· May, 2008

Stories about Women & Gender from May, 2008

Bahrain: Gender Challenged!!

“You would think that it would be relatively easy for the CIO, who is entrusted to keep more than we like of our private and very personal information, that they would know the gender of a person whom they issue the mandatory Central Population Register (CPR) card, wouldn’t you?” asks...

Saudi Arabia: Flogging for Professor

“A Saudi University professor is facing flogging and imprisonment for breaking the law. He was caught having a cup of coffee with a lady who was not related to him in a coffee shop. He is actually facing an eight month prison sentence and 150 lashes!” explains Saudi blogger Rasha.

Iran:A Park just for women

Osyan,an Iran based blogger, informs [Fa] us a new park was inaugurated by Tehran's mayor office for women. The blogger says our city needs more recycling places/parks for garbages rather than separate-gender parks.

Iran: “The Internet is a gift to us”

Arsham Parsi is the founder and director of the Iranian Queer Organization based in Toronto, Canada. He talked to us about the presence of Iranian homosexuals in cyberspace, their challenges and projects. Homosexuality is banned in Iran, and punishable by prison or death.

Saudi Arabia: Just Hit, Don't Bite!

From Saudi Arabia, Nzingha comments on a news report which says that a Saudi woman attacked and bit a man who was sexually harassing her on a street and says: “Fighting back I'm all for, but biting? Who knows where that pervert has been. A good beat down yes. But...

Jamaica, Barbados: Human Rights

  15 May 2008

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp is joining in Bloggers Unite‘s awareness campaign for human rights, “especially in Jamaica where the rights of our gay men and women are denied almost daily”…while Barbados Underground chooses to “highlight the plight of many women in our own backyard.”

Kazakhstan: Monuments, Economics, Gender and Media

The blogosphere of Kazakhstan was not too keen to discuss perturbations in the official government. The traditional May holidays have become a naturally most popular theme, however many other issues were also traced by the bloggers. Thus, pycm posts a photo of the Eternal Fire monument in Atyrau, a city...

Kuwait: Elections Getting Closer

Kuwait is gearing up for another round of Parliamentary elections on Saturday (May 17), allowing women to cast votes and nominate themselves for the second time in the country's history. Abdullatif AlOmar brings us the latest reactions from Kuwaiti blogs in this post, including a call for women to use their votes wisely to safeguard the future of their children.

Trinidad & Tobago: The Burden of Choice

  12 May 2008

“In asserting women's right to choose, I wonder if we have not also lost the idea of child-bearing as a sacred responsibility, and have learned to see it as a burden which can be cast aside by ‘choice'?”: Trinidad and Tobago blogger Jeremy Taylor examines the issue of abortion.

D.R. of Congo: Campaign against sexual violence

  11 May 2008

“Two important events from the DRC – The one month campaign against sexual violence in the DRC took place between March 17-April 17th and coincided with a new law to ending the crimininalisation of children by accusing them of witchcraft,” writes Black Looks.

Armenia: Charity Football Match

Dominic in Armenia, a Peace Corps Blog, posts photographs of a charitable football match recently held in Yerevan with the involvement of international aid workers and under-privileged local children. The blog says the women's team was the most impressive and changed the perception of many local Armenians towards gender and...

Armenia: Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves

“Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves,” The Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin sang together, and in Blogian's case this certainly seems to be the case. After overhearing one of her husband's friends try to convince him to travel to Europe to “have fun with women,” the blogger's sister ripped up his...