Stories about Women & Gender from August, 2012
Guyana: Social Media Plays Role in Linden Solidarity Protests
The protests in Linden have spawned other protests in solidarity, both in Guyana and overseas - and social media, in the form of blogs, online videos and Facebook - have...
Libya: Hijab Fiasco at Power Handover Ceremony
A problem marred Libya's National Transitional Council power handover to the newly elected 200-member General National Congress in a ceremony: The master of ceremony was the unveiled female presenter Sarah...
France: Stories of Everyday Sexism
After being harassed and insulted by men in the streets of Brussels, Belgian student Sofie Peeters made a hidden-camera film to denounce the male chauvinism experienced every day by unaccompanied...
Saudi Arabia: Defending the Virtue of Syrian Women?
On August 11, Bader Al Domiat from Saudi Arabia tweeted a message saying there were around 300 Syrian widows looking for husbands. The message caused outrage among Saudi netizens who...
Female Saudi Athletes – Out of the Olympics, Into the Twitter Storm
After stepping out of the Olympics, the first and only Saudi female athletes in the history of the Saudi sports, Sarah Attar and Wojdan Shahrkhani have received a storm of...
Afghanistan: When Bronze Means More than Gold
"In a year filled with suicide bombings, school poisonings and kidnappings, the bronze for Afghanistan was more than gold." The country celebrates its one and only Olympic winner - Bronze...
Zambia: Four Women Murdered in Possible Ritual Killings
A recent spate of murders of women in Lusaka, widely considered to be ritualistic killings, have shocked the nation to the core. Some online have sympathized with the families concerned...
Tajikistan: Female Boxer Fights Odds, Wins Olympic Bronze
"I hope Chorieva will become a motivation for other Tajik girls and women, and we will have more female champions in future. It doesn't matter whether she wins or loses,...
East Timor: President Rejects Woman Defense Minister
Prior to the swearing-in of East Timor's new cabinet, the new President provoked controversy by rejecting the coalition government's proposed Minister of Defense, Maria Domingas Alves (known as Mikato). Women's...
Russia: Pussy Riot Doomed by its own Supporters?
Recent online coverage of the Pussy Riot trial makes it seem as if all of Russia is mobilized in protest against the inordinately harsh treatment the three arrested band members...