Jill Filipovic on Her Work About Abortion Access in Conflict and Crisis Zones

Your Fellows project is a series of stories about abortion access for rape survivors in conflict and crisis zones. What encouraged you to cover this topic as the focal point of your fellowship? Do you have a plan for the countries you would like to report from as you produce articles for this series?

I’ve been reporting on reproductive health for some time, including in countries in or adjacent to conflict and crisis, and in the United States. The more I covered these stories, the more I saw how the American abortion debates were fueling aggressive anti-abortion policies overseas, and contributing to a chilling effect in even discussing, let alone advocating for or providing, abortion. I was also surprised to learn that U.S. funds could pay for abortions for rape survivors—and less surprised to learn that, in practice, they virtually never did. I was interested in finding out why, and exploring whether the stories of some of the world’s most vulnerable women could open up a more complex conversation on such a polarized issue.

This topic is, sadly, relevant in much of the world, and so the list of countries I would like to report from is quite long. This story does seem particularly relevant in Nigeria, where groups like Boko Haram are scaling up attacks on women and girls, and in Zaatari refugee settlement, where many Syrian refugees have sought safety but still face sexual violence.

Your Politico Magazine cover story about Honduran women migrating to the United States was the first in this series. What drew you to this story, and can you share some of the feedback that you received in response to that article? Are you working on another long-form project now?

In the U.S., we often talk about migration as a “crisis,” and flatten the human beings who migrate into numbers or caricatures. I was interested in exploring the more complex reasons women and girls might feel a pressing need to leave their home countries, beyond just violence. Why does that violence happen? What happens after? What is the full landscape that makes life so hard for so many? The story did seem to resonate, and I heard from a great many women, including in Honduras, that it captured something important and under-reported. I am continuing to work on long-form pieces related to reproductive rights and conflict/crisis, and hopefully will publish another in the next few months.

You wrote recently about Felicity Huffman and the “fairness” of the justice system, Taylor Swift’s activism, and migration in Sub-Saharan Africa. A diverse group of topics! What makes a story catch your eye? Do you take a different approach to storytelling based on the topic?

I’m lucky to be in a position where editors allow me to write about a wide variety of topics. The topics I choose are generally oriented toward justice and human rights, or have an under-explored justice angle. My reporting and feature writing is much more narrative—I’m not particularly interested in my own views or experiences, but rather in telling the stories of the women I meet, whose experiences are illustrative. When I write op-eds, I bring more of my own voice into it, and push the envelope a little more. It’s a lot of fun to be able to do both.

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