Note: This article is written from my perspective of what I see and read about the way women are treated globally. I discuss sensitive topics such as war and violence. I do not promote violence, or anything mentioned. I am hoping for readers to learn more about the misogynistic and corrupt anti-women global societal elements going on today.
Will we ever have a female president? What is the 4B Movement? Should I join it? Should I move? Are we going backwards? These are all questions that have been astronomically rising on an everyday basis that I’ve heard from peers or have seen on social media outlets, predominantly from those who identify female, especially post-Presidential elections. Many have rallied, protested, spoke up, etc. for the fight to redeem and maintain the fair rights for women in America. What about the women in other countries who are facing the same, if not worse, issues?
As we all know and have read, this past presidential election was one of the most important. Many rights seemed to be on the line: the right to gay marriage, the right to accessible healthcare, the right to stay in this country, even one of the foundations the country was built on; separation of church and state. As a young American, Muslim woman with family and parents who found refuge in America 20-something years ago, this election was important and hard for me to watch. While the people have spoken, there are still many outside factors that should be taken into consideration for the way we proceed and continue to fight for what is right for all of humanity. Below, you will find separate headlines for different locations on the globe that I’ve seen to be detrimental for women that should be more widely known.
United States of America
From what I have seen and heard, when the political issue of reproductive rights comes into place, the terms abortion and pro-life is what comes to mind. Yet, what many seem to not understand, especially legal officials in power positions, reproductive healthcare (or abortion) concerns much more than just an unwanted pregnancy. Since the reversal of Roe V. Wade, there has been an increase of pregnancy-related deaths due to healthcare professionals denying care because they are either not allowed or they are unsure what they can do without facing possible prison time.
Naveah Crain, 18, died on October 29, 2023 due to Texas’ abortion ban after not receiving care for a confirmed miscarriage, thus becoming septic. Having sepsis, or becoming septic, according to the Cleveland Clinic, occurs when a body cannot fight back to an infection, which typically leads to organ failure and death if not treated properly and timely. A dilation and curettage, D&C, is a procedure to remove tissue from inside the uterus, and is typically performed after a miscarriage or abortion, or is performed as a biopsy for uterine conditions. This procedure was banned under Georgia’s abortion ban and has been costing lives. Candi Miller, 41, died on November 12, 2022 after attempting to self-navigate an abortion due to her pre-known chronic conditions that could impact her pregnancy, but weren’t listed as an exception under the abortion ban.
There are many more names of women, I could write tens and tens of pages about how they could have still been with their loved ones today. While I still am just a student who likes to write and is studying business, I don’t have the clearance to inform you on this topic, let alone authorize your legal rights, but I know that medical professionals agree. Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia. These are states where hundreds of OBGYN professionals came out with a plea to let them do their jobs and allow them to perform preventable procedures to save the lives of countless women who could still have been there today if their job wasn’t censored by the government.
Next, I read all of the pages that Project 2025 mention women so you don’t have to and these were the main points I found that align with the message behind this article. Project 2025 is basically the handbook that the conservative party wants to push into the agenda during the second term of President-Elect Donald Trump. The party behind Project 2025 goal is to make society “hard targets for woke culture warriors,” and the way to start doing this is to terminate terms that are or cooperate with DEI, gender equality, reproductive health, reproductive rights, diversity, equality, or any term that is used to “deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights…” – this is found on page 36 of the Project 2025 PDF. While celebrating the conservative win of the overturn of Roe V. Wade, 1973 Federal decision to protect the right of women’s reproductive healthcare in the constitution, they are also pushing the ban of abortion federally and think adoption is the main solution. Next, they want the next conservative president to pull all funding from globally helpful groups that revolve around reproductive health care; for example, they want to defund their association with UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), which is the group that focuses on providing accessible, equal healthcare to protect the safety of children, women, etc. The UNFPA have recently published their concern for the crisis of women and children in Gaza who are being murdered or sexually assaulted on a daily basis in the midst of the war.
Middle East
According to the United Nations, roughly 70 percent of women and children, if not more, have been martyred in Gaza this past year. As Israel continues to displace Palestinans, there have been hundreds reports of sexual violence towards Palestinan women and girls, outside camps or in detention. If they are not being tortured or bombed, due to the conditions of trash and rubble, the survival resources needed are lacking causing an increase of infection and disease, primarily in women, including pregnant women being distressed into labor or miscarriage.
In other Middle Eastern countries, women continue to be stripped of rights, big or small, every day. Recently, in Afghanistan, the Taliban restricted Afghan women to pray or recite the Quran in front of other women. This adds onto recent laws against women from being able to travel solely, play or sing music, restrict mixed gender meetings, and even limiting girls to stop getting an education after grade 6 if not sooner. While many other countries in the Middle East continue to limit what women can do on a daily basis, Saudi Arabia has actually begun to loosen some of those restrictions. According to this NYT article, Saudi Arabia has even been appointed a chairman in the UN for “the Commission on the Status of Women.” The chairman elected is Abdulaziz Alwasil and has the goal of strengthening and empowering women in the country again after an “abysmal” past.
I’m sure we all remember the Pakistani activist for women’s rights, Malala Yousafazi. The young woman who was shot in the face by the Taliban, at 15, just because she was a kid who enjoyed reading and learning, and who expressed her fear after the Taliban started to settle into her home town under an alias name. Even as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, her story and voice continues to be used for the girls and women who are still not able to speak up for their rights to a normal life; especially for the ones in Afghanistan. Gender apartheid has been deemed as an international crime under the UN, but what else and how else can we fight for the women who are still under the oppression?
Asia
South Korea is the one to thank for the 4B Movement push. The 4B Movement started in 2012 in South Korea as women began to decline intimate relationships with men due to the constant sexism and violence Korean women were facing. The 4B’s stand for no sex, childbirth, dating, and marriage; which stemmed from the Korean words of: bisekseu, bichulsan, biyeonae and bihon. Ever since Yoon Seok-yul won the South Korean presidential election back in 2022, his platform was inherently misogynistic and conservative, causing gender equality to be deemed “taboo.” This has seemed to be a similarity to the recent American presidential election to many; thus, inspiring a wave of the 4B Movement in the west.
While I have discussed the formal restrictions based on gender in the middle east, a similar pattern is seen in Asia as well, especially in India. India is known to have a higher death rate for girls, rather than boys and this has a lot to do with the different ways girls and boys are shown to value life from a young age. These differences in value and life rates stem from societal issues like child marriage, sexual exploitation and violence, and child labor over education. There have been hopeful movements towards a safer, equal opportunity of life for women in India with Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 or the Domestic Violence Act in 2005, but most still have yet to be officiated or visible. While countries like Colombia are banning child marriage to protect girls and women, many countries, such as India, still have progress to make from a long journey of a misogynist society.
Conclusion
According to projected estimates by the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 women globally experience some sort of violence. Not even looking into the outside world of living in a tent in a safe zone or needing permission to walk outside or go to an OBGYN appointment, after analyzing 2023 data, the UN has reported that the most dangerous spot for women is home. I know there are more stories to be shared and more to be informed on in other parts of the world. For now, these are the countries and stories that have been more dominant in news outlets today that I felt needed to be more widely discussed.
However, even though you may not see a trending story on this topic, it does not mean that it has ended or gotten better. The western atmosphere has a past of attempting to censor or propagandize the news stories we see from the other side of the world. I urge you to stay up to date on global affairs like these, because with the political climate we are in today, anything is possible. Continue to fight for what’s right. Use your voice. Use your vote. We are privileged to be in a country that allows us to still do that for the time being.