New U.S. Global Gender-Based Violence Strategy Says All The Right Things—But Action Is Next

On Dec. 12, the U.S. government launched its updated and long-awaited Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally. On paper, the strategy looks great. But, as always, the questions we’re left with are: What does the U.S. government do with this document now? How is it implemented? Will funding increase and be sustained?

As the halfway mark of this administration’s current term approaches, we need to ensure that words are backed up with action.

Female Genital Mutilation Isn’t Just a Foreign Issue

Texas Governor Greg Abbott waded into problematic territory when he called gender-affirming care for transgender minors “mutilation” and “child abuse.” His remarks generated lots of coverage and controversy, as he presumably knew they would. The irresponsible and incorrect use of the term “mutilation” takes attention away from the actual, serious problem of mutilation and cutting in the United States today. 

Worldwide, more than 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting. But it’s not just a foreign problem. More than half a million women and girls are either at risk or have undergone FGM/C in the U.S, including 51,000 in Washington, D.C. The U.S. must enact stronger legislation against the practice, while empowering and protecting those who have been subjected to FGM/C.

COVID-19 Threatens Decades of Progress on Gender Equality. This World Children’s Day, We Must Fight Back.

COVID-19 has left no one untouched, but it has had an especially pernicious impact on girls—most particularly those from already marginalized communities.

From a dramatic rise in sex trafficking in Malawi, to spiraling rates of sexual violence in India, from subversive restrictions on access to abortion in the U.S. to an increase in teen pregnancy and female genital mutilation in Kenya, it is clear that COVID-19 is an existential threat to gender equality.

An American Mother on Asylum: Trump’s New Rules Would Have Rewritten My Story

“When we were granted asylum, we were finally able to live in safety and peace.

“My heart sank earlier this month when I learned that other women and girls may not have the same access to safety that we did. The Trump administration wants to make major changes to the rules for asylum law.

“If these rules were in effect when I sought asylum in 2011, I would not have been granted.”

FGM’s #MeToo Moment

One of the reasons FGM persists is that it happens in silence. We need a national conversation that engages all sectors of society. We need to recognize that FGM is child sexual assault. We need the stories of FGM survivors integrated into a more inclusive and intersectional #MeToo movement.