Women This Week: Maia Sandu Wins Reelection in Moldova

Successfully Counters Heavy Russian Disinformation Campaign 

Maia Sandu, the first female president in Moldova, has won reelection. Known for her pro-Western views, Sandu was elected with 54.35 percent of the vote, beating her pro-Russian opponent, Alexandr Stoianoglo. Throughout the campaign, monitors accused Russia of facilitating massive interference, including cyberattacks and vote-buying, led by Russian-backed fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor. Bomb scares were also reported at overseas polling locations, where the highest level of expatriate voters since 2010 cast their ballots. Russia has denied the allegations and, according to a spokesman for President Putin, Dmitry Peskov does not accept the electoral results. Sandu had run on a campaign to join the European Union by 2030, a position narrowly supported by 50.46 percent of Moldovans in a recent referendum. In previous campaigns, Sandu faced notable criticism for her status as a single woman politician. Her career—including in her previous role as prime minister—has been marked by attempts to eliminate corruption, support the rule of law, and expand Moldova’s integration in Europe to defend against Russian threats. “I want you to know – I have heard all voices, including the critical ones. And I thank you for looking past grievances, past dissatisfactions, to protect our country,” Sandu said in her acceptance speech.

Making History, Two Black Women Are Elected to the United States Senate for the Same Term   

This week, in a historic first, two Black women—Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland and Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware—were elected to the United States Senate. This is the first time two Black women were elected in the same election and will simultaneously serve their six-year terms. Only three Black women—Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL), Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA)—have served as Senators, but never simultaneously. The two women have referred to each other publicly as “sister senators” and have expressed excitement at possibilities for collaboration on shared policy concerns. “It’s remarkable to think that in two years, America will celebrate its 250th birthday,” said Alsobrooks. “And in all those years, there have been more than 2,000 people who have served in the United States Senate. Only three have looked like me.” In another first, Democrat Sarah McBride of Delaware was elected to the House of Representatives as the first openly transgender person.  

Woman Arrested in Iran for Protesting Assault and Dress Codes 

This week, a young woman in Iran publicly stripped to her underwear in protest of strict dress codes and incidents of assault by university security guards at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran. A video of her protest was widely shared on the internet. The unnamed woman was arrested and transferred to a psychiatric hospital. Human rights organizations have called this transfer a “kidnapping” used to silence dissenters and have expressed alarm that she will be subjected to the same torture previously reported by women’s political prisoners held in state-run psychiatric institutions. “Iranian authorities systematically use involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation as a tool to suppress dissent, branding protesters as mentally unstable to undermine their credibility,” commented Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of The Center for Human Rights in Iran. Women in Iran have shown support and admiration for the woman’s act of protest. One university student told The Guardian, “This is what we are fighting for, to have the freedom to choose. We are in awe of her bravery. If it were up to the regime, all of us who protested would be branded as mentally unwell.” 

Uma Fox is the intern for the Women and Foreign Policy Program and contributed to the research for this blog.