July 2026 Newsletter

Issue #113

Women are still not treated equally as men -- both in the U.S. and and around the world. Here are

some examples.

Pay Gap

Women working full-time earn about 11–12% less than men on average. 

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development

Unpaid Care Work

More than 710 million women worldwide are excluded from the labor market because of family-care responsibilities. 

World Bank

Labor Force Participation

Globally, about 53% of women participate in the labor force compared with 80% of men. 

World Bank

Girls between the ages 5 and 14 spend around 160 million more hours per day on household chores compared to boys.

UNICEF 

39% of working mothers say that they are the ones to take time off from work and stay home when their children are sick — compared to 3% of fathers.

KFF

Parliamentary Representation

Despite being 49.7% of the world's population, women hold 27.5% of parliamentary seats.

The United Nations

Safety

50% of women feel unsafe walking alone after dark in a quiet street near their home, compared to 15%

of men.

Center for Violence Prevention Research

Of women aged 16 to 34 years, 66% have experienced a form of harassment in the previous 12 months; 44% experienced catcalls, whistles, unwanted sexual comments or jokes, and 29% felt like they were being followed.

Center for Violence Prevention Research

Social Interactions

 Men interrupt 33% more often when they speak with women than when they speak with other men. 

George Washington University

Police have used license plate readers to stalk romantic interests at least 20 times.

 Institute for Justice

Health

Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health or with disabilities than men, resulting in a loss of 75 million years of life globally.

National Organization of Men Against Sexism

Globally

In Afghanistan, animals have more rights than women. If a husband beats his wife and causes injuries such as fractures, wounds, or bruises, the penalty can be 15 days in prison, but harming a bird or animal can carry a penalty of up to 5 months in prison.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

In 2024, India recorded 16 dowry deaths -- every day.

India Today

Less than 5% of women live in economies approaching full legal equality. Only 6 countries give women the same legal rights as men: Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden

World Bank



Only 8 out of 31 countries in Europe have laws that state that sex without consent is rape.

Amnesty International

National Geographic ranks women's rights in countries around the world by considering factors such as: government representation, cell phone use, employment, financial access, education, intimate partner violence, community safety, organized violence, discriminatory norms, son bias and

legal discrimination.

According to National Geographic, the 5 worst countries to be a woman are:

1. Yemen
2. Afghanistan
3. Syria
4. Pakistan
5. South Sudan

The 5 best countries to be a woman are:

1. Norway
2. Switzerland
3. Finland
4. Denmark
5. Iceland

(The U.S. ranks 19th)

National Geographic

On the positive side, a majority of state constitutions have gender equality provisions.

Brennan Center for Justice

For more on Gender Inequality, click here.

End Violence Against Women

A group of feminist organizations, support services, researchers, activists, survivors and NGOs, working to end violence against women and girls in all its forms. Believes that violence against women is not inevitable and works to tear up the systems that enable it and build a fairer world in its place. Taking an intersectional, anti-racist approach, works to transform the political and social systems that enable violence against women. It drives social change through campaigning and shaping policy, and by challenging the wider cultural attitudes that tolerate and normalize this abuse. Learn more.

For more on Gender Inequality, click here.

Justice Coalition of Religious

A group of non-governmental organizations that represent over 200 congregations of Catholic women and men religious at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York. Works to enhance collaboration in their mission to improve quality of life for people living in poverty and to enhance our stewardship of the natural environment and to address the root causes of unsustainable development. Currently coordinating national, regional, and global efforts of religious to call on local and national leaders for a just, equitable, and rights-based implementation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Learn more.

For more Legislative Advocacy resources, click here.

National Center for Farmworker Health

A private, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to improving the health status of farmworker families. Provides information services, training and technical assistance, and a variety of products to community and health centers nationwide, as well as organizations, universities, researchers and individuals involved in farmworker health. Resources include trainings, consultations, outreach services and support as well as research and data collection.

Learn more. 

For more on Immigration, click here.

Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network

A national membership organization that promotes the formation of welcoming church communities by advocating social justice, dignity, and respect for all in order that we may be a missionary church. The seasonal farmworkers who CMFN serves are highly mobile immigrants, residing in isolated rural areas, and are nearly invisible in our society and in our Church. Resources include: courses, immersion programs and a newsletter. Learn more. 

For more in Immigration, click here.

National Commission on Correctional

Health Care

A nonprofit organization founded in the 1970's with the mission to improve the quality of health care in jails, prisons, and juvenile confinement facilities. NCCHC is supported by major national organizations representing the fields of health, mental health, law, and corrections. Each supporting organization has named a liaison to the NCCHC board of representatives to create a robust, multidisciplinary governing structure that reflects the complexities of correctional health care. Among its resources, NCCHC offers educational programs, publications and conferences. Learn more.

For more on the Criminal Justice System,

click here.

Join or Die

An Emmy-nominated documentary about that follows the half-century story of America’s civic unraveling through the journey of social scientist Robert Putnam, whose “Bowling Alone” research into America’s decades-long decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy’s present crisis. Explores three urgent civic questions: What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly… What can we do about it? Watch now.

For more Community Organizing resources,

click here.

Black and Catholic: Racism, Identity,

and Religion

By Tia Noelle Pratt. Documents the exclusion, erasure, and systematic racism faced by Black Catholics, filling an essential gap in both Catholic and Black history. Brings forward the religious experiences and culture of Black Catholics, filling a void in the literature of both U.S. Catholicism and African American religion. Identifies the nature and ramifications of systemic racism on American Catholicism and how that marginalization impacts Black Catholic identity. Also explores the ways that liturgy and music can build community, celebrate individuality, and resist racism. Read more.

For more on Racism, click here.

America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries

By Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Presents an analysis of the cycles of American history and the country’s enduring refusal to face its true nature—especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth. Details an exploration of America’s legacy through a combination of lessons and voices—from W.E.B. DuBois and John Dos Passos to Herman Melville and Martin Luther King, Jr.—that, together, paint a sprawling and honest tableau of the United States, its complicated past, and ever more tenuous future. Calls on readers to interrogate their conceptions of innocence and freedom and the stories they tell themselves about their past and present. Centered around the major celebrations of America’s milestone birthdays across 250 years of history, the book offers a look at the battles over who has a stake in writing the American story. Candid, moving, and reflective, it is a meditation on how we must reckon with our past in order to strive for the better angels of our future. Read more.

For more on Racism, click here.

Beyond the Talk: Hiba Qasas on Peacebuilding in a Fractured World

Following her talk at TED2026, conflict mediator Hiba Qasas joins Elise Hu, host of TED Talks Daily, to explore a new framework for peacebuilding. Qasas shares how she builds common ground where formal diplomacy has stalled — and what the rest of us can do to help end conflict. Watch now.

For more Peace resources, click here.

Love Anyway Shop

A resource that supports the work of Search for Common Ground. Creates soap, coffee, tea, ornaments, candles, apparel, jewelry, magnets, stickers and more with positive messages. These gifts can help an artist's small business flourish and carry a message of welcome and peace into spaces dominated by fear and mistrust. They’re a reminder of the more beautiful world that’s possible.

Learn more.

For more Public Witness resources, click here.

We've Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America

By Michael I. Days and Angela P. Dodson. Draws together stories of key revolutionary movements as a powerful reminder that America has always been sustained and challenged by rebellion and activism. Profiles the individuals who led those movements--the mavericks, rebels, outliers, and ordinary citizens who had extraordinary impact--paying particular attention to the women and people of color history has overlooked. Read more.

For more Public Witness resources, click here.

It's on You: How Corporations and Behavioral Scientists Have Convinced Us That We’re to Blame for Society's Deepest Problems

By Nick Chater and George Loewenstein. Holds that we should reject “nudge” policies and stop blaming personal failure for society’s failures. Says that nudges rarely work, and divert us from policies that do. For example, being nudged to switch to green energy doesn’t cut carbon, and it distracts from the real challenge of building a low-carbon economy. Shows how the rich and powerful have repeatedly used a clever sleight of hand: blaming individuals for social problems, with behavioral economics an unwitting accomplice, while lobbying against the systemic changes that could actually help. Rather than trying to “fix” the victims of bad policies, real progress requires rewriting the social and economic rulebook for the common good. Read more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

Methodist Federation for Social Action

A social justice nonprofit organization consisting of a network of chapters, communities, churches, and individuals that believe their Christian faith calls them to work toward a more justice-filled church and world. Their mission is to mobilize, lead and sustain a movement, energizing justice-seeking people to be agents of God’s justice, peace and reconciliation on issues of peace, poverty and people’s rights. Resources include prayers, webinars and a newsletter. Learn more.

For more Justice resources, click here.

St. Francis Institute for Animals

A Catholic-led nonprofit that believes a concern for God’s creation – which includes the well-being of all creatures – is a core expression of our faith. Their work is grounded in Church teaching and informed by experts in Catholic theology and animal protection issues. Their mission is to educate and empower people to protect animals and to end the needless suffering of all God's creatures. Envisions a world where all animals live free from exploitation and are able to flourish as God intended. Learn more.

For more on the Environment, click here.

We’re Keeping the Ocean Wild —

and You Can Join Us

A TED Talk, featuring marine biologist Sylvia Earle, who reports on a global network of "Hope Spots" to protect the ocean before it's too late. The picture is both more urgent and more hopeful than viewers might expect. From 100,000 fur seals saved from near-extinction to coral reefs rebuilt clam by clam, Earle says we already know exactly what needs to be done; the only thing left is to find the will to do it. Watch now.

For more on the Environment, click here.

Prayer

God of justice and compassion, we gather before You — hearts heavy with grief and anger for the violence that continues to wound our neighborhoods, our nation and our world.

Your people cry out with the pain of injustice, the weariness of fear, and the ache of lives lost. Many of Your beloved children live under threat and harm, their dignity denied and their hope diminished. We lament this brokenness together and pray that our longing for Your peace take root among us.

Stir within us a holy unrest. Give us the faith and the courage to see and speak the truth; to confront the powers that harm; and to stand shoulder to shoulder with those most vulnerable. May our mourning move us to mercy and our lament awaken compassion that leads to action.

God of peace, restore what hatred has broken. Grant safety to those who live in fear. Strengthen all who care for the wounded and the weary, and renew in us the steadfast hope that peace is still possible,

even now.

We long together for Your peace in our nation’s streets, peace in our communities, peace in every heart. Make us witnesses to Your presence and instruments of Your love. Set things right among us, O Lord. Restore peace to the land and to our communities.

Amen.

Pax Christi USA (Adapted)

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