Stories about Women & Gender from March, 2014
“I Am Scared to Live in This Country”: Crowd Attacks Women's Rights Activists in Kyrgyzstan
In Kyrgyzstan's capital, an angry crowd attacked women's rights activists whom they mistook for Christian missionaries.
Barefoot Lawyers Empowering Rural Bangladeshi Women
In Bangladesh, around 6,000 “barefoot lawyers” have been trained by the country's biggest NGO under its human rights and legal services (HRLS) program, reports Scott Macmillan at BRAC blog. These women act as one-woman mobile legal services clinics for the poor, especially women in rural areas where the traditional justice...
State Stops the Opening of Free Clitoral Repair Hospital for FGM Victims in Burkina Faso
The first hospital to offer free clitoral repair for victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) was open to the public its doors in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso on March 7 but the government refused to allow doctors to treat the 80 patients scheduled for surgery [fr] because of incompletion to fill in the...
For Abortion Rights in Bolivia, A Modest Gain
Bolivia's highest court rejected a constitutional challenge to a restrictive abortion law, while ruling that legal abortions no longer require a judge's consent.
Captive Saudi Princesses Speak Out on Twitter
It's the stuff of fairytales for princesses to be locked in towers, but in today's Saudi Arabia, four princesses say they have been held against their will for 13 years.
Learning Photography Can Help Human Traficking Victims Tell Their Stories And Build A Career
Sarah Ann Loreth published a report in Flickr Blog on how US photographer, writer and educator Brooke Shaden joined forces with an organization called Blossomy to travel to Kolkata, India, last year to help teach photography to survivors of human trafficking, giving them a chance to learn to create and...
Bermuda: Discussing International Women's Day
International Women’s Day is important for helping us re-focus our attention to [the] feminist struggle, and it should serve to remind us of that and re-commit to it. catch a fire says it's important to “do more than simply pay lip-service to the idea of International Women’s Day.”
European Union Publishes Comprehensive Survey of Violence Against Women
Nordic countries are among those with the highest survey rates of violence against women: Denmark (52%), Finland (47%) and Sweden (46%).
Fathers in the Caribbean Have to Fight to See the Birth of Their Kids
Fathers are still routinely denied the right to witness the birth of their children in Trinidad and Tobago and many other Caribbean territories.
[Video] Can We Also Celebrate Daughters in India?
Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Gayatri documents in a video one obscure ritual of India, the ‘Saptami Beti’, where women celebrate having a son. She comments: It is important to talk about this. I want to show this video in all the areas where ‘Saptami’ is celebrated. People give it so...
The Significance Of Celebrating The International Women's Day
Farah Subhan at Amader Kotha, a women-based portal highlighting the unheard voices of Bangladesh, tells how countries like Bangladesh can particularly be positively affected by the celebration of International Women’s Day.
When Daughters Don't Count: Social Media Prays Pakistani Cricketer Have a Son
On this year's International Women's Day on March 8, some fans of Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi, who has four girls, are praying that he have a son.
Libre Graphics Magazine Dedicates Issue to Gender and Free Culture
Libre Graphics Magazine, “a print publication devoted to showcasing and promoting work created with Free/Libre Open Source Software” (F/LOSS), dedicates its latest issue to representation and gendered work in F/LOSS. Ginger Coons, a member of the editorial team, says the second issue in volume two of the magazine, titled “Gendering F/LOSS”, “[steps]...
Lean In Beijing Encourages Women to Pursue Their Goals
In 2010, urban Chinese women earned 67 percent of what their male peers earned, and rural women earned 56 percent.
Voices Against Women's Day Remain Rare in Tajikistan
As Tajikistan celebrates the International Women's Day (re-branded as Mother's Day in the country in 2009), social media help amplify the rare voices that speak against the holiday. Writing on his personal website, prominent religious leader and politician Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda urges [tj] Tajiks not to celebrate on March 8: Celebrating Mother's Day or...
VIDEO: Fashion Resistance to Militarism
The “Fashion Resistance to Militarism” [ja], a fashion show organized by Asian Women’s Association, a non-profit women's right organization to call attention to the issue of violence against women, took place on December 1, 2013. The full video is now available here.
16 Women Rocking Chile
A photo essay in the website Sentidos Comunes [es] highlights 16 outstanding Chilean women who “are the protagonists of the public agenda in the next five or ten years.” The list includes photographer Paloma Palomino, politician Karol Cariola, journalist Isabel Plant, filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor, and illustrator Fran Meneses.
Latin American Women Say ‘No’ to Catcalls
Artists and web users share photos and illustrations to criticize catcalling and demand respect for women.
Tajik Human Rights Activist Named a Woman of Courage
Oinikhol Bobonazarova of Tajikistan wins the International Women of Courage Award.
7 Nepali Women, 7 Summits in 7 Continents, 1 Mission
A group of young Nepali women are creating history in mountaineering. Their mission, to climb the highest peak in each of the seven continents. Five completed, two to go.
Video: Distributing Food in Yarmouk Camp-Syria
FAJER PRESS posted a video of the besieged Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus while receiving food parcels to feed the 18,000 remaining residents of the camp, who have been forced to eat stray animals to survive amid critical food shortages. The video is dated December 30, 2013.
