Stories about Women & Gender from December, 2011
Cuba: The First Book on Afro-Cuban Women
NegraCubana interviews Daysi Rubiera and Inés María Martiatu [es], authors of the first comprehensive book on the “history, thought, and cultural practices” of Afro-Cuban women.
China: Rich Chinese Couple Uses 2 Surrogate Mothers To Have 8 Babies
Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated a local news story and netizens’ comment about a rich Chinese couple in Guangdong using 2 surrogate mothers to have 8 babies.
Macedonia, Nepal: First Female Macedonian on Major Himalayan Peak
Macedonian climbers Ilina Arsova and Ilija Ristovski have successfully climbed the Himalayan summit of Ama Dablam, on Nov. 18, 2011. Ilina wrote about this achievement on her blog, in Macedonian and English.
Armenia: Activists Demand Controversial Governor's Dismissal
Surik Khachatryan, the governor of Armenia's southern Syunik province, has been making headlines in the last month for all the wrong reasons. No stranger to controversy, activists are now demanding his dismissal.
Brazil: Proposal for the Legalization of Abortion Approved in Conference
Journalist Maíra Kubik Mano comments on the approval of a proposal to legalize abortion in Brazil, during the Third National Conference on Women, in Brasília. She finalizes wondering “what the government will do if the proposed policy becomes part of the next Plan of National Policies for Women”.
Kuwait: Online Advocacy for the Stateless Bidoun
Since hundreds of Kuwait's 100,000 strong Bidoun were attacked by police for protesting in support of others detained earlier in the year, a number of bloggers and international organizations have been stepping up their support for the stateless people in the hope of drawing attention to their plight.
Bhutan: First All-girls High School
Penstar introduces us to Bhutan's first all-girls high school.
Egypt: Women Rally for Dignity
Thousands of Egyptian women took to the streets of Cairo today to protest for their dignity, after women were beaten up by soldiers during running battles between the army and protesters in and around Tahrir Square since December 16.
Africa: Women4Africa Awards
Women for Africa Awards celebrates and encourages African women: “‘Women for Africa’ was birthed from a 20 year desire and passion to see women honoured and appreciated in a celebratory way. Everywhere you go in life you see women.”
Puerto Rico: Feminist experiences at the “Encuentro”
Lawyer and blogger Verónica RT writes about her intense and wonderful experiences at two of the most important feminist regional meetings in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Egypt: Women Against SCAF – Who Wins?
The world woke up today to see that Egypt had made the headlines again with a photograph of military officers ferociously beating a veiled girl and stripping her off her clothes. Nermeen Edrees charts netizen reactions to the way the Supreme Council for Armed Forces is treating women in Egypt.
India: Girls and Their Right To A Career
In India, at this modern age, some parents arbitrarily decide the future of their adult children. Fire Crystal writes about a girl, who was denied of her rights by her father to study and pursue a career of her choice.
Cuba: In Defense of Human Rights
Pedazos de La Isla highlights the testimony of one of the Ladies in White who relates her experience as a victim of the “vigilance operations, brutal beatings, arbitrary arrests, deportations, and other forms of violence against those who publicly demonstrated on the streets of the island in defense of human...
Barbados: Courts Send Message that Women are Nothing
“Men again learned that no matter how badly you beat women, they can always be pressured to drop the charges. Police learned that it is useless to treat an assault on a woman seriously. The judge learned that assault charges are a waste of time when a West Indies cricketer...
Guyana: Rape Allegations against Police Chief
Save Guyana reports on rape allegations being brought against the police commissioner, explaining: “The Alliance For Change…has called for [his] dismissal or at least interdiction from duty…and is viewing the matter as the first real test of the Donald Ramotar administration.”
Cuba: Defining “Vulgarity”
Without Evasion continues to share her thoughts about the outcry over the “vulgarity” of a popular reggaeton song, saying: “The confusion lies, then, in properly ascertaining the limits of vulgarity and limiting at the same time in what spheres of social life vulgarity will be allowed without it constituting a...
South Korea: Former Comfort Women Held 1000th Protest
South Korean former ‘comfort women’ who were forced into Japan's wartime military brothels held their 1,000th weekly protest and placed a statue of a sex slave outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. South Korea's citizen media, Wiki Tree consolidated twitter photos of the rally.
Afghanistan: Being Disable Is Not An Unability
yahweh writes how situation with the rights of women and disabled persons has developed in Afghanistan since 2001, when the Afghan government and its international allies pledged to advance gender issues following the military intervention to oust the Taliban.
Peru: Congress Approves Law Criminalizing Femicide
The Peruvian Congress has approved the text of a law that recognizes femicide as a crime punishable by up to 25 years of incarceration. Under the existing law, the murder of a women can result in release from jail in about two years.
Bangladesh: A Crowdsourced Platform To Report Violence Against Women
Bijoya Crowdmap, an Ushahidi based citizen journalism platform, is going to be launched on the 16th of December, 2011. It will enable Bangladeshis to report violence against women via sms and web.
Russia: Interview With an “Overseas Filipino Worker”
English Dad in Moscow interviews a woman from the Philippines who works as a cleaner and babysitter in Moscow: “I wanted to know how hard is to move here as an economic migrant, also known as a “OFW” (Overseas Filipino Worker) as I find it amazing that they move to...
