Women cannot win decent work and freedom from violence under the anti-democratic regime in Indonesia:

Monday 8 December 2025, by Perempuan Mahardhika

Ahead of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women [1] from 25 November to 10 December, Free Women association [2] held a press conference to announce simultaneous actions in Jakarta, Palu, Samarinda and Manokwari [3] on the opening day of the campaign, 25 November 2025. This year, Free Women adopted the theme "Decent Work and Freedom from Violence Will Not Be Achieved Under an Anti-Democratic Regime."


The Chair of Free Women, Mutiara Ika Pratiwi, opened the press conference by emphasising that this year’s commemoration carries particular urgency amid Indonesia’s democratic decline.

"On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed globally from 25 November to 10 December, Free Women will conduct simultaneous national actions in four cities under the theme ’Decent Work and Freedom from Violence Will Not Be Achieved Under an Anti-Democratic Regime’. This is an effort to strengthen the global commitment of the women’s movement to end torture and violence against women," said Mutiara.

She recalled the history of 25 November as the day the Mirabal Sisters were murdered by the dictator Trujillo, as a sign that violence against women has always been a strategy of authoritarian regimes.

Mutiara highlighted that Indonesia’s democratic regression has been confirmed by various global indices, including Freedom House, the Global State of Democracy Indices and the Economist Intelligence Unit. [4]

"We are witnessing the persecution of activists, discrimination against minority groups, and ongoing conflict in Papua [5]. This situation runs parallel to the dismissal of trade union activists in various regions as a form of union-busting," she said firmly.

In such conditions, violence against women continues to rise.

"According to combined data from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, the National Commission on Violence Against Women and the Federation of Women’s Liberation [6], there were 35,533 cases of violence against women throughout 2024, an increase of 2.4 per cent from the previous year. Femicide cases reached 290 in 2024. Yet government attention remains minimal," Mutiara stated.

She also highlighted the state’s denial of past violence, including Culture Minister Fadli Zon’s statements regarding the mass rapes targeting ethnic Chinese women in May 1998 [7], as well as the stalled investigation into the murder and rape of Marsinah [8], who has now been designated a National Hero.

"The neglect of past violence against women reveals the character of an anti-democratic regime with a vested interest in perpetuating gender inequality," she added.

Sarah, Coordinator of Free Women Jakarta, explained that conditions for young people are becoming increasingly uncertain. Young people are trapped under an authoritarian regime.

"Under this authoritarian and anti-democratic regime, young people live under immense pressure: shrinking employment opportunities, mass layoffs without security, increasingly expensive education, environmental destruction caused by extractive development, and the ongoing criminalisation of thousands of critical young people." [9]

She added:

"We live in vulnerability, uncertainty and crisis. That is why this action is important—to show that women and young people will not remain silent."

From Palu, Stevi, Coordinator of Free Women Palu, highlighted the increase in systematic violence.

"We are seeing a rise in violence against women, sexual violence and femicide in Palu. In Central Sulawesi, there were 2 recorded femicide cases in 2024 and 2 more in 2025. All of this demonstrates the weakness of state protection systems," she said firmly.

Stevi also described the conditions of women workers in nickel industrial zones [10]:

"Women workers frequently experience sexual violence, and five victims of sexual violence were even dismissed in October. Pregnant women workers lack safe facilities. The police have yet to show any solidarity with victims."

Angelina Djopari, Coordinator of Free Women Manokwari, described the situation for women in West Papua, which remains far from safe and decent. [11]

"Female honorary government employees [12] in Manokwari are demanding decent wages and their basic rights. Sexual violence in universities and government institutions is very high, including in secondary schools. We are pushing for a Regional Regulation on the Protection of Women and Children, as well as counselling facilities for victims," she explained.

Meanwhile, Risna highlighted the tense situation in West Papua, particularly in conflict areas such as Bintuni.

"Access is very difficult and dangerous. Government funding has run out, and women and children are the most affected victims. To enter conflict areas, strict permission from authorities is required. This is not a safe situation for civilians," she said. [13]

She added that the cement and mining industries continue to receive accommodation from local government:

"Workers are paid below the provincial minimum wage and work in inhumane conditions."

Naya, Coordinator in Samarinda, explained that the 25 November action in Samarinda would take the form of symbolic actions at various public locations.

"We will unfurl our demands at universities and public spaces," she said.

She also emphasised the impact of extractivism in East Kalimantan [14]:

"Research shows that water from former mining sites consumed by communities is dangerous. Many fish are contaminated with coal waste. In Balikpapan, six children drowned in mining pits, yet women are blamed as if they failed to look after their children. But the question that should be asked is: why are there such enormous pits without barriers near residential areas?"

Furthermore, opportunities for decent work for women remain minimal.

"Promises of job vacancies lead to the exploitation of women workers with long hours and very low wages. Additionally, criminalisation since August has created an unconducive situation—many comrades remain under city arrest or are political prisoners in Samarinda," Naya explained.

She concluded with aspirations for change:

"We want to live safely, free from all forms of violence, to have decent working environments, freedom to organise, and freedom from the threat of criminalisation."

Closing the press conference, Mutiara Ika reiterated the main message of the action:

"Tomorrow’s action is an affirmation that decent work and freedom from violence will not be achieved without democracy. Under this anti-democratic regime, women no longer want to be the pillars propping up crisis—women want systemic change." [15]

She also warned that:

"Environmental destruction, land grabbing and intimidation against women defending their living spaces are worsening. Every anti-democratic regime always uses violence to maintain power." [16]

Mutiara also addressed the international situation, particularly the strengthening of anti-democratic governments in various countries, and the importance of cross-border solidarity. She stressed the need to support the people of Myanmar facing elections under the control of the military junta, as well as the people of Palestine who continue to experience genocide.

"The elections organised by Myanmar’s junta are sham elections. And in Palestine, despite ceasefire commitments, genocide continues," said Mutiara.

24 November 2025

Source: Free Women association. Translated for ESSF by Wendy Lim.

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Extraction PDF [->article9302]

Footnotes


[1] The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is observed annually on 25 November. The date was chosen in 1999 by the United Nations General Assembly to honour the Mirabal sisters, three Dominican political activists who were assassinated on that date in 1960 by the Trujillo dictatorship.


[2] On the activities of Free Women, see "Indonesia: Free Women and its activities", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article42996


[3] Palu is the capital of Central Sulawesi province; Samarinda is the capital of East Kalimantan province; and Manokwari is the capital of West Papua province.


[4] Indonesia’s democratic decline has accelerated under President Prabowo Subianto. See Wendy Lim and Mark Johnson, "Indonesia Left Media Review: Confronting Deepening Authoritarianism", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, November 2025. Available at: https://europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article76766


[5] Papua has experienced decades of armed conflict between Indonesian security forces and independence movements. See "Papua: Government not seen as serious about resolving armed conflict in Papua", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, December 2024. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article73194


[6] The Federasi Pembebasan Perempuan (FPL) is the Federation of Women’s Liberation, an Indonesian feminist organisation.


[7] During the May 1998 riots that preceded the fall of President Suharto, ethnic Chinese communities were targeted with widespread violence, including at least 85 documented cases of sexual violence, with 52 confirmed rapes. A government Joint Fact-Finding Team established by President B.J. Habibie verified these findings. In June 2025, Culture Minister Fadli Zon dismissed these documented atrocities as "rumours" and questioned whether they had ever occurred, prompting widespread condemnation from human rights organisations and survivors’ groups.


[8] Marsinah (1969–1993) was a trade union activist at a watch factory in East Java who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered after leading a strike demanding minimum wage compliance. Her body showed signs of rape and brutal torture. The military is widely believed to have been responsible, but no one has ever been brought to justice. In November 2025, she was posthumously designated a National Hero, though her murder case remains officially unsolved.


[9] On the criminalisation of activists, see "Indonesia: Stop State Violence! Revoke Parliamentary Facilities and Allowances! End Repression Against the People! Deliver Justice for Victims!", Indonesian Women’s Alliance (API), Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, September 2025. Available at: https://europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article76104


[10] Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer. The rapid expansion of nickel processing facilities, particularly in Sulawesi, has attracted significant investment but has also been associated with poor labour conditions, environmental damage and worker rights violations.


[11] On women’s struggles in Papua, see "IWD rally in Jayapura take up theme ’Respect, protect and fulfill women’s rights in Papua’", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières. Available at: https://europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article74453


[12] Pegawai honorer are contract workers employed by the Indonesian government on temporary terms, typically without the benefits, job security or salary levels of permanent civil servants.


[13] See "Manokwari Student Alliance: Oppose Policies That Do Not Side with the Papuan People", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, September 2025. Available at: https://europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article76104


[14] East Kalimantan is a major coal-producing province and has also been designated as the site of Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara. The region has experienced extensive environmental degradation from mining activities.


[15] See also Indonesian Women’s Alliance (API), "Impoverished, Killed, Criminalised! Women Fight Back and Challenge the State!", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, March 2025. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article74468


[16] See "Indonesia: Prabowo’s golden Indonesia — oligarchy style militarism", Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, January 2025. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article73996

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Perempuan Mahardhika
The Mahardhika Women’s Organization fights for the freedom of women from all forms of violence and discrimination, from oppressive cultures and poverty.

ZIONIST FEMICIDE

After the Rape: The challenges of monitoring sexual violence in Gaza

Palestinian women in Gaza have faced widespread sexual violence during the Israeli genocide. Despite mountains of evidence, human rights groups face difficulties pursuing justice, as women live in fear of social stigma and reprisal from Israel.

By Majd Jawad 

 December 20, 2025 

MONDOWEISS

Gaza Community Mental Health Program staff providing psychological support to displaced children, women, elderly people, and people with special needs in evacuation camps in Deir Al-Balah and Rafah, in April 2024.

 (Photo: Gaza Community Mental Health Program/Facebook)


The story of N.A., a Palestinian woman detained and allegedly raped by four Israeli soldiers, sent shockwaves through a community already ravaged by war. Detailed in the shocking report by The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) last month, N.A.’s story was one of many, revealing the systematic rape and sexual torture of Palestinian detainees in Israeli captivity.

Her subsequent refusal to seek follow-up medical care after her release, retreating back into a circle of silence, highlights a pervasive and devastating reality in the Gaza Strip. Despite repeated attempts by human rights organizations to document her case and provide support, N.A. declined any further interviews, embodying the fear that paralyzes countless survivors.

“The cases that do speak to us fundamentally do not feel safe disclosing their experiences,” says Yasser Abdel Ghafour, deputy head of the documentation unit at a local human rights center. “They prefer not to expand the circle of people who know about their situation, which would further expose their identity.”

According to Abdel Ghafour, this is not an isolated incident. “We are aware of many cases that have endured similar experiences,” he explains. “We have approached them repeatedly to share their stories, but they have flatly refused, believing it would endanger their lives even more violently. This is especially true for women.”
Sexual violence as a weapon of war

Local and international human rights organizations indicate that the use of sexual violence by occupation forces is not a collection of isolated incidents but part of a repeated pattern of behavior within detention centers. While no international body has yet conducted a full investigation, the recurring patterns in testimonies, especially from female detainees, reflect a systematic practice of sexual humiliation, degradation, and identity destruction.

“What is required is not just documenting violations, but establishing a neutral international mechanism to investigate the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war,” Abdel Ghafour insists. “What is happening to women in detention is part of a widespread and systematic attack, not individual transgressions by soldiers.”

In a statement, the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights asserted that Israeli sexual assault must be treated as a political and societal issue, not an individual one. “As a political-societal issue connected to colonial policies of oppression,” the statement reads, “it is akin to assassinations or the use of extreme force. The victim must not be isolated or degraded; rather, she should be embraced, her struggle honored, and all necessary support provided.”

Persistent threat of retaliation

For released detainees, the psychological and physical devastation is immense. The trauma of their experience lingers long after they return home. One testimony documented by the PCHR captures this despair: “In terms of my mental health, I am not myself anymore. I am talking to you now about my tragedy and I feel unstable, I cry and laugh at the same time. I have become soulless when I look at my children and fear that one day they will go through what I went through.

Another survivor describes her shattered mental state: “They violated our dignity and destroyed our spirits and our hope for life. I had wanted to continue my education; now I am lost after what happened to me”

According to professionals, despite such profound trauma, very few survivors seek medical or psychological care. The constant threat of reprisal from Israeli occupation forces for speaking out prevents them from fully disclosing their experiences.

This fear is corroborated by the May 2025 GBV Trends Analysis: Gaza report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which noted that survivors “are often reluctant to name armed perpetrators due to fear of retaliation.”

This climate of fear extends beyond gender-based violence to all forms of documentation. Munir al-Bursh, a director within the Gaza health ministry, confirms this trend to Mondoweiss. He says he has encountered cases where individuals repeatedly insisted that their identity and medical details remain confidential, citing direct threats of revenge from the Israeli occupation if their stories were made public.

The threat is not limited to survivors. Human rights workers, monitors, and local civil society organizations—such as PCHR, Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Women’s Affairs Center, are also systematically targeted for their work exposing Israeli crimes. These organizations, already struggling to operate, face constant intimidation by Israel.

This includes direct physical attacks, such as the complete destruction of Humanity & Inclusion’s (HI) office in Gaza City in January 2024, despite its coordinates being registered with the UN’s notification system. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also documented at least eight Israeli strikes on aid worker convoys and premises, even after their locations were provided to Israeli authorities.

Silent hotlines

While reported cases of rape and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) remain low, these incidents are severely underreported. GBV case managers on UNFPA in Palestine have shared concerning testimonies in task force meetings and trainings, including cases involving adolescent girls and women with disabilities raped by family members and strangers.

Despite rape appearing as 0% in the data, there has been severe underreporting due to fear of retaliation, stigma, and lack of awareness about available services and the collapse of justice system, with survivors not consenting to the recording of their cases. “Many women prefer silence,” says Zainab Al-Ghunaimi, director of Hayat Center for the protection of battered women, considered the primary safe house in Gaza, “not because their experience is any less real, but because speaking out can mean exposing themselves and their families to renewed violence, social ostracism, and practical ruin.”

This challenge cripples reporting mechanisms. An August 2025 report from the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR) “reported severe disruption to women’s specialized service centers, with the majority either non-operational or only partially functioning,” while access to what remains of reproductive and mental health services is fraught with danger.

No safe shelters

In the absence of formal systems, some organizations have sought alternative justice and protection methods. Al-Ghunaimi, describes their efforts.

“We tried to find alternative ways to protect abused women during the war,” she says. “We established a tent to shelter women facing first-degree threats, meaning those at risk of being killed. We resorted to temporary solutions like a mediation system instead of the judiciary.” This system, she explains, involves committees of respected community figures, such as displacement center managers and family elders—to resolve conflicts and offer protection.

However, Al-Ghunaimi refuses to call these shelters completely “safe.” In the presence of the occupation, there is no real safe place. Recently, as this report was being written and despite a ceasefire, an Israeli strike hit a house next to the Hayat Center’s camp, destroying more than half of it. While no one in the camp was physically harmed, the bitter trauma of losing shelter was felt once again.

A void of accountability

International investigations into sexual violence in Gaza cannot proceed without witnesses. Yet, those who might testify live under constant fear, persistent threats, displacement, and deep psychological trauma.

The relentless insecurity, compounded by the destruction of homes and essential services, has made it nearly impossible for survivors to safely come forward. This creates a staggering gap between the sheer scale of the violations and the ability of human rights organizations to document and pursue justice for them.

“We have collected numerous testimonies over the years, but we lack witnesses willing to step forward,” says Abdel Ghafour, deputy head of the documentation unit at PCHR. “The silence forced by fear and social stigma means that files on rape and sexual torture remain some of the most challenging, and heartbreaking—to work on. Without witnesses, accountability remains almost entirely out of reach, and survivors continue to bear the weight of these crimes alone.”

FEMICIDE

PAKISTAN

Judicial injustice

Rida Hosain 

Published December 17, 2025

DAWN

IN his additional note in Noor Mukadam’s case, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi wrote that the case is “a direct result of a vice spreading in the upper society which we know as living [sic] relationship … The young generation must note its horrible consequences such as in the present case which is also a topic for the social reformist, to discuss in their circles”. The order implies that if a victim conformed to a certain moral or societal expectation, the crime could have been avoided. The reasoning shifts the focus away from the perpetrator’s culpability and onto the victim’s character and choices. It perpetuates a culture in which women are held responsible for the violence inflicted upon them. Victims are expected to predict, prevent, and bear responsibility for the violence committed against them.

According to a report by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation, 32,617 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported in 2024 including 2,238 incidents of domestic violence and 547 cases of ‘honour’ killings. Women are subjected to violence not because they deviate from ‘norms’, but often precisely within those conventional and domestic spaces — inside their homes and at the hands of family members. To claim that the crime is the result of ‘live-in’ or a specific kind of a relationship demonstrates ignorance and dangerously reinforces victim-blaming. Cases of GBV must not be converted into a moral discussion. Nor should a victim’s life be reduced to a cautionary tale for society. The presence of such a Supreme Court order signals to the entire judicial hierarchy that moral commentary in cases of GBV is acceptable when it should have no place in our legal system. Rather than rejecting narratives that justify violence, the same harmful logic is being embedded in an order.

In contrast, in 2021, in ‘Atif Zareef vs the State’, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah held: “A woman, whatever her sexual character or reputation may be, is entitled to equal protection of law. No one has the licence to invade her person … it is the accused who is on trial and not the victim.” Placed side by side, the difference in the two judgements is stark. One judgement uses a judicial order to blame a victim, the other dismantles those very prejudices. One judgement shifts respon-

sibility away from the perpetrator, the other makes it unmistakably clear that the victim is not on trial. One judgement reduces the victim to a moral lesson, the other reaffirms her right to dignity.

During the hearings of the case, similar remarks were reported in the press. However, the ‘remarks’ now form part of a judicial order. The order creates a hierarchy of victims; those deemed ‘deserving’ of sympathy and those who are deemed to have ‘brought it upon themselves’. In a country where there is already severe underreporting, the order may further lead to victims choosing silence over the risk of being blamed for the violence against them.


GBV cases mustn’t be converted into moral debates.

Justice Najafi is one of seven judges that has been appointed to the Federal Constitutional Court. In the post-27th Amendment constitutional order, the FCC has the final say on constitutional interpretation. The FCC can, through the stroke of a pen, undo well-settled jurisprudence. The 27th Amendment does not specify criteria for appointment of judges to the FCC. The first batch of judges essentially hold their position by virtue of the executive selecting them.

Prior to the destructive 26th and 27th amendments, Pakistan was to have its first female chief justice in 2030. Previously, on the basis of seniority, the most senior judge of the court would have taken oath as chief justice and the executive had no say in the process. Under the bizarre new system, there are two chief justices: a chief justice of the FCC and a chief justice of the Supreme Court. Per the amendments, the FCC and SC chief justices are to be chosen by a parliamentary committee which shall have proportional representation based on the strength in parliament, and will select the chief justices from the three senior-most judges. Without government support in the committee, an eligible judge will not succeed in becoming chief justice of either court. Government approval has become a decisive factor in determining which judge becomes chief justice.

And with that, the once-certain prospect that Pakistan was on track to have its first female chief justice is no longer there. A previously guaranteed milestone has been made subject to the whims of political power. While representation alone cannot transform an institution, it remains an important advancement for women in the judiciary. Meaningful change requires strengthening institutions, not tearing them down. For far too long, unconscious bias against women has plagued our judicial system; the amendments entrench further injustice.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2025

The writer is a barrister. She tweets @RidaHosain

GENDER APARTHEID IS FEMICIDE

Abortion in Afghanistan: ‘My mother crushed my stomach with a stone’

By AFP
December 4, 2025


A protest for Afghan women's rights in New Delhi in 2021, the year the Taliban returned to power - Copyright AFP/File Sajjad HUSSAIN

Claire GOUNON

When Bahara was four months pregnant, she went to a Kabul hospital to beg for an abortion. “We’re not allowed,” a doctor told her. “If someone finds out, we will all end up in prison.”

Abortion in Afghanistan is illegal and you can be locked up for having or assisting one.

But Bahara was desperate. Her jobless husband had ordered her to “find a solution” — he did not want a fifth daughter.

“We can barely afford to feed” the girls as it is, Bahara, 35, told AFP. “If it was a boy, he could go to school and work.”

But there are no such prospects for a girl, with women banned from secondary schools, universities and most jobs since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

So Bahara took a neighbour’s advice and bought — for the equivalent of two dollars — a herbal tea at the market made from a type of mallow that induces contractions.

The bleeding was so bad she had to go back to the hospital. “I told them that I had fallen, but they knew I was lying because I had no marks on my body. They were angry but did not report me,” said the mother-of-four.

“They operated and removed the remains of the foetus. Since then I have felt very weak.”

The plant she used can be “very risky”, said ethnobotanist Guadalupe Maldonado Andrade from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. A wrong dose can cause organ damage and severe haemorrhaging.

Bahara’s is not an isolated case.

Two other women AFP talked to during our months-long investigation also risked their lives to abort. Nesa took tablets toxic to the embryo and Mariam crushed her stomach with a heavy stone.

Of the dozen women AFP talked to about their clandestine abortions, only five agreed to be interviewed on condition we protected their anonymity and changed their names. Even outside Taliban circles, the fear of being stigmatised, and arrested, is strong in Afghanistan’s deeply conservative society.



– More ‘miscarriages’ –



With such a taboo, and no real statistics, Sharafat Zaman of the Afghan health ministry insisted “few” women are affected.

The Taliban — who follow a strict interpretation of Islam — did not change the abortion laws when they returned to power in 2021.

But officials check more often that terminations are not being carried out in hospitals, panicking doctors and pushing women to have abortions in secret, according to many health sector workers AFP interviewed.

Several doctors said the number of miscarriages has increased since 2021, which they suspect may conceal clandestine abortions given the injuries patients present and their psychological state.

Two international medical organisations also said they noticed the same trend, while access to contraception has become more difficult.

“Budget constraints and the forced closure of family planning services endanger access to modern contraception,” a UN source told AFP, saying less than half of Afghan women have access to methods such as condoms, implants or pills.

Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world, with young women banned from training as midwives or nurses in medical schools since last year.

While health ministry spokesman Zaman acknowledged the dangers of clandestine abortions, and that some women face “problems”, he said it was not the government’s fault.

Abortion is permitted when the life of a pregnant woman is in grave danger. However, in practice it is rarely granted. For the Taliban abortion is “taking a life”, Zaman said.



– He didn’t want another girl –



“Before (the Taliban’s return) we were able to perform more abortions, there were NGOs helping us and no government checks,” said a 58-year-old gynaecologist in Kabul.

“Now doctors are afraid because if they check prescriptions at a pharmacy, it’s very dangerous” for them.

Women are afraid to ask for a termination in hospital, she said, “so more are trying it at home, and then they go to hospital saying they have had a miscarriage.”

Some pharmacies sell them the abortion drug misoprostol without a prescription, the doctor said.

While some healthcare workers are compassionate, others can demand exorbitant sums in what is one of the world’s poorest countries.

Nesa, a mother of eight daughters and one son, found out she was pregnant with another girl at four months.

“I knew if my husband found out, he would throw me out. He thinks we do better with boys,” the 35-year-old farmer said.

“I begged a clinic to help me. They asked for 10,000 Afghanis (130 euros), which I didn’t have. I went to the pharmacy without a prescription and they gave me a malaria drug, saying it would help.”

The only antimalarial drugs available in Kabul pharmacies are chloroquine and primaquine, drugs that should not be used during pregnancy, according to the French agency for medicine safety (ANSM), because they are potentially toxic to the foetus.

“I started bleeding and lost consciousness,” Nesa said. “I was taken to the hospital and I begged the doctors not to report me and they removed the remains of the foetus.”



– Constant pain –



Mariam, 22, had an affair. While abortion is a source of shame in Afghanistan and weighs on the entire family, sex outside marriage is often dangerous, sometimes leading to femicides known as “honour killings”.

One month into her pregnancy, “my mother contacted a midwife, but she asked for too much money. So my mother brought me home, placed a very heavy stone on my belly and crushed my stomach.

“I screamed and started bleeding,” Mariam said. “I went to the hospital and they told me the embryo was gone. Now I am depressed and constantly have stomach pain.”

Only one third of women globally live in countries where abortion is allowed on demand, according to the US NGO Center for Reproductive Rights. Illegal abortions result in 39,000 deaths a year worldwide, it estimates.

A Kabul midwife told AFP she feels “helpless and weak for not being able to help (women) more.” A gynecologist in the Nangarhar region in the east of the country was equally despairing.

“I feel for these women — I vowed to help them by becoming a doctor. But we can’t,” she said.

FEMICIDE

Intimate partner violence injury patterns linked with suicidal behavior

Radiological Society of North America

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image: 

Head CT of intimate partner violence patient with left-sided parietal subdural hematoma (arrow).

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Credit: Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)

CHICAGO – Victims of intimate partner violence with suicidal behavior have characteristic injury patterns on medical imaging, according to a new study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The findings open the door to improved screening and earlier intervention to better protect these vulnerable populations, the researchers said.

Intimate partner violence is the physical, emotional or sexual abuse of a person by their partner or spouse. It is an increasingly recognized risk factor for suicidal behavior, and victims of intimate partner violence with suicidal behavior often end up at the hospital years before those without.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston studied this relationship in 1,451 women who had reported intimate partner violence to the hospital from 2013 to 2018.

“Patients reporting intimate partner violence are at significantly increased risk of suicidal behavior,” said study co-author Emily Y. Yang, B.S., a 4th-year medical student at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a research trainee at the Trauma Imaging Research and Innovation Center (TIRIC) at BWH. “As suicide remains a leading cause of death worldwide, our evidence of distinct and overlapping injury patterns with intimate partner violence is an important step towards improving detection and providing timely intervention.”

Using medical classification codes relevant to suicidal behavior, which were defined as suicide attempt, self-harm and/or suicidal ideation, four study groups were formed: intimate partner violence with suicidal behavior, intimate partner violence without suicidal behavior, suicidal behavior without intimate partner violence, and patients who presented without intimate partner violence or suicidal behavior. The researchers also collected information on the timing and location of when the patient presented, such as day versus night and whether they came to the emergency room (ER) versus non-ER.

Suicidal behavior occurred at a higher frequency among patients reporting intimate partner violence (16.7%) versus patients without a history of intimate partner violence (2.5%). In the study, the majority of patients presented with suicidal behavior after reporting intimate partner violence. Patients with suicidal behavior and history of intimate partner violence were more likely than other patients to present to the hospital during the night versus day and in the ER, versus non-ER settings.

Review of reports by two experienced emergency radiologists revealed that both intimate partner violence and suicidal behavior played independent roles in doubling the overall injury rate compared to that of patients without a history of intimate partner violence or suicidal behavior. Patients with intimate partner violence often sustained head, face, neck and upper limb injuries—areas commonly hurt during assaults.

Intimate partner violence patients with suicidal behavior suffered over six times as many head/face/neck injuries, almost four times as many spinal fractures, three times as many deep injuries, and twice as many upper extremity injuries. These patients experienced almost twice as many severe injuries and three times as many mild injuries.

When looking at independent effects of intimate partner violence versus suicidal behavior, the researchers found that suicidal behavior had a greater impact on the injury rate of upper extremity injuries, while intimate partner violence had a greater impact on head/face/neck injuries.  

Increased awareness of the interaction between intimate partner violence, suicidal behavior and radiologic injury patterns can better protect these vulnerable populations, according to Yang.

“Patients with a history of intimate partner violence tend to hide their circumstances out of fear, stigma, and/or distrust in the medical system,” she said. “Radiologists are possibly the only providers in a patient’s healthcare experience who can identify subtle injuries and patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed, giving voice to an often-voiceless population.”

Radiologists have a unique opportunity to uncover the hidden concerns behind injuries, according to MGH/BWH radiologist Bharti Khurana, M.D., M.B.A., associate professor at Harvard Medical School, founding director of TIRIC and principal investigator and senior author of the study.

“By recognizing recurring imaging patterns in patients experiencing intimate partner violence, especially those exhibiting suicidal behavior, we can initiate critical interventions earlier and potentially save lives,” Dr. Khurana said.

Other co-authors are Alexander Kwon, Krishna Patel, Tatiana C Rocha, M.D., Maria A. Duran-Mendicuti, M.D., and Bernard Rosner, Ph.D.

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering and the Office of the Director at the National Institutes of Health provided funding support for the research.

###

Note: Copies of RSNA 2025 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press25.

RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org)

For patient-friendly information on emergency imaging, visit RadiologyInfo.org.

---

Subject of Research

People

PATRIARCHY IS FEMICIDE

One woman killed by relative every 10 minutes: UN

AFP 

Published November 26, 2025 

People hold placards as they attend a protest against femicide, sexual violence and all gender-based violence to mark the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Istanbul on November 25. — Reuters


UNITED NATIONS: Every 10 minutes last year, a woman somewhere in the world was killed by a person close to her, the United Nations said on Monday as it decried a lack of progress in the battle against femicide.

Some 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members in 2024, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and UN Women said in a report released to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The report said 60 per cent of women killed around the world were murdered by partners or relatives, such as fathers, uncles, mothers, and brothers. For comparison, 11 percent of male murder victims were killed by someone close to them.
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The 50,000 figure — based on data from 117 countries — breaks down to 137 women per day, or around one woman every 10 minutes, the report said.


The total is slightly lower than the figure reported in 2023, though it does not indicate an actual dec­r­e­ase, according to the rep­o­rt, as it stems largely from differences in data availability from country to country.

Femicide continues to claim tens of thousands of lives of women and girls each year, with no sign of improvement, and the “home continues to be the most dangerous place for women and girls in terms of the risk of homicide,” the study said.

No region of the world went without femicide cases, but Africa again had the largest number last year with around 22,000, the report said.

“Femicides don’t happen in isolation. They often sit on a continuum of violence that can start with controlling behavior, threats, and harassment — including online,” Sarah Hendricks, Director of UN Women’s Policy Division, said in a statement.

The report said technological development has exacerbated some kinds of violence against women and girls and created others, such as non-consensual image-sharing, doxxing, and deepfake videos.

“We need the implementation of laws that recognize how violence manifests across the lives of women and girls, both online and offline, and hold perpetrators to account well before it turns deadly,” said Hendricks.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2025

FEMICIDE AT SEA

Teen's Death on Carnival Cruise Ship Ruled a Homicide

Carnival Horizon (file image courtesy Carnival)

Published Nov 24, 2025 6:03 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The teenager who died under mysterious circumstances on cruise ship Carnival Horizon earlier this month was killed by asphyxiation, and her death has been ruled a homicide, according to a death certificate released by her family. A medical examiner in Miami concluded that Anna Kepner, 18, "was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s)" at about 1117 hours on November 7. The document confirms previously-reported preliminary conclusions of FBI investigators. 

Kepner was a straight-A student, a varsity cheerleader, and had planned to enlist in the military after graduation, according to her family. 

A security source has informed ABC News that Kepner's body was discovered underneath a bed, concealed with a blanket and life vests. The body was discovered on November 7 by a crewmember who was cleaning Kepner's cabin, Florida Today reported. 

The FBI is investigating the case under "special maritime jurisdiction," which applies when specific criteria about the vessel, the victim or the voyage are met. Carnival Cruise Line is fully cooperating in the inquiry.  

Kepner's stepbrother - who was co-occupying the cabin with her, Kepner's grandmother told ABC - could face charges in connection with the death, according to court documents from an unrelated child-custody case. No arrests or charges have yet been made. 

In a memorial earlier this month, Kepner's friends and associates remembered her for her positive outlook and her involvement in her community. "When she walked into a room, she would light it up. If you were sad, she’d make you laugh. She would joke around and be the funniest little person in school," Kepner's parents told ABC News. 

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

How the Orange Days were inspired by Dominican feminists

Brenda Haas

DW

November 24, 2025

The Mirabal sisters were murdered after resisting the Dominican Republic's sexist dictator Rafael Trujillo. Their bravery inspired the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The 200 Dominican pesos bill features the Mirabal sisters, who were killed in 1960 for defying the Trujillo dictatorship

Image: Dreamstime/IMAGO

On November 25, 1960, three sisters — Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal — were found dead at the bottom of a ravine near La Cumbre, a mountainous stretch of road in the Dominican Republic.

The jeep they were traveling in had plunged 150 meters (about 500 feet) into a mangled heap. It looked like an accident — except their bodies, and that of their driver, bore signs of beating and strangulation.

The Dominican Republic was then under the rule of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, a dictator whose over 30-year regime was marked by censorship, surveillance and brutal repression. Dissidents were often silenced with impunity.

The Mirabal sisters were among them. Born into a well-off rural family, their political consciousness was sparked early by the regime's abuses — which also hit close to home.

Minerva, the first woman to earn a law degree in the country, had once rejected Trujillo's sexual advances. She was harassed, denied her license to practice and placed under constant watch.

As Historian Nancy P. Robinson wrote in a 2006 essay on the sisters, Trujillo's hatred for the sisters went beyond political to the personal. "Minerva's refusal to succumb to Trujillo's sexual advances resulted in a relentless need to humiliate," wrote Robinson, adding that Trujillo saw it as an affront to the machismo that powered his authoritarian leadership.

Is violence against women an epidemic no one cares about? 26:04

Rise of 'The Butterflies'

Alongside her sisters and their husbands, Minerva helped form the "14th of June Movement" — a clandestine network that distributed pamphlets, organized resistance cells and exposed the regime's crimes.

The sisters' code name was "Las Mariposas," or "The Butterflies." Minerva and Maria Teresa were arrested and released several times for their resistance activities.

On the day they died, the sisters were returning from visiting their imprisoned husbands. Their car was intercepted by Trujillo's secret police, who strangled and clubbed them to death. Their bodies were then placed in the jeep, which was pushed off a cliff to simulate a crash.

Dictator Trujillo used his political clout to pressure young women into sexual relationships

Image: United Archives/picture alliance

Even though Trujillo styled himself as a supporter of women's rights — he had granted women the right to vote in 1942 and sent one of the first female delegates to the UN — in reality, women in political office in his government lacked real power or legitimacy as his dictatorship reinforced ideals of female incompetence, domesticity, and submission to men. Thus, any illusion left of his supposed progressivism was shattered after "Las Mariposas" were murdered with impunity by his regime.

Trujillo was assassinated six months later, with the sisters' murder widely seen as a turning point in his regime's downfall.

From local tragedy to global galvanization

Minerva Mirabal had often presciently remarked: "If they kill me, I shall reach my arms out of the grave and I shall be stronger."

In 1981, Latin American feminists gathered in Bogota and proposed November 25 as a day to honor victims of gender-based violence, thus founding International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Their aim was not only to commemorate the Mirabal sisters, but to underscore that violence against women is not just personal: It's connected to broader political and social systems of power and oppression.

Ten years later, the The Global Institute for Women's Leadership launched a 16-day campaign highlighting the need to eliminate gender-based violence, which now runs annually from November 25 to December 10, which marks Human Rights Day. These efforts laid the groundwork for future campaigns, including the UN Women's "Orange the World" initiative, launched in 2014.

Orange was chosen to represent hope and a future free from violence. It has become a visual cue — be it via banners, on social media or famous buildings bathed in orange lights.

Each pair of orange shoes in this picture taken in in Cologne in 2024 represents an attempted or successful killing of a woman by an intimate partnerImage: Martin Meissner/AP Photo/picture alliance

Global pattern of oppression

The femicide of the Mirabal sisters was not an isolated tragedy — it was part of a long, global continuum of violence against women, and of resistance to it.

In 2006, US activist Tarana Burke coined the phrase "Me Too" to support survivors of sexual violence — especially young women of color. More than a decade later, the hashtag #MeToo erupted globally following multiple exposures of sexual abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein. Millions shared their experiences of sexual abuse online and demanded accountability of their perpetrators.

In 2022, Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict hijab law.

Demonstrations against the death of Jina Mahsa Amini took place both inside and outside Iran, including here in Rome

Image: Andrea Ronchini/NurPhoto/picture alliance

Her death sparked the largest anti-regime protests in the Islamic Republic's history. Led by women, the movement adopted the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" — a phrase rooted in the Kurdish freedom movement.

Both Amini and the movement were awarded the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.

Gendered disinformation online

While the Mirabal sisters lived in an era predating social media, they knew what it meant to be watched, threatened and punished for speaking out. So have generations of women and girls who face violence, whether at home, at work, on the streets of peaceful cities or in conflict zones.

Today, they also face digital violence — the focus of 2025's Orange Days.

Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa was bathed in orange light in 2021 to mark Orange Days

Image: Fabio Muzzi/ZUMA/IMAGO

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is increasingly being weaponized to harass, silence and harm women. AI-generated deepfakes, cyberstalking, doxxing and online threats spill into real life — fueling fear and endangering lives.

Gender equality expert Lucina Di Meco has described gendered disinformation online as "the spread of deceptive or inaccurate information and images against women political leaders, journalists and female public figures" that draws on misogyny and societal stereotypes, "framing them as untrustworthy, unintelligent, emotional/angry/crazy or sexual."

Still relevant 65 years on

In the Philippines, journalist Maria Ressa faced sustained digital attacks via bots, fake accounts and hate campaigns for exposing corruption under then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

Her peer in Brazil, investigative journalist Patricia Campos Mello, was harassed online after covering Jair Bolsonaro's presidential campaign, receiving sexual slurs, rape threats and defamatory videos accusing her of being a prostitute.

Livestreamed murder of women sparks protests in Argentina 01:48

More recently, in September 2025, the femicide of two young women and a teenage girl in Argentina was livestreamed through a private social media group to around 45 people, following a dispute with a drug gang. The video was reportedly intended as a "warning" against drug theft.

The incident caused global shock waves, highlighting how this and other examples — across borders and platforms — reflect the persistence of gender-based violence. Sixty-five years after the murder of the Mirabal sisters, November 25 continues to mark a global reckoning with this reality.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier

Brenda Haas Writer and editor for DW Culture

The rise of masculinism: From obscure online forums to ballot boxes (2/3)

LONG READ


For the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, FRANCE 24 examines a sharp rise in masculinist discourse that seeks to normalise and legitimise misogyny. This second article in a three-part series explores how masculinism has moved from the dark corners of the internet to become a central political tool. From the United States to South Korea, populist parties and authoritarian leaders are increasingly adopting the discourse and rolling back women’s rights.


Issued on: 25/11/2025 
By: Pauline ROUQUETTE

Maculinism, which was initially confined to obscure online forums, has become an important political tool. © Studio graphique FMM


Masculinist discourse is no longer just a muted background noise online. What once belonged to obscure subcultures on the internet is now being echoed, amplified and instrumentalised by political actors who are helping push the misogynistic ideology into the mainstream.

In the US, South Korea and parts of Europe, the anti-feminist rhetoric has become an effective electoral tool – a shared language that mobilises supporters and helps undermine democratic institutions.

“Although the masculinity ideology emerged in the Anglosphere, it has now taken off in many other countries too, from South Korea to Germany, including in France, where – for the first time – a man has been put under formal investigation for plotting a terror attack motivated by the incel [involuntary celibate, eds. note] movement,” a report published by the Gender and Geopolitics Observatory of the French geopolitical think-tank IRIS noted in October.

READ MOREShould France’s incel threat be treated like terrorism?

“Several factors have turned masculinism into an expanding political force,” the report continued, stating that platform algorithms were bringing like-minded users together and enabling masculinist networks and influencers to organise, spread and monetise their ideas through large-scale anti-feminist campaigns.

The online movement then quickly found its way into politics, where populist players stood ready to channel the male anger into electoral capital.
‘Bloke things’

“It’s the whole galaxy gravitating around [Donald] Trump – and especially Steve Bannon – that has set the strategic blueprint for uniting disparate masculinist groups and exploiting men’s grievances,” Stéphanie Lamy, researcher and author of the book “La Terreur Masculiniste” (The masculinist terror), explained.

“It costs less for a candidate to promise middle- and working-class men that they will regain control over ‘their women’, than to actually improve their material conditions,” she said.

In 2014, the US was the scene of the so-called Gamergate controversy – a sexist, anti-feminist harassment campaign that targeted female journalists and researchers.

“It was a large anti-feminist masculinist mobilisation that brought together fairly disparate groups under the one and same umbrella,” she said.

Many of the men who participated in Gamergate all shared the same core values: an hostility towards feminism, the anti-racist Black Lives Matter movement, so-called Social Justice Warriors (SJW), along with a contempt for both journalists and researchers.

Gamergate became a showcase for the American alt-right movement which strongly backed Trump during his first campaign to win the White House. According to IRIS, the anonymous administrator of the “The Red Pill” – a masculinist subgroup on Reddit – played “a key role in rallying young. anti-feminist men to vote for Trump”.

Lamy described it as “a fairly young voter base that had hardly voted at all before”.

In his 2024 re-election campaign, Trump sought to mobilise the fringe group again and appeared on masculinist podcasts like “The Joe Rogan Experience” – one of the most popular podcasts in the world, which in October drew 16 million listeners and averages at 200 million monthly downloads – to appeal to them. Nearly 90 percent of the show’s guests – and 80 percent of its audience – are male, with half of listeners aged between 18 and 34.

In February, 2024, Nigel Farage, the head of Britain’s far-right ReformUK party, appeared on the “Strike It Big” podcast where he described masculinist influencer Andrew Tate as “an important voice” for men. In the interview, Farage explained that young men’s masculinity was being looked down upon and that they were being told “you can’t be blokes, you can’t do laddish, fun, bloke things”.

The rise of masculinism: Violence and misogyny online (1/3)

According to Alice Apostoly, co-director of France’s Gender in Geopolitics Institute (GGI), said that even though few politicians, even conservative ones, are ready to openly align themselves with Tate’s rhetoric, they use it as a “symptom” of a broader malaise, claiming to “take young men’s mental health and their supposed ‘masculinity crisis’ into account”.

Trumpism was the first to grasp the mobilising force behind this type of rhetoric, which has since been used by other leaders around the world on their route to power. “Autocrats learn from one another,” Lamy remarked.

In Argentina, large mobilisations for women’s rights – including pro-choice and anti-femicide protest – actually ended up paving the way for Javier Milei’s rise to power. “They sparked a backlash from Christian nationalists and libertarians,” Lamy said. “And Milei knew how to unite these groups.”

Similarly, South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol, successfully courted the so-called Idaenam community, which Lamy described as “young men in their 20s frustrated by their lack of (sexual) opportunities”, to win the 2022 elections.

Researchers say that most of these young men are radicalised online, where they are exposed to misogynistic discourse and fed a masculinist propaganda pushed to them through platform algorithms.

“Masculinism is being used politically and is being offered as a societal project that incorporates not only masculinist proposals but also far-right ideas,” Apostoly said. “Young men are becoming a pool of valuable voters for these political players,” she said.

Last year, the Financial Times published an investigation which analysed recent election results from several countries. The findings showed that men under 30 are now turning out to vote in greater numbers than ever before – and most of them are voting for far-right parties.

Conservative think-tanks have picked up on this trend, and are trying to capitalise on it by rolling back legislation related to equality. Trump, for example, has signed dozens of executive orders that are in line with “Project 2025” – a societal blueprint created by the ultra-conservative American think-tank The Heritage Foundation.
Eroding rights

Apostoly said that for years now, a “coalition” of associations, academic websites and politicians has taken form in a bid to push back against feminist societal gains. This became particularly evident in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, she said, where some started accusing feminist movements of going “too far” and “taking up way too much space”.

As masculinity networks have grown in both popularity and influence, landmark US legislation protecting abortion and LGBTQ+ rights have been rolled back in recent years.

This push has been driven by a combination of fathers’ rights groups (one of the first masculinist movements, which emerged in the 1960s-1970s), parents’ associations, medical organisations, and last but not least, influential Christian fundamentalist groups, Lamy said, citing a recent report from the European Parliamentary Forum.

“Their victories reinforce each other, more or less explicitly,” she said.

In the US, Trump has surrounded himself with political masculinist influencers, and attacks on gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights have become clear priorities on his agenda.

In South Korea, which is currently experiencing a strong anti-feminist backlash, one of Yoon’s 2022 election promises was to shutter the ministry for gender equality and family – the only public body supporting women who were affected by violence in a nation where the wage gaps and femicide rates are among the highest in the OECD.

“We’re dealing with pure and simple propaganda which is being instrumentalised by the hatred of women and which works at the ballot boxes,” she said, adding that “the radicalisation of young men towards reactionary parties and political projects” is happening on platforms “run by leaders [Marc Zuckerberg and Elon Musk] who have effectively sworn allegiance with Donald Trump, who support his ultra-liberal socio-economic agenda and openly align themselves with certain masculinist values.”

Just a few days ago, the French womens’ rights group La Fondation des Femmes sounded the alarm on Facebook’s parent group Meta, saying it was making certain content published by rights groups in Europe invisible after the company stopped all advertisement about politics, elections and social issues.

“The voices defending womens’ rights are being silenced even more,” the foundation wrote in a post on Instagram. “As if this wasn’t enough, the algorithm isn’t working in our favour, our content is made invisible and our messages are fading away.”

Once this propaganda has been legitimised politically, it no longer seeks to just appeal to those – it starts attacking those opposing it.
Political opponents, feminists and journalists in the visor

“This type of violence has very clear goals: to silence women and make them disappear from both the digital public space and the public space,” Apostoly said.

In India for instance, misogynistic online campaigns were targeting female politicians and journalists critical of Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s ruling party, IRIS said in its report.

Rana Ayyub, a prominent journalist, and Kavita Krishnan, an activist, have both been targeted. Lamy said that in Krishnan’s case – where the online harassment included daily rape and torture threats – “we finally realised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was encouraging these acts and followed the accounts that were harassing her”.

Diane Shima Rwigara, the main opponent challenging Rwanda’s Paul Kagame in the 2017 presidential race, was subject to similar tactics.

A few days after announcing her candidacy, fake nude photos began to circulate online. “The goal was to accuse her of sexual immorality, to attack her sexuality, her person. Pro-government commentators and news outlets shared the photos to mock her without questioning whether the photos were real, making fun of her as a depraved woman,” Apostoly said.

The national electoral commission ended up rejecting Rwigara’s candidacy on administrative grounds, and Kagame was re-elected with 98.8 percent of the vote.

“Misogyny is an extremely powerful unifying force, and goes beyond partisan lines,” Lamy said, noting that while masculine supremacy is a gateway to the far right, radical masculinist circles can be found across the political spectrum.

“We are in a reactionary, fascist societal project,” Apostoly concluded. “This backlash against gender equality is symptomatic of a democracy that is sick. A democracy that’s in danger.”

This article was adapted from the original in French by Louise Nordstrom.

The rise of masculinism (3/3): Nine misogynistic propaganda arguments debunked

ANALYSIS


For the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, FRANCE 24 examines a sharp rise in masculinist discourse that seeks to normalise and legitimise misogyny. In this third and final part of the series, we look at some of the main arguments pushed by masculinist propaganda – and the facts and figures that debunk them.


Issued on: 25/11/2025 
By: Pauline ROUQUETTE

For the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, FRANCE 24 examines a sharp rise in masculinist discourse that seeks to normalise and legitimise misogyny. © Studio Graphique France Médias Monde

Claiming to rely on science, statistics or just first-hand stories presented as proof, masculinist propaganda spreads many ideas that might seem plausible at first glance. But this glib mix of distorted figures, poorly analysed studies and patchy rhetoric collapses in the face of hard evidence.

Studies and statistics in hand, FRANCE 24 dismantles some of the main arguments commonly pushed by masculinist movements.

• Argument 1: 'Just as many men as women are victims of intimate partner violence'

What the propaganda says:

This argument paints intimate partner violence as “symmetrical” or “reciprocal” – that is to say, that just as many men as women experience it in their lives. If this is the case, the argument made by masculinist movements goes, pointing the finger at men as the sole perpetrators of this kind of violence is blatant “misandry” – a prejudice or hatred/hostility towards men.

What the facts say:

Almost one in three women across the world – some 840 million people – are subjected to violence at the hands of their current or former partner, or face other forms of sexual violence from someone other than their partner, over the course of their life.

Within the European Union, 17.7 percent of women experience the threat or reality of physical and/or sexual violence throughout their lives at the hand of an intimate partner. This number grows if we take psychological violence into account, reaching 31.8 percent of women, according to figures published by the Fundamental Rights Agency in November 2024.

In France, 84 percent of people experiencing intimate partner violence in 2024 were women, placing the number of male victims in a clear minority. Women also represented 98 percent of those who had experienced sexual violence.

Violence against women: What is masculinism?

ENTRE NOUS © FRANCE 24
06:39

And while men also experience intimate partner violence, the structure of that violence is far from symmetrical. Intimate partner violence against women tends to be repeated more than that against men, and the broader context of male domination within society often means that the long-term consequences of that violence fall heavier on women.

“The structural inequalities that still persist in society and the learning of a culture of stereotypes contribute to the foundation on which intimate partner violence is built,” the Citizens and Justice Federation said.

The Canadian NGO SOS Violence Conjugale, which offers shelter as well as information, outreach and reference services to people who have experienced intimate partner violence, wrote in an article that it is also important to draw a difference between the violence of the aggressor – in most cases, a man – from the violence of someone defending themselves, sometimes called “reactive violence” or “violent resistance”.

What we need to understand:

Speaking about gendered violence doesn’t mean “forgetting” men who experience intimate partner violence. It just means accurately describing a massive phenomenon in which women remain far and away the main targets.

By claiming that intimate partner violence is largely “symmetrical”, this argument turns the balance of power on its head and erases the systematic nature of violence against women, instead framing it as a straightforward conflict between individuals.

“This argument of the symmetry of violence allows people to trivialise or even deny violence against women … and ultimately to deny the very existence of a heteropatriarchal system, a hierarchical system that gives privileges to men and oppresses women,” wrote Quebecois sociologist Louise Brossard.

• Argument 2: 'Women lie about violence to destroy men’s lives'
Variations: By accusing men of violence, women “are looking for fame” or “want to tear down men’s careers”

What the propaganda says:

Accusations of rape, assault or intimate partner violence are largely built on lies and used as a weapon to make money, gain legal advantage or destroy a man’s reputation or career.

What the facts say:

Most research on the subject agrees that the false rape allegations are rare, ranging from two to eight percent of charges filed depending on how the study is conducted.

Roughly three to five percent of rape or sexual assault charges are dismissed as false or misleading after investigation, the French ACI criminal law firm said.

According to the UK’s Channel4 fact-checking services, a British man is 230-times more likely to be raped than to be falsely accused of rape

In fact, the problem is largely the opposite than that described by masculinists – a massive percentage of violence against women never gets reported. According to the French justice ministry, “four out of five women impacted by violence don’t file charges”.

Meanwhile, the many controversies around male celebrities accused of sexual violence these past few years somewhat undercuts the idea that men accused of rape or other forms of sexual assault would see their career fall apart as a result.

“In general, the careers of wealthy or powerful men who are accused or even convicted of violence are not impacted that much,” said researcher Stéphanie Lamy, the author of “The Masculinist Terror”. “Especially if they are white.”

What we need to understand:

Spinning a few highly publicised cases into a general rule is a disinformation strategy.

False accusations exist, and they should be dealt with and punished. But they remain an incredibly small minority, dwarfed by the scale of very real violence that women are subjected to every day, whether it’s reported or not.
• Argument 3: 'The justice system is biased against men and fathers'
What the propaganda says:

Judges are biased towards mothers, and fathers are systematically robbed of custody of their children.

What the facts say:

It’s true that in France, after a couple is separated, the child’s primary residence is still largely that of their mother (around 70 to 80 percent of cases). But in most cases, this is the result of an amicable agreement between both parties (around 80 to 85 percent of cases), not a decision handed down against the father after a bitter fight in front of a judge.

Gender-based violence in Pakistan: Female influencers targeted

FOCUS © FRANCE 24
06:11

What’s more, cases of shared custody have been rising steadily for more than 20 years. If a father asks for shared custody, the request is granted in 86 percent of cases, as podcaster Cédric Rostein pointed out on social media.

Several studies have shown that most custody decisions favour the person who had already been most responsible for the child’s care before the separation rather than open favouritism towards one gender over another.
What we need to understand:

Masculinist narratives distort reality to conceal very real problems that mothers face in the French justice system: unpaid child support (in 25 to 35 percent of cases), mothers who bear the mental and material burden of raising a child alone, the struggle to have family violence recognised by a court of law.

These movements paint family courts as “pro-women”, neglecting to mention the fact that women are left disproportionately poorer after a separation and remain over-represented among those most vulnerable to violence.

• Argument 4: 'Feminism is destroying society, the family and even desire'
What the propaganda says:

Feminism is responsible for the “crisis of the family”, declining birth rates, celibacy and male sexual frustration.
What the facts say:

As for the family, the data shows above all that the rise of feminism coincides with a decrease in forced marriages and child marriages, as well as a decline in intimate partner violence in countries that invest heavily in pro-equality policies.

And when it comes to desire, investigations into marital satisfaction show that the most stable couples are often those in which the domestic division of labour and manner of communicating are shared in the most equal way.

What we need to understand:

The argument that a given movement is “destroying society” has long been a staple of counter-revolutions: it was used to argue against the abolition of slavery, the right of women to vote and the expansion of civil rights.

Enduring inequalities are presented as necessary for “the survival of civilisation”, despite the fact that data show that the most equal societies are also the most stable and prosperous.
• Argument 5: 'A woman who has already had multiple sexual partners can no longer become attached to just one man'
What the propaganda says:

A “good” woman is supposed to have little or no previous sexual experience.

The “bodycount” theory is based on a pseudo-scientific argument built around oxytocin, a hormone linked to emotional attachment. With each sexual encounter, the theory claims, a woman will “release” a certain amount of oxytocin that will “bond” her to her sexual partner. A woman who has had “too many” sexual encounters will exhaust her stockpiles of oxytocin, leaving her unable to form further bonds or become securely attached to a future partner.
What the facts say:

The body synthesises oxytocin continuously throughout a person’s life. There is no serious scientific study that suggests that having a higher number of sexual partners has any negative impact on the production of oxytocin for women, or its effect on them.

'Manosphere' influencers prey on the insecurities of young men, expert says

© France 24
10:25

What we need to understand:

This argument is built on a double standard: male sexuality is considered neutral or praise-worthy while female sexuality is considered degrading for women.

This pseudo-scientific theory also justifies the control of both the body and private life of women, as well as pathologising women who have an independent sexual life.
• Argument 6: 'Women have too many privileges'
Variations: “Feminism has gone too far – women now have more rights than men do”
What the propaganda says:

Feminists have gained “too many” rights: protective laws, hiring quotas, public policies based on gender – men are now at a glaring disadvantage.
What the facts say:

Economically speaking, it’s a hard case to make. According to figures published by Equal Measures 2030, more than 2.4 billion women and girls live in countries scoring “bad” or “very bad” in terms of gender equality.

At this rate, the report reads, “no country [of the 139 examined] is on path to reach gender equality by 2030.”

In France, women still make less than men – even in the same job – and their annual income is on average 22 percent lower, often due to interruptions to their career caused by having and raising children.

Despite this, women still shoulder the lion’s share of unpaid domestic and care work, are less represented in positions of political and economic power and continue to be the main victims of sexist and sexual violence.
What we need to understand:

The “privileges” denounced by masculinist movements are really efforts to correct a massive imbalance between men and women, not an attempt to put women in a dominant position over men.

The gender pay gap is back: What’s behind America’s backslide on equal pa

51 PERCENT © FRANCE 24
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• Argument 7: 'Laws around consent have gone too far, you can’t even ask women out anymore'

What the propaganda says:

Trying to build a “culture of consent” will make “everything” punishable under the law: coming on too strong, giving someone a kiss, a harmless misunderstanding – we’ll all become crippled by paranoia.
What the facts say:

Recent laws related to consent do not criminalise flirting, but sexual acts without free and informed consent. They replace the logic of “Did she try to fight?” with “Did she clearly say ‘yes’?”

Studies show that what is being targeted by these laws is not one-off misunderstandings, but persistent patterns of harassment, pressure and duress, whether explicit or implicit – all things described by those subjected to them as clearly unwanted.

Several investigations into the sexual lives of young people show that teaching consent improves the quality of relationships while reducing the risk of violence – none of which stops people from flirting.
What we need to understand:

The refrain that “you can’t even ask women out anymore” only serves to delegitimise the basic idea that a woman’s desire counts just as much as a man’s.
• Argument 8: 'Men are the real victims'
What the propaganda says:

Men will be crushed by feminism, abandoned to suffer alone with their own burdens (higher rates of suicide, increased risk of struggling at school and experiencing unemployment) while all the money goes to women.
What the facts say:

While there are very real mental health problems that impact men more than women – including higher rates of suicide, addiction and violence against other men, research suggests that these are strongly connected to norms traditionally considered masculine such as an unwillingness to ask for help or higher readiness to take risks.

Masculinist narratives use these very real struggles to attack feminism rather than questioning the worldview that underpins them.
What we need to understand:

Masculinism weaponises real distress by turning it against women rather than challenging its structural causes such as precarity, toxic masculinity and a lack of appropriate public policy measures.
• Argument 9: 'Femicides are just individual crimes rather than a systematic problem'
What the propaganda says:

The murders of women are tragic individual events, but there’s no connecting line between them. To frame them as “femicides” is just ideological.
What the facts say:

In 2024, 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed across the world, including roughly 50,000 who were killed by their intimate partner or a family member, according to UN Women. To put it another way, 137 women and girls lose their lives every day at the hands of their companion or their kin – murders that are “often the culmination of repeated episodes of gender-based violence”.

Every year in France, almost 120 women are killed by their current or former partner. On November 20 alone, four women were killed by their former partners. Official reports show the same factors repeating over and over: past instances of violence, a recent separation or a refusal to respect judicial protection orders.

These figures call for a structural interpretation: to view these murders not as individual outbreaks of violence, but as the tip of an iceberg of gender-based and intimate partner violence.
What we need to understand:

Reducing femicides to simple isolated tragedies allows masculinist movements to deny the systematic character of male-perpetrated violence and ignore the collective responsibility of aggressors.

By depoliticising these crimes, this argument blocks any kind of ambitious political response and perpetuates the myth that “feminists are exaggerating” and that “men are the real victims”.

This article has been adapted from the original in French.