Justice & Law

The Cornell Rape Case Has Sparked a National Outcry. Can That Anger Shape the Midterms?

PUBLISHED 10/12/2026 by

A dam has broken for women, stemming from the case of the Cornell student who was allegedly gang-raped at a fraternity in 2024.

In the 1980s, Ms. published the first national study of sexual assault on college campuses. What our researchers found was, at the time, shocking—at least, to the college administrators: Over half of women surveyed had experienced “some form of sexual victimization,” and one in eight women had been victims of rape—though of those women, nearly three-quarters didn’t identify their experience as rape.

“The details of what happened to Jane Doe are horrifying, but at least they are now being reported and considered credible. This has not always been the case,” wrote Ellen Sweet, former Ms. magazine editor and coordinator of the Ms. Magazine Campus Project on Sexual Assault in a recent New York Times letter to the editor. “Now there is a public outcry for transparency and accountability that can’t be ignored. Let’s hope colleges and law enforcement finally learn their lesson.”

We know that in this moment, young women are fed up and deeply, deeply angry. The midterms offer an opportunity to channel that anger into tangible, meaningful change.

What Accountability for Epstein’s Network Would Require

PUBLISHED 10/9/2026 by

[The final installment of The Pipeline to Predators, a four-part Ms. investigation into the modeling industry’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and survivors’ fight for accountability.]

From July to August 2025, senior White House and Justice Department officials, including Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer and then deputy attorney general, met repeatedly in the White House Situation Room to strategize about the political fallout—treating the Epstein files not as a legal, accountability or transparency crisis, but rather as a messaging crisis to be managed.

Every survivor we spoke with agrees on the first and most important step toward real accountability: the full release of the Epstein files.

New Mexico is one prototype for meaningful investigation. There, the state legislature unanimously created a bipartisan “Truth Commission” to examine alleged criminal activity connected to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch. The commission has issued roughly 24 subpoenas thus far to law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, state agencies and multiple U.S. attorneys’ offices.

Virginia Giuffre remains a touchstone for many, who say they are finding healing by coming together and honoring her fight.

Restricting Mifepristone Access Could Empower Abusers

PUBLISHED 10/7/2026 by

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Sept. 9 in Louisiana v. FDA, one of three cases threatening nationwide access to mifepristone, the medication used in the majority of abortions in the United States. 

While its stakes center on access to mifepristone generally, survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) may be among the hardest hit by a national restriction on the abortion care drug.  

Already living under extreme, sometimes life-threatening, circumstances, survivors have vanishingly few options to care for themselves in the event of a pregnancy. Telehealth treatment and access to mifepristone by mail have been one of the few reprieves offered thus far, and their restriction could pose grave consequences to survivors nationwide.

Female Student-Athletes File Title IX Lawsuit Against UC Davis for Sex Discrimination, Condemn Treating Women Like ‘Second-Class Citizens’

PUBLISHED 10/7/2026 by

On Sep. 29, 19 former members of UC Davis’ recently-eliminated female equestrian team filed a sex discrimination class action against the school.

The students allege the school discriminated against all its female student-athletes by depriving them of equal athletic financial aid, in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

“We were devastated when UC Davis eliminated the equestrian team, which was successful and thriving,” said Anna Donovan, a UC Davis senior and award-winning former equestrian team member. “Then, we were stunned even more when the school tried to defend its decision by releasing a consultant’s report showing it was depriving women athletes annually of hundreds of thousands of dollars in equal athletic financial aid.”

The Difference Between His Safety and Hers

PUBLISHED 10/7/2026 by

I recently saw a social media post that I can’t stop thinking about: “If a man was severely intoxicated around seven women, he would actually be in the safest place he could possibly be. He’d be taken care of on every level. He’d be hydrated, fed, given meds and a cozy place to lay down. I can’t stop thinking about that difference.”

Neither can I.

I am tired of women being hurt, watched, harassed, questioned and doubted. I’m tired of women being handed an ever-growing list of precautions, then asked what we did wrong when we’re harmed.

Women don’t need another lesson in how to protect ourselves. We’ve had a lifetime of them.

Imagine if instead of teaching our daughters how to stay safe from men, we could trust men not to harm them and to help keep them safe. Isn’t that the world we want—one where our daughters won’t have to think about this difference at all? It’s time for men to step up and take responsibility.

Close the Victim-Blaming Loophole the Cornell 7 Exposed

PUBLISHED 10/6/2026 by and

Ten years ago, Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Stanford University student and swimmer Brock Turner to six months in county jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster at a frat party. He served three months.

Feminists didn’t just get angry—we organized. Two years later, we recalled Persky with nearly 62 percent of the vote.

Now the same crisis has arrived at Cornell. It is time to organize again.

Under New York penal law, a person too intoxicated to consent counts as “mentally incapacitated” only if the substance was given to them without their consent. Unless they are unconscious or physically unable to communicate, a person who is stumbling, slurring and incoherent is treated as capable of consent, so long as they took the drink or the drug willingly.

Look at what that rule assumes: If someone else spikes your drink, the law says you could not consent. If you poured it yourself, the law says you could, however incapacitated you were. That is consent manufactured out of a decision to drink. It rests on the oldest victim-blaming idea there is: A woman who gets drunk is asking for it. The only natural consequence of drinking too much is a hangover. Sexual assault is not caused by alcohol. It is caused by rapists choosing to rape, and nothing else.

We cannot allow political gatekeeping to preserve a law that protects perpetrators and abandons victims. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie must stop blocking progress and bring the voluntary intoxication bill to a vote immediately. New Yorkers deserve to know where each of their elected officials stands on victim blaming.

In a year when feminist victories are few and far between, this is one we can help win. Take two minutes to send Speaker Heastie an email and demand a vote on this bill. You can also call his office at 518-455-3791.

Who Gets to Warn Women About Crisis Pregnancy Centers? Texas AG Ken Paxton Takes Yelp to Court.

PUBLISHED 10/6/2026 by

Search Yelp for “pregnancy care” and you may encounter a crisis pregnancy center (CPC)—an organization that may advertise as a full-service clinic but does not provide abortions or referrals to abortion providers. Yelp labels these listings accordingly.

Now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is weaponizing its consumer protection law to sue the company over an earlier, since-withdrawn nationwide notice that said crisis pregnancy centers “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite.”

This under-the-radar case will test how far a state may reach when a national platform posts information that disagrees with state officials.

Ms. Global: Sweden Ends Repro Health Support for Liberia; U.K. Bans Trans People From Bathrooms; Feminists Lament Far-Right AfD Win in Germany; and More

PUBLISHED 10/6/2026 by and

Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’ most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.

This month:
—In major blow to sexual and reproductive health and rights funding, Sweden ends aid to Liberia.
—Twelfth woman’s body found near Johannesburg increases fear of potential serial killer on the loose.
—The United Kingdom has introduced sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. They target companies and people who support services for settlement expansion and individual settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.
—Liechtenstein changes its laws to allow women to inherit the throne.

… and more.

Making It Count: The Women Redefining Philanthropy

PUBLISHED 10/6/2026 by

This is a pivotal moment for philanthropy focused on women and girls—not only because our rights are actively under attack in the U.S. and globally, but because we’re on the cusp of an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future.

More than $100 trillion in assets will be passed down over the next two decades from baby boomers and the Silent Generation, including nearly $40 trillion to female spouses and $47 trillion to women in younger generations. By as soon as 2030, around two-thirds of private wealth in the U.S. will be held by women.

“We have a lot of women who are going to be coming into resources through AI and crypto and all these other new windfalls that are around the corner. We’re thinking about the full ecosystem,” says Sarah Haacke Byrd, CEO of Women Moving Millions.