Women’s Rights and Opportunities
Representative Casten is committed to supporting and expanding women’s rights and opportunities — by protecting reproductive rights, fighting for equal pay for equal work, and supporting programs that aid women subjected to harassment and abuse.
We must ensure that women are treated equally – including in the workplace. For every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 80 cents, and the wage gap is even larger for women of color.
In the first few months as a Representative, Rep. Casten was proud to be a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work. This legislation strengthens and closes loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act to secure justice for working women in Illinois and across the country by providing effective remedies for women subject to unfair and inequitable pay practices.
Violence Against Women Act
Domestic violence and abuse is far too prevalent in our country. Rep. Casten is committed to combating domestic violence and advocating for victims of abuse. He is proud to have cosponsored and helped to pass H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, which has been absolutely vital to saving the lives of women and their families since its inception. This bill addresses gaps in current law, and does so in collaboration with victim service providers, law enforcement, and other experts in the field. Rep. Casten also won approval of his amendment to the bill to include campus faculty in grant programs so they can be trained in recognizing and responding to domestic or sexual abuse.
Women's rights are human rights. Rep. Casten will continue to protect and advance women's rights here in the United States and around the world.
More on Women’s Rights and Opportunities
Downers Grove, IL. – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06), as a member of the Pro-Choice Caucus, joined Co-Chairs Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) along with the Pro-Choice Caucus Task Force Chairs including Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 115 members of the House in a letter to Senate leaders urging them to delay confirming any Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg until after the next president is sworn into office.
Casten, Frankel, Lawrence Introduce Bill to Protect K-12 Students from Sexual Harassment and Assault
Washington, D.C – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) and Democratic Women's Caucus Chairs Lois Frankel (FL-21) and Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) introduced the Stop Sexual Harassment in K-12 Act. The bill aims to address sexual harassment and assault occurring in our nation's K-12 schools by creating clear standards and related funding streams for schools to uphold their students' Title IX rights.
Downers Grove, IL – U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following video to highlight DuPage County’s “Founding Mothers,” a group of women who have been fighting for reproductive freedom since the early ‘70s, when they opened DuPage County’s first women’s health clinic in the basement of a church in Wheaton, Illinois. The purpose of the discussion was to shed a light on the obstacles women have historically faced when seeking reproductive care or family planning services, and to celebrate the courage of this group of women who stepped up to force change.
Summer 2020
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Climate Action Town Hall with Rep. Kathy Castor
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Town Hall with IRS Liaison Susan Gainous
Spring 2020
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April COVID Town Hall with Drs. Landon and Murphy
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April Town Hall with State Sen Laura Ellman
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April Town Hall with State Rep Karina Vill
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April AARP Teletown Hall
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April Town Hall with Reps Foster and Underwood
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06), introduced the bipartisan, bicameral ESP Family Leave Act, legislation which would ensure that the Education Support Professionals (ESPs) who keep our schools running have access to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The legislation is cosponsored by 17 Representatives.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement condemning the U.S. Senate’s vote to end debate on two bills designed to limit abortion rights, S. 3275 the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and S. 311 the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement after the House passed H.J. Res. 79 by a bipartisan vote of 232-183. The resolution would remove the arbitrary 1982 deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06), along with U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), as well as, U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy III (MA-04), introduced legislation that prohibits the consideration of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or actual or perceived sexual orientation when calculating damages in civil lawsuits.
Chicago, IL. – This week, U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (IL-06) and Robin Kelly (IL-02) convened a non-partisan Congressional Maternal Health Field Inquiry, in collaboration with Advocate Children’s Hospital, to shine an urgent light on the rising rate of American mothers dying from pregnancy and childbirth. The inquiry’s findings will contribute to larger federal reporting and fact-finding efforts to craft a national response to America’s shocking and growing maternal morality rate.
It was one of his talking points on the campaign trail last year and it hasn't gone away.
Climate change is an "existential threat" to human life, 6th District U.S. Rep. Sean Casten says, and it's the problem around which he's built a career.
But now, instead of addressing climate change as the head of his own business, the Downers Grove Democrat is attacking the issue as a politician representing a large swath of the West and Northwest suburbs.