the drop » Gender Issues

Abortion Ban Debate

The Fall issue of Ms. features the cover story â��We Had Abortions.

On November 7th, South Dakotans will vote on whether to ban abortion or not. The choice is whether to approve a sweeping ban on all abortions or not, an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal. The law makes it a felony to perform any abortion except in a case of a pregnant woman’s life being in jeopardy.
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Violence Against Women Is A Violation Of Human Rights

WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women

The United Nations released a report late last week officially classifying violence against women as a human rights violation. From the Human Rights Watch press release:

“Human Rights Watch and the Center for Women’s Global Leadership welcomes the report that classifies abuse against women - whether it happens in the home or elsewhere - as a human rights violation. As such, states are obliged by international human rights standards to hold perpetrators accountable.”
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A Look Behind the Prison Walls

Award-winning photojournalist Jane Evelyn Atwood ’s work reflects a deep involvement with her subjects over long periods of time. Atwood penetrates worlds that most of us do not know, or choose to ignore. Her project Too Much Time documents the lives of incarcerated women in the US, France, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Switzerland, India and Israel. Initially spurred by curiosity, the project went on to inspire the outrage that kept Atwood going with the subject for nine years.
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Ban on Underweight Models

30 percent of models participated last year were disqualified (Getty Images)

Madrid shocked the fashion world last week, not because of the clothes seen on the catwalks during Fashion Week, but because organizers put world’s first ban on overly thin models. The ban has caused outrage among modelling agencies and raised the prospect of restrictions at other venues. Madrid’s regional government imposed weight restrictions in line with World Health Organization guidelines for healthy height-to-weight ratios used to calculate a person’s body mass index (BMI), which estimates the portion of fat in the body. “This is a great call to global action,” says Lynn Grefe, chief executive officer of the Seattle-based National Eating Disorders Association.
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A Look at Art and Gender

The Negro Woman Series, Elizabeth Catlett © Howard Museum Collection

In this week’s Village Voice, Jerry Saltz wrote a critique, Women of Babylon, on the lack of women’s representation in New York’s museums and galleries.

When I went to browse the Living Library for Table of Free Voices questions related to gender for this post, I found it interesting that only two out of 100 questions dealt with women’s issues.

Saltz calls the dilemma a “pernicious double bind,” providing a list of the percentages of women participants at recent MOMA and Guggenheim shows.
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The Politics of ‘Water’

Director Deepa Mehta

In February 2000 Deepa Mehta was to direct the film Water in India. It was the third of a trilogy of films for this Indian-born woman who now resides in Canada. The first was Fire, a story of two women drawn together in search of the warmth that their loveless marriages lacked. The onscreen lesbian relationship between the women angered many in India. Extreme protesters went as far as burning the cinema that first screened Fire to the ground, and Deepa Mehta was shunned by her country of birth for showing the world what was considered bad images of India.
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Calling Time on Street Harassment

I’ve been following the website HollabackNYC for months now, loving their mission to turn the tables on street harassers. As they put it, “Whether you’re commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd’s fantasy,” and they encourage readers to share their stories, and better still, to snap a picture of their harasser and post it on-line.
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Ghana Bans Gay and Lesbian Conference

Information Minister Kwamena Bartels: 'Unnatural carnal knowledge is illegal'

The Ghanaian government has banned a gay conference due to take place in the capital Accra later this month, claiming that homosexuality was illegal in Ghana. Information Minister Kwamena Bartels warned that disciplinary action would be taken if anyone was found to have contravened the law. “Government does not condone any such activity which violently offends the culture, morality and heritage of the entire people of Ghana,” he said.
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Single-Sex Ed: Policy, Research and Charity

The debate on single-sex schooling continues (Photo:Photocase)

The recent PR blitz around Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy for Girls is characteristically uncritical, after the announcement of the first 75 South African girls selected for enrollment. Despite general praise, single-sex schooling remains hotly debated in the educational field, a discussion touching on elitism, faltering public education, segregation and discrimination.
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A Lesson in Swedish Feminism

Logo of the Swedish Party Feminist Initiative (FI)

The Swedish political party Feministiskt initiativ (Feminist Initiative) was formed in 2005. One of the foundations of the party’s policy is the concept called Gender Power Hierarchy, a term used in Swedish feminism for the belief that women are systematically and structurally subordinated to men. The term is also endorsed by the ruling Social Democratic party. One of the party’s more radical proposals thus far has been to abolish marriage and other state-recognised cohabiting partnerships, and to introduce a new Cohabitation Act instead.
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Image and Exploitation?

Clamor magazine parody an American Apparel advert © Kim Hoeckele 2006

LA-based American Apparel has a soaring turnover and an enviable reputation for superb working practices: they are “sweatshop-free” and pay employees at all levels well above the US minimum wage, in addition to providing healthcare, subsidised travel, excellent working conditions and perks like free massages. So why is the US indie magazine, Clamor (”Your DIY Guide to Everyday Revolution”), writing an “exposé” on the company that they say will stir up all kinds of trouble?

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SMS: Using the Influence of Text Messaging

Text messaging for a petition on women's rights in Africa

At Pambazuka News, a weekly forum for social justice in Africa, the current e-activism campaign targets the progress of the African Union’s Protocol on the Rights of Women. To encourage the ratification of the protocol and national-level implementation, visitors can sign an online petition or text a “signature” by SMS. As tech gadgets converge, text messaging is an effective way to reach mobile youth and communities with shared or limited PC use.
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A New Era for Women in Rwanda

Staff at the Rwanda Women's Network © Rwanda Women Network 2006

Feministing find reasons to be cheerful in this article from the Seattle Times about the changing status of women in Rwanda. Since the devastating genocide which left the country with a 70% female population, Rwanda has out-paced Sweden and Norway as the nation with the highest percentage of female legislators in the world. 48% of MPs are women, as are 50% of the judges in the legal system, the head of the supreme court and half of Rwanda’s college graduates.

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Gay Rights and the War in Iraq

The bodies of three men suspected of being gay and subsequently killed, March 20 in the Iraqi city of Ramadi (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP)

There have been a wave of vicious attacks against gay Iraqi men and women by Shia militants who believe that homosexuality is against their faith. Men are the main targets, and several have been found “executed” or beaten to death – worse still, their murder has been recorded on camera. The Observer trailed a Channel 4 documentary on the escalating homophobia in an article last Sunday, noting, most shockingly of all, that the attacks are permissable under current Iraqi law:

Homosexuality is seen as so immoral that it qualifies as an ‘honour killing’ to murder someone who is gay - and the perpetrator can escape punishment. Section 111 of Iraq’s penal code lays out protections for murder when people are acting against Islam.

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South African Women Commemorate Historic March

Rate of violence against women in SA is among the highest in the world

Thousands of women marched in the South African capital, Pretoria, to protest the country’s high rate of violence against women. They are using the 50th anniversary of a historic demonstration against the apartheid regime to highlight the problems women of SA are still facing today. A South African woman dies at the hands of her partner every six hours, while rape and physical and mental abuse are said to be rampant.
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Iranian Government Cracks Down on Human Rights Group

Shiran Ebadi, image taken from her website www.shirinebadi.ir

The government in Iran has declared that:

“Any activity by [the Center for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)] is illegal, and violators of this decision will be prosecuted,”

The NGO in question has provided legal aid for hundreds of dissidents, journalists and students who have spoken out peacefully against policies of the Iranian Government. Officials Kafka-esquely allege that the centre failed to obtain a permit to operate, although the organisation applied for one many times, and in any case, according the Iranian law, it is not even necessary for them to have such a permit.
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A Culture of Violence and Misogyny? The US Military Goes on Trial (Again)

Steven Green's mugshot from Mecklenburg County jail in Charlotte, N.C, USA. (©AP Photo/Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, File, 2006)

The hearing concerning the alleged rape and murder of a fourteen-year old Iraqi girl by four US servicemen who then killed her parents and five-year old sister (blogged earlier this week by dropping knowledge) is well underway, and the details that are emerging are shocking. Private Steven Green, 21, is indicated as the ringleader. He’d declared his intention to kill “some Iraqis” several times on the morning of March 12th 2006, and he and his colleagues were drinking a cocktail of whisky and energy drinks before they pulled on black masks and set out for the home of the Hamza family. What followed was horrific.
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Veiled Threats: the Deterioration of Women’s Rights in Iraq

Women's rights are being compromised for the sake of big oil (© Ms. Magazine 2006)

A fortnight ago Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, pledged before the US Congress to improve women’s rights in Iraq. The statement was welcomed both in America and among Iraqi women’s groups, but Al-Maliki has a long way to go to prove that these are not just token words. Only 30 out of 275 members of his parliament have signed a declaration to investigate the decline of the basic rights that women took for granted in pre-war, secular Iraq, and to ensure that the police will uphold and defend these.
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112 Free Voices: Andries Botha, sculptor of wisdom

“I decided to participate at the Table of Free Voices for two small reasons: (1) I consider it a rare opportunity to be with individuals who have committed their lives to contemplation and social justice. (2) To have the global community generate questions around issues that are deeply significant to them affords for us an opportunity not only to hear these but also to struggle to offer real and sincere answers to our struggling humanity.”

Internationally renowned sculptor and human rights activist Andries Botha has worked with both governmental and non-profit organizations to promote and preserve South African culture. In the early ’90s, he served as the National Visual Arts Chairperson for the newly elected democratic government.
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BlogHer Conference 2006

The theme of the second annual BlogHer conference is: How are your blogs changing your world? The conference which brings together women bloggers is taking place from July 28-29 in San Jose, California. BlogHer’s vision is to create opportunity for women bloggers, maintain a network and develop community.
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112 Free Voices: Eliane Potiguara, community-builder & cultural conservationist

Eliane Potiguara is an activist committed to fighting for women’s rights in Brazil’s indigenous population. Also known as Lima de Santos, Potiguara was born after her family emigrated from the state of Paraiba, home of the Potiguara tribe, to Rio de Janeiro. Her devotion to education started at a young age, when she began teaching neighborhood children to read and write. As a professor of Indigenous Linguistics, Potiguara supports and promotes indigenous literature. One of her most successful projects is the Group of Indigenous Women Educators (GRUMIN - Grupo Mulher - Educaçao).

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features

Upgrading International Development, Part II

Upgrading International Development

Fighting Corruption: Bribe Payers Index 2006

Recycle Your Cell-Phone, Save a Gorilla

A Look Behind the Prison Walls

The Homeless World Cup 2006

Reach Out and Finance Someone

Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Iranian Bloggers Joined by President Ahmadinejad

Creating A New Universe

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Gender Issues

Abortion Ban Debate

Violence Against Women Is A Violation Of Human Rights

A Look Behind the Prison Walls

Ban on Underweight Models

A Look at Art and Gender

The Politics of ‘Water’

Calling Time on Street Harassment

Ghana Bans Gay and Lesbian Conference

Single-Sex Ed: Policy, Research and Charity

A Lesson in Swedish Feminism

Image and Exploitation?

SMS: Using the Influence of Text Messaging

A New Era for Women in Rwanda

Gay Rights and the War in Iraq

South African Women Commemorate Historic March

Iranian Government Cracks Down on Human Rights Group

A Culture of Violence and Misogyny? The US Military Goes on Trial (Again)

Veiled Threats: the Deterioration of Women’s Rights in Iraq

112 Free Voices: Andries Botha, sculptor of wisdom

BlogHer Conference 2006

112 Free Voices: Eliane Potiguara, community-builder & cultural conservationist