25 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

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 Exécutive

Coalition 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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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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.”
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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.