RIGHTS-BAHRAIN: Weak Laws Let Rapists Off the Hook
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By Suad Hamada
MANAMA, Mar 16 , 2010 (IPS) – Cunning rapists in Bahrain can avoid victimising virgins so they could escape the maximum penalty provided by law, and those who force themselves on young girls can evade punishment by promising to marry their victims.
These are two of [...]
POLITICS-NIGERIA: In the Shadows of Men: Women’s Political Marginalisation
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Mustapha Muhammad
KANO, Mar 12 (IPS) – Ten years after Nigeria returned to civil rule women still play second fiddle in the male-dominated politics of Africa’s most populous nation, women politicians and activists say.
Since this West African country of 140 million people broke from military rule and embraced [...]
KENYA: Proposed Constitutional Amendment Sets Back Women’s Rights
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Susan Anyangu-Amu
NAIROBI, Mar 11 (IPS) – Lillian Mutuku, a 34-year-old mother of three, describes her home in Katine area, in Kenya’s Eastern province Tala, as a harsh place to live. The soil is poor, she says, the sun beats down mercilessly and vegetation is sparse.
”People here face [...]
IRAQ: Women Miss Saddam
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By Abdu Rahman and Dahr Jamail*
BAGHDAD, Mar 12, 2010 (IPS) – Under Saddam Hussein, women in government got a year’s maternity leave; that is now cut to six months. Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women [...]
RIGHTS: Africa’s Success Stories in Gender Empowerment
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Thalif Deen* – IPS/TerraViva
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (IPS) – Whenever gender empowerment is a vibrant topic of discussion internationally, some of the countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America are invariably singled out for their success stories in politics, education, health care or civil liberties even as Africa [...]
Q&A: Qualified Women Have Better Chance in Top Jobs
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Thalif Deen interviews UNESCO Director-General IRINA BOKOVA* – IPS/Terraviva
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 8 (IPS) – Irina Bokova, who was elected director-general of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) last September, heads the Paris-based agency at a time when the world body has placed a high priority on [...]
BOLIVIA: More Women in Parliament, With Their Own Agenda
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Franz Chávez
LA PAZ, Jan 20 (IPS) – An unprecedented 28 percent of seats in Bolivia’s new parliament will soon be occupied by women. Female lawmakers have already launched a battle for women to serve in half the posts in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
One [...]
PERU: Victims of Military Rapists Wait for Justice 25 Years On
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
LIMA
Ángel Páez, Jan 20 (IPS) – ”I want justice. That will be a kind of peace,” says Micaela, a 40-year-old woman from the Andean region of Peru who is a survivor of the sexual violence prevalent during the 1980-2000 civil war. Twenty-five years ago, soldiers assaulted her at [...]
GHANA: Quietly Extending Options to Women
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By Elana Roth*
ACCRA, Jan 19, 2010 (IPS) – Juliana Kweais has a small scar on her bottom lip, from the first time she witnessed an abortion. The sharp blow to her mouth was delivered by her grandmother, after the then-13-year-old Kweais had asked why her auntie had given [...]
INDIA: Women As Hindu Priests Have An Edge
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Daksha Warty
PUNE, India, Nov 24 (IPS) – Defying Hindu orthodoxy and intolerant male priests, women in Maharashtra state, western India, have revived a Vedic tradition and become priests.
Approximately 700 women, most of them from Pune, a busy metropolis, 164-km south of Mumbai (previously Bombay), have undergone the [...]
INDIA: Women’s Political Empowerment, Yes; Better Lives, No
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Analysis by Neeta Lal
NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (IPS) – Despite getting suitably politically empowered, women in India continue to lag behind on almost all crucial developmental parametres like education, health and economic participation.
So why isn’t women’s political empowerment—a fact acknowledged by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest [...]
RIGHTS-LAOS: How Women Cope With Disability – Part 1
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Melody Kemp
VIENTIANE, Nov 20 (IPS) – Before 2002, Chanhpheng Sivila held training workshops for the many Lao disabled women and men at her own house.
Now she presides over the sprawling Lao Disabled Women’s Development Centre fronting the Mekong, 20 km from Vientiane. Traffic thunders over the nearby [...]
Q&A: Women Should Be More Than Window Dressing
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Jedi Ramalapa interviews Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General of CIVICUS
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 18 (IPS) – Women in developing countries are among the most vulnerable to the effects of crisis – be that climate change, food price hikes, the HIV/AIDS pandemic or the global recession. It is becoming more commonplace to [...]
Q&A: ”What is Important is to Give Equal Opportunity” – Part 2
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Stephen de Tarczynski interviews scientist Lourdes J. Cruz, winner of the 2010 UNESCO-L’Oréal Award
MANILA, Nov 18 (IPS) – Although women have long made major contributions to science, their efforts have often been overlooked. For the past 12 years, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has [...]
GENDER: Women in Science Face Discrimination in India – Part 1
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
K.S. Harikrishnan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 18 (IPS) – Just 10 of the 443 Indian scientists who received the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) award in the last 50 years were women.
An IPS investigation reveals that women scientists are sidelined by male-centric selection committees for awards and for appointments to [...]
CENTRAL AMERICA: Gender-based Violence, the Hidden Face of Insecurity
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
José Adán Silva
MANAGUA, Nov 16 (IPS) – Gender-based violence and sexual abuse are serious public security problems in Central America, and Nicaragua is no exception, according to reports by United Nations agencies and women’s organisations.
The Central American Human Development Report 2009-2010, released on Oct. 20 by the [...]
