Archive for October, 2009
Plans to open branches of a Malaysian “Polygamy Club” in Indonesia have upset women’s groups and religious leaders in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, who say the search for multiple wives should be handled privately — not by a matchmaking service. Under Islamic law, Muslim men are permitted four wives. The club claims a [...]
The presence of bawdy houses that often parade women in a line up so clients can have their pick conflicts with values of human dignity and equality, a lawyer defending Canada’s prostitution laws said on Tuesday. Speaking for the Attorney General of Ontario, Christine Bartlett-Hughes said banning brothels is parliament’s way of curtailing the commodification [...]
Several state lawmakers met with about 30 prostitutes over the weekend to explain likely changes in the state law that will close a loophole that has made Rhode Island the only state where prostitution is legal as long as it occurs indoors, The Providence Journal reports. Most of the prostitutes were Koreans who work at [...]
Federal officials rescued 52 children and arrested nearly 700 people over the last three days in a nationwide crackdown on child prostitution. Almost 1,600 agents and officers took part in the raids, which followed investigations in 36 cities, according to the FBI, local law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. [...]
Over the past few years, health workers in Malawi have noticed an unforeseen consequence of the availability of free antiretrovirals: more rape victims are showing up in hospitals. Since 2005, when the Global Fund began providing AIDS drugs to the country, word has been spreading that Post Exposure Prophylaxis, a 30-day preventative combination of the [...]
Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem officially opened Jerusalem’s first center for the treatment of sexual abuse and domestic violence on Tuesday, aimed at easing the trauma for victims of rape, sexual assault or related violence during the after-care process. According to Dr. Sagit Arbel-Alon, director of the new Bat Ami Center, it will provide [...]
The Libyan government should investigate allegations of sexual harassment in a state-run residence for women who had been orphaned instead of charging the journalist who reported the story with criminal defamation – Human Rights Watch Mohamed al-Sareet, a Libyan journalist, wrote on Jeel Libya, an independent news website based in London, about a rare demonstration [...]
Some governments’ broad counter-terrorism laws are punishing women and gays and suppressing groups pushing gender equality, a U.N. envoy of human rights and counter-terrorism said on Monday. Many of these people are caught between being victims of extremist groups and victims of counter-terrorism measures, said Martin Scheinin, a U.N. special rapporteur on promotion and protection [...]
• Nordic countries continue to have the smallest equality gaps between men and women • Report demonstrates that engaging women equally with men in all aspects of life is imperative for economically competitive and prosperous societies • In particular, for rapid, sustainable economic recovery from financial crisis, integrating women and girls imperative • Download: report, [...]
Something is stirring in the home of western European chauvinism. Italian womanhood is rising up. An online petition decrying the way female politicians are treated by Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister and billionaire businessman, has gathered 100,000 signatures. A slogan – “I am not a woman at your disposal” – is catching on. It is aimed [...]
Red light for Burqa-wearing drivers in Bahrain http://www.ips.org/blog/mdg3/ LATIN AMERICA: Big Gender, Ethnic Gaps in Wages Found http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48820 PHILIPPINES: Women in Troubled South Bear Heavy Burden of Conflict http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48826 UGANDA: Wanted: New Messengers on Women’s Rights http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48823 Q&A: Invest in Young People in Latin America http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48813 HEALTH: Africa Leads World in Premature Infant Deaths http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48745 [...]
Over two thirds of people in the world who are blind are women announce the development charity Sightsavers International, who was speaking out about this staggering gender bias this World Sight Day (8 October). Today there are more than 20 million women in the world who are needlessly blind, 90% of whom live in developing [...]
Women are being excluded from the debate over climate change, despite being most at risk, and governments should do more to ensure their situations and views are represented, campaigners and experts say. So far, climate change negotiations have responded poorly to the effects on women, activists say. And while global policies advocate a gender perspective, [...]
Countries where women’s literacy rates and access to education are significantly worse than men’s tend to have higher levels of hunger, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). “Wherever women are not empowered you see high levels of hunger,” Suresh Babu, a senior research fellow with IFPRI, told IRIN. The institute’s 2009 Global [...]
The convergence of the different aspects of the crisis of global capitalism today confirms that we are faced with systemic economic, ecological and social crises, which combine to produce a crisis of civilisation. In this paper* we indicate some of the ways in which this crisis particularly affects women. Women were already at the bottom [...]
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Zainah Anwar, a leading Malaysian social activist and intellectual, is one of the founding members of ‘Sisters in Islam’, an activist group struggling for the rights of Muslim women. She is also one of the pioneers of Musawah, a recently launched initiative to build a global movement for equality and justice [...]
Somalia’s hardline Islamist group al Shabaab has publicly whipped women for wearing bras they say violate Islam by constituting a deception, north Mogadishu residents said last week. The insurgent group, which seeks to impose a strict form of sharia Islamic law throughout Somalia, amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused [...]
* Humanitarian workers call for accountability for crimes * 110,000 return to homes in volatile Rwanda border zone * Concerns about cross-border expulsions in Angola, Congo Some 5,400 women have reported being raped this year in one province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations said last week. Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the [...]
Canadian Member of Parliament John Rafferty (Thunder Bay – Rainy River) delivered a statement in the House last week calling for cooperation to end violence against Aboriginal women. “Aboriginal women continue to experience higher than average rates of sexualized violence in Canada,” said Rafferty. “It’s an injustice, pure and simple.” Outside the House, Rafferty praised [...]
Recent postings- Towards a Future without Fundamentalisms: New Report Analyzes Religious Fundamentalist Strategies and Feminist Responses
- Statement on the Murder of Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, women’s human rights defender of Ciudad Juarez
- Sudan police arrest women protesting at flogging video
- UN Chief Leaves Women out of Year-End Summing Up
- Sex education is expelled from Egyptian schools
- Kurdish Parliament Turns Blind Eye to Prostitution
- Sexual harassment cases in Israel’s civil service rose 40% in 2010
- Women in south Sudan have been targeted in a string of abusive attacks by police cracking down on Western clothes
- Women and girls living in Haiti’s makeshift camps face an increasing risk of rape and sexual violence says Amnesty International new report
- Stand up against hatred and threats against LGBT in Malaysia
- new on womensgrid
- Tower Hamlets Residents Solidarity Campaign – Solidarity with women involved in prostitution in east London
- East London Fawcett: Free Gallery Tour ~ 12 May & Pay Gap Talk ~ 23rd May 2012
- The Light Bulb Moment and future of feminism Book launch and panel – Bristol ~ 15th May 2012
- Hollaback! Portsmouth launch event – Tuesday 22nd May 2012
- Run for Congo Women – Deadline extended to 25th May 2012!
- Fast fall in number of male-only FTSE 100 boards
- Why has the UK got so few women scientists?
- The Haven Wolverhampton E Bulletin May 2012
- 2 vacancies – Shakti Women’s Aid (Edinburgh) ~ 28th May 2012
- Volunteering for Dorset Rape Crisis Centre
- new on women in london
- Information added in March 2012
- Information added in February 2012
- Information added in January 2012
- Pro-Choice Public Meeting – Abortion Rights ~16th May 2012
- Fawcett on Queen’s speech: flexible parental leave / red tape challenge
- Policy and Campaigns Internship – Power and Agency campaign – Fawcett ~ 22nd May 2012
- Administration and Finance Worker – Women in Prison ~ 18th May 2012
- A Women’s Agenda for the Local Elections May 2012 – Survey Results
- Friends of the Women’s Library update on the future of the Library
- Women in Black, vigils and Facebook page
“Women Will Benefit From Secularism” – Nawal El-Saadawi
28 October 2009 in Equality, Faith, Feminism, Government, Middle East, Opinion Comment
Controversy stalks dissident writer Nawal El-Saadawi, whose views on women and religion have put her at odds with Egyptian conservatives. Recently she returned to Cairo after nearly three years in exile, and has already created a stir with the launch of a local chapter of her global campaign for the separation of religion and state. [...]