Tag Archives: Women

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Iran News | Women Dissidents

Iranian human rights activist languishes in jail as sentence expires
  • Bahareh Hadayat, an activist who spoke out on women’s rights issues and government suppression, was in and out of jail before being sentenced to sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail for threatening national security, insulting the supreme leader, and insulting then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
  • Many expected parts of Hadayat’s sentence to be commuted, but police threats and Hadayat’s continued activism from behind bars have diminished that prospect.
  • Hadayat’s husband reports health complications have exacerbated the effects of Hadayat’s stay at the Evin prison, where around 18 other female political prisoners are held.

“The authorities have put pressure on us because of speaking out about Bahareh’s situation in jail. … They’ve threatened us, and have told her in jail that they’ll arrest me if we keep speaking out. They want to keep us silent.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Facebook, via The Guardian)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Myanmar Feature | Rohingya Women

1 Comment

A Forked Path for Rohingya Women, with Both Roads Leading to Hell

Trapped in a desperate situation compounded by their gender, Rohingya women–already facing persecution as a Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar–find themselves forced into either marriage or prostitution by human traffickers in Southeast Asia. The New York Times profiles one of their stories and the efforts of one advocate to bring light to the issue.

View the New York Times feature on YouTube.

Gender, Religion + Belief

India News | Muslim Women

“Instant divorce” in Muslim personal law leaves Indian Muslim women highly vulnerable
  • Triple talaq (saying the word “talaq” three times in a row) grants men instant, unquestioned divorce from their wives, allowing them to throw women out of their home and take their children.
  • A government committee has submitted a recommendation for a ban on the practice to India’s ministry of women and child development, but it faces stiff opposition from religious groups.
  • Because of India’s religious plurality, the government has left matters of personal law (including marriage and divorce) to be governed by individual religious communities, allowing talaq (permitted under sharia law) to have legal standing.

“For the women I see in my office – hardworking women, good wives and good mothers – this is just plain and simple cruelty.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Amrit Dhillon, via The Guardian)

Gender

Chile News | Women

1 Comment
Chilean government advances bill to modify ban on abortions
  • The Chamber of Deputies’ health commission voted 8-5 in favor of proposals to create exceptions to the country’s total ban on abortions in cases of rape, maternal life endangerment, and the inviability of the fetus.
  • The bill will now be voted on article by article before moving to the full chamber, where it faces stiff opposition from lawmakers and Catholic Church interests.
  • Since Augusto Pinochet implemented the ban in 1989, women have faced up to five years in prison for aborting a fetus in one of only seven countries in the world with a total ban on abortions.

“The vote reflects the opinion of a majority in Chile, which considers that its time to assume the reality of the more than 30,000 illegal abortions in the country every year.”

Read the full story at Bloomberg.

(Image Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images, via Bloomberg)

Gender

U.S. News | Men & Women

Netflix and Microsoft announce major expansions in parental leave policies
  • New parents at Netflix will now be able to take an unlimited amount of paid leave in the year following the birth or adoption of a child, regardless of gender.
  • At Microsoft, new fathers will be able to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave, with an additional two weeks of paid prenatal leave and eight weeks of paid disability leave for new mothers.
  • A fifth of U.S. organizations offer family leave benefits above those required by state and short-term disability laws, despite the country’s lack of laws guaranteeing paid family leave for at least new mothers.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.

Gender

Armenia News | Women

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Armenian ministry proposes ban on sex-selective abortion along with additional restrictions
  • The Ministry of Health submitted the bill to parliament at the beginning of July, hoping to become the first country to enact the protective measure in the South Caucasus.
  • The ban would require doctor’s consent for all abortions between the 12th and 22nd weeks of pregnancy and would require counseling and a three-day waiting period.
  • One estimate puts the number of sex-selective abortions at 2,000 per year, producing a male-to-female birth ratio of 114 to 100, the third highest in the world.

“Having a son is one of the most important issues for many Armenian families, and I highly doubt that it will be possible to get results [and end selective abortions] by using prohibitions.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.

(Image Credit: Anahit Hayrapetyan/EurasiaNet)

Gender

Afghanistan Feature | Women

Video

Making Bricks of Molehills

An estimated 2 million widows in Afghanistan struggle to hold together their families and forge a future for themselves following the death of their husbands. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty profiles a group of un-remarried women who, living independently, have built a community from the ground up with the few resources they have.

View the full feature at Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe.

Gender

China News | Hong Kong Women

1 Comment
Government and communities push to equalize gender representation in Hong Kong’s tech industry
  • Despite equal early interest in tech education, the proportion of girls in computer science courses drops to a third by the start of college.
  • In Hong Kong, where social pressure and negative images of tech culture push many into business, software development faces an uphill battle in capturing the career interests of young women.
  • Programs and organizations such as W Hub, Women Who Code, and First Code Academy are working to open opportunities to girls and young women in the tech field.

“Encouragement and support to study STEM needs to begin early both in school and at home. … Girls who show an early interest in the field often lose interest because of pervasive but underrecognised biases in the learning environment.”

Read the full story at the South China Morning Post.

(Image Credit: Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | Black Trans Women

Trans woman of color in killed in Florida, tenth in 2015’s increase in violence against trans individuals
  • India Clarke was found murdered in Tampa by blunt force trauma to the upper body.
  • India is the ninth trans woman of color and tenth trans person killed so far in 2015, which is consistent with a trend of year-over-year increases in violence rates experienced by the trans community.
  • Local police and media have persistently misgendered Clarke in reports and stated gender identity is not considered a factor in her death, instead focusing on Clarke’s history of sex work and drug activity.

“India Clarke’s death is a tragedy that is made worse by egregious misgendering by local police and media.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

Gender, Health + Ability, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News & Feature | Black Women

Video

The March of Impropriety in the Arrest of Sandra Bland

The New York Times has published a multimedia feature breaking down the legality of the police interaction with Sandra Bland, a black woman with professed mental health afflictions found dead in a Houston-area jail cell under contested circumstances three days after her arrest.  Legal experts find improper police behavior involving statement of cause, escalation, and use of force as ongoing investigations have revealed a range of behaviors that have pushed and breached the boundaries of police power leading up to her death.

View the feature at the New York Times.

(Video via the Texas Department of Public Safety YouTube channel; the Sandra Bland interaction begins at 1:30)

Gender, Religion + Belief

Pakistan News | Christian Women

Aside
Death sentence temporarily stayed for Pakistani Christian woman charged with blasphemy
  • Pakistan’s Supreme Court issued the decision as they prepare to hear an appeal against the conviction of Asia Bibi, a mother of four who became the first woman sentenced to death under the law.
  • Blasphemy laws are ill-defined in Pakistan and often connected to personal conflicts and extortion, making the rate of convictions high.
  • Two politicians who intervened on behalf of Bibi were murdered, inhibiting calls for legal reform.

Read the full story at Al Jazeera.

(Image Credit: EPA, via Al Jazeera)

Gender

South Africa News | Women

Aside
South African woman awarded country’s first drone pilot license
  • Nicole Swart, 23, was awarded the license by the South African Civil Aviation Authority.
  • Already a holder of the highest pilot’s license, Swart is certified to pilot planes in-person and remotely and also works as a testing standards officer.
  • The licensing comes as countries begin to build regulations for the operation of drones, controlled remotely from the ground or via another aircraft.

“It was important for me to get an RPAS pilot’s licence, as I believe technology is advancing rapidly and in the near future this mode of transport will be as common and necessary as cellular phones are in this era.”

Read the full story at News24.

(Image Credit: Facebook, via News24)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Japan Feature | Black Women

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The Life and Love of Black Women in Japan

Part of her “Black Eye” series in The Japan Times examining life in Japan for black immigrants, this Baye McNeil piece shines a light on the hardships of romantic life for black women in the country.  From fetishism to “friend-zoning,” McNeil finds black women face challenges particular to the intersection of their identities in the search for romance and familial security in Japan.

Read the full feature at The Japan Times.

(Image Credit: Matsui Family/Courtesy, via The Japan Times)

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.A.E. News | Black Women

Black hotel visitors receive apology from five-star hotel in Dubai after being asked to leave
  • A Nigerian event manager and her friend had been out for the evening at the lounge in the Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach, where a waitress reportedly refused to serve them and a security guard told them to leave.
  • The hotel issued an apology for the “misunderstanding” and claimed that such measures were not standard practice at the beachfront hotel.
  • Black women in Dubai face targeting under suspicion of prostitution–particularly at hotels–leading to racial profiling.

“A female staff came out and tried to hush up the matter saying ‘Obama is the President of US’ as if that had anything to do with us. I want the management of the hotel to realise that this isn’t 1930. This is 2015. You cannot walk up to random black women and tell them you will not serve them because they are black.”

Read the full story at Gulf News.

(Image Credit: Wanderforth.com)

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Canada News | Muslim Women

Religious freedom and politics face off over face-covering ban for Canadian citizenship oaths
  • A legal showdown looms over the constitutionality of the 2011 policy requiring oath-takers to have their faces uncovered, which conservative Muslims say violates their religious freedom.
  • A federal judge ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who had been denied citizenship after refusing to unveil herself, leading the government to appeal.
  • Lawyers for the woman hope to have the constitutionality of the ban addressed in the appeal ruling, while Conservative politicians have drummed up the issue as a political one.

“Despite the party’s success with new immigrants and ethnic communities … and spearheading connections to those communities, a lot of the base still has a view that minority cultures have inappropriate practices.”

Read the full story at The StarPhoenix.