Our feminism must be anti-imperialist! While Trump uses billions in public funds to wage a new war against the people of Iran alongside Israel, women at home continue to suffer the consequences of a cost of living crisis. This Women’s History Month, let us uplift war and imperialism as fundamental issues facing women everywhere that we must fight against on all fronts!
Here’s how women and children are impacted by U.S. wars for empire:
Women and children are increasingly being killed in modern wars
In 2023, women made up 40% of civilians killed in war – double the proportion from the year before. Similarly, children made up 30% of war casualties – despite never being combatants – a statistic that tripled from the year prior. Civilian casualties have increased as war mongers target cities, homes and critical, life-sustaining infrastructure.
Tens of thousands of women and children have been killed by bombs in the U.S. and Israel’s genocidal war against Palestine.
Sexual violence is used as a weapon of war
Rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation skyrocket in wartime. Women and girls make up 92% of all victims of conflict-related sexual violence worldwide.
During the United States occupation of Haiti from 1915-1934, the U.S. Marines were widely reported to have raped and sexually abused hundreds of Haitian women and children.
War displaces women and children at a massive scale
In 2024, an estimated 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide – over 60 million of whom were women and children. Displacement elevates the risk of trafficking, gender-based violence and death.
The majority of the population of the Gaza Strip was forcibly displaced by the U.S. and Israel’s genocide. Likewise, hundreds of thousands of residents of Iran’s capital have reportedly been forced to flee, along with residents of many other Iranian cities.
Economic warfare hurts women and children first
Economic warfare can be just as brutal as bullets and bombs. Sanctions, blockades and economic destabilization result in the strangulation of entire nations. While scarcity and hardship result in a greater difficulty in satisfying basic needs, women in particular are more vulnerable to exploitation.
The violent U.S. blockade against Cuba and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela have resulted in massive shortages of necessary food and medicine – hurting the people, first and foremost.
War creates hunger and reproductive crisis
Bombing infrastructure and strangling countries with economic blockades result in famine conditions that disproportionately harm women and children. Women face malnutrition during pregnancy at the same time that maternal healthcare collapses.
Hundreds of thousands of women in Gaza were threatened with famine, miscarriage and maternal death as the U.S. and Israel utilized starvation as a weapon of war at the same time they carried out targeted bombing of healthcare institutions.
Our feminism must be anti-imperialist!
From bombs to sanctions, women and children disproportionately bear the costs of imperialism, militarism and economic warfare. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, let us fight for the women under siege around the globe by fighting for an end to imperialism, once and for all!
