Everything you wish they talked about at the debates, and more.

Weekly Digest | October 19, 2019

Letter from an Editor

There may have been much missing from the latest round of presidential debates—but the conversations about reproductive justice, sexual violence and LGBTQ rights that activists are calling for on the national stage have always been at the core of the work we publish at Ms. This week was no exception.

The climate crisis didn’t get the time it deserved on the debate stage, but this week we rang in EnvironMenstrual Week with three easy actions, read Naomi Klein’s scorching wake-up call on global warming and made the feminist case for the Green New Deal. And if you turned off the TV on Tuesday wishing you knew more about what’s at stake for abortion at the Supreme Court, we’ve got you covered with an expert analysis that breaks down what June v. Gee could mean for access across the south. (NOW President Toni Van Pelt also issues a warning in our latest print edition to lawmakers intent on chipping away at Roe.)

While candidates debated banning Donald Trump from Twitter, experts from Free Press Action and Define American sounded off to our readers about Facebook’s disappointing track record on recognizing and stopping the spread of white supremacist rhetoric. While they talked billionaires, we talked about breaking up the larger race and gender monopolies that shape our economy. And while activists urged for conversations around sexual violence and harassment from moderators, we celebrated the #MeTooVoter campaign and examined the importance of ending the widespread harassment young women and girls face at school.

Ms. was founded to bring feminist perspectives to the forefront—and that’s the mission that guides us every day.

It’s why this Monday, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we dug into potential solutions to the growing number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and how the justice system fails Native survivors. It's why we amplified Marcela Howell's moving tribute to Rep. Elijah Cummings in the wake of his death Thursday. It’s why this Friday, we marked Love Your Body Day with a profile of teen activist and influencer Noor Aldayeh, who uses Instagram to smash body stigma; and a look back on the feminist fight for fat liberation.

And it’s why next week, we’ll continue reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from around the world.

For equality,

Carmen Rios
Managing Digital Editor

More Must-Reads from Ms.

This is the Most Dangerous Moment in Donald Trump’s Cycle of Abuse

We are now on the threshold of escape, and what we do from here is critical. We need to have a safety plan during and after separation. We need a strong plan for how to manage or prevent Trump’s attempts at continuing the abuse after we escape from him. If we understand the cycle of abuse, we can better understand how to break it. Only then can we begin to do the hard work of recovering from this terrible abusive relationship.

Syrian Feminists Call for Action After FSP Leader Hevrin Khalaf’s Murder

In their advance into northeastern Syria, pro-Turkey militants reportedly killed nine unarmed Kurdish civilians this weekend. Among those killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, was Hevrin Khalaf, the Future Syria Party’s secretary-general.The Syrian Women’s Council has called for international action. "We at the Council of Women in Northern and Eastern Syria condemn and denounce this cowardly act against the martyr Hevrin Khalaf," they declared in a written statement, "and call on the international community and human rights and international women’s organizations to assume their responsibility and intervene to stop this brutal Turkish crime against the components and peoples of northern and eastern Syria, which is not based on any legal or lawful justification."

What Survivors of Gender-Based Violence are Facing at the Border

Organizations that work with asylum seekers on a daily basis are hard-pressed to deploy enough lawyers to Mexico to screen cases, let alone conduct in-depth interviews, build trusting relationships with our clients and help them prepare to testify in court. The deck is stacked against us, which means that survivors of violence stand little chance of getting to safety.

Portraits of Power

For most of recorded American history, political power has looked a certain way. But the 2018 midterm elections brought a seismic change. The Women of the 116th Congress: Portraits of Power—a collaboration between New York Times photo editors Beth Flynn and and Marisa Schwartz Taylor and photographers Elizabeth D. Herman and Celeste Sloman—documents the women of the 116th Congress, photographed in the style of historical portrait paintings commonly seen in the halls of power to highlight the stark difference between how we’ve historically viewed governance and how it has evolved.

The Feminist Lens: Nia Malika Dixon Tells Stories for Black, Muslim Women

"The world needs to see us. The world needs to see everybody, you know?... People don’t know these stories, unless we write them." Nia Malika Dixon—a film director, producer and writer with a passion for characters who challenge social norms, and the founder of #BlackMuslimGirlFly—opens up to Ms.

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