BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A New Orleans state lawmaker has created a nonprofit organization to draw attention to women's issues in the Louisiana Legislature.

Democratic Rep. Helena Moreno says the Ignite Advocacy Network will alert members about policy issues up for debate and encourage them to attend hearings and write letters to newspapers about them.

The nonprofit will focus on employment, health, education and violence prevention issues involving women. Louisiana ranks poorly among states for women's health and earnings, among other areas.

The Ignite Advocacy Network is an outcropping of Moreno's #ItsNoJoke social media campaign launched in May. The campaign came after a lawmaker objecting to a bill requiring strippers to be at least 21 years old, an anti-human trafficking measure, suggested strippers should be less than 160 pounds and no older than 28.

 

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