in elected and appointed office or in public advocacy work.
• Will fight for adequate funding for childcare programs, and adequate, inclusive, and culturally competent training for childcare workers.
• Supports paid parental and family leave for full and part time works as well as fair treatment for pregnant workers and their spouses.
• Unconditionally supports a woman’s right to choose, and believes that it is essential to protect legitimate family planning service providers and regulate “crisis pregnancy centers” and other deceptive organizations that exist to manipulate vulnerable women for religious and political reasons.
• Supports meeting needs of women and girls in Santa Clara County, which can be identified by SCC’s Office of Women’s Policy’s annual Status of Women and Girls Reports. 
• Strongly opposes all discriminatory behavior against women, including misogyny, sexual harassment, and sexual violence.
• Believes that any person who perpetrates sexual harassment or sexual assault of any kind is unfit for elected and appointed office, and that public officials and entities have a duty to investigate accusations of sexual harassment or assault and take appropriate corrective or punitive action.
• Believes that gender parity in elected and appointed office must be more than a slogan, and, therefore, we must take affirmative action to support qualified female candidates for elected and appointed office.