NOW President Christian F. Nunes talks new anti-misogyny campaign

Disrupt NOW will be a multi-state campaign of town halls that include discussions about abortion, birth control, and equality in employmen

National Organization for Women President Christian F. Nunes spoke to me over the phone about a new anti-misogyny campaign called Disrupt NOW.

The effort will launch a movement designed to combat extreme misogynism, increase feminism education, and advocate for women’s equality and safety. It will focus on policy reform, empower new leaders, and strengthen partnerships. They will discuss healthcare, women's safety, and economic justice at town halls in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Missouri.

“We're trying to disrupt and end misogyny and its toxic mentality that impacts people's daily lives,” Nunes said.

Included in those events will be conversations about abortion and birth control, affordable medical care, and equality in hiring and employment practices.

“All those things about reproductive health care are super important,” Nunes said. “So we're making sure people understand how everything falls under that, what that really looks like, and how you can take action to protect those things within your community.”

Through a partnership with Yale University TCS, Disrupt NOW will also train candidates and activists to advocate for issues in their communities. Other partners include the American Association of University Women, Common Cause, ERA Coalition, Feminist Majority, Future Forward Women, League of Women Voters of the United States, Mana National, National Council of Jewish Women, One Fair Wage, Black Women’s Blueprint and Transformative Justice Coalition.

Nunes said that Trump’s rhetoric has self-evidently increased misogynistic tendencies among the American public, which has helped provide an impetus for programs like Disrupt NOW.

“They're permitted to do it by the country's leader,” Nunes said. “And I think that's what we have seen happen, unfortunately, and people have latched on to it.”

Many within the reproductive rights movement have wanted a more localized approach to activism. While the focus has often been on federal races, most of the disputes in abortion politics have happened at lower levels of government.

“It can't just be federal,” Nunes said. “It has to go all the way up from hyper-local to federal.”

Nunes said it’s important to remember the history of the women’s movement and its grassroots origins.

“The most successful movements in the past have always been person-led movements. That's why we have gotten to the place of progress we are now,” Nunes said. “So we have to continue to remember whose shoulders we are standing on, who our ancestors are in the struggle, and how to continue to tap into that to help us take back control.”