We can’t simultaneously rely on parents to secure our collective future by raising the next generation of citizens and ask them to do it alone. It doesn’t just take a village; it takes infrastructure designed to help families thrive.
Gendered Citizenship and the Struggle for Reproductive Rights
The U.S. legal and political tradition has a long history of failing to recognize women’s claims to autonomy as individuals possessing citizenship rights equal to those of men. Now, reproductive rights are in grave danger—but the ERA could change things.
Demystifying Cybersecurity: How Mari Galloway and Other Women Are Creating Their Own Careers in Cyber
It will take a paradigm shift to defend our national security moving forward. Women and people of color should be at the forefront of this effort. Demystifying Cybersecurity, a #ShareTheMicInCyber and Ms. magazine monthly series, spotlights women from the #ShareTheMicInCyber movement—highlighting the experiences of Black practitioners, driving a critical conversation on race in the cybersecurity industry, and shining a light on Black experts in their fields.
This month, here’s everything you need to know about the field of cybersecurity and how to create your own career in it, courtesy of Mari Galloway, CEO and a founding board member for the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu.
New Report Reveals Six ‘Sinister’ Tactics of Extremist Anti-Abortion Centers
Anti-abortion centers target young, low-income populations who face difficulties accessing abortion care, further endangering them by delaying their access to necessary healthcare. A new report, “In The Grand Scheme: Six Sinister Tactics Employed by Anti-Abortion Centers,” documents the tactics used to aggressively spread anti-abortion propaganda and interfere with access to reproductive healthcare.
Ukrainian Victims of Wartime Rape May Be Forced To Give Birth—All Thanks to This U.S. Policy
Because the Ukrainian health system is drastically strained, international humanitarian aid is playing an outsized role in delivering healthcare throughout the country. But all humanitarian aid provided by the U.S.—the largest single-country donor of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine—is subject to the Helms Amendment, which limits the use of U.S. foreign assistance funds for abortion. In this way, rather than alleviating their suffering, U.S. aid could be the reason that victims of wartime rape are denied abortions and forced to give birth.
Any lawmaker serious about their solidarity with Ukraine should commit to a full repeal of the Helms Amendment.
Keeping Score: Capitol Statues Honor RBG and Sandra Day O’Connor; Military Survivors Launch Campaign to Address Sexual Assault
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 in this biweekly round-up.
This week: Michigan governor appeals to state Supreme Court to enshrine abortion rights in constitution; track star Allyson Felix plans to retire; Florida and Oklahoma move to criminalize abortion; Ukrainian refugees face a lack of sexual and reproductive healthcare; U.N. funds Bilan Project to give a voice to female journalists in Somalia; and more.
Climate Change Is Forcing American Women From Their Homes
Financial instability, housing insecurity and greater caregiving responsibilities make U.S. women more vulnerable to climate disasters.
‘Vagina Obscura’ Author Rachel E. Gross Takes Us on a Daring Anatomical Voyage
Rachel E. Gross, in her debut book Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage, takes us on a journey around “the organs traditionally bound up in baby-making―the uterus, ovaries and vagina,” elaborating both on what science knows, and what it doesn’t. (Did you know it wasn’t until 1993 that a federal mandate required researchers to include women and minorities in clinical research?)
Gross recently spoke to Carli Cutchin by phone from her home in Brooklyn. Thoughtful and erudite, she talked about the female and LGBT researchers who’ve made scientific inroads against the odds, the myth that the “clitoral” and “vaginal” orgasms are distinct from each other, a princess who relocated her clitoris, koala vaginas and much more.
‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bills Groom Children for Sexual Abuse, and May Even Violate Title IX
“Don’t Say Gay” bills don’t protect children—they play into the hands of child abusers, while also putting school districts in violation of Title IX. Denying a school district’s right to define a curriculum based on evidence-based research plays directly into the hands of predators who want, very much, naïve and disempowered children to prey upon.
Melissa Lucio Granted a Stay of Execution in Texas
Melissa Lucio, who was set to be executed for the death of her 2-year old daughter Mariah, was granted a stay of execution and a new hearing on Monday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The court ordered a new hearing to consider whether her conviction was based on an unreliable false confession which Lucio, a victim of sexual abuse and domestic violence, offered in response to threatening, hostile questioning by investigators.
“The court’s decision paves the way for Melissa to present evidence of her innocence that should have been heard by the jury that condemned her to death 14 years ago,” said Professor Sandra Babcock, director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and one of Lucio’s attorneys.