Syrian women have been very active in opposing the Assad regime’s repression and politically organized. Syria’s new authorities and the world leaders engaging with them should ensure women fully participate in all discussions on justice, accountability, and the rebuilding of Syria. The same obligation applies in Bangladesh, where an interim government charts a path forward following the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s repressive government last August. Women in Bangladesh must also be full participants in decision making. One continues to be women’s participation in decision making, including in peace and security processes. Every country that cares about women, girls, and their rights should do more to stand with Afghan women, including supporting their call for the creation of an international crime of gender apartheid.
Women and girls are also in charge of domestic work, both poorly paid and unpaid. It’s unpaid or low-paid work that someone has to do so that someone else can provide for the country’s economy. This has a particular impact on women and girls from already marginalized communities, including women with disabilities. They not only sometimes require support to carry out daily activities but are also providers of support and care for others. Violence against women happens in every country and culture, causing harm to millions of women and girls. Risks and challenges to access care increase even more for women and girls living in humanitarian emergencies.
- The Taliban also detained journalists and critics and imposed severe restrictions on the media.
- Without diverse perspectives on how a country is rebuilt, you miss some of the most complex problems because the people making decisions don’t experience them.
- Also, during his first term, Trump cut US funding for the United Nations Population Fund, which supports family planning worldwide.
- The fact that women’s rights are human rights is not just a slogan, it’s a lived reality.
Around the world, women’s rights activists are more organized and coordinated than ever. We’re using every space possible not only to change legislation but also to make communities understand the dangers that come with restricting women’s access to health care. In this US election, 10 states had ballot measures related to abortion.
- They also organize for freedom of expression, economic rights, and democracy.
- Violence against women happens in every country and culture, causing harm to millions of women and girls.
- Worksite immigration enforcement actions that took place under the previous Trump administration had tremendous impacts on the rights of undocumented women and their families and caused many to fear speaking out against workplace abuses.
- When health care is accessible, equitable, and responsive, women and girls in all their diversity can live healthier lives and have equal opportunities beyond health.
Clinical Management of Rape and Intimate Partner Violence Survivors in humanitarian settings
We will keep our antennas up and will be ready to surface things that may not be obvious to the general public. As the saying goes, “the devil is in the details,” and we will focus on those. We will hold the US government accountable just as we do with all governments everywhere. Without diverse perspectives on how a country is rebuilt, you miss some of the most complex problems because the people making decisions don’t experience them. So, if only men are in the room, the experience of half of the population may be ignored. Which means they will also miss solutions to problems suffered primarily by those left out.
Interview: Women’s Rights Under Trump
For example, Black women are much more likely to die from preventable causes like cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is essential to preventing cervical cancer, but racism, poverty, and inequality create barriers to information and access to this vaccine, as well as treatments for this condition. Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has a record of spreading misinformation about vaccines.
Clinical management of rape and intimate partner violence survivors
The Taliban curtailed freedom of expression and the media and arbitrarily detained and tortured journalists and other critics. In September, they banned live broadcasts of political programs, criticism of the group, and limited interviews to individuals from a pre-approved list. UNAMA also received reports that individuals who were forced to return to Afghanistan from Pakistan were also subjected to torture, mistreatment, and other forms of harm. Taliban authorities carried out corporal punishments, including public floggings of at least 147 men, 28 women, and four boys.
Plastics Reform, Regulation Urged by Los Angeles Reproductive Justice Group
In Afghanistan, the Taliban has doubled down on their attack against women and girls. They’ve gone so far as to even order windows be blocked if women could be seen from the outside. The Taliban has segregated women and girls at a level without precedent in modern history.
Women and girls face increased risk of sexual and intimate partner violence during conflicts
And I hope that human rights activists and other opponents of authoritarianism understand that the fight for women’s rights is the fight for democracy. The Trump administration could greatly impact the rights of women in the workplace. Under President Barack Obama, companies were ordered to provide salary data on gender and race pay gaps, but Trump tried to roll back this policy. Worksite immigration enforcement actions that took place under the previous Trump administration had tremendous impacts on the rights of women and wine drinking limits undocumented women and their families and caused many to fear speaking out against workplace abuses. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could create more obstacles or bureaucracy to access abortion pills, like mifepristone, or even contraception. Anti-abortion groups have been trying to restrict access to mifepristone, a safe and effective drug used for medication abortion, through the courts.
There are countries that lifted restrictions on women’s rights and have moved—albeit slowly—towards gender equality. You have Poland, where the new government that came to power in December 2023 stopped the previous administration’s trend of creating obstacles to abortion access. The country also expanded its rape law to recognize that sex without consent is rape. Previously, women and girls had to prove they resisted or fought their rapist.
In eight of them, more than 50 percent of voters supported abortion rights, even though Florida’s initiative lost because it required 60 percent of the votes and fell short by reaching 57 percent. These are women’s rights gains led by women organizing and pushing back. The first Trump presidency was bad for reproductive rights, and one month in, Donald Trump’s second term is even more troubling for women.
The Taliban continued to arbitrarily arrest media workers in 2024, usually detaining them for several days. On May 4, they arrested a journalist in Parwan province on allegations of sharing information with the Afghan diaspora media. On February 17, Mansoor Nekmal, the editor in chief of Khaama Press, was detained in relation to a report on the enforcement of the hijab decree in Kabul. On February 10, Saifullah Karimi, a Pajhwok News Agency journalist, was detained after requesting an interview with a Taliban official about the protests by restaurant and hotel owners over tax increases. On January 18, Jawad Rasouli and Abdul Haq Hamidi from Gardesh-e Etilat News Center were arrested and then released; on January 17, Ehsan Akbari was arrested in Kabul and released on January 25.
While women generally live five years longer than men, they spend more of those years in poor health due to higher morbidity rates. This underscores the urgent need for gender-responsive health care that enhances not just longevity but overall quality of life. Among those most affected by the healthcare crisis are people with disabilities. Because of aid shortfalls, the few services that had been available for people with disabilities, including physical rehabilitation and mental health support, have largely disappeared since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
It is evident that in countries where political participation is eroded, women’s rights are eroded too. The connection between the rise of authoritarianism and the shrinking space for women’s rights is very clear. In Syria, the fall of the Assad government creates an opportunity to listen to women on how Syrian society should be rebuilt.