Monthly Archives: October 2015

Gender

Nepal News | Women

Nepal elects first woman president following establishment of new constitution
  • Bidhya Devi Bhandari, a member of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), was elected Nepal’s second president by the Nepalese parliament.
  • Though the presidency is largely a ceremonial role, Bhandari has had a long political career that began after the death of her husband, a Nepali politician, in 1993.
  • Although she worked to secure a one-third quota for women in Nepal’ parliament, Bhandari has been at the center of controversy surrounding the inclusion of women’s rights in Nepal’s new constitution, having made comments construed as supporting gender inequality in the country.

Read more:
“Bhandari is Nepal’s 1st female President” (The Kathmandu Post)
“This Woman Is Now Nepal’s First Female President” (BuzzFeed News)
“A Himalayan first” (The Indian Express)

(Image Credit: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters, via BuzzFeed News)

Ideology + Affiliation

Bangladesh News | Secularist Writers

Secular Bangladeshi book publisher murdered, three others attacked in separate incidents in Dhaka
  • Faisal Abedin Deepan, a publisher affiliated with the Jagriti Prokashoni publishing house, was hacked to death in the Bangladeshi capital.
  • Publisher Ahmed Rahim Tutul was attacked at his home along with writers Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim in a separate incident.
  • Both publishers had published work by Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy, who was murdered earlier in the year in a spate of attacks on secular bloggers.

Read more:
“Avijit’s publisher Dipan slaughtered” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Avijit Roy’s publisher, 2 bloggers hacked in Dhaka” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Secular publisher hacked to death in Bangladesh” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/Zuma Press/Corbis, via the Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation, Religion + Belief

Europe News | Saudi Dissident

Imprisoned Saudi blogger wins EU’s top human rights prize
  • Raif Badawi won the Sakharov prize for creating the secularist blog Free Saudi Liberals, which called for political reforms in the Arab world and criticized the illiberal effects of theocracy.
  • Following his arrest on charges of apostasy in 2012, Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes, the first 50 of which led to injuries that required the indefinite deferral of the remainder.
  • International authorities and advocates including U.S. officials and Amnesty International have condemned Badawi’s imprisonment and called for his release.

Read more:
“Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi Awarded Top EU Human Rights Prize” (BuzzFeed News)
“Jailed Saudi blogger awarded Europe’s rights prize” (Al Jazeera)
“A look at the writings of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1,000 lashes” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Facebook, via BuzzFeed News)

Gender, Nationality + Migration

Central America & U.S. News | Central American Women

UN: Ongoing gender-based violence in Central America threatening to create another refugee crisis
  • The UN has warned in a recent report that as femicide and sexual and domestic violence showing no signs of abating in parts of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the region (and the U.S.) needs to prepare another refugee surge.
  • Gang violence has exploited women in the region as governments have failed to address the region’s drug cartel problem, while escaping women become vulnerable to trafficking.
  • Advocates for women refugees have argued that the Mexico’s crackdown on migrants–with U.S. backing–has heightened insecurity for women escaping violence.

Read more:
“UN agency warns of ‘looming’ refugee crisis as women flee Central America and Mexico” (UN News Service)
“Women Refugees Are ‘Running For Their Lives’ In Central America” (BuzzFeed News)
“Mexico’s migration crackdown escalates dangers for Central Americans” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Amy Stillman/IRIN, via the UN News Agency)

Nationality + Migration

Iran News | Iranian Americans

Fourth Iranian American reportedly detained in Iran
  • Businessman Siamak Namazi has become the fourth American of Iranian descent detained in the country in recent years, according to Iranian media sources and personal associates.
  • What Namazi has been accused of has not been made public, but reports allege he, like the other three Iranian Americans arrested, came under suspicion of Iran’s security forces.
  • Dual citizens face vulnerability in Iran as the country does not recognize dual citizenship, making it easier for them to detain Iranian passport-holders without cause.

Read more:
“Iranian-American Executive Arrested in Iran” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Another Iranian American arrested and imprisoned in Tehran” (Washington Post)
“Iran Is Said to Detain Another Iranian-American” (The New York Times)

Ideology + Affiliation

Myanmar News | Dissident Activists

Leader of spring student protests arrested in Myanmar after months in hiding
  • Kyaw Ko Ko was reportedly arrested and held in Yangon after evading authorities since last spring’s student protests.
  • The head of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) had organized protests in Yangon against a bill students viewed as anti-student union and anti-academic freedom.
  • The number of political prisoners in Myanmar has increased dramatically from 29 in 2014 to 466 in September 2015, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Read more:
“Myanmar student leader arrested amid signs of crackdown” (Reuters)
“Myanmar Student Leader Arrested After Seven Months in Hiding” (Radio Free Asia)
“Kyaw Ko Ko, fugitive student leader, arrested in Yangon” (Frontier Myanmar)

(Image Credit: Radio Free Asia)

Ideology + Affiliation

Morocco News | Dissident Intellectuals

Moroccan professor faces charges for government criticism as hunger strike ends
  • Maati Monjib, a writer and professor of political history and African studies, is charged with receiving foreign funds with the intent of undermining Moroccan institutions and national security.
  • Monjib ended his hunger strike after the government lifted the travel ban placed on him, though he has indicated that he will resume should government harassment continue.
  • Monjib faces up to five years in prison for his work with the Ibn Rochd (Averroes) Institute and the Moroccan Association of Investigative Journalism (AMJI), which received funding from Netherlands-based human rights organizations.

Read more:
“Moroccan intellectual suspends hunger strike, faces charges: lawyer” (Reuters)
“Maroc : l’historien et militant Maâti Monjib cesse sa grève de la faim” (Jeune Afrique, AFP)
“Maroc: Maati Monjib dénonce le harcèlement des autorités” (RFI)

(Image Credit: Stringer/Reuters)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

UK News | Racial Minorities & Women

British PM announces name-blind admissions and hiring measures, new gender pay equity policies
  • PM David Cameron announced that the UK’s University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) will switch to name-blind applicant evaluation in 2017 to reduce racial bias in college admissions.
  • Numerous studies have indicated that culturally inflected differences in names significantly impact job applicants’ likelihood of being hired, with those with names traditionally from black and other ethnic minority communities receiving fewer interviews.
  • Cameron also outlined new policies to address the gender pay gap, including forcing private companies to publish bonuses, requiring large public sector organizations to publish pay data, and pushing for the elimination of all-male FTSE-350 boards.

Read more:
“Ucas to enforce ‘name-blind’ applications to tackle racial bias” (The Guardian)
“The perfect name for a job application, based on biases” (BBC)

(Image Credit: David Cheskin/PA, via the Guardian)

Gender, Nationality + Migration

UAE Feature | Migrant Women

Trapped in Silence

Women in the UAE–particularly the country’s large population of Asian and African migrant women–have long faced a brutal catch-22 under the Gulf nation’s Sharia-driven legal system after being raped. When attempts at legal justice can lead to their own prosecution for extramarital sex, women find themselves coerced into silence and, for migrant workers, at the mercy of employers who control their movement in the country and ability to leave. BBC and the Guardian highlight the stories of rape victims and the structural disadvantages they face, from illegal abortions to imprisonment with illegitimate children.

Read more:
“Raped, pregnant and afraid of being jailed” (BBC)
“UAE imprisoning rape victims under extramarital sex laws – investigation” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: BBC)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Sweden News | Immigrants & Minorities

Deadly attack on Swedish school being treated as hate crime
  • The chief of police in Trollhättan reported that the man who killed a student and teacher and left two others critically injured chose his victims by skin color, attacking dark-skinned individuals.
  • Police disclosed that the assailant had no ties to official far-right groups but had neo-Nazi sympathies, posting Nazi-sympathist videos to social media.
  • Trollhättan has a history of predominant segregation and hate crimes, and the Kronan school, with its high proportion of students of immigrant background, was a vulnerable target.

Read more:
“Sweden school attack: police treat killing of pupil and teacher as racist hate crime” (The Guardian)
“Police in Sweden: Deadly school attack a racist hate crime” (AP via Yahoo! News)
“Sweden school killings: Attacker ‘had racist motives’” (BBC)

(Image Credit: EPA, via BBC)

Nationality + Migration

Sweden News | Refugees

Sweden sees rash of arson attacks against refugee facilities
  • A fire at a retirement home in Oderljunga marked as a potential site for refugee accommodation was the latest in a string of arson attacks across the country.
  • More than a dozen such fires have been reported across the country over the last seven months, with police indicating all have been arson.
  • The attacks come as Sweden prepares to accept up to 190,000 asylum seekers, second only to Germany in Europe.

Read more:
“Fresh arson fears as refugee home burns” (The Local)
“Arson Attacks at Asylum Homes Raise Fears in Tolerant Sweden” (AP via ABC News)
“Arsonists attack another migrant centre in Sweden” (AFP via Yahoo! News)

(Image Credit: Adam Ihse/AFP, via Yahoo! News)

Religion + Belief

Pakistan News | Shiite Muslims

Shiite mosque bombed in southwest Pakistan, reportedly killing at least 10 and injuring at least a dozen
  • Six children were among the dead after a suicide bomber disguised as a woman in full burqa attacked a mosque in Bolan district of Balochistan province.
  • Though none have yet claimed responsibility, authorities suspect the attack to be the work of Sunni extremists against the country’s Shiite minority.
  • The bombing took place as Shiites prepare to celebrate Ashoura, a 10-day period commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Read more:
“Suicide blast outside imambargah in Bolan district kills five” (Dawn)
“Bombing at Shiite Mosque Kills 10 in Southwest Pakistan” (AP via ABC News)
“Bombing at Shia shrine kills 10 in Pakistan” (The Hindu)

Class + Socioeconomics, Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

France Feature | Working Class, Immigrants & Racial Minorities

Estates of Emergency

France’s notorious housing estates–akin to housing projects in the U.S.–have long existed as symbols of an unintegrated France. Though President François Hollande has pledged to address the long-standing segregation that divides Paris’s poor banlieues from its more affluent city center, rampant unemployment, limited educational opportunities, crime, and stigmatization continue largely unchecked. The Guardian reflects on conditions in Paris’s most notorious estates a decade after riots forced what one banlieue mayor has called “social and territorial apartheid” into the national consciousness.

Read more:
“‘Nothing’s changed’: 10 years after French riots, banlieues remain in crisis” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Ed Alcock/The Guardian)

Age, Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Uzbekistan News | Women Activists & Citizens

Activists claim abuse by Uzbek government while documenting forced labor in cotton harvesting
  • Human rights activists affiliated with the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan claimed they were detained and beaten by police after attempting to document forced labor conditions during the country’s cotton harvest.
  • Two women arrested in late September reported being strip-searched and having a gynecological examination conducted in front of male officers.
  • Uzbekistan, the fifth-largest cotton producer in the world, has long been under fire for the mass mobilization of its citizens into unpaid labor in the fields to ensure the millions of tons of the country’s major cash crop can be harvested and exported.

Read more:
“Uzbekistan accused of brutal crackdown on activists investigating forced labour” (The Guardian)
“Arrested, threatened, beaten: The Uzbekistan activist who won’t give up” (BBC)
“Uzbekistan: Cotton Harvest Monitors Face Intimidation” (EurasiaNet)

(Image Credit: Mikhail Metzel/AP, via The Guardian)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Canada News | Women & Minorities

1 Comment
Canadian elections bring significant victories for women,  First Nations, and other minorities
  • A wave of victories swept a record 10 new indigenous MPs (eight Liberal and two NDP) into the House of Commons as preliminary reports indicate higher than normal turnout rates among indigenous Canadian communities.
  • Women won 88 seats, increasing their representation to 26%, while new PM Justin Trudeau has promised to have equal gender representation in his Cabinet.
  • Six Muslims won seats during an election cycle that saw religious freedom issues contentiously debated, and visible minority representation increased to 13.6% from 9.7% in 2011.

Read more:
“Record 10 indigenous MPs elected to the House of Commons” (CBC News)
“On-reserve voters endure lines and ballot issues for historic election” (The Globe and Mail)
“Women and visible minorities make election gains” (Yahoo! News)

(Image Credit: CBC)