What the American election could mean for women worldwide
This past week, on the campaign trail for the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama made one of her most impassioned speeches to date. It was addressed "to the men who love us" and was an explicit declaration of what has always been the implicit backbone of Harris’ campaign: that this US election will have enormous implications for women. "Please, please, do not hand our fates over to the likes of Trump – who knows nothing about us, who has shown deep contempt for us," she said, in the closing arguments of her speech. "Because a vote for him, is a vote against us."
The body of her address highlighted what has been a constant in the rhetoric of the Harris/Waltz ticket: that women’s safety and survival hang in the balance because of Trump’s abortion bans. But what her words also made abundantly clear, was that the effect a second Trump term may have on women is not just physical, but ideological.
So, what will this election mean for the women of the United States and women globally?
Abortion
Harris’ stance on this issue was clear from the moment she asked the now-infamous question to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his hearing in the senate: "Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?" Since becoming the Democratic nominee for president, Harris has made abortion one of the most important factors of her campaign. This is largely because it was Trump-appointed justices – Kavanaugh included – who voted to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022.
She has thus cannily deployed the term ‘Trump abortion bans’ to describe the dire reality for so many women – where deaths and trauma are the result of doctors too afraid to act to save a woman’s life in the face of confusing and draconian restrictions, or the fear of being prosecuted. Since Roe crumbled, 21 states have dramatically restricted abortion or banned it in almost all circumstances. The very real fear is that a Trump presidency would not only maintain this terrifying reality but expand it to a nationwide ban – even though he has avoided confirming this (and the likelihood of this happening is low without a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress). However, Trump's disquieting rhetoric around overturning traditional systems of government may give us pause, when he frequently refers to the overturning of Roe v Wade as a victory, at one point calling it a “beautiful thing.”
Childcare
Facing the very real prospect of forced pregnancies under a second Trump term, women in the United States may be understandably concerned that the cost of raising children has become so exorbitant.
Trump’s vice-Presidential pick, JD Vance, made the news when he quipped that the solution to soaring childcare costs (the US has some of the most expensive childcare in the world) was to enlist the help of grandparents. Though one might argue that this was merely humorous, it is supported by his voting record – which has always starkly opposed expanding childcare support. He himself proposed legislation that would offer financial incentives for women who stay at home to look after children (the Fairness for Stay-at-Home Parents Act). He also controversially skipped a vote this summer on child tax breaks. This is despite the fact he himself proposed a child tax credit that would include $5,000 per child for families of all income levels
Meanwhile, Harris has promised to keep the cost of a family’s childcare at no more than 7% of their incomes. This is compared to the 2022 average of between 8% and 19.3%. She has also announced measures to especially alleviate the financial burden for low income families but has not thus far revealed any plans to boost hiring or resources for childcare centres.
Encouragingly, both candidates have vowed to extend the US’ famously poor paid parental leave policy – both discussing at least 12 weeks leave.
Sexuality and identity
Queer women and trans women, along with practically anyone whose identity or sexuality falls outside the boundaries of heteronormativity, will feel especially nervous about the possibility of a Trump presidency. His first term, after all, featured efforts to erase legal protections for trans people. His current campaign has lost none of that zeal, vowing to reverse a lot of the protections the Biden administration put in place, including Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. And though Trump has himself flip-flopped on issues such as gay marriage – sometimes supporting, though most recently appearing to oppose it – his running mate has always voted against it.
Harris has a good record of supporting LGBTQI+ issues, setting up a unit to investigate hate crimes against LGBTQI+ youth when she was a criminal prosecutor and pushing forward progressive legislation as a senator. She has, however, been criticised by many for denying gender-affirming surgeries for transgender inmates during her time as attorney general, despite later explaining that she was bound to uphold her state’s legal position even though she herself disagreed with the premise. During the 2024 campaign trail she has, however – alongside Tim Waltz – been running on a message of hope and inclusion for LGBTQI+ Americans.
Ideological Progress
These issues alone carry significant ramifications for women under Trump, but in combination, they exacerbate a secondary factor: what place women have in society and how they are viewed. A phrase used by the former US President Lyndon B Johnson comes to mind: "The ultimate victory will depend upon the hearts and the minds of the people". Though he was referring to the Vietnam War, it bears relevance to how intrinsically twinned perception is to progress. How a society thinks and feels about an issue can often be at odds with what we may view as an objective truth. And if the ideology about women contained within the controversial Project 2025 becomes sanctioned by the highest office in the land, what untold and long-lasting consequences will that have?
The manifesto, though publicly disavowed by Trump, is soaked in the principle that a woman’s place is as a cisgender, heterosexual, mother and a wife. It couches this in the euphemistic language of "traditional values", which are underscored by proposed policies that would restrict, if not outright ban, access to abortion and contraception. This is compounded by JD Vance, who has espoused deeply regressive views on women and family structure. If entrenched in governance for the next four years, it is concerning how far this could seismically derail hard-won female progression on issues such as the right to choose, parental leave and, quite simply, an autonomous future where she can decide what to do, who to love and what she does with her own body.
Conversely, Harris’ campaign has made protecting these freedoms a core tenet – that women are, as her slogan says, "not going back". But beyond policy, the very fact of her ascension to the job is itself an ideological boon. It sends an enormously galvanising message to the rest of the world, especially its young women.
At its core, the fascinating dichotomy of this election is that it offers the choice between a man accused and found liable of sexual assault, whose language and behaviour towards women has shown a deeply misogynistic vein and…. the first ever female president of the United States. Viewed through this lens, the outcome is more symbolic. What message does it send when the world’s richest superpower, and the self-proclaimed ‘leader of the free world’ would opt for a man who has shown outward contempt for women, over a woman as leader? For little girls everywhere, it would be akin to the dousing of hope.
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