More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Mistaking toxic masculinity for skillful leadership has led to one disaster after another—from pointless wars, to preventable terrorist attacks, to the spiraling climate change crisis.
As we enter the seventh month of attacks on Gaza, I can’t help but ask myself: What if we had female leaders in Israel and Gaza?
Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian human rights lawyer and activist who has consistently fought for the rights of women, children, religious minorities and others under persecution in Iran. Over the years, Sotoudeh has spent much of her time in prison, having been arrested for protesting Iran’s mandatory hijab law and resisting authoritarian rule. While in custody in 2022, Sotoudeh wrote to Ms. editors detailing the plight of women in Iran and called for global solidarity around women’s rights. Ms. executive editor Kathy Spillar spoke with Nasrin and her husband Reza Khandan last month.
“The world has gone through darker days. … We’ve made our way forward through those horrific and dark events and times, and so, why not again? As long as I’m alive, I’m just naturally an optimist.”
It’s been almost two years since the murder of 22-year-old Zhina “Mahsa” Amini made international headlines and sparked an uprising in Iran. All the while, the Kurdish words for “Woman, Life, Freedom” are still being chanted.
(This article originally appears in the Spring 2024 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)
A group of British parliamentarians are set to initiate an inquiry into the situation of women and girls in both Afghanistan and Iran. This marks an unprecedented development, as no nation has launched an investigation of this size regarding gender apartheid.
What this fails to do, however, is acknowledge the actualized claim that gender apartheid is already established within Afghanistan and Iran.
After accepting an award for “distinguished doctor” while not wearing a veil, Iranian Dr. Fatemeh Rajaei-Rad was punished by having her medical license revoked, the president of the hospital where she worked was ousted, and authorities shut down her private practice and expelled her from the board of advisors at a medical university she had been a member of.
Despite crackdowns on mandatory veiling in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s killing, Iranian women continue to resist.
On Oct. 29, Iranian human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh was assaulted, arrested and put in prison for attending the funeral of 16-year-old Armita Garawand, who was beaten to death for not wearing a hijab. Despite her injuries, Nasrin began a hunger and medication strike and was released on bail two weeks later. She still faces over 13 years in prison.
But the activist and attorney is not giving up hope. “Democratic resistance and belief in civil society always pays off in the long run. Governments can be dictatorial and autocratic, and they can have all kinds of armies and weapons at their disposal. Despite this, we see them fail over and over again, and something better emerges because of humanity’s collective will. I draw strength from all these experiences. I hope you can, too.”
“On Oct. 22, 2020, a group of anti-abortion extremists forced their way into the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a facility that provides abortion care in Washington, D.C.” So begins investigative reporter Amanda Robb’s alarming account of a violent attack on an abortion clinic in the nation’s capital.
Here’s some of what else you’ll find within the pages of the upcoming Winter 2024 issue of Ms. magazine: how online abuse is used to intimidate, discredit and silence people; women activists in Afghanistan and Iran are calling on the international community to stop gender apartheid; and the top 10 most disappointing TV series cancellations of 2023.
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 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.
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.