Latin America

A cultural region of 20 countries and territories extending from South America to Central America, including Mexico and most Caribbean islands. Most have a history of Spanish or Portuguese colonialism and a large presence of Spanish, Portuguese or French languages.

The Beijing Conference Was a Victory for Women’s Movements. It’s Time to Believe in Them Again.

PUBLISHED 9/22/2025 by , and

Thirty years ago this month, 45,000 women from around the world converged in Beijing and neighboring Huairou for the historic United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. In today’s hyperconnected world, it’s easy to miss how groundbreaking the mere fact of this gathering was: The largest number of women at that point in history assembled to lobby the world’s governments for their rights. As Gertrude Mongella, the legendary Tanzanian leader who served as Secretary General of the conference, told the crowd: “The time has come for women to receive their rightful place in all societies and be recognized once and for all, that they are no more guests on this planet. This planet belongs to them too.” 

For funders, governments and individuals—including those gathered at the U.N. General Assembly this week—the message is clear. If you don’t already support and fund women’s movements, start. If you already fund them, stand by your investments, which pay dividends for all the issues you care about. And if you’re marking the Beijing anniversary, know that any progress made since then was no accident. 

Nighttime Deportations: When Government Policy Becomes Child Trauma

PUBLISHED 9/8/2025 by

The Departments of Homeland Security, as well as Health and Human Services, hit a new low over Labor Day weekend: Government officials ordered the deportation of over 600 Guatemalan children in the middle of the night.

Fortunately, a federal judge quickly acted to block the removals, at least for now—but the events that unfolded between Aug. 29 and Aug. 31 are a sobering indictment of all that is wrong with Trump’s campaign against immigrants. In a single night, the Trump administration may have permanently scarred children who were just beginning to feel like they had found a safe place, far away from the danger and threats they had fled.

Their terror and confusion is captured in the affidavits children and witnesses filed with the court over the next few days. One boy described how shelter staff woke him at 2 in the morning, telling him he would be leaving in a few hours; he had no time to wash his face or brush his teeth but had to gather his things and go. For a minute, he just sat there, staring into space, unable to fathom what going back to Guatemala might mean. Another child became so scared that she vomited. 

Many worried whether their parents or relatives could even answer the phone at such an hour or be ready to receive them. Some asked in trembling voices, “¿Me van a mandar a otro albergue en Guatemala?” “Are they going to send me to another shelter in Guatemala?”

With New DOJ Ruling, Women Fleeing Gender-Related Persecution Will Have an Even Harder Time Winning Asylum

PUBLISHED 7/23/2025 by

In Matter of K-E-S-G-, an asylum case decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals on July 18, Department of Justice officials declared that an abused Salvadoran woman could not obtain asylum based only on the argument that her persecution was based on her gender, in a country that views women as property. The decision is the latest in a 30-year battle over the legitimacy of gender-based asylum claims and closely tracks the first of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back decisions and policies that recognized the unique role that gender plays in many asylum cases, particularly those involving domestic abuse, sexual violence or trafficking.  

It was already difficult to obtain asylum in the United States. You must demonstrate that you have been or will be persecuted, based on a protected category, and that your own government will not or cannot help you. You must show that your persecutor intended to harm you based on the protected category. You must show that you can’t simply move to another part of your country, and you must provide evidence that your life is in danger if you return home.

“What I desire most is for all women who are fleeing abuse in their country to have their asylum cases heard and to be safe here. The situation right now is dire. The struggle continues. But they have to keep fighting.”

The U.N. Should Condemn the U.S.’ Human Rights Record on Abortion

PUBLISHED 7/9/2025 by and

The periodic United Nations review of the United States’ human rights record is coming up in November. With the Trump administration’s far-reaching, intensifying attacks, the timing could not be more opportune. Never have U.S. institutions, funding and initiatives that promote the rule of law, faced such an abject threat. This is a moment to shine a light on U.S. abuses on the global stage.

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?

A Post-Dobbs Alternative for Reproductive Autonomy? Menstrual Regulation.

PUBLISHED 4/9/2025 by

Menstrual regulation, or bringing back a missed or late period, is a common cultural practice across the globe, including the United States. It typically involves “period pills” to induce a period, such as mifepristone and misoprostol, and can be practiced legally in countries where abortion is illegal, like Bangladesh and Cuba. Offering a method to manage menstrual cycles openly grants reproductive autonomy, without shame or taboo. Critically, menstrual regulation is not viewed as an abortion, even though mifepristone and misoprostol are involved. 

U.N. Landmark Ruling Condemns Ecuador and Nicaragua for Forcing Girls Into Motherhood

PUBLISHED 1/31/2025 by

For the first time in its history, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognized in a Jan. 20 ruling that denying an abortion to a child is not just a denial of choice but an imposition of pregnancy and forced motherhood that irreversibly disrupts their health, well-being and life trajectory.

This landmark decision represents a crucial shift in how the international community addresses the intersection of children’s rights, reproductive rights and gender justice.

International Human Rights Court Rules in Favor of Abortion Rights in Case Against El Salvador

PUBLISHED 12/24/2024 by

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a significant ruling on Dec. 20, with the potential to further transform the legal landscape of abortion rights in Latin America. In particular, IACHR ruled that El Salvador violated a series of rights by denying a 22-year-old woman an abortion in 2013, despite her health and life being at risk and the pregnancy being unviable. According to the court, the government violated her right to health, personal integrity, privacy, access to justice, and to live a life free of violence—rights stated in the Inter-American Convention of Human Rights and the Belém do Pará Convention to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women.

The ruling was received as a triumph by Beatriz’s family and the activists that supported them in this case—but their work does not stop here. Activists are now committing to monitor the government’s compliance with the court’s ruling.