It’s no secret — no country in the world has achieved equality. No, not a single one. To prove this point, the World Economic Forum created its Global Gender Gap to explain that yes, a big fat gap exists between women and men in the areas of health, education, politics and employment — basically the core building blocks of our lives. If men and women aren’t equal in those foundational areas, they aren’t equal at all. So, every year since 2006, the Global Gender Gap Report com

I first read The Handmaid’s Tale in 1989, four years after it was published. I was 15. Damn! That’s nuts! I thought. That can’t ever happen… Fast forward more than 30 years. I’ve worked on violations of women’s rights around the world for decades, often to hear “but this doesn’t happen here” when in the US. Well, maybe now we’re reminded that yes, it’s been happening here all along. Last night, while America gawked at the gowns in the Met Gala’s “gilded age”, American women w

Young feminists. We say they have a voice, that they are engaged, that they are leading in their own right, that they are strong and unrelenting. We assume they are a monolith. We assume we’ve adequately supported them and paved the way for them to take over. We assume we have fought hard for the rights they now enjoy. And, we assume that they will finish the job that we haven’t been able to finish. I wanted to test some of these assumptions. Who are “young feminists” – and h

I spent the weekend interviewing my seven-year-old niece about women’s rights. She had a lot to say. So, let’s get this interview started. How old are you? Well, I’m basically eight. Ok, seven and a half. Ok, more than a half. We’ve talked about what I do… Do you remember what that is? You help women around the world. You help women get their rights. Why? Because people think men can be more strong and can do other things that women can’t. So we don’t get treated the same. Bu

New year, new you — right?! Sigh. Here we go, making resolutions again. Stuff we probably won’t stick to beyond the third week of January. Are you committed to working out? Drinking less? Being a better (insert your role here)? All those things are great — but they’re all about you. My resolutions fit in two categories: me-goals and us-goals. I’ve got a big list of personal goals to work through this year — big! But my collective goals — my ‘us-goals’ — are just as important.

No country in the world has achieved full gender equality, but the Arab region ranks lowest in the world. Empowering women is not just a human rights principle. It is a precondition to sustainable development and the strongest vehicle for peace, prosperity, and progress. The Arab region’s diverse collection of 22 countries have one thing in common: they will need another 140 years to close the gender gap. The region has long been plagued by protracted crises, waves of conserv

What to say after spending a few days in the midst of 8008 fellow feminists in Vancouver? The Women Deliver Conference just ended – and our heads are still spinning, in all the right directions! Held every three years, Women Deliver conferences are the largest gathering for women’s rights activists worldwide. These gatherings are described as “fueling stations”, enabling us to learn and share – and leave with new energies, information, connections, and inspiration. And yet, w

Last week I spoke at the Stockholm Forum on Gender Equality, an amazing gathering of close to 800 feminists, activists, and lots of others! I was the first speaker, and here’s what I said. *** I wish I could have brought someone else with me. Her name is Salma. She is 18 years old. She is what we call “PRS” – Palestine Refugee from Syria (PRS) – and she’s now in Lebanon. So for our purposes that would make her PRSL. This acronym reflects the number of times she has escaped co

Black Friday may conjure up images of rampant retail – but there’s a feminist history here as well. Black Friday is also the name of a protest in favor of women’s suffrage in the UK on 18 November 1910. 300 women protested, and many were assaulted and arrested. This might not have been the first time women experienced violence for demanding their rights, but it’s worth recalling why these protests were important and what this means for today – Black Friday – and tomorrow – th