Not One Woman on the List

Earlier this month, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev announced the organizing committee for COP29, which will be held there in November. The list included 28 appointees, including Azeri government ministers of energy, health, finance and economy, among others. What the list did not include: women. Not one woman on the list.

The backlash was swift and thunderous. Global women leaders are speaking out: “Many of the key successes of the COP process, including the Paris Agreement, were delivered by women leaders, working closely with their male colleagues.”

Why One Mother Is Celebrating New Federal Methane Reduction Rules

When local parents and Patrice Tomcik, a mother, learned that a drilling company would be fracking on land just a half mile away from their children’s school campus, they became concerned. These gas wells will threaten the health and safety of children for decades to come. That’s why the federal government’s recent actions give some measure of comfort. The new EPA rules will establish comprehensive protections from methane and other harmful pollution for families living near new and existing oil and gas operations.

Holiday Reading on Women’s Representation: The First Black Woman on Albuquerque’s City Council; The 50 Most Powerful Women in Philanthropy

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: how the 14 countries of the Oceania region are doing on women’s representation; Nikki Haley is getting way less attention than her male counterparts; the need for a feminist perspective in discussions around climate change; is Alaska the secret to saving U.S. democracy?; Nicole Rogers is the winner of the Albuquerque City Council District 6 runoff election; and more.

The First ‘Health’ COP Must Prioritize Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for Young People

The 28th U.N. Climate Climate Change Conference (COP) currently meeting in Dubai until Dec. 12, is being hailed as the “Health COP”––promising to bring the climate and health agenda into the mainstream. Yet we are seeing almost no direct focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, which is a critical gap because climate change creates barriers to fulfilling those rights.

War on Women Report: New White House Research on Women’s Health; N.J. Prison Closed After Sexual Abuse by Guards

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This week: Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women shuttered after years of documented physical and sexual abuses by guards; a new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research; Trump-appointed judges deal blow to Voting Rights Act; and more.

Resisting Climate Patriarchy

Construction is complete on the Enbridge corporation’s Line 3 pipeline, which was dug under the Mississippi River to carry expensive, dirty tar sand oil from Alberta, Canada, to be refined in Wisconsin. In Aitkin County, Minn., the trial of Mylene Vialard (aka Ocean) reveals a pipeline of injustice—the structural violence of white settler-colonial capitalist patriarchy. Vialard’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 20.

Climate Change Is a Growing Risk for Older Women

As climate change fuels ever-deadlier disasters, it may seem that no one is immune to the wildfires, storms and heat waves that plague our baking planet. While this may be true, some are more threatened than others, and older women are among those most at risk.

Older adults represent a significantly disproportionate share of deaths associated with climate-fueled disasters.

War on Women Report: Abortions Resume in Wisconsin; How Republicans Plan to Enable Anti-Abortion Violence

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Let’s not forget what was thrown our way last month: Co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine was ousted from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for sexist and racist comments; a Nebraska mom was sentenced to two years in prison after helping her daughter acquire abortion pills; Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown and subsequent cuts to WIC, childcare and housing aid; and more.