More Than A Magazine, A Movement
The Courage in Journalism Awards show people that women journalists are not going to step aside, cannot be silenced, and deserve to be recognized for their strength in the face of adversity.
Meet the recipients of the 2023 Courage in Journalism awards.
(This essay is part of the “Feminist Journalism is Essential to Democracy” project—Ms. magazine’s latest installment of Women & Democracy, presented in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation.)
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.
This time with news from Mexico, Iran, Brazil, Somalia and more.
On Sunday, while attending a funeral service for 17-year-old Armita Geravand, renowned Iranian women’s rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and beaten. A local news agency in Tehran said Sotoudeh’s grounds for arrest were “not wearing a headscarf” and “disturbing the society’s mental security.”
Other Iranian human rights activists, mourners and protesters were arrested alongside Sotoudeh—all of whom had assembled to honor Geravand, who was recently arrested and assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing a headscarf. Geravand eventually fell into a coma and died on Saturday, the day before the arrests.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian human rights lawyer who has spent her career fighting for the rights of women and minorities in the Middle East. For her important work, Sotoudeh has been honored with copious awards and designations, including the U.S. State Department’s Global Human Rights Defender title and Ms. magazine’s Top Feminist award. Just this month, she is the sole recipient of both The Civil Courage Prize, which honors individuals who show courage against evil and oppression, and the Brown Democracy Medal from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, marking the award’s 10th year.
“The monster of oppression has nested in one corner of the world,” wrote Sotoudeh in her new book, Women, Life, Freedom: Our Fight for Human Rights and Equality in Iran. “It dreams of taking over the world. We must overcome our fears, stand up to the beast, and look it in the eyes.”
Look to the Middle East for your lessons in feminism, and take notes. There are countless examples of men in the Middle East standing up for women’s rights.
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.
This time with news from Peru, Iran, Antarctica, Sudan and more.
We reached out to four Muslim women activists and academics from Turkey, India and Afghanistan, to explore their perspectives on the #WomanLifeFreedom movement in a showing of transnational solidarity and friendship. Here are their voices.
In the post-Woman, Life, Freedom movement, women are scrapping their headscarves in growing numbers and appearing in public without the compulsory hijab. The government has not reinstated the morality police to go after the women but has instead conjured up new ways of enforcing the hijab with economic repercussions.
The measures include shutting down venues and businesses that cater to women who don’t wear a headscarf and conditioning public services on women complying with the mandate. Having learned from the failed experience of the morality police that spurred the outburst of anger engulfing the entire country last year, the government is minimizing its direct contact with women in the new round of its cultural war. It is outsourcing the policing role to business owners and public service providers.
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.
This time with news from Iran, Colombia, the Vatican, India, Zimbabwe, Luxembourg, and more.
We have entered the year 1402 in the Iranian calendar. And the writing is on the wall. The Islamic Republic’s time is up.
“Woman, Life, Freedom” is not three words. It is one breath—a revolt against all death. The face of a new Iran is breaking out of Khomeini’s tomb.
