According to the International Labor Organization, $236 billion is made each year from human trafficking—or nearly $7,500 every second!  Women and girls make up 54% of all victims worldwide, and are 78% of victims of forced commercial sexual exploitation.  Here’s a fact sheet from Hope For Justice, which runs anti-trafficking projects all over the world.

There are estimated to be more than 27.6 million people—children and adults—subjected to sex trafficking around the world, including in the United States.  Human trafficking often intersects with domestic violence, creating compounded layers of trauma for survivors.

What’s more, in a report from the Congressional Black Caucus titled, “Snapshot of the State of Black Women and Girls:  Sex Trafficking in the U.S.,” the authors wrote:

“Research has indicated the continued sexualization of Black women and girls’ bodies, which has played out since slavery. The myths around Black women and girls’ hypersexuality and the continued treatment of Black girls as older than their age must be explored when looking at the data surrounding the prevalent rates of domestic sex trafficking of Black girls.”

We need to end this crisis NOW and stop the sexualization, slavery and human trafficking that continues to put women and girls in danger.  NOW members are working to strengthen legislation to address human trafficking awareness and survivor support, bring traffickers to justice and make them pay.

You can find out more about ways to participate in National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month here.

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Dear Ambassadors,

Ahead of this year’s annual open debate on women, peace and security (WPS), and one year before the 25^th anniversary of Resolution 1325 (2000), we write to you as civil society organizations dedicated to peace, women’s rights and gender equality to urge you to redouble your efforts to fulfill the highest ideals of the WPS agenda.

Today, we are confronted with record levels of armed conflict, militarization and military spending, which undermine gender equality, threaten to reverse decades of progress on women’s rights, and jeopardize global efforts for peace. Women and marginalized groups bear the brunt of conflicts and crises, including conflict-related sexual violence, poverty, forced displacement and hunger. Increased militarization has been accompanied by multi-pronged assaults on universal norms, especially international human rights and humanitarian law; on women human rights defenders and civil society space; and on democracy itself. Further, an escalating global backlash against gender justice and the human rights and bodily autonomy of women and LGBTQIA+^[1] people, compounded by their systematic exclusion from international decision-making and peacemaking, means that those most adversely affected by armed conflict are also those whose voices are most marginalized.

The WPS agenda’s vision of peace and equality^[2] has never been so important — or so under threat.

The cost of the international community’s failure to fully implement the WPS agenda over the past 24 years can be measured in lives lost, rights denied and conflicts prolonged. Yet, feminist movements continue to fight back against misogyny and repression for a more just and peaceful future. They refuse to accept anything less than their rights — and neither should you.

The UN Security Council cannot afford to let another anniversary pass without meaningful progress on protecting women’s rights in conflict. We therefore urge you to take decisive action in the following 10 areas and implement them in all crises on its agenda^[3]:

1. Prevent, avert and end conflict. Ending violence is the most effective means to protect the rights of women and girls in all conflicts and crises. As enshrined in the UN Charter, it is the primary responsibility of the Security Council to maintain peace and security. Conflict prevention requires addressing the gendered drivers of conflict, including patriarchy; all forms of inequality, including socioeconomic inequality; multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination; exclusion; and violation of human rights. There is no situation in which gender equality and women’s rights are not relevant. We therefore urge the Security Council to ensure that the rights of women and girls are fundamental to all international peace and security processes, including its own decisions, without exception. Further, the Council must uphold international human rights and humanitarian law, and all relevant Security Council resolutions, including on WPS, and step up preventive diplomacy to ensure inclusive, gender-responsive, long-term and peaceful resolution to all conflicts.
2. Reform the Security Council. The credibility of the Security Council to meaningfully fulfill its mandate has been fundamentally shaken by its inability to effectively address conflicts, including, most recently, Israel’s brutal war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both of which have had devastating consequences for the rights of women and marginalized communities. We urge you to commit to Security Council reform in order to build a more representative, transparent, democratic and accountable multilateral system that can effectively deliver on the UN Charter’s promise of peace. This should include credible, timely and decisive Security Council action to prevent or end the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and lead to ending the use of the veto on resolutions aimed at stopping mass atrocities. We further urge you to sign the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group’s Code of Conduct, thereby pledging not to vote against a credible draft resolution before the Security Council aimed at stopping such crimes.
3. Stop arms transfers when there is a substantial risk that they may be used to “commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against women and children,” or if Member States have knowledge or should have known at the time of authorization that they would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects, or other war crimes, in line with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Compliance with obligations and norms on disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation^[4] is critical to conflict prevention, and backsliding on disarmament commitments risks future violence. States have a legal obligation to comply with arms embargoes imposed by the Security Council. We further urge you to cut military spending and instead increase funding for gender equality and global humanitarian responses to ensure no needs go unmet.
4. Defend women’s human rights. Women’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as enshrined in international law and Security Council resolutions, are the foundation of the WPS agenda.^[5] The Security Council must therefore center human rights, especially the rights of women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people, in all peace and security discussions, processes and decisions; take coordinated action to counter gender backlash; and reject any outcomes that undermine women’s rights. Council members must also consistently, and publicly, demand that warring parties and other relevant actors immediately abolish any laws, policies or practices that prevent or restrict the full enjoyment of women’s human rights in accordance with international standards.
5. Advance reproductive justice. Reproductive autonomy, and the right to live in safe, peaceful and sustainable communities, is essential for women in conflicts and crises everywhere. We urge Security Council members to protect and uphold sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in accordance with international standards, including relevant WPS resolutions, in all conflict situations on its agenda.^[6] We further urge you to politically and financially support comprehensive, high quality and non-discriminatory SRHR services, including access to contraception, safe abortion and maternal health care, and fully integrate these rights into crisis prevention, response and recovery plans.
6. Insist on women at the table. Women have the right to full and equal representation.^[7] Politically and financially support the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership of diverse women^[8] at all levels and stages of decision-making, with the target of 50%.^[9] In particular, we urge you to prioritize women’s direct participation in formal Track 1 or high-level peace and political processes, especially the meaningful representation of women human rights defenders, peacebuilders and feminist movements. Women must be able to influence the outcome and implementation of negotiations, across all issues. Further, demand the equal, direct and influential participation of women as a standard requirement across all UN-supported peace processes and convenings.^[10] The Security Council, the UN and Member States must not endorse, facilitate, participate in or support peace or political processes where women are excluded.
7. Support principled humanitarian action. Ensure gender-responsive, locally-led humanitarian action, and safe, unhindered humanitarian access to affected populations of all genders and diversities, as required by international humanitarian law. A principled humanitarian response is only possible when it centers non-discrimination and the fundamental human rights and participation of diverse women.^[11] Allowing discriminatory laws, policies and practices to determine or impose constraints on how humanitarian actors operate — such as by deploying male-only response teams or denying access to services based on sexual orientation and gender identity — undermines humanitarian principles, limits access to diverse women and girls, reinforces exclusion and further threatens women’s rights. Support diverse women’s participation in the design and implementation of, and all decision-making on, humanitarian action.
8. Demand justice and accountability. All violations of women’s rights, including all forms of gender-based violence, conflict-related sexual violence and attacks against women human rights defenders, must be publicly condemned, thoroughly and swiftly investigated, and perpetrators held accountable. Respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, including compliance with provisional measures of the International Court of Justice (ICJ); upholding the obligation to prevent genocide; and ending impunity, are paramount obligations of Member States and essential for securing justice for survivors. We urge you to pursue accountability strategies that center gender, including by considering codifying gender apartheid, supporting prosecutions of gender persecution at the International Criminal Court, and ensuring accountability for violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) at the ICJ. All justice and accountability efforts, including reparations processes, must be rights-based and survivor-centered, in order to avoid replicating harm, promote recovery and address root causes of violations, such as discrimination and inequality.
9. Stand with feminist movements, the heart of the WPS agenda. The UN and all Member States must commit to and fully implement a zero-tolerance approach^[12] to any form of attack, intimidation, retaliation or reprisal against diverse women for their political participation, human rights and humanitarian work, peacebuilding activities or cooperation with UN mechanisms, including the Security Council. However, protection must never compromise participation. It is critical that independent and diverse women civil society and human rights defenders continue to inform all peace and security policymaking, including Security Council discussions;^[13] that their independent selection and views are fully respected; and, most importantly, that their recommendations are acted upon.
10. Fund peace, not war. Increase funding to local women-led, women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ organizations, networks and movements, and support initiatives that promote gender equality and feminist leadership. Provide direct, accessible, long-term and flexible funding to, and promote partnerships with, women civil society, in order for them to work safely, sustainably and effectively, free of impediments.^[14] Meet the minimum target of earmarking 15% of funds for programs that advance gender equality and allocate a minimum of 1% of overseas development assistance for women’s rights and women-led peacebuilding organizations by 2025 with a firm commitment to increasing it in the future.^[15] We further urge you, as donors, to support the independence and integrity of civil society organizations, especially organizations working on contested issues, to ensure that they are able to sustain their indispensable work, free of obstacles or interference.

Over the last 24 years, women civil society, including human rights defenders, peacebuilders and feminist movements, have stood on the frontlines of conflict: advocating for peace, elevating the voices of affected communities, and speaking truth to power — all while charting a clear path toward more just, equal and peaceful societies. Ahead of the 25^th anniversary of Resolution 1325, the women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people of Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Western Sahara, Yemen and all other crises on the Security Council’s agenda will be looking to you to deliver on 25 years of promises.

Originally published by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security – https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/

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In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).

The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session.

Themes

The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as its contribution to the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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The report also shows that almost one out of every five adult women in Israel was harmed by violence or a crime against them in 2023. More than half a million women, who make up 17.5% of all women aged 20 and over, reported that they were harmed last year by crimes of various types. The CBS data indicates that there is no difference in the rate of victims of sexual harassment between the religious and traditional public and the secular public.

Also according to the data, in 2023 32 women were murdered on criminal grounds or due to their gender – femicide, in 11 of the cases the suspect of the murder is a spouse (34%), in seven cases the suspect is another family member (22%) and in 14 cases the suspect is not relative (44%)

It should be noted that since the beginning of the war, a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of violence against women has been identified in the Vizo organization. The consequences do not remain only in the home arena but affect everyone who comes in daily contact with the victims, especially colleagues at their workplace. In light of the survey data conducted by the organization Witzo launched a campaign calling on employers to take an active part in the fight against the phenomenon under the title “Domestic violence is your business”.

In response to a question addressed to victims of domestic violence in a Vizo survey, it appears that 73% of them “feel protected from violence when they are at work.” 35% report that the violence at home greatly affects their ability to get to work, and many of those who do manage to maintain a work routine report fatigue and lack of concentration, avoidance of professional relationships, decreased work capacity and multiple absences. Only 23% of them asked for assistance from their workplace.

The Edva Center and the Public Housing Forum also published a document on the occasion of the International Day of the Struggle for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, centered on: the difficulty of women and children in the circle of violence to obtain a safe roof over their heads – which is a major barrier against leaving violent relationships. In the absence of a policy that would create alternatives and solutions in the field of housing for these women and their children, many women are forced to continue living in a house that has become dangerous.

In the position paper, the organizations demand the expansion of housing assistance mechanisms for women victims of violence and their children, which was submitted this year to the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality in the Knesset.

The joint document calls on the government to recognize victims of domestic violence as entitled to public housing and to significantly expand the rent assistance amounts to which female victims of violence are entitled and to recognize a larger circle of victims of violence as entitled to housing assistance. The government is also required to act actively to exercise rights among victims of violence in general, and among victims of violence in Arab society in particular. It is also proposed to establish that women victims of violence will be entitled to an additional living allowance – until their economic independence is guaranteed.

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HUNDREDS of women and allies in Britain joined the International Women’s Strike today to demand systemic changes that “prioritize the survival and well-being over profit.”

The strike, led by Global Women’s Strike (GWS) and the Women Rising coalition began yesterday and will see a range of actions take place until October 30.

It commemorated the 1975 Icelandic women’s strike where women stop their unwaged and waged work, bringing the country to a halt.

The actions aim to highlight the essential contribution of women, mothers and caregivers in society, advocate for peace, liberation and justice, as well as affirm commitment to women in Palestine to demand an end to all genocides.

In Britain, it kicked off with a banner drop over Westminster Bridge in London with the message: “Women make life, invest in caring not genocide” followed by a march past Parliament, the Home Office, other department buildings.

An afternoon strike also took place in front of the “Imagine Peace” sign in Newcastle.

Tara of the Women Rising coalition, who only gave her first name, said: “The struggles of women, caregivers and those fighting for justice are often overlooked.

“With this strike and by uniting our struggles, we create a louder, more powerful call for change to transform societies.

“This strike is a stepping stone towards the 50th anniversary of the Icelandic women’s strike next year.”

Support not Separation’s Didi, who also only gave her first name, said: “Our group is striking to demand better financial support for mothers enabling families to stay together, the end of forced adoptions and for open family courts.”

And Lisa of Women Against Rape said: “We strike for an end to sexual, domestic and racist violence, including by police and others in authority.

“And an end to poverty and insecure immigration status, which make us more vulnerable to violence.”

More than 27 women-led groups are involved in the action, including Women of Colour in GWS, All African Women’s Group, Disabled Mothers’ Rights Campaign, English Collective of Prostitutes, Fossil Free London, Queer Strike, Extinction Rebellion Families and Tipping Point.

Tomorrow will see a family friendly activity in Trafalgar Square, London, to highlight the invisible labour carried out by women.

A full list of actions can be found on the Women Rising website.

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Magaly Licolli, co-founder of Venceremos shared her experiences as a workers organizer for poultry workers in the northwest section of Arkansas. Magaly’s work at a non-profit community planning organization revealed the systemic problems facing migrant workers at the various poultry packing plants; mostly owned by Tyson. Some of the problems were disabled workers with no benefits, unstable employment, and harsh, unsafe, and severe working conditions in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

Although mutual aid had been established, the working conditions had not been addressed. As there were no organizations to address this issue, Magaly Licolli began the outreach of connecting with workers that came to her for aid.

As always happens, there came a tipping point. When Tyson increased the “line speed” in December 2020 to make up for the lack of workers due to COVID-19. Thirty workers walked off the line and refused to work that very day.

This is when Venceremos helped out by initiating a strike. The next day, the Tyson plant agreed to decrease the line speed and promised a few other items, such as staggered shifts, sanitizer stations, and protection such as masks. But the struggle had only begun and is going on still.

Currently, the migrant workers in Northwest Arkansas have a distrust of organized unions, due to the various languages among the workers and the inherent isolation from the Arkansas community, Venceremos has adopted a different successful organizing strategy learned from other worker’s-oriented organizations.

“Worker driven social responsibility model” consists of workers making contracts with the supply chain vendors and not their employers. Their working condition complaints go to these intermediaries requesting they be addressed to improve the quality and quantity of the product the vendors receive. This still requires a majority of workers to build a strong base for negotiation, however, it appears that supply chain vendors are more responsive to any problem which might impede their supply of products.

This new approach bears watching to see if it is a model that can be applied elsewhere. To read more, go to https://www.facebook.com/venceremosarkansas/

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It is clear that religious biases have been entrenched into our local and national governments for years; it’s clear that we currently need to fight for a separation of church and state that treats religion as a individual private affair. Any attempt to encroach upon the rights of others becomes the business of others. Who shall stand up for working women in America, surely not the Republicans who, surely not the Democrats who talk of resistance, yet when conflict rises, they collapse and allow our hard earned rights to be eroded. Both parties have clearly shown the only “people” they fight for, are those of Wall Street and big industries.

What working women need is a government that provides financial and social support when it comes to abortions; when pregnancy becomes a risk to a woman’s health, or becomes life threatening; when accidental conception becomes occurs and the woman is in no desire to carry out pregnancy. Here is what women can do to take action.

• Contact your state senators and local representatives
• Join the Women for Racial and Economic Equality (WREE)
• Stage demonstrations

Women have a rich progressive history in America and worldwide, we must struggle to advance and defend democratic rights won by working women. No to the erosion of working women’s rights! No to patriarchy!

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In Northern Minnesota, the oil giant Enbridge Energy is attempting to construct Line 3 pipeline to extract oil from Canada’s tar sands region. Line 3 will transport hundreds of thousands of barrels of tar sands crude oil each day. Tar sands crude oil is some of the dirtiest oil in existence and will carry a massive carbon footprint that would exceed that of the whole state of Minnesota.

The Ojibwe people, who will be greatly impacted by this, live in both Canada and the United States, across the Great Lakes. In Minnesota, they have seven reservations called Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, White Earth and Red Lake. Several treaties with the Ojibwe people to formalize their right to gather along the proposed route for the pipeline, hunt and fish are in violation. Two hundred bodies of water will be crossed by the pipeline, including the Mississippi River.

We must fight against Line 3

The battle against Line 3 has lasted for seven years now. Long lasting grassroots organizing against it continue to take public actions, which result in many arrests. Some of the water protector groups include Native American Anishinaabe (Obiwbe) organizations, Honor the Earth, Gitchi Gumi Scouts, and Rise Coalition. Since the beginning, thousands of people have written letters to Army Corps of Engineers’ Jaime Pinkham, organized in their communities, educated their neighbors, protested, and showed up at hearings. We need to stand with them to do the same.

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