Statement on UN Commission on the Status of Women 2026

The UNCSW is under the Economic and Social Council, developing reports, recommendations, and policies for U.N. member states based off the conditions of women in the political, economic, social, and educational fields. 2026 marks the 70th anniversary of the convening of the CSW.

Following the massacre of over 165 Iranian schoolgirls & revelations of U.S. complicity in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring exploiting women and children, this year’s CSW convenes at a moment when U.S. state violence continues to endanger the lives and rights of women and girls. Due to its continued cooperation with corrupt, fascist administrations and state heads, the U.N.’s well-intentioned programs fail to address the poverty, disenfranchisement, and state-sanctioned violence that continue to be the root cause of the suffering of women and girls across the global south.

Platforming President Marcos Jr.—recently exposed for allegedly taking ₱8 billion in kickbacks from the 2024 Philippine national budget—legitimizes participation of governments that profit from exploiting the working class, especially poor, rural, and Indigenous women, while red-tagging, harassing, arresting, kidnapping, and killing women who organize for their rights and livelihoods. Women suffering under punitive U.S. sanctions—like those in Cuba or Colombia—don’t need to be folded into a “digital revolution” or other band-aid solutions; they need freedom from U.S. imperialist domination and sanctions that prevent their countries from meeting their people’s needs.

Many women & children in the Global South are displaced or subjected to violence as foreign corporations use private security or state forces to clear communities for the extraction of copper, cobalt, lithium, and other “critical minerals” used in war technologies, AI, surveillance systems, and weapons. Involving impoverished women in the tech industry often guarantees they remain impoverished. Artificial Intelligence is trained by "digital sweatshops," made up of tech workers in the Global South being paid meager wages. In the Philippines, Filipino women workers earn between $6-$10 a day by Remotasks, hired by companies like OpenAI and ScaleAI, to train their AI algorithms. Many of them are paid late or not paid at all.

The U.S. government is now confronting its role in protecting & facilitating—Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network. Simply placing women in positions of power does not guarantee justice for women and girls. Bombs don’t hit different and deportations aren’t more pleasurable if ordered by someone with a marginalized identity. The U.N.’s Women, Peace and Security framework claims that women's participation in military, peace negotiations, and national rebuilding advances global stability. It informs and influences the development of National Action Plans of UN member states. This participation in “nation building” serves as a facade for ensuring that U.S. interests are advanced and enforced in countries that assert their independence, are impacted by internal conflict , or are fronts for U.S.-led war. We will not allow the U.N., the U.S.A., the Marcos administration, or any other entity co-opt, redirect, or neutralize our fight to defend, liberate, and uplift each other.

FIGHT FOR THE VOICES OF OUR MIGRANT WOMEN!

Alma Bowman: A Filipino migrant woman and daughter of a U.S. veteran has been detained twice by ICE. She was a whistleblower, exposing the nonconsensual gynecological procedures and horrid living conditions in detention centers. She now faces the threat of third-country deportation due to Philippine government bureaucratic failures and the denial of her U.S. birthright citizenship by USCIS.

Tita Rebecca: A Filipino migrant woman forcibly and secretly deported by ICE despite medical professionals and airlines deeming her unfit to fly. She was misled by the Philippine consulate about her whereabouts, and suffered exploitation by a social worker who accepted a P3000 “tip” from her family, only returning it after her daughter demanded it.

Esther: A Mexican migrant mother separated from her newborn baby Heidy three days after birth after being placed in ICE detention. TN DCS took custody after coercing her to sign away her parental rights. She has received no updates on Heidy, prompting concerns of abuse in TN DCS care, while the Mexican consulate only intervened after public pressure, leading Esther to self-deport to fight for her child.