At a United Nations conference on Monday, Israeli officials shared harrowing accounts of sexual violence, rape, mutilation and torture of women at the hands of Hamas during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack. Now, women’s rights leaders and elected officials are sending a strong message to the United Nations about the need for action.
Tag: Global Women’s Rights
Stories covering the fight for gender-based rights across all regions of the world and stories of international coalitions advocating for global feminist change.
New DOJ Settlement Aims to Reunite Separated Families
Five years after the Trump administration separated nearly 5,000 children and families in an attempt to deter migration, the Department of Justice has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit, Ms. L v. ICE, brought on behalf of those families by the ACLU. What began as a lawsuit representing one mother and one child quickly grew, as initial discovery in the case revealed that the scope of separations was far greater, and started far earlier, than May and June 2018, when the bulk of the separations took place.
“All of the consequences of such a horrific policy came, in part, because we don’t have an immigration system that actually centers the welfare of the child in decision-making.”
Climate Justice at COP28: Perspectives of Caribbean Feminist Activists
Right now, political leaders, corporate representatives and climate activists are gathered in Dubai for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference—COP28—to discuss approaches to mitigating the climate crisis. We caught up with feminist climate activists in the Caribbean on what climate justice means to them and what their expectations are of COP28.
Caring for Ethiopian Women in Conflict-Affected Communities
For two years, Tigray in northern Ethiopia was wracked by a brutal civil war that claimed 600,000 lives and left 2.7 million people internally displaced. During the fighting, rape was used as a weapon of war, and one in 10 women and girls of reproductive age experienced physical, psychological and sexual violence. One year on, sexual violence continues to be used to intimidate and terrorize women and girls who have been displaced by the conflict.
MSI was the only organization providing sexual and reproductive care in Tigray during the conflict. Without more funding, the contraception, safe abortion and post-abortion care services that our outreach teams provide are at risk—and so are the health, lives and futures of the women of Tigray.
Keeping Score: Georgia Upholds Six-Week Abortion Ban; Republicans Aim to Eliminate Women’s Bureau at Labor Department; Elections Reveal National Support for Reproductive Freedom
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 this biweekly roundup.
This week: House Republicans’ plan to eliminate the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor; Southern states push discriminatory election policies; Scholastic book fairs affected by state bans on LGBTQ+ books and books about race; actor Suzanne Somers dies after career shaped by advocating for equal pay in television; Georgia supreme court upholds six-week abortion ban; 82 percent of mothers handle more childcare responsibilities than their partner; harassment and violence mounts against journalists in Gaza and American Jews and Muslims; National Domestic Violence Hotline reports surge in “reproductive coercion”-related calls; and more.
Lauding the Taliban Despite Glaring Human Rights Abuses Normalizes Their Violence
Feridun Sinirlioğlu, the United Nations’ special coordinator for Afghan affairs, said last week that “good progress had been made in Afghanistan, and there is a “misunderstanding” between the international community and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
If gender apartheid is a misunderstanding, then it should be immediately recognized by the United Nations so the Taliban can be held accountable for their actions against Afghan women and girls.
United Nations Condemns U.S. Failure to Address Discrimination Against Women, Directs U.S. to Ratify ERA and CEDAW
The United Nations Human Rights Committee directed the U.S. to address rampant discrimination against women in American law and society, including epidemic rates of violence against women and girls as well as violations of their sexual and reproductive rights.
The committee specifically directed the U.S. government to recognize the fully ratified Equal Rights Amendment.
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Women-Majority City Councils Make a Difference; Remembering ‘Frankenstein’ Author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. In this week’s Weekend Reading, we’ll expose the “tricks” that have haunted our democracy and celebrate the “treats” that can remove these obstacles once and for all.
Here’s a preview: Women-majority city councils (like New York City’s!) make a difference; Missouri’s supreme court is one of just 11 in the country to have a female majority; will Texas’ 12th District will elect another woman to office?; and more.
Ms. Global: Iran Passes New Hijab Laws, Mexico Moves to Elect First Female President, Western Australia Decriminalizes Abortion
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.
Why Are Women Experts Still Excluded From Peace Talks Across the Globe?
The number of women and girls living in conflict-affected countries reached 614 million in 2022—50 percent higher than the number in 2017. To end war and bring lasting peace, women must be involved at the highest levels of peacemaking and peace-building processes, no matter the size or shakiness of the proverbial negotiating table. And regardless of how many men with or without guns dominate the proceedings.
“Men are making the decisions, but it’s the women that feel the impact more. [That’s why] it’s really important for women to be part of the decision-making when it involves peace and security.”