Global South

Facing Our Violent Histories: Teaching Empathy in a Divided World

PUBLISHED 9/18/2025 by

One of my international conflict management students at Kennesaw State University recently approached me with a question: How can they be sure that they are not—like the “white theory” dudes they study—imposing their own worldview on the Global South communities they are researching?

As a woman of color from the Global South whose scholarship and practice centers around decolonial feminist peace, my response to my students and others who ask me: Your whiteness does not affect the good work you do; however, not understanding and fully accepting this whiteness as it informs your work probably does.

Decolonial feminism calls for critically reflecting on our own role in generating knowledge (aka conducting research) within the academy, as well as the changes that our scholarship hopes to effect in the real world. When applied to our everyday practice, such reflexivity can minimize the harm we sometimes inadvertently inflict on vulnerable communities and violence-affected people.

Female Genital Mutilation in Infancy Still Common, Gambian Mothers Say

PUBLISHED 9/13/2025 by

Hulay Damba, 55, spent years performing female genital mutilation on girls in her community. Her role as a practitioner was passed down from her grandmother. “It was what I was taught,” she explained. 

Despite years of steady advocacy in the Gambia, rates of female genital mutilation remain high, even among younger generations. According to 2021 data, almost three quarters of girls aged 15 to 19 have been subjected to female genital mutilation, roughly the same proportion as women a generation older than them (aged 45 to 49). 

Surveys of mothers also show mixed progress: When women with daughters aged 25 and under were asked whether their daughters had been been subjected to female genital mutilation, 54 percent said no. But 22 percent said that their daughters had not only undergone the practice—they had experienced it by their first birthday.

The Myth of ‘Choice’ in Global South Sex Trafficking Discourse

PUBLISHED 7/8/2025 by

“Sex work is work,” is an oft-repeated refrain.  But who is behind the megaphone? And who is paying the price? 

For most women and girls, especially from the Global South (and poor, racialized and displaced women everywhere), the notion that prostitution is freely chosen collapses under scrutiny. More often than not, entering the sex trade is not a choice, but an act of survival under patriarchal and capitalist constraints.

So, who is sex work legalization really for? And what would it mean, for all women, if buying sex were not legal, not normalized, but abolished?

Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’

PUBLISHED 4/22/2025 by

It’s time we reimagine menopause as an expansive, intersectional journey through radical divestment and collective empowerment for all marginalized voices.

Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that nobody’s menopause experience is overlooked or left behind, and that requires us to break from the mainstream “landscape” and forge an empowering community of our own.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund.)

On the Fifth Anniversary of COVID-19, the Crisis for Women and Girls Isn’t Over

PUBLISHED 4/7/2025 by

Five years ago, the world was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic—a crisis that transcended borders, affecting every facet of our lives. Today, while much of the world has moved on, the scars remain deeply etched in the lives of women and girls in the Global South. The crisis for us has not ended; it has merely been pushed into the shadows. As we mark World Health Day on April 7, it is imperative to confront the ongoing struggles of women and girls in the Global South and demand urgent action.

Ms. Global: Spanish Police Target Trafficking Ring, A Historic Ruling in the African Court of Human And People’s Rights, and More

PUBLISHED 3/13/2025 by and

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 week: news from Japan, Tanzania, Guatemala, and more.

Weaponizing Aid: How U.S. Policies Undermine Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Crises

PUBLISHED 2/18/2025 by

U.S. policies like the global gag rule (GGR) have long restricted access to reproductive healthcare worldwide, but their impact on refugee women and girls in humanitarian crises is often overlooked. By cutting funding to NGOs that provide or even discuss abortion care, the GGR limits essential services such as contraception, post-abortion care, and maternal health support for millions of displaced women. In conflict zones and refugee camps, where healthcare is already scarce, these restrictions leave women without options, increasing the risks of unsafe abortions, maternal mortality and gender-based violence.

As the U.S. continues to wield foreign aid as a political tool, the lives of the world’s most vulnerable women hang in the balance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Will Be a Disaster for Women

PUBLISHED 1/15/2025 by and

On Wednesday, Marco Rubio appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing as the next secretary of state. Rubio is expected to be confirmed without any serious opposition, thanks to the rarity of Cabinet nominee rejections and public support for Rubio, even among Democratic senators. (Rubio served for years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a senator from Florida, and Democrats like Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Cory Booker of New Jersey greeted him warmly on Wednesday.)

But make no mistake—Rubio’s history of hostility toward reproductive autonomy and his recent embrace of “America First” nationalism heralds a State Department that decimates women’s health, human rights and well-being.

Ms. Global: Increasing Access to Contraceptives in Sub-Saharan Africa, Taliban Demands Afghan Women Be Left Out of U.N. Conference, and More

PUBLISHED 7/9/2024 by and

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 week: News from Afghanistan, South Korea, Bulgaria, Serbia and more.

All Pregnant Women Should Have the Same Privileges I Had When I Gave Birth Prematurely

PUBLISHED 6/21/2024 by

Over the last 15 years, I have had the privilege of meeting mothers and their children around the world. The universal experiences of motherhood—from the challenges of pregnancy and birth, to cooing over a newborn child—can make it seem that pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood are a great equalizer. But my own experience and my work have reinforced that motherhood remains undeniably influenced by privilege and power.

There is no single intervention that will stop complications in pregnancies, halt premature births and end neonatal deaths. But that shouldn’t stop us from making full use of what we know can make a difference for many.