In a wave of assassinations in Afghanistan, this week four women media professionals and a gynecologist alongside her daughter were attacked in Jalalabad, an eastern city in Afghanistan. Mursal Wahidi, 25, Sadia Sadat, 20, and Shahnaz Raofi, 20, were shot dead on their way home from work. Their fourth colleague, also a woman, was wounded. […]
More Afghans Killed During Peace Talks
A new report released by the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) reveals that the Taliban attacks increased when the intra-Afghan peace talks began in September of 2020. The report also indicates that the overall number of Afghans being killed in 2020 had decreased by 15% compared to 2019. In contrast to the past […]
New Zealand Schools Will Begin Offering Free Menstrual Products to All Students
Today, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announced that all schools will make free menstrual products available to students for the next three years in an effort to alleviate period poverty, the lack of access to menstrual products that negatively affects employment, education, and health. Arden’s announcement follows a six-month pilot program which involved 3,200 […]
Saudi Women’s Rights Activist Loujan al-Hathloul Released From Prison
Prominent Saudi women’s rights activist Loujan al-Hathloul has been released from prison after 1,001 days of incarceration on what many have called bogus politically motivated charges. The move by the Saudi Arabian government is an overture to the new Biden administration and an attempt to assuage their criticisms of the country’s egregious human rights violations. […]
Afghanistan Study Group Warns Against U.S. Troop Withdrawal
A new report released by the Afghanistan Study Group has concluded that removing U.S. troops will lead to a civil war in Afghanistan. The group suggests changing the date, currently set for May 1 this year. “A precipitous U.S. withdrawal is likely to exacerbate the conflict, provoking a wider civil war,” the report reads. It […]
Activists in Poland Seek Support for Reversing Abortion Law
After the Polish constitutional court issued a ruling in October that imposed a near-total ban on abortion in the country, over one hundred thousand Polish activsts have been been protesting the law, now for over 100 days. These protests are the largest mass protest movement that the country has seen in its post-communist era. Yesterday, […]
Biden Administration to Review US-Taliban Agreement
In a conversation with Afghan National Security advisor Hamdullah Mohib, President Biden’s National Security advisor Jake Sullivan once again relayed that the Biden administration will review and assess the Doha Agreement, signed by the Trump administration and the Taliban. Sullivan also ensured US support “for protecting the extraordinary gains made by Afghan women, girls, and […]
Biden Announces Plan to Rescind Global Gag Rule on Abortion Funding
President Biden has announced his intention to rescind the Mexico City policy on January 28, a mandate which prevents the US from providing international funding to nongovernmental groups that provide abortion and reproductive health care. The policy has been enacted and revoked by Republican and Democratic presidents since the Reagan administration. President Trump put the […]
Antony Blinken: Taliban Cannot Be Trusted with US Security and Gains Must be Protected
In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Antony Blinken promised to protect the hard-won gains of Afghan women and girls if confirmed as Secretary of State. He stated that the Taliban cannot be trusted with US national security, policing Al-Qaeda and ISIS attacks on the US, and that a further withdrawal of […]
Two Female Afghan Supreme Court Judges Assassinated as Violent Terrorist Attacks Increase
On Sunday, in yet another targeted attack by the Taliban, two women judges on the Supreme Court of Afghanistan were shot and killed in Kabul. Two other employees of the Court were wounded in the same attack. The judges, along with their colleagues, were on their way to work in the morning when two gunmen killed and […]
Biden Nominates Ambassador Samantha Power as USAID Administrator
Early this morning, President-elect Biden announced Ambassador Samantha Power as his nominee for the United States Agency for International Development Administrator, while simultaneously elevating the position to become a member of the National Security Council. Ambassador Power served in the Obama-Biden Administration Cabinet from 2013-2017 as the 28th US Permanent Representative to the United Nations. […]
Strong Bipartisan Support in Stopping US Troop Reduction in Afghanistan
With overwhelmingly bipartisan support, Congress overturned President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2021. It states emphatically that the president alone cannot decide to reduce the number troops in Afghanistan. The Act also includes that the human rights of women and girls and minority populations must be protected in Afghanistan. The House […]
Argentina’s Congress Voted to Legalize Abortion in Groundbreaking Move
On December 30, Argentina’s Senate voted to legalize abortions for the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. This vote comes after years of pro-choice activism in the conservative country. Until now, abortion was only permitted in cases of rape or when the mother’s health was at risk. Abortion patients could be punished by up to 15 […]
Top 10 Feminist Moments of 2020
2020 was an unprecedented and difficult year, but that didn’t stop feminists from achieving some great things over the last 12 months. Kamala Harris became the first female Vice President of the U.S. In November, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris became Vice President-elect of the United States. Harris broke multiple barriers by becoming the first woman, […]
Malala Maiwand: Journalist and Women’s Rights Activist Assassinated
Today, on World Human Rights Day, journalist and women’s rights activist Malala Maiwand was assassinated on her way to work in Jalalabad city in Afghanistan. Malala worked at a private tv and radio network and her driver, Tahir, was assassinated in the attack as well. In addition to her full-time journalism job, Malala worked on […]
Sohaila Siddiq: A Feminist Icon, Public Servant, and Lieutenant General
Afghanistan’s first female lieutenant general, Suhalia Siddiq, died on December 4 at the same hospital where she served as one of the top surgeons in the country for 36 years. This long-time feminist icon was one of only two women appointed to the cabinet after the removal of the Taliban from power in 2002. She […]
Court Ruling in England Prevents Trans Children From Seeking Hormone Therapy
A high court in England has ruled that children under the age of 16 who are seeking gender confirmation treatment are “unlikely to be mature enough to give informed consent to be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs”. This 19-page court ruling was made in an action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust, which is responsible forthe […]
U.S. House Committee Hearing Warns Against Troop Reduction in Afghanistan
The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the Hill last Friday at which a panel of three foreign policy experts, and most members of the Committee, expressed their concerns about the ongoing peace process and the impending Trump-backed troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The three experts called it a “mistake,” “dangerous” and changing “the […]
Biden Expected to Announce Linda Thomas-Greenfield as Ambassador to the UN
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to announce Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a longtime Black diplomat, as ambassador to the United Nations in a move to affirm his commitment to a diverse Cabinet. Greenfield has worked as a foreign service officer since the Reagan administration. She served as ambassador to Liberia, and as the Assistant Secretary of State […]
Biden Plans to Repeal Mexico City Policy, a Win for Abortion Rights
President-elect Joe Biden has committed to rescinding the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “global gag rule”, a policy that “currently bars the U.S. federal government from supporting important global health efforts — including for malaria and HIV/AIDS — in developing countries simply because the organizations providing that aid also offer information on abortion […]
