· January, 2014

Stories about Women & Gender from January, 2014

‘Good Girls’ Don't Use Social Media Sites in Tajikistan

  29 January 2014

Sexist bullying and harassment of girls and women is widespread on social media sites in Tajikistan, according to Radio Ozodi [tj] (Tajik service of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). The problem has to do with a strongly-held stereotype that female social media users are sexually promiscuous. On Odnoklassniki, the most popular...

Protest Against Rape : WordToon by Subhendu Sarkar

  25 January 2014

In India women often fall prey to sex crimes where police fail to take proper action. Subhendu Sarkar, an artist from Kolkata created cartoons from words (see Youtube video) in an workshop called “wordtoon” urging everybody to protest against rape.

Trinidad & Tobago: Hair You Have It

  22 January 2014

As my hair started to emerge in all its mad curly glory I became overwhelmed by a sense of how completely we have been made to hate ourselves. Tillah Willah says farewell to her dreadlocks and explains how “your hair can teach you a lot about your own complexities.”

Gender-Based Violence Epidemic Hits Sex Workers in Honduras

  21 January 2014

Despite the fact that sex work is legal in Honduras, many groups and individuals view their actions as immoral. Those who murder sex workers believe they can literally treat these human beings as garbage to be disposed of. Such violence takes place against the broader backdrop of widespread gender- and sexuality-based violence...

Catherine Samba-Panza, Mayor of Bangui, Elected as Transitional President of Central African Republic

  20 January 2014

After Michel Djotodia stepped down as president [fr] two weeks ago, the Central African Republic (CAR) Parliament elected Catherine Samba-Panza [fr], former mayor of Bangui, as the transitional president in charge of stabilizing the country until the next elections. Samba-Panza was recognized for her crisis management of the city during the rebels pillaging...

Unethical Practices In A Bangladeshi Private Hospital

  16 January 2014

Emma Clare Burton-Chowdhoury, an Englishwoman (married to a Bangladeshi) living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, blogs about her experience in giving birth to a daughter in a Bangladeshi private hospital: The pediatric team at Apollo welcomed the premature delivery of our daughter with open arms as conveniently her special care boosted our...

A Papuan Woman's Love Letter to an Indonesian Soldier

  16 January 2014

EngageMedia has uploaded a video about a Papuan woman's love letter to an Indonesian soldier who was once stationed in the border patrol unit in a village near Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The video also highlighted the sexual assaults allegedly committed by some Indonesian soldiers in the border. The...

Australia: ‘What Happens When A Politician Pisses Off The Internet’

  10 January 2014

Controversial Australian senator Cory Bernardi's latest book ‘The Conservative Revolution’ has enraged many netizens, especially his views on abortion, single mothers, IVF and same sex marriage. BuzzFeed Australia staffer Jenna Guillaume complied reactions in Oz in This Is What Happens When A Politician Pisses Off The Internet.

25 Influential Brazilian Black Women Online

  10 January 2014

The website Blogueiras Negras (Black Bloggers, in the feminine), has created a list of the 25 most influential Brazilian black women on the Internet [pt]. The list includes human rights advocates, journalists, writers, researchers, feminists, urban artists and more, besides individual and collective blogs and Facebook pages that fight for gender...