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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/12/4/18114868/women-rights-advancements-world-2018">https://www.vox.com/2018/12/4/18114868/women-rights-advancements-world-2018</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">2018 AROUND THE WORLD – SOME EXAMPLES OF STRIDES MADE BY/FOR WOMEN
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#666666">By
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/alexia-underwood"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Alexia Underwood</span></a><span class="c-bylineitem"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#666666"> – December 4,
2018</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Spain has a new cabinet, and most of its ministers are women<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><img border="0" width="921" height="614" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D49E95.EDFD4060" alt="Spain’s new government cabinet has the highest number of female ministers in the country’s history with 11 women and only 6 men."></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262">Spain’s new government cabinet has the highest number of female ministers in the country’s history, with 11 women and only six
men. <i>Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images</i> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">In June, Spain’s new Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/8/17438390/pedro-sanchez-spain-prime-minister-cabinet-women-majority-female"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">made history</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
by appointing a majority-female cabinet. Almost two-thirds of his cabinet-level appointees — 11 of 17 — are women.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Sanchez, who was sworn in on June 2, described his cabinet appointees to
</span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics/spains-new-prime-minister-names-cabinet-with-women-in-majority-idUSKCN1J22EI"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">reporters</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
as “pro-gender equality, cross-generational, open to the world but anchored in the European Union.” Only a few decades ago, Spain had no women ministers, so this move represents quite a huge shift.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">It also sets Spain apart: The country
</span><a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/06/08/spain-now-has-the-most-female-cabinet-in-europe"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">overtook Sweden and France</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
in having the highest female cabinet representation in Europe. The US, as well, has a ways to go to catch up. According to
</span><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/the-very-male-trump-administration/556568/"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">the Atlantic</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
President Donald Trump has appointed twice as many men as women to positions in his administration, and his Cabinet is composed of 19 men and only five women.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">It’s a pretty well-known fact that women are frequently underrepresented in government and positions of political leadership. But as more women climb into these seats of power,
they’re </span><a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2017/05/26/cabinets-and-concrete-floors-the-women-in-macrons-cabinet-strengthen-the-case-for-gender-parity-in-government/"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">making
it easier</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"> for the women who come after them to succeed, and laying the groundwork for future generations.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Women in Saudi Arabia can now drive legally<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><img border="0" width="920" height="613" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D49E95.EDFD4060" alt="Nada Edlibi holds up her Saudi Arabian driver’s license on the first day that she is legally allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2018 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia."></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262">Nada Edlibi holds up her Saudi Arabian driver’s license on June 24, 2018, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
<i>Sean Gallup/Getty Images</i> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">This summer, women in Saudi Arabia finally gained the legal right to drive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">After King Salman
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/26/16369688/saudi-women-cars-driving"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">announced last September</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
that the longstanding ban would be lifted, women in the Gulf country were finally able to register for driver’s licenses and take the wheel in June. Female drivers said they were greeted enthusiastically on the road by many male drivers honking and giving
them the thumbs-up sign, police officers handing out flowers, and general celebration.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">“It will change things,” Fadya Basma, who became one of the first women to legally drive for a ride-hailing company in Saudi, told
</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/24/saudi-arabia-women-celebrate-as-driving-ban-lifted"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">the Guardian</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
in June. “Saudi will never be the same again.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Lifting the ban means women in Saudi Arabia have more freedom of movement than they’ve had before — but a lot of problems remain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">As Sarah Wildman wrote for
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/26/16369688/saudi-women-cars-driving"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Vox</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Saudi women will still be subjected to the
</span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/16/boxed/women-and-saudi-arabias-male-guardianship-system"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">repressive male guardianship system</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
which requires women to seek permission from a male relative (father, brother, husband, son) to do almost anything, from getting married to working outside the home to even basic freedom of movement within and outside the country. Saudi women were only given
the </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/world/middleeast/saudi-elections-are-first-to-include-women-as-voters-and-candidates.html"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">right to vote</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
in December 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">And though the new policy does represent a significant change (and one that was
</span><a href="https://qz.com/1313612/women-driving-in-saudi-arabia-is-about-economics-not-equality/"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">motivated by economic reasons</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">),
it was not without controversy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, better known as MBS, had touted lifting the ban as part of his package of much-publicized reforms to the country. However, Saudi women have
been protesting for the right to drive for years, often at their own peril. And under MBS, whom the international media lauded for being a liberalizing force, several women activists who advocated for lifting the ban were
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/26/18000880/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-mbs-dissidents-imprisoned"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">detained and remain in prison</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">.
Some have even reportedly been </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-accused-of-torturing-women-activists-in-widening-crackdown-on-dissent-1542743107"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">subjected
to torture</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">So although lifting the driving ban in Saudi Arabia is certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go nearly far enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Voters in Ireland struck down a draconian ban on abortion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><img border="0" width="920" height="613" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D49E95.EDFD4060" alt="“Yes” voters celebrate as the result of the Irish referendum on the 8th amendment concerning the country’s abortion laws is declared at Dublin Castle on May 26, 2018, in Dublin, Ireland."></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262">“Yes” voters celebrate as the result of the Irish referendum on the eighth amendment concerning the country’s abortion laws
is declared at Dublin Castle on May 26, 2018, in Ireland. <i>Charles McQuillan/Getty Images</i>
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">In May, Irish citizens voted to
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/5/26/17395898/ireland-abortion-irish-referendum-results"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">repeal the eighth amendment to Ireland’s constitution</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
paving the way for legalized abortion in the country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Ireland’s constitutional abortion ban was considered the strictest in the developed world — it made no allowances for rape or if the woman’s health was at risk, though it could
be challenged in the case of a clear and imminent risk of death. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">As a result, many women traveled outside the country to receive abortions if they had the means to do so. Others found ways to terminate their pregnancy illegally — and often dangerously.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">In 2012, a woman named Savita Halappanavar died in Ireland from sepsis related to a miscarriage, and an investigation found that the abortion law had played a role. This incident
laid the groundwork for pro-abortion rights activists to raise the issue, and when Ireland’s prime minister called for a referendum on the amendment, voters struck it down.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">As
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/5/26/17395898/ireland-abortion-irish-referendum-results"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Vox’s Zack Beauchamp wrote</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
many saw the vote as “a historic victory for Irish feminists, who had been campaigning for the amendment’s repeal ever since it was passed in 1983.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">“Pro-repeal sentiment was especially strong among young and urban voters,” Beauchamp noted,<b>
</b>“suggesting that a new left-leaning and secular majority had supplanted the more conservative Catholic older generation.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Ireland’s president signed the abortion referendum bill in September, and the government is currently working on legislation to regulate how the new policy will work. The health
minister predicted that women would be able to have legal access to abortion services at clinics in the country in
</span><a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/abortion-laws-may-not-pass-oireachtas-in-time-for-january-target-1.3704868"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">early 2019</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Women — and women of color in particular — broke records in the US midterm elections<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><img border="0" width="920" height="606" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D49E95.EDFD4060" alt="Minnesota Democratic Congressional Candidate Ilhan Omar at an election night results party on November 6, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Omar won the race for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district seat and became one of the first Muslim women elected to"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262">Minnesota Democratic congressional candidate Ilhan Omar at an election night results party on November 6, 2018 in Minneapolis.
Omar won the race for Minnesota’s Fifth District seat and became one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
<i>Stephen Maturen/Getty Images</i> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">There’s been much talk of how President Trump — a man who has
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/10/7/13205842/trump-secret-recording-women"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">openly bragged about being able to sexually assault women</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
— has galvanized female voters over the past few years to become more politically active.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Those rumors were borne out in November when a
</span><a href="http://time.com/5446944/women-midterm-results/"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">record number of female candidates
</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">were elected to the House of Representatives, and all across the country, women — and particularly women of color — made history.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">As Vox’s
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/7/18072658/midterm-election-results-historic-wins-muslim-native-american-women"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Caroline Houck explained</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">In Kansas, Democrat
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/6/18049882/kansas-election-results-sharice-davids-native-american"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Sharice Davids</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
became one of the first Native American women elected to the United States legislature; New Mexico’s Deb Haaland became the other. And Congress will get not one, but two Muslim women serving for the first time ever: Minnesota’s
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/6/18048786/minnesota-election-results-house-ilhan-omar-historic"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Ilhan Omar</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, both of whom won by resounding margins. Democrat </span>
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/6/18048286/house-midterm-results-massachusetts-seventh-ayanna-pressley-winner"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Ayanna Pressley</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
will become the first black woman to represent Massachusetts in the House.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Women broke other historic barriers as well: South Dakota’s Kristi Noem became that state’s first female governor, and in Vermont, Christine Hallquist became the first openly trans
woman in the US to run for governor. Stacey Abrams, who ran for governor in Georgia on the Democratic ticket, was the first African-American woman gubernatorial nominee of a major party. (A more comprehensive list of firsts for women in this year’s midterm
elections can be found </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/06/664951794/a-list-of-firsts-for-women-in-this-years-midterm-elections"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">here</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">These gains are significant, and will stretch far beyond this election cycle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">According to a report from the
</span><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/11/07/2018-another-year-of-the-woman/"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Brookings Institution</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
think tank in Washington, more women in lawmaking positions means legislation that affects women and families may increase.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Women in legislative roles are also more likely to work with their partners across the aisle, and according to one study, women try to build coalitions and bring about new policies
more than their male counterparts. It goes without saying that young women also gain from having women in positions of power as role models and mentors.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">American women are still fighting for equal representation in government, on corporate boards, and elsewhere, but the 2018 midterm elections were an important sign that they’re
making progress. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Women made other advancements in 2018 as well<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><img border="0" width="920" height="625" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D49E95.EDFD4060" alt="An Iranian woman watches the World Cup Group B soccer match between Portugal and Iran at Azadi stadium in Tehran on June 25, 2018. "></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#626262">An Iranian woman watches the World Cup Group B soccer match between Portugal and Iran at Azadi stadium in Tehran on June 25,
2018. <i>Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images</i> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">In Iran, women watched the World Cup in a sports stadium alongside men
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/21/17488218/world-cup-women-stadium-iran-spain"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">for the first time in decades</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">.
Though the official ban is still in place, it was an important symbolic step in the right direction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">In New Zealand,
</span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-announces-pregnancy-n839051"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
will be the second elected head of state to give birth while in office, and the first elected leader ever to take maternity leave — showing skeptics that it is indeed possible to be both a prime minister and a mom.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">The
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/5/17941012/nadia-murad-nobel-peace-prize-denis-mukwege-yazidi-activist"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">Nobel Peace prize</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">
was awarded jointly this year to Denis Mukwege, a Congolese surgeon who treats rape victims, and Nadia Murad, an Iraqi woman and a member of the Yazidi religious minority who was captured by ISIS. Murad is now an activist who advocates for victims of sex trafficking,
and is the first Iraqi woman to receive the award.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">Finally, in countries as varied as the
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/a/sexual-harassment-assault-allegations-list"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">United States</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
</span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/metoo-movement-china-powerful-fragile-181022082126244.html"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">China</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
</span><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/24/17989650/me-too-india-akbar"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">India</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">,
and</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-year-after-it-began-has-metoo-become-a-global-movement/2018/10/05/1fc0929e-c71a-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_story.html?utm_term=.48b21df8cd85"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4F7177">
Japan</span></b></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">, the #MeToo movement jump-started an international conversation about harassment and sexual assault, and began the important process of holding accountable
powerful men who had been abusing their power for decades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">This is a limited list, and there are doubtless many other examples. But put together, all of these advancements show that 2018 wasn’t all bad — and actually was, at some points,
surprisingly good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#4C4E4D">And because of these steps, next year is likely to be even better<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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