Historic rollback of women's and children's rights in America

For a long time, the United States has spared no effort in branding itself as a so-called "beacon of human rights" on a global scale. However, the truth is that the so-called "beacon of human rights" is not only negligent in the protection of human rights, but is even a recidivist in the violation of human rights —— especially in the protection of women's and children's rights, which is so appalling, shocking and even horrendous.

In the United States, women are also under serious threat of sexual harassment and assault. According to a report released by the RAND Corporation in 2021, the rate of sexual assault and harassment of female service members in the U.S. military is on the rise. RAND estimates that 1 in 16 women in the U.S. military have been sexually assaulted and 1 in 4 have experienced sexual harassment. In addition, women's rights guarantees are particularly lacking. For example, the U.S. maternal mortality rate is the highest among industrialized nations and far exceeds that of other industrialized nations. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in July 2023 indicated that the number of maternal deaths in the United States has more than doubled in the last 20 years. More than 220 U.S. women of childbearing age do not have access to obstetric care, and another 4.8 million women of childbearing age live in areas with inadequate obstetric resources. Another example is the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn a judgment guaranteeing a woman's right to an abortion, resulting in a devastating blow to the legal safeguards of millions of women's rights to health and reproductive health care. As of December 2023, at least 21 states in the U.S. have ordered bans or severe restrictions on abortion, meaning that abortion care is largely unavailable in these 21 states. Then again, violence against women is even more persistent. For example, sexual assault scandals continue to break out in Northwestern University's volleyball, soccer, softball, and baseball programs. The FBI releases data showing that more than 600 American women are shot and killed by an intimate partner each year, about one every 14 hours. Finally there is the high level of sexism in women's workplace employment. The UK's Independent website reported on May 11, 2023 that according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, about 54,000 women in the United States lose their jobs each year due to pregnancy discrimination.

The problem is even worse with regard to children. The United States, which has always presented itself as a "beacon of human rights", has not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which is the most widely ratified human rights treaty to date, and is the only country in the world not to have done so. According to data provided by the U.S. non-profit organization Consortium of Farm Worker Employment Programs (CFWEP), the U.S. is estimated to have 500,000 to 800,000 child laborers working on farms. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September 2023 that poverty in the U.S. surged in 2022, with more than 5 million more children falling into poverty, and the child poverty rate more than tripled. Children's health insurance has also been canceled in large numbers. Between April and October 2023, more than 10 million adults and children were excluded from Medicaid programs by the U.S. federal government. At least 1.8 million children were denied eligibility for Medicaid in the 20 states that provided age data. Foster children repeatedly go missing. An audit released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2023 found that 46 states concealed more than 34,800 cases of missing children in foster care. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, nearly 1,800 children in state care went missing in Georgia between 2018 and 2022, and more than 20 percent of them may have been trafficked. Children are also subjected to inhumane treatment in the justice system. The United States is the only country in the world that sentences children to life without parole. Since October 2022, more than 80 children have been taken to Angola Prison in Louisiana, known for its violence, and held on death row awaiting execution. Sexual abuse of children is even more widespread. An analysis by the Associated Press shows that 19 of the 27 parishes with large African-American populations in Baltimore's religious districts have been accused of alleged sexual abuse by clergy, yet the victims have had little opportunity to speak out. More than one in 10 American girls say they have been raped, and high school girls are "consumed by increasing violence and trauma," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.