The World Said Yes, The U.S. Said No: What the March 9th UN Vote Means for Us

March 9th was a heavy day for a lot of us. It was one of those days where the news cycle didn't just feel like noise. It felt like a direct hit. While most of the world was gathered at the United Nations to move toward a more equal future the United States stood in a very lonely corner. A resolution was put on the table. It was titled Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls. It sounds like something everyone would get behind. It sounds like a basic human standard in 2026. But the U.S. was the only country to vote no.

This wasn't just a quiet disagreement. It was a historic shift. Usually these kinds of resolutions pass by consensus. That means everyone agrees on the general principle and moves forward together. But the Trump administration forced a recorded vote. They wanted their opposition to be on the record. They wanted the world to see that the United States is no longer interested in protecting the rights of women and girls on a global stage. It felt like a punch to the gut for anyone who believes in progress.

The resolution itself wasn't asking for anything radical. It was focused on the absolute basics of living a life of dignity. It covered things like repealing discriminatory laws. There are still so many places where the law itself treats women like second class citizens. The resolution pushed for legal systems that actually work for everyone. It focused on holding perpetrators of violence accountable. It looked at workplace protections. It even addressed the structural barriers that keep women stuck in cycles of poverty and inequality.

When you hear those core areas it makes you wonder why anyone would say no. Why would a government vote against holding people accountable for violence? Why would they vote against making sure women have access to justice? The answer feels very clear and very dark. It is about control. The current administration seems determined to roll back the clock. They want to return to a time when women had fewer choices and less power. It is a narrative that tries to put us back in the kitchen and out of the rooms where decisions are made.

At Resource Therapy we spend a lot of time talking about how the outside world impacts our internal state. This vote is a perfect example of systemic gaslighting. When the leaders of your country tell the world that your right to justice isn't worth a "yes" vote it sends a message. It tells you that your safety is negotiable. It tells you that your value is lower than the political games being played. This kind of messaging trickles down into our subconscious. It creates a sense of unease. It makes us feel like we are fighting an uphill battle just to exist as equals.

Fòs Feminista and UN Women have been vocal about how devastating this vote is. They are pointing out that the U.S. is now an outlier. The rest of the world is largely trying to move forward. They are trying to strengthen legal systems. They are trying to protect girls. But the U.S. is standing in the way. It is a terrifying reality to face. It feels like the people in charge simply do not care about the rights of women. Or worse they actively want to dismantle them.

This is why staying grounded in your own value is more important than ever. When the system fails to validate your worth you have to do it for yourself. We have to be our own advocates. We have to look at the subconscious programming that tells us to be small or to stay quiet. The administration might want us back in the kitchen but we know we belong everywhere. We belong in the courtrooms and the boardrooms and the streets.

I want you to think about how this news landed for you. Did you feel a sense of anger? Did you feel a weight in your chest? Those feelings are valid. They are a response to a real threat to our collective freedom. But we can't let that anger turn into hopelessness. We have to use it as fuel. We have to double down on our self-care and our personal growth. We have to build a foundation of self-worth that no vote can ever shake.

In our sessions we often talk about the different parts of ourselves. There is a part of many women right now that feels scared. There is a part that feels betrayed by the country we live in. We have to acknowledge those parts. We have to give them space to be heard. But we also have to tap into the part of us that is resilient. We have to remember that we are part of a global community that said yes. Even if our government said no the rest of the world is still moving toward the light.

The focus on workplace protections in the resolution is particularly important. We are seeing a push to strip away the rights that women have fought decades for. Whether it is equal pay or protection from harassment these things are under attack. The "no" vote on March 9th was a signal that the U.S. will not support these protections. It is an invitation for corporations and legal systems to look the other way. It is an attempt to make us more vulnerable.

We can't control what happens at the UN. We can't control how the administration votes. But we can control how we respond. We can control how much power we give their narrative. We can choose to stay connected to our truth. Our truth is that we deserve justice. We deserve safety. We deserve to be heard.

It is also a good time to look at the community we surround ourselves with. When the top-down message is one of control we need bottom-up support. We need to find the people who see our brilliance. We need to be the people who see the brilliance in others. This is how we resist. We resist by refusing to believe the lie that we are less than. We resist by continuing to invest in our own development and our own healing.

The move from consensus to a recorded vote was a power play. It was meant to intimidate. It was meant to show strength. But there is no real strength in voting against justice for girls. There is only fear. There is fear of what happens when women are truly equal. There is fear of a world where we aren't easily controlled. That fear belongs to the administration. It doesn't have to belong to us.

Building that internal strength is the best defense against a world that tries to tear us down. It is about creating a "mental sanctuary" where the opinions of politicians can't reach. It is about knowing your rights even when the law is slow to catch up.

The fact that the U.S. stood alone is actually quite telling. It shows that the global momentum is still toward equality. The "no" vote is a desperate attempt to stop a wave that is already moving. It might slow things down in certain areas but it cannot stop the progress of millions of women around the world. We are part of that wave. Every time we choose to value ourselves we are adding to that momentum. Every time we refuse to be put "back in the kitchen" we are winning.

Take a deep breath and remember who you are. You are not defined by a vote in a building in New York. You are not defined by the limitations an administration tries to place on you. You are a whole and powerful person. The world said yes to your justice on March 9th. Hold onto that "yes." Let it be louder than the single "no" that came from home. We are moving forward even if they try to hold us back. We are doing the work. We are staying grounded.

Women have been here before. Not this exact headline. Not this exact vote. But this familiar feeling of being told to wait. To be quiet. To accept less. Our rights in the United States were not handed over because the system suddenly got kind. They were fought for by women who were mocked and arrested and called “too much.” The suffrage movement was not a cute history lesson. It was a long, grinding push against laws that were built to exclude us. The 19th Amendment happened because women kept showing up anyway.

And even that win came with ugly limits. Many Black women still faced voter suppression for decades after 1920. Indigenous women were denied full citizenship and voting rights until 1924 and even then many were blocked by state laws for years. This country has a pattern. It offers progress with one hand and tries to take it back with the other. That is why memory matters. That is why we keep receipts. That is why we do not let anyone rewrite what “rights” means.

So yes, feel the anger. Keep it clean and focused. Let it turn into action that actually moves the needle. The most basic tool we have is still one of the strongest. The vote.

If you want to see women’s rights protected, vote like it. If you want to stop leaders who treat our safety like a bargaining chip, vote them out. Toxic Republican leaders who do not support women’s rights do not deserve power over our bodies, our workplaces, or our futures. We remove them the same way we have always changed things in this country. We organize. We show up. We vote. And we bring friends.

We are not going back.