Stories about Women & Gender from March, 2012
Trinidad & Tobago: Protests & Parliament
The Eternal Pantomime suggests that the number of protests taking place is the country is indicative of “the population giving…their response to that Pappy Show of a Parliamentary sitting that happened on March 2nd”, adding: “You don’t insult the intelligence of tax payers and feel that because you have a...
Cuba: Aggression Against Women
Pedazos de la Isla blogs about the wives of two dissidents who maintain that they suffered miscarriages as a result of “violent operations carried out against them by the Cuban political police.”
Ethiopia/Lebanon: Online Outrage Over Death of Domestic Worker Turns into Activism
Alem Dechasa, the woman seen in a mobile phone video footage circulating online being beaten and dragged by force into a car outside the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut, has committed suicide. The video sparked anger amongst Ethiopians netizens. Following her death, netizens are organizing online to call for justice and draw attention to abuse of Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle East.
Morocco: A Protest to End Forced Marriage After Rape
Moroccans are taking a stand tomorrow (March 17) in protest against the plight of 16-year-old Amina Filali, who committed suicide after being forced to marry the man who raped her. Amina's marriage to her rapist was approved by a judge. Her suicide has raised a storm of reactions both on social networks and on the ground.
DR of Congo: Videos Helped Convict Thomas Lubanga of War Crimes
On March 14, 2012 the International Criminal Court found Thomas Lubanga, a former rebel leader in the eastern Congo, guilty of using children in armed conflict. The judge said video interviews with child soldiers formed part of the evidence that helped persuade the court.
Egypt: The Plight of Rural Women
Egyptian blogger Ahmed Awadalla writes about rural women in Egypt in this eye-opening post. Such women, he says, suffer the “highest rates of illiteracy; bear the heavy burden of utmost poverty; lack essential healthcare greatly jeopardizing their lives; and is not represented in our new parliament.”
Guinea: Journalist Assaulted by Police Officers
Following an assault on a journalist by overzealous security guards at the Central Bank of Guinea on February 27, there was intense indignation among journalists and Guinean and African bloggers.
Azerbaijan: Investigative Journalist Defiant After Blackmail Threat
According to Freedom House, Azerbaijan continues “to imprison journalists and bloggers who express dissenting opinions.” However, as one journalist discovered last week, there are other ways to silence critical voices in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
Morocco: Girl Forced to Marry Her Rapist Commits Suicide
Amina, a 16-year-old girl from Larache in northern Morocco, who was forced to marry her rapist, chose to put an end to her life by swallowing rat poison. Amina's story deeply touched, and outraged Moroccan netizens, who have been using the Twitter has tag #RIPAmina to mourn the young girl.
India: Don't Work at Night and You Won't Be Raped
The police of Gurgaon has asked women working at commercial enterprises, malls and bars in Gurgaon to stop working after 8pm to prevent rape incidents. Netizens express their anger towards this unreasonable directive and question the negligence of the authorities.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Gender Card (and other political missteps)
The Eternal Pantomime is upset that the Prime Minister has played the gender card in her attempt to justify the state paying for travel expenses for her sister: “If you take what is fundamentally an issue of misuse of public funds and turn it into a plea for sympathy because...
Armenia: International Women's Day
Marking International Women's Day, Ianyan features guest posts on gender in Armenia. In the first, three writers take a glimpse into the lives of women in the post-Soviet country, while a second examines the issues of patriarchy and discrimination. The third post takes the form of an interview with a...
The Balkans: Debating Angelina Jolie's Film and the Legacy of War
Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, has received much publicity, both positive and negative, in the Balkans, adding fuel to the ongoing debate on the legacy of the wars fought in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Cuba: Kept Away from Church
Pedazos de la Isla says that the closer the Pope's visit to Cuba gets, the more the authorities appear to be clamping down on citizens.
Greece: Folk Musician and Researcher, Domna Samiou, Dies at 84
Greeks all over the world express their sorrow for the death of Domna Samiou on March 11, the great singer of traditional Greek folk music, as well as their appreciation for her work and research.
Ethiopia: Outrage Over Abuse of Ethiopian Domestic Worker in Lebanon
A video footage that shows an Ethiopian domestic worker being beaten and dragged by force into a car under the gaze of bystanders outside the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut, Lebanon has caused angry reactions amongst Ethiopian netizens.
Russia: First Woman in Space Turns 75 Years Old
Just days before the world celebrated International Women's Day last week, Valentina Tereshkova - the first woman to enter space - celebrated her 75th birthday.
Africa: How Many African Women are Online?
Gamelmag would like to know how many African women are online: “Firstly, we need to be able to place a figure on the actual number of active female Internet users. Next, we should figure out the factors that inhibit women's use of the web and finally put in measures to...
Cuba: To the Women Bloggers
On the heels of International Women's Day yesterday, Reinaldo Escobar at Translating Cuba congratulates all the women bloggers.
Cuba: Women's Rights
“The clitoris is not the only thing we can lose, there is a long list of social, economic and political possibilities, which are also snatched from us”: Generation Y posts a list of “the violations that still persist against women” in Cuba.
Puerto Rico: Online Campaign to Stop Unnecessary C-Sections
Unnecessary Caesarean is the name of the campaign launched on the first week of March in Puerto Rico, aiming to curb the very high percentage of caesarean births in the country: many of them programmed C-sections that don't respond to medical needs.