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  • WMC LOREEN ARBUS JOURNALISM PROGRAM
WMC News & Features
October 21, 2022 | Katti Gray | Health, Media
A New Our Bodies Ourselves Launched Online

The veritable bible of women's health is expanding its reach for a new era.

WMC News & Features
October 12, 2022 | Dr. Martha Lauzen | Arts and culture, Media
Upheaval in the Film Industry Has Not Led to Increased Opportunity for Women

Two new studies show that the percentage of women in key behind-the-scenes jobs has barely budged in recent years.

WMC News & Features
October 07, 2022 | Stefanie Davis Kempton, Ph.D. | Media, Online harassment
New Study Shows Harmful Impact of Online Harassment of Women Journalists

Women journalists are significantly more likely than men to be targeted for online threats and harassment, and it's having an impact on how they do their jobs.

WMC News & Features
September 26, 2022 | A.Tianna Scozzaro | Environment, Health, Science and tech
Rachel Carson Helped Launch the Environmental Movement With ‘Silent Spring’: Taking Stock After 60 Years

In 1962, the Environmental Protection Agency did not yet exist, there was little public awareness about environmental issues, and corporate polluters practiced unfettered use of pesticides with little regulation.

WMC News & Features
September 21, 2022 | Allison Gilbert | Media
Women in History Still Ignored in US Schools

Elsie Robinson was once the most famous American newspaper writer, but she, along with many other notable women, has been all but forgotten.

WMC News & Features
September 15, 2022 | Susan Buttenwieser | Immigration
Has Biden Done Enough to Reform Immigration Policy?

After some very promising campaign pledges, activists are giving the administration mixed reviews on immigration.

WMC News & Features
September 06, 2022 | Asha French | Arts and culture, Health
Film Shows Devastation of Black Maternal Mortality — and Calls for Change

Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than are white women. The new documentary Aftershock tells the stories of some of those women, and how their families are channeling grief into action.

WMC News & Features
August 26, 2022 | Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird | Disability, Health, International, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
The Fight to End Forced Sterilization of Disabled Women and Girls in Europe

Progress has been slow and unsteady, but activists are teaming up with elected officials to raise awareness and change laws.

WMC News & Features
August 19, 2022 | Robin Morgan, Cristina Azocar | Media, Robin Morgan
“Federal Recognition Does Not Equate to Casinos”: An Interview With Native American Journalism Scholar Cristina Azocar
This year, Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan is posting and airing a series of episodes focusing on the lives and perspectives of the Indigenous women of North America. The first episode fea...
WMC News & Features
August 05, 2022 | Shaistha Khan | International, Religion
Muslim Women Reclaiming Spaces in Mosques Across India

Across South Asia, women praying in mosques is considered a taboo, but a group of Muslim women from all across India are working to challenge those biases and increase women’s access to mosques.

WMC News & Features
July 28, 2022 | Megan McGibney | Health, International, Politics
Abortion Rights Activists Around the World Express Solidarity With Americans

Advocates in countries that have achieved legalization of abortion in recent years are making it clear that they stand with Americans in efforts to restore reproductive rights and access.

WMC News & Features
July 07, 2022 | Robin Morgan, Anita Hill | Feminism, Politics, Robin Morgan
Robin Morgan in Conversation With Anita Hill
Anita Hill, a professor of social policy, law, and women’s studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy and Management, became a national figure in ...
WMC News & Features
June 30, 2022 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health, Politics
Post-Roe: How We Mobilize for New Realities

What happens now? Advocates and organizations have been preparing for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

WMC News & Features
June 23, 2022 | Katti Gray | Education, Sports
‘Title IX at 50’ Report Offers Roadmap for the Future

The new report, from the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX, affirms the breadth and scope of the antidiscrimination law.

WMC News & Features
June 21, 2022 | Nancy Chi Cantalupo | Education
The Future of Title IX

The federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education is broader than most people realize, and advocates continue to expand its reach.

WMC News & Features
June 16, 2022 | Elizabeth Sharrow, Ph.D., M.P.P. | Education, Sports
Title IX at 50: Remarkable Progress, Much Work to Do

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in U.S. schools. How close are we to realizing its promise?

WMC News & Features
June 10, 2022 | Kendall Hunter | International
Supporting Refugees’ Mental Health: ‘Often an Afterthought’

A small number of organizations offer help for refugees’ psychosocial well-being — an often-overlooked but crucial service.

WMC News & Features
June 02, 2022 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Health, Media
Two New Films Spotlight the Jane Network, Which Provided Abortion Access Pre-Roe

A documentary and a dramatic film give a chilling portrait of the crushing impact of abortion bans — and of the courageous women who provided abortion care in pre-Roe Illinois.

WMC News & Features
May 25, 2022 | Lina AbiRafeh, PhD | Feminism, International
Taliban Abuses Continue; Afghan Women Fight Back

Recent crackdowns have forced women activists to sometimes operate covertly, but they are adamant they will never stop raising their voices.

WMC News & Features
May 20, 2022 | Susan Buttenwieser | LGBTQIA, Politics
Advocates Fight Back Against a Flood of Anti-LGBTQ State Bills: ‘We are Scrambling’

The proliferation of attacks on LGBTQ rights, abortion access, voting rights, and immigration have prompted activists to intensify coalition-building work.

WMC News & Features
May 13, 2022 | Louise Bernikow | Arts and culture, Feminism
New Musical Brings a Different Spin to Suffrage Story

Suffs, at the Public Theater in New York, does not shy away from the darker aspects of the suffrage movement, including conflicts among women.

WMC News & Features
April 29, 2022 | Kelly Baden | Health
Where States Are Winning the Abortion Rights Battle

There’s no question abortion rights are in a crisis in the U.S. This year alone, 42 states have introduced at least 536 abortion restrictions, with dozens becoming law. And that’s on top of last year’s devastating record of antiabortion laws passed, including the news-making Texas abortion ban that allows anyone — literally anyone — to sue someone who helps a patient receive an abortion, from the provider to an abortion fund to an Uber driver.

WMC News & Features
April 12, 2022 | Elayne Clift | Arts and culture
Nellie Bly, Journalist and Changemaker, Is Honored With New York City Monument

Sculptor Amanda Matthews created the Girl Puzzle monument honoring Bly and dedicated to women whose histories are absent in public art.

WMC News & Features
April 06, 2022 | Kyleanne Hunter | International, Politics
Vladimir Putin’s Performative Masculinity

Putin promotes traditional masculine tropes but fails to realize that performative masculinity is not a strength but a vulnerability.

WMC News & Features
April 01, 2022 | Debbie Hines | Politics
The Joy and Agony of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Historic Moment

Her confirmation hearings showed an extraordinary contrast between Jackson’s worthiness and judicial temperament, and Republican senators’ tirades and temper tantrums.

WMC News & Features
March 17, 2022 | Robin Morgan, Rebecca Nagle | Media, Robin Morgan
Representation and Truth: An Interview With Two Native American Leaders in Media
This year, Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan is posting and airing a series of episodes focusing on the lives and perspectives of the Indigenous women of North America. The first episode fea...
WMC News & Features
March 10, 2022 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health
‘Conditions Were Brutal’: The Toll of Two Years of COVID-19 on Women Behind Bars

As the world observes the two-year mark of the global pandemic, we take stock of the devastating impact on incarcerated women in the U.S.

WMC News & Features
February 24, 2022 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media, Race/Ethnicity
Black Women Showrunners Making Their Mark on Television

More Black women than ever before are becoming showrunners, controlling the narrative and giving valuable opportunities to other Black women for behind-the-scenes jobs.

WMC News & Features
February 18, 2022 | Shaistha Khan | Arts and culture, International, Media
A Closer Look: Women in the Saudi Filmmaking Industry

As Saudi Arabia’s film industry expands, women see new opportunities.

WMC News & Features
February 02, 2022 | Ashley D. Farmer | Politics, Race/Ethnicity
Black Women’s Tireless But Practical Pursuit of Reparations

During Black History Month, at a time when Black history is being banned in schools, we remember the mothers of the reparations movement.

WMC News & Features
January 28, 2022 | Carmen Rios | Sports
Film on US Women’s National Soccer Team’s Fight for Equality Is Inspiring

The documentary, which shows the “blood, sweat, and tears” of the team’s fight for pay equity, is being used as a vehicle for change.

WMC News & Features
January 19, 2022 | Treva Lindsey | Health
The Unconscionable Prospect of Forced Pregnancy

Amy Coney Barrett and other members of the Supreme Court have shown outrageous disregard for the real impact of pregnancy.

WMC News & Features
January 12, 2022 | Susan Buttenwieser | Politics
As Eviction Crisis Looms, Advocates Fear an Increase in Child Removals

As federal funding for struggling renters runs low, 12 million people are at risk of losing their housing.

WMC News & Features
January 05, 2022 | Christie Vogt | Economy
New Report Examines Experiences of Tradeswomen in Construction — And Why 44% Are Considering Leaving

While a record number of women are employed in construction jobs, the industry needs to do more to recruit and retain them.

WMC News & Features
December 22, 2021 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, International, Media
2022 Oscar Watch: Breakthrough Women Directors Considered for Best International Feature Film

While still a minority of those whose movies are selected to represent their nations in the category, women filmmakers often offer a distinct, female-centered point of view.

WMC News & Features
December 15, 2021 | Carrie N. Baker, J.D., Ph.D., Carly Thomsen, Ph.D. | Health
The Anti-Abortion Movement’s Digital Strategies to Track Pregnant Women

What are crisis pregnancy centers, masquerading as medical clinics, doing with women’s confidential medical information?

WMC News & Features
December 09, 2021 | Shaistha Khan | Arts and culture, International
Abu Dhabi Exhibition Reflects Conversations on Feminism in the Region

The first-of-its-kind show highlights the experiences of women in West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia while examining the intersectionalities of race, migration, and class.

WMC News & Features
November 30, 2021 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture, Media
New Film Explores the Life of Julia Child, a Woman Who Changed Television

The filmmakers who created the Emmy-winning RBG turn the spotlight on the chef and author who was “deceptively groundbreaking and culturally important.”

WMC News & Features
November 23, 2021 | Aarti Narsee | Feminism, Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
Activists Fuel Global Movement to Fight Violence Against Women

Thursday marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which kicks off the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence in a year in which women have taken to the streets to protest rising violence and lack of state protection.

WMC News & Features
November 17, 2021 | Katti Gray | Media
New Life for 129-Year Archive of Historic Black-Owned Newspaper

An initiative to digitize and reorganize the archives of The Afro American, the United States’ longest-running Black-owned newspaper, will give scholars, journalists, and the public new insights into history.

WMC News & Features
November 12, 2021 | Syed Samreen | Arts and culture, International
Women Musicians in Kashmir Finding Their Voice

An ensemble of young women is helping to revive Sufi music, a traditionally male bastion.

WMC News & Features
November 03, 2021 Robin Morgan
Turning Pain Into Power: An Interview With Two Mohawk Leaders in the Akwesasne Territory
Over the next months, Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan will post and air a series of episodes focusing on the lives and perspectives of the Indigenous women of North America. The first epis...
WMC News & Features
October 28, 2021 | Susan Buttenwieser | Environment, Politics
Could Decades of Environmental Justice Activism Result in “Once in a Generation” Legislation?

Biden has proposed $45 billion to replace lead water pipes throughout the country, a move that could begin to remedy decades of neglect of clean water in the U.S.

WMC News & Features
October 13, 2021 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture
Judy Chicago’s Remarkable Body of Work

The artist, perhaps best known for The Dinner Party, is being recognized with the first comprehensive retrospective of her decades-long career, at San Francisco’s de Young Museum.

WMC News & Features
October 08, 2021 | Carolyn Byerly | Media
Why White Male Dominance of News Media Is So Persistent

A new Women’s Media Center report finding that white men occupy more than two-thirds of guest spots on major Sunday news shows confirms decades of research. Journalism scholar Carolyn Byerly explores the reasons behind the exclusion of women’s voices in news media.

WMC News & Features
October 05, 2021 | Ms. Julie F. Kay, Esq., Kathryn Kolbert | Health, Politics
To Combat Abortion Restrictions, We Need New Approaches

With Roe v. Wade imperiled, activists are stepping up with innovative acts of resistance.

WMC News & Features
September 30, 2021 | Nayla Khwaja | Health, International, Media
Inaccurate, Sensational Media Coverage Contributes to Abortion Stigma in India

A new analysis of print, digital media, and entertainment has found that coverage is heavy on sensationalism and moral judgment, and light on factual information.

WMC News & Features
September 24, 2021 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture, International, Religion
New Documentary Spotlights a Remarkable Woman Imam

Seyran Ateş established a mosque in Berlin that is inclusive and encourages discussion and debate.

WMC News & Features
September 15, 2021 | Megan McGibney | Health, Politics
Former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis on the New Abortion Law: “Fight Like Hell”

The former state legislator, well known for her filibuster of a 2013 anti-abortion bill, speaks out on how and why we must keep fighting back against the erosion of reproductive rights.

WMC News & Features
September 08, 2021 | Susan Buttenwieser | Politics
What Can We Learn From the Cuomo Case About Workplace Sexual Harassment?

The details of the case of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are all too familiar across many workplaces.

WMC News & Features
August 25, 2021 | Cecile Richards (1957 - 2025), Nicolette Naylor | Feminism, International
A Next-Generation Feminist Agenda

The UN Generation Equality Forum builds on the promise of the Beijing Conference of 26 years ago.

WMC News & Features
August 17, 2021 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Disability, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
Woman-Directed “CODA,” With Marlee Matlin, Is a Milestone for Representation

For the film, which won major accolades at Sundance, writer/director Siân Heder cast deaf actors in the roles of deaf characters and ensured the participation of deaf people in other aspects of the production.

WMC News & Features
August 12, 2021 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health, Politics
Abortion Restrictions at an All-Time High; Activists Fight Back

In defiance of public opinion, state legislatures in 2021 have already passed the highest number of curbs on abortion since the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision.

WMC News & Features
August 02, 2021 | Lakshmi Gandhi | Arts and culture, LGBTQIA, Media
New Netflix Film Explores Complexity of Harmful Conversion Therapy Movement

The new documentary, Pray Away, offers surprising and nuanced insights.

WMC News & Features
July 28, 2021 | Shazia Z. Rafi | Environment, International, Politics
Ecofeminists Lead the Way

Activists whose work incorporates ecological, health, and equality campaigns have moved from protesting outside the halls of power to become elected legislators writing and passing the environmental protection frameworks that they campaigned for.

WMC News & Features
July 21, 2021 | Nichola Gutgold | Politics
Harris’ Weighty Assignments Could Prove Helpful in Presidential Bid

Even though she has taken on seemingly impossible tasks, for the first woman U.S. vice president, action beats inaction.

WMC News & Features
July 14, 2021 | Shaistha Khan | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
“I Will Not Be Silenced”: Women in Kuwait Fight Back Against Violence

Demands to address gender-based violence have escalated after a social media movement and a brutal murder.

WMC News & Features
June 30, 2021 | Julianne McShane | Feminism, Media
New Exhibition Reveals the Feminist Journey of “Washington Post” Publisher Katharine Graham

The New-York Historical Society exhibition traces the life of the “staunch, If discreet, feminist.”

WMC News & Features
June 28, 2021 | Kanchan Srivastava | Health, International
In India, Coronavirus Is Taking a Toll on Pregnant Women

Experts fear that disruptions in health services could aggravate India’s already high maternal mortality and child mortality rates.

WMC News & Features
June 22, 2021 | Susan Buttenwieser | LGBTQIA, Politics
What the Equality Act Could Mean for LGBTQ Civil Rights

A wave of anti-LGBTQ state laws, and the recent Fulton Supreme Court ruling, show the need for the federal civil rights law that is awaiting Senate action.

WMC News & Features
June 17, 2021 | Kylie Cheung | Economy
Are We Doomed to Repeat the Mistakes of the Last She-cession?

Over a decade after the Great Recession, women workers are still struggling. New research identifies ways to a more inclusive economic recovery this time around.

WMC News & Features
June 08, 2021 | Lakshmi Gandhi | Arts and culture, Health
Horrible Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Curriculum Inspired Hulu’s Comedy “Plan B”

In this Q and A, the screenwriters reveal how the woeful sex education they experienced as teens in Texas fueled the plot of their new teen road-trip movie.

WMC News & Features
May 26, 2021 | Dr. Asia A. Eaton | Online harassment, Violence against women
SHIELD Act Would Be First Federal Law on Intimate Image Abuse

The bipartisan bill, part of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, would be the first to outlaw the distribution of private intimate visual depictions without consent.

WMC News & Features
May 20, 2021 | Shaistha Khan | Arts and culture, Gender-based violence
Exhibit Gives Voice to Women Artists From the Arab Gulf Region

The exhibit coincides with the #LanAsket (“I will not be silenced”) movement against gender-based violence and harassment.

WMC News & Features
May 12, 2021 | Kanchan Srivastava | Economy, Health, International
Millions of Women Workers in India Lose Jobs During Pandemic

As the COVID-19 crisis intensifies, women workers, especially those who are unmarried and in low-wage jobs, have been hit especially hard.

WMC News & Features
May 04, 2021 | Brittany Neal DiNatale, BSN, RN | Health
Nurses Are Superheroes, But COVID-19 Is Not the Only Villain

Stress, burnout, danger: The pandemic has only worsened existing crisis conditions for nurses and other health care workers.

WMC News & Features
April 28, 2021 | Rebecca Adamson | Economy, Environment, Politics
SEC Takes a Step for Corporate Accountability

A new rule announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission could enable investors and other groups to hold companies accountable for their impact on communities.

WMC News & Features
April 21, 2021 | Lakshmi Gandhi | Arts and culture, Race/Ethnicity
Creating Opportunities for Composers of Color in Hollywood

Composers of color are still rare in Hollywood. Here’s how some in the industry are working to change that.

WMC News & Features
April 15, 2021 | Kylie Cheung | Violence against women
Why Survivor Justice Advocates Warn Against Increased Policing

When police presence increases in response to incidents of violence, who will protect women from police?

WMC News & Features
April 09, 2021 | Susan Buttenwieser | Immigration
Will Biden Create More Humane Immigration Policies?

Activists are pushing the Biden administration to do more than “undo the damage” caused by Trump.

WMC News & Features
April 01, 2021 | Kendall Hunter | Economy, International
Women Artisans Finding Ways to Thrive

At a time when millions have experienced disruptions in their ways of working, traditional artisans — the original remote workers — offer lessons on the future of work.

WMC News & Features
March 24, 2021 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
Prominent Actresses Making Their Directorial Debuts Behind the Camera

Well known for their work on screen, actresses including Halle Berry, Robin Wright, and Taraji P. Henson are now directing feature films.

WMC News & Features
March 19, 2021 | Susan Buttenwieser | LGBTQIA, Politics
Undoing Trump’s Four-Year Assault on LGBTQ Rights: Biden Provides a “Sea Change”

The Biden administration's early actions to promote LGBTQ equality are getting high marks from rights groups.

WMC News & Features
March 09, 2021 | Nicole Bedera | Gender-based violence, Politics, Violence against women
The Fight to Refocus Title IX on Survivors

As Biden calls for a review of enforcement guidelines, advocates are pushing the administration to do more than just repair Trump-era harms.

WMC News & Features
March 02, 2021 | Kylie Cheung | Economy, Health
Why Labor Advocates Want Abortion and Reproductive Care Covered

Current advocacy is based on an understanding of the intersections of reproductive justice and economic justice.

WMC News & Features
February 25, 2021 | Ruchira Gupta | Free Speech, Gender-based violence, International, Media
Gaslighting, Stalking, Revenge Porn: Right-Wing Hate Fuels Attacks on Women Journalists in India

Supporters of the ruling party have instigated threats and violence in an effort to silence women journalists.

WMC News & Features
February 16, 2021 | Julianne McShane | Media, Violence against women
Two Podcast Series Put Sexual Assault Survivors Front and Center

‘Broken: Seeking Justice’ and ‘Canary’ show how journalists cover sexual assault — and podcasts’ potential for rebuilding trust.

WMC News & Features
February 10, 2021 | Lakshmi Gandhi | Media, Race/Ethnicity
New Biography Explores the Life and Many Legacies of Ida B. Wells

The author, Wells’ great-granddaughter, aims to introduce the journalist, activist, and anti-lynching leader “to a younger generation and other people who might not be as familiar with her life.”

WMC News & Features
February 04, 2021 | Julianne McShane | Media, Sports
Documentary Turns a ‘Feminist Gaze’ on NFL Cheerleaders’ Fight for Pay Equity

Ahead of the Super Bowl, the new film offers a unique view of the devaluing of “women's work.”

WMC News & Features
February 02, 2021 | Sofia Servidio | Health, International
A Tide of Hope for Argentina, Latin America, and the World

Argentina’s new abortion law, a result of decades of feminist organizing, is spurring hope for expanded rights elsewhere in the region.

WMC News & Features
January 28, 2021 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
Breakthrough Women of Color Film Directors of 2020

In an extraordinary year in the film industry, more women of color directors have made an impact than ever before.

WMC News & Features
January 26, 2021 | Dr. Martha Lauzen | Arts and culture, Media
Study Shows Uptick in Women Film Directors, But Numbers Still Low

The overall percentage of women working on top-grossing films has barely budged in over 20 years.

WMC News & Features
January 20, 2021 | Anna Chu | Politics
A Feminist To-Do List for the Biden-Harris Administration

There is a long list of actions the new administration and Congress should take for women and girls, but we can start with six things.

WMC News & Features
January 18, 2021 | Robin Morgan | Robin Morgan
Elegy for Innocence

On December 30, 2020, Lois Diane Sasson succumbed to COVID-19.

WMC News & Features
January 13, 2021 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture
Coalition Showcases Feminist Art

Inspired by women's resistance, curators at more than 100 art institutions nationwide are planning exhibitions promoting social change and civic engagement.

WMC News & Features
January 07, 2021 | Carmen Rios | Economy
New Family Leave Law in Colorado Could Be Model for US

The measure, the first paid leave law to pass by ballot measure, will help workers who need it the most.

WMC News & Features
December 16, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health
The Reproductive Justice and Rights Movement Is Fighting Back

Using lessons learned from a decade-long onslaught against reproductive rights, activists are embracing strategies including coalition building, mobilizing pro-choice religious communities, and eliminating abortion stigma.

WMC News & Features
December 10, 2020 | Peggy Simpson | Media
Pioneering Journalist Betsy Wade Remembered as ‘a No-Nonsense Heroine’

Wade, an acclaimed editor, longtime activist and mentor, and the lead plaintiff in a historic sex discrimination lawsuit against the New York Times, died last week.

WMC News & Features
December 02, 2020 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
‘Coded Bias’ Shows How Women Are Leading a Civil Rights Movement in Technology

The new documentary spotlights women’s leadership in fighting the abuse of power in the use of computer technology.

WMC News & Features
November 24, 2020 | Inés M Pousadela | Gender-based violence, International
Women’s Groups Fight Back As Gender-Based Violence Surges During the Pandemic

As the world observes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, a new report shows the extraordinary anti-violence efforts made by women's rights organizations globally.

WMC News & Features
November 17, 2020 | Nichola Gutgold | Politics
Women’s Unfinished Path to the U.S. Presidency

More than 100 women have run for president, and each one widened the possibilities of what a presidential candidate looks like.

WMC News & Features
November 10, 2020 | Payal Dhar | International, LGBTQIA
Pandemic Magnifies Struggles for India’s LGBTQ Youth

The pandemic-related lockdown has exacerbated the isolation of India’s queer youth.

WMC News & Features
November 05, 2020 | Pilar Whitaker | Health
As the Supreme Court Weighs Health Care, Black Women Stand to Lose the Most

Now that Justice Amy Coney Barrett has taken her seat, the ultraconservative court appears poised to curtail the Affordable Care Act and reproductive rights. The damage can be addressed with action at the local level.

WMC News & Features
October 29, 2020 | Juliette Bretan | International, LGBTQIA, Politics, Violence against women
Women’s and LGBTQ Rights Continue to Erode Under Poland’s Ruling Party

Protests erupted this week in response to a new abortion ban, but the government has been attacking women’s and LGBTQ rights for years.

WMC News & Features
October 22, 2020 | Marianne Schnall | Politics
Women Candidates Face More Obstacles — and the Pandemic Has Made It Worse

Campaigning during the pandemic has forced candidates to innovate and improvise.

WMC News & Features
October 20, 2020 | Leila Hawkins | Health, International
UN Warns of Global Food Crisis — Women Especially Impacted

As the COVID-19 pandemic worsens food insecurity globally, community-based initiatives are stepping up.

WMC News & Features
October 15, 2020 | Angela Bonavoglia | Religion
Pro-Choice Religious Community Making Their Voices Heard

Pro-choice Christians have been sidelined by the vitriol of the Religious Right. But there are increasing calls for the pro-choice majority to make itself heard.

WMC News & Features
October 07, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Violence against women
The ‘Triple Tsunami’ of COVID-19, Economic Collapse, and Domestic Violence

As the global pandemic enters its eighth month, the impact on those experiencing domestic violence has continued to intensify, and services are stretched to the limit.

WMC News & Features
September 24, 2020 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
Women Showrunners Who Are Breaking the Glass Ceiling

In the new season of television, women from a variety of backgrounds, many using nontraditional career paths, have become first-time showrunners.

WMC News & Features
September 09, 2020 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture
Asian Art Museum Features Bold New Works By Women Artists

A 75-foot mural by Chanel Miller is among the works displayed in the museum's new Wilbur Gallery.

WMC News & Features
September 01, 2020 | Janet Dewart Bell | Race/Ethnicity
Black Like Me
Let’s get this straight: Kamala Harris is Black — and Asian. That she has chosen to identify as a “proud Black woman” and Asian is her right and, I would argue, her mission as she valiantly tries to a...
WMC News & Features
August 25, 2020 | Louise Bernikow | Media, Politics
First Ignored, Then Mocked, in 2020 the Suffrage Movement Is Getting Serious Treatment From Media

Media coverage surrounding the 100th anniversary of 19th Amendment, observed this week, offers deeper and more nuanced understanding of the suffrage movement.

WMC News & Features
August 20, 2020 | Rebecca Adamson | Politics
100 Years After Suffrage, Native American Women Still Fighting to Vote

The 19th Amendment didn’t secure the right to vote for Native American women, despite their strong influence on suffragist ideas.

WMC News & Features
August 14, 2020 | Martha S. Jones | Politics
100 Years After the 19th Amendment, Taking Stock of Black Women’s Political Power

Despite the unfulfilled promise of the 19th Amendment, Black women have traveled an impressive distance over the last century, and continue to exert outsize political influence.

WMC News & Features
August 05, 2020 | Cynthia Richie Terrell | Disability, Politics, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
New Research Shows Ranked Choice Voting Helps Women Win

Wider implementation could help change the dramatic underrepresentation of women in elected office at every level.

WMC News & Features
July 30, 2020 | Caryl Rivers, Rosalind C. Barnett, Ph.D. |
During the Pandemic, Men Are More Involved Fathers. Will It Last?

Equal parenting has benefits for everyone involved. But to make these changes last, we need a cultural shift — and better family-friendly policies.

WMC News & Features
July 21, 2020 | Emily Ladau | Disability, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
On Americans With Disabilities Act Anniversary, the Struggle Continues for Full Access and Inclusion

The Americans With Disabilities Act, signed into law 30 years ago, should be celebrated as a landmark piece of legislation. But there Is much more work to be done to realize its promise in all facets of society.

WMC News & Features
July 16, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Disability, Environment, Health, Race/Ethnicity, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
COVID-19 Impact Linked to Environmental Racism

Longstanding environmental policies are a factor in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color.

WMC News & Features
July 08, 2020 | Mia Brett | Disability, Economy, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
The US Tax Code’s Invisible Biases

As the U.S. tax filing deadline approaches, three recent reports reveal the tax law’s disparate impact on women and other groups.

WMC News & Features
July 01, 2020 | Cristina Biaggi |
Witness to Toxic Populism: One Woman’s Life Journey From Surviving Fascism and Bombs in World War II to Enduring a Pandemic in the Time of Trump
I was 5 years old and living in Bogliasco, a small village near Genova in Italy, and I vividly remember the relentless nightly bombardments. One night, as I woke to the hiss and then thud of the bombs...
WMC News & Features
July 01, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health
Advocates React to Supreme Court Abortion Ruling

The 5-4 decision affirms recent precedent by overturning provider restrictions in Louisiana.

WMC News & Features
June 26, 2020 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Politics
Surge in Women of Color Running for Office Spotlighted in New PBS Docuseries

The docuseries, And She Could Be Next, shows that women of color are “changing what the face of leadership looks like” in the United States.

WMC News & Features
June 23, 2020 | Aarti Narsee | Disability, Health, International, Politics, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
COVID-19 Used as Smokescreen to Undermine Gender Rights Globally

During the pandemic, governments have been curtailing rights—but activists are fighting back.

WMC News & Features
June 18, 2020 | Janet Dewart Bell | Race/Ethnicity
Juneteenth: When will we be free?

“Remember the true meaning of Juneteenth — a celebration kept alive by generations of black people.”

WMC News & Features
June 17, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International, Violence against women
MSF suspends Afghan maternity ward after killing of pregnant women

Medical nonprofit Medecins Sans Frontieres announced it is suspending its maternity ward operations in a Kabul, Afghanistan, hospital in the wake of the systematic killing of 16 women in the ward. All the women were mothers or soon to be.

WMC News & Features
June 17, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | LGBTQIA
Stunning Supreme Court ruling on LGBT employees could have far-reaching impact

This week’s Bostock decision creates stronger legal ground for more wins in housing, education, and health care, and in overturning the transgender military ban.

WMC News & Features
June 11, 2020 | Helen Zia | Race/Ethnicity
Trump rhetoric fuels anti-Asian harassment and violence

There is a long history of anti-Asian bigotry—and resistance—in the U.S.

WMC News & Features
June 05, 2020 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture, LGBTQIA
Alice Wu’s 'The Half of It' offers a unique view on love

Groundbreaking writer-director Alice Wu surprises with her long-awaited second feature.

WMC News & Features
June 02, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International
Reproductive health care collapses amid Yemen's war

In five years of war in Yemen, more than 100,000 people have been killed and the country’s medical system has been shredded. Now the United Nations Population Fund is warning that reproductive health care for women and girls in Yemen is about to collapse entirely.

WMC News & Features
June 01, 2020 | Jennifer Suchland | Race/Ethnicity
White women, we have a very, very serious problem

White Americans must disavow, relinquish, dismantle, and divest from white supremacy at an individual and institutional level.

WMC News & Features
May 30, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International
Women and children are at high risk for coronavirus in an Afghan prison

A presidential decree announced in Afghanistan at the end of March allowed for the release at least 10,000 prisoners over the age of 55 but there are still more than 100 women in a Kabul prison, now at great risk of becoming infected with coronavirus.

WMC News & Features
May 26, 2020 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
New #MeToo documentary gives voice to Russell Simmons accusers

“On the Record” focuses on empowering Black women in the #MeToo movement.

WMC News & Features
May 22, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health
The ‘good actress’: Jane Roe reveals she lied about becoming pro-life

A documentary airing today reveals that the plaintiff in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, later revealed as Norma McCorvey, lied when she said she’d become pro-life in 1995.

WMC News & Features
May 21, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Disability, Health, Politics, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
Trump administration rolling back health care discrimination protections during COVID-19 crisis

The Health and Human Services department is continuing plans to undo antidiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

WMC News & Features
May 16, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International
Women leaders are more successful in stopping coronavirus than their male counterparts

Countries like New Zealand, Germany, and Finland have had striking success in fighting the coronavirus. What do they have in common? For one, they all have women leaders.

WMC News & Features
May 12, 2020 | Leila Hawkins | Economy, Health, International
Policy response to pandemic crisis should address gender disparity

Pandemic-related lockdowns disproportionally burden women. By asking the right questions, policymakers can create policies that alleviate that burden.

WMC News & Features
May 12, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Education
Women academics are falling behind in lockdown

As men have increased their research while home these past couple months, women have lowered their submissions to academic journals, indicating that women are less able to do their research while in stuck in the house.

WMC News & Features
May 07, 2020 | Carole Joffe | Health
Coronavirus crisis magnifies existing challenges to abortion access

The many unnecessary barriers to abortion access in the U.S. have grown exponentially during the pandemic, forcing providers and patients to adapt.

WMC News & Features
May 07, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
Virus-hit countries devise schemes to help domestic violence victims

Countries like Spain, France, the UK, Argentina, and Norway have devised schemes that allow women to seek help without alerting their partners.

WMC News & Features
April 30, 2020 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture
Female-focused documentaries: The ultimate double-feature guide

More documentary films by and about women are getting awards recognition and finding sizeable audiences. Here is a list of docs, released over the last year, that are available for streaming.

WMC News & Features
April 29, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Girls, Online harassment, Violence against women
Unexpected pandemic effect: Child abuse proliferates online

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a massive surge in child abuse material being uploaded, according to a story from the Fuller Project for International Reporting co-published with the UK Telegraph.

WMC News & Features
April 23, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser |
Closed courts create anguish for families separated by child welfare system

The COVID-19 shutdown is wreaking havoc on child visitations and family reunification.

WMC News & Features
April 22, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Arts and culture, Race/Ethnicity
Land O’Lakes finally drops Native American ‘maiden’ from packaging

It’s taken nearly 100 years, but the Land O’Lakes company has finally removed the image of a kneeling Native American woman—nicknamed “Mia”—from its packaging.

WMC News & Features
April 17, 2020 | Treva Lindsey | Disability, Health, Race/Ethnicity, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
Why COVID-19 is hitting Black women so hard

The disparate impact of the coronavirus on Black women is revealing and deepening existing inequalities. Fighting it requires an intersectional approach.

WMC News & Features
April 10, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International, Science and tech
Afghan girls create ventilator with Toyota car parts

In a country not known for its empowerment of women—or for its health system—five teenage girls are tackling Afghanistan’s coronavirus outbreak head-on.

WMC News & Features
April 09, 2020 | Carmen Rios | Economy
Federal COVID-19 relief policies failed women workers — and now feminists are fighting for them

Low-paid women workers have been devastated by the displacement cause by the pandemic. Advocacy groups are rallying to help them.

WMC News & Features
April 08, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe |
Women hardest hit as U.S. unemployment soars

As the economy continued to tank amid the coronavirus pandemic, job losses rose to more than 700,000 in the month of March—and women were disproportionately affected.

WMC News & Features
April 03, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International
Panama restricts outdoor access by gender during lockdown

Even with a zillion variations of “lockdown” and other measures being taken around the world to contain the spread of coronavirus, Panama has managed to find its own unique way of doing things.

WMC News & Features
April 01, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health
‘A powder keg waiting to explode’: COVID-19 and incarcerated women

Advocates are sounding the alarm about the risks of the new coronavirus spreading inside correctional facilities.

WMC News & Features
April 01, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health
Conservative states are using coronavirus as an excuse to outlaw abortion

A number of conservative U.S. governors are using coronavirus as an excuse to shut down all abortion services in their states, calling them “non-essential” procedures.

WMC News & Features
March 26, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Health, Violence against women
Coronavirus prompts women stuck in abusive homes to seek ‘safe phones’

In Australia, a government-supported initiative that provides “safe phones” to women stuck in violent homes is seeing a serious uptick in requests attributed to the virus, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reported Wednesday.

WMC News & Features
March 24, 2020 | Treva Lindsey | Arts and culture, Media, Race/Ethnicity
African American women are history makers. Here’s a list of must-reads!

These recent works by Black women historians challenge conventional narratives of the history of the United States.

WMC News & Features
March 19, 2020 | Jhumka Gupta, ScD, MPH | Gender-based violence, Health
What does coronavirus mean for violence against women?

While necessary to combat the spread of COVID-19, sheltering in place has been shown to exacerbate domestic violence.

WMC News & Features
March 18, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Health, International
Situation deteriorates for Syrian women and girls

Stories about something that is “still” happening don’t get many eyeballs. But there is no way around what is still happening to Syrian women and girls as the conflict enters its 10th year, and the United Nations is sounding the alarm.

WMC News & Features
March 13, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | Politics
Supreme Court weighing abortion restrictions

Advocates are expressing concern that less than four years after the court ruled that TRAP laws are unconstitutional, it has agreed to revisit the question.

WMC News & Features
March 12, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Feminism, Free Speech, International
Women’s Day protesters attacked then arrested in Kyrgyzstan

While countries across the world celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, dozens of women in Kyrgystan were detained for “violating public order” after coming under attack by masked men.

WMC News & Features
March 11, 2020 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture
New film shows harsh realities of abortion restrictions

In the powerful new film "Never Rarely Sometimes Always," a teenager has to cross state lines to seek abortion care.

WMC News & Features
March 06, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Economy, International, Politics
Backlash against women’s equality rolls back progress worldwide

Nearly 90 percent of people in 75 countries demonstrated at least one bias against equality—with 91 percent of men and 86 percent of women showing bias in one of the four areas studied.

WMC News & Features
March 05, 2020 | Carla Hay | Gender-based violence, Media
Athena Film Festival gives voice to “silence breakers”

Weinstein and Simmons accusers had an opportunity to speak out at a festival panel and react to Weinstein's conviction.

WMC News & Features
March 04, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | LGBTQIA, Sports
Arizona House passes bill banning female trans athletes from girls’ teams

On Tuesday, the Arizona House banned transgender student athletes from participating on teams that align with their gender identity. All 31 Republican representatives supported the bill, which now moves on to the state Senate.

WMC News & Features
March 01, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, International
Scotland on track to become first country to offer free sanitary products

In the UK, toilet paper is considered a “necessity,” unlike tampons, which are taxed like a luxury item.

WMC News & Features
February 28, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Health
Fail: Study gives U.S. an F on reproductive rights

When it comes to reproductive rights, the United States is flunking. A report card from the nonprofit, Washington-based Population Institute has given the U.S. an F for the first time in the eight years it has graded the country’s record.

WMC News & Features
February 27, 2020 | Marcie Bianco, Ph.D. | Arts and culture, LGBTQIA
In “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” a feminist politics of love

The new film by Céline Sciamma places equality at the center of a love story.

WMC News & Features
February 21, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Immigration, International
Post-Brexit immigration policy will hit women hardest, advocates say

Now that the UK has officially left the EU, the government has decided to overhaul its immigration system, and women are about to become the big losers in the process.

WMC News & Features
February 20, 2020 | Treva Lindsey | Race/Ethnicity, Violence against women
The urgent crisis of missing Black women and girls

Although media attention to the problem has waned, the harsh reality is that between 64,000 and 75,000 Black women and girls are currently missing in the U.S.

WMC News & Features
February 20, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | International
Women granted parity (minus combat) in India's military

As of Monday, women will be afforded equal rights to men who serve, in that they can finally receive equal pay and benefits, achieve command positions, and make the army their career—rather than being forced out after 10 to 14 years.

WMC News & Features
February 14, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
Vast number of refugee women sexually abused while awaiting UK asylum

A shocking new report from Women for Refugee Women, a UK-based nonprofit, says one-third of women they interviewed who had been raped or sexually assaulted in their home countries have faced further rape or sexual abuse while destitute in the UK.

WMC News & Features
February 11, 2020 | Elayne Clift | Arts and culture
Museums offer “mea culpa” and showcase multimedia women artists

Some large art museums are starting to address the glaring underrepresentation of women artists and artists of color.

WMC News & Features
February 09, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | International, Misogyny
Indian government embarrasses itself to keep ban on women in combat

India’s government said early last week it thinks women are not fit to serve in ground combat roles—citing reasons that are embarrassingly regressive.

WMC News & Features
February 04, 2020 | Carmen Rios | Sports
It’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day: We want equal pay

The annual day to celebrate female athletes has taken on a new urgency as women in sports are rising up more than ever to demand equality — but discrimination persists.

WMC News & Features
February 04, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Arts and culture
SAG-AFTRA creates guidelines for film, TV ‘intimacy coordinators’

As of January 29, there is a code of conduct set in writing for how simulated sex scenes in movies and TV should be conducted.

WMC News & Features
January 30, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
Girls and women face increased violence due to climate change

A study published Wednesday confirms “extensive direct links” between environmental pressures and gender-based violence.

WMC News & Features
January 30, 2020 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture
New film shows realities of working for a Weinstein-like boss

In creating the movie ”The Assistant,” writer/director Kitty Green interviewed more than 100 women who worked or had worked at Weinstein’s companies, as well as women at other studios and agencies.

WMC News & Features
January 24, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Body image and body standards, Health
Corporate America finally accepts that women bleed red

A new ad campaign from feminine hygiene brand Kotex has decided that using blue liquid to demonstrate the efficacy of its menstruation products in commercials is outdated and, well, absurd.

WMC News & Features
January 23, 2020 | Rebecca Adamson | Economy, Environment, Jane Fonda
Protesting corporations does have an impact — here’s how!

As financial markets place more emphasis on companies’ social and environmental impact, the social risk created by large-scale protest can affect their bottom line.

WMC News & Features
January 22, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Feminism
Study: Women CEOs are twice as likely as men to divorce

A study out this month in the American Economic Journal says married women who reach the corporate pinnacle are twice as likely to be divorced three years after their promotion to CEO as compared to their male counterparts.

WMC News & Features
January 19, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Feminism, Free Speech, Politics
Photos: Women’s Marchers put their anger at Trump on full display

Thousands of women repped the resistance front and center at the fourth annual Women’s March taking place in cities across the U.S. on Saturday.

WMC News & Features
January 16, 2020 | Susan Buttenwieser | LGBTQIA, Politics
Trump’s attacks on LGBTQ rights underscore need for federal law

The House passed a comprehensive rights bill last year, but it died in the Senate. A new proposed compromise would ban discrimination — but with a major loophole.

WMC News & Features
January 15, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Arts and culture
This week’s winners in the arts: men

It’s awards season. Which means it is again the time of year in which women realize they’ve been snubbed, blocked, ignored, skipped over…however you want to put it, it’s the season in which women are consistently losers to the patriarchy, and this year is no different.

WMC News & Features
January 10, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Feminism, Politics
ERA hope diminishes as Trump administration blocks ratification

An opinion issued Wednesday from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel may scuttle an effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

WMC News & Features
January 09, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
Indian court sets hanging date for men convicted in Dehli gang rape

A court in India issued a death warrant Tuesday for four men convicted of gang-raping a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in 2012. They are set to be hanged on January 22.

WMC News & Features
January 08, 2020 | Carmen Rios | Arts and culture, Education
In new program, Patrisse Cullors will help artists find “the language of protest”

The Black Lives Matter co-founder is directing a new program for artists that connects creativity and activism.

WMC News & Features
January 03, 2020 | Lauren Wolfe | Body image and body standards
Victoria’s Secret models are skinnier than ever—as average U.S. dress size has gone up

Victoria’s Secret is still busy making life for women and girls about being their thinnest possible selves.

WMC News & Features
January 02, 2020 | Dr. Martha Lauzen | Arts and culture, Media
A race to irrelevance for the Golden Globes and Academy Awards

The continued exclusion of female talent shows that major awards are based not on merit but on the biases of individuals.

WMC News & Features
December 27, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
South Korean ‘comfort women’ denied appeal on deal with Japan

Korean women are still—nearly 75 years later—fighting to gain restitution from the country that forced them into sexual slavery, despite a “final and irreversible” deal reached between Korea and Japan in 2015.

WMC News & Features
December 24, 2019 | Jenny Warburg | Environment
Marching with Jane for climate justice

Here's what happened on Jane Fonda's 82nd birthday. She wanted 82 people to get arrested to bring attention to the climate emergency. One hundred and forty three people were arrested. Photo essay by Jenny Warburg

WMC News & Features
December 23, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
Journalist wins landmark 'Weinstein' case in Japan

While Harvey Weinstein’s accusers are figuring out whether to take a proposed multimillion-dollar settlement, Japan’s version of Harvey Weinstein has been ordered to pay just 3.3 million yen ($30,000) in damages in a very public rape case.

WMC News & Features
December 20, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Online harassment, Violence against women
More than half of women vets say they were stalked while serving

As if being pursued by an enemy isn’t traumatic enough, women in the military are also being stalked by their own..

WMC News & Features
December 18, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Economy
Global pay gap will take 257 years to close

In 2019, across the world, the number of years it will take women to reach equal pay and opportunities with men increased by 55 years.

WMC News & Features
December 18, 2019 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
Despite pledge, most film festivals fall far short of parity

Although several major film festivals have pledged to have equal representation for female directors by 2020, progress has been slow. Here is our year-end follow-up to our midyear report on how they are doing.

WMC News & Features
December 14, 2019
Woman denied access to morning-after pill sues CVS and local pharmacy

Women are being denied legal prescriptions for the morning-after pill (Plan B) and a pill for medical abortion (mifepristone) based on pharmacists’ religious beliefs. This week, one woman has chosen to fight back.

WMC News & Features
December 12, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Health, Immigration
Denial of medical care in ICE detention is making children, women vulnerable

iI’s been a troublesome week filled with reports that migrants and refugees being held in U.S. detention are being refused medical care they desperately need.

WMC News & Features
December 11, 2019 | Lucina Di Meco | Free Speech, International, Online harassment, Politics
For women in politics, social media is a double-edged sword

Research shows that social media exposes female politicians to online abuse, but it also enables them to engage directly with their constituencies without the bias of mass media.

WMC News & Features
December 06, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Violence against women
Woman searched 'what to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant' before her murder

On November 18, the body of Jennifer Rothwell, 28, was found near a state park outside of Troy, Mich. Her own husband led police to her remains after they accused him of murder. Now, news outlets are reporting that Rothwell, who was six weeks pregnant when she was killed, had searched “what to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant” on her cell phone before she went missing.

WMC News & Features
December 05, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Violence against women
North Korean defector alleges rape by South Korean intelligence officers

While she may have escaped the horrors of North Korea, one woman who defected to South Korea says she has been forced into a new nightmare.

WMC News & Features
December 04, 2019 | Kendall Hunter | Arts and culture, Media
Tantoo Cardinal breaks new ground for indigenous women in television

Cardinal's role in ABC's Stumptown — a tough, complex CEO — is one of the most prominent indigenous characters ever to appear on U.S. television.

WMC News & Features
November 26, 2019 | Rosalind C. Barnett, Ph.D., Caryl Rivers | Media
A few cracks in the Baby Bump Ceiling

Can the visibility of prominent female journalists help to smash stereotypes about workers who are pregnant or new mothers?

WMC News & Features
November 25, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Violence against women
‘Rough sex’ defense back in the spotlight

“When women die, the man gets to tell the story,” said Fiona Mackenzie, founder of British advocacy group We Can’t Consent to This.

WMC News & Features
November 22, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Politics, Violence against women
Renewal of Violence Against Women Act blocked by NRA

The United States has not had a working Violence Against Women Act since February, when VAWA lapsed during a rush to pass legislation to (unsuccessfully) avoid a partial government shutdown. And now, while the House has already passed a version of the act earlier this year, the Senate is refusing to take up the bill because of pressure from the National Rifle Association.

WMC News & Features
November 21, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Health
Ohio bill would require ectopic pregnancies be ‘re-implanted’

In the ever-intensifying war on women’s reproductive rights in the U.S., Republican Ohio lawmakers have managed to take things to a new, frightening low. A bill introduced this month would criminalize all abortion and includes a provision requiring doctors to try to “re-implant” ectopic pregnancies, despite the fact that no such procedure exists.

WMC News & Features
November 20, 2019 | Susan Buttenwieser | Immigration, LGBTQIA
LGBTQ asylum seekers are particularly endangered by Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy

Human rights advocates are decrying the Trump administration's policy of requiring asylum seekers to stay in Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings.

WMC News & Features
November 15, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Economy, International, Violence against women
Muji, Uniqlo tout use of cotton from Chinese region with Uighur forced labor

In a stunning display of greed—or possibly deep ignorance—two popular Japanese clothing brands have purposely turned a human rights tragedy into a selling point: Muji and Uniqlo have both been touting the fact that the cotton for their clothing comes from Xinjiang, China, an area in which a million Muslim Uighurs have reportedly been detained in “reeducation” camps.

WMC News & Features
November 14, 2019 | Marcie Bianco, Ph.D. | Arts and culture, Disability, LGBTQIA, WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
Marriage equality crusader’s memoir shatters stereotypes

In her posthumous memoir, Edie Windsor details her vivacious sex life and in the process shatters stereotypes not only about lesbians but about older women in general.

WMC News & Features
November 14, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Media
#MeToo documentary reveals survivors’ names without consent

The first rule of reporting on sexual assault is to get consent from survivors that you can use their name, image, or identifying details. Australian public broadcaster ABC screwed that up pretty badly when it began early embargoed distribution of a documentary that is actually about—seriously—#MeToo.

WMC News & Features
November 08, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | International, Misogyny
Japanese women told to take off their glasses in the workplace

As absurd or 1950s as it sounds, women across various work sectors in Japan are being told to take off their glasses.

WMC News & Features
November 08, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, International, Politics
Bolivian mayor drenched in red paint, paraded through streets

Amid ongoing violent demonstrations against the re-election of Bolivian President Evo Morales, masked protesters on Wednesday kidnapped the mayor of a small town in central Bolivia.

WMC News & Features
November 07, 2019 | Soraya Chemaly | Free Speech, Gender-based violence, Media, Online harassment, Politics
Katie Hill, deepfakes, and how “political risk” is defined

The discussion around Rep. Katie Hill's resignation has mostly missed the truths about the crime that was committed against her.

WMC News & Features
November 06, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Feminism, Politics
The ERA may finally get its moment

With the election of a Democratic plurality on Tuesday, Virginia is poised to become the 38th—and final—state to ratify the ERA and make it a reality.

WMC News & Features
November 01, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe |
Facebook, Google, Apple promote slave trade apps
While we in the U.S. can’t stop talking about political ads on social media platforms, something arguably much more terrible is taking place on them. A special report out from BBC News Arabic has foun...
WMC News & Features
October 30, 2019 | Frances Nguyen |
Pat Mitchell on “Becoming a Dangerous Woman”

WMC Women Under Siege editor Frances Nguyen interviews Women's Media Center Board Co-Chair Pat Mitchell on her new book, “Becoming a Dangerous Woman: Embracing Risk to Change the World.”

WMC News & Features
October 30, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Health
Missouri caught tracking Planned Parenthood patients’ periods

As states move toward ever-more-restrictive abortion regulations, Missouri has really gone over the edge. At a hearing on Tuesday, the state’s health director told lawmakers that he had been tracking the periods of women who’d been to the state’s only Planned Parenthood clinic, in St. Louis.

WMC News & Features
October 28, 2019 | Lauren Wolfe | Gender-based violence, Health, International, Violence against women
Election brings new hope for access to abortion in Argentina

In a country as staunchly anti-abortion as Argentina, Sunday’s presidential election outcome signals a potential sea change for women’s rights in the notoriously restrictive country.

WMC News & Features
October 24, 2019 Media
2019 Women's Media Awards in Photos
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WMC News & Features
October 23, 2019 | Julie Zeilinger | Gloria Steinem, Media, Robin Morgan
Women's Media Awards celebrate honorees elevating women in media

Four hundred people gathered last night at the 2019 WMC Women’s Media Awards at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City to honor a variety of women whose work embodies the WMC mission of making women visible and powerful in media.

WMC News & Features
October 22, 2019 | Carla Hay | Arts and culture, Media
New York Comic Con signals progress for women in sci-fi

Showcases at New York Comic Con, an annual event for pop culture fans, indicate that the future is getting brighter for on-camera female representation in superhero/sci-fi films and TV. Behind the camera, progress has been much slower.

WMC News & Features
October 17, 2019 Environment, Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is fighting for the climate: “I hope to spend my 82nd birthday in jail” for the cause

In an excerpt from Jane Fonda's interview on “Women’s Media Center Live With Robin Morgan,” which aired October 13 and is available by podcast at wmclive.com and other podcast platforms, Fonda talks about Fire Drill Fridays, her new campaign to mobilize action on climate change.

WMC News & Features
October 16, 2019 | Katherine Barnett |
Digital privacy is a feminist issue

Recent revelations about how women's personal information is used by Facebook and other companies highlight the need for women to protect their privacy — and the need for more women in tech leadership.

WMC News & Features
October 09, 2019 | Susan Buttenwieser | Health
Fighting back against extreme abortion bans

After a surge of bans this year, abortion providers and advocates are expanding coalitions to widen the network of support for rights and access.

WMC News & Features
October 03, 2019 | Natalia Muñoz | Arts and culture, Media, Race/Ethnicity
Latinos in popular films almost nonexistent

Even though Latinos are 18.3 percent of the U.S. population, research has found that only 4.5 percent of all speaking characters in top films are Latino — a number that has changed little over the years.

WMC News & Features
September 27, 2019 | Emily Wilson | Arts and culture
“Dance Nation”: Female adolescent ambition unleashed

Playwright Clare Barron's new work explores how girls and women often feel they can’t openly go after what they want.

WMC News & Features
September 25, 2019 | Alison Friedman (1979 - 2025) | Politics, Violence against women
A letter to Christine Blasey Ford on the anniversary of her testimony

Writer Alison Friedman reflects on what Christine Blasey Ford's courage has meant to many women.

WMC News & Features
September 20, 2019 | Christine Ahn | International
From Korea, Steinem calls for women to be central to peace talks

Gloria Steinem and Christine Ahn return to the DMZ to call on the leaders of the United States and North Korea to return to talks and negotiate a final settlement to the nearly 70-year-old Korean War. Ahn's article argues the importance of including women in the peace negotiations.

WMC News & Features
September 05, 2019 | Marcie Bianco, Ph.D. | LGBTQIA
New study of “conversion therapy” exposes causes, as well as deep harms to LGBT people

The first-ever global survey on “conversion therapy” calls for government and the medical field to take steps to put an end to the discriminatory practice.

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