Amidst Looming Threat of Rights Reversal, Ms. Foundation Leads Coalition Launching Women's History Month Campaign

NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Prompted by intensified attacks on women's rights this election year, the Ms. Foundation is leading a coalition of 25 women's funds from across the country to increase attention to the issues affecting women and girls nationwide.

With politicians openly supporting a reversal of women's rights – from attempts to deny them access to contraception to deeming them unfit for military combat – the "Calling All Women: Send a Message of Strength" campaign is raising awareness of the inequality that exists and highlighting the change that local and national women's funds are advancing in communities around the country.

"We live in an era in which women's rights can no longer be taken for granted," said Ms. Foundation President and CEO Anika Rahman. "Recent attacks on access to basic women's health care, like contraception, breast cancer screening and prenatal care, necessitate immediate action to preserve and advance equality for women."

Throughout the month of March – Women's History Month – the campaign is using mobile-giving technology and a multi-pronged social mobilization approach to spread the message that women must unite for change. By texting WOMEN to 50555, supporters can donate $10, which will be distributed to participating women's funds.

The campaign features a video demonstrating the impact of inequality on women's lives. With women still earning only 77 percent of men's pay and disparities in access to health care and education pervasive, women continue to lag behind men in many social indicators.

Women's funds across the U.S. work every day to make positive change by supporting women on a broad range of issues, including living-wage jobs and workplace supports for mothers. By building leadership, skills and connections, these funds also help combat the underrepresentation of women in public office and higher-earning career fields, like science and technology.

For more information about the "Calling All Women: Send a Message of Strength" campaign, please visit callingallwomen2012.com.

About the Ms. Foundation for Women
The Ms. Foundation for Women is the leading national social justice foundation committed to building women's power to ignite change. Every day, it helps over 150 grassroots organizations across the US fight for changes like good paying jobs, reproductive health, ending violence against women and girls, and the inclusion of women at decision-making tables. By investing in social justice trailblazers—especially women from low-income communities and communities of color most affected by injustice—it works for a nation in which power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, class, or any other factor. The Ms. Foundation delivers funding, builds skills, develops leaders, connects activists with allies, and amplifies the voices of our grantees to create change that benefits women, families and communities. ms.foundation.org

SOURCE Ms. Foundation for Women