Standing With Women in the United States and Around the World

To all who believe in justice, dignity, and freedom:

We are watching what is happening to women in the United States, and we refuse to look away.

The unsealing of the Epstein files has reminded the world of a painful truth: powerful men have exploited women and girls for decades — and systems built to protect the public instead protected the powerful. This is not an isolated scandal. It is a symptom of a deeper crisis.

Across the United States, reproductive rights are being stripped away. Gender-based violence continues at alarming rates. Women who speak up face retaliation. And the institutions meant to deliver justice too often deliver silence.

This is not only an American problem. From Afghanistan to Iran, from Hungary to Argentina, authoritarian leaders use the same playbook: control women, silence dissent, consolidate power. Misogyny is not a side effect of fascism. It is the foundation of it. Every authoritarian project begins by attacking the rights and freedoms of women and gender minorities.

That is why feminism matters — not just as a belief, but as a political force. Feminism has driven some of the most important progress in modern history: the right to vote, equal pay laws, protections against domestic violence, access to education. When feminism advances, democracy advances. When feminism is under attack, democracy is under attack.

We cannot fight these battles alone, country by country. If we do, we will lose one by one. But together — across borders, languages, and cultures — we are a global majority.

We, the undersigned, declare:

• We rise with women and girls in the United States and everywhere facing gender-based violence and injustice.
• We recognize feminism as essential to the defense of democracy worldwide.
• We commit to building solidarity across borders, because our liberation is connected.
• We call on governments, institutions, and leaders everywhere to protect women's rights as human rights — in law and in practice.

Authoritarianism is rising. So are we.