The Future is Feminist 

By on March 27, 2025

“What would the world look like, feel like, and be like if it fully supported the power, dreams, and resistance of girls?” UUSC board members contemplated this question posed by the “Building New Worlds” art exhibit. The exhibition was the final event of a grassroots convening held in conjunction with the UN’s Commision on the Status of Women (CSW). 

CSW is a yearly meeting where global leaders collaboratively strategize to advance gender justice. UUSC joined this year’s gathering, championing the work of frontline activists. Even as Trump works to erase women and transgender people from the federal record, feminists are building a liberated future. 

Check out the highlights of CSW69:  

Day 1: “The only safe community is an organized community.” 

June Barrett helped to kick off the Women in Migration Network (WIMN) rally with this call to collective action. WIMN’s “No Backlash to Women’s Rights” demonstration began in front of the UN building during the CSW convening. Demonstrators then marched to Ralph Bunch Plaza.  

“While we’ve seen progress on a lot of fronts, we’re facing an incredible backlash against women’s rights…so we chose this setting of the UN to say that we will not accept the backlash, and we won’t go back. It’s going to take a united front to keep moving forward on this agenda,” Carol Barton of WIMN said.  

Day 2: “Women’s rights are migrant rights.”  

WIMN’s panel at All Souls NYC furthered this statement by Leni Alvarez Perez of Otros Dreams en Acción. Labor organizers, migrant justice leaders, and legal experts discussed the state of women and gender-diverse people in migration. Mentari, an organization that supports survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking, catered lunch for attendees.

In the evening, Lway Poe Ngeal of Women’s League of Burma, a UUSC partner, addressed the group on her coalition’s work. “Through our political empowerment program, we empower young women to grow their awareness of political issues: what is democracy? What are human rights? What are women’s rights? We have no formal education on these issues, so that’s why we have to provide informal education.”  

Ngeal spoke about the humanitarian aid crisis in the wake of Trump’s attacks on USAID: “All 12 of our member organizations [working with refugees and survivors of gender-based violence] have been cut off. At the Thai-Burma border, the refugees have no right to medical treatment. [Refugees are dying] because the aid has been cut off.”  

Day 3:  “We have to stick together and learn to turn our pain into power.”  

Janay Cauthen from Families for Freedom opened UUSC’s panel on organizing in times of crisis with these powerful words. Cauthen, along with Lway Poe Ngeal  and Alicia Wallace from Equality Bahamas spoke on the intersectional nature of feminist crisis response. “So many women from different countries have many of the same issues,” UUSC board co-chair Lynn Miyamoto reflected after the panel. “If we work together, we can be stronger and stand up to fascism and authoritarian dictatorships.” 

UUSC’s Board closed out the week by attending the “Building New Worlds” exhibit at the GG and POP Institute.  This immersive exhibition is a testament to young feminists’ power. One girl quoted in the exhibition said, “There is a proverb that says ‘one hand can’t clap alone’…I fight and I have made sacrifices so I can start a movement, but I can’t do it by myself. I need help and support.”  

UUSC is proud to be a part of that support, joining a chorus of clapping hands with loud public action for gender justice. Despite ongoing attacks on women and LGBTQIA+ people, our grassroots partners boldly pursue collective liberation.  

Get involved: Sign up to take action through our Resistance Network. Join other UUSC members and make a special gift to directly support our work for gender justice. Together, we will build a feminist future.