By Hailey Abdilla
After a six year long battle, the USWNT has finally settled their class action lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation (USSF) for 24 million dollars. On top of this settlement, the USSF has agreed to equal pay between the US mens and womens soccer teams going forward, including in World Cup bonuses which was the original cause for the lawsuit. For a little bit of context, the USWNT sued the USSF in 2016 following the 2015 World Cup. The women were awarded with 2 million dollars for winning the World Cup, despite the men’s expected 9 million dollar bonus if they were to win. Championed by Megan Rapione, Becky Sauerbrunn, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, and Hope Solo, the women have fought an arduous battle to make it to this point, calling this a “historic moment” for women everywhere. The sexist bonus structures in the contracts previously awarded the men with five times of what the women would make for a loss, giving the men 5000 dollars, while the women received no compensation. Following the settlement, the contracts are being redrawn and collectively bargained in order to ensure equal pay among the men and the women’s national teams. At the end of the day, this agreement is reassurance for women everywhere, change is coming as we begin to close the gap between the disparities among men and women in the workplace. I completed my 8th grade exhibition project on the equal pay lawsuit back in 2018, so it’s a pretty sweet victory to see the successful end to the lawsuit in my senior year of high school four years later. I think this decision is reassurance for female athletes everywhere, this is just the beginning.