Latina Women

Women’s Paychecks Are Shrinking—And Policy Isn’t Keeping Up

Last September, the National Partnership for Women and Families reported the wage gap for all women workers had widened to 75 cents for every dollar men earned, representing a 3-cent decrease in real pay per hour for women.

While on the surface this may seem negligible in a paycheck, even a seemingly small increase in wage disparity dramatically impacts the significant gains in pay since the 1980s. American Progress reports that with this current backslide, it will now take until 2068 to close the wage gap.

Meet the New Feminists in Congress Who Are Fighting Back

The progressive women newly elected and sworn into office—including three non-incumbent senators and 16 representatives—offer a glimmer of “bright hope” as the country enters a second Trump administration.

All of these women know that they’re entering a complicated political landscape, one that’s heavily partisan and disheartening to many of their constituents. They’re also experienced and driven, ready to work across the aisle as necessary while remaining dedicated to important causes, from protecting abortion rights and supporting the LGBTQ+ community to advocating for gun control, judicial reform, affordable healthcare and public education. These women come from all walks of life, sectors of the workforce and backgrounds. Some worked retail or food service jobs to pay their way through school. Others have been lifelong public servants or dedicated themselves to volunteering. They’ve been working physicians, engineers, attorneys, climate change activists, CIA analysts, mayors, state representatives and senators, education advocates, executive directors of nonprofits and small-business owners. They are Black, white, Latina and Middle Eastern. Some are proud members of the LGBTQ+ community. Many are from working-class backgrounds. Some are mothers and even grandmothers. Several are first-generation college graduates or the children of immigrants.

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

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.

‘Guerilla Storytelling’ and Joyful Resistance: Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández and the DWC’s Plan to Combat Project 2025

The Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) this week announced the election of Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) as DWC’s chair for the 119th Congress, which starts in January. Leger Fernández served as the DWC vice chair in the 118th Congress and will now lead the largest ever DWC, which includes a record-breaking 96 members in the new Congress. 

Ms. executive editor, Kathy Spillar, sat down with Rep. Leger Fernández, to discuss priorities for the DWC—both to fight back against what will be repeated attacks by the Trump administration on women’s rights and programs benefiting women and their children, as well as strategies for moving forward toward equality. 

Activist Olivia Julianna Talks Repro Rights and Young Women’s Futures on Ms. Magazine’s New Gen Z Podcast

A fair amount of news coverage this election cycle has focused on the Gen Z vote, and for good reason. Besides being the most diverse generation in American history, Generation Z—born between the mid 1990s and the early 2010s—has grown up in a turbulent time in this country, from the rise of school shootings to the COVID-19 pandemic to the first (and soon to be second) Trump presidency and legislative attacks on reproductive freedom.

In The Z Factor’s third episode, host Anoushka Chander interviewed 21-year-old Olivia Julianna, who has advocated for abortion in her home state of Texas. On the podcast, she and Chander delved into the unique worries of young women in America right now and Julianna’s own advocacy work.

A Texas Woman Died After the Hospital Said It Would Be a ‘Crime’ to Intervene in Her Miscarriage

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Josseli Barnica grieved the news as she lay in a Houston hospital bed on Sept. 3, 2021: The sibling she’d dreamt of giving her daughter would not survive this pregnancy. The fetus was on the verge of coming out, its head pressed against her dilated cervix; she was 17 weeks pregnant and a miscarriage was “in progress,” doctors noted in hospital records. At that point, they should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection.

But when Barnica’s husband rushed to her side from his job on a construction site, she relayed what she said the medical team had told her: “They had to wait until there was no heartbeat,” he told ProPublica in Spanish. “It would be a crime to give her an abortion.”

For 40 hours, the anguished 28-year-old mother prayed for doctors to help her get home to her daughter; all the while, her uterus remained exposed to bacteria. Three days after she delivered, Barnica died of an infection.

Mass Deportation Won’t Solve U.S. Immigration Policy. Here Are Three Things That Will.

There are three things the U.S. government must do to address immigration. None entails policing the U.S. border, and none are prioritized by U.S. politicians today. 

Support of land sovereignty, reproductive autonomy and safe borders would do far more to address the problems accompanying U.S. immigration, than threatening expensive deportation and promising ineffective border walls.

Liberation, Family Style: Latina Voters Advance the Fight for our Freedoms

Solidarity has always been at the heart of Latina and Chicana liberation movements. Its thread binds the spirit of our community’s diversity, uniting us in pursuit of a democracy where all individuals and their families can lead safe, healthy, self-determined lives.

As men of color find their corner in the fight for abortion, and recent survey findings show that most Latinos support abortion access, families can continue fostering understanding around the importance of reproductive freedom. These conversations help dismantle stigma, encourage empathy, and promote a culture of respect for one’s own choices.