Portland’s only female-focused coworking space and social club. We cater to entrepreneurs, freelancers, professionals, & anyone who wants to surround themselves with inspiration. 411 Congress Street, Portland www.coworkHERS.com New This Year: MAMMOTH MATINEE Featuring Performances By: MAMMOTH Brass Band, MAMMOTH Rock Chorus, MAMMOTH Strings 1 PM | FREE! Saturday, March 3 4 PM at Port City Music Hall $12 advance | $15 day of show | $20 Preferred Seating ALL AGES PRESENTS F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 8 6 1 mayor and city councilor Linda Abrom- son recognized the city’s removal of those toilets as her first legislative victory. Across town, The Portland Country Club hosted a men-only tee time that excluded female members. Finally, in 1991, the club amend- ed those by-laws to “afford women the same rights of membership as men, including the same access to tee times.” “The club lead- ers recognized the rules and by-laws were archaic,” says member Kathy Drake. While women’s pay toilets and golf course re- strictions gall today, they pale in compari- son to the darker issues the MWL faced in state legislation. It wasn’t until 1985 that the Spousal Exemption, which did not recog- nize marital rape as a crime, was removed from Maine’s sexual assault laws. In addi- tion, language was added that no longer made rape a “lesser crime” if it occurred on a date. The Road Ahead I n a state that ranked ninth-highest na- tionally in homicides against women by men in a 2013 Violence Policy Center study, change hasn’t gotten any easier. Do- mestic violence continuously makes up 50 percent of these homicides each year. “As you can see from the #MeToo movement, we still have a lot of work to do on attitudes and social structures,” says Townsend. “It’s the complex nature of the issues and the tendency in the media to reduce the issues to sex and body parts–or even something as simple as the five-cent bathroom fee– though it is appalling.” Much of the lobby’s work centers on economic stability and vi- olence against women. “Money is the over- varching issue above anything else,” says Townsend. “Whether you have money, what you have to do to get money, and whether or not you stay in a relationship that’s not working–everything is shaped by money.” There has been positive change. Townsend notes the expansion of Maine’s