More information on the crisis: “Nicaragua: Feminists under threat and attack” Continue reading
Nicaragua: Feminists under attack by fundamentalist forces
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Category Archives: economic justice
Fwd: A fost lansata Campania Respectului pentru Femei
In Romania, in fiecare minut doua femei sunt victime ale violentei domestice[1]
Bucuresti, 4 decembrie 2008. Pentru a aduce acesta realitate dura in atentia opiniei publice, AVON Romania, cu sprijinul Centrului pentru Jurnalism Independent, a lansat astazi Campania Respectului pentru Femei. Campania are drept scop prevenirea violentei impotriva femeilor prin educarea publicului si prin sustinerea proiectelor sociale care combat acest fenomen. Continue reading
Fw: call for papers European Roma Women’s Magazine
via crina
Timisoara, 03.11.2008.
Dear colleague and friend,
The Association of Gypsy Women ‘For Our Children’ from Timisoara and of Foundation Desire from Cluj, Romania, launches a new journal, entitled European Roma Women’s Magazine. This became possible due to the financial support of the Open Society Foundation’s Roma Participation Program.
The magazine will be published once in a year in English with Romani abstracts. We prepare and print out its first issue by the end of March 2009 (collecting its articles by the end of January 2009).
Our Magazine addresses the complex and complicated issue of “Roma women” at the intersection of their geopolitical position, ethnicity, social and economic status and age with the aim to represent the socio-cultural diversity of the European Roma women, seen in their immediate communities, and in the context of their relationship with both Roma men and non-Roma women. Crucial for us is the understanding of how they are subjected to multiple and intersectional discrimination, but also how they are acting as powerful agencies by fighting for the enhancement of the society within which they live, and for the changing into better the condition of their own, but as well as of other subordinated and disadvantaged social categories.
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some recent things of interest/citeva lucruri recente
- Dates for the 16 Days of Activism for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
25 November to 10 December 200825 Nov International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
01 Dec World AIDS Day
06 Dec Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre
10 Dec International Human Rights Day
- Norway to introduce “Swedish model”
Dear Friends,
I just received the news that the Norwegian Parliament passed the legislation that prohibits the purchase of a sexual service – 44 votes vot, 28 against. The Law will come into force on January 1, 2009!!!This is indeed a great victory for all of us. Congratulations to the all the women in Norway and internationally who worked to hard to get the law passed!!!!
Warmest greetings to all of you!
Gunilla
———— ——— —
Gunilla S. Ekberg
Co-Executive Director/Co- Directrice ExécutiveCoalition Against Trafficking in Women International/ Coalition Internationale contre la Traite des Femmes (CATW)
International Secretariat/ Sécretariat International
Mailing address/Adresse: rue Washington 40, B-1050 Brussels, BELGIUM
E-mail address/Adresse de courriel: gsekberg@catwintern ational.org
Phone/Tel.: +32 2 346 2350
Fax: +32 2 344 2003
Website/ Site Web: http://www.catwinternational.org
- Do Women Want Equality Of Outcomes Or Opportunities?
The World Economic Forum has released its annual Global Gender Gap Report and everyone from Matthew Kirdahy at Forbes to Kate Pickert at Time to Laura MacInnis at Reuters are all over the unsurprising news that the Scandanavian countries do better than the U.S. at gender equity — and the surprising news is that the Philippines, Lesotho, Mozambique and Moldova do too. Uh, what?
- RO: femeia europeana 2008, fwd nicoleta bitu, via crina
Fostul ministru al justitiei, Monica Macovei, a fost aleasa miercuri “Femeia Europei” in 2008 de catre un juriu format din europarlamentari si jurnalisti, relateaza NewsIn. Premiul urmeaza sa-i fie decernat de catre presedintele Parlamentului European, Hans Gert Poettering.
Monica Macovei fusese desemnata candidata Romaniei pentru acest premiu la 16 iunie de catre un juriu format din 25 de reprezentanti ai societatii civile si jurnalisti romani. Contracandidatele ei din Romania au fost Anamaria Marinca, actrita care a detinut rolul principal in filmul “4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile” castigator in 2007 al trofeului Palme d’Or al Festivalului de la Cannes, Margareta Matache, activista pentru drepturile minoritatilor, Iulia Motoc, expert in drept international, si Marta Petreu, profesor de filosofie la Universitatea Babes-Bolyai din Cluj.
Pentru a desemna reprezentanta Romaniei, juriul a avut in vedere anumite criterii cum ar fi activitatea dedicata promovarii valorilor europene si a rolului Europei in lume, angajament si initiative personale pentru sustinerea procesului de integrare europeana sau initiative originale si eficiente ale candidatei.
Apreciata de europarlamentari pentru reformele in domeniul justitiei si luptei anticoruptie, Monica Macovei a fost ministru al justitiei in perioada 2004-2007, in prezent fiind consultant special al premierului Republicii Macedonia pe probleme de combatere a coruptiei. De asemenea, este expert al Comisiei Europene in domeniul pregatirii personalului de specialitate din tarile candidate ale UE in domeniul combaterii coruptiei si reformei sistemului juridic.
Printre reformele care i-au adus aprecierea in UE, dar si critici acerbe din partea parlamentarilor romani, s-au numarat introducerea obligativitatii declaratiilor de avere pentru demnitari, infiintarea Directiei Nationale Anticoruptie, care pentru prima oara a inceput anchete de coruptie la nivel inalt.
- check out: colectiva la perlita (es)
- Ads target men who use trafficked women
MEN who buy sex from women trafficked into Ireland for prostitution are being targeted for the first time in an advertising campaign that warns they could go to jail.
- Woman Fed To Dogs: Taslim Solangi and an End to Civility
I am grown up enough now to believe that not every Pakistani household has its own feudal lord – though a significant amount of them are at the mercy of some lameass patriarchal messiah of sorts -and I am also firmly aware of the bitter truth that a very stringent sort of sexism prevalent in a large part of that country (as in mine) means a daily, almost ritualistic, persecution and defilement of women – emotionally, mentally, physically – as well as a thorough disregard for women’s rights.
Despite my usual preparedness for the abnormally grim, stories like Solangi’s still manage to scare me insane and fuel unbridled rage within me. Wrath is what I can feel right now, rising from the absolute pit of my stomach. Unadulterated and unmitigated anger. And I want to use this anger in a way that pulverizes the very core of our enforced patriarchal inheritance. I want my anger to be as brutal and as devoid of mercy as these murdering charlatans are.
I need revenge. We need revenge.
I could have chosen to satirize in my usual blasé manner because I find in humor – especially dark humor – a rock-hard and unshakable crutch. But this is not the time to seek crutches, it’s the time to demolish.
I beseech those academically fortified women amongst us, who love to deliberate about ethnocentric feminism’s strides in the warm comfort of their Ikea-decorated living rooms, to stand up and address this. Now. Without politeness and political correctness corrupting their ire. Because when young girls are left for dogs to feed on, very little room is left for civility.
- Obama Expected to Overturn Global Gag Rule
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The new president is also expected to lift a so-called global gag rule barring international family planning groups that receive U.S. aid from counseling women about the availability of abortion, even in countries where the procedure is legal, said Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he rescinded the Reagan-era regulation, known as the Mexico City policy, but Bush reimposed it.“We have been communicating with his transition staff” almost daily, Richards said. “We expect to see a real change.”
—–The Global Gag Rule literally kills thousands and thousands of women every year by putting already over-stretched clinics in an impossible position. They must generally choose between either having no money to provide life-saving care, or providing care while breaking doctor-patient trust and actively doing harm by deceit. What the hell do you choose?
Different organizations have different answers, but the fact is that it shouldn’t be a question. Doctors should be able to answer their patients’ inquiries honestly. Abortion should be treated as the routine and sometimes life-saving medical procedure that it is. And women deserve quality reproductive health care, whatever their needs. No woman should die because “pro-life” organizations on another continent have a superiority complex and think their tax dollars should only go to providing care for women they deem worthy enough.
Repealing the Global Gag Rule is only a start, but it’s a huge first step towards a real culture of life — one that respects and cares for the lives of women. And it’s absolutely at the very top of my list of things President Obama can do quickly and decisvely to make the world a better place within his first hours in the Oval Office. If he intends to live up to his campaign promises to protect women’s health and show the world that we’re more than a bunch of self-absorbed ideological assholes, he absolutely must do it. And I eagerly look forward to the moment when he does, because it will not come a moment too soon.
Canada: Indigenous Women and Violence (in English and French)
FAQNW [en/fr]
- “Indigenous Women and Violence”. A report presented to Yakin Ertürk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences
Published in January 2008; View document - “Les femmes autochtones et la violence au Canada”, mémoire présenté à la Rapporteure spéciale des Nations unies contre la violence à l’égard des femmes, ses causes et ses conséquences.
Publié en janvier 2008; Consultez le document
Studies have shown that indigenous women have a greater risk than any other group in Canada of being victims of domestic violence. According to the available evidence, they are also significantly more likely than non Indigenous women to report the most severe and potentially life- threatening forms of violence, including being beaten or choked, having had a gun or knife used against them, or being sexually assaulted. This study examines some of the possible reasons behind these figures, as well as providing some historical background on indigenous populations within Quebec. It notes that contributing factors include: systemic discrimination against Indigenous peoples, creating insecurities and tensions; economic and social deprivation; high levels of alcohol and substance abuse; poor, overcrowded living conditions; and the breakdown of traditional systems that granted indigenous women positions of equality and authority within their communities as a result of colonisation. Despite the problems faced by indigenous women, they often have restricted access to services such as women’s refuges because they cannot travel the long distances to reach them, or leave behind their jobs and families to do so. They are also often afraid their children will be taken from them by provincial or white authorities or by Indigenous child welfare workers. The report concludes that there is a need for better funded shelters and other services that indigenous women can access easily.
Violence Against Indigenous Women resources @ International Indigenous Women’s Forum [en/es]
h/t crina
16 Days Broadcast Campaign to Denounce Gender Violence in the Media
Montreal, 1 November 2008. From November 25 to December 10th, the Women’s International Network of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC-WIN) will highlight the 16 days of activism against gender violence with an Internet campaign to Denounce Gender violence in the media and transform media into a catalyst to end violence against women. The campaign will be broadcast at www.amarc.org/16jours [fr/en]
This years’ international theme of the campaign is « Media and Violence Against Women ». The campaign seeks to denounce gender violence in the media and will cover 3 dimensions: (a) Media as an instrument in combating violence against women. (b) Violence against women as projected in the media which “normalizes” violence; (c) violence committed against women media practitioners. The 16 days campaign starts on November 25th with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women; it continues on November 29th with the International Women’s Human Rights Defenders Day; followed by December 1: World AIDS Day; December 6: Commemoration day of the Montreal (Canada) Massacre in 1989 and ends with the December 10th: International Human rights Day. The campaign will be broadcast at www.amarc.org/16jours
Community radio producers from Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America and the Caribbean will dedicate these 16 days to highlight the effort of women and men working to put an end to gender violence. The programs featured will include documentaries, interviews, debates, poetry, music and much more. This multilingual broadcast campaign mobilizes community radios around a global issue and encourages them to use new communication technologies such as the Internet to extend the reach of their voices. Radio stations around the globe are invited to download the audio files from the AMARC-WIN 16 days website and broadcast them in their radio stations.
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RebELLEs
www.rebelles2008.org [fr/en]
Manifeste du Rassemblement pancanadien des jeunes féministes [en below]
Nous sommes les jeunes RebELLEs qui ont répondu à un appel féministe et nous sommes fières de nous dire féministes. Nous reconnaissons qu’il existe de multiples interprétations du féminisme et nous célébrons et intégrons cette diversité. Nous sommes engagées à favoriser l’expansion continue de la pluralité de nos voix. Nous sommes engagées dans un processus constant de réflexion autocritique visant à alimenter et transformer notre mouvement. Nous reconnaissons qu’au cours de l’histoire, le mouvement féministe occidental majoritaire a exclu les femmes « altérisées » qui sont représentées comme « autres » ou extérieures à la norme blanche par l’idéologie colonialiste. Nous sommes déterminées à apprendre de notre passé, à honorer les luttes menées par nos prédécesseures et à nourrir nos rêves pour l’avenir. Nous apprécions le soutien de nos alliés qui appuient nos luttes féministes pour l’équité et la justice.
Nous sommes des femmes de diverses capacités, ethnicités, origines, sexualités, identités, classes, âges et « races ». Nous comptons parmi nous des femmes employées, sous-employées et sans-emploi, des mères, des étudiantes, des décrocheuses, des artistes, des musiciennes, et des femmes dans l’industrie du sexe. Nous pensons que les personnes trans, bispirituelles et intersexuées font partie intégrante de notre mouvement. Nous reconnaissons et respectons la fluidité des genres et appuyons le droit à l’auto-identification. Nos espaces non mixtes sont ouverts à toutes celles qui s’identifient et vivent socialement comme femmes.
On nous dit que le féminisme est dépassé. Si c’était vrai, nous n’aurions pas besoin de dénoncer le fait que :
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against violence: “How do “we” Keep a Social Movement Alive?”
women of color organizing in the u.s.:
In October 2007 people all over the United States gathered physically and in spirit to speak out against violence against women of color. Some of us wore red all day and explained that we were reclaiming and reframing our bodies as a challenge to the widespread acceptance of violence against women of color. Some of us wrote powerful essays about why we were wearing red and posted them on the internet. Some of us gathered with bold and like-minded folks and took pictures, shared poetry and expressed solidarity.
This year, on the first anniversary of the Be Bold Be Red Campaign, we invite you to make your bold stance against the violence enacted on women and girls of color in our society visible. In D.C., Chicago, Durham, Atlanta and Detroit women of color will be gathering to renew our commitment to creating a world free from racialized and gendered violence, and this time, we’ll be using a new technology called CyberQuilting to connect all of these gatherings in real time. To learn more about CyberQuilting, which is a women of color led project to stitch movements together using new web technologies and old traditions of love and nurturing, visit
fwd: III International Congress on Islamic Feminism
Third International Congress on Islamic Feminism
Barcelona 24th-27th October 2008
The Third International Congress on Islamic Feminism has been announced by Junta Islàmica Catalana (Catalonian Islamic Board) and will take place in Barcelona, 24th-27th October 2008.
The conference will be focused on the problems of Muslim women in the Global era. Many Muslim women today are facing a double oppression: economic (neo-liberalism) and political (religious fundamentalism). The Congress will consider the responses given by Islamic feminists to this situation, and their contribution towards the construction of a new civil society worldwide, based on a culture of human rights and Qur’anic values such as democracy, social justice, freedom of conscience and gender equality.
Distinguished Muslim personalities will be attending, such as Bouthaina Shaaban, Syria’s Minister for Refugees and candidate for Nobel Peace Prize; and Baroness Uddin, the first Muslim woman becoming member of the House of Lords in Britain.
muncitoare imigrante in romania
“exploatarea muncitorilor imigranti in romania”
In prezent mii de muncitori straini lucreaza in Romania, suferind de pe urma atitudinii exploatatoare a companiilor angajatoare care ii forteaza sa lucreze ore suplimentare, refuzand sa ii plateasca si santajandu-i cu desfacerea contractelor de munca si deportarea. In absenta existentei unor structuri care sa le protejeze drepturile, acestia sunt nevoiti sa se descurce pe cont propriu…
(stiri mai vechi: “revolta muncitoarelor chinezoaice din bacau”)
si un eveniment relevant (14 octombrie): Lansarea studiului “Imigrant in Romania – Perspective si riscuri”