President's Report
Luba Fineson

PRISON TASK FORCE  For the past 10 years a group of about 10 Westchester NOW chapter members have been going to the Bedford Hills Correction Facility (BHCF) NOW chapter meetings. We hope to help the inmates (they are the “insiders,” we are the “outsiders”) in any way we can: relations with the outside, providing information, speakers, experts, addresses of legislators, organizations, individuals, developing strategies, and more. We learn from the inmates much more than they learn from us. It has been an enriching and inspiring experience to see women who have been through disappointment, tragedy, and separation rebuild their lives. To make sure we are not just do-gooders, we decided to analyze our purpose and goals, develop a mission statement, get comments from the BHCF and Westchester NOW chapter members and publish it here for your review.

WESTCHESTER NOW PRISON TASK FORCE MISSION STATEMENT:

I. To reassure prison inmates that they are not forgotten.

II. To develop understanding between internal and external NOW members

III. To help incarcerated women advocate for themselves.

IV. To bring in outside resources for the inmates.

V. To educate ourselves to become more effective advocates for women in prison.

VI. To inform the outside community of issues pertinent to women in prison.

VII. To act as liaison between women in prison, NOW membership, elected officials, and the broader community.

VIII. To develop a sense of the sisterhood of feminism.

Do you have a skill or know of a contact who could offer an interesting workshop to women in prison? If you have a special skill, perhaps you would like to join the Task Force. Let us know by leaving a message on the NOW phone and we will get back to you.

OUR NEWSLETTER  NOW-New York City’s newsletter is named NOWNEWS, that of National NOW is NOW TIMES. Can you think of a name for the newsletter of the Westchester chapter? NOW UPDATE; NOW INSIGHT; NOW RUNNER? Let’s brainstorm and come up with a name. Your suggestions are requested.

PROTECTION IN THE WORKPLACE ACT  We want to thank the Honorable Nicholas Spano (R, Yonkers) for sponsoring and agreeing to introduce the Protection in the Workplace Act in the New York State Senate. It was passed in the Assembly, but never got out of committee in the Senate last year. We cannot let employers claim that rape is a workplace risk like any other workers’ compensation injury. In the last issue of this newsletter, we asked you to call Mr. Spano about this legislation that allows women to sue their employers if they are raped or attacked on the job due to employer negligence.

Mr. Spano agreed to sponsor the bill, in large part due to your calls. If the bill passes in the Senate, much credit will go to Mr. Spano, a long time advocate of women’s issues, who has been working with other state senators to gain support for the bill. We can then look forward to New York State’s employers taking their employees’ safety more seriously since they will no longer be able to pass the responsibility for damages on to workers’ compensation and the taxpayers.

Thanks are due for her organizing efforts to NOWNYC president Galen Sherwin, to Elizabeth Mason (attorney for the plaintiff in the settled Saks case and co-writer of the bill) for lobbying with me in Westchester and Albany, to Amy Lowenstein, Director of Women’s Rights at Work, and, what was particularly moving for me, to Dawn, the plaintiff in the Saks case. While her case has been settled, she continues to be active for on-the-job safety for other women.

Please call Mr. Spano to thank him for his support, and call your state senator to urge passage of this bill (Bill number: S.7606) and to remind her that “Rape is not all in a day’s work.”

RECONNECT WITH FEMINISM  Our meeting on March 15th drew a crowd to the YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester to share and hear stories of the early days of the women’s movement in Westchester. Giselle Melnick and Jennie Ries spoke eloquently of the eight NOW members who founded the Yonkers Women’s Task Force out of which grew the Yonkers Women’s Shelter, My Sister’s Place. Other original members remembered in addition to Giselle and Jennie were Clarice Pollock (now in Broward County, Florida NOW) and Kitty Sanchez (deceased). There is a plaque in the entry of My Sister’s Place in memory of Kitty’s work for battered women (lovingly continued by her family) and a new shelter in Mamaroneck.

Audrey Poole and Sioux Taylor spoke of working together in the early days to create the three chapters that evolved into Westchester NOW. Beth Levy, an attorney with Legal Aid, outlined current state and national legislation that needs our attention.

Jan Warren, long time president of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility NOW, moved everyone to tears talking about the women she met while incarcerated for twelve years under a drug conviction. Recently released from Bedford Hills, and one of only four in the State who received the Governor’s clemency last year, Jan will never forget their strength and bravery to get through their time and better themselves. She has vowed to spend her time outside Bedford Hills telling everyone who will listen about her heroes. Jan is working full time, getting the last nine credits for her bachelor’s degree, and speaking publicly about women in prison.