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News > U.S.

US Election: A Feminist Foreign Policy Hasn’t Been Discussed

  • Voters queue up to cast their ballot outside of St. Petersburg Supervisors Election Office in St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S., Oct. 27, 2020.

    Voters queue up to cast their ballot outside of St. Petersburg Supervisors Election Office in St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S., Oct. 27, 2020. | Photo: EFE

Published 27 October 2020
Opinion

Neither of the presidential candidates is concerned with allowing women outside of the U.S. to live lives free from violence and oppression.

We are really close to Election Day here in the U.S. and it is clear that a global feminist agenda is not on the ballot. The feminist movement has been so watered down over the past decades that many believe women holding positions of power is the ultimate goal of feminism.

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We know that’s far from the truth because feminism is about more than just representation, it’s about improving the lives of women and all people around the world.

A feminist agenda isn’t just limited to abortion, healthcare, or equal pay. While those are important things, there’s a lot more to it. Feminist foreign policy hasn’t been discussed at all in this election.

War, overthrowing democratically elected governments, and economic sanctions that strangle working-class people are not feminist and never will be.

Women are disproportionately impacted by these things, and they need to be included in the political discourse.

Just last year, the U.S. supported a coup against President Evo Morales in Bolivia and Jeanine Añez was installed. She was described from the get-go as a women’s rights activist but she’s no feminist - she’s anti-Indigenous, anti-worker, and pro-imperialism.

Her personal rise to power came at the expense of everyday, working-class, mostly Indigenous Bolivian women whose material conditions worsened under her regime.

The U.S. war machine puts women at risk all around the world through things like economic sanctions in countries like Cuba and Iran, or through organizing attempted coups like in Venezuela.

It’s clear that neither of the presidential candidates is concerned with allowing women outside of the U.S. to live lives free from violence and oppression. No matter what happens on November 3rd, we have a lot of work to do.

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