Violence & Harassment

In a Small Room on Capitol Hill, Survivors of Epstein Refuse to Be Ignored

PUBLISHED 5/6/2026 by

Last week, while much of Washington’s attention was fixed on the highly choreographed visit of the king of England to the U.S. Capitol, a very different gathering was taking place just a few hallways away. Survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking, family members of Virginia Giuffre, advocates and several members of Congress packed into a small conference room in the Cannon House Office Building for a roundtable convened by Rep. Ro Khanna. The event came just days after public vigils marking the one-year anniversary of Giuffre’s death and was intentionally timed to coincide with the royal visit, drawing attention to the fact that survivors continue to feel ignored by many of the institutions and powerful figures connected to the Epstein network.

The purpose of the roundtable was not symbolic alone. Survivors and advocates gathered to push for concrete political and legal action in response to what they described as decades of systemic failure surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. They called for enforcement of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the release of millions of unreleased documents connected to the case, and passage of “Virginia’s Law,” which would expand statutes of limitations for survivors pursuing civil claims related to sexual abuse and trafficking.

For many in the room, this was also about correcting what they see as a dangerous imbalance in how the Epstein case has unfolded publicly: Survivors’ names and private details have repeatedly been exposed, while many powerful people connected to Epstein’s network have largely escaped scrutiny or accountability.

What unfolded inside that room felt urgent precisely because survivors understood how quickly public attention moves on. Many of the women speaking had spent years navigating systems—law enforcement, courts, media and political institutions—that they believe failed to protect them or meaningfully respond after the fact. With only a few minutes each, survivors attempted to compress years of trauma, coercion and institutional indifference into testimony aimed directly at lawmakers capable of advancing reforms.

A New Playbook for College Athletes: Consent, Intervention and Prevention

PUBLISHED 5/5/2026 by

June 2026 will mark the 54th anniversary of Title IX, the 1972 federal law barring sex-based discrimination in education, ensuring equal participation in sports and prohibiting sexual violence in educational programs receiving federal funding.

But even though Title IX passed more than half a century ago, and significantly more women now go to college than men, gender-based violence is still rampant among college students. Thirteen percent of U.S. college students experience rape or sexual assault during their time on (or off) campus. For women, that number doubles: 26.4 percent of women (and 6.8 percent of men) undergraduates experience sexual violence. Young women are especially vulnerable, compared to older grad students, and women college students aged 18 to 24 are three times more likely to experience gender-based violence than women in general.

Most colleges and universities have standard anti-sexual violence training during freshman orientation (often just required videos or something students click through online), but this information is often quickly forgotten or not practical enough for students to easily apply to their own lives and interactions. The nonprofit sexual assault prevention organization It’s On Us is seeking to change that with the The Playbook 2.0, a research-based workshop series for college athletes.

The Only Place to Report Police Sexual Violence Is the System That Causes It

PUBLISHED 5/4/2026 by

Nearly one in five New Yorkers have experienced sexual violence—and a new report finds that 12 percent have also faced sexualized behavior from NYPD officers, ranging from unwanted flirting and requests for phone numbers to catcalling. Across the U.S., police are accused of sexual violence with alarming regularity, yet just over 2 percent of those complaints result in officer discipline.

In New York City, the report finds that officers who perpetrate sexual violence rarely face consequences (less than 1 percent), underscoring that these incidents are not situations of isolated misconduct, but part of a broader pattern of harassment, assault and retaliation.

In highly policed communities, that pattern shapes how people move through the world. Nearly 75 percent of respondents said they go out of their way to avoid interacting with police—changing routes, avoiding certain blocks or staying inside at night.

“They want you to be [scared],” one 22-year-old Black man from Manhattan said. “If you’re not scared of them, then it’s like they’re not doing their job right.”

Others describe a constant state of vigilance: “When you hear a siren, you freeze. … If you see them following you in a car, you slow down and pray they drive past you.”

For survivors, the barriers to accountability are built into the system itself.

“There is this long history of officer impunity,” said Ileana Méndez-Peñate, noting the persistent lack of consequences.

As Priscilla Bustamante put it: “Where can I go? I can’t report police back to police.”

The report argues that meaningful change will require more than internal discipline—calling for independent oversight, reduced reliance on policing, and greater investment in community-based resources.

“This issue really shines a light on the fact that police are not really the answer,” Bustamante said. “They’re part of perpetrating the harm.”

How ICE Became the Enforcement Arm of the Patriarchy

PUBLISHED 5/4/2026 by

Speaking in early February, while the nation was still reeling from the killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents, Jackson Katz, a leading voice in gender violence prevention and masculinity studies, and Loretta Ross, a celebrated Black feminist scholar and cofounder of SisterSong, examined the deadly ways misogyny and racism intersect in Donald Trump’s America.

The two of them had a nuanced exploration of how government institutions, cultural narratives and political movements shape—and weaponize—issues of gender and race. Their candid exchange critiques the forces behind U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and right-wing populism, and challenges us to rethink empathy, identity and our strategies for building a more inclusive feminist movement.

The Gun Crisis Is a Maternal Health Crisis. Virginia Shows What a Comprehensive Response Looks Like.

PUBLISHED 4/30/2026 by

When the shots rang out at the Washington Hilton, it had not even been a week since the nation mourned the eight children shot dead in Shreveport, La., seven of whom were the gunman’s own. Two women, including his wife, were also shot but survived; another child jumped off a roof to escape the shooting.

More than just about anywhere else in the country, American classrooms have become ground zero for preparing kids. That was the first thought I had when I heard real-time Saturday night dispatches, reporters claiming they instinctually knew to crouch under tables. That’s not instinct. That is an entire generation raised on active-shooter drills. (I’ll never forget my then 8-year-old daughter nonchalantly explaining to me the difference between color-coded school drills. “Don’t be silly, Mom, no one has to go in the closet for a Code Yellow.”)

Not surprisingly, mothers have taken up the mantle.

Over the past week, a suite of gun safety bills headed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk, several of which she signed into law, and others she amended, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines—Virginia would be the 11th state to enact such a ban—as well as protections for domestic violence survivors, age limits on gun purchases, safe storage requirements and industry accountability measures.

She simultaneously signed bipartisan legislation known as the Momnibus, which aims to improve and expand healthcare coverage for mothers and families, particularly women who face the highest risks, by codifying the need to collect maternal health data, supporting mental health screenings of new parents, and expanding insurance and Medicaid coverage for a variety of care.

Paid family and medical leave is the third key advance, which Spanberger signed into law last week as well.

As we look ahead to the midterm elections, remember there are indeed policies that can make us safer and healthier. Don’t let anyone in the political establishment convince us it is not so.

War on Women Report: Rise of ‘Sleep Porn’; Georgia Midwives Sue for Right to Practice; Louisiana Family Massacre Exposes Deadly Intersection of Domestic Violence and Guns

PUBLISHED 4/29/2026 by and

MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide: the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.”

We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Since our last report:
—Access to mifepristone remains protected for now, after a U.S. district court granted a stay in Louisiana v. FDA.
—A new CNN investigation reveals a sprawling online network where drug-facilitated sexual assault, marketed as “sleep porn, ” is filmed, shared and monetized, drawing millions of viewers. Meanwhile, survivors face steep barriers to reporting and justice.
—The Ohio House passed the Indecent Exposure Modernization Act, an extreme bill that seeks to ban any expression or performance of drag where minors are or may be present. The proposed ban includes even daytime family-oriented events such as drag queen story hours, where performers dress up as storybook characters and read to children at libraries or bookstores.
—In a devastating shooting spree spanning three locations, Shamar Elkins shot and killed eight children, seven of whom were his own, and severely wounded two women: his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, and Christina Snow. Both women are mothers to the deceased victims.
—In Georgia, a group of reproductive healthcare advocates is challenging the state’s restrictions on some forms of maternal healthcare, arguing that Georgia’s current laws give doctors too much control over midwives’ ability to practice.
—Nine women in Tennessee are suing the state over its abortion ban after nearly denying due to being denied abortion care.

… and more.

When Power Protects Abuse: Eric Swalwell Accusations Reveal Architecture of Male Entitlement in Congress

PUBLISHED 4/29/2026 by

When survivors of Jeffrey Epstein stood in the Capitol during the State of the Union earlier this year, we were meant to read it as a sign that this Congress takes the sexual exploitation of women and children seriously. But weeks later, that symbolism rings hollow to anyone who watched Kevin McCarthy appear on television, bluntly telling the world that “every member of Congress” knew about allegations against Eric Swalwell.

Let’s sit with that for a moment. Lawmakers invited Epstein survivors into the chamber, while simultaneously elevating a colleague with his own credibly documented history of violence against young women—one who was until very recently, positioning himself as California’s next governor.

If we cannot connect those two facts, we are not serious about addressing these issues.

Five Things Decision-Makers Still Don’t Understand About Digital Violence and Young People

PUBLISHED 4/27/2026 by

In the course of their lifetime, 840 million women will be subjected to physical or sexual violence – nearly one in every three women in the world, according to a new United Nations report. And if that sounds like a number you’ve heard before, it might be because despite decades of advocacy, awareness raising and lobbying for legal and policy changes, this figure has barely changed in the last 20 years.

UNFPA has been at the global forefront of identifying and addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and is preparing to release new research into the disproportionate harm this abuse inflicts on adolescent girls. 

One report shows how digital violence affects women and girls at every age, starting as young as early childhood. Yet UNFPA-supported research, forthcoming from partner Save the Children, also highlights that adults often underestimate the dangers facing adolescents.

Keeping Score: Pennsylvania ERA Secures Abortion Rights Win; Civil Rights Groups Investigate Trump Admin Delays in Childcare Payments; Senate Upholds Near-Total VA Abortion Ban

PUBLISHED 4/23/2026 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—In a landmark ruling shaped by Pennsylvania’s ERA, a state court struck down a decades-old ban on using Medicaid funds for abortion.
—Trump continued to attack voting rights, threatening mail-in ballots and moving towards a nationalized registration database full of errors.
—An estimated 8 million people attended the latest “No Kings” protests.
—A Michigan court ruled that the state’s Pregnancy Exclusion law, which prevents providers from honoring pregnant women’s documented end-of-life decisions, violates a voter-approved 2022 constitutional amendment.
—A federal judge blocked RFK Jr.’s changes to routine vaccination schedules.
—The Supreme Court ruled against Colorado’s ban on dangerous “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ youth.
—Housing markets are declining in states with abortion bans as young people leave or avoid those areas.
—Senators demand the Trump Administration release lifesaving Title X funding.
—Twenty-five states received a failing grade on access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.
—High levels of contamination were found in braiding hair.
—Women are driven away from coaching college sports by pay inequities and other systemic barriers.

… and more.

‘Who Will Revere the Black Woman?’ Remembering Nancy, Cerina and So Many More

PUBLISHED 4/22/2026 by

Even though I did not know Nancy Metayer, my heart is utterly broken by the loss of her life and the violence of her death. The night before her funeral, I joined a virtual vèyè in her honor—a space to keep watch, to remember her impact and to hold one another in communal care.

That same day, news broke about Dr. Cerina Fairfax, also killed in her home. I did not know her either, and still, I was gutted.

Nor did I know Pastor Tammy McCollum, Ashly Robinson, Qualeisha Barnes, Davonta Curtis or Barbara Deer—Black women killed in just a matter of weeks. And to think these are only the names we know.

In moments like this, I find myself returning to a question first posed by Abbey Lincoln decades ago: “Who will revere the Black woman?” The reality of this violence—and the way it is so often explained away or softened—makes that question feel as urgent as ever.

Black feminists have long named the patterns, the structures and the stakes. And still, we are left mourning, naming and insisting: We will not let their lives be forgotten. We will continue the work in their honor—because we revere them.