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Congrats to Elizabeth Ralph, our fearless leader here at Women Rule, for being named editor of POLITICO Magazine this week! Shes our second woman editorafter founding editor Susan B. Glasserand Im so excited to see what she does with the place. Thanks to Maya Parthasarathy for your help finding and curating these interesting articles below!

On Thursday, POLITICO held its regular Women Rule: The Exchange meeting to discuss pressing issues concerning women and communities. In panels, small group discussions and interviews, we touched on everything from involving more young people in movement-building to getting more women to run for office to gender and racial inequities in health, and we also heard from White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams. (Well share more from those interviews next week.) Join us next time if you can. Here were some of the takeaways from Thursday.

How to get more young people into organizing: Many separate discussions came back to one question: How do we get young people on board with movement-building?

Young people are asking more from companies and employers, one participant said she had found. It is important for them to know a companys values.They dont want nice volunteerism anymore, the participant said. A company has to demonstrate its making progress toward corporate social responsibility goals, the participant continued.

Other participants discussed how, in their experience, a lot of young people see working in politics as a little bit dirty, or unethical, or ineffective, as one participant said. The task for others, she continued, is convincing young people that theres still power in making those decisions from inside.

Participants in one discussion were also asked what the next big social movement would be. A few answers: Refugee rights, racial equity and higher education reform.

How can technology be a better tool in social movements? I heard several times throughout the day from women who felt that technology is a useful tool, but that it could also be ineffective and shallow. Some efforts to incorporate technology more have led organizations at times to focus on vanity metrics, or how many impressions or likes posts get on social media, said one participant

Another participant in a roundtable discussion said too much of the action that technology drives on advocacy was shallow action, without real substance. Instead of just a static programmatic ad, can you have someone watch a video, and that unlocks a donation, and your company is giving out real money to a cause the person cares about? she asked.

How to get more women into the C-suite: One executive wanted to know how to get more women into the top roles of her company and asked others how to help. She outlined a story from her company where two senior employees one woman and one man had a difficult task to complete. The man eventually went to a company leader to ask for help; the woman didnt, explaining that she didnt want that leader, who was male, to think of her as incompetent. The man, who had forged a better relationship with this key company leader as a result of this collaboration and completed his task more quickly, ultimately benefited from this challenge; the woman, who did not complete the task as quickly, did not.

This story made the executive who was outlining this story at the event yesterday understand that mentorship is key to whether women advance, or dont, at a company.

She asked the other participants: How can her company encourage more such relationships for women? Some suggested formalizing the relationships with mentoring programs. Interestingly, others wondered if the organization leader, in her story, had set the proper tone for engaging with lower-level employees, pointing out that such relationships can only flourish under certain cultures. How are you creating a culture across the board that embraces things like asking questions? one participant asked. That participant pointed out that representation often flows from culture, rather than the other way around.

Has corporate social responsibility reached a high-water mark? During one discussion about boosting social impact at companies, one participant asked about the lack of progress on climate and the blowback in states to companies environmental, social and governance investments. She asked if the general push for companies to invest in meeting corporate social responsibility goals had peaked. If you look at the full picture, for sure, the needle is moving very slowly. But it comes back to building a new muscle, one participant answered. A lot of the folks whove been at these companies have never heard of these things before. Theres going to be a lag, across the board, understanding what it [corporate social responsibility] is.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS We also asked our business and impact leaders for recommendations, and they had some interesting books in particular to share. Here are their picks:

Regenerative Leadership by Giles Hutchins and Laura Storm; The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-AssuranceWhat Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman; The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai; The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich; The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy; Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies by Ranjay Gulati

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

A New Approach to Domestic Violence, by Joanne Kenen for Politico Magazine: Keisha Walcott started slipping through the cracks as a baby.

Separated from her mother in Jamaica and brought to the United States as an infant, Walcott was exposed to sexual abuse, sexual trauma, hospitalizations and so on and so forth, she says, from the start. She lived with her father, but it was a chaotic life. At age nine, she required surgery after a particularly violent sexual assault by a close family friend. Looking back, shes not really surprised that she got into one damaging relationship after another as a teen, then as an adult.

One day, about six years ago, she looked in the mirror and saw a stranger. I was asking the person in the mirror, Who are you? I dont know you, recalled Walcott, now 44.

That moment began her multiyear path toward escape, safety, independence and self-respect. She eventually left her husband and went to a womens shelter, which helped her enroll in a job training program. A lawyer helped her address her immigration status, enabling her to work legally. The lawyer also connected her with a health care clinic that would change her life.

Walcott went to see Anita Ravi, who runs an unusual clinic dedicated to treating women who have endured intimate partner violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. At her clinic, PurpLE Family Health, in New York City the name stands for Purpose: Listen and Engage Ravi treats these patients immediate medical needs, connects them to a network of social and behavioral health services that can help them get out these relationships if they want or need to, or help them reduce the harm if they decide to stay. All the care is free, paid for by the PurpLE Health Foundation, which Ravi also started.

Domestic violence has long been thought of as a criminal justice problem. Health care was there to patch up the wounds, maybe provide some mental health support, maybe dispense some information about shelters. But Ravis clinic is part of a growing albeit unofficial network of clinics and medical centers that are recognizing they have a crucial role to play in identifying, treating and ultimately reducing domestic violence.

Poll: Americans say politicians aren't informed enough to set abortion policy, by Elena Schneider for POLITICO: As Republicans in state capitals and Washington race to enact new restrictions on abortion following the fall of Roe v. Wade, a new poll shows that Americans have a message for lawmakers: Slow down and learn.

Seven in 10 Americans dont think politicians are informed enough about abortion to create fair policies a position held by majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, according tothe survey of more than 20,000 adults by The 19th, a news organization focused on gender and politics, and SurveyMonkey. A majority of Americans also said they think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 35 percent said abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

The data sheds new light on a top issue for both parties in the final weeks ahead of the November election. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the power to determine abortion policy back to the states, triggering new abortion restrictions across the country and juicing interest in the midterm elections among Democrats and women more broadly. Abortion has shot up as a key issue among voters, and it has partially fueled an improved outlook for Democrats in November.

Republican Graham introduces bill that would restrict abortions nationwide, by Alice Miranda Ollstein for POLITICO Graham's abortion ban stuns Senate GOP, by Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Sarah Ferris for POLITICO GOP pollster warns party on total abortion bans, by Elena Schneider for POLITICO

Read more here.

Rape victims can face huge hospital bills if they seek help, by Rachel M. Cohen for Vox: When victims of rape or sexual violence seek emergency medical assistance following an attack, they may be saddled with hundreds or even thousands of dollars in medical bills, a new study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine found.

These bills can further traumatize victims, the study authors warn, and deter others from seeking professional help. Only one-fifth of sexual violence victims are estimated to seek medical care following an attack.

Researchers affiliated with Harvard analyzed a nationwide data set of more than 35 million emergency room visits in 2019, the most recent year such information was available. They looked specifically at visits where doctors billed with codes related to care after sexual assault, and found more than 112,000 such patients. Nearly 90 percent of those patients were female, and 38 percent were children under 18.

When victims of sexual violence go to the ER, there are two kinds of care theyd typically receive. The first is a sexual assault forensic exam, or more colloquially, a rape kit. Thats where a medical professional collects evidence from a victim, such as conducting a pelvic, rectal, or throat exam, taking samples for a DNA test, and looking for semen or any other evidence of violent injury.

Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994, the costs associated with a forensic exam are paid for with public funds, and while survivors are sometimes erroneously billed, the federal law prohibits charging victims for the cost of their evidence collection.

But VAWA does not cover the second category of care and thats therapeutic care, or whatever is medically necessary for a persons health following an attack.

So for instance, doctors frequently give victims preventative medication for STDs, like antibiotics to prevent syphilis, gonorrhea, or HIV medication if thats a possibility, said Stephanie Woolhandler, one of the lead authors of the study. ER physicians may also provide emergency contraception to victims if pregnancy is a concern, and in other cases victims may have vaginal or rectal lacerations that need to be sewn up, other injuries, or broken bones.

The researchers findings on the costs of such care are sobering. Uninsured victims, who numbered over 17,000 in 2019, faced out-of-pocket charges averaging $3,673.

What Happened After I Quit: Five women reflect on the financial fallout of their own Great Resignation, a year later, by Charlotte Cowles for the Cut

Op-Ed: Why the lack of diversity in drug industry leadership is hurting women and people of color, by Lindsay Androski for the Los Angeles Times: Dr. Lynn Seely, the female chief executive officer of Myovant, a biopharmaceutical company that develops new treatments for womens diseases, was speaking about chronic pelvic pain and painful periods associated with endometriosis. As many as 10% of women between age 15 and 45 experience it, and many of them miss school or work because of debilitating pain. Yet treatments often end with the removal of the uterus, ending hopes of childbearing.

Why, Seely asked, had pharma not developed a better treatment that didnt involve infertility?

Silence ensued.

She kept going, saying she could see the discomfort visible on the faces of many of the male leaders in this room because she was talking about womens periods and pelvic pain. Then she dropped the hammer: That is why this health problem hasnt been solved.

Her point? A lack of diversity in healthcare leadership is directly related to the lack of progress on womens health challenges.

From 'Dreamgirls' to 'Abbott Elementary,' Sheryl Lee Ralph forged her own path, by Terry Gross for NPR

Sponsored by Business Leader members of Women Rule: The Exchange:

As inflation rates soar and disruptions to the global supply chain persist, all eyes are on the nations economic recovery. But getting back on track in an inclusive and sustainable way is no easy feat. POLITICO Focus connected with members of Women Rule: The Exchange to learn about the strategies and solutions that will power an economy that benefits all. Join the Conversation.

Read more here.

Jennifer Griffin will be chief national security correspondent at Fox News. She previously was national security correspondent. More from The Hollywood Reporter Sarah Matthews is now a senior adviser with Merrimack Potomac + Charles. She previously was comms director for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Republicans and is a Trump White House alum. (h/t Playbook)

Theresa Bradley is now a speechwriter for the White House. She most recently was a freelance writer and is a Biden campaign alum. Anna Chu has been hired as executive director of We The Action. She most recently was VP for strategy and policy at the National Womens Law Center. (h/t Playbook)

Jessica Medeiros Garrison has been named president of the Land Betterment Exchange and LBX Carbon Offsets. She most recently was VP of government affairs at Clearview AI. Natalie Armijo is now a strategist with Federal Street Strategies. She most recently was a senior adviser to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Cecilia Narrett is now a development associate at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She most recently was a humane educator at Farm Sanctuary. (h/t Playbook)

Sponsored by Business Leader members of Women Rule: The Exchange:

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The next big social movement and other takeaways from our regular meeting - POLITICO

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