Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is any kind of sexual act without consent for one or more persons involved, including sexual assault, rape, sexual abuse and trafficking. Anyone can be a victim of sexual violence.

Nevada Just Made Teen Abortion Way Harder—Even in the Worst Situations

PUBLISHED 9/12/2025 by

Imagine you’re a teen in foster care, and you’re pregnant. The father is your abusive foster parent. Nevada’s newly enforced parental notification law means you can’t get an abortion without telling him. 

“The assumption that a parent is always the safest and most trusted person in an adolescent’s life is a falsehood,” said Dr. Laura Dalton. “Sometimes parents are abusive. Sometimes the parent is the perpetrator of sexual assault. For these patients, requiring parental involvement can be dangerous.”

How Epstein Survivors Made Their Voices Impossible to Ignore

PUBLISHED 9/9/2025 by

Earlier this summer, I sat with Liz Stein at a kitchen table in Brooklyn. A survivor of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, she was exhausted, and she was angry. A storm of media coverage of the Department of Justice’s interview of Maxwell left her surrounded by photos of her abusers, who had been enabled by the system so many times. When news came that Maxwell had been transferred to a minimum-security facility, Liz hit her breaking point. Once again, survivors were being talked about—not heard. 

It was around that kitchen table that an idea was born: What if we could shift the narrative? What if we could bring Liz, and numerous Epstein survivors, together to reclaim the microphone? Rather than magnifying the voice of a convicted perjurer and abuser, we could instead amplify the voices of survivors who had been silenced. Fast-forward to Sept. 3, when over 20 Epstein-Maxwell survivors descended on Washington, D.C.

As I stood there watching survivor after survivor speak out, I was struck by the surrounding community of survivors who came to D.C. to show their support. And then something amazing happened—we were approached by several women we had not met before, who disclosed that they too were Epstein survivors. They told us, “I needed to be here today. I needed to listen to my survivor sisters. This gave me strength and empowered me for the very first time.” One woman told me it was the first time she’d said out loud that Epstein had abused her. Courage is contagious.

‘A Patriarchal, Male-Dominated, Use-of-Violence Society Is Not Good for Anybody’: Ellen Sweet on the Historic Ms. Study of Campus Rape, 40 Years Later

PUBLISHED 8/25/2025 by

The former senior editor and writer for Ms. coordinated what became the first-ever national survey of campus sexual violence. In the latest episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, Sweet assesses what she learned from the study about rape, activism, and backlash—and what has and hasn’t changed since it was published.

Listen to the latest episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, “How Feminists are Breaking the Cycle of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (with Ellen Sweet, Jane Caputi, Vanessa Tyson, Victoria Nourse, and Debra Katz)” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keeping Score: Democrats Fight Republican Redistricting; Periods Make College Students Miss Class; Costco Refuses to Sell (Safe, Legal) Abortion Pills to Appease Antiabortion Politics

PUBLISHED 8/25/2025 by

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:
—“I am deeply alarmed by news reports that Costco is refusing to sell safe, effective, and legal medication for no other reason than to appease the politics of antiabortion fanatics,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
—The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called for Democrat-led state legislatures to pursue redistricting: “The DLCC refuses to allow Republicans to rig the maps to keep themselves in power.”
—“A troubling shift is underway: Women are leaving the U.S. workforce in unprecedented numbers. But this isn’t a choice; it’s a consequence,” warned Catalyst president and CEO Jennifer McCollum after a report showed 212,000 women have left the workforce since January.
—A third of college students have missed class because of their period.
—The Trump administration is planning to restrict coverage of abortion care for veterans in almost all circumstances.
—RFK Jr. takes aim at antidepressant use during pregnancy, despite American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ approving of their usage.
—Texas’ abortion ban has made miscarriages more dangerous.
—A federal court blocked the Trump administration’s restrictions on grants from the Office on Violence Against Women. Seventeen states had challenged the restrictions, and the order is a temporary win for organizations supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence. 

… and more.

“When and Where Do We Get to This Place Called ‘Fair?’” What Political Scientist and Survivor Vanessa Tyson Wants the Feminist Future to Look Like

PUBLISHED 8/22/2025 by

The professor, advocate and veteran of multiple political campaigns reflected in the latest episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward on her journeys to both survivor advocacy and politics—and the ways in which our political structures reinforce the injustices survivors face writ large across the country.

Listen to the latest episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward, “How Feminists are Breaking the Cycle of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (with Ellen Sweet, Jane Caputi, Vanessa Tyson, Victoria Nourse, and Debra Katz)” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

How E. Jean Carroll Fought Trump in Court—And Won

PUBLISHED 8/15/2025 by

At least 27 women have accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, with allegations ranging from harassment to sexual assault and rape. Trump has denied every charge, often dismissing the accusing women by claiming he’d never met them—or suggesting they weren’t attractive enough for him to assault.

In 2019, during Trump’s first term, author, journalist and longtime Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll came forward with the allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf department store’s dressing room in New York City in the mid 1990s. As usual, Trump denied the allegations, prompting Carroll to sue him for defamation as well as battery under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.

But the jury believed Carroll. In 2023, she won the lawsuit.

War on Women Report: State Department Mass-Burns Contraceptives; GOP Budget Decimates Medicaid; Texas Crisis Pregnancy Center Funds Paid for CEO’s Smoke Shop

PUBLISHED 7/30/2025 by and

MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide—the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.” We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Since our last report:
—After a highly publicized trial, a jury acquitted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of the most serious charges—sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
—Texas’ funding pipeline for antiabortion crisis pregnancy centers allowed CPCs to spend millions of taxpayer dollars with little oversight into how the money was used.
—A Texas man is suing a doctor in California who he claims sent abortion pills in the mail to his girlfriend.

… and more.

Fifty Years After War, Southeast Asian Communities Face a New Kind of Violence. Gender and Queer Justice Must Be at the Heart of This Moment.

PUBLISHED 7/29/2025 by and

Drawing on histories of war, displacement and resistance, Southeast Asian organizers expose how patriarchy fuels violence, erasure and division—and why intersectional justice must lead the way forward.

“Patriarchal power is regrouping, seeking to reassert its grip. If we do not recognize and resist this realignment, we risk losing hard-won resources, protections and, most importantly, people. 

“As a community, Southeast Asians’ trauma is compounded by war and displacement. Nearly 16,000 Southeast Asian refugees face deportation; many live in poverty and fear, underserved by traditional systems and are often overlooked in broader Asian American narratives. As the United States expands its deportation machine, refugees from the U.S.-backed wars in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are being re-criminalized and forcibly removed. These deportations fracture families, destabilize communities, and retraumatize those already targeted by the carceral state. Gender-based violence and anti-queer violence only intensify those challenges.”

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

What Would Social Media Look Like if it Was Made for Women? How Women are Navigating Social Media During the Second Trump Administration

PUBLISHED 7/27/2025 by

Following the 2024 election and the presidential inauguration, women faced a dramatic increase in online harassment. Across X, TikTok, Facebook and other social platforms, statements calling for the repeal of the 19th Amendment resurfaced and increased by 633 percent compared to the previous week. Increasingly jarring, “Your body, my choice,” became a trending phrase on Facebook and grew by over 4600 percent on X. 

Olivia DeRamus, the founder and CEO of Communia, a social networking app and self development platform made for women, said that the social networking app has become a place for women to take refuge from the dramatic uptick in online harassment following the 2024 election and the inauguration. 

Ms. on Men: Rethinking Masculinity in the Wake of the 2025 Election

PUBLISHED 7/24/2025 by

When the editors of Ms. asked me to guest-edit “Ms. on Men,” a feature section in the latest print issue highlighting key issues related to men and masculinity, I knew this was more than a symbolic gesture—it was a necessary intervention.

In the wake of the 2025 election, with a growing number of young men embracing right-wing populism, we need a pro-feminist vision of masculinity rooted in justice, not grievance. This section brings together voices committed to that vision, offering both critique and possibility.

The first piece from the feature—going live on MsMagazine.com early Friday, July 25—will answer the question we’ve all been pondering: Why is the vice president sitting like that?