Protests in Poland have erupted this week following the country’s decision to ban nearly all abortions. Last Thursday, a constitutional tribunal ruled that abortions for fetal abnormalities violate Poland’s constitution, making pregnancy terminations near impossible. This ruling is only an extension of the country’s already restrictive abortion laws, which have ranked Poland one of the most dangerous European countries for people with uteruses. Julia Przylebska, president of the tribunal, said that abortions in the case of fetal abnormalities are “eugenic practices with regard to an unborn...

Patience and Kashish, two high school girls from Kampala, Uganda, are intent on more than just their studies: the duo created a program to combat the stigma surrounding periods that often causes young girls to drop out of school because of shame, pain, or lack of easy-to-use period products.  A study in BioMed Central medical journal found that out of the 40 Ugandan girls surveyed for their study, 28% were absent on at least one of their period days. This absenteeism can then lead to girls...

With the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett solidifying uncertainty for the future of Roe v. Wade, today is a dark day for feminists everywhere. However, in less depressing news, the most recent polls show that women in swing states are on track to do some heavy lifting in securing a Biden win. Although a woman’s right to choose is hanging in the balance, a Biden presidency could allow for some stability with the possibility of a Supreme Court expansion. Ms. Magazine's polling suggests that in battleground states,...

When Jane Elliott walked into her classroom in 1968, she introduced an exercise about racism that is still repeated all over the world. We caught up with the ground-breaking educator to discuss teaching kids about race, how there’s no such thing as “white” people, and why Black women are her heroes In June, Black Lives Matter uprisings against racial violence and police brutality raged from New York to Minneapolis, following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Riah Milton, and more. In response, the Internet buzzed...

After four days of Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate confirmation hearing that culminated in Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein’s highly questionable, maskless hug with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, I think we all need a debrief, and a stiff drink. In what Rolling Stone called “the most useless job interview ever,” Barrett successfully evaded almost all of the questions thrown her way. How wild of us to expect answers out of a woman who could sit on the highest court of the country for the rest of her...

RepresentUs, a grassroots anti-corruption organization, had celebrities strip down for voter rights. Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer, and Tiffany Haddish were among those who got naked to warn against mistakes that are commonly made when filling out and sending mail-in ballots, specifically the issue of “naked" ballots. There are 16 states that may require voters to enclose their ballots in a secrecy sleeve, also known as an inner envelope, privacy sleeve, or identification envelope, and then place it in a second outer envelope. Whether or not this...

Content warning: The following story contains discussion of violence against Indigenous women. Joyce Echaquan was a 37-year old Atikamekw woman of the Manawan community in Quebec. She was a mother to seven children and respected by the members of her tribe. On September 28, Echaquan went live on Facebook in a Joliette, Quebec hospital as she writhed in pain. Echaquan had a heart condition treated with a pacemaker and was experiencing intense stomach pain. The video showed a nurse and an orderly yelling at Echaquan in...

More than 200 Guatemalan women and girls were killed in the first eight months of this year alone. Since 2015, more than 3,000 women and girls have been killed in Guatemala according to human rights groups like Amnesty International and the United Nations. Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, which share borders, all rank in the top five globally for their rates of femicide. In Guatemala, crimes against women go unpunished in more than 83% of reported cases. Most of the cases of femicide this year remain unsolved and Guatemalan...

Since March, thousands of student-led protests have flooded the streets of Bangkok to denounce the Thai government. For a brief moment, the protests were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic but have picked back up since June when restrictions were lessened. The demonstrations have aimed criticism at their government’s lack of initiative to embrace new ideas, so women, especially young students, rallied to have their concerns raised to the forefront. In tandem with the anti-government protests, Thai women have used the momentum to vocalize their dismay...

Where did early suffragists ever get the idea that women should have the same rights as men? The answer may be in their own backyards—in the egalitarian society created by Native Americans "One day, a [Native American] woman gave away a fine quality horse.” The audience of women’s rights activists listened attentively as ethnographer Alice Fletcher addressed the first International Council of Women. The scene was Washington, D.C. The date was March 1888. “Will your husband like to have you give the horse away?” Fletcher recalled...