Europe

Stories about any of the 44 countries on the European continent.

As Trump Targets Portland, a New Report Shows How the City Became a Model for Women’s Representation

PUBLISHED 10/10/2025 by

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
—How did Portland, Ore., achieve one of the mosdt representative city councils in the country? Through structural reform and community-driven organizing.
—A woman will be Ireland’s next president.
—Japan is posed to make a historic shift in women’s leadership.
—For the first time, a woman will lead one of Christianity’s oldest institutions.
—We celebrate the life of Jane Goodall.
—We mark what would be Eleanor Roosevelt’s birthday. She helped craft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—insisting that freedom must include not only political rights, but also the right to food, housing and dignity: “You cannot talk civil rights to people who are hungry.” In the midst of Cold War tension, Roosevelt’s words were a quiet but radical act—a reminder that peace often begins not in policy or power, but in empathy and connection.

… and more.

From Berlin to Beijing to U.S. Congress, Women’s Courage to Convene Propels Us Forward

PUBLISHED 9/26/2025 by

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
—We mark 60 years since former President Lyndon Johnson advanced equal opportunity in employment.
—When women come together, share our strength, and lift one another up, the impossible becomes possible. 
—In a landslide victory, Adelita Grigalva becomes Arizona’s first Latina to Congress.
—Of the four Republican House members signing the petition about the actions and allies of sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, three are women.
—A record number of U.S. legislators won’t run for reelection next year.
—Hillary Clinton “sees a dangerous moment for women’s rights and democracy.”
—Akshi Chawla, who writes the #WomenLead Substack and is a valuable resource on international women’s representation, on the great question: “How do I get started?”
—The Marshall Islands, a rapidly vanishing Oceania nation, is led by the region’s first-ever woman president, Hilda Heine.
—Who was the first American woman to have an airport named in her honor?

… and more.

The Health of a Democracy Is Measured by Its Leaders: Celebrating Women’s Political Leadership in Mexico, Iraq, Nepal and More

PUBLISHED 9/19/2025 by

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
—Suhikla Karki is the new prime minister of Nepal, following demonstrations that toppled the previous government and negotiations between Gen Z demonstrators and the military.
—On Oct. 24, an open-seat contest for Ireland’s next president is taking shape for a seven-year term, with two of the three candidates already on the ballot being women; the field will be finalized later this month.
—Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has one of the highest approval ratings of national leaders a year after her trailblazing elections.
—As the United Nations prepares to open its General Debate for the 80th session in New York next week, I’ve been carrying Jacinda Ardern’s words with me: “I really rebel against this idea that politics has to be a place full of ego and where you’re constantly focused on scoring hits against one another. Yes, we need a robust democracy, but you can be strong, and you can be kind.”
—Iraq will hold its next parliamentary elections in November. Women hold 28.9 percent of seats in its Parliament, just about the same as the 28.7 percent held by women in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

… and more.

Women as Teachers, Governors and Civil Service: The Fight for Women’s Leadership Everywhere

PUBLISHED 9/5/2025 by

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
—Teachers have always been the cornerstone of thriving communities and a healthy democracy. It’s no accident that so many powerful women leaders began their journeys in classrooms. And yet, while women dominate the teaching profession, they remain underrepresented in our political institutions.
—President Trump’s recent federal workforce reductions have disproportionately harmed Black women, who are long overrepresented in civil service relative to the private sector.
—A growing number of women are entering the race for governor in 2025 and 2026.
—Debra Shigley, an attorney, small business owner and mom of five, has secured a top spot in a Georgia runoff election for a state Senate seat. Her election on Tuesday, Sept. 23, will be one to watch as women’s leadership in Georgia, and across the country, continues to grow. Georgia already uses ranked-choice voting, sometimes called “instant runoffs,” for military and overseas voters. Expanding this system statewide would guarantee majority winners in a single election.
—U.K. women are calling out dangerous narratives that weaponize sexual violence against women to scapegoat asylum seekers.
—Italian women fight digital violence and demand consent online.

… and more.

France Must Not Be Complicit in U.S. Effort to Destroy Contraceptives

PUBLISHED 8/7/2025 by

As the grandson of Lucien Neuwirth, the French parliamentarian who championed the 1967 law legalizing contraception in France, I feel a deep, personal and civic responsibility to speak out against an unfolding international scandal—one that threatens not only women’s health but also the legacy of reproductive rights and justice we hold dear.

The Trump administration is attempting to incinerate $9.7 million worth of United States-funded contraceptives, primarily long-acting reversible methods such as implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs), which were purchased under the Biden administration through USAID. These devices are not expired—many are viable for up to five more years—and were meant for women in some of the world’s poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

In response, I issued an open letter to President Emmanuel Macron, urging him to intervene. “Mr. President, do not let France become complicit in this scandal,” I wrote, reminding him of our nation’s responsibility to uphold sexual and reproductive rights—a legacy rooted in the very law my grandfather fought to pass, the Loi Neuwirth.

We cannot allow France to become an accessory to injustice. The world is watching.

Women’s Voices Are the Only Way Forward for Climate Change Solutions: ‘As Women, We Have to Stand Up and Back Up Women’

PUBLISHED 7/28/2025 by

Every year since 1995, member nations of the U.N. have come together to discuss the planet’s climate crisis during COP meetings. This year marks the 30th annual meeting, which will be held Nov. 10 to 21 in Belém, Brazil. 

What COP30 won’t say out loud: The green transition is accelerating colonialism, and women are paying the price. Climate justice starts with women, ecology and an end to extractive capitalism.

Teaching Sex to Empower, Not to Control: Sex Ed in Sweden vs. South Carolina

PUBLISHED 7/25/2025 by and

Sweden was the first country to mandate sex education in 1955 and now has a national sex ed curriculum integrated through all course subjects. Swedes divorce sex ed from discussions about religious morality. Their curriculum instead encourages students to ask questions and critically examine gender and sex norms, while teachers instruct students with medically accurate information. 

Swedes were shocked to learn that in our local South Carolina school district, sex ed teachers use a memorable acronym (H.A.M.) to remember what their districts won’t allow them to discuss with students. “H.A.M.” stands for homosexuality, abortion and masturbation—three topics which are forbidden. If students ask about these subjects, teachers are told to redirect their questions. 

‘No More Shame!’ The Transformative Lesson of Gisèle Pelicot, the French Survivor of Mass Rape

PUBLISHED 7/15/2025 by

A phone call one autumn morning from local police requesting that Dominique Pelicot, then 67, husband to Gisèle, also 67, report to the local station interrupted their daily routine. A surprised Gisèle listened as her husband told her not to worry: “It won’t be pleasant, but by noon we will be home,” he said. But the next time she saw him was at his trial.

Like many countries, France has a protective privacy act guaranteeing anonymity for crime victims. Gisèle’s lawyers warned what would happen in a public trial—the intense media attention that would surely follow every development in the case, the probable attacks on her testimony in court and possible threats to her life. Undaunted, Gisèle chose to waive her right to anonymity.

“When you’re raped, there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame,” she told the court. “It’s for them.”

Her insistence that her trial be public surprised both her lawyers and the presiding judge—and transformed Gisèle into a feminist hero and icon.

The Myth of ‘Choice’ in Global South Sex Trafficking Discourse

PUBLISHED 7/8/2025 by

“Sex work is work,” is an oft-repeated refrain.  But who is behind the megaphone? And who is paying the price? 

For most women and girls, especially from the Global South (and poor, racialized and displaced women everywhere), the notion that prostitution is freely chosen collapses under scrutiny. More often than not, entering the sex trade is not a choice, but an act of survival under patriarchal and capitalist constraints.

So, who is sex work legalization really for? And what would it mean, for all women, if buying sex were not legal, not normalized, but abolished?

Canada Rejects MAGA’s Gender Panic—And Why It Matters After This Year’s Pride Month

PUBLISHED 7/3/2025 by

As Pride Month came to a close against a backdrop of global backlash to LGBTQ+ rights, Canada’s spring election delivered a rare counterpoint: Voters refused to take the bait.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s campaign, dubbed a “Maple MAGA” version of Trumpism, alienated moderates. It was grievance-driven, thin on substance and heavy on imported outrage. His fixation on divisive social issues made it harder to convince voters he could govern effectively. In the end, Canadian voters sent a clear signal—they’ll take affordability over fear politics.

At a time when liberal democracies from the U.K. to South Korea are seeing renewed assaults on LGBTQ+ rights, Canada’s election offers rare evidence that backlash isn’t inevitable. When cost-of-living pressures intensify, the politics of distraction lose their potency. The gender panic playbook didn’t just fail—it boomeranged.