Retired Mass. Supreme Court Judge, Elspeth Cypher, Joins WoLF Board
I am delighted to welcome Elspeth to the WoLF Board of Directors! As a retired Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, Elspeth has already been an invaluable asset to our legal team, playing a pivotal role in expanding WoLF's impact litigation efforts. Her legal expertise and distinguished background will no doubt strengthen our board as we continue our unwavering fight to restore, protect and advance the rights of women and girls.
-WoLF Board President, Beth Lowe
A Letter From Elspeth on Joining WoLF’s Board
I am so excited to join the Board of Directors at the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF). After I retired I knew I wanted to work on women’s rights. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s I watched as women in my life gained the capacity to function in society as autonomous beings. I saw depression lift and dreams appear. Employment opportunities became available for women.
In the 1980s and 1990s so many gains were made for women who were survivors of abuse at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends. Women’s shelters opened to provide a safe place for battered and raped women. Laws were passed that required police and prosecutors to take these offenses against women seriously. Departments were established to train police and prosecutors in how to work with women who had been victimized by men without re-traumatizing them. Psychologists developed methods of assessment and treatment of women, recognizing they were not a “man but different.” Courts admitted evidence demonstrating why a woman would stay with a batterer and applied self-defense law to cases in which a woman had killed her husband. We stopped ignoring missing women who had been prostituted and identified men who serially attacked and killed vulnerable women.
Yet in the mid 1990s I noticed that gender had replaced sex and Women’s Studies departments became Gender Studies. Misogynistic rhetoric was used to attack, shame, and demean women. “Feminist” became a bad word. Young women started sentences with the phrase “I am not a feminist but…” I thought of all of the work that women had done to secure the right to vote and the torture they endured in prison when arrested for protesting for their rights – physical labor, forced feedings, and worse. I thought of the women who continued the fight for our rights to not be subordinate to men, to be able to earn a living. To be a complete human being on their own. In the 2020s my heart broke when young female law students told me that there was no difference between men and women, that I was out of touch and out of date. And now, here we are. Our right to control our own body is left to the whim of male state legislators. We are mocked and erased in our own spaces
Women, whether we call ourselves feminist or not, are losing hard fought for rights and are being erased. We can stop that. We have to stop that. Joining WoLF in the fight for women’s autonomy and safety was the best way I could help. WoLF’s non-partisan,issue-driven work is on behalf of ALL women, regardless of identity, religion, or politics. This is why I am dedicating my legal experience to help WoLF’s mission.
I am so grateful to the board for inviting me to join them. I hope more women will join me by joining WoLF. We need all sorts of women with all kinds of skills. I particularly hope I hear from more women lawyers – ready to join our network of legal volunteers. This is the time women must fight again. We need you. We are calling you. If you cannot join us, please support us and donate to WoLF.
-Elspeth Cypher, WoLF Board Secretary
Get involved
Are you a lawyer looking to join WoLF’s fight?
Reach out to Elspeth at: elspeth@womensliberationfront.org
Support our work
For ten years WoLF has been leading the pack in the fight against gender identity in the courts. This groundbreaking legal work is only possible thanks to our generous donors:
