Congress is back in session, and feminists are making clear: Gender equity must be a priority. A coalition of top women’s rights- and reproductive rights-focused groups outlined their vision for the future of U.S. gender equality and the steps the 118th Congress can take, in a letter sent to leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate, as well as relevant committee chairs.
Category: Politics
Men Should Think Twice When Entering a Race With Strong Women Candidates Already—Starting With Adam Schiff
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has not yet announced her retirement, but that hasn’t stopped fellow Democrats from vying for her seat. After building a massive war chest over the past few years, Rep. Adam Schiff has announced his candidacy. But just because he can run doesn’t mean he should.
Ranked-Choice Voting Is on the Rise—From the Academy Awards to the Texas Legislature
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: Academy Award nominations used multi-winner, proportional ranked-choice voting; Columbia University names its first woman president; some members of the New York City Council continue to have questions about ranked-choice voting, despite its giving voters more voice and more choice; and more.
Biden Administration Clings to Title 42, Despite Its Harm to Asylum Seekers
At the U.S. border with Mexico, under the notorious Title 42 policy, the pandemic is still routinely invoked to justify expelling immigrants seeking asylum without any semblance of review or due process.
Many criticize the Title 42 order as unnecessary, overreaching and cruel. Nonetheless, the policy has resulted in over 2.4 million expulsions to date—and counting.
Jacinda Ardern Showed the Power of Women’s Leadership—And the Urgent Need for More
“The resignation of Jacinda Ardern reminds us that women continue to face barriers in politics, and that it is essential to build governmental workplaces that enable all to participate and succeed,” said Cynthia Richie Terrell, executive director and founder of RepresentWomen. “Even as leaders like Ardern have advanced women’s political representation, the pace of progress remains unacceptably sluggish.”
Abortion Access: If There’s Political Will, There’s A Way
As we approach the first year in nearly 50 without the federal protections Roe offered, local and state leaders have a clear mandate to follow the science and meaningfully expand abortion access. There is still so much more we can and must do to ensure all who need abortion care can access it—and elected representatives have no excuse to not push proactive bills forward.
#LetHerLearn—And Progress will Follow
About 70 percent of the world population now lives in autocracies, up from 49 percent a decade ago. Yet the rising tide of authoritarian governments, many still masquerading as democracies, has met a formidable foe: resistance led by students, especially young women.
Inclusive, gender-equitable democracies serve to reduce poverty and foster a more empowered populace and peaceful future. Closing the education gap for girls and women in all their diversity is key to those achievements.
Employers, Take Note—Young Women Are Planning Their Lives Around State Abortion Laws
Among employees ages 18 to 34, 47 percent of women and 44 percent of men believe they won’t have the career they’d planned, hoped for and dreamed of because politicians are now in control of their personal reproductive decisions.
“We’re looking to future generations of business leaders and managers and employees and we have nearly half of them saying, ‘I don’t think I will have the career I planned because of the decision by the Supreme Court,’” said Heather Foust-Cummings, Catalyst’s senior vice president for research
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: 14 States Consider Ranked-Choice Voting; NZ’s Jacinda Ardern Resigns; Massachusetts Gets Its First Black Woman AG
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: 14 states have already introduced bills proposing ranked-choice voting; New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s resignation reminds us of the structural barriers women in public office face; Massachusetts has sworn in its first Black woman attorney general; Aruna Miller becomes Maryland’s first woman of color lieutenant governor; and more.
Sound the Alarm—Sweden Drops ‘Feminist’ and Returns to Mere ‘Foreign Policy’
While the Swedish government has reassured both domestic and international stakeholders that removing ‘feminist’ from the official description of its foreign policy will not affect its commitment to gender equality, there are many who mourn this change.
As feminist activists and officials working all over the world to advance this approach, we mourn the loss of the world’s first feminist foreign policy, an effort that has, in our view, had an important global impact.