Gender

U.S. Finally Passes Stronger Protections for Women against Abuse

By Carey L. Biron
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday ended more than a year of stonewalling a piece of legislation that for two decades has offered legal protections for women against sexual violence, harassment and abuse.
Yifat Susskind Photo_400

Q&A: No “Us” and “Them” in Fight for Women’s Rights

By Marzieh Goudarzi
As the earthquake in Haiti has proven, even more important than a recognised name or robust physical presence is the quality of services delivered by humanitarian relief organisations.
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa

Women Struggle for a Place in the Pacific

By Catherine Wilson
Women face greater odds in achieving equal political representation in the Pacific Islands than in any other region of the world, holding just 3 percent of seats in national parliaments, compared to 20 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 18.5 percent in South East Asia.
Rizana Nafeek

24 Nails Dug Into Body, Luckily

By Amantha Perera
Lahandapurege Ariyawathie feels she got off lightly - if returning home with 24 nails embedded in your body is lucky.

Kenya’s Electoral Opinion Polling Marred by Suspicion

By Miriam Gathigah
When Kenya’s only female presidential candidate, Martha Karua, dismissed electoral opinion pollsters who claimed that she stood a mere one percent chance of being elected to office, many said she did so because the results had not favoured her. 

Modern Slavery Rears its Ugly Head in Chile

By Marianela Jarroud
In recent years, Chile has become a source, transit, and destination hub for human trafficking victims, experts say. According to judicial authorities, forced labour and sexual exploitation are the crimes most frequently associated with this "modern form of slavery”.

U.S. Cuts to Global Health Budget “Mass-scale Malpractice”

By Carey L. Biron
Public health workers, activists and policymakers are stepping up a last-minute campaign to highlight the global health impact of historic, sweeping cuts to the U.S. federal budget due to go into effect Friday if Congress doesn’t act.

Afghan Girls Give More Than Their Hands in Marriage

By Abida M. Telaee
In Afghanistan, the maternal mortality rate is on the rise; hospitals are filling up with anaemic women and girls; and in over 200 districts, high schools are devoid of even a single female pupil. These issues are not unrelated - they are all products of a grave social problem in this country of 35 million people: early child marriages.

‘Marks of Manhood’ Fuel Gender-Based Violence

By George Gao
Some of the most harrowing cases of gender-based violence Kathryn Bolkovac came across while working as a U.N. human rights investigator in Bosnia involved a perpetrator dubbed “the Doctor” by the women and girls he abused.

Senegal Growing Up Over Marriage

By Issa Sikiti da Silva
When Abdoulaye Ba heard his local Imam in Dakar, Senegal, speaking out against child marriage, he found that the idea was not very palatable to him. As head of his family, he had intended to marry off his three teenage daughters.

No Rest for Weary Massage Workers

By Michelle Tolson
Times are tough in this Southeast Asian nation of 14 million people, where over 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line of a dollar a day. Formal employment is hard to come by and many workers find themselves drifting in the murky waters of the “informal” market, where wages are unregulated and labour laws are seldom honoured.

From Exploitation to Education

By Gordon Brown
Next Monday, after more than two months of public anger against the rape of a young Indian student, the Indian Parliament will consider new legislation to toughen up judicial and police provisions addressing violence against women.

Carnival Food Carts Go Solar in Northern Argentina

By Marcela Valente
It’s carnival time in sunny northwest Argentina, and as usual, food vending carts are everywhere. But some of the carts are different this year: they offer food cooked on the spot – by the sun.

Major Audit Urges Devolution of U.S. AIDS Programme

By Carey L. Biron
A major audit of the United States’ flagship global anti-HIV/AIDS programme, prepared for the U.S. Congress, notes “remarkable progress” over the past decade. However, it is also warning of insufficient monitoring and urging a stepped-up process of handing over greater control to partner countries.

‘Justice is Blind – But Not in the Case of Gender Violence’

By Fatima Asmal
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, famous South African paralympian Oscar Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder, with prosecutors arguing the athlete had "put on his prosthetic legs, walked seven metres and fired four shots through a locked bathroom door,” killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day.
bachelet_portrait

OP-ED: Making Cities Safe for Women and Girls

By Michelle Bachelet
There is no city or country in the world where women and girls live free of the fear of violence. No leader can claim: This is not happening in my backyard.
motherandchild_400

Obama Pushes Universal Preschool Coverage for U.S.

By Carey L. Biron
Following on a surprise announcement supporting a universal preschool guarantee during his annual State of the Union address earlier this week, President Barack Obama spent much of Thursday pushing a suite of new policy initiatives aimed at vastly increasing access to high-quality education and development programmes for a child’s first few years of life.

Female Journalists Walk on Eggshells in Sri Lanka

By Amantha Perera
The year was 1998 and porters at the wholesale vegetable market in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo had gone on strike, virtually suspending vegetable distribution in the city and its suburbs.

Spain’s Crisis Pits Fair Trade Against Empty Wallets

By Inés Benítez
The Spanish public is well aware of the widespread exploitation of workers in the globalised garment industry. But low prices, shrinking buying power and the lure of brand names act as strong disincentives to responsible clothes shopping.

Investing in Kids Isn’t Rocket Science

By Marzieh Goudarzi
The Millennium Development Goals challenged the world to cut extreme poverty in half, dramatically reduce child mortality, and make primary education universal, but Jody Heymann and Kristen McNeill say the world can do more.

Q&A: Community Radio Reflects Levels of Democracy

By George Gao
In 1983, producers of popular radio, alternative radio and educational radio convened in Montreal to define a new genre of radio: community radio. Those dialogues led to the formation of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
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