Today, when three in ten Americans are religiously unaffiliated, one might reasonably expect acceptance of nonbelievers. It seems fair to imagine freethinking women — many of whom have abandoned their churches and are deconstructing extreme forms of faith— might finally enjoy a broader level of inclusion and tolerance in society. Yet many nonreligious women still experience the sting of stigma, not only while in public fights for progress, but in smaller, often more hurtful ways: in how they are treated at work, by new friends, or within groups of other nonbelievers.

Nonreligious Women in America, a report released today by American Atheists and Secular Woman, breaks out data pertaining to over 13,000 women who identified as atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, and skeptics in the 2019 U.S. Secular Survey. The new report shows how the experience of women diverges from other nonbelievers, both in their personal lives and within their communities.

The vast majority of women in the study were raised Christian; over half were formerly Protestant and 29.1% Catholic. This tracks a fifteen percent move away from Christianity by Americans over the past decade, according to Pew Research Center data. The majority of Christian apostates abandoned Protestant churches. Over the same time, the portion of atheists and agnostics ticked up a couple of percentage points each, and the broader category of “nothing in particular” grew at a larger clip.

Over forty percent of women in the Nonreligious Women in America study had a somewhat firm or very strict upbringing. Roughly that same portion had parents who were unaware of their nonreligious beliefs before age 25, suggesting many may have hidden or avoided sharing their lack of faith. Among those who did tell, one in five had unsupportive parents. That lack of support could carry longer-term consequences. Women with unsupportive parents screened 59.8 percent more likely for signs of depression than those with supportive parents. Almost three-fifths overall had some negative experiences with family due to their nonreligious identity.

Atheists in America have long been stereotyped as predominantly older, white, men. Over 90 percent of those included in the study were white women, which tracks closer to national rates for atheists (women religious “nones” more broadly are more racially diverse).

Black women, on the other hand, are often stereotyped as highly religious. Two-thirds of Black nonreligious women reported negative experiences with their families. That number climbs in highly religious communities, where four out of five Black women described negative experiences with their families. What’s more, Black women who had these experiences were 41.5 percent more likely to screen positive for depression than other women who’d had negative family interactions.

One Latinx woman cited in the study described how religion is woven into the fabric of her family’s culture. Some family members quit speaking to her after finding out she is an atheist.

In the study, “nonreligious women” referred to any participants who identified as female, including about two percent who also identified as male, transgender, or genderfluid. So, when comparing against other nonbelievers in the study, “nonreligious women” contrasted with 57.8 percent of respondents who identified as male and 3.6 percent transgender or gender nonconforming nonbelievers. While the majority of nonreligious women in the study identified as heterosexual, overall, nonreligious women were more than twice as likely to identify as bisexual than other nonreligious people surveyed.

Environment matters. Religiosity varies geographically in the U.S., and norms of tolerance experienced by nonbelievers also seems to depend in part upon where they live, learn, and work. More than a third of nonreligious women surveyed live in the South and nearly half live in suburbs, the sort of communities with a greater likelihood of highly religious neighbors.

One third of nonreligious women who attend school or have kids in school reported negative experiences in education due to their nonreligious identity. A mother from Arizona cited in the study noted that every time her kids disclose their nonreligious identity, they get picked on or criticized. “I have to tell them to be honest if it comes up, but that announcing it can cause issues,” she has concluded.

Almost a quarter of nonreligious women have had negative experiences at work, with more than half of military servicemembers or veterans reporting discrimination relating to their lack of faith. A woman from Texas described having to pretend to have some sort of religion and hiding her trans identity, or else she would be fired from her state agency job. Women in the South were most likely to report negative experiences at work.

Nonreligious women were more likely than other nonbelievers to report negative experiences on social media, in seeking mental health services, doing volunteer work, in reproductive care or other health services, and in adopting or fostering children. Women living in highly religious regions had more negative experiences in almost all areas. Odds of depression substantially increased for those who had been stigmatized (highest among those who’d had issues in housing, followed by mental health services, family, public benefits, substance abuse services, and reproductive care).

Alison Gill, Vice President, Legal and Policy at American Atheists and an author of Nonreligious Women in America shared a series of anecdotes from survey subjects on this front: a spouse in the military was kicked out of drug counseling for not having a “higher power.” A sixteen year old was told the only way she’d ever get clean was to give herself over to God — that “I would be a drug addict for the rest of my life” without God, AA, and NA. A nonbeliever in New Jersey had tried several different therapists only to hear repeated suggestions that her nonbelief might be related to mental disorder or depression, because she didn’t have a “higher power to draw strength from.” She finds herself avoiding trying again. Searching for a Black therapist who might be more familiar with some racially-related experiences is a hurdle as well, given how frequently Black therapists she’d researched explicitly mention their Christian beliefs in their online profiles.

An Ohio mother who’d sought counseling landed with an unqualified pastor treating her for postpartum depression and anxiety. The only advice she got was to pray and read her Bible more. She wound up questioning her faith, resulting in being shunned from her church.

This kind of help, doesn’t help.

While “crisis pregnancy centers” multiply across the U.S. — usually faith-based, often not providing standard of care (or even with actual medical staff), and in a time during which abortion-providing clinics are closing and sometimes outnumbered by CPCs — the difficult overlap between a woman’s reproductive health and religious worldview can be stark. It’s not only a matter of abortion access though. As one woman from Kansas noted, “going through infertility and IVF as an atheist was heart wrenching. People said the cruelest things about how it was God’s plan, and I was being punished.”

Nonreligious Women in America paints a disturbing portrait of how intolerance toward nonbelievers persists in the U.S. and appears to be meted out to a greater degree toward women. As the report notes, “compared to other participants, women reported more discrimination in nearly every area of their lives.”

Moreover, the study notes, “women with intersectional identities also experienced more stigma.” Nonreligious women with children faced more stigma than those who don’t have kids. Nonreligious women who identify as lesbians face more stigma than other nonreligious women.

Facing such varieties of stigma and discrimination in everyday life, women are more likely than other nonreligious people to conceal their nonreligious beliefs.

There’s a gender gap in what terms men or women favor in the U.S. According to Pew Research Center data, more than two-thirds of people identifying as atheists in the U.S. are men. Previous studies have shown that women who do not believe in a god are far less likely than men to actually identify as “atheists.” In fact, nonreligious women who have experienced discrimination are far more likely to identify as “spiritual,” while men who’d faced discrimination were more likely to use the term “atheist.”

Throughout the study, those who experienced stigma were also more likely to show signs of depression or report loneliness.

However, nonreligious women who belong to secular organizations were significantly less likely to have signs of depression. Even those who hadn’t participated in years expressed interest in secular activities — social, volunteer, advocacy, with an overwhelming interest in resources for people with children, and slightly less interest than other nonbelievers in debates and lectures. Nonbeliever women with kids in particular showed interest in joining in, though they were less likely to have actually attended in the past.

There’s an evident desire for community — one that creates space for women’s interests and families.

It’s also stunning to see what an influential, active group women nonbelievers are, a cohort political activists would be wise to court. Over 96 percent of nonreligious women surveyed are registered voters, and these women are more likely to report always or nearly always voting as compared to other nonreligious people. Nonreligious women were more likely to highly rate as policy priorities access to abortion and healthcare, comprehensive and medically accurate sex education, LGBTQ equality, and addressing climate change. Other nonbelievers were more likely to rate preventing public funding of religious schools and opposing religious displays on public property as very important issues.

Nonreligious Women in America shows a disconnect. Women atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other nonbelievers are politically active — growing in number — but face discrimination for some of their most core beliefs. Many crave community. They have faced scorn at work, school, and by their own families. And while their neighborhoods may abound with churches and other faith-based groups with structures already built to support them and their families, they don’t feel at home there. National and local secular groups dot the country, but with activities geared toward the old model of atheism. The places they’d naturally fit best aren’t always welcoming them.

Even in the focus groups for the U.S. Secular Survey, those conducting the research noted how often in gender-mixed groups women were interrupted and backed down to make space for others to share. In groups of just women, the interruptions were absent. Women discussed different issues than in the mixed groups or than those brought up by men. For the past decade, stories have abounded pointing to allegations and observable examples of misogynistic or racist comments and harassment and assault by white, male atheist thought leaders. It’s a movement that has since become known for sometimes perpetuating the same ills that drive many believers — many women — to abandon their churches.

The study closes with a series of recommendations, including that secular groups respond more to women’s needs, disrupt sexism and make these groups more welcoming, and on the advocacy side, recognize that policy issues that impact nonreligious women — from discrimination to reproductive choice — are secular issues. Millions of women are nonbelievers and while taking the brunt of discrimination for their lack of belief, they should have their interests taken seriously by those who aim to increase tolerance for religiously unaffiliated people everywhere.