As Women’s History Month comes to a close, the need to collectively organize and mobilize has never been more urgent.
Every woman has the right to live free from violence and discrimination, to access education, to own property, to vote, to earn an equal wage, to make decisions about their own body.
That is not the world we’re living in, but it is the world we’re striving for. Many women and girls have no choice but to fight, and they are bravely fighting for their survival every day. And they’re counting on us to champion their activism.
In the United States…
What we are seeing at home is an incredibly well-funded, organized assault on the rights of women and girls.
One of the most obvious examples is the devastating attacks on abortion rights. More than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age have lost access to abortion in their state since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Since taking office, President Trump has:
- Pardoned convicted anti-abortion protesters
- Overturned protections that classified abortion as healthcare, and
- Stripped government websites of information about legal abortion.
Every person’s autonomy is at risk.
We’re working to protect and expand abortion access in states where it still stands—and we’re fighting to limit the damage in others. We had a major win in Arizona in November, where we helped to secure protection for abortion in the state’s constitution. I’ve found that in the toughest states, people are their fiercest.
Stop the abortion bans and protect the right to abortion care
Around the world…
We’re already seeing the damage caused by the Trump administration as they actively dismantle humanitarian aid. And women will bear the brunt.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered life-saving aid to millions of people in more than 100 countries. Feeding USAID into “the wood chipper” (Elon Musk’s words) has already cut critical services for women and girls.
Cutting foreign assistance and dismantling USAID has already had serious consequences:
- Increased unintended pregnancies and higher rates of maternal mortality.
- Girls have lost access to educational opportunities.
- Programs to eradicate female genital mutilation have been stalled, and girls will die.
- By the time the USAID shutdown reaches 90 days, nearly 12 million women and girls will have lost access to contraceptive care in just 90 days.
Wherever there is crisis and conflict, women are often the first to suffer, and the ones left picking up the pieces.
• In Gaza, the entire healthcare system is in ruins, and women are giving birth without medical care. We must continue to apply pressure until there is a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo.
• In Sudan, women are being raped, girls are starving, and families are being killed by warring militias. Women are scared to come forward for fear of retribution, and they have nowhere to turn. We successfully campaigned for the creation of the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission on Sudan to address the violence, and we’re conducting our own investigations in order to demand international action.
• In Afghanistan, the Taliban are introducing new restrictions to systematically oppress women and girls in almost all aspects of their lives. Women and girls who dare to protest are arbitrarily arrested, tortured, or abducted by authorities. We are bringing their suffering to light through extensive reporting, and our work is helping to pave the way toward justice: the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor recently applied for arrest warrants against Taliban leaders for the crime against humanity of gender persecution.
But women are fighting back…
At great risk to themselves, women and girls are demonstrating tremendous courage to defend human rights.
When they’re jailed for speaking out, we demand their freedom. Last month, we had two major breakthroughs: Saudi activist, student, and mother of two Salma al-Shehab, who was arrested and sentenced to 27 years in prison for posting tweets in support of women’s rights, was just freed after four years in prison! Her release would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning of human rights activists around the world.
And there’s Justyna Wydrzyńska, a Polish activist who was convicted for the “crime” of helping a pregnant woman in an abusive relationship access abortion pills. Tens of thousands of people took action to challenge her unjust conviction, and a court ruling declared that she didn’t have a fair trial. This gives us enormous hope that the charges against Justyna will be withdrawn, and we are continuing to fight for her freedom. Watch Justyna’s thank-you message to Amnesty supporters who wrote to her while she was imprisoned.
No doubt about it, the state of women’s rights here in the U.S. and around the world is extremely troubling.