Cover photo: Connecticut, United States, April 12, 2023. Portrait of Silent behind her green screen. As a Virtual Reality drone racing champion, she uses a green screen while competing online. Outside of simulator competitions, she also flies her real drone, and is portrayed holding her remote controller. ©Paola Chapdelaine
As we navigate the uncertainties of 2025, women’s rights, particularly those concerning health care, face an unprecedented assault. Many governments, including those in the so-called Western world, are eager to restrict or even eliminate abortion rights. From the United States to Poland, women are being forced into dangerous and often illegal alternatives; risking imprisonment, injury, or even death. At a minimum, 1.6 billion women live in countries where abortion laws are restrictive. This grim reality reflects a global siege on fundamental freedoms.
Conservative and extreme right-wing coalitions gaining power in numerous countries has exacerbated this crisis. Women’s bodies are treated as commodities with policies that advocate motherhood as the ultimate goal, while imposing new restrictions on sexual and gender rights. Furthermore, these governments promote conservative role models and spread anti-LGBTQI+ legislation, reducing identities to rigid binaries: women are expected to remain within the confines of the home, engage in invisible labor, and forgo ambitions beyond traditional caregiving roles.
This trend is evident almost everywhere, with one exception: France is the first country to enshrine abortion rights in its constitution. While some might argue that it is a progressive step, it should be viewed as a calculated move, using symbolic victories to deflect criticism while maintaining systemic inequities. Everywhere the tide is turning backward.
The situation is so dire that even António Guterres, the U.N. Secretary-General, can no longer conceal the truth, stating clearly: “Patriarchy is far from vanquished; it is regaining ground.”
No woman finds this surprising, especially since large feminist movements have gained traction around the world, and patriarchy has become even more aggressive. We experience it daily—in our workplaces, in our relationships, and on our streets. There is renewed violence against us. Across the globe, a woman or girl is killed every ten minutes—in sixty percent of these cases, the perpetrators are intimate partners or relatives. These numbers aren’t just statistics—they’re lives cut short by systemic violence.
Too little has changed since our editorial last year, “Beyond Patriarchy,” in which we wrote that in Europe alone, 13 million women have been victims of violence; a figure that represents only a fraction of the true scale of abuse. We are killed and discriminated against daily, while liberal and Western feminism has embraced a superficial vision of gender equality that fails to challenge the roots of women’s oppression. Even so, too little progress has been made and according to the latest statistics, at the current rate, it will take 131 years to achieve this goal.
Patriarchy does not exist in isolation. It intersects with and reinforces other systems of oppression, including: capitalism, racism, and colonialism. The economic dimension is particularly stark with at least 400 million women and girls abandoned to extreme poverty by predominantly male policymakers. By 2030, 8% of women globally are expected to subsist on less than $2.15 per day. The exploitation of women’s unpaid labor is a cornerstone of the global economy; underscoring the inseparability of patriarchy and capitalism.
We must also address the environmental injustices that disproportionately affect women, particularly in the Global South. Climate change exacerbates displacement, food insecurity, and resource scarcity, placing the heaviest burdens on women and girls. The intersection of environmental and gender justice is a critical frontier in dismantling patriarchal systems.
Last year, the situation for women deteriorated in at least 18 countries. Of them, a notable case is Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime has issued 50 edicts suppressing women’s rights. Barred from education, their voices, literally, can not be heard. Even speaking too loudly or singing has come to warrant reprisal.
As we analyze women’s struggles and oppressions, we want to be very clear: not everything is lost. Women around the world are leading grassroots movements, reclaiming their autonomy, and inspiring change. In the following month, we will read about these stories.
In Iran, the protests sparked by Jina Amini’s death in 2020 continue even after their media limelight has passed. Women defy the Revolutionary Guards daily, reclaiming public spaces and challenging authoritarian norms. Their resistance is a testament to courage, disrupting deeply entrenched cultural narratives and demanding self-determination. We will have the opportunity to read about their lives and struggles and how art has become an essential tool in their protests.
In the meantime, in Yemen, women find themselves in a very restricted regime. Torn by more than a decade of civil war, Yemeni women find themselves with very little—if not any—freedom of movement and near total restrictions on reproductive healthcare. They are victims of both sides of the conflict.
More than 30 years after the war in the former Yugoslavia, survivors like Emina returned to cities, where thousands were massacred. Her choice to rebuild a life in a place marked by unimaginable loss is a gesture of love and resilience; a reminder of the enduring strength of women in the face of trauma.
As patriarchy is a pervasive force in our lives, our movements of resistance need the active participation of women in all realms to truly be transformative. Let us start with the problem of history—written by men who often erase the achievements of women. How we see the world is shaped by these histories and their erasure. It is in this sense that Lauren Walsh’s article about women war photographers is very important. As a white-male dominated field, it is essential to ask ourselves how we see conflicts around the world and with which gaze.
The first quarter of the 21st century has taught us a sobering lesson: our rights are not guaranteed. The struggle for gender equality requires women’s active participation in all realms of life—political, economic, and cultural. It demands a commitment to dismantling the structures that uphold oppression and building a world where women’s autonomy is not just a dream but a reality.
As we reflect on the challenges and victories of 2025, let us draw inspiration from the resilience of women worldwide. Let us amplify their stories, challenge the systems that oppress us, and dare to envision a world beyond patriarchy—a world where every woman and LGBTQ+ person can live free from violence and discrimination; a world where collective action and solidarity pave the way for true liberation.
