Women This Week: Protests Held in Multiple Countries for International Women’s Day

Demonstrations Focus on Gender-Based Violence and Reproductive Rights, Among Other Issues

Last week, protests erupted around the world on International Women’s Day in response to global backsliding on women’s rights and gender equality. The Million Women Rise March held its 18^th annual march in London, where thousands took to the streets to stand in solidarity with women around the world, including female students in Serbia, who are fighting against government corruption and violence against women. In North America, a crowd of 180,000 convened in Mexico to protest against femicide and gender-based violence. And an additional three hundred rallies were scheduled across the United States to protest policies by the new Trump administration. In Europe, the Eiffel Tower was lit with a message of solidarity for the women of Afghanistan, and thousands marched in Paris and other French cities to protest pay inequality and the rise of governments perceived as hostile to women in North America and Europe. Women in Poland commemorated the day by opening an abortion center across from the parliament. “We came here to claim the space and to remind you in your face that women have abortions in Poland and we are not going to wait for your empty promises,” said Kinga Jelińska, an activist. Poland has a near total ban on the practice.

UN Report Alleges Sexual Violence Used Against Palestinians in Israel

A new report from the UN Human Rights Council alleges that Israeli security forces have used sexual and gender-based violence as a “method of war” against Palestinians since the October 7 terror attack by Hamas against Israel. In May 2021, the Human Rights Council established the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), a group of three lawyers charged with investigating and reporting on alleged violations of international humanitarian law in the region, including in East Jerusalem and Israel. The commission found that Israel has engaged in the “systematic” destruction of healthcare systems, including fertility clinics and other facilities that provide reproductive health services. “Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, including by imposing measures intended to prevent births, one of the categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention,” the commission said. The report also cites acts of alleged sexual violence against Palestinian detainees, stating that “…rape and violence to the genitals, were committed either under explicit orders or with implicit encouragement by Israel’s top civilian and military leadership.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently rejected the report’s findings.

Missouri May Ban Child Marriage

The Missouri Senate has passed a bill with bipartisan approval that would raise the minimum age of marriage to eighteen. There is concern, however, that it may fail to pass the House of Representatives as it did last year, with Republicans arguing that the bill constitutes governmental overreach. “Currently, Missouri ranks 16th in child marriage per capita,” said Senator Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis), a sponsor of the bill. “Child marriage puts children at higher risk of mental and physical health issues, intimate partner abuse, social isolation and poverty. This is not only a legislative imperative but also a moral one.” Only thirteen of fifty states have some type of legislation banning child marriage. The House will also review a bill that would ban discrimination against natural Black hairstyles. The CROWN Act is sponsored by Senator Barbara Washington (D-Kansas City), who has first-hand experience of discrimination.