Summer 2019
In: Red Pepper, 2019, pp. 35-45
A series of articles exploring the implications of a Green New Deal. These include the importance of the international implications; climate change as a form of systemic racism; and an 'Open letter to Extinction Rebellion' from the grass roots collective Wretched of the Earth.
In: El Pais, 2019
Reports that five out of six men involved in a gang rape of a 14-year old girl were convicted of sexual abuse of a minor, rather than the more serious crime of sexual assault; the girl was for part of the time in an 'unconscious state'. The report also provides an update on the Pamplona case, noting the the Spanish Supreme Court ruled the men were guilty of rape and raised their prison sentences to 15 years. El Pais records in addition that the commission created after the Pamplona case to revise the legal definition of sexual violence has reported, and recommended eliminating the lesser charge of sexual abuse; but the Socialist Party government has not yet acted.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/10/31/inenglish/1572525418_791189.html
In: New Internationalist, 2018, pp. 12-25
Originally published: March 2018
Introductory article by Amy Hall summarises the growth of BLM in the USA, discusses its global potential and spread to other countries, and notes the relevance of BLM in the UK. Jamilah King comments on the US movement, both on its strengths and the divisions within it. Other articles examine how BLM relates to a history of 'a policy of black extermination' in Brazil, and to the struggle by Aboriginal people in Australia.
In: Oxford Analytica, 2020
The year 2019 has seen women’s rights movements come to the fore across the Maghreb, a region where previous initiatives have been driven by Western political pressure and from the top down by predominantly authoritarian leaders. This paper explores the unprecedented bottom-up activist movements that have begun advancing the agenda of women’s rights across the region.
UN Women2017
Discusses the deadly forms of violence against women in Latin America, developments since the launching of the Latin America Model Protocol in 2014 by UN Women and the High Commissioner of Human Rights, and the most recent updates on the legislation by Latin American countries.
To access the last Survey on gender-based violence in Latin America, please see http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/about-us/highlights/2016/highlight-rn63.html
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/2/take-five-adriana-quinones-femicide-in-latin-america
In: TeleSur, 2019
Announces the launch of the ‘Spotlight Initiative’ in Honduras through a joint collaboration between the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) and the Honduras government to end femicide and impunity. By 2014, Honduras had the highest number of femicides in the world, according to the U.N. It is reported that 380 women were murdered in the country in 2018 and that 30 women were killed during the first 30 days of 2019. The impunity rate for this crime hovers at 95 per cent.
In: Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC), 2019
This blog post received criticisms for the failure to include the voices of migrants, people of colour, trans and non-binary people in the Irish referendum campaign. The original blog post is preserved for transparency and accountability. It includes, however, a more recent response acknowledging the criticisms that have been made against it. It is a good source of information for activists on how to establish a more inclusive type of communication on issues related to abortion rights.
https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2019/05/27/where-we-are-together-we-are-strongest/
In: The Elders, 2019
The writer, educator and environmentalist Katharine Wilkinson illustrates the need for climate leadership that is 'more conventionally feminine and more faithfully feminist'.
In: Peace News, No 2535-2536, 2011
Notes that the Faslane Peace Camp has existed for 29 years 'on the frontline against Britain's nuclear weapons', has been home to hundreds over the years, and has been a centre for direct action against nuclear weapons.
https://www.peacenews.info/node/6228/faslane-peace-camp-needs-you
In: Amnesty International, 2019
In the aftermath of Jair Bolsonaro’s election on an openly anti-human rights agenda, a climate of fear remains in Brazil. Yet, young people are rising up and making their voices heard. Amnesty International met seven human rights activists who reveal what life is like in Salvador, Brazil, and how they’re tackling violence against women, racism and homophobia.
Amnesty International2018, pp. 13
This report sets out Amnesty International’s concerns about the Mexican state’s failure to comply with observations of the Committee (in the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports) on violence against women. Amnesty notes in particular the murder of women for gender-based motives, also known as “femicides”, the gender alert mechanism, disappearances of women, and the torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of women during detention, which is exacerbated in the context of a militarization of public security.
YouTube Video
UCLA Latin American Institute
In Brazil, which has the second largest Black population in the world, Brazilian police kill at least six times more people annually than the US police, and most of those dying are young Black men. In the video an interdisciplinary panels of Brazilian and US scholars examine the development of Black Brazilian mobilization against police violence, and compare police violence in Brazil with the position in the US and South Africa. The video then focuses on how Black LGBTQ+ Brazilians are affected by police violence.
See also: https://www.thedialogue.org/events/online-event-race-and-policing-in-the-us-and-brazil/
Reports on Inter-American Dialogue event 'Race and Policing in the US and Brazil' examining what recent cases of police violence revealed about systemic racism in both countries.
In: Red Pepper, 2018, pp. 14-34
Analysis of the new small unions that are mobilizing workers not previously organized, such as domestic workers (often migrants), and older unions extending their reach to cover young workers in fast food chains, delivering food or driving for Uber. The contributors discuss what is distinctive about the style of the unionism - for example its decentralised leadership and willingness to en gage in occupations, and its support from other campaigning groups. The focus is on the UK but within a context of global solidarity with similar campaigns. There is also a timeline from 2008 to 2018 highlighting key struggles including by the long established major unions.
In: Abortion Rights Campaign, 2018
A submission advocating the need for the people of Northern Ireland to access free, safe and legal local abortions facilities regardless of their ability, ethnicity, income level, migration status, or geographic location.
In: National Geographic, 2018, pp. 79-149
Originally published: April 2018
In this special issue on race in the US, Michele Morris recounts how demographic changes across the US are challenging white Americans’ perception of their majority status. She also discusses attempts to re-create a narrative that could reflect more than white Christian ethnicity as the only identity framework of US history. Michael A. Fletcher reports the personal stories of people of colour who had suffered traumatic experiences of stop-and-search by police officers on the basis of their racial profile. Clint Smith examines two major and prestigious colleges that have experienced a recent surge in enrolment of black youth and the rise of new forms of Black activism. Finally, Maurice Bergers reports on the work by photographer Omar Victor Dopi on slave revolts, independence movements, social justice quests. The events represented range from 18th century’s Queen Nanny of the Maroons, known for her ability to lead Jamaican slaves to liberation from British colonialism, to 21st century’s 12 year-old Trayvon Martin, whose shooting by a white neighborhood watch volunteer inspired the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement.
In: TeleSur, 2019
Human rights activists have opposed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s plan to cut funding for women’s shelters in Mexico. The scheme is still not properly defined, but the money will instead be given directly to the victims of domestic violence. While the government’s decision does not intend to withdraw support for victims, human rights activists point out the risk of nullifying years of activism and initiatives led by civil society. In fact, they stress that giving money directly to victims can further expose them to violence.
In: New Internationalist, 2019
This article, drawing on material from the online socialist publication Notes from Below, focuses on the increasing reliance of capitalism today, with the growth of internet retail and the 'gig' economy, on transnational supply chains, and migrant workers. It starts by noting the disruptive effects of the French 'Yellow Vests' demonstrations blocking roundabouts on such chains. It also comments on how Italian grass roots unions Si Cobas and ADL have since 2008 used strikes and blockades to target the chain of distribution centres., leading to the arrest of the national coordinator of Si Cobas in 2017, and how workers in Amazon distribution centres in Italy, Spain and Germany have coordinated strike action. Concludes by noting how Uber drivers, mostly migrants, communicating via mobile phones have coordinated resistance. (See 'The wave of worker resistance in European food platforms 2016-7', Notes from Below, Jan 2018, nin.tl/FoodPlatforms)
https://newint.org/features/2019/02/11/uber-drivers-world-unite
In: amnesty International, 2019
Amnesty International pays tribute to the Irish campaigners that led to the revolutionary referendum that repealed the Eight Amendment (25-26 May 2018), thus legalising abortion. It also highlights the human rights violation that women in Northern Ireland faced because of the harsh and restrictive anti-abortion law then applicable.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/05/ireland-one-year-since-vote-to-end-abortion-ban/
In: Amnesty International, 2019
This link includes some of the campaigns and articles on abortion advocacy by Amnesty International. The most interesting articles have been selected to give a sense of how the campaigns developed since 2017. But users should keep accessing it to look for further material Amnesty International will upload in the future.
See a poll conducted by Amnesty International on whether Northern Ireland should change its abortion law published on 30 November 2018
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/northern-ireland-abortion-law-poll.
See also https://www.amnesty.org.uk/abortion-poll-research-majority-people-northern-ireland-want-decriminalise for a poll conducted in May 2017 on the same issue.
See the open letter to Prime minister Theresa May to change ‘cruel’ Northern Ireland abortion law published on 21 November 2018
Link to pro-abortion campaigns led by Amnesty International, including links to the 2019 campaign #NowForNI, a campaign organised on the occasion of the celebration of the first anniversary of the repeal of the Eight Amendment in Ireland which led to the legalisation of abortion in the Irish Republic.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/safe-abortions-northern-ireland
See the petition for obtaining the legalisation of abortion in Ireland published on 16 February 2017.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/ireland-abortion-laws-repeal-eighth-amendment
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/Abortion-in-Ireland-and-Northern-Ireland
In: The Elders, 2020
The Elders, a lobbying group for the environment chaired by Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland) joined leading climate experts to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement at a virtual conference. This was also hosted by Project Syndicate and the European Investment Bank and includes a two hour video clip of the panel discussion.
https://theelders.org/news/paris-2030-call-climate-leadership