Migration Category: Feminist Newswire

Stories from the Feminist News Wire.

Girls’ Hygiene Day Celebrated in Afghanistan

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Recently, Afghanistan celebrated Girls’ Hygiene Day and for the first time set forth guidelines that encourage young girls to feel empowered and knowledgeable about their bodies. The Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) guideline attempts to reach teachers, mothers, and young girls to raise awareness of girl’s hygiene and break prevalent menstruation stigma in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, 70% of girls do not take baths while menstruating because they fear it will affect their fertility; over 80% of girls are not allowed to attend social events while on their period; and 50% of girls do not know about menstruation until their first period. The First Lady of Afghanistan, Rula Ghani, attended the Girls’ Hygiene Day celebration and solidified her support for ending the taboo around menstruation, saying that “healthy girls of today are the future mothers who will safeguard the process of motherhood and decrease mortality rate amongst young mothers.”

UNICEF’s 2016 formative research on menstrual hygiene found that menstruation, lack of proper facilities, and misinformation regarding periods are among the top reasons that girls miss or drop out of school. The Acting Education Minister of Afghanistan, Mirwais Balkhi, said that, “girls have an irrevocable right to education, which is lost if they feel unable to attend lessons because of a lack of sanitary products or clean, private toilets at school.”

 UNICEF has published clips and reading materials for girls in Afghanistan to disseminate information on good hygiene practices and to dispel fears and myths regarding periods.

 

Media Resources: ToloNews 10/30/18; UNICEF 10/30/18

Girl Scout who Campaigned to End Child Marriage in New Hampshire Elected as State Legislator

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Cassandra Levesque, a 19 year old Girl Scout, was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature Tuesday. Levesque made news a few years prior for successfully lobbying the state to end child marriages as part of her Girl Scout Project. Before Levesque’s campaign, the legal age of marriage in New Hampshire was only 13 years old.

Levesque led a campaign at 17 years old to end child marriage only to be dismissed by a state legislator who said it was ridiculous to raise the age of marriage because “of a request from a minor doing a Girl Scout project.” This past summer because of Levesque’s campaign, the age of marriage in New Hampshire was raised to 16. Levesque then decided to run for office because she felt youths are not represented in the state legislature and the policy making process.

In 2015, the average age of a New Hampshire legislator was 66 years old. Levesque stated that the legislators “have had some trouble trying to get into the mindset of generations after them – it’s a totally different time than when they were my age.”

After her election, Levesque wants to continue focusing on ending child marriage through raising the age of marriage from 16 to 18. She wants to push other youth-centered initiatives as well, such as college affordability and jobs for young people in New Hampshire.

 

Media Resources: Women in the World 11/15/18

New DeVos Rules on Title IX Will Hurt Survivors

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed harmful new regulations that would make it easier for schools to ignore student survivors of sexual violence and sweep allegations of sexual harassment and assault under the rug. Already, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men will be sexually assaulted in college, and around 1 in 4 transgender, genderqueer, gender non-conforming or questioning students experience sexual violence as an undergraduate.

In the face of these sobering statistics, the Education Department turned its back on students and instead published proposed rules designed to protect education institutions’ bottom lines at the expense of survivors. By discouraging survivors from coming forward, these rules will save schools hundreds of millions of dollars while denying survivors their legal right to equal access to education and making schools less safe for everyone.

These new proposed rules come after DeVos rescinded overwhelmingly popular Obama-era Title IX guidance meant to protect student survivors of sexual assault and reduce sexual violence in schools. At every turn, the DeVos Education Department has been consistently hostile to survivors and instead has embraced so-called men’s rights activists and the university administrators, fraternities and athletic clubs that have promoted misogyny, gender stereotypes, and rape myths.

Now is the time to speak out. The Department of Education is asking the public to comment on its proposed regulations before they take effect. Use our comment guide to submit a comment now.

HOW THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS IMPACT YOUR RIGHTS:

 1. The proposed regulation would narrow the definition of sexual harassment.

The proposed regulation would define sexual harassment as “unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that is denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.” That means that a survivor would be forced to endure repeated and escalating levels of abuse before a school would be legally required to act. It also means that a school would potentially not be responsible for intervening until it’s too late—until the survivor is already denied equal access to an education by, for example, being forced to drop out of a class or drop out of school altogether.

Shockingly, by narrowing the definition of “sexual harassment” with respect to Title IX, DeVos would be making it more difficult for students in schools, including K-12 schools, to be protected from sexual harassment than adults in the workplace. The job of the Department of Education is to protect the civil rights of students, including the right of survivors to access education, not to help shield schools from accountability. The proposed rules, however, send the message that students should be forced to put up with sexual violence and that some level of sexual harassment is acceptable.

2. Schools would be allowed to ignore assault and harassment that occurs off-campus.

Under the new rules, schools would be required to investigate and respond to only a fraction of the thousands of off-campus sexual assaults that happen each year, even if the survivor sees their rapist every day in class, in the dining hall, in the dorms, or anywhere else on-campus. 41% of all campus sexual assaults occur off-campus, and the majority of college students live off-campus. Schools may also be able to ignore some online harassment, even if that harassment makes a student too afraid to go to school.

3. The proposed regulation would limit the ability of survivors to get help.

Under the proposed rule, schools would only be required to respond to complaints made to a limited number of employees with the “authority to institute corrective measures.” Schools would have no obligation to act even when students report to a TA or an RA. The rule also hurts K-12 students. Instead of being able to rely on a trusted teacher aide, cafeteria worker, or playground supervisor, a child would have to report harassment or assault to a principal or district superintendent before the school would be legally obligated to respond.

4. Survivors will be forced to submit to cross-examination, or else.

The new proposed rules require schools to force survivors to submit to cross-examination by an adversarial party aligned with the survivor’s named harasser or rapist. If a survivor is too traumatized to be cross-examined, too bad: the proposed rules would prohibit the school from relying on any of the survivor’s statements to reach a conclusion regarding the names harasser or rapist’s responsibility.

5. The proposed regulation denies survivors a fair process.

Schools would be allowed to use a standard of proof that tips the scales in favor of named harassers and rapists and against survivors. Shockingly, the proposed rule allows schools to single out sexual harassment and assault complaints for different treatment, not to protect survivors from being re-traumatized, but to protect alleged perpetrators from “stigma.” False reporting, however, is extremely rare, and survivors deserve a fair process that does not give deference, a higher benefit of the doubt, or special rights to those who may have caused them long-lasting, traumatic harm.

6. Schools could delay investigation indefinitely.

If a survivor reports an assault to both their school and the police, the proposed rule would allow the school to delay its investigation, perhaps indefinitely. Title IX, however, imposes an independent civil rights obligation on schools. The criminal justice system operates under an entirely different set of laws and with different considerations. Survivors shouldn’t be forced out of school because the administration won’t take action while a criminal complaint is pending, which can take years.

7. The proposed rule invites abuse of religious exemptions to Title IX.

Under the proposed rules, schools would be able to claim a “religious exemption” from Title IX, a civil rights statute, at any time. Even if a school has never indicated that it qualifies for a religious exemption, it can—once it is under investigation for violating Title IX—claim that it has no obligation to follow the law. This, obviously, does not give students notice of their schools intent not to protect their civil rights under Title IX, and is particularly harmful to women, LGBTQ students, and married or unmarried pregnant and parenting students.

Protests Erupt across Ireland after Underwear is used as Evidence of Consent

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Women across Ireland are protesting how rape trials conduct after a recent trial used a woman’s underwear as evidence of consent, leading to a man being acquitted of rape. Protesters this week in Ireland, and abroad, are using the hashtag #ThisIsNotConsent and sharing photos of women’s underwear.

A social media movement began when people started sharing photos of their underwear with the tag #ThisIsNotConsent after a jury took only an hour and a half to acquit the alleged rapist of a seventeen year old woman. The defense argued that her lacy thong implied consent. The defense said in closing statement, “Does the evidence out-rule the possibility that she was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone? You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.” Many women, in Ireland and abroad, viewed the closing statement as victim-blaming.

This led to protests across Ireland, including a protest at the Belfast City hall with over 100 women and men. Anne Orr, of the feminist organization ROSA, said that, “people took to the streets of Dublin and Cork and across the south to show that this is not okay, people’s underwear is not consent, what we wear is not consent, it has nothing to do with consent.”

Feminist organizations and protestors are building a movement to challenge Irish laws and the use of clothing, particularly underwear, as evidence of consent. Fiona Ferguson of People Before Profit asked “what message are courts sending out to victims of sexual assault, the court in Cork, what message are they sending to sexual assaults victims. Sexual assaults are on the rise but prosecutions are still shockingly low, why would any woman be encouraged to report, to have her underwear paraded around a court room.”

The recent rape acquittal follows the high profile case of two Ulster Rugby players who were also acquitted of rape earlier this year in Belfast. This trial focused on the woman’s underwear as evidence of consent as well. Carmel Gates, from Nipsa trade union, said that, “it is unfortunate that we are here again talking about women’s underwear as an issue in the courts, and it is an absolute disgrace.” Susan Dillion created “I Believe Her – Ireland,” a site dedicated to the creation of a safe space for survivors of sexual assault after the Ulster Rugby trial.  Dillion started the social media movement #ThisIsNotConsent this week.

 

Media Resources: Irish Examiner 11/15/18; CNN 11/15/18

Almost a Year Later, Sexual Harassment Legislation May Pass

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Almost a year after Congress announced plans to pass sexual harassment legislation, Mitch McConnell announced that the legislation can still move forward before 2019.  The House passed sexual harassment legislation in February while a weaker version of the bill was passed in the Senate in May. However, the Senate has struggled to negotiate the differences between its bill and the House bill passed earlier this year.

The Senate and House legislation aims to update the Congressional Accountability Act in the wake of the #MeToo movement and multiple Congressional sexual harassment scandals. The Senate legislation eliminates the mandatory period before survivors can report sexual harassment, increases the length of time survivors have to file a lawsuit, requires Senators to reimburse the Treasury for settlements related to harassment claims, and the Senate Ethics Committee would have to find the Senator personally liable. The House bill does not include oversight from the ethics committee but makes lawmakers personally liable for claims of discrimination as well as sexual harassment.

House members are disappointed with the Senate bill, believing it does not do enough to protect survivors and hold Congressional leaders accountable for their actions. Rep. Jackie Speier requested going to conference with Senate leaders because she views the Senate bills as “shift[ing] the power back to the institutions instead of the victims.” House members and outside organizations are concerned that the Senate legislation lacks “transparency and accountability,” because members of the Senate would have to charge their colleagues as liable for sexual harassment claims. Critics are also concerned with the Senate’s definition of harassment as “unwelcome harassment,” potentially leaving loopholes that would make sexual harassment claims more difficult for survivors.

Lawmakers would have to reconcile the differences between the two bills for it to pass through Congress; an ambitious agenda that McConnell says is still possible. Lawmakers may decide to attach a version of the bill onto an appropriations package that must be passed by December 7th, when the government will run out of funding.

 

Media Resources: Vox 11/14/18; Vox 5/24/2018; The Hill 5/25/18; Feminist Newswire 12/2/17

LGBTQ Migrants are the First to Reach US Border

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

This week LGBTQ members from the migrant caravan were the first to reach the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico. LGBTQ members arrived at the border before the rest of the caravan because they were escaping discrimination and harassment from within the caravan itself as well as the dangers members faced traveling through Mexico.

While fleeing gang violence, political oppression, and persecution for their sexual identities, a group of LGBTQ individuals left the caravan because of discrimination from other migrants. One refugee, Erick Dubon from Honduras, stated that “people wouldn’t let us into trucks, they made us get in the back of the line for showers, they would call us ugly names.” Another migrant said that at times truck drivers left LGBTQ migrants stranded on highways.

Even now that the first group of LGBTQ migrants are in Tijuana, they still face harassment and violence. Waiting in Tijuana for approval to enter the United States is dangerous, especially for LGBTQ members who are at heightened risks for cartel sex trafficking. Nicole Ramos, an immigration lawyer, said that a previous group of LGBTQ migrants faced difficulties during their stay in Tijuana. “They experienced a lot of violence, including having the shelter they were staying in robbed and set on fire,” she said.

RAICES aided the LGBTQ migrants, ensuring they reached the border before the rest of the 5,000 person caravan. There was major concern that the LGBTQ migrants would be delegated to the end of the line for entry into the US, placing the already vulnerable population in more danger. Rivano Barros, a field officer for RAICES said that, “being at the end of that line could be a death sentence for them” and that the US policy “could be a lot different once the caravan gets to Tijuana.”

Currently, the LGBTQ migrants, and many in the caravan, are seeking asylum in the United States. However, the current wait list for asylum seekers in Tijuana is about 1,000 people long with a four to five week waiting time. The large influx of migrants from the caravan has many immigration attorneys worried that the already long wait times will double. Once migrants turn themselves in to the US, they will face weeks in detention.

 

Media Resources: Buzzfeed News 11/14/2018; The Washington Post 11/13/18

Election Night 2018 Historic for LGBTQ+ Candidates

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

A week after the midterm election, Kyrsten Sinema was declared the winner of the Arizona Senate election, making her the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress and Arizona’s first female Senator. After Tuesday’s election, the total number of LGBTQ+ members of Congress is now eleven, the first time that the number has reached double digits.

Kyrsten Sinema is now the second LGBTQ+ U.S. Senator. Tammy Baldwin, a Senator from Wisconsin, was the first openly LGBTQ+ Senator and last Tuesday she won her election for a second term as well. She tweeted Tuesday that she was “very happy to say [she is] no longer the *only* open LGBTQ U.S. Senator.”

Sharice Davis and Jared Polis were also elected on the historic night for LGBTQ candidates. Sharice Davis is an openly lesbian Native American woman elected to Congress from Kansas. Davis is also one of the first Native American women elected to Congress. Jared Polis is the first openly gay governor in the United States and was elected in Colorado. Colorado was once known as the “hate state” because of a 1992 law that legalized discrimination against the LGBTQ community, but is now the first state to have an openly gay governor. Gina Ortiz Jones is a member of the LGBTQ community and if she wins her race in Texas then she will become the first LGBTQ person elected in Texas.

Elliot Imse of the LGBTQ Victory Fund said that, “the high profile wins in Arizona, Kansas, and Wisconsin this cycle make clear that an LGBTQ candidate who listens to voters and prioritizes their issues can win elected office anywhere – blue state or red state. This is a significant evolution in American politics.”

Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said that the election of LGBTQ candidates was a rejection of recent Trump administration policies targeting LGBTQ rights. Griffin stated that, “the days of attacking LGBTQ people for political gain are over, and the American people will not stand for lawmakers who try to drum up votes by trafficking hate.”

The election of LGBTQ candidates comes after it was recently revealed that the Trump administration is planning to establish under Title IX a strict definition of sex as unchangeable and assigned at birth based on genitalia. Under their plan, any dispute would require a person to undergo genetic testing. This rule would disregard the lives of 1.4 million Americans who currently identify themselves with a sex that does not match that of their birth certificate.

 

Media Resources: The Washington Post 11/13/2018; Feminist Newswire 10/22/18

Harsh Anti-Abortion Laws in El Salvador Criminalize Survivors

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

On Monday, a criminal trial against Imelda Cortez, a 20-year-old woman charged with attempted murder after she gave birth to her abuser’s baby in El Salvador, began. Cortez has been in custody since April 2017 and may face up to 20 years in jail because doctors believe she attempted an abortion. The court ruling is expected within a week.

Cortez was repeatedly abused by her 70-year-old stepfather since she was 12 years old and became pregnant at the age of 18. Cortez was rushed to the hospital after her mother found her bleeding heavily and in severe pain. At the hospital, doctors called the police because they suspected she attempted a self-induced abortion, despite Cortez being unaware that she was pregnant and delivering a healthy baby.

While at the hospital, Cortez’s abusive stepfather threatened to kill her, her siblings and her mother if she reported the abuse. A patient, who overheard the stepfather’s threats, informed a nurse, who reported the abuse to the police. When hearing about the abuse, prosecutors accused Cortez of making up the abuse in order to justify her crime. However, a DNA test later confirmed the baby’s father was Cortez’s stepfather. The stepfather has not been charged.

According to one of Cortez’s defense lawyers, María Deleón, Cortez has been stripped of her rights as a victim. A week after Cortez gave birth she was charged with attempted murder, was denied bail, and was sent straight to prison. Since her detainment, Cortez has been denied psychological attention, support, and the right to hold her baby.

Cortez’s case has fueled abortion and human rights activists. Deleón said Cortez’s case is “the most extreme, scandalous injustice against a woman I’ve ever seen.” Further, Paula Avila-Guillen, the director of Latin America Initiatives at the New York based Women’s Equality Center stated that Cortez’s case is a clear illustration of how El Salvador’s laws criminalize victims. Further, Avila-Guillen said “the fierce determination of prosecutors to go after poor women regardless of the circumstances and evidence is sending a strong message: if you’re poor, it’s not safe to seek healthcare.”

In El Salvador, abortion has been illegal under any circumstances for 21 years and punishable to up to 50 years of imprisonment. Last August, a parliamentary bill was drafted legalizing abortion in cases of rape and human trafficking. However, the bill is currently stuck in committee, with no hope of an upcoming vote.

According to human rights and abortion activists, 24 women are currently serving 15-30 years in jail for suspected abortions.

 

Newswire Sources: The Guardian 11/12/18; 4/3/18

Democrats’ First Legislative Priority is Voting Rights Reform

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Democrats announced this week that their first legislative vote will be a sweeping voting reform act, H.R. 1, that Democrats believe will increase public trust in the government and strengthen democratic institutions. The legislation aims to reform redistricting, create automatic voter registration, revive the Voting Rights Act, overturn the Citizen’s United ruling, and expand the conflict of interests ban to include presidents. Representative Sarbanes commented that, “The path back to having the public trust government and politics is a long one, but we have to start someplace.”

The legislation would create the first nationwide automatic voter registration initiative as well as reinstate pieces of the Voting Rights Act that were weakened by a 2013 Supreme Court decision. Democrats believe that overturning Citizen United would allow for the creation and expansion of mandates regarding the disclosure of outside money spent on elections. The bill also calls for the creation of a publicly financed match for small contributions to candidates and mandates that redistricting power is given to independent commissions, not state legislatures.

Beyond voting reform, the legislation proposes expanding ethics rules to include the president, specifically by banning conflict of interests and requiring presidential nominees to release their tax returns.

When the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives in January, H.R. 1 will be the first legislative vote. However, the Republican controlled Senate is unlikely to pass the bill and President Trump is unlikely to sign it. Republicans and Conservative groups already oppose the legislation, calling it unconstitutional and a threat to the First Amendment. Therefore, passing the bill in the House will just be the first step and will be seen as a symbolic gesture to the American people that the Democrats “hear [their] message loud and clear,” according to Representative Sarbanes.

 

Media Resources: NPR 11/12/2018

The 2018 Gender Gap

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

The 2018 midterm election had the highest gender gap since 1992, a 23 point difference between men’s and women’s voting preferences, because a majority of women voted for Democrats. While this may not seems like a large increase from the 2016 election’s 22 point gender gap, the numbers are skewed because more men voted for Democrats in 2018 as well.

Exit poll data shows that 59 percent of women voted for Democrats, while 40 percent voted for Republicans. This is a margin of 19 percentage points, a record difference. More white women voted for Democrats in 2018, with a 49 percent to 49 percent divide between Republicans and Democrats, compared to 2012 when white women voted Republican with a 12 point margin. However, this means that the gender gap is mostly dependent on the large number of women of color who voted Democrat in 2018.

Besides gender, there was a large age gap as well; younger voters voted for Democrats with a 35 point margin in 2018, compared to a 14 point margin in 2016. Also, urban voters picked Democrats 65 percent to 35 percent while rural voters chose Republicans 56 percent to 42 percent. Suburban voters were split, a gain for Democrats.

The Democrats now control the House of Representatives, picking up at least twenty-nine seats, eighteen of which were won by women, and won at least seven governor races, while the Republicans gained two new seats in the Senate.

 

Media Resources: FiveThirtyEight  11/9/2018; Feminist Newswire 11/7/2018

Kavanaugh’s First Abortion Case May be an Indiana Law that Mike Pence Signed

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Recently, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill appealed to the Supreme Court to review a lawsuit against an Indiana anti-abortion law that restricts abortion access as well as enforces regulations on how to dispose fetal tissue. This could be the first case on abortion restrictions that the Supreme Court rules on since Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and it potentially could allow states across the country to implement similar regulations.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky filed the initial suit, which led to an injunction and then a permanent block. The law gives anti-discrimination protections to fetuses, which would prevent a person from receiving an abortion based on the fetus’s sex, race, or disability, preventing an abortion in the case of fetal abnormality. The law also states that fetal remains must be cremated or buried, even though regulations such as this have been previously struck down in federal courts.

Attorney General Hill has argued that women should not be allowed to determine “which” pregnancies to carry to term.

Legal scholars do not know how Kavanaugh would rule on Indiana’s anti-abortion law, which Vice President Mike Pence signed, but leaked emails indicated that Kavanaugh may not believe Roe v. Wade is “settled by law of the land.” The Supreme Court only hears a small number of cases each year, but it has previously never heard a fetal remains argument against abortion or a discrimination-based argument. If the court rules in favor of the Indiana law, then other states may soon pass similar restrictive anti-abortion laws as well.

 

Media Resources: Bustle 10/29/18

Scotland Will be the First Country with LGBTGI-Inclusive School Curriculums

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Scotland’s government recently accepted 33 recommendations on LGBTQI+ inclusive education and [tackling] LGBTQ+ bullying in schools, created by the Time for Inclusive (TIE) campaign. As a result, Scotland will be the first country in the world to include LGBTQI+ issues and history in school curricula.

In a statement, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said, “our education system must support everyone to reach their full potential; that is why it is vital the curriculum is as diverse as the young people who learn in our schools.”

The 33 recommendations include requiring state schools across Scotland to educate students on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex issues. Further, state schools should educate students on LGBTQI+ history, movements, terminology, identities, and ways to eliminate homophobia and discrimination. Further, there will be no exemptions from including LGBTQI+ issues across school curriculum and classes subjects. The recommendations also include mandatory free training programs for teachers and offering new teaching materials to tackle LGBTQI+ issues.

TIE campaign’s recommendations are the result of a study they conducted where they found that nine out of 10 LGBTQI+ students in Scotland experience homophobia and bullying in schools. Further, 27% LGBTQI+ students reported they attempted suicide after being bullied. TIE campaign also found that most schools had little understanding or knowledge of intersex individuals, which often leads to environments that can foster discrimination.

TIE is a Scottish campaign group founded in June 2015 dedicated to fighting homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in schools and advocating for LGBT-inclusive education. In response to the Scottish Government’s decisions, TIE campaign tweeted: “we did it! This means that all young people will learn about the LGBTI community.”

Currently, there is no official time frame for the curriculum changes.

 

Newswire sources: CNN 11/09/18; Buzzfeed News 10/09/18

Feminist Candidates Find Support in Battleground Districts

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

A recent poll in eleven battleground districts, including districts in Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Arizona, and Minnesota, revealed that about half of voters support electing feminist candidates.

In Kentucky’s sixth district, 47 percent of voters supported electing more feminist candidates, while more than 50 percent of voters supported feminist candidates in Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, and Arizona. In North Carolina and Virginia, 41 percent of voters would support feminists, more than the number of voters that opposed.

Support for feminist candidates is driven mostly by Democrats and young people. About 75% of Democrats support electing feminists while only about 25% of Republicans do. Among younger women 18-34 years old, 75% support electing feminist while 43 percent of women over the age of 65 would support feminist candidates.

In general, 55% of Black women, 53% of Hispanic women, and 50% of white women support electing feminists. However support for Democrats increases among Democratic women; 78% of Democratic white women, 64% of Democratic Hispanic women, and 58% of Democratic Black women would vote for feminists.

Even among conservatives there is a growing group of younger women who want to see strong female leaders and support feminists on issues like sexual harassment. The #MeToo movement has allowed voters to see that feminism helps women participate in the economy and end harassment.

Voters elected over 110 women to Congress Tuesday, the highest number ever elected, demonstrating that more women are running for office and winning. The women elected include the first Muslim women, first Native American women, and two women in their twenties as well as the former Teacher of the Year, small business owners, former military helicopter pilots, activists, a former CIA officer, and public servants.

 

Media Resources: NYT 11/6/18; Feminist Newswire 11/7/18

Federal Court Rules Against Immediately Ending DACA

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

On Thursday, the US court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to end DACA, a two-year program protecting young immigrants who entered the United States as minors, from deportation. The 3-judge panel unanimously concluded that DACA was not illegal but rather a “permissible exercise of executive discretion.” Moreover, the court found that the then-acting Homeland Secretary Elaine Duke was incorrect when she claimed that DACA should end because it was illegal.

Speaking on behalf of the court, Judge Kim Wardlaw stated that the Obama administration was within its powers to enact DACA because “it had to make a choice about how to direct limited resources in deporting undocumented immigrants.” As a result, they decided to protect immigrants who came as children, did not committed crimes, are students, and are in the military.

The court’s decision upholds an injunction from the lower courts, allowing DACA recipients to renew their application. More than 187,000 people have renewed or extended their DACA protections since the initial injunction.

Immigrant rights activists say that DACA has improved the lives of thousands of immigrants. Approximately 800,000 undocumented immigrants, who are commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” have been issued worked visas, received a college education or deferred deportation because of DACA, allowing them to stay independently and safely within their communities.

 

Newswire sources: The Washington Post 11/08/18; Buzzfeed News 11/08/18; Feminist Newswire 8/31/17

Mass Shooting at a California Bar Kills 12 People

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

12 people died in Thousand Oaks, California last night when a gunman entered the Borderline Bar & Grill and opened fire. Approximately 15 people were injured during the attack and were taken to nearby hospitals. Among the victims killed during the attack was Sheriff Deputy Sergeant Ron Helus, a 29-year-old veteran who was due to retire next year and the first to arrive on scene, as well as college students.

 

The Borderline Bar & Grill was hosting its weekly country music night for college students who are 18 and over. According to police statements, the gunman, Ian David Long, walked up to the bar and shot a security guard who was standing outside the bar before entering. Once he entered the bar, Long shot the employee at the front desk and “just kept firing,” according to one witness. Although law enforcement is unclear about how many rounds were fired during the attack, some witnesses reported hearing as many as 30 shots in total.

 

The suspect, Ian David Long, was among the 12 people who died, officers believe he took his own life. Long was a 28 years old and served in the Marine Corps from August 2008 to March 2013. Long had a few minor previous interactions with law enforcement including in April when deputies were called to his house for a disturbance. The deputies noticed that Long was acting irrationally that night and called a mental health specialist who cleared Long that same night.

 

In response to last night’s attack, California Senator Kamala Harris tweeted, “leaders in Congress must act – not some day, but now.”

 

This attack occurred one week after a mass shooting at Sevilla Nightclub in Riverside, California injured seven people. Recent mass shootings also include the deadliest attack against Jewish people in the U.S. at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on October 27th.

 

In 2018, there have been a total of 48,962 shootings in the U.S., including 307 mass shootings. Gun violence is currently the leading cause of premature death in the US, and on October 29, the American College of Physicians (ACP) released new recommendations for doctors on how to reduce gun violence across the country.

 

An emergency hotline has been established for friends and family who are trying to locate loved ones who were at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks: (805) 465-6650

 

Newswire sources: CNN 11/08/18; Buzzfeed News 11/08/18; gunviolencearchives.org; Feminist Newswire 10/29/18; 10/31/18; KTLA 5 10/29/18

Massachusetts Upholds a Law Protecting Transgender Residents

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Massachusetts residents yesterday voted to uphold a law passed in 2016 that prohibited discrimination against gender identity in public spaces. This is the first state-wide vote to protect transgender individuals and the measure was upheld with over 67 percent of the vote.

In 2016, an emergency law passed that immediately went into effect to outlaw discrimination against gender identity in public spaces such as hotels, restaurants, and stores. For spaces that are segregated by gender, like restrooms, the venue must allow people to use the facility that aligns with their gender identity.

The law went into effect in 2016 but opponents of the law started a petition to include the measure on the ballot. The opponents attempt to overturn the 2016 law failed.

Massachusetts previously passed a law in 2011 that prohibits discrimination on gender identity in cases of housing, employment, credit, and post-secondary education.

Media Resources: Boston Magazine 11/6/18; Ballotpedia 11/7/18

Women Win Across the Country in 2018 Midterms

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Women won more seats in Congress yesterday than ever before, with over 110 women elected, including the first Muslim women, first Native American women, and two women in their twenties. The women who were elected include the former Teacher of the Year, small business owners, former military helicopter pilots, activists, a former CIA officer, and public servants.

Yesterday’s election featured many first for women across the country. Deb Haaland in New Mexico and Sharice Davids in Kansas are the first Native American women elected to Congress. Sharice Davids is also Kansas’ first gay representative and Kansas also elected its first woman governor, Laura Kelly. Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, are the first Muslim women elected to office; Ilhan Omar is a refugee from Somali and was the first Somali-American elected to office in the US. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, and Abby Finkenauer in Iowa, are the youngest women elected to Congress, both are 29 years old. Lauren Underwood in Illinois, is the youngest black women elected to Congress and Ayanna Pressley is the first black woman from Massachusetts elected to Congress.

Jacky Rosen was elected to the Senate in a tough election in Nevada, flipping the seat from Republican to Democrat. Jared Polis won the governorship in Colorado; he is the first openly gay governor in the US. Pennsylvania for the first time has four women Representatives; previously the state had no women in its 21-member Congressional delegation.

The Democrats now control the House of Representatives, picking up twenty-nine seats, eighteen of which were won by women, and won at least seven governor races, while the Republicans gained two new seats in the Senate. As of this afternoon, we are still waiting to learn of the final results for Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona.

The 2018 midterm had what is projected to be the highest midterm turnout, with the latest reports stating that at least 97 million Americans voted. However, it may take up to another week to determine all final winners.

 

Media Resources: Vox 11/7/18; Buzzfeed 11/7/18; NYT 11/7/18

Election Day 2018

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Today is Election Day in the United States and the first nationwide election since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. Voters heading to the polls will be able to cast their ballots for their House Representative, ballot measures, local elections and, in some states, their Senator or governor. Early voting numbers predict that the 2018 midterm will have a voter turnout that far surpasses past midterm elections.

About 40 million people have voted early in the 2018 midterms; more people voted early in Texas and Nevada than voted in Texas or Nevada in the 2014 midterms. It is predicted that 105.5 million people will vote in the 2018 election while only 82 million people voted in 2014. However, if 105.5 million people vote in this election, that is still only 45 percent of the eligible voting population. The United States has a lower turnout rate than most developed countries; Belgium, Turkey, and Australia have turnout rates that are over 80 percent of the eligible voting population. The surge of people voting in the 2018 election includes a large increase in youth voters and first time voters.

To vote today, vote.org has a feature that allows voters to find their polling place as well as Rock the Vote. Vote Save America has a tool that allows voters to learn more about their own specific ballots.

Poll results will start returning once the first polls close at 6 PM ET in Indiana and Kentucky. The last polls close in Alaska at 1 AM ET.

 

Media Resources: Politico 11/5/18; Buzzfeed 11/5/18; NYT 11/6/18; Quartz 11/6/18; Washington Post 11/6/18

50th Anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s Election

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Today is the 50th anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s election to Congress as the first African American woman. Chisholm represented Brooklyn, New York in a district that was newly reapportioned and was majority African American and Hispanic. She served seven terms in Congress and ran for president.

Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1924 to two immigrant parents from Guyana and Barbados. Chisholm started her career as a nursery school teacher and earned a master’s degree in early childhood education from Columbia University in 1951. In 1960 she became a consultant to the New York City Division of Day Care and in 1964 she became the second African American to serve in the New York State Legislature. Four years later a new Congressional district was created in Brooklyn, inspiring Chisholm to run for Congress with the campaign slogan “Fighting Shirley”. In Congress she continued to fight for the issues that mattered most to her including racial and gender equality, education, and ending poverty. Chisholm introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation, was a co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and was the first black women to serve on the Rules Committee.

In 1972 Shirley Chisholm was the first African American and the first woman  to run for president as part of a major political party. Many saw her run as a political stunt which led to her campaign slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed.” In her book The Good Fight, Chisholm wrote, “I ran for the Presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” During her presidential run, Chisholm faced both racism and sexism; both the Congressional Black Caucus and the women’s movement failed to come out support her as a whole. However, many chapters of the National Organization for Women proudly endorsed her for President. Chisholm won a primary and earned 152 delegates, more than two of her male primary opponents, Ed Muskie and Hubert Humphrey.

Shirley Chisholm served her Congressional district until 1981 and was nominated to serve as the ambassador to Jamaica by then President Bill Clinton; she turned down the opportunity due to poor health. When asked later how she would like to be remembered she said this, “I want history to remember me… not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of The United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and who dared to be herself. I want to be remembered as a catalyst for change in America.”

 

Sources: Smithsonian.org 4/25/2016, United States House of Representatives website 2018, National Women’s History Museum 2015, The Nation 6/6/2016

113 Organizations Denounce Federal Proposals to Redefine Gender

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Last week, 113 organizations that work with survivors of sexual violence and advocate for the rights of survivors wrote a letter to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor regarding a recent Trump administration proposal to define gender as an “immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth,” a definition that would “eradicate federal recognition of the nearly two million transgender and millions of intersex individuals” in the US.

The Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading this initiative to weaponize Title IX, the federal civil rights law that guarantees equal access to education by banning gender based discrimination. They have called on the Departments of Education, Justice, and Labor to adopt their proposed uniform definition of sex.

The new proposal directly contradicts how the medical community views gender; “more than 20 of our nation’s leading medical, mental health, and healthcare organizations, including the American Medical Association, joined an amicus brief in support of transgender students’ rights.” Further, the new proposal strips the rights and identities of transgender people, and would increase the possibility of harm against transgender, non-binary, and intersex people. The proposal also makes it easier to discriminate against anyone who does not conform to the gender binary and gender stereotypes.

In the letter, the 113 organizations urge for the protection of civil rights law, which protect transgender individuals from discrimination and bias in the workplace, healthcare, and schools. In addition, the letter urges for the consideration of transgender people’s heightened vulnerability to sexual violence when creating federal civil rights policies and laws.

The letter emphasizes the importance of equal treatment of all people and calls to shift the focus from fear and ignorance to success and safety for all individuals.

Media Resources: Survivor Advocate letter 11/1/18; Feminist Newswire 10/22/18

>