The greatest Casualty of the Feminist Revolution may be the Feminist Vision Itself

4 February 2009 in Feminism, North America, Publication

Putting lipstick on a feminist is not the same as a vision. Feminist Utopias have become personal spaces – spaces for lipstick or not; high heels or not; glamour; children, and dreams small enough to be accomplished by shopping, exercising or getting the right man or the right sperm. According to Ellie The Noughtie Girls [...]

Women’s Groups in Canada Urge Social Infrastructure Spending and EI Reform, and Warn against Pay Equity Rollbacks in Upcoming Budget

4 February 2009 in Employment Work, Equality, Funding, Government, North America, Women's Group

Advocates for women’s equality have sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leaders, urging them to consider measures that affect women in the upcoming budget. “Women are half the population of Canada and they cannot afford to ignore us,” said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and [...]

Women of all ages, backgrounds and achievements were honoured at the National Heroes Day in Caymen

4 February 2009 in Awards or Nominations, Equality, Gender Mainstreaming, Government, South America

A new statue called Aspiration, depicting two women, one young and one older, mounting stairs was unveiled as a tribute to the work and struggles of the women of Cayman and to the future generations of women. During a 90–minute ceremony, to the background sound of flags and bunting flapping noisily in the breeze, 15 [...]

Still in Shock, Gaza Women Tell Their Stories

4 February 2009 in Childbirth Pregnancy, Middle East, War Conflict

In the Gaza Strip, women gave first-person accounts of the ordeals they suffered in the 22-day war that ended Jan. 17. One woman’s baby was born to the sounds of missiles. There may be a ceasefire here, but no there’s no cessation to the suffering of women who survived this month’s 22-day war. “We’ve seen [...]

UNICEF appeals for just over $1 billion to help children and women suffering in emergencies

4 February 2009 in Childbirth Pregnancy, Children Parenting, Climate Environment, Global, Health, Poverty, Violence Against Women, War Conflict

UNICEF’s 2009 Humanitarian Action Report (HAR) highlights the plight of children and women around the globe in humanitarian emergencies. The Humanitarian Action Report is UNICEF’s annual funding appeal for protracted emergencies and is seeking just over $1 billion to assist children and women in 36 countries. The amount sought is some 17 per cent higher [...]

African First Ladies call for more political power to check HIV/AIDS

4 February 2009 in Africa, Gender Mainstreaming, Government, HIV/AIDS

Ethiopia’s First Lady Azeb Mesfin called for greater political power for women to prop their influence in the war against the triple threat of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis on the continent. In her inaugural address as the newly-elected president of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), Mesfin said here that marginalisation of [...]

Davos forum calls for greater efforts to provide girls with education

4 February 2009 in Employment Work, Equality, Europe, Global, Government

There is a simple way to help rejuvenate many of the world’s economies: invest in the education of girls and make sure they don’t become victims of the global financial meltdown, Nike’s chief executive, the head of UNICEF and Melinda Gates agreed. For the first time, the World Economic Forum devoted one of its marquee [...]

Gains and Disappointments on Women’s Rights in the US

4 February 2009 in Employment Work, Equality, Government, North America

The new law supporting the right to equal pay is a major step forward for women, but dropping funds for contraceptives from the economic stimulus package will impede women’s rights and cost more in the long run, Human Rights Watch has said. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, the first bill President Obama signed, [...]

5 year old girl wins sexual harrassment case against school committee in the US

4 February 2009 in Children Parenting, Education, North America, Rape and Sexual Assault

Few reporters showed up for the Supreme Court’s hearing of a sexual harassment case involving a kindergartner. But Allison Stevens(*) sat in the front row, to oral arguments by the Supreme Court in the case of Jacqueline Fitzgerald, a kindergartner from Hyannis, Mass., who was sexually harassed as she rode the bus to school. It [...]

Harassment forces Afghan girls out of school

4 February 2009 in Asia, Children Parenting, Education, Violence Against Women

Every day, as they walked to school, Maryam Mansoor and her sister ran a gauntlet of intimidation and harassment by youths armed with knives. “A lot of my classmates and other female students don’t come to school anymore because they fear the boys’ harassment and kidnappings,” said Maryam, 18, who finally quit school at her [...]

Struggle for Justice by Deceived Afghan Bride Resonates in India

4 February 2009 in Asia, Faith, Family Marriage Partnership, Legal Police

Twenty-year-old Sabra Ahmadzai finished her final high school test in Afghanistan, took out a bank loan and then flew to India on the last day of November. She came to look for an Indian army doctor who she said had deceived, married and then abandoned her in Kabul, making her an object of shame and [...]