[media-credit name=’ELISABETH GAFFANEY/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Dr. Gloria E. Sarto, a leader in genetic research and women’s studies, spoke Thursday to a crowd of University of Wisconsin students and faculty about the health, safety and well-being of Wisconsin women.
Sarto was the second speaker in a series of presentations sponsored by Wisconsin Women Equals Prosperity, a statewide initiative. Sarto is one of the task-force leaders who helped outline the issues the group hopes to emphasize.
“We want to foster an environment that increases economic prosperity for Wisconsin by improving the health, safety and well-being of women,” Sarto said.
Only 6 percent of Wisconsin women are African-American, and although that seems like a small amount, it is actually about 160,000 women, Sarto said.
Sarto emphasized when the population is broken down into racial categories, the state is actually in trouble compared to national averages because women of minority groups have the most health problems.
“You can’t look at just the averages [of statistics],” Sarto said. “It doesn’t cover our full population.”
With regard to poverty rates, Wisconsin ranks relatively well in national standards, Sarto said. However, once broken into racial categories, the statistics change — the rate of poverty among single women with children in Wisconsin is 23.5 percent.
Sarto pointed out when looked at closer, only 17.2 percent of those are white, while 41.7 percent are African-American.
Sarto and her colleagues also emphasized teen pregnancy is a problem in the state. It has become a major health issue, as Wisconsin has the highest rate of pregnancy among African-American teens in the country, she said.
The initiative’s goal is to not only educate about the problem, but determine where to make changes. Sarto also spoke in regard for women’s safety, stating only 21.7 percent of every 100,000 cases of forced rape are reported. Only 31 percent of the perpetrators in rape cases were convicted in Milwaukee over the past year, she said.
Ninety percent of Wisconsin’s population is insured, one of the highest rates in the nation. But Sarto said she wonders if everyone is satisfied with their providers and if this average is accurate for all races. She also said women should feel comfortable with their providers, especially regarding reproductive rights like insurance for birth control.
Wisconsin falls short compared to the rest of the country in some areas, and Sarto said it is time the state made the choice to do something about these matters, she added.
“Yes, we [women] have to make some of the right choices,” Sarto concluded. “But society has to make some right choices, too.”
UW freshman Carmen Kennie said this type of initiative is a positive thing for women.
“Women in Wisconsin definitely face challenges, and I think it’s great there is a new initiative started to help inform people of the real statistics about the state,” Kennie said.