South Carolina making progress to get more women in General Assembly and leadership roles

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South Carolina making progress to get more women in General Assembly and leadership roles

2024-04-18 02:17 Last Updated At：02:20

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — At first glance, the all-male South Carolina Senate subcommittee deciding whether to approve a proposal to remove the sales tax from feminine hygiene products was a reminder that as recently as 2012 the state had no women in its Senate.

But progress is being made. The election of a sixth woman to the 46-member Senate in January pulled South Carolina up from last place in the U.S. in the percentage of women in its upper chamber.

No one noted the composition of the all-male Senate Finance subcommittee and they listened to five women speak in favor of the bill before ceding the floor to Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy, who broke the chamber's four-year run with no women in 2013.

“I know we have a lot to do, but we can always do one more thing,” said Shealy, who spoke about how important it is to keep products like pads and tampons affordable and available, especially for younger women already struggling in poverty.

The bill, which was approved 114-0 in the House last year, passed through the subcommittee unanimously Wednesday. It now heads to the Senate floor. There are only three weeks left in session, but if anyone has a shot in making sure it gets to the governor's desk, it's Shealy, who got 11 bills where she was primary sponsor passed last session — twice as many as any other senator.

South Carolina women have started organizing to get more of them into political office, from the General Assembly down to school boards.

SC Women in Leadership is in its sixth year encouraging women to run for office, training them to be better candidates and supporting them when they get elected. The group helps Democrats and Republicans.

It's an uphill climb. Just 27 out of the 170 senators and House members in South Carolina are women. That 15.9% is above just West Virginia (11.9%), Tennessee (15.2%) and Mississippi (15.5%), according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Just the addition of Democratic Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine in January boosted South Carolina past a few of those states.

The five women in the Senate in 2023 — three Republicans and two Democrats — banded together to keep South Carolina from passing a near-total ban on abortions. They picked up the nickname the Sister Senators.

Shealy said it shows women can disagree when their political beliefs differ and still come together when their common experiences match.

Women in Leadership said women's experiences are different than men and it's vital their voices are in leadership so they not only get heard, but incorporated into policy. And the group also helps women find spots to serve on government boards and commissions

“'Feminine' traits like empathy, collaboration, and altruism, which women have long been told are weaknesses are, in fact, precisely the traits we need in our leaders,” the group says.

They hold sessions like Presenting Yourself in Person and in the Media, Building Your Campaign Team and Lead Like a Woman.

In 2016 in South Carolina, just seven women ran for state Senate and less than 10 ran for the House. This year, there are 26 women running for Senate and 63 running for the House.

At Wednesday's meeting, University of South Carolina students Thrisha Mote and Anusha Ghosh spoke in favor of the bill. They created a group called No Periods Left Behind.

The group found women who can't afford feminine hygiene products using whatever they have, like a sock, or not changing the items as frequently as necessary, increasing chances for infections, Ghosh said.

“It’s time to acknowledge that mistral hygiene products are not luxury items but essential necessities for the health and liberty of individuals,” Mote said.

There was more data. South Carolina is one of 21 states that still tax feminine hygiene products. The state would lose about $6 million in revenue.

And after the subcommittee vote, Ghosh and Mote took photos with Shealy, subcommittee Chairman Republican Sen. Tom Davis and others.

There are plenty of other bills that the women of the South Carolina General Assembly said can use their perspective. Republican Sen. Sandy Senn got a bill through the Senate that would allow for cosmetologists to do hair styling and make up in mobile studios or homes. Currently, those services have to be done in permanent structures.

The state allowed barbers, who are more often male, to open mobile hair cut shops in 2021. Senn said plenty of women preparing for weddings or other formal events would prefer to have their hairdressers come to them.

Senn's bill is awaiting action in the House.

“Hopefully you like us enough to know we’re not evil and we are hopefully going to do good by bringing our perspectives to everything,” Senn said.

The Latest | Hamas officials leave Cairo after talks on a cease-fire proposal

2024-04-30 16:39 Last Updated At：17:01

Officials from Hamas have left Cairo after talks with Egyptian officials on a new proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News satellite channel said Tuesday.

The channel, which has close ties with Egyptian security agencies, said a Hamas delegation will return to Cairo with a written response to the cease-fire proposal, without saying when.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel on his latest trip to the region, which began Monday in Saudi Arabia. He said Israel needs to do more to allow aid to enter Gaza, but that the best way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis is for the two sides to agree to a cease-fire.

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the unprecedented Oct. 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The war has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.

Currently:

— Ahead of visit to Israel, Blinken presses Hamas to accept the new cease-fire proposal.

— U.S. military ships are helping build a pier for Gaza aid. It’s going to cost at least $320 million.

— The top United Nations court is set to rule on Nicaragua’s request for Germany to halt aid to Israel.

— Student protests over the war in Gaza roil U.S. campuses ahead of graduations.

— A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels damages a ship in the Red Sea.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

CAIRO — The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday the bodies of 47 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 61 wounded, it said in its daily report.

That brings the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to at least 34,536, the ministry said. Another 77,704 have been wounded, it said.

The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies, but says that women and children make up around two thirds of those killed.

The Israeli military says it has killed roughly 13,000 militants during the war, without providing evidence to back up the claim.

CAIRO — Officials from Hamas have left Cairo after talks with Egyptian officials on a new cease-fire proposal in Gaza, Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News satellite channel said Tuesday.

The channel, which has close ties with Egyptian security agencies, said a Hamas delegation will return to Cairo with a written response to the cease-fire proposal, without saying when.

The delegation, chaired by senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, held talks with Egyptian officials Monday that focused on an Egyptian-crafted proposal to establish a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Along with Qatar and the United States, Egypt is mediating between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce after nearly seven months of war. In recent weeks, Egypt has stepped up mediation efforts in hopes of averting an assault on Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city on the border with Egypt where more than half of Gaza’s population is sheltering.

The terms of the draft deal were not made public. But Israeli media said Israel softened its position, now seeking the release of 33 hostages — down from 40 — in return for the release of some 900 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas is believed to hold around 100 Israelis in Gaza and the remains of at least 30 more.