ILLUSTRATION BY KRIS CHAU

Women are magic.

They are the world's caretakers, mothers and nurturers, but they are also its powerhouse, force of progress and voice of reason in times of chaos.

Yet, in most areas of the world, women are still treated as second-class citizens – and this trend isn’t subsiding. Women and gender-expansive people are systemically held back through unjust and limiting legislation, a lack of economic opportunities and healthcare resources, physical and sexual violence, and many other factors that impact their quality of life. Even in the United States, although we’ve made progress throughout the decades, we’ve also witnessed the tragic and deeply alarming regression of women’s rights to self-expression and bodily autonomy in the last year. If there is ever a time to act, it’s now.

MOTHER has compiled a list of our favorite non-profits working towards building a better, safer and more prosperous world for women, girls and gender non-conforming individuals. These organizations aim to dismantle women’s inequity through grassroots efforts and large-scale operations, touching every level of oppression while working to champion women’s joy, health and safety. If you’re looking to help foster a world in which women can exist freely and safely, please support an organization that resonates with you. Together we can create change and honor the divine feminine energy.

GIRLS FOR GENDER EQUITY

What started in a Brooklyn YMCA in 2002 has become one of the nation’s most influential organizations fighting for racial and gender justice. As the name states, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) is a women-founded community that takes on a Black feminist lens to uplift Black girls and gender-expansive youth through “advocacy, youth-centered programming and narrative shift.” GGE focuses on our nation's most marginalized and neglected communities – Black youth identifying as cisgender, transgender or gender nonconforming. According to their site, 60% of Black girls will experience sexual violence before the age of 18. Black women also experience the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, which is over 4 times that of their white counterparts. By hosting community workshops, publishing educational resources, fighting against discriminatory laws and providing healthcare opportunities, GGE aims to dismantle structural barricades and cultivate “freedom, safety and joy.”

CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Now more than ever, we must fight to ensure that women have the right to safe and accessible healthcare in order to preserve our reproductive autonomy. The Center for Reproductive Rights is a non-profit organization working with a global network of lawyers and advocates to ensure that reproductive rights are protected by law. The organization understands that reproductive healthcare is a fundamental human right that we must maintain to achieve “dignity, equality, health and well-being” for every person on Earth. Founded in 1992, the Center has conducted work across five continents to secure legal victories with national courts, the United Nations and local human rights bodies. Since its inception, the non-profit has participated in every major abortion case ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court, and is currently working to prevent a national abortion ban, which looms over our nation. The Center for Reproductive Rights conducts an incredibly wide range of services, providing access to life-saving care, safe abortions, contraception and maternal health aid. If you’re feeling helpless about the current state of women’s reproductive rights, donating to The Center is a wonderful place to start.

CARE

CARE is founded upon the notion that, when women suffer, all of society faces the consequences. Gender-based discrimination inhibits global economic development, physical health, food security and environmental safety, among many other factors. CARE works to elevate people of all genders by focusing on those with the most marginalized racial, gender and socioeconomic identities. Their work centers around providing crisis aid, clean food and water, health resources, education and work opportunities, climate justice and gender equality. CARE has been instrumental in helping those affected by the current crises in Ukraine, Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan and Syria, spanning from natural disaster relief to wartime protection. In 2022 alone, CARE worked in 111 countries and reached over 174 million people through donations, letter writing to those afflicted, on-the-ground support services.

WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

Founded by an Iraqi-American humanitarian, author and entrepreneur at only 23 years old, Women for Women International works tirelessly to help rebuild the lives of women affected by war. The organization's founder, Zainab Salbi, first saw the dire need to help women in the crossfires of war when a tragedy struck Bosnia in the early 1990s. When rape was utilized as the primary weapon of destruction, an estimated 50,000 women were brutalized, and thousands more were left with dilapidated homes and severe trauma. Salbi decided to take action by providing immediate aid to survivors, helping them rebuild their lives, and fostering “sister-to-sister” connections in which women from around the world could provide emotional support and meaningful relationships to those afflicted. Since its inception, Women for Women International has worked with over 531,000 women in 14 conflict-affected countries to “gain the skills, confidence and hope they need to rebuild their lives and their futures.” Their main strategy is investing in women’s potential, with hundreds of women attending their training workshops and emotional support meetings each day.

EQUALITY NOW

Equality now fundamentally understands that, when discrimination is woven into legislation, women cannot thrive as equal citizens to men. Since its inception in 1992, the non-profit has collaborated with an international network of lawyers, activists and supporters to make the world a more just place for women and girls. By focusing on the undisputable power of legal protection, this non-profit strives to end the cycles of poverty, abuse, exploitation and violence that hold women down in society. Equality Now aids women and girls in the direst of circumstances. For example, in 2021 the organization coordinated a campaign to uphold the constitutionality of the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2011, which protects women and girls in Kenya. They have achieved mass impact by utilizing their network of over 133 partners in 36 countries to support legal cases, craft submissions to the UN, and enact campaigns to raise awareness on key women’s rights issues around the globe.

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