post-Ipswich murders conviction

The same old story?

Steve Wright was convicted yesterday of murdering five women in Ipswich. Twenty-seven years ago, Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, was convicted of killing 13 women throughout northern England. Many of their victims were prostitutes. What do the two cases tell us about how policing, the sex trade – and misogyny – have changed in the intervening decades? …

more: Joan Smith reports in The Guardian

(in ro: un post din decembrie 2006)

Scrisoare deschisa re: legalizarea prostitutiei

… Asociaţia Caritas Bucureşti împreună cu o puternică reţea de organizaţii non-guvernmentale au iniţiat un amplu program de informare şi conştientizare care atrage atenţia că prostituţia este o nouă formă de violenţă asupra femeii. Statisticile arată că rata mortalităţii şi morbidităţii femeilor implicate în prostituţie este de 40 de ori mai mare decât cea a populaţiei generale şi că aceste decese sunt aproape întotdeauna de tip violent, provocate de proxeneţi, traficanţi şi clienţi. Rata ridicată a mortalităţii, bolilor şi traumelor fizice şi psihice, demonstrează că guvernele trebuie să ia toate măsurile necesare pentru a elimina prostituţia, care este o formă de violenţă împotriva femeii şi o crimă împotriva demnităţii umane. …

— Intreaga scrisoare deschisa AICI (Open letter in English HERE)

si cateva resurse pe subiect aici

EFF June conference in Poland cancelled

The European Feminist Forum, which was planned for 13-15 June 2008 in Warsaw, will not take place.

The European networks that have been cooperating since 2006 on the platform for debate and sharing entitled European Feminist Forum have decided, due to financial reasons, that the culmination of the process with the conference will not take place. This is the face-to-face meeting of European feminists, which we had scheduled to take place from 13-15 June 2008. Instead, the process will be concluded with a comprehensive publication.

The other parts of the European Feminist Forum process have taken place and we are very proud of the achievements. The process has set up a vivid field of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, movement building and agenda setting in Europe. 21 Affinity Groups have debated urgent issues, and shared their information and knowledge through the European Feminist Forum website. Our process of visioning a feminist Europe was driven by many feminist-inspired voices, from young, migrant, male, minority and marginalized voices. The European Feminist Forum was constructed and has been an inclusive and joint platform of all of these groups from the start. For a preliminary overview of results so far, follow this link.
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Latest WorldWatch: sustainable economies

Seven Principles for a Sustainable Global Economy

Ideas about how the world works that don’t accord with reality can be unhelpful … That’s especially true about mainstream economics. But in recent decades, economists and researchers have suggested a variety of reforms that would make economics truer, greener, and more sustainable. … seven of these from Chapter 1 of the Worldwatch Institute’s latest report, State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy:
1) Scale.
2) Stress development over growth.
3) Make prices tell the ecological truth.
4) Account for nature’s services.
5) The precautionary principle.
6) Commons management.
7) Value women.

Read: “Green Economics”: Turning Mainstream Thinking on Its Head

Maintaining Climate, Maintaining Peace

Climate stability, reduced poverty, and less inequality should be key goals of a far-sighted security policy … Even though peacekeeping budgets have been on a welcome incline in recent years, a comparison with world military spending indicates where most governments are really prepared to put their money.

Read: Peacekeeping, a Study in Contradictions.
Vital Signs Update: Peacekeeping Budgets and Personnel Soar to New Heights.

Living Sustainably

“More is better”—the modern economic mantra—is under attack as the environmental, economic, and personal downsides of consumerism become evident. Harried, overworked, and indebted consumers are increasingly open to a focus on quality of life rather than more stuff …

Read: State of the World 2008, Chapter 4: The Challenge of Sustainable Lifestyles (pdf).
Vote: What would you ask your community leaders to do to encourage sustainable lifestyles?