Stories about Women & Gender from November, 2009
Global Health: World Toilet Day Raises a Stink
While it may sound like a bad joke, today's World Toilet Day focuses on a not-so-funny issue impacting almost half the world's population -- a lack of toilets and sanitation.
Egypt: What do women want?
What do women in Egypt want? The Arabist takes a closer look.
Cameroon: On Catholicism, abortion and homosexuality
Rosemary Ekosso discusses the politics of abortion and homosexuality in Cameroon: “As a woman, I have learnt by trial and error (mostly error) not to believe automatically what large groups of men tell me. When the group is as large and exclusive of females (don’t give me that guff about...
Namibia: Justice wanted in forced sterilisation case
Namibia Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA) wants justice for women whose rights have been violated as a result of forced sterilisation.
Morocco: Aicha Ech Chenna Wins Opus Prize
In Morocco, women who get pregnant out of wedlock are often shunned from their communities. Activist and social worker Aicha Ech Chenna has been working for almost 25 years to help such mothers and their children. Now, her efforts are being rewarded.
Africa: Obaasema: lifestyle magazine for the African women
Check out a video about Obaasema magazine, a premier lifestyle magazine for the modern African woman.
Bahamas: Sister's Keeper
“We women survivors of violence of all kinds must break this collective silence…and we women who enjoy relative freedom and safety must extend our hands and voices to our sisters who do not, because we are not free until all are free”: The Bahamas’ Womanish Words calls on women to...
Nigeria: Nigerian bloggers receives Change Agent Award
Nigerian blogger Ore writes about the award she received at the Grace Hopper celebration of women in computing: “I was awarded the Change Agent Award along with 2 other African women (1 from Nigeria and 1 from Kenya).”
Haiti: Pierre-Louis Ousted
“Haiti's Senate dismissed Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009″: HaitiAnalysis.com reports that some senators believe “the vote was ‘illegal’ and plagued by procedural irregularities.”
India: Women Farmers Stand Against Climate Change
A group of women in India have demonstrated that despite the existing gender inequity and their low economic status, they can become a powerful resource to tackle climate change and reduce the emissions that cause it.
Maldives: Girl Slaves
Codexero dicusses about girl slavery in Maldives.
Cuba: Of Victims & Violence
In the aftermath of her seizure by state authorities, Generation Y admonishes those who may be adopting a “blame the victim stance, while Claudia Cadelo says she prefers being a victim to being the executioner. Havana Times, meanwhile, posts a piece about the march against violence on the way to...
Trinidad & Tobago: Getting Closer
Trinidadian artist Rodell Warner posts photos from a project called Closer, in which “passersby were asked to stand for a photo with a stranger, however close they were comfortable with, and to make eye contact.”
Rape in China: a ‘temporary’ crime?
A prominent topic circulating throughout China’s blogosphere is the light sentencing on 29th October of two civilian police assistants charged with the rape of a young girl in Huzhou, in Zheijang province. What netizens have been rampantly discussing is not the crime itself, but the court’s ruling that the convicts were guilty of a “temporary crime on a whim”, drawing important attention to how rape is dealt with in the People’s Republic and its vibrant online communities.
Lebanon: Operation: Sex Change
Queer Arab Magazine Bekhsoos supports the Operation: Sex Change campaign, aimed to raise awareness about transgender issues across the world. The campaign started on November 8, the International day of action for sexual and bodily rights across Muslim societies, and ends on November 20, the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
India: Sharing Expenses And Gender Equality
Nita J. Kulkarni at A Wide Angle View Of India raises a debate on whether a working couple should share the financial burden equally. She comments: “I believe that this issue of women being reluctant to share their income is more about personalities rather than anything else.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Mind Your Own Business
The Secret Blog of Patrick “Patos” Manning writes a post about the leak of an alleged sex tape of a Trinidad and Tobago-based celebrity: “The most disturbing aspect of the situation, however, is the manner in which I’m hearing this horrific breach of privacy took place. It gives me chills...
Morocco: Ech Chenna Wins 2009 Opus Prize
Aicha Ech Chenna, founder of an organization in Casablanca, “Solidarité féminine,” which takes care of unmarried mothers, has been announced as the winner of the $1 million 2009 Opus Prize, as reported by online Moroccan news website, Hespress [Ar].
Cuba: Blogging Prejudice
Late one night, a Cuban taxi driver stops for Yoani Sanchez because of the colour of her skin, but when he learns that she's a blogger, his unease reveals another kind of prejudice: “His spectrum of classification stigmatizes not only some shades of color, but also certain leanings of opinion…that...
South Korea: Gender and visa statistics
matt from Gusts of popular feeling reads from the visa statistics and points out that multiculturalism in Korea is gendered to serve the need of patriarchal society.
