Friday, March 9, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Turkish protestors call for an end to gender-based violence

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:45 AM PST

Jale Arif
WVoN co-editor 

Turkish feminist groups marked International Women's Day by calling for action to end gender-based violence at a demonstration outside an Istanbul court.

The women were carrying images of murdered women, killed by family members.

One of the pictures was of Ayse Pasali, who was stabbed to death by her ex-husband three months ago, after the courts failed to issue a protection order against him.

The collective were calling on the government and judiciary to address the rising trend of women being killed, as recognised recently in a report by the Justice ministry.

The calls come as another women, forty-year-old Diyar B., is reported to have been shot by her husband’s cousin in the early hours of March 8. The accused, Ö.B., has reportedly said he killed Diyar B., who was going through a divorce, because she “defamed him.”

Levels of violence against women in Turkey remain the worst in Europe and the US, with researchers finding more than one in three Turkish women have suffered violence by men.

Protester Senem Erdogan, said: "Women ask for protection from the court but often they don't get it, and when they leave the court, it is likely they can be killed."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish women and children, shortly after the protest, that a zero tolerance approach towards violence is now in effect.

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that Erdogan also said: “Women are our mothers, the reason for our existence. One day is not enough, all the days of the year are women’s days. I celebrate the women’s day of all women.”

In Turkey, where the gender gap in politics is wide, women have established their own political party – the Women's Party.

Benal Yazgan, the party's president, said: "50 per cent of the population is women but we only represent 8.9 per cent in the National Assembly.

“In local government, there are between 1 and 3 women in every thousand people.

“If we increase the number of women in parliament, cultural change will come quickly. It will change the perception of women.”

She added that, with elections only four months away, the dream is to have all 275 independent candidates elected to parliament, which she hopes would create a more equal system to ensure the protection of women's rights.

Elsewhere in Turkey, men in Izmir prepared to run in high heels to draw attention to the increased violence against women, in a run similar to the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event which is held in many cities across the world.

A number of universities in İstanbul will also be holding academic seminars and conferences for Women’s Day and various gatherings are to be held around the country.

Truckers fight sex trafficking

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 10:30 AM PST

Lucy Miller
WVoN co-editor

Human sex trafficking is being combated by truckers in Nevada.

Truck drivers are being asked to keep watch for the warning signs of sexual exploitation, such as those who might look afraid, nervous or unsure of their surroundings.

The call comes after a press conference in Nevada at the end of February drew attention to the problem.

Lieutenant Karen Hughes, of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said that Nevada is one of the places where pimps find it easy to exploit those who have been trafficked – and this includes both children and adults.

Nevada Assemblyman John Hambrick said that truckers hold the key to saving those who are being trafficked, calling them “the eyes and ears.”

The efforts that truckers have made to combat the issue have been recognised over the last few weeks.

Truckers Against Trafficking, the national organisation against the crime, has existed since 2009. On February 22 this year, it received a Congressional Recognition Award from US Representative for R-Nevada Joe Heck.

Two organisations, the Nevada Trucking Association and Nevada Petroleum Marketers Association, are also heading campaigns in support of the organisation.

Nevada Trucking Association will distribute informational DVDs to its members, as well as giving out cards containing information on how to spot and report trafficking.

Petroleum Marketers Association will spread the word via emails, quarterly magazines and its website.

Hambrick has also entered legislation to strengthen the state's trafficking laws.

He said: "I am very pleased that the Nevada trucking industry and the truck stop owners have entered the war against human trafficking. This scourge must be stopped.

“All of us have seen the media reports on children as young as eleven being prostituted by men who are making thousands upon thousands of dollars selling the bodies of our children.

“We now have two allies that can have a direct effective on fighting this war."

Human Trafficking is estimated to be the second most lucrative crime in the world, with an annual revenue of $32 billion.

Truckers Against Trafficking's national hotline received 185 calls reporting possible human trafficking in 2011.

Police in Virginia arrest demonstrators protesting anti-abortion bill

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PST

Lindsay Carroll
WVoN co-editor

Police in Virginia arrested 31 demonstrators protesting an anti-abortion bill in Virginia on Saturday, prompting state Congress members to discuss whether the response was justified (see WVoN coverage).

The bill would require women who seek an abortion to first undergo an ultrasound.

Both houses of Virginia’s congress passed the bill, and the state’s Republican governor is expected to sign it.

Police in riot gear arrested 17 women and 14 men when they refused to leave the Capitol building’s steps, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Fourteen of those arrested appeared in court on Monday. One state senator called the police presence a “completely over-the-top response.”

Virginia’s Family Foundation, an organization that supported the bill, wrote off such reactions, saying that “going to the mat to preserve the pro-abortion double standard doesn’t surprise us. Anything to protect the sacrament of the left – abortion.”

A formidable police presence, which included dogs and military-style rifles, secured the demonstrations in a show of force reported to be rare, if not unprecedented.

The bill is weaker than a previous version that would have mandated women seeking abortions to undergo vaginal ultrasounds. Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, called such a mandate “state-sponsored rape.”

Nine other states have passed similar laws in recent years, but legislation isn’t the only way conservative groups are fighting abortion.

The Family Foundation is also calling for 40 days of prayer, fasting and vigils to end the procedures.

A movie “October Baby,” by the American Family Association is due to be released on March 23. It tells the story of a young woman who finds out she was adopted after a failed abortion attempt.

US legislators have also put contraception rules under scrutiny.

A federal congressional committee recently held a hearing on insurance coverage for contraceptives, listening to witnesses from an all-male conservative panel, under the auspices of religious freedom.

The committee refused to hear testimony from the only female witness asked to participate, law student Sandra Fluke.

Conservative talk show house Rush Limbaugh called Ms Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for thinking insurance policies should cover birth control, suggesting she wanted people to pay for her to have sex.

The comments sparked anger among both Republicans and Democrats, perhaps because — as the Guttmacher Institute recently found – 99 percent of American women who have had sex have used a contraception method other than natural family planning.

International Women’s Day: looking back at the past year

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 08:08 AM PST

Laura Bridgestock,
Rosy Moorhead,
Jackie Gregory,
WVoN co-editors 

As part of our celebrations for International Women’s Day today, three WVoN co-editors take a closer look at the stories of the women who have stood out for them over the past 12 months.

Laura Bridgestock

The stories that have stayed with me are the ones that combine almost unimaginable suffering with awe-inspiring strength.

I was really struck by this story of rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who’d lost pretty much everything, but were still somehow carrying on – working, helping each other, even laughing together.

The original article on the Al Jazeera site includes a 25-minute video (watch it now), which conveyed the incredible courage of women like Masika, who had established a scheme to help other women, and also the immense suffering and trauma being caused by rape.

The statistic to go with the story is brutal – every hour in the day, 48 women in the eastern region of the country are raped. That’s 1,100 women every day whose lives are changed forever by one act of brutality.

The video makes no attempt to hide the absolutely devastating impact on the women, for example showing the trauma of a young girl newly arrived at the refuge, and Masika speaking about how she manages to look beyond her own pain to focus on helping others.

I was just blown away by their ability to keep going.

Rosy Moorhead

One story that really stood out for me this year was that of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners.

On December 10, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman were awarded the prize for their "non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work".

A great day – three women taking the prize, and the Nobel committee recognising that democracy and lasting peace cannot be achieved in the world until women have the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.

The article that I wrote to mark the occasion outlines the invaluable work of Sirleaf, Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state; Gbowee, who organised and mobilised women to bring an end to the brutal civil war in Liberia; and Karman, who played a leading role in the struggle for women’s rights during the Arab Spring, and for democracy and peace in Yemen.

Three remarkable women; three remarkable stories.

Jackie Gregory

It was Sabine Clappaert’s Profile of a revolutionary: Maryam Al-Khawaya which stood out for me. I had started to follow Maryam on Twitter and this article gave an insight to the woman who is constantly raising awareness of the persecution  in Bahrain.

I was particularly struck by the reason that she chose to wear the hijab – so that people heard her before looking at her. This was not how my westernised eyes had seen this before.

It was a statement which made me confront my own assumptions, at a time when women are so often leered at but not listened to.

Al-Khawaya’s philosophy of hating the act and not the person comes across in her tweets, some of which are truly harrowing eye-witness accounts of death, torture and imprisonment.

I saved a tweet she sent on December 22 when state-backed forces were systematically gassing towns in Bahrain, which showed children hiding in a cupboard to keep out of the gas.

Around 60 towns were affected that night. Not one major news outlet in Britain reported it the next day.

I’ve just checked her Twitter account and she reports how an elderly woman has died of teargassing.

These tweets intersperse my timeline  which is so often filled with TV trivia or day-to-day doings, and sometimes the suffering in Bahrain passes me by; but  Al-Khawaya is steadfast, she is a voice for the voiceless and we should listen.

The triumphs and tragedies of the women of Tibet

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:30 AM PST

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

For the last 50 years or so, the Chinese occupation and rule of Tibet has rarely been out of the news.

Historically dense and fuelled by propaganda, the ongoing situation is undoubtedly controversial, if sometimes complex.

Stories of political unrest, violent clashes and human rights abuses continue to emerge year on year.

Many Tibetans have been imprisoned, tortured or killed for their political beliefs and actions, and many of them have been women.

In fact, during the long years of Chinese occupation, women have played a significant and sustained role in the political activities of their country.

One of the most important dates in the history of Tibetan women will be celebrated next week as they mark the 53rd anniversary of the National Tibetan Women's Uprising.

On March 12, 1959, two days after the full scale Tibetan rebellion broke out, the women of Lhasa organized a peaceful demonstration over a controversial Chinese occupation that would last for weeks.

Organized by the Lhasa Patriotic Women's Front, they gathered in their thousands outside the home of the Dalai Lama – the Potala Palace – in Lhasa.

Although the protest was peaceful, the women would face severe consequences for their actions.

Many were imprisoned, including Pamo Kusang, who led the demonstrations. Some were tortured, died in prison, or were executed.

It was a historical turning point in many ways – the Dalai Lama was eventually to flee Tibet to establish himself in exile in India, and the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) was established.

One of their primary aims was “to join hands with the women of the world to promote peace and justice for all.”

Even when they were exiled to India, from where they still operate, the TWA continued to draw increasing support from women all over the world.

So while the Chinese authorities and Tibetan dissenters continued to clash, the women provided a strong but peaceful voice in the ongoing struggle against oppression.

Their protests were smaller than those of their fellow countrymen, but they were powerful in their symbolism and concentrated on the message of non-violence.

In more recent times, however, the women of Tibet have been taking far more desperate measures in their struggle to have the plight of Tibet recognized.

Radio Free Asia reported that this week, in two separate incidents, Tsering Kyi, a 19 year old student, and Rinchen, a widowed mother of four, set fire to themselves in protest over Chinese oppression. (see WVoN story)

In total, five women have taken these extreme steps in the last five months.

If the drastic actions of these women are shocking, then the reaction of the Chinese authorities is perhaps equal cause for concern.

According to The Guardian, when Tsering Kyi set fire to herself on Saturday at a vegetable market in Maqu in the Gansu province, Chinese market vendors threw stones at her burning body.

The next day Rinchen self-immolated in front of the besieged Kirti Monastery in eastern Tibet.  The Chinese authorities labeled the Tibetan self-immolators as terrorists.

It would seem that the practice is becoming more widespread among women, as the TWA say that these were the first laywomen in Tibet's history to self immolate.

Only nuns or former nuns had previously set fire to themselves. Historically the protests have been centered around religious freedom and the return and reinstatement of the Dalai Lama.

It's probably little co-incidence that these events took place just before the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) parliamentary meeting in Beijing, which began on Monday.

And it will be worrying for Tibetans – and China's other neighbours – that during the first day of the conference, Premier Wen Jiabao said the main task of the country’s growing military was “to win local wars.”

Whether or not Premier Wen was referring directly – or indirectly – to Tibet, it remains clear that the Chinese are unmoved by the desperate actions of these women.

Stephanie Brigden, the Director of London-based Free Tibet said the self-immolations by desperate women are "an extremely worrying and absolutely unprecedented trend that we hope will end."

The TWA, which campaigns to raise awareness of gender specific human rights violations in Tibet, acknowledged the gravity of the deaths, but also paid tribute to the part women have continued to play in the resistance to Chinese rule, peaceful or otherwise.

Their website carried this message:

“TWA sends a message to Tibetans and supporters to commemorate the upcoming 53rd anniversary of the National Tibetan Women's Uprising on the 12th March and partake in TWA global actions on the day, honoring female martyrdom and lending a voice to the growing female resistance in Tibet against Chinese oppression.

“TWA believes that the steadfast, undeterred presence of Tibetan women and their resilience in the face of oppression encourages this self-sustaining struggle to rise against injustices and a repressive regime.”

It's nearly 53 years since the peaceful protests of the women in Lhasa made history.  What a tragedy that the protests of recent days have given rise to such different headlines.

Women fighting against harassment in Afghanistan

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PST

Lucy Miller
WVoN co-editor

The fight for equality in Afghanistan is being stepped up a notch by a group of pioneering young females.

Young Women for Change (YWC) is a grassroots movement for gender equality in Afghanistan, founded in April 2011 by Noorjahan Akbar and Anita Hadiary.

There have been women's groups in Afghanistan for half a century, but the new generation is making more noise than ever before.

The organisation is one of the first advocacy groups set up by, and for, Afghan women. Its members fight for long-term empowerment and social inclusion, focusing their energies on female education.

On January 13 and 14, Hadiary's documentary film, entitled “This is My City Too,” was premiered to a group of 25 men and women at the Certe Media headquarters in Kabul.

The film shows interviews discussing the reasons behind street harassment.

Today, International Women's Day 2012, Young Women for Change is launching its biggest project yet – an internet café in Kabul.

Hadiary says: "The primary purpose of this internet cafe is to create a place for Afghan women where they feel safe, and that connects them to the world – to empower them by giving them access to knowledge outside their small framed world.

“The second purpose is to provide a place for where they can interact and talk about their issues, create debate and learn from each other’s experience and knowledge.

“The other purpose of creating this internet cafe is to show people that we can build something totally from donations and local projects and make it sustainable. This will be the first independent, all women internet cafe in Kabul."

Akbar and Hadiary formed the group in response to the slow pace of change over the last decade, and they aren't willing to compromise with conservatives.

Instead of quotas or policies, they want concrete things to change – the behaviour of men towards women on the streets, the behaviour and attitudes of police, and the decisions made by courts.

Last July they marched through downtown Kabul, in Afghanistan's first ever public demonstration against sexual harassment (see WVoN story).

Akbar, in an interview with UN Dispatch, said that she was motivated to set up YWC because existing women's groups were not interested in recruiting younger members.

It is a myth, she says, that only the uneducated or those in rural communities in Afghanistan hold views that are oppressive to women, arguing that strongly conservative beliefs are widely held among the educated and university students.

Story links, March 8, 2012

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 03:54 AM PST

Every day we'll post up a number of story links that we think are interesting.

They won't necessarily be from that day, but usually will not be more than a few days old.

The following are the ones we’ve found today.

INDIA: International women’s day: Married women executives opting for foreign stints to boost career, The Economic Times, March 8, 2012

SWAZILAND: Swaziland’s women have little to celebrate, Sky News, March 8, 2012

UGANDA: Stop Kony, yes. But don’t stop asking questions, The Independent Blogs, March 7, 2012

AFGHANISTAN: Hamid Kharzai under fire on Afghan women’s rights, The Telegraph, March 8, 2012

US: Abortion – depression link doesn’t hold up, mental health researchers say, The Huffington Post, March 8, 2012

UK: Sexist remarks and wolf-whistles could become criminal offences, The Guardian, March 8, 2012

UK: Stalking to be made specific criminal offence – Cameron, BBC News, March 8, 2012

AUSTRALIA: Julia Gillard’s rise marks the triumph of machine politics over feminism, New Statesman, March 8, 2012

EUROPE: Women in the European Parliament, report for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2012

Revealed: The best and worst places to be a woman, The Independent, March 4, 2012

Tackling world hunger

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 03:30 AM PST

Mariam Zaidi
WVoN co-editor

March 8 marks International Women's Day.

Whether it's a corporation, charity, the media or a private organisation, the goal is the same – to honour and celebrate women around the world and, very importantly, to highlight suffering or issues women face all year round.

In their effort to mark International Women's Day, the World Development Movement (WDM) is calling for action to tackle escalating world food prices.

Poverty itself is a huge contributing factor to world hunger.  It is no surprise that the countries worst affected generally herald from the developing world.

According to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) 578 million people in Asia Pacific alone go without food.

But the WDM says year on year food prices have jumped by 24 per cent from 2010 to 2011, resulting in more hunger, more malnutrition and greater poverty worldwide.

Of the 925 million people who go hungry every year, 555 million are women.

Shockingly, 315,000 women die annually in childbirth due to lack of iron.

Deborah Doane, director of the World Development Movement, says: “Soaring food prices are a problem for everyone, but they're a particular problem for women, to whom it usually falls to feed everyone else.

“We've heard of cases not only where women are going without food, but also where sudden price spikes force them to take on risky and demeaning work like prostitution.

“And when pregnant or breastfeeding women go hungry, of course, the health impacts on their children are permanent and devastating.

She added that “Short term food price hikes also impact on long term opportunities for women, as girls' education is often the first thing to be cut when rising food prices squeeze household budgets”.

The WDM says financial speculation by banks and hedgefunds is fuelling food price volatility and driving up prices.

Ms Doane said: ”Speculation benefits no one but a few wealthy bankers, and if we don't tackle it now, efforts to improve the lives of women in developing countries will falter.”

The US is introducing new measures to limit speculation through the Dodd Frank Wall street Reform Act.  The European Commission is trying to adopt similar measures and will take a vote on proposals later on this year.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 12:51 AM PST


We thought long and  hard at WVoN about how to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).

There was no easy answer, but last night we were sent a video by two multimedia journalists at Glasgow Caledonian – Rachael Fulton and Aimee Beveridge – that seemed to fit the bill.

They interviewed a range of women, some family members, some friends and some total strangers whom they had stopped in the street.

Some were from Scotland, others from Botswana, Russia, Sri Lanka, India and China.

All of them had a unique story to tell.

The aim of their video was to raise awareness of  the opportunities open to British women and “to acknowledge just how far we've come and how important it is to appreciate women of different cultures and prevent them from being undervalued or discriminated against.

“All  the mothers, daughters, friends, grandmothers, girlfriends and other women in our life make us who we are and should be celebrated, not just tomorrow but every day. We hope you enjoy our short film.”

UN Women call for gender equality for International Women’s Day

Posted: 08 Mar 2012 12:40 AM PST

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of equality body UN Women, has issued her call to action for International Women's Day.

The theme of her address is greater political participation and increased economic empowerment among women, with a particular focus on women in rural areas.

Chilean born Ms Bachelet is the first Executive Director of UN Women, taking up the post in September 2010, when she was appointed to the newly created body by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Hers is a career that has been marked by firsts – she was the first woman to hold the post of Defense Minister in any Latin American country, and she would eventually go on to become the first female President of Chile.

Since the inaugural appointment of Ms Bachelet to head up UN women, she has led their work on gender equality, focusing on the empowerment of women both economically and socially, across all demographics.

Her International Women's Day message, issued in a UN Women press release, underpins the theme of the official UN observance: "Empower Rural Women: End Poverty and Hunger."

She will commemorate International Women’s Day from Morocco, to underline the need for women to be fully involved in the democratic transition processes in that region.

Ms Bachelet will join, via video message, the gathering at the UN Headquarters in New York, alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other equality leaders and activists.

Her address urges the increased participation and involvement of women in politics, in society and in the economy, in order to further equality of rights and opportunity, particularly for women in rural areas.

She begins with a statement on UN Women, and their journey so far:

“This International Women's Day, I join women around the globe in solidarity for human rights, dignity and equality. This sense of mission drives me and millions of people around the world to pursue justice and inclusion.

“Looking back at the first year of UN Women, I applaud every individual, government and organization working for women's empowerment and gender equality. I promise the highest commitment moving forward.

“From the government that changes its laws, to the enterprise that provides decent work and equal pay, to the parents that teach their daughter and son that all human beings should be treated the same, equality depends on each of us.”

She goes on to acknowledge that much has changed for women in her lifetime, saying:

“During the past century, since the observance of the first International Women's Day, we have witnessed a transformation in women's legal rights, educational achievements, and participation in public life.

“In all regions, countries have expanded women's legal entitlements. Women have taken many steps forward.

“More women are exercising leadership in politics and business, more girls are going to school, and more women survive childbirth and can plan their families.”

However, she continues with the warning that much has yet to be done and that inequality is still pernicious and widespread.

“…..while tremendous progress has been made, no country can claim to be entirely free from gender-based discrimination.

“This inequality can be seen in persistent gender wage gaps and unequal opportunities, in low representation of women in leadership in public office and the private sector, in child marriage and missing girls due to son preference, and in continuing violence against women in all its forms.”

She also highlights how women in rural areas see the most severe gender disparities, in every facet of life :

“Nowhere are disparities and barriers greater than in rural areas for women and girls.

“Rural women and girls comprise one in four people worldwide……. Providing women farmers with equal access to resources would result in 100 to 150 million fewer hungry people.

“Providing women with income, land rights and credit would mean fewer malnourished children.

“Studies show that higher levels of gender equality correlate positively with higher levels of per capita gross national product.

“Opening economic opportunities to women would significantly raise economic growth and reduce poverty.”

But Ms Bachelet's overarching message is clear and consistent.  She believes that the solution to an increasingly problematic world – economically, socially, politically – is “the full empowerment and participation of the world's women.”

As she says, “We simply can no longer afford to leave women out.”

She finished her address by saying:

“Today on International Women's Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to women's rights and move forward with courage and determination.

“Let us defend human rights, the inherent dignity and worth of the human person, and the equal rights of men and women.”