Is Pornography the New Tobacco?

27 April 2009 in North America, Opinion Comment, Pornography

Another curious reversal in moralizing Imagine a substance that is relatively new in the public square, but by now so ubiquitous in your society that a great many people find its presence unremarkable. Day in and day out, your own encounters with this substance, whether direct or indirect, are legion. Your exposure is so constant [...]

Stop Porn Culture Training – 5th to 7th June in Boston

27 April 2009 in North America, Pornography

Stop Porn Culture is planning our next training on how to present our feminist anti-pornography slideshow. The training will be held at Wheelock College in Boston on June 5-7, 2009. We are asking for a $50 donation to cover our costs, but this can be waived for those who need it. Limited scholarships for travel [...]

Sign the petition to build a UN that really works for all women!

27 April 2009 in Campaign, Gender Mainstreaming, Global, Government

This year, at the United Nations 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the GEAR Campaign launched a global petition (for individuals) calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Member States of the General Assembly to create a new, stronger women’s agency that: * is led by an Under Secretary-General in [...]

Occupation and Siege Sideline Rampant Domestic Violence in Gaza

27 April 2009 in Domestic Violence, Equality, Family Marriage Partnership, Legal Police, Middle East, War Conflict

A Palestinian woman fleeing her abusive husband in Gaza several weeks ago was stabbed to death by her enraged husband as the terrified woman sought shelter in her parents home. The unidentified victim was one of the rare statistics which made the headlines and where the police got involved. “This is just the tip of [...]

UN survey highlights psychological trauma in Gaza

27 April 2009 in Middle East, Research, War Conflict

The UN Inter-Agency Gender Task Force (IAGTF), a mechanism for integrating gender concerns into UN policies and programmes, on 23 April published the results of a household survey on the needs and perceptions of men and women in the aftermath of Israel’s recent 23-day military offensive in Gaza. The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews [...]

As Obama Escalates War Afgahan Women Face Growing Oppression

27 April 2009 in Asia, Equality, Faith, Violence Against Women, Women's Group

Interview with Yifat Susskind, communications director with MADRE, conducted by Melinda Tuhus Afghan women, long excluded from any public role, have become more visible in recent days. Legislation regulating family life for the nation’s Shiite minority was passed by the Afghan legislature and signed into law by President Hamid Karzai, even though critics — both [...]

Hilary Clinton stands up to pro life bullies

27 April 2009 in Abortion Contraception, Government, North America, Opinion Comment

Yesterday was a day to go down in history. It was the day that Hillary Clinton broke the political sound barrier. It was the day that someone, finally, after many years of dissembling by so many, stood up to the perpetual hot air balloon that is Congressman Chris Smith and revealed that he has no [...]

Chinese Bias for Baby Boys Creates a Gap of 32 Million

27 April 2009 in Abortion Contraception, Asia, Children Parenting, Equality, Research

A bias in favor of male offspring has left China with 32 million more boys under the age of 20 than girls, creating “an imminent generation of excess men,” according to a study released last week. For the next 20 years, China will have increasingly more men than women of reproductive age, according to the [...]

Sierra Leone Chiefs ban genital cutting for girls under 18

27 April 2009 in Africa, Children Parenting, Violence Against Women

In Sierra Leone village chiefs, community members and women who perform female genital cutting have signed an agreement stating that girls in northern Kambia district will not undergo genital mutilation – or ‘cutting’ – before age 18. The number of girls being cut during the December 2008-January 2009 initiation season in Kambia dropped drastically, according [...]

France campaigns against forced marriages and genital mutilation

27 April 2009 in Campaign, Europe, Family Marriage Partnership, Violence Against Women

France launched a new campaign to warn potential victims of forced marriages and female genital mutilation with stark posters and booklets showing a wedding ring made of barbed wire. France is home to an estimated 55,000 victims of female genital mutilation, mostly of African origin, and some 70,000 young women who are at risk of [...]

Media Spotlight on Domestic Violence in Romania

27 April 2009 in Domestic Violence, Europe, Media

Campaigners in Romania have very effectively used the media to break the public silence around the issue of domestic violence against women, and lobby for changes in laws. Over many weeks, public interest ads featuring celebrities, both male and female, from the world of music and the electronic media, with artificial bruises and scars, have [...]

New Zealand police deny that they are not tackling the issue of domestic violence adequately

27 April 2009 in Australasia, Domestic Violence, Publication

The claim has been made by an international human rights group that visited New Zealand last year and compiled a report on how the country deals with domestic violence. The report*, issued in Wellington by the Leitner Centre for International Law and Justice at New York’s Fordham Law School, considers violence against women in the [...]

Australian Family Court removes two children from their mother in favour of father and new partner

27 April 2009 in Australasia, Children Parenting, Family Marriage Partnership, Legal Police

It was once widely assumed that children were better off with their mothers, especially after divorce. In part, that was because mothers did most of the child-rearing. They got pregnant, gave birth and did most of the heavy lifting – nappy changes, toilet-training and school pick-ups – as the children got older. The role played [...]

Canada’s Leadership in Pay Equity Eroding

27 April 2009 in Employment Work, Equality, Financial, North America

Emanuela Heyninck, pay equity commissioner of Ontario, speaks out against a threatened erosion of wage rights for Canadian women in traditionally female occupations. Canadians have President Barack Obama to thank for raising awareness about equal pay and gender wage discrimination. By passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act early in his administration, Obama extended the [...]

Economic Crisis: Women Will Suffer Most – a comment from Australia

27 April 2009 in Australasia, Employment Work, Equality, Financial, Opinion Comment

As the economic crisis continues to worsen, with capitalism unable to stop the spiral towards a global depression that will plunge millions into poverty, women will experience the negative consequences more rapidly and with more severity. While the ruling class — owners of banks, corporations and also governments — search for ways to make workers [...]