Former lover in charge amongst women active in US state (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
new mexico
'us state' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'former lover in charge amongst women active' is the wordplay.
'former lover' becomes 'ex' (an ex-lover).
'in charge' becomes 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge').
'amongst' is an insertion indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'active' indicates anagramming the letters (the letters are active/moving).
'ex'+'ic'='exic'
'women' with letters rearranged gives 'newmo'.
'exic' put into 'newmo' is 'NEW MEXICO'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for new mexico that I've seen before include "Southern US state" , "US state since 1912" , "one of the 13 [UNITED STATES OF AMERICA] ? Not originally" , "SW US state" , "American state, capital Santa Fe" .)