Dear Reader,
You have heard it many times before—the flapping wings of a butterfly can cause a storm on the other side of the world. The butterfly effect applies to so many phenomena, we hardly ever notice it. Yet just a week ago, we all felt it as the tide of change swept across the globe, affecting everything in its path. The US inauguration altered everyone’s lives and the planet’s future. The slashing of important scientific funds, the global impact of anti-abortion rules, downgrading healthcare, banning immigration; all this will have an impact people greater than we can imagine. It affects the lives of many girls and women whose stories you will read in this issue. One hope is that the current US administration will provoke a resistance so powerful that it will raise a generation of amazing girls who stand up for themselves and others to resist classist, racist and chauvinistic values.
Chaos is no longer a theory—it is our collective reality.
With strength and hope,
Ashley E. Remer & Kristina Kraemer
Editors
Girl News International