Tag: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Femicide: The Need To Name Gender-Based Killing of Women in the United States

Femicide: The Need To Name Gender-Based Killing of Women in the United States

The U.S. downplays the growing issue of gender-based killings and violence by failing to call it what it is: femicide.

Recent high-profile murders have received immense media coverage, but the reality is they aren’t rare events. Femicide is a global issue that disproportionately impacts BIPOC women and requires urgent action to prevent. The U.S. needs to adopt a language of femicide that recognizes the gendered nature of ongoing murders of women in the nation, as well as the larger social patterns connecting them.

“Respect Us, or Expect Us”- the Continuing Fight of Indigenous Women Against Fossil Fuels pipeline 3

“Respect Us, or Expect Us”: Indigenous Women Continue to Fight Against Pipeline 3

On October 1, Pipeline 3 became operational in Minnesota, despite resistance efforts led by Indigenous women and two-spirit individuals, who are seeking to hold President Biden accountable for promises made and broken.

The construction of the pipeline endangers local women and girls and infringes upon the rights of the rice, the land, the water, the nonhuman beings and the people. 

Federal Policy Has Failed To Protect Indigenous Women

Federal Policy Has Failed To Protect Indigenous Women

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On Indian reservations, Indigenous victims of physical violence by acquaintances or strangers, and all victims of sexual assault and stalking, have little recourse other than to rely on a federal criminal justice system that has consistently failed to prosecute their attackers.

One way to remedy this longstanding problem is for the reauthorization of VAWA to expand tribal jurisdiction to cover all crimes of violence against women committed on Indian reservations, irrespective of the race or the relationship of the victim and perpetrator.

Now Should We Speak Femicide?

Now Should We Speak Femicide?

Men sometimes kill women because they are women. Sometimes, as is likely the case with the horrific killings in Atlanta, men kill women because they are women and because of other aspects of their identity—race, sexual orientation, disabilities. But still, because they’re women. This gendered killing of women has a name: femicide, coined by Diana Russell almost 30 years ago.

Feminists’ Goals of Ratifying ERA and Ending Violence Against Women Are Inextricably Linked

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“In Women’s History Month 2021, we celebrated extraordinary legislative victories for women’s rights—and, at the same time, suffered a profound tragedy. … Our message is simple: We will not give up our dream to live in a world without violence and with full equality under the law.”

(This letter from the editors originally appears in the Spring 2021 issue of Ms.)

After Atlanta: Building a Future Free of Racism and Gender-based Violence

After Atlanta: Four Steps to Building a Future Free of Racism and Gender-Based Violence

“The violence our communities experience every day won’t be solved by more police. It won’t be solved by more people crowding our prisons. Those structures have failed us, time and time again, and they are rooted in and upheld by the same white supremacy that fuels these attacks.”

In the wake of the horrific anti-Asian racism and hate crimes in Atlanta, we need to fight for community-led solutions to help us heal. Here are four.

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The Ms. Must-Read: House Achieves Victories for Gender Equality

It’s been an extraordinary week of legislative victories for women’s equality—but also one of profound tragedy.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced two critical measures, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The votes came the day after a murderous rampage in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of them Asian American women.