Bullying is moving offline to schools and campuses

A new one report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that digital hate and harassment against women increased rapidly after the US presidential election. Sexist phrases like “repeal the 19th (amendment)” and “go back to the kitchen” have appeared on platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Reddit following President Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Many of the most common comments involved calls for a decrease in women’s rights, while others explicitly threatened women with sexual assault and harassment. Mentions of the statement “Your body, my choice” — a direct response to the reproductive justice movement’s slogan, “my body, my choice” — rose more than 4,600 percent on X. The phrase also appears to have grown in popularity offline, with parents and students reporting groups of boys singing it to girls in schools. One parent commented online: “Today my daughter was told ‘your body, MY choice’ 3 times on campus. The third group of boys told him to “sleep with one eye open tonight.”

Colombia passes a law banning child marriage

This week, Colombia passed a law called “They are girls, not wives”, effectively banning all marriage for children under the age of eighteen. The victory came after seventeen years of hard work by advocacy groups and eight failed attempts to get the legislation through the House and Senate. The new law will cover a loophole in the country’s civil code, which allowed children under the age of eighteen to marry with their parents’ consent. According to the UN Children’s Fund, one in four – or 4.5 million girls and women in Colombia – were married before the age of eighteen, and one million were married before the age of fifteen. The bill will also address the structural issues that often contribute to child marriage, with a particular focus on policies that address education. Sandra Ramirez, Latin America adviser for the advocacy group Equality Now, said efforts must be directed towards effective implementation of the law: “Public policy now will be crucial, as a change in legislation means little without effective implementation and ensuring that voices girls and teenagers are at the center.” Colombia joins twelve of thirty-three other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that have banned child marriage.

Libya announces plans to restrict women’s personal freedom

Last week, the interim interior minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), Emad Trabelsi, announced that several restrictions targeting women’s personal liberties will be implemented throughout the country. Libya currently has two competing governments—the GNU and the Government of National Stability. GNU, which announced these restrictions, is recognized by the United Nations and much of the international community. The GNU plan includes reinvigorating “morality policing” to require women and girls to wear the hijab from the age of nine and to monitor public interactions between unrelated couples. Male guardianship laws would prevent women from traveling without the permission of their father, brother or husband, and women would be prohibited from entering public spaces with men. Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch said such draconian initiatives would violate the country’s interim constitution as well as human rights treaties to which it is a party, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights . . “It’s already a very patriarchal society and women have no rights in Libya,” Naro, a makeup artist from Tripoli, told More about her story. “This decision will negatively affect all women and make society go backwards instead of progressing. They ignored all the major issues like political conflicts, inflation and civil wars and instead focused on women’s hijab.”

Floods in Myanmar uniquely affect women and girls, new UN Women report shows

This week, the United Nations launched a new report highlighting the disproportionate impact of the recent floods in Myanmar on women and girls. Since September, floods and mudslides caused by an intense monsoon season and the effects of Typhoon Yagi have affected over a million people over 20% of Myanmar’s localities. Women and girls have borne the brunt of this climate disaster. Ensuring access to adequate hygiene supplies, maternal and reproductive care and medical services remains a concern. In the long term, experts fear that the floods could lead to more girls out of school and that displaced women could find fewer economic opportunities. The threat of gender-based violence is also prevalent. Currently, more than 67 percent of displacement camps and shelters report safety concerns for women and girls. “Extreme weather events like Typhoon Yagi are increasing in frequency and severity,” said Ramesh Singh, CARE International’s Regional Director for Asia. “In Southeast Asia, where climate-related disasters are intensifying, prioritizing gender equality in disaster planning and response is crucial to building a resilient community.”