It is with deep sorrow that the EWL learned of the passing of Gloria Steinem on 2 September 2026. We are profoundly grateful to have known her as a friend to our movement and to have had her as a special guest at our General Assembly in 2017. Gloria also contributed her insight to our feminist economic working group as we developed the first edition of our Purple Pact for a feminist economic model, bringing her characteristic rigour and vision to discussions on women’s socio-economic freedom. She took part in the meeting of the EWL Observatory ON VAW, as a passionate campaigner for womens freedom from violence.
Joanna Maycock, who was EWL Secretary General during Gloria’s involvement with the organisation, recalls her visits with particular warmth. “When Gloria spoke at a talking circle in Brussels, the room came alive with tears and laughter. She had a gift for making you feel that radical action was not only possible but necessary. She gave people permission to believe in their own power for action.”
“Later, she graciously joined a UN launch event in New York for the EU-UN Spotlight initiative- a fund to end violence against women and girls, lending her presence and thoughtful commentary to work she believed in deeply. Walking through New York with her was striking: strangers stopped her regularly, simply to thank her for liberating them from patriarchy and repression. She received these moments with genuine warmth and kindness.”
Gloria remained uncommonly active and engaged throughout her life, maintaining that unwavering commitment to women’s freedom in all its dimensions. A principle she returned to repeatedly was her refusal of the scarcity of power itself: “I am holding on to my torch. I will use it to light thousands of others. The idea that there is only one torch is exactly the problem.” This image captures her understanding of feminist power entirely—not something diminished by sharing, but multiplied through it. She modelled a way of holding power that was radically collective: trust others to burn as brightly as you do, kindle new flames rather than hand down a dimming torch, build movements where power circulates rather than concentrates.
Her legacy will endure through the movements she shaped and the countless people she inspired.
Our deepest condolences to her family and friends, and to all the women whose lives were touched and transformed by her work.
With Solidarity,
💜EWL Secretariat
