Gender and Elections

Sánchez joined the other members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate later that night to complete the certification, but her chilling interview – recalling how she feared for her life, and feared she may never see her child again simply for doing her job – underscored the price Latinas and other women of color pay in a political context where race and gender violence have become far too commonplace. Her interview made clear the costs – political, emotional, social, and even physical – that women of color bear as they confront entrenched systems of inequality that target them, their families, and their communities. Finally, the interview highlighted the chaotic nature of work that Latinas and other women of color elected to national office encounter as they attempt to legislate in a political environment inflamed by years of racism, sexism, misogyny, transphobia, immigrant bashing, and xenophobia.