Women, Especially Black Women, Lead the Way Toward a Feminist 2027 Agenda

For Immediate Release: November 4, 2026
Contact: media@fwdshift.com

UltraViolet Action celebrates historic victories for women, reproductive freedom, and survivor justice in the 2026 midterms—and calls on new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to protect our rights and hold powerful abusers and their enablers accountable.

UltraViolet Action, a leading national women-led gender justice organization responsible for numerous impactful victories against sexual predators like Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, and Bill O’Reilly, released the following statement after the 2026 midterms, which saw sweeping progressive victories led by women, especially Black women, a rejection of powerful abusers and their enablers in politics, and the end of Trump’s congressional majority.

For example, voters rejected Rep. Max Miller (R-OH-7), whom UltraViolet Action called on to resign following multiple allegations of domestic abuse, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, whose campaign launched a horrific, sexist attack ad targeting his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

And women made history, with more than 100 Democratic women elected to the U.S. House and groundbreaking Senate victories by Peggy Flanagan, the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, and Juliana Stratton, whose election makes Illinois the first state represented by two women of color in the Senate. At the state level, women won historic gubernatorial victories in Georgia, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas, including Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black woman governor in U.S. history, Deb Haaland becoming the first Native American woman governor, and Gina Hinojosa becoming Texas’s first Latina governor.

“Women made their voices heard in this election—and Washington had better listen,” said Arisha Hatch, Executive Director of UltraViolet Action. “For two years, Republicans abused their power to protect powerful sexual predators, attack trans people, and strip away our rights while American families struggled to afford groceries, child care, and health care. This election made clear what voters actually care about: economic security, bodily autonomy, freedom from sexual violence, and accountability.”

Beyond the historic victories for women candidates, voters across the country also delivered major wins for LGBTQIA+ rights, equality, and representation. In Michigan, voters elected Joanna Whaley as the first openly transgender member of the state House, while all nine openly LGBTQIA+ candidates for the state legislature won their races. In Virginia, voters approved the repeal of the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. And across the country, voters made history by electing Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive champion of reproductive freedom and LGBTQIA+ rights, as the nation’s first Muslim U.S. senator, and Chris Pappas as the first openly gay man elected to the Senate.

Survivors also proved to be a powerful force this election season, making clear that credible allegations of sexual misconduct or abuse should be disqualifying for anyone seeking public office, regardless of political party. They marched in solidarity with Cornell’s Jane Doe, demanded the full release of the Epstein files, confronted candidates over sexual abuse allegations, and pushed back against attacks on survivors like Amy Acton. Together, they organized, spoke out, and demanded accountability from those seeking political power.“Survivor justice was one of the defining issues of this election, and voters made clear that protecting powerful abusers comes with political consequences,” continued Hatch. “Epstein survivors were one of the first constituencies to loudly challenge the corruption of this administration giving courage to others. Feminism is the answer, never the problem. And politicians who ignore that message do so at their own peril.”

New Democratic majorities in the House and Senate have the power to reverse the Trump administration’s attacks on our rights and deliver a bold feminist agenda that addresses the issues women and families care about most. That means lowering the costs of groceries, child care, and health care; confronting economic inequality; protecting reproductive freedom and trans people; ending sexual violence; and holding powerful abusers and their enablers accountable.UltraViolet Action calls on Congress to immediately:

• Pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, release the remaining Epstein files, and pursue investigations and prosecutions of Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers.
• Fully investigate Trump’s ties to Epstein, including horrific rape and sexual assault allegations against Trump detailed in the House Judiciary Democrats’ report.
• Pass Virginia’s Law, named in honor of Epstein survivor and advocate Virginia Giuffre, to remove federal civil time limits for adult survivors of sex trafficking.
• Reduce the financial burdens on survivors by passing the Speak Your Truth Act to protect survivors from costly defamation lawsuits and the Fair Housing for Survivors Act to protect domestic abuse survivors from housing discrimination.
• Strengthen and fully fund the Violence Against Women Act, and strengthen and expand Title IX protections against sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual violence in schools and universities.
• Take on deepfake abuse by passing the DEFIANCE Act, to give survivors of nonconsensual AI-generated sexual imagery the right to sue and seek damages in federal court.
• Halt rapid AI development by passing the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act to pause advanced AI development and prohibit artificial superintelligence, while opposing bills like the FRONTIER Act and Anthropic’s AEGIS Act that would undermine stronger state-level AI protections.
• End mass surveillance by passing the Ban Flock Act and protecting communities from Flock Safety and other invasive surveillance technologies.
• Restore and expand reproductive freedom and LGBTQIA+ rights.
• Recognize and secure publication of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“We didn’t fight this hard just to change who holds power. We fought to change what those in power do with it. The new Congress is on notice: no more ignoring families struggling to afford basic needs, no more protecting abusers, no more excuses for denying survivors accountability and transparency, and no more attacks on our rights. Women made their voices impossible to ignore this election—and now it’s time for Congress to act,” concluded Hatch. 

Follow our work on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.

###

weareultraviolet.org

UltraViolet Action works directly to mobilize constituents and lawmakers and is a 501(c)(4) organization working to change sexist policies, practices, and beliefs.