In February of 2024, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution supporting the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This decision was strongly backed by the Santa Cruz County Women's Commission who has concerns about the limited availability of public data sets for conducting intersectional analysis. The commission emphasized the importance of data that considers various factors like gender, race, and geographic location to examine disparities across the county and identify opportunities for targeted intervention. DataShare will be working with the Women's Commission over the course of Spring 2024 to address data gaps in six categories identified by the California Women's Commission - Status of Women and Girls; Healthcare, Economic Empowerment & Justice (including a focus on the impact of childcare costs and available resources for economic opportunity & advancement), Education, Violence Against Women, Criminal Justice and Political Participation.

The goal of this spotlight is to start a conversation about some key data we have available now to assist in advancing gender equity goals in Santa Cruz County. The data is broken out to highlight disparities among women when available and statistically stable (by race/ethnicity, age, gender identity, disability status, geographic regions, etc). 

Data for economic justice for women can include income and earnings, business-ownership, poverty rates, homelessness and unhoused data, labour market participation and caregiving statistics. Learn more at Facts & FIgures: Women's Economic Empowerment. See below for data highlights and a dashboard of available indicators. 

Utilizing appropriate clinical and preventative services in a timely fashion can have important implications on the progression and treatment of many diseases. Individuals who receive services in a timely manner have greater opportunity to prevent disease or detect disease during earlier, treatable stages. A delay of necessary care can lead to an increased risk of complications.

Voting is essential in democracy to ensure representation, but barriers like complex registration and unfair laws discourage many eligible voters, especially minorities. This has historically lead to their needs being overlooked. To address this, many groups advocate for simplified registration, expansion of voting options, restoration of voting rights to former prisoners, and improvement of education on voting. Political behavior also shapes societal perceptions of gender characteristics.