Feminism is in retreat. Half of young Spanish men (51.5%) believe that feminism "is only used as a political tool for manipulation and indoctrination," according to the latest Youth and Gender Barometer published this Tuesday by the Fad Youth Foundation. Almost a decade has passed since the emergence of the Me Too movement and the massive demonstrations that placed feminism in its fourth wave, but today the population between 15 and 29 years old identifies as less feminist than their older counterparts.

The power struggle that the government of the popular Isabel Díaz Ayuso is maintaining with the Ministry of Health over thenon-compliance with the abortion law The case has a new chapter in the High Court of Justice of Madrid. The department of Minister Mónica García has filed an administrative appeal demanding that the high court compel the Community of Madrid to create a registry of physicians who are conscientious objectors to abortion, a list mandated by the 2023 law and used to help plan gynecological services in healthcare centers. "It is proven that the regional administration has not complied with the obligation imposed on it by law. [...] It is also beyond doubt that it has not responded, nor is there any record of it having taken any action, in relation to the request made by the Minister of Health to the Regional Minister of Health," argues the document, to which this publication has had access.

"Praised be the most holy sacrament"," the nun would announce loudly in the middle of the dormitory in the morning. And they, half asleep in bed and with their eyes still stuck shut with sleep, would answer in unison mechanically:May He be forever blessed and praised"The nuns would wake them up like that day after day. Maria Forns remembers it perfectly, even though it was more than half a century ago. She was 16 years old when she was placed in a convent against her will.

Many women are used to feeling like they're more evil than a plague. And not for killing kittens, or for embezzling public funds. No, no, no. Simply for getting on the nerves of someone who cuts in line at the bakery (she's getting angry again, what does she think she's doing!), for pointing out that it's absurd to have bikinis for girls with tops (she's stirring up trouble again, what does she think she's doing! Let's forget about it and fix things, and from now on, the person who messed up will say it (unfriendly, cruel, conceited, arrogant, insensitive, what does she think she's doing!). For asking for a vacation, a leave of absence, or sick leave, or for someone to do the grocery shopping, or for them to stop harassing us (selfish, unsupportive, dramatic, what does she think she's doing!). Or for getting a divorce or making any major life change (look, what does she think she's doing!).

A group of young people play the iconic bottom line of the Seven Nation Army The White Stripes are playing on a street in Tehran. Around them, other young people move to the rhythm of the guitars and drums. Many are girls, dressed in jeans and sneakers, without the Islamic veil. This video, recorded at the end of October, went viral on social media. But it's not the only one. Lately, images and reports have proliferated showing that more and more Iranian women are daring to go out in public without the hijab and even to drive motorcycles, an activity reserved only for men according to Iran's strict Islamic law.

Pedro Sánchez's response to The ultraconservative offensive of the PP and Vox against social and reproductive rights of women. The Spanish government announced this Friday that it will push for a constitutional reform to include the right to abortion in the Constitution, a measure with which the executive branch hopes to combat "any attempt at a rollback that threatens women's rights." This is a long-standing demand by feminist and left-wing groups to prevent changes in government and parliamentary majorities from curtailing rights, as unsuccessfully attempted by the PP's Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, who, following strong social protests, withdrew the proposal and resigned in 2014. Adding abortion to the Constitution would make Spain the second country in the world to take this step, after France. "In a global context of an offensive against sexual and reproductive rights, Spain takes another step toward enshrining the freedom and autonomy of women to decide about their lives," the same sources add. The initiative entails a change to Article 43 of the constitutional text, which is not easy because it requires a qualified majority of three-fifths of both Congress and the Senate, meaning the support of the PP is needed.

Under the pretext of providing more support to women seeking abortions, Madrid City Council will require health and social services professionals to provide information about a supposed "postural trauma" that has no scientific validity and is based on a proposal by Vox, with the support of the PP municipal group. The initiative, which was also endorsed by the leadership of the Popular Party (PP) on Wednesday, is in line with the agenda of the most ultra-conservative international groups. reduce women's sexual and reproductive rights, such as, for example, the failed attempt to Castile and León to make women hear the fetal heartbeat before undergoing an abortion.

In Afghanistan's universities, where only men are allowed to study, books written by women are now also prohibited: they are banned. The Taliban government has removed titles written by women from the university education system, as part of a set of new guidelines it approved at the end of August and which the BBC has been able to verify. The new rules also include a ban on teaching up to 18 subjects that deal with women. women's issues, such as gender and development, the role of women in communication, or sociology of women, which can no longer be taught because they are considered "in conflict with the principles of Sharia."

When I hear news about Afghanistan, I often feel a chill that makes me shiver. This year, in 2025 alone, more than 2.5 million Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan—almost half of them women and girls—have been forced to return to a country ruled by the Taliban: a reality that exposes them to poverty, violence, and unprecedented restrictions.

March 8 is a good time to take the temperature on parity. In Europe, despite the pressures and the increase in power of the reactionary far right, it can be said that on paper the laws defend equality, although in the rest of the world, women are prohibited from marrying whoever they want, deciding about their own body or dressing as they want. The eight maps shown here show that women's rights still have a long way to go.

Roqia's voice trembles when she speaks on the phone from Kabul. She explains that a few hours before the Taliban entered the Afghan capital on Sunday, she went to buy a burqa for herself and her two daughters, aged 16 and 18. So far the fundamentalists have not made women cover themselves with the full-face veil when they go out, but she wanted to have them just in case. Still, Roqia went home empty-handed. She didn't have enough money to pay for the burqas. The price has increased fivefold in Taliban-ruled Kabul: they used to cost 500 Afghanis (about €3.8) and now they can't be found for less than 2,500 (about €18).