Today, the 59th session of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women will commence—and to kick it off Hillary Clinton will speak on the release of the “No Ceilings” report on the status of women and girls.
As we all know, Hillary Clinton has been an avid champion of women’s equality—but yet recent reports really discredit her record. It has been reported that during Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, she accepted foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation. Some of these donations came from nations such as Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman which have serious human rights abuses against women. If in fact Clinton claims to champion women, she should champion women everywhere and condemn these human rights abuses rather than accept donations.
All the more infuriating are Clinton’s tired talking points on the gender gap and pay disparity. In a recent study conducted by the Washington Free Beacon, it was found that Hillary Clinton paid her female senate staffers significantly less than male staffers. This has been a big effort for Clinton, and she has said gender pay disparity is a result of gender discrimination. Yet, gender discrimination exists in many of the countries that Clinton accepted donations from—oh the hypocrisy. Women deserve better than phony rhetoric.
Why has Hillary Clinton been so quiet on human rights violations against women? Seeing as she believes there is a phony “war on women” she should be quick to denounce the real and violent war being waged on women in countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Today, in 2015 there are still countries where women have to fight to attend school, are shunned for reading, and cannot vote—that is the true war on women. Maybe her silence is due to the fact that she would rather accept donations from countries where violence against women is tolerated. Human rights violations should be addressed, especially from someone like Hillary Clinton who has made women’s rights a pillar of her agenda. It seems as though her faux outrage is dishonest and despicable.
Clinton seems to operate under the “what they don’t know won’t hurt them” when it comes to the American public, but especially women. Did she really think that she could get away with this type of fraud and that American women would flock to her side? Hillary Clinton owes the American public an apology, but most importantly she needs to end the phony “war on women” rhetoric if she won’t put an end to the scandal at her Foundation.