Women's Views on News |
| Men and women according to The Sun Posted: 09 Dec 2014 04:57 AM PST
No More Page 3 campaigners spent 6 months collecting images of men and women from the pages of UK’s daily tabloid The Sun, and stuck them side-by-side on a wall to illustrate how The Sun portrays them. The startling results can be seen here. Unsurprisingly, women wear fewer clothes than their male counterparts. And whereas men are portrayed in active ways, women appear passive, and where men exhibit a range of emotions, the women tend overwhelmingly to be smiling or pouting. Perhaps even more incredibly, the only ‘older women’ pictured in the paper are the Queen, a woman on a mobility scooter, and Mrs Brown from the TV show Mrs Brown's Boys. And despite being a newspaper renowned for its sport coverage, during the 6-month period The Sun failed to print a single image of a woman participating in sport. The video accompanying the project asks the pertinent question: 'What messages do these images send?' Obviously unconcerned by the answer to that question, a spokesperson for The Sun commented: 'Some people have too much time on their hands. Although we're glad they were one of more than 2 million who buy and enjoy The Sun every single day.' The No More Page 3 campaign is calling for the paper to ditch its daily topless photos of women, citing the negative image they convey of women as sex objects. To sign their petition, click here.  |
| How you can raise hope in the Congo Posted: 09 Dec 2014 01:09 AM PST
For more than a century, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been plagued by regional conflict and a deadly scramble for its vast natural resources. In fact, greed for Congo's natural resources has been a principal driver of atrocities and conflict throughout Congo's tortured history. In eastern Congo today, these mineral resources are financing armed groups, many of whom use mass rape as a deliberate strategy to intimidate and control local populations, and thereby securing control of mines, trading routes and other strategic areas. Profit from the mineral trade is one of the main motives for actions by armed groups on all sides of the conflict in eastern Congo – and this is the deadliest conflict since World War II. And these armed groups earn hundreds of millions of dollars per year by trading four main minerals: the ores that produce tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. This money then enables the militias to purchase large numbers of weapons and continue their campaign of brutal violence against civilians. Some of the worst abuses occurring in mining areas. The majority of these minerals eventually wind up in electronic devices such as cell phones, portable music players, and computers. Given the lack of a transparent minerals supply chain, consumers have no way of ensuring that their purchases are not financing armed groups that regularly commit atrocities, including mass rape. In short: Congo’s conflict minerals leave a trail of destruction as they make their way from the mines in eastern Congo to the mobile phone in your pocket. How does the process work? What is the human cost? What can consumers do to help end the violence being fueled by Congo’s illicit mineral trade? This video makes it clear. In Congo's Gold: 60 Minutes investigated the role of gold in fueling Congo's deadly war, highlighting the hidden cost of the gold and other conflict minerals used in our jewellery, cell phones and electronics. It also detailed the Central African players and forces involved on the ground. But the thing is, you can help end the war. The conflict minerals problem is complicated, and the suffering in Congo is immense. But there is good news: because as we as electronics consumers are tied so directly to the problem we can actually play a role in ending the violence. But we need to raise our collective voice as consumers and demand conflict-free electronics: by putting pressure on electronics companies to remove conflict minerals from their supply chains, we can help remove fuel from the fire in Congo. What you can actually do: Urge your college to go conflict-free. The Conflict-Free Campus Initiative draws on the power of student leadership and activism to bring about peace in Congo. You can encourage university officials and stakeholders, both of whom are large purchasers of electronics and powerful spokespersons, to commit to measures that pressure electronics companies to only invest responsibly in Congo’s minerals sector. Or you can tell jewellery companies: “conflict-free gold from Congo matters to me.” Gold has emerged as the most lucrative conflict mineral because it is easy to smuggle small quantities but make large profits. Watch and share this video “Conflict Gold 101” to learn about how we are connected to Congo's conflict gold trade. Armed groups use mass rape and violence to secure control of mines and strategic trading routes, and more than USD600 million in gold is estimated to leave Congo annually. Conflict gold mined at one of the 15 major mines in eastern Congo follows six steps in a supply chain until it reaches its final form – gold bars or jewellery. Cleaning up the trade in conflict gold is essential to finding a lasting solution to the ongoing war. You can also tell your tech company: “make fully conflict-free products with minerals from Congo.” Use your consumer power to make more responsible purchasing decisions. Send messages to companies you purchase from, reminding them how important conflict-free from Congo is to you. Commit to purchasing conflict-free cell phones, laptops and other electronics Address the link between the conflict in eastern Congo and our electronics products. Demand conflict-free electronics that include minerals from eastern Congo. And urge your friends to join you in coming clean for Congo. When the public cried out about blood diamonds, governments and the diamond companies listened. This could be even bigger. Your voice matters. Please spread the word. Thank you.  |
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