Tag Archives: Women

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

News

Satori Interactive, a tech company founded and led by two black sisters, wins Black Enterprise‘s Family Business of the Year award.
  • The sisters, both computer science graduates, founded the company in 2004 in an industry that still struggles with diversity in both gender and race.
  • The 2013 U.S. Census Report revealed that only 25% of STEM employees in 2011 were women and only 6% African-Americans, despite the latter graduating with computer science degrees from elite universities  at twice that rate.
  • Satori Interactive provides business-to-business services focusing on user experience research and consulting.

“Our father would tell us, ‘If you’re good at what you do, people respect you and they welcome your suggestions and feedback. Nobody can take your knowledge away from you.’”

More on this story at The Root.

(Image Credit: Ashley Zimmerman, via The Root)

Gender
More than 150,000 gathered in Buenos Aires to protest femicide and other violence against women under the campaign #NiUnaMenos.
  • Celebrities, journalists, and politicians joined the massive crowd gathered outside Argentina’s Congress.
  • Readings and storytelling gave voice to the suffering of many women in a country that has seen gender-based violence on the increase over the last decade.
  • Similar demonstrations were held in neighboring Uruguay and Chile.

“Un grito colectivo que no cesó en la plaza y siguió retumbando en las calles…Un grito colectivo que se charlará en las casas y volverá a las redes sociales para que el tema no se apague hasta que el basta sea una realidad.”

Translation: “A collective cry that didn’t cease in the plaza and kept resounding in the streets…A collective cry that will be chatted about in homes and will go back to social media so that the point does not fade until ‘enough’ is a reality.”

More on this story at La Nación (in Spanish).

(Image Credit: La Nación)

Gender
East Melbourne clinic takes case against the Melbourne City Council to Victoria’s supreme court, alleging failure to exercise jurisdiction over anti-abortion protesters harassing its patients.
  • The fertility clinic claims protesters attempted to impede women’s access to the clinic, which provides other health services like pap smears and fertility testing.
  • Legal questions hinge on the definition of “nuisance” and whether the Council exercised its power to ensure the protection of women seeking the clinic’s services from it.
  • The ruling could have broad impact on council’s interpretation of the state’s Public Health and Wellbeing Act, which could expand councils’ response to protesters statewide.

“Women attending the clinic had the right to access healthcare without harassment, fear or intimidation.”

More on this story at The Guardian.

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity
The Ethical Fashion Initiative works to give designers and artisans from the developing world a voice in the global fashion industry.
  • The program is supporting four brands with designers representing Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola at this year’s major international trade show for men’s fashion, Pitti Imagine Uomo.
  • The Initiative also confronts unethical labor practices, pushing for heightened standards throughout the supply chain that will improve conditions for the laborers on which the industry is built.
  • EFI notes that its efforts help financially empower women in sustainable ways, allowing them to mobilize their creativity and talents to gain independence and support their families.

“We work with women who sometimes face discrimination in their communities, but by having a job, their position in society improves…They gain independence and respect, and in many situations they become the only breadwinner in their families.”

More on this story at the Inter Press Service News Agency.

(Image Credit: ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative 5, via Inter Press News Agency)

Gender, Nationality + Migration
Pop-up restaurant Mazi Mas’s open menu creates unique opportunities for immigrant women in London.
  • Founder/CEO Nikandre Kopcke, himself German and Greek-American, offers not only work opportunity but also entrepreneurial lessons to its workers.
  • Women from Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Iran, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Senegal, and Turkey have worked with Mazi Mas.
  • Kopcke hopes for international expansion, including to Berlin and hopefully New York.

More on this story at Gulf News.

Image Source: Bloomberg, via Gulf News

Gender

The Moroccan government publishes first data on its sex-worker population despite social conservatives who have long prohibited such official recognition. More from Al Jazeera.

Gender

Nigeria’s Women in Politics Forum (WIPF) calls for concerted efforts to include 50% female representation in President Buhari’s new administration. More from Leadership.

Gender

With girls accounting for 70% of Argentina’s 6000+ missing children cases, communities search for remedies. More from La Nación.

Gender

Recent murder of woman accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea highlights scourge of gender-based violence in the country’s largely traditional society. More from Reuters.