Women’s center decries state cuts

The UNM Women’s Resource Center is working to combat what they consider cuts aimed at New Mexico’s women.

New Mexico’s first female governor, Susana Martinez, proposed cutting 100 percent of funding for the N.M. Commission of the Status of Women in her Jan. 1 executive budget.

UNM WRC Interim Director Summer Little said she was surprised to hear about the cut because the state needs the commission.

“When we look at how we rank in terms of domestic violence, sexual assault, poverty, all of the indicators of women’s wellness, the status of women in the state — I think that really provides the evidence the commission is still needed,” she said.
The commission began at the WRC in the early 70s, and Little said the resource center still has a close connection with it.

WRC employee Tatiana Burks said eliminating the commission will impact women who use the resource center. She said the resource center may also take on some of the commission’s programs in the event funding is cut.

“It’s not a good idea,” she said. “If (Martinez) cuts the funding, it’s going to affect a lot of people and a lot of the people we help. … We refer a lot of the women who come here to the commission.”

Legislation repealing the N.M. Commission on the Status of Women was introduced Tuesday, and, if it goes through, the commission will disappear June 30, according to House Bill 528.

The bill would also attach the Office of the Governor’s Council on Women’s Health to the general Department of Health and transfer the Office of Displaced Homemakers to the Department of Workforce Solutions.

The WRC will have to wait and see if the bill if passed, Little said, before deciding how to deal with the outcome.

“At that time we will either celebrate, or figure out how we can preserve the commission’s
components that are important to New Mexico’s women,” she said.
Regardless of the commission’s fate, Little said the resource center will remain an important part of UNM campus life.

“There continues to be a need for the Women’s Resource Center because women, as a group, still face some barriers to success,” she said. “Issues of equal pay, issues of violence against women, issues of images of women in the media — so many issues kind of come together to still prevent a lot of women from really finding the personal success they deserve and want.”