By Kristen Corey | Iowa Commission on the Status of Women

I still remember the day perfectly. It was an afternoon during my first several months at my current job that I received a call from a young woman, who was sobbing so hard at first that I couldn’t tell what she was saying to me. Over the course of our phone conversation, I learned that she was 20 weeks pregnant and was told by her doctor that she had to go on bedrest because of complications with her pregnancy. I also learned that her partner had left her when he found out she was pregnant, and she worked an hourly job that required her to be on her feet.

When she asked for an accommodation from her employer so she could be off her feet and protect her health as well as the health of her baby, her employer reduced her hours from 40 hours per week to fewer than five hours per week. By the time she had called our office, she could no longer pay her rent and her landlord was preparing to evict her. She was going to be homeless at 20 weeks pregnant.

A week or so after that phone call, she emailed me to update me on her situation. Thankfully, through a few different referrals that our office had made, we were able to find rental assistance to keep a roof over head until the day she gave birth. The day after she gave birth, she was on her own to try to find a way to support herself – recovering from the trauma of childbirth, while also supporting her newborn baby on her own. I still think about her and wonder how she and her small child are doing almost every day I come to work.

I would like to say that hers is the only call I’ve ever received like that, but sadly, that is not the case. Stories like this one are more common in my line of work than most would like to think. For all of the employers that go above and beyond to support all genders in the workplace, there are also those who disproportionately support one gender over another through the policies and rules they enact.

Too often in advocacy work, we hear only the horror stories of the terrible things that happen to Iowans. We rarely hear the good stories and have good examples of best practices for other employers. Hearing these stories – both the good and the bad – is the impetus behind a new project our office started called the “Iowa Women at Work” project. This project was started to give women space to tell these stories and to let their voices be heard. It’s also a space to collect the stories of those employers that are truly supportive of all genders to use as examples for others.

If you are an employer who has policies you believe are good examples for others or if you identify as a woman and have experiences of your own, we would like to hear them. To learn more about the “Iowa Women at Work” project or to submit your story, click here.

Kristen Corey leads the Office on the Status of Women at the Iowa Department of Human Rights; however, this article is her own opinion, and may not represent the opinions of the State of Iowa. Corey received a master’s degree in sociology and sustainable agriculture from Iowa State University, where she started her career as an academic researcher for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. She later worked for the Iowa Department of Human Services and then moved to her current position to follow her passion for working with and for women and girls. She and her husband have two small children and are constantly re-negotiating roles as working parents.