“My wife Nasrin Sotoudeh has been unjustly and cruelly imprisoned since June 2018 for her legal work representing Iranian human rights and women’s rights activists. … I call on the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation into all of Iran’s prisons, and for Qarchak women’s prison to be immediately closed. The dignity, health and safety of women, children and families everywhere demands no less.”
Category: Global
“Imminent Danger” in Afghanistan: Kamila Sidiqi in Conversation With Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
On Saturday, three car bombs detonated in Kabul, Afghanistan, in front of the Sayed Al-Shuhada school—specifically targeting young girls. At least 85 people were killed. The escalating violence in the country has been made worse by the recent Biden administration decision to withdraw troops from the region by September 11 of this year.
This interview between Kamila Sidiqi, an Afghan serial entrepreneur, and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon was conducted just days before the Kabul weekend attack, and gives a sense of the simultaneous sense of fear, hope and dread on the ground in Afghanistan.
Linking Reproductive Rights and Climate Solutions Is the Only Way Forward
As the pandemic has brought our world’s climate and health crises into sharp relief, the time is ripe to include women’s reproductive rights as part of our climate solutions toolbox.
Women’s Representation: For Asian Americans, Violence Falls Along Gendered Lines
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: 80 percent of Asian Americans say violence against them is increasing; the role of Black women in the first 100 days of the Biden administration; a profile on Dr. Jill Biden; tracking the representation of women of color on public sector boards in California; how gender quotas and proportional voting rules used by The Academy of Motion Pictures ensures a level playing field for women; the role of ranked-choice voting in the New York City primaries; and more.
The Weekly Pulse: 2021 “Most Hostile” for Abortion; FDA Bans Menthol Cigarettes; Advocates Urge Biden to End Helms and Step Up Global Vaccine Campaign
This week: The 2021 legal session is the “most hostile” for reproductive rights in at least a decade; reproductive health advocates urge the Biden administration to take up the mantle of abortion care, starting with the repeal of the Helms Amendment; the FDA moves to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars within the next year; and the global vaccination effort remains slow due to a lack of support from developed countries.
Moving the Apostrophe in Mother’s Day: Helping Mothers Around the Globe
Mothers’ Day Movement (MDM) was founded by a small group of women who believe in making a difference for women around the globe.
“Americans are expected to spend $25 billion this Mother’s Day on flowers, earrings and meals. Go ahead: These women are worth it and more! But let’s remember that a tenth of that sum would save large numbers of lives of moms around the world. The Mothers’ Day Movement is a worthy effort to honor mothers in part by saving mothers’ lives.”
Reproductive Rights Advocates Call for Biden to Curb Foreign Abortion Restrictions
A coalition of over 140 reproductive rights and health care advocates has called on President Biden to mitigate the harm caused by the over-implementation of US foreign aid restrictions, especially the 50-year-old Helms Amendment, that has limited women’s access to and information about abortion overseas.
Hillary Clinton Warns of “Huge Consequences” Following U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared critical of President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. “This is what we call a wicked problem. There are consequences both foreseen and unintended of staying and of leaving,” she told CNN.
To Pursue Reproductive Justice, Latin America’s Prosecutors Should Stop Enforcing the Law
Latin America has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, which further entrench abortion stigma and have a disproportionate impact on pregnant people from marginalized communities. Public prosecutors, the gatekeepers of the criminal legal system, can simply stop enforcing criminal abortion laws.
The Cost of U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan: “Get Ready. The Taliban Are Coming.”
“As a Hazara and a woman from Afghanistan, I am losing hope for the future of my country. I fear the U.S. withdrawal could contribute to the loss of 20 years of progress, the collapse of the current Afghan government and the start of another civil war in Afghanistan.”