Category: Violence & Harassment

From Sexual Assault to Parental Leave and Childcare, Military Funding Bill Will "Kick the Military into the 21st Century"

From Sexual Assault to Parental Leave and Childcare, Military Funding Bill Will “Kick the Military into the 21st Century”

Rampant violence against women in the military has gone largely unaddressed, despite repeated promises by military leaders. But now, new legislation in Congress might finally force the military to change.

“After a decade of fighting to remove cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment from the chain of command, and seeing hundreds of thousands of survivors further victimized and failed by the military justice system, we are finally taking this earth-shaking leap forward and making clear to all that sexual violence has no place in our fighting forces,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored over 45 major provisions adopted in the House-passed version of the annual defense policy bill.

Ms. Global: Arab World Gets Its First Female Prime Minister; Historic Trans Representation in Germany; Islamophobia in the U.K.

Ms. Global: Arab World Gets Its First Female Head of State; Historic Trans Representation in Germany; Islamophobia in the U.K.

The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.

Race, Disability and Coercive Control: One More Look at the Gabby Petito Case

Race, Disability and Coercive Control: One More Look at the Gabby Petito Case

Two features of Petito’s case have been strikingly absent from media coverage: her disability, and the myriad signs that Petito’s boyfriend was subjecting her to a form of domestic violence known as coercive control.

Yet Petito’s disability was central to how the system failed her prior to her death. Her case also shows what happens when law and society oversimplify domestic violence and overlook coercive control.

Over Half of College Sexual Assaults Happen Between Orientation and Thanksgiving. Here's How to Protect Survivors

Over Half of College Sexual Assaults Happen Between Orientation and Thanksgiving. Here’s How to Protect Survivors

More than half of sexual assaults on campus occur between orientation and Thanksgiving—a period known as the “Red Zone.” And with the amount of new students on campus doubling as a result of COVID-19, these numbers risk being doubled as well.

With campus awareness and mental health support, we as students, faculty, family and community can reclaim Red Zones.

The U.S. Still Hasn't "Forgiven Haiti for Being Black"—And Modern Immigrants Are Paying the Price

The U.S. Still Hasn’t “Forgiven Haiti for Being Black”—And Modern Immigrants Are Paying the Price

In an 1893 speech examining the U.S. relationship with Haiti, Frederick Douglass said: “A deeper reason for coolness between the countries is this: Haiti is [B]lack, and we have not yet forgiven Haiti for being [B]lack or forgiven the Almighty for making her [B]lack.”

U.S. Border Patrol agents rounding up asylum seekers with whips while thousands more languish under a bridge in the unrelenting Texas heat make it clear: 128 years after Frederick Douglass’s speech, his words still ring true.

"Women's Rights Are Not Just 'Western Values'": A Warning Not to Learn the Wrong Lessons From Afghanistan

“Women’s Rights Are Not Just ‘Western Values'”: A Warning Not to Learn the Wrong Lessons From Afghanistan

In the wake of the fall of the Afghan government to the Taliban, many in the international community and media have said that efforts in Afghanistan to secure women’s rights and human rights were doomed to fail because of the traditions and culture in my country. This is absolutely the wrong lesson to take away from our experience in Afghanistan. Human rights and women’s rights are not “Western values.”