Technology

A Game-Changing Approach: Providing Anonymous Hotel Check-Ins for Domestic and Sexual Violence Survivors

PUBLISHED 10/24/2025 by

Safe Stays by ReloShare partners with hotels nationwide to protect survivors’ identities and expand access to secure housing.

“When guests check in, hotel staff often insist on seeing their identification and recording their full name. Because hotel staff members are not trained advocates, she said, they probably won’t be on high alert if an abuser calls or walks through the door,” said Ruth Glenn, the former chief executive and president of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. And “leaving is often the most dangerous time for survivors of abuse,” according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Paige Allmendinger, Safe Stays by ReloShare’s chief product officer, told Ms., “First, we needed the ability for a guest to check in under a fake name, with no ID required at check-in. If the survivor’s real name isn’t tied to the reservation and an abuser calls the hotel searching for them, there won’t be any record that the survivor is in-house, giving the survivor a degree of protection at the very time they need it most.

“Second, we needed hotels to forego the usual requirement for a credit card from the guest or agency at check-in. Credit-card transactions can expose location putting survivors at risk. While social service organizations may have funding to pay for hotel stays, many have limited credit lines for upfront payment or can’t send staff in person to present a card at check-in.”

From Dobbs to Bitcoin: The Economy of Control

PUBLISHED 8/4/2025 by

We now have a president enriching himself with cryptocurrency, so I have to wonder: Why and how did our real dollar’s value go down by 10 percent during the first six months of Trump’s term—and yet our mainstream media is not screaming at us, like the Body Snatcher’s guy: “You fools! You’re in danger! They’re after all of us!”

Today’s economic absurdities reveal just how far power will go to silence women and automate thought.

‘No More Shame!’ The Transformative Lesson of Gisèle Pelicot, the French Survivor of Mass Rape

PUBLISHED 7/15/2025 by

A phone call one autumn morning from local police requesting that Dominique Pelicot, then 67, husband to Gisèle, also 67, report to the local station interrupted their daily routine. A surprised Gisèle listened as her husband told her not to worry: “It won’t be pleasant, but by noon we will be home,” he said. But the next time she saw him was at his trial.

Like many countries, France has a protective privacy act guaranteeing anonymity for crime victims. Gisèle’s lawyers warned what would happen in a public trial—the intense media attention that would surely follow every development in the case, the probable attacks on her testimony in court and possible threats to her life. Undaunted, Gisèle chose to waive her right to anonymity.

“When you’re raped, there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame,” she told the court. “It’s for them.”

Her insistence that her trial be public surprised both her lawyers and the presiding judge—and transformed Gisèle into a feminist hero and icon.

How Reshma Saujani Makes the Invisible Work of Motherhood Impossible to Ignore

PUBLISHED 7/1/2025 by | UPDATED 7/7/2025 at 12:25 P.M. PT

Most women are taught to make motherhood look effortless. Reshma Saujani wants you to see that we were never supposed to do it alone.

In a country that still treats caregiving as a personal responsibility rather than a public good, Saujani is changing the script. Not by asking for sympathy, but by exposing the architecture of the lie—and building something better in its place.

“I come from a long line of rule-breakers,” she told me. “My parents fled a dictator. They landed in Chicago with nothing. I grew up surrounded by refugees who were just trying to make it work. That kind of survival teaches you two things: one, that struggle is constant—and two, that silence is dangerous.”

She was a rule-breaker long before she was a movement-builder—always challenging authority, always in detention. “I’ve never been good at following the script,” she said. And that’s exactly what makes her effective.

I Asked Top Election Experts About 2024 Tampering Claims. Here’s What They Said.

PUBLISHED 6/27/2025 by | UPDATED 7/2/2025 at 9:16 A.M. PT

In recent weeks, a wave of rumors has surfaced online suggesting the 2024 election may have been “stolen” or, more specifically, tampered with due to faulty machines. While many of these claims remain vague or speculative, some are beginning to gain traction across social media platforms and alternative news sites. 

In the interest of democracy, transparency and election security, I reached out to a group of leading experts—many of whom work at the intersection of voting rights, cybersecurity and public trust—to share two examples of the kinds of articles I’ve seen on this topic, and ask for their take.

What follows are responses from some of the country’s most experienced voices on election integrity. Their insights are a valuable reminder that while election systems are not perfect, there is currently no credible evidence supporting claims of widespread vote manipulation in 2024. Instead, these experts highlight what’s real, what’s theoretical and where our attention should actually be focused as we work to protect democracy.

This Father’s Day, Let’s Break the Manosphere’s Hold on Young Men

PUBLISHED 6/13/2025 by

Father’s Day is a celebration of caregiving. Let’s also make it a day for men to be emotionally sensitive guides, not just breadwinners or protectors.

Let’s say to the boys in our lives: “You don’t have to be angry to be strong. You don’t have to dominate to be respected. You don’t have to hate women to be a man.”

Let’s tell them: “You can cry and still be brave. You can nurture and still be powerful. You can be gentle and still be strong.”

Let’s begin the conversation with our sons—again, and again, and again—until they hear us. Until they believe us. Until they believe in themselves.

From Biden’s Cabinet to the Crisis Council: Isabel Guzman on AI, DEI, Elon Musk—and What Real Leadership Looks Like

PUBLISHED 6/4/2025 by

Isabel Guzman previously served as the 27th administrator of the Small Business Administration under President Biden and was the fifth Latina woman to serve in the Cabinet. She cites serving in Biden’s Cabinet, which was majority-women and the most diverse Cabinet in U.S. history, as ‘humbling’ and an “honor.”

Since leaving the Biden administration, Guzman is now on the frontlines of corporate leadership, helping CEOs confront the reputational dangers of AI, DEI and disinformation. Guzman recently sat down with RepresentWomen’s digital media manager Ria Deshmukh to speak about her transformative journey through the public and private sectors. This is her first in-depth interview since finishing her tenure as the SBA administrator, providing a multifaceted perspective of life as a woman leader in public service and business development.

“The most critical moments in my career have been when I’ve taken myself out of my comfort zone.”

“Women need to continue to be bold about their worth and their value for inclusion.”

‘Companion’ Unmasks the Horror Beneath the Tradwife Fantasy

PUBLISHED 4/28/2025 by

Companion starts with a dreamy tradwife fantasy and ends in a blood-soaked feminist reckoning. Writer-director Drew Hancock’s film may nod to Scream, Ex Machina and Black Mirror, but it carves out its own smart, brutal allegory for waking up from the fantasy of obedience. Sophie Thatcher’s performance anchors the story as Iris evolves from Stepford-perfect to gloriously feral, reminding us that when women start asking questions, the whole system bleeds.