A Message from Our Executive Director: Threats to Democracy and Rule of Law in America
We at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) are dedicated to promoting women’s leadership in peace and security globally, advancing women’s rights, tackling threats to the rule of law, warning about authoritarian pushbacks, and safeguarding democracy around the world.
Today, we cannot be silent about what is happening in our own country: the assault on peace and security in our cities, the undermining of our justice system, the threats to our democracy, and the authoritarian overreach.
This weekend, federal agents killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a mere 17 days after another 37-year-old American citizen—Renée Good—was fatally shot by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the same city. They were innocent citizens who were responding nonviolently to the injustices taking place in their besieged community. At the same time, we echo the concerns over fatal shootings and deaths in ICE custody in other states, as well as unlawful arrests and detentions—including horrific accounts of children being detained or witnessing their loved ones being taken without due process.
There has been a remarkable outpouring of nonviolent citizen activism in Minnesota and nationwide. Thousands of people from all walks of life and all ages, who, often at great risk to their own safety and braving brutal temperatures, are standing together to protect their neighbors, their rights, and their democracy.
I am inspired by the public officials who are calling for an end to the injustice and breakdown in rule of law, the religious leaders who are reminding us of the dignity of each person and the respect they are owed, the lawyers who are involved in pro bono cases, the judges who are demonstrating that we are a nation built on justice for all, the voluntary organizations that have been dedicated to the common good, and by the experts who have spent their careers working overseas and are now tackling issues at home. I am inspired by the everyday people who are doing what citizens are called upon to do at times like this when the values we cherish as a nation are being severely threatened. They are standing up for humanity by exercising their freedom of assembly and expression.
And yes, the women, who like our sisters on the frontlines in war zones around the world, are on the streets in our country as citizens, public officials, clergy, neighbors, teachers, healthcare workers, human rights activists, mothers, friends, and loved ones, doing all they can to stop the violence, to stop the hatred, to stop the injustice and to embrace the best of an America “of the people, by the people, and for the people;” a nation with “liberty and justice for all.”
This is one of the moments in our country’s 250-year history that calls for us to speak out. Our nation has never been perfect—as marginalized communities can attest. However, today we are at an inflection point about who America is and what America becomes. Americans cannot and will not be silent.
What’s happening today in the U.S. is a Women, Peace and Security issue, just as violence, authoritarianism, and attacks on human rights are in other countries. We all must stand in solidarity with those fighting for their rights, for democracy, and for the rule of law here and everywhere.
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