More Than A Magazine, A Movement
The United States’ system of mass incarceration has imprisoned millions since the 1980s, with enormous racial disparities. During this period, women have become the fastest-growing segment of the incarcerated population.
Over 80 percent of girls in the juvenile justice system in multiple U.S. states are sexually or physically abused prior to incarceration. But their stories of abuse do not end there. Many young women continue to experience sexual and physical abuse by juvenile justice employees after being placed in juvenile detention.
As you settle into eclipse season and any special days you may celebrate, keep an eye on your favorite reading chair and insist upon using it regularly, with one of these 31 titles or a favorite of your own.
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 in this biweekly round-up.
This week: Supreme Court cases threaten the future of affirmative action; senators push legislation to protect incarcerated pregnant women and pregnant workers; Social Security Administration will allow transgender people to indicate their correct gender on documents; Hawaii high school discrimination case puts Title IX to the test; Italy swears in its first woman prime minister; 4.6 million Americans are disenfranchised due to felony convictions; and more.
U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.
This month: The anti-abortion movement frames its tactics as “pro-woman,” Kanye West claims Black women are engaging in genocide, the House Committee votes to subpoena Trump, Brittney Griner’s appeal is rejected and more.
In September, Our Bodies, Ourselves went digital as Our Bodies Ourselves Today (OBOS Today)—a definitive knowledge hub for trusted, peer-reviewed information from a feminist perspective, with content by over 100 experts.
“We are living in an era where our civil rights and human rights are being taken away from us—not only the right to abortion in many states but also the right to talk about it,” said Amy Agigian, director of OBOS Today.
We send Ms. to 5,418 women in federal, state and county prisons through the Ms. magazine Prison and Domestic Violence Shelter Program—funded by charitable contributions earmarked for this purpose, as well as Ms. community members who buy an extra membership and subscription for a friend they don’t know. Over the 18 years since this program’s birth, we’ve discovered that even this small gesture of recognition, support and information means a lot.
Disregarded precedent. A lack of legal restraint. A runaway right-wing majority.
As the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term, we look back at last one—where, for the first time, the 6–3 conservative supermajority was truly able to wield power. It frequently did so in radical ways.
Nations of the world have taken giant steps in recent decades to build international structures and strengthen institutions to deal with mass human rights abusers. At almost every stage, Navi Pillay, a South African lawyer, was there, advancing the rights of political detainees and the protection and status of women.
The blaming and prosecution of women whose fetuses die, as well as those who seek an abortion, has caused an epidemic of fear, despair and fury among women of childbearing age, one that is rippling out to their families, friends, partners and other loved ones.
While we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of the kinds of horrors that banning abortion will create in the U.S., our neighbors in Latin America have understood this reality for years. We cannot afford to ignore the wins and the lessons learned from our neighbors and friends around the globe as we embark on the long road ahead to rebuild power and restore our right to abortion in the U.S.