[[link removed]] | SEPT 2024
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Feminist Majority Political Report
HERE'S THE BEST FROM THE FEMINIST NEWS WIRE
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Two Arizona State University organizers at a meet and greet with VP Candidate Tim Walz.
The Vote 4 Equality Campus Campaign Continues to Grow as Election Day Approaches
FMF STAFF
The Feminist Majority is proud to announce that our Vote 4 Equality (V4E) Campus Campaign, dedicated to increasing the turnout of young college voters in battleground states, has grown substantially! V4E has hired over 150 campus organizers across 42 campuses in battleground states, all eager to educate their peers and to get out the vote for equality! We have teams in Arizona, California, Michigan, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
With less than 6 weeks until the election, the impact these students can make is monumental. It was young voters that made the decisive difference in the close elections in 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. From 2016 to 2020, the youth voter turnout has increased by 11%.
The campaign has trained these organizers on the most effective ways to engage with their peers and has provided materials such as shirts, buttons, stickers, signs, and more to spread the message of Vote for Equality. We have mobilized students to become informed voters and active participants in politics. Young women are raising their voices and will drive progressive change at the ballot box.
This November, we are voting as if our lives depend on it. Go to feministmajority.org [feministmajority.org] to join us.
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The Appalachian State team of organizers collecting voter pledges.
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Cornell organizers with Congresswoman Maloney and the Sign4ERA bus.
Proposition 1: New York’s Next Step Toward Equality in a Post-Roe World
AALIYAH GUZMAN | SEPT 30
New York stands at a crossroads of history as election signs sprout like late-blooming flowers. This year’s ballot holds more than names; it carries the weight of generations of struggle, hope, and relentless pursuit of equality. New York Proposition 1 isn’t just another line item—it’s the latest chapter in a story that began long before we were born.
Imagine a world where women couldn’t vote, own property, or control their bodies. Imagine the courage to stand up and say, “No more.” That’s where our story begins.
In 1923, three years after women won the right to vote, Alice Paul drafted the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Its original words were simple yet revolutionary: “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” For Paul and her sisters-in-arms, this wasn’t just about legal equality – it was about fundamentally reshaping a society built on patriarchal foundations.
Fast-forward to 1972. The ERA passed Congress, riding a wave of second-wave feminist energy. At the same time, feminists were pushing for state ERAs across the country. There are currently 22 states with ERAs included in their state constitutions and 6 states with limited gender equality provisions.
This brings us to New York’s 2024 ballot. Proposition 1 stands as a testament to this legacy of persistence. The proposal amends Article 1, Section 11 of the New York Constitution -- the Equal Protection Clause. Section 11 currently protects against unequal treatment based on race, color, creed, and religion. The amendment will expand the protections to gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive healthcare, and autonomy. This is an important step toward protecting reproductive rights and access in New York.
In the tradition of intersectional feminism, Proposition 1 recognizes that oppression doesn’t exist in a vacuum. By including protections for ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability alongside gender and sexuality, it acknowledges the complex identities that shape our experiences.
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The Gender Gap Among Gen Z is Rising. What Will it Mean for the 2024 Election?
SKYLAR DAVELINE | SEPT 25
The divide between young men and women’s political preferences are growing at unprecedented rates. While this divergence, coined “the gender gap” by founder and President of the Feminist Majority Foundation Eleanor Smeal, is not new, older generations have not witnessed as striking a contrast between men and women voters. Young women see Harris as a beacon of hope to address the issues they care most about, supporting her by 70%, according to the Harvard Youth Poll. Young men are supporting Harris at 53%. Smeal says this 17% difference is larger than she has ever seen. The gender gap is now more of a “gender chasm.”
The rising gender gap is partly attributed to the political issue priorities of each sex. According to Brookings Institute, young women prioritize solutions to “sexual harassment, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and mental health problems,” whereas men are most concerned with “competition, bravery, and honor.”
The gender divide may consequently decide the election. According to exit polls from the 2022 midterms and the 2020 presidential election, young voters were significant in determining Democratic wins. In an election where issues such as reproductive health, LGBTQ+ rights, sex discrimination, education, and the protection of immigrants are on the line, it is more critical than ever to ensure female voters’ voices are heard.
Gen Z women have become the most progressive group in U.S. history. In the last eight years, events such as Trump’s campaign victory, the #MeToo movement, and the Dobbs decision became critical turning points for many young women. Since they are most affected by these matters, young women have turned towards more liberal policies and candidates that would speak to their concerns. These voters are supporting candidates that have championed these issues – who have been more outspoken about reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and affordable healthcare, broadening advocacy for women’s issues and consequently energizing young women.
This could be game changing, as young women are considerably more likely to vote than young men. In the last presidential election, 52.5% of women ages 18-29 voted, while only 47.5% of men in the same age range did, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Since young voters have been significant in the outcome of past elections, this difference in voting could mean that Gen Z women will have substantial power in November.
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Sarah McBride’s Bid for Congress Could Make History This November
ZULEIMA NORIEGA | SEPT 18
Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride is running to make history this November — to become the first openly transgender member of Congress. She has served as a Democratic State Senator in Delaware since 2020, making her the current highest-ranking elected official who is transgender. In this position, she is a strong proponent of gun safety, LGBTQ+ rights, defending abortion access, and protecting families from financial instability.
Undoubtedly, she is an inspiration across the country not only for her identity that paves the way for future generations of diverse and underrepresented people but also for her ambition that seeks to restore and uphold human rights through legislation. To her, politics is the perfect place to “make the most amount of change” as she said in an interview with Advocate Channel.
In Delaware, she successfully lobbied for legislation that helped pass paid family and medical leave and will continue to fight for its implementation federally. Her future goals include advocating for worker’s rights, strengthening unions, reforming our criminal justice system, keeping families safe from gun violence, and rescuing our climate. As a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, it is no surprise that she remains dedicated to empowering often-overlooked communities.
While she does not intend to make her identity the center of her campaign, she acknowledges the profound impact her presence in Congress could have for future generations.
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Abortion Rights on the 2024 Ballot: Key States Where Voters Will Decide the Future of Reproductive Freedom
GIOVANNA DESTEFANIS | SEPT 10
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, reproductive rights are now in the hands of the states and advocates have begun working to enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions across the nation. Since the Dobbs decision, voters in 6 states -- California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio -- have weighed in on constitutional amendments regarding abortion. The side that favored protecting access to abortion in the state constitution prevailed in every state.
In 2024, abortion measures are on the ballot in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota. Nebraska is the only state where there is also a measure banning abortion on the ballot.
In Arizona, the current abortion law bans abortion after 15-weeks, but the 2024 ballot measure could change that. Passed in 2022, the Arizona law contains no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. Doctors who perform an abortion beyond that deadline for any reason except to prevent a patient’s death or the “substantial and irreversible impairment” of a major bodily function face a potential prison sentence of up to 2 years. The 2024 Arizona Abortion Access Act is a state constitutional amendment to establish a fundamental right to abortion and to limit interference with that right before “fetal viability.”
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Four Countries Take Taliban to the International Court of Justice Over Gender Apartheid
MAKHFI AZIZI | SEPT 30
In a historic move, four countries -- Canada, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands -- are taking the Taliban to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over their severe violations of women’s and girls' rights in Afghanistan. The announcement at the UN General Assembly marks a significant international response to what many are calling “Gender Apartheid,” a term used to describe the systemic exclusion and oppression of women and girls by the Taliban since their return to power in August 2021.
The case against the Taliban has been filed under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a landmark international treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and enforced in 1981. Afghanistan ratified CEDAW in 2003, making this legal action not only justified but long overdue given the Taliban’s egregious violations of women’s and girls’ human rights for the past three years. The filing also marks a historic first: it is the first time one country takes another to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague for its violations of CEDAW and gender persecution.
Afghanistan would have six months to present its defense before formal hearings begin, putting intense pressure on the Taliban regime. The outcome could set a powerful precedent for future gender-based human rights cases, reinforcing international law as a mechanism to fight discrimination and persecution against women and girls globally.
The case holds Afghanistan accountable as a state party under international law and does not confer legitimacy on the Taliban. Regardless of which group is in power, the state remains responsible for upholding its international obligations, including compliance with treaties and conventions like CEDAW.
Hope and Justice for Afghan Women and Girls
Afghan women see this as a critical step toward global recognition of Gender Apartheid, an enforced system of severe violations of their rights and freedoms. Over the past three years, Afghan women have faced a near-total erasure from public life. The Taliban has issued over 100 edicts, barring women and girls from seeking education, employment, and participation in any political and social spheres of life. The news of the ICJ case against the Taliban highlights these violations of the Taliban and applies international legal pressure to hold the Taliban accountable.
Afghan women understand that while the case may not lead to immediate changes in the Taliban's brutal treatment of women and girls, it represents a significant legal and symbolic victory. It sets a critical precedent for holding oppressive regimes accountable for gender-based persecution. By taking Afghanistan under the Taliban regime to the Court, it may also deter future governments or groups from normalizing relations or engaging diplomatically with the Taliban.
Women's rights groups are also hopeful that this move could inspire more coordinated international efforts in solidarity with Afghan women, empowering them to continue their fight for human rights and freedoms. The Taliban regime has long sought recognition from international bodies to engage diplomatically, increase aid, and strengthen its position, but a ruling against them could hinder these aspirations.
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