Ms. Global: Starvation’s Effects on Women in Gaza, Gisele Pelicot Awarded France’s Legion of Honor, Taliban Enforces Dress Laws for Women, and More
The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.
Gaza, Palestine
+ Starvation’s acute effect on women
Currently, one third of Gaza’s population hasn’t eaten in days; 100,000 Palestinian women and children face severe malnutrition. Starvation has plagued the country since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October of 2023, but has worsened exponentially since Israel instituted a blockade on all aid in March. After international pressure, Israel eased the blockade in May, allowing for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to provide essential support. However, aid distribution stations have been reduced from 400 to four, and the Israeli military often frequents these sites, often murdering those attempting to retrieve aid.
Starvation in Gaza has uniquely impacted women and children. Children, some just a few months old, are dying at high rates: the Gaza Ministry of Health has reported more than 40 hunger-related deaths in July, 16 of which were children, and 111 since the beginning of the war, 81 of them children.
Women, especially pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, face acute starvation impacts. On a base level, malnutrition drastically impacts the health of a newborn. For the 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, access to hygiene products, maternal health medicines, and basic nutritional supplements are extremely limited. As a result, one in three pregnancies are now considered high risk.
Mothers in Gaza also face critical starvation conditions due to implicit gender roles. According to UN Women, issues like uneven food distribution due to prioritizing their children, exposure to unsafe cooking materials/conditions, and having to take on the added burden of care often lead women to experience heightened food insecurity.
Afghanistan
+ Taliban arrests Afghan women over strict new dress rules
Dozens of women and girls have been arrested across Kabul over the weekend starting on July 16 by the Taliban’s morality police, enforcing their restrictive dress codes. Officials from the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice claimed the women were wearing “bad hijab.” Detainees were taken to undisclosed locations, with the first group reportedly released only after spending the night in custody and pledging to comply with the regime’s interpretation of the new “Islamic hijab” regulations.
The arrests were carried out aggressively. Videos circulating social media show Taliban officers forcing women into vehicles at gunpoint. In one widely shared clip, a woman surrounded by armed men was heard saying: “You have deprived us of life, education, and going to school; what more do you want? Fear God!”
Similar arrests over so-called “bad hijab” occurred earlier this year in February, when women were also forcibly detained by Taliban forces. Since regaining power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed increasingly draconian restrictions on women’s rights, barring them from education, employment and public life. In 2022, the regime mandated full-body coverings in public, an edict condemned by the United Nations as a form of “gender apartheid.”
Sources told Rukshana Media that some women were detained from locations such as hospitals, suggesting that these actions are less about religious enforcement and more about psychological control. “There is no such a thing as bad hijab in Afghanistan at the moment,” a source told Human Rights Watch. “But no matter what levels of restrictions the Taliban create, women and girls will still go outdoors and add fashion and color to their hijabs. This seems to be the Taliban’s real problem.”
France
+ Gisele Pelicot awarded France’s Legion of Honor
Gisele Pelicot has been awarded France’s highest civilian honor, following her high-profile mass rape trial against her husband. The Legion of Honor knighting occurred on July 13, just ahead of Bastille day. Pelicot was among 589 notable people who were given this honor.
The trial shook all of France and the world last September, when it was revealed that Pelicot’s husband had been drugging and raping her for decades, inviting dozens of strangers to participate in her abuse. Pelicot waived her right to anonymity, instead choosing to attend and speak during nearly every day of the trial.
She quickly became a national hero and a feminist symbol in France for her courage. French President Emmanuel Macron applauded Pelicot during the trial, thanking her for her “dignity and courage.”
The trial culminated in her husband getting the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Most of the other 50 plus defendants got 15 years or less, a decision that many felt was inadequate.
Pelicot’s bravery during the trial was moving for many women who have faced sexual abuse in their lives, and the scrutiny that often follows. During the trial, women in France lined up outside of the courthouse day after day in support. “I don’t know how she does it—her dignity,” one woman said. “I admire this woman—she is exceptional.”
South Africa
+ Caster Semenya wins court case defending intersex athletes
South African Olympic runner Caster Semenya won her court case against discriminatory athletic policies towards intersex athletes. Her victory in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 10 was the culmination of a long legal battle.
Semenya and Athletics of South Africa initially brought her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in May 2019, challenging a new set of regulations introduced in April. The regulations required female athletes with higher levels of testosterone, like Semenya, to have unnecessary medical treatment to lower their testosterone levels if they wished to compete. CAS admitted that the new regulations were discriminatory but “not invalid,” a rationale that came up in the most recent case.
These policies specifically target athletes with some intersex variation, and follow a long history of female athletes being “tested” for their gender. While mandatory sex testing does not continue for all female athletes, these new regulations continue to target intersex women in a similarly invasive way. “Women with intersex variations have the same right to dignity and control over their bodies as other women, and it’s deeply disappointing to see CAS uphold regulations that run afoul of international human rights standards,” said Liesl Gerntholtz, deputy executive director for program at Human Rights Watch.
The ECHR ruled that the CAS failed to properly acknowledge the human rights impact of their new regulations and found that the regulations had never been properly assessed under international human rights law. Though the court did not strike down on the regulations, their condemnation was considered significant blow to them.
“Caster Semenya is is South Africa’s three-time world track champion, and is used to winning,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “And after years of challenging systemic abuse of women athletes and her exclusion from sport on human rights grounds, she may have experienced her most important victory before the European court.”
Thailand
+ Prime Minister’s removal proves judiciary’s power
On Aug. 29 Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was officially removed from office by the country’s Constitutional Court. The decision came after the leaking of a phone call she had with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, during which she criticized Thailand’s military amid heightened tensions over the death of a Cambodian soldier at the border. After 36 senators filed a petition accusing her of dishonesty and ethical violations, the court moved quickly, temporarily suspending her from office on July 1 following a 7-2 vote and removing her nearly two months later.
Shinawatra, who is the second woman to serve as Thailand’s prime minister, served just 352 days before her suspension and ultimate removal. She is the latest in a political dynasty repeatedly ousted from power–her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, the first woman PM, was removed by court order in 2014. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was overthrown in a 2006 military coup. Less than a year after taking office Paetongtarn became the third member of her family forced out of the country’s highest office.
The move has reignited concerns about Thailand’s fragile democracy. Since becoming a constitutional monarchy in 1932, the country has experienced 13 coups. Crackdowns on dissent have intensified since a youth-led pro-democracy movement in 2020, with over 280 people since charged under harsh laws that criminalize criticism of the monarchy.
Protests erupted against Shinawatra the weekend she was suspended, with over 2,000 demonstrators gathering in Bangkok. Many accused the former PM of betraying the military and compromising national interests. The verdict underscores the sweeping power of Thailand’s judiciary–Paetongtarn is now the fifth Thai PM removed by the constitutional court within 17 years. Lawmakers will vote on a new PM from a list of five eligible candidates.
Venezuela and El Salvador
+ Venezuelan men deported by Trump Administration recount their horrific treatment
On July 18, the over 230 Venezuelan men who had been deported to El Salvador from the U.S. by President Trump were sent to Venezuela, as part of a prison swap. The men, migrants who had been accused of being gang members, had been held in the notorious maximum security prison, CECOT for four months.
When they were initially deported, the Trump administration made a concerted effort to conceal their identities and evade any distinct reasoning for their deportation. Trump enacted a piece of 18th-century wartime legislation called the Alien Enemies Act in order to deport men he claimed were members of the Tren de Aragua gang. However, investigations from various news outlets of the released list of names found that the majority of the 238 men had no criminal record. Nearly half had open immigration cases, and 166 had tattoos, which were often cited by ICE agents to be evidence of gang participation, with little other investigation to follow.
After being released, the men have begun to recount the horrors they faced while incarcerated. Many say they were tortured with relentless and random beating, while also facing psychological abuse by never being allowed outside, confined with no sense of time. The men also say they faced severe verbal abuse tactics, often being called criminals, terrorists, and nobodies. They recount being forced to participate in humiliating and dehumanizing acts, including sexual abuse.
The accounts of these men have sparked renewed criticism of the Trump Administration’s actions, which they continue to deny. Natalia Molano, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, claimed that the U.S. was not responsible for the men’s detention in El Salvador, and that “the United States is not involved in this conversation,” referring to complaints in the aftermath.” However, according to court records, the Salvadorian government operated under the assumption that the men remained under U.S. jurisdiction.
Suriname
+ Suriname elects its first woman president
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons has made history as the first woman elected president of Suriname, a small country on the northeastern coast of South America, after securing a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. She succeeded President Chandrikapersad Santokhi on July 16, whose administration was widely criticized for corruption scandals and harsh austerity measures.
At 71, Simons brings decades of experience as a physician, lawmaker and longtime leader of the National Democratic Party. She ran unopposed and was elected as the country prepares to mark its 50th anniversary of independence from the Netherlands this November.
Simons inherits a country facing significant economic hardship, including mounting debt and widespread public discontent. “I am aware that the heavy task I have taken on is further aggravated by the fact that I am the first woman to serve the country in this position,” she said after her confirmation.
A major test of leadership will come as the country prepares to begin a major offshore oil project GranMorgu, with production starting in 2028. The project has already faced delays, and involves significant stakes from countries such as the United States and France. Simons has said she will oversee this period with an emphasis on economic recovery and responsible management of any future oil wealth.
Canada
+ Government issues intelligence report on “extremist influencers”
According to Canada’s Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC), a number of women influencers have been identified as “active participants in radicalizing others,” by using social media to attract and mobilize followers in Canada and across North America. The report, titled “Weaponizing femininity: female influencers’ use of social media to promote extremist narratives” was produced in August 2023, but only recently released to the public in 2025 under the Access to Information Act. It highlights the growing role of women as radicalizers, an often overlooked dimension in analyses that have historically focused on men.
Global News, which first obtained the report, revealed that influencers and extremist movements are embedding harmful narratives in content that appears innocuous, such as parenting advice or lifestyle tips. Videos related to sexual education in schools or vaccinations are leading to discussions spiralling into anti-government rhetoric. Blogs promoting the “tradwife” lifestyle were also flagged for frequently veering into anti-immigration themes and blaming feminism for overwhelming women with work outside the home.
“While the intelligence assessment is two years old, the phenomenon it identifies has continued, and in some ways, has worsened,” said Eviane Leidig, a researcher and author specializing in anti-democratic politics and online extremism.
In a statement to Global News, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service confirmed that ITAC has been examining the impact of “toxic online and social media spaces.” They stated that, “Based on its analysis of realized and failed violent extremist attacks in Canada, ITAC has assessed that individuals very likely consume traditional media and/or conspiracy theories as potential entry points for grievance narratives before researching more extreme ideas.”
