Stories about LANGUAGES from March, 2021
The price of dissent: Women and political activism in Vietnam
Women "should think that our fight is not only against dictatorship ... It is also a fight to free ourselves from our own ideological constraints, from the prejudice that we impose on ourselves."
In Kenya, abortion focus obscures legislation towards safe reproductive healthcare services
Tagged “the abortion bill” by its opponents, the Reproductive Healthcare bill of 2019 is, in fact, a comprehensive document that only mentions termination of pregnancy in five articles.
How Hong Kong lost its academic freedom in 2020
Since the enactment of the national security law, professors have had contracts terminated, student protests were repressed, and a new curriculum will be implemented in all schools starting September 2021.
South African shack settlement activist wins the 2021 Per Anger Prize
“A shack without water, electricity, and sanitation is not worth calling a home. It means life-threatening circumstances that are harsh towards women, children and minority groups,” says rights activist, Zikode.
Billionaire Patrice Motsepe, the favoured FIFA candidate, becomes Africa football boss
The candidates from Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Mauritania give up their bids in favour of South Africa’s Motsepe, and accepted supporting roles in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) hierarchy.
Timeline of the second month of military coup and terror in Myanmar
Images and videos of the brutality unleashed by Myanmar's military are widely shared on social media. Despite the terror tactics, pro-democracy forces are fighting back.
The watchtower on the mountain of Dagestan's indigenous languages
Kaitag, a language variant of the Dargwa family, is spoken in Dagestan's mountainous villages, but has a limited digital presence. Digital activists like Magomed Magomedov are working to change this.
Ukrainian Central Election Commission official resigns after criticism over Facebook sex toys post
Anzhela Yeremenko faced a barrage of judgmental comments after blogging about a faulty vibrator on her personal Facebook page, igniting a discussion about the line between impropriety and professionalism.
Cancellation of conference on 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh War of Liberation sparks criticism
The organisers gave no reason for the cancellation, but some see it as a worrying sign of the erosion of intellectual freedom.
Turkey withdraws from Istanbul Convention
The convention pledges to eliminate domestic violence and promote gender equality.
Is Bolsonaro's anti-China rhetoric fueling anti-Asian hate in Brazil?
Global Voices talked to five people of Chinese descent in Brazil. All said intolerance increased with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rape case involving major film star and senior politician reignites Serbia's #MeToo movement
The scandal comes on the heels of a similar development that sparked a new #MeToo movement in Serbia in January 2021.
As Jamaica sends a large shipment of rescue dogs to Canada, animal rights activists hope regional attitudes will change
The foreign rehoming of Jamaican stray dogs is seen as a "game-changer," sending an important message to "those who have been accustomed to treat[ing] dogs with cruelty rather than kindness."
Increasing restrictions by Morocco against activists of Western Sahara
After decades of peace between Sahrawis and Morocco, November clashes ended Polisario's commitment to the 1991 agreement and spurred Morocco's clampdown on the region, encouraged by Washington's recognition of Rabat's sovereignty.
Pakistan bans TikTok for the second time
TikTok was blocked in Pakistan for 10 days in October 2020. Access was restored after the app's parent company ByteDance assured authorities it would bolster moderation.
Did the Ethiopian government use its COVID-19 restrictions to silence dissent?
The state of emergency restrictions were used as grounds to arrest a lawyer and a journalist last year -- both known critics of the government in Addis Ababa.
This open-source software is helping Barbados and Jamaica preserve their cultural heritage
The free Arches software helps cultural heritage organisations “respond to the critical and common challenges [...] around creating and maintaining modern inventory systems."
Angola's new penal code, which decriminalizes homosexual relationships, comes into force
The new legislation was approved in 2019, but only ratified in December 2020. It replaces the old penal code of 1886 of the Portuguese colonial administration.
After pineapple ban, Taiwan calls Beijing’s new agricultural investment offer ‘an old trick’
Weeks after the pineapple ban, China offered incentives to Taiwanese agriculture and forestry sector to invest in rural tourism and plant high-end commercial crops in China.
Malaysia’s ‘fake news’ ordinance takes effect amid continuing concern over the COVID-19 state of emergency
"This ordinance strengthens the perception that the state of emergency we are currently in is a smokescreen to curb any form of criticism towards the government of the day."
Biru Terong Initiative: Using the power of video for social change in Indonesia
"We use video to capture the social-economic reality of marginalised groups of society and use that footage to stimulate dialogue and learning."
