Women's Views on News |
- Women human rights volunteers needed in Palestine
- Women in Mumbai tell the “eve teasers” what they’d like to do to them
- Italian women stage march to highlight impact of recession
- Man arrested after sex worker uses Twitter to sound alarm
- Prison for Afghan family who tortured underage bride
- Media turns its sights on France’s new first lady
| Women human rights volunteers needed in Palestine Posted: 09 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT
The International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS) is a small team of international female human rights activists in Palestine, and is currently looking for women who would like to join them. The organisation:
IWPS is run entirely by volunteers, and is committed to peace and justice. Successful applicants will be invited to take in part in a seven-day training course being held in Portugal in September 2012. The training will be provided by experienced IWPS volunteers. You will be expected to serve a minimum of one and a maximum of three months in the West Bank, Palestine, as well as supporting the organisation’s work outside of Palestine. Applicants should be able to commit to further terms in Palestine. Short term volunteers are also welcome to apply. For more information and to download an application pack please click here, or contact IWPS on applyiwps@gmail.com Places are limited, so best to apply as soon as possible.  |
| Women in Mumbai tell the “eve teasers” what they’d like to do to them Posted: 09 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT Alison Clarke A street video survey by creative agency, Fat Lady, has revealed some interesting ways that the women of Mumbai would like to deal with guys who harass them on the streets – known as “eve teasing” in India. In response to the question ’What would you do if you got your hands on an Eve Teaser?, responses ranged from 'give them a full body wax” to “break a leg” to “tie them in chains on two poles, take a whip and hit them”. Although often tongue-in-cheek, the answers reflect the frustration of women who have to deal with "eve teasing" (which includes staring, groping, lewd gestures and remarks) on a daily basis, making most streets and public spaces very inhospitable and unsafe for women. But it’s no laughing matter. The reality is that in India:
The idea for the campaign came from Cool Dose, an Indian video entertainment website.  |
| Italian women stage march to highlight impact of recession Posted: 09 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT
The widows of men who have committed suicide as a result of Italy’s financial crisis have staged a protest in Bologna to draw attention to the problems caused by unemployment and bankruptcy. Called the ‘white widows’ by the media, the 25 women called for more to be done to help Italians who are struggling as a result of austerity, a stagnant economy and record job losses. “White” accidents refer to workplace deaths and so the name given to the widows suggests that their husbands’ suicides are work-related. Up to 70 suicides are reported to have taken place in Italy since January as a result of financial difficulties. Tiziana Marrone has emerged as a leader of the group since she read out her husband Giuseppe Campaniello’s suicide note on national television shortly after his death in hospital on 6 April. On Saturday she placed flowers at the charred spot of pavement outside the Bologna tax office where the unemployed bricklayer had set fire to himself nine days before he died as a result of his injuries. “My battle is not just mine, it is of all the Italians who find themselves in my condition, and most of all of the widows of those families, who don’t know where to turn to pay all these debts,” Marrone said. Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour Marrone, herself unemployed, said that families have fallen into despair as a result of unemployment and the burden of government taxes. Nothing is being done to help them or the widows who remain saddled with the debts following their husbands’ suicides, she said. “We need help from our government,” Marrone added. “They are wanting too much money from the people and there is no work and high prices.” Journalist Andrea Vogt, who is based in Bologna, said that there were “many more” women affected than the 25 who were willing to speak out: “This protest march is actually putting its finger on a bigger issue and that is the rising tide of populist anger in Italy over continued sacrifices and austerity cuts and taxes while the politicians are seen to be living this life of luxury. “These women, these widows going forward and speaking out about the hardship their families are facing speaks to a lot of different Italians. I think there will be a lot of sympathy for these women and their courage.”  |
| Man arrested after sex worker uses Twitter to sound alarm Posted: 09 May 2012 04:30 AM PDT
A man is believed to be in police custody after a sex worker in Adelaide, Australia, used Twitter to alert other women of an attempted rape. The sex worker, who uses the Twitter name Grace Bellavue is reported to have posted a photograph of the alleged attacker in a Tweet that said: “This is him. If you live in Adelaide and know this guy, call me ASAP. He’s escalating.” The Tweet was re-tweeted numerous times and prompted responses from other sex workers who alleged they had been attacked by the same man. Grace Bellavue first tweeted about the attack last month: “It’s 2012. No human should have to face assault and attempted rape at work,” she wrote. After reporting the incident to Adelaide police the woman is said to have suggested on social media sites that she was concerned her report was not taken seriously.  |
| Prison for Afghan family who tortured underage bride Posted: 09 May 2012 03:00 AM PDT
The in-laws of a 15-year-old Afghan girl have been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after they were found guilty of torturing and abusing her. Following her arranged marriage, Sahar Gul had been imprisoned in a cellar by her husband and members of his family who ripped out her fingernails, broke her fingers and tortured her with hot irons in an attempt to force her into prostitution. She was found in December after her uncle tipped off police in the Baghlan province. Her husband’s father, mother and sister were each sentenced to 10 years in prison by a court in Kabul. Gul’s husband, a member of the Afghan army and her brother-in-law who are both on the run, were found guilty in their absence. Gul had called for the death penalty after showing the judge the scars she had received on her scalp, face and neck as a result of her ordeal. Huma Safi, programme manager for Women for Afghan Women, which works for women’s rights in the country has been caring for the teenager since her rescue, is reported saying that although Gul was happy they had been sent to jail she also feared what would happen when they were released: “I saw the happiness on her face – but also the fear,” Safi said. “The fear that in 10 years they will be able to leave jail. Ten years is not a long time. She said: ‘Look how old I am. Ten years will go past very fast’. Heather Barr, a researcher for Human Rights Watch Afghanistan, described the sentences as “encouraging” because they showed that “at least in this instance, the prosecutors have taken an act of violence against women seriously”. The case caused anger in Afghanistan where young women belonging to the campaign group Young Women for Change set up an internet cafe in honour of the teenager (see WVoN story). A member of the group wrote of her sadness that women had been involved in Gul’s torture: “Many women grow up with unconscious misogynist tendencies. They step on other women's rights because their rights have been violated by society. They oppress because they have been oppressed. But we shall put an end to this. “We shall put an end to this vicious circle of violence that is going round and round. It seems never ending, and it will never end if we do not stand together.” Concerns have been growing that advances made by women in recent years could be bargained away in an attempt to secure peace with the Taliban when the US army leaves. In March, the country's religious council issued a controversial statement, apparently with President Kamid Karzai's backing, that women were "secondary" to men and that husbands could beat wives under certain circumstances (see WVoN story).  |
| Media turns its sights on France’s new first lady Posted: 09 May 2012 01:30 AM PDT
We should prepare ourselves: the new French president François Hollande has a partner and he is not married to her. And there’s more… Paris Match journalist Valerie Trierweiler is attractive, intelligent, accomplished and successful in her own right. This, as we know, is the stuff that the media goes crazy for. Even Trierweiler’s own magazine couldn’t resist putting her on its front page with the headline ”François Hollande’s Charming Asset”. Also a politics presenter on Cable TV, Trierweiler has said she intends to stay on at the magazine when she moves with Hollande to the Elysee Palace. Whether scandalised or supportive, we can expect a deluge of articles examining how France’s new first lady is “breaking the mould”. Of course, there are important issues at stake: Hollande was elected on a wave of anti-austerity feeling and has pledged to put growth at the heart of European economic policy. He has also vowed to take on sexism in French politics (see WVoN story). But it seems the press can’t help tying itself in knots over a First Lady, not even when they are associated with tyrannical regimes. Add to that the fact that Hollande and Trierweiler got together in 2005, two years before his separation with Segolene Royal was announced and both have ruled out marriage for the sake of protocol. You can bet that claims that the relationship is an “interesting milestone in the evolution of French attitudes to the sex lives of politicians” is no understatement. Just how long Trierweiler will be able to “keep it real” living in the media spotlight remains to be seen, but her Twitter feed does suggest that for a while at least we can expect her to respond with some gems in 140 characters . “Bravo Paris Match for its sexism…” wrote Trierweiler in response to its ‘Charming Asset’ headline, adding on International Women’s Day: ”My thoughts go out to all angry women.”  |
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