How Congress Can Help Women and Girls in Conflict Zones

U.S. foreign policy prevents the protection of refugees, those in conflict zones, and those impacted by natural disasters. Yet the House Appropriations Committee has chosen to pass a budget that will defund the agencies and programs that are most prepared to expertly respond to the needs of girls and women on conflict zones.

It is far past time that Congress passes the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act, which will repeal the Helms Amendment; and the Support UNFPA Funding Act, which would restore funding to UNFPA for the next five years. With the stroke of a pen, the Biden administration also has the power to issue guidance to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Helms Amendment interpretation, preventing a chilling effect and expanding the agency’s reach.

A Timeline of Horror: 100+ Taliban Edicts, Orders and Directives Denying Afghan Women and Girls Their Human Rights and Existence

The Taliban has issued over 100 edicts stripping Afghan women and girls of their most basic human rights and opportunities, effectively putting them under house arrest.

The timeline we’ve assembled here encompasses all the edicts and orders that impact women and girls, often addressing issues related to human rights, media freedom and movement restrictions.

Halfway to the Sustainable Development Goals: ‘We Are Still Far From Achieving Them,’ Say Feminists

The United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) convened this year from July 10-19 to assess progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the halfway point between their adoption and 2030 deadline. The SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future,” ranging from ending poverty, gender inequality and hunger, to promoting clean water and sustainability.

As HLPF came to a close, we spoke to four feminist activists from the Women’s Major Group about their experience at the convening—and their work fighting for gender-just implementation of the SDGs.

Doctors on the Abortion Rights Crisis: We Cannot ‘Ignore This Real Human Suffering’ and ‘Feel Compelled to Speak Out’

A coalition of nearly 200 organizations and individuals this year made an urgent appeal to United Nations human rights experts, explaining that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization puts the U.S. in violation of its obligations under international law. This op-ed follows up on that appeal, authored by medical practitioners who describe the dire state of abortion access in the U.S.

“We never expected to witness this kind of regression of human rights and are embarrassed that such cruelties can occur in the United States, which holds itself as champion of human rights.”

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: One-Third of State Legislators Are Women; Black Women Struggle Most With Student Loan Payments

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: The percentage of women in state legislatures has steadily increased, but the gender gap is far from being bridged; President Biden and Vice President Harris celebrate Juneteenth with Opal Lee, the advocate who helped turn Juneteenth into a national holiday; bias against women is as entrenched as a decade ago, says a new U.N. report; “student loan debt is a true albatross on the ankles of young Black women and young, low-income people everywhere”; and more.

Journalist-Activist Nadezhda Azhgikhina on Global Journalism, Women’s Wartime Roles, and Why We Can’t Just ‘Cancel Russian Culture and All Russians’

Ms. spoke with Russian journalist and activist Nadezhda Azhgikhina about the global demise of journalism and women’s roles in peace negotiations between Russia and the U.S.

“I believe it’s possible for women in Russia and in Ukraine to find a common language and help each other. It’s women’s potential which expedites and eases a common language of peace so that we can all overcome the consequences of the tragedy we collectively face today.”

Are Women’s Rights the Canary in the Coal Mine of a Democracy in Decline?

The tenets of reproductive health, rights and justice—and those of a healthy democracy—are not only inextricably interconnected, but essential to our nation’s promise.

(This essay is part of Women’s Rights and Backsliding Democracies project—a multimedia project made up of essays, video and podcast programming, presented by Ms., NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and Rewire News Group. This story also appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Ms. magazine. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get the Summer issue delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Skip the Flowers: This Mother’s Day, Help Save Women Who Suffer During Childbirth

Every year, nearly 300,000 women die because of pregnancy and childbirth—and 95 percent of those deaths are preventable. The biggest health disparity between rich and poor is reflected in how likely a woman is to die while bringing new life into this world.

For every woman who dies, another 20 to 30 suffer from preventable and treatable injuries like obstetric fistula—a childbirth injury that causes urinary and/or fecal incontinence and destroys a woman’s life. Obstetric fistula is just a symptom of a larger problem: the global under-investment in maternal healthcare.