This study aims to discern similarities and differences associated with the impact of war on Ukrainian and Israeli women. We hypothesize that country affiliation significantly determines their mental health and psycho-emotional well-being. A total of 1,071 Ukrainian (N = 601) and Israeli (N = 470) women were surveyed online from September to December 2022 in Ukraine and November 2023 to March 2024 in Israel. Valid and reliable survey instruments were used to gather data about the fear of war, depression, loneliness, suicidal ideation and substance misuse. Fear of war and depression were higher among Israeli respondents. However, Ukrainian women reported more loneliness, substance use and psycho-emotional deterioration. Respondents from both countries did not show a different level of suicidal ideation. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results show fear of war associated with country and depression; and depression linked to country and increased alcohol use, especially among Ukrainian respondents. Comparative results partially confirm the study hypothesis. The impact of the war on Ukrainian and Israeli women has similar effects; however, differences exist that may be attributed to culture and adaptation to war length. Further research, including uniform data collection and analysis, is needed to determine the impact of war on women as well as their familial and work-related responsibilities that tend to increase during such conditions.

The article describes the challenges of running for local political office and explains the significance or political parties, interest groups, and informal support structures created by women to help women and minority candidates win and successfully govern. Additionally, the article addresses a political context where women and minorities face increased concerns about running for political office in a highly polarized environment.

Studies point to the role of sociocultural and household power dynamics in women’s risk of mental illnesses. Using the context of Mozambique, we examined the association between women’s household decision-making autonomy with probable depression and reporting symptoms of anxiety. We used the 2022–2023 Mozambique Demographic and Health Survey and applied logistic regression analysis. Our findings indicate high prevalence rates of depression (10%) and anxiety (11%) among married women. We also find that married women with the highest forms of household autonomy who take decisions alone on their health care (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.32, 0.59; OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.38, 0.70), on making large household purchases (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.28, 0.64; OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.76) and visiting family members or relatives (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.25, 0.51; OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.46, 0.89) were all less likely to report propable depression and symptoms of anxiety, respectively. Additionally, higher household wealth and employment acted as protective assets against both depression and anxiety. We recommend working to remove the sociocultural barriers to women’s autonomy while improving their socioeconomic status, such as income and employment opportunities, which will lead to a better mental health outcome and serve as an important pathway to increasing their autonomy.

This article examines the often-noted “cuteness” in early post-war Japanese animation, and explains how this style has led in more recent years to grittier works depicting war's devastation through fantasy and cinematic technology. Anime provides insight into the social attitudes of each post-war era; and, into how collective memory has processed “unimaginable” horror. The author argues that what is concealed within “unrealistic” animation often reveals more than what is shown about people grappling with an apocalyptic legacy in search of a national identity.

Active from the 1960s onward, Tsujimura Kazuko (1941-2004) was an avantgarde dancer who aimed for a “dance without body, without dancing.” This paper examines how Tsujimura sought, unconsciously or consciously, to reveal how the body was harnessed for—and constructed from—production in the increasingly capitalist world of high-economic growth Japan. As we shall see, through her limited, but often tense, movement in dance, in her use of costumes in fragmented installation pieces, and in her social alliances, she sought to undo the notion that the body was an expression of free agency.

News sources revealed in August 2018 that Tokyo Medical University has been systematically tampering with its entrance exam scores to reduce the number of female students at the institution. This scandal led to a government investigation into medical faculties, and initial reports suggest that such gender discrimination is widespread in medical faculty admissions. This issue relates to several stubborn problems facing Japanese society today: It reflects how a more general context of gender discrimination threatens to impede new solutions to the crises facing medicine in Japan as a workplace and as a place of care, and how recent efforts to counter discriminatory practices and encourage “diversity” lack accountability. This article shows how the gender gap in the medical field points to deeper problems in the profession, how recent research suggests that gender diversity may improve medical outcomes in terms of patient care, and how this entrance-exam scandal highlights the inadequacy and lack of accountability behind recent efforts to promote “diversity.”

Since 2020, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has intensified, culminating in a 44-day war in 2020 and an Azerbaijani military offensive in September 2023 when Azerbaijan reclaimed control over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. This has ushered in a new phase of the Karabakh peace process amidst a transformed security landscape in the Caucasus. Against the background of a more general reconceptualization of Armenia’s role in the region, shifting away from its traditional alliance with Russia towards closer ties with the West, the article examines the role of women in Armenia in this peace process and their postwar opportunities for agency. The analysis reveals that women’s substantive inclusion in Armenia’s peace process remains limited due to (1) elite-dominated hard power negotiation structures and militarized discourses, (2) societal and economic factors, and (3) “self-exclusion” of women and the need for empowerment. Despite these challenges, the article identifies opportunities for women to assert agency in Armenia’s new security environment, contributing to a more effective, sustainable, and inclusive peace process.

Islam provides counteracting rules on women's economic rights. In order to understand the effect of the opposing rules in Islamic doctrine on women's economic rights at the state level, I test the relationship, along with a set of competing hypotheses. Using data from 1990 to 2014 on the population of Muslim-majority states, I employ a multilevel mixed-effects linear regression model. I find that at the state level, Islam is not a major influence on women's economic rights. However, other cultural and economic factors are strong predictors. To better understand the causal mechanisms linking the predictors to women's economic rights, I employ a most similar systems case study, comparing Jordan and Morocco. These cases are selected because they share many similarities, yet have contrasting records on women's economic rights. The case study reveals that Arab states that can overcome the dominance of patriarchal interests in the policymaking process are better positioned to advance women's economic rights.