The Dobbs Decision Reminds Us Feminism Must Be Global and Intersectional

The Dobbs Decision Reminds Us Feminism Must Be Global and Intersectional
8/17/2022 by Beth Roberts, Gina Alvarado and Melissa Padilla



Pro-abortion rights activists demonstrates near an anti-abortion rights group outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 21, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

When the U.S. Supreme Court’s radical majority overturned Roe v. Wade, it destroyed rights countless women fought and died to win some 50 years ago. But the Dobbs decision went far deeper: It reaffirmed the historical denial of women’s equal citizenship. The majority argued the right to abortion is not “deeply rooted” in U.S. history and tradition, referring to over two centuries ago, when women were legally chattel under the doctrine of coverture and could not vote, hold property or enter into contracts—a time when they belonged not to themselves, but to men.

To reclaim reproductive rights and achieve gender equality amidst a strong backlash, we must establish women’s “equal legal personhood” and eradicate the patriarchal notion about women’s second-class citizenship. To do so, our vision for gender equality must be unrelenting and holistic. The women’s movement must seize this opportunity to cultivate fierce intersectionality at home and to deepen bonds of sisterhood between U.S. women’s movements and feminist movements globally. After all, Dobbs will have an impact around the world. And when women’s human rights are violated, the whole planet suffers. Yet across vast differences in culture and identity, climate change and poverty affect women disproportionately as a result of gendered discrimination. Women of color and women living in poverty have suffered most—and again stand to suffer the most now without federal protection for abortion rights.

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Land Rights: An Intersectional, Global Lever for Reproductive Justice and Gender Justice

Control over land and natural resources is at the root of power locally, nationally and globally. Land is still dominated by men, and inequalities in control over land drive economic and gender inequalities, as well as the climate crisis.

Studies show that when women have property rights, such as this woman in Kenya, they are more likely to invest their profits from increased production into the family—mainly in education and health. (Neil Thomas / USAID)

Around the world, we see these commonalities: Women are denied equal bodily autonomy and equal rights to land and natural resources. We also see the reverse: When women have rights to land, they have greater agency, including increased autonomy and access to reproductive health services. Women with rights to land can better avoid transactional or survival sex, forced or early marriage, and have reduced exposure to sexual violence and HIV/AIDS.Rights to land flip the script of gendered power, paving the way for reproductive justice, economic equality and empowerment, and gender equality writ large. It is a keystone of this holistic, relentless vision of gender justice.We cannot have gender equality—full citizenship for women, including reproductive justice—without economic equality, including equal control over resources like land. Women’s substantive freedom across the globe means equal power—mirroring the power men have held for centuries and currently hold, over our bodies and over Earth’s resources.

How Do We Realize This Global, Intersectional Vision for Gender Equality?

Here are three recommendations:
1. Ratify CEDAW in the U.S. President Biden committed to efforts to ratify the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the “most important international vehicle for advancing gender equality.” Ratifying CEDAW would catalyze U.S. leadership on gender equality globally, including on issues key to intersectionality and poverty: the CEDAW Committee has declared women’s rights to land and natural resources “fundamental human rights.” But it would also be a “central vehicle for change for women in America,” including marginalized and minority women, to secure their rights in courts, workplaces, and homes. CEDAW would hold the U.S. accountable for progress on gender equality overall, and reproductive rights specifically. For example, CEDAW processes played a role in the decriminalization of abortion in Argentina and Mexico.

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https://msmagazine.com/2022/08/17/womens-land-rights-dobbs-feminism-global-intersectional/