US First Lady Jill Biden calls on men to step up and fight to protect women’s rights

Jill Tracy Biden an American educator, and the current first lady of the United States since 2021, used a Women’s History Month event at the White House on Wednesday to urge men to step up and fight for women’s rights. The first lady, addressing before President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, didn’t hold back in expressing her sadness over the fact that women are refighting “battles we believed we had conquered a long time back.”

She said that more men need to hold one another accountable whenever women are harmed or left behind and we wouldn’t disagree because the involvement of men and boys in attaining gender equality is essential.

The notion that men and boys have a critical contribution to make in combating gender inequity is well established in feminist struggle throughout history. Men and boys have frequently been called on by feminist movements to join women and girls in ending discrimination, gender injustice, and violence.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that states can ban abortion. Since then, Republican-controlled legislatures throughout the country have enacted restrictions limiting the period a woman can have an abortion and restricting abortion access in other ways.

The first lady stated that the struggle for women’s equality must stop. The achievement of gender equality and the abolition of all forms of discrimination against women are fundamental human rights and world values. Women worldwide continue to face violations of their human rights throughout their lives, and recognizing the human rights of women has rarely been a priority. A full understanding of how women suffer discrimination and are denied equality is required to develop effective measures to minimize such discrimination.

President Biden’s speech affirmed that their government will continue to focus on improving women’s socioeconomic conditions, and claimed that all major issues facing the nation — from public health to national security  — are closely intertwined with enhancing women’s economic security and well-being.

Biden stated that we must recommit to the task ahead to ensure an improved tomorrow for our country’s daughters.

Various recent types of research have demonstrated that women are still a long way from achieving equality and that unless there is swift action, legal systems that do not prohibit violence against women, do not protect women’s rights in marriage and family—for example, denying women the right to pass on their nationality to their children or to inherit—do not provide equal pay and benefits at work, and do not guarantee their equal rights to own and control land, may continue to exempt women. As a result, we expect the Biden administration to take the initiative and make a significant change in inequality and women’s rights.