Conclusion

Women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6% of what men working similar hours earn; women working more than 60 hours per week earn only 78.3% of what men in the same time category earn (Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited in Hilary M. Lips, "The Gender Wage Gap: Debunking the Rationalizations")

Furthermore, women may work longer to receive the promotions that provide access to higher pay. For example, among school principals, women have an average of 3 years longer as teachers than men do (National Center for Education Statistics, cited in the same).

Pay inequality figures are even worse for women of color. African American women earn only 72 cents and Latinas 60 cents for every dollar that men earn (AFL-CIO, "It's Time for Working Women to Earn Equal Pay").

Women typically face challenges breaking into male-dominated fields. However, they still dominate traditionally female professions, such as the following:

• Industry Growth for Women's Occupations (1997-2006)
  Occupation	Percent
  Secretaries & Administrative Assistants	96.7
  Child Care Workers	94.6
  Hairdressers, Stylists, Cosmetologists	92.9
  Registered Nurses	91.7
  Teacher Assistants	91.5
  Medical Assistants & Other Healthcare Support	90.6
  Auditing Clerks	90.3
  Maids & Housekeeping Services	89.2
  Home Health Aides	88.3
  Elementary & Middle School Teachers	80.9
  Office Clerks, General	85.3
  Cashiers	75.6
  Supervisors, Office Managers & Admin Support	73.4
  Customers Service Representatives	68.5
  Accountants & Auditors	61.8

  
  (Department of Labor, cited in Lahle Wolfe, "Job Fields Business Women Dominate") 

The largest percentage of employed Asian and white women (47% and 39%, respectively) worked in management, professional, and related occupations. For both black and Hispanic women, it was sales and office occupations--33% (Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, Quick Stats 2007). 

In jobs that are predominantly occupied by women such as cashiers or child care workers, women make about 95% of men’s wages (DoL, cited in Karen Harper, "Sexism in the Media").

Estimates of non-fatal domestic violence against women range from 1 million to 4 million a year with nearly 1 in 3 women experiencing a physical assault from a partner in adulthood (Domestic Violence Statistics, District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence at www.dccadv.org).

Women have a 10 times greater likelihood of being victimized by an intimate than men (ibid.).

Also, 33% of all women murdered are murdered by an intimate partner. In fact the leading cause of death among pregnant women is not complications from pregnancy, but murder.(Kim Curtis, "Murder: The leading cause of death for pregnant women." Associated Press April 23, 2003)

A woman’s life expectancy in the United States is 80 years, as compared to 85 in Japan, 73 in Saudi Arabia, 63 in India, 53 in Haiti, and 47 in Ethiopia (Population Reference Bureau, 2004 World Population Data Sheet, accessed on November 2, 2004, cited in Our Bodies Ourselves Health Resource Center).

In the United States, there are 11 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. In Austria, there are 4 maternal deaths; in Denmark, there are 5; in Mexico, there are 83; and in Haiti, there are 680 (Maternal Mortality in 2000, estimates developed  by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA, accessed on November 5, 2004).