Guatemala: Two Women Murdered Every Day
In: Horizons, 2018
Exlores femicide in Guatemala with particular reference to violence experienced by indigenous women.
See also https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/femicide-in-mexico-and-guatemala/
Colombia: violence against women activists, leaders and defenders
In: LatinAmericanPost, 2018
Under the slogan "Now is the time: Rural and urban activists transform the lives of women", UN Women draw attention to the work of the movement of women activists in Colombia and the circumstances they have to face on a daily basis.
Available online at:
Nigeria: Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
67th Session, 3-21 July 2017
Amnesty International , New York, 2017
Amnesty International report on legislative measures taken by Nigeria to ensure the protection of the rights of women and girls. It also highlights gender-based violence resulting from displacements and armed conflict; and forced evictions which led to the disproportionate loss of livelihoods for women, and to gender based violence. Finally, Amnesty reports the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence by the police.
Available online at:
Students lead Chile's #MeToo moment
In: Guardian Weekly, 2018, pp. 8-8
Describes a new generation of student activists who are waging a struggle against harassment and sexual discrimination in universities through strikes, occupations and protests. When the article was published many university buildings were still being occupied. Polls showed public support and the government promised to meet some (but not all) of the students’ demands.
Against Her Will. Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Women Worldwide
Open Society Foundations2011
This Open Society Foundations fact sheet provides information on instances of forced sterilization of racial and ethnic minorities, poor women, women living with HIV, and women with disabilities in Chile, Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Mexico, Namibia, Kenya, Peru, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uzbekistan. It also provides recommendations for governments, medical professionals, UN agencies, and donors on how to end the practice of forced and coerced sterilization.
VigiaAfro: Observatory on gender-based violence against Afro-Colombians
In: MADRE, 2018
Afro-Colombian women are documenting testimonies for use by the new online observatory, VigiaAfro, created to report on and raise awareness about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against Afro-descendants. MADRE is an international women's human rights organization working in partnership with community-based women's organizations worldwide in contexts of conflict, disasters, and their aftermath. It operates within the framework of a project entitled, Afro-Colombian Community Initiative for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace in Colombia.
See also http://aapf.org/historical-invisibility-of-afrocolombian-women-english.
Available online at:
Nigerian women protest against Abuja police raid and rape
In: African Feminism, 2019
Narrates the background of the #AbujaPoliceraidOnWomen campaign, in response to the violent arrest of 70 women in two clubs on the accusation of prostitution. The police allegedly raped those women who couldn’t afford the bail.
See also the interview on this campaign with Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi, founder of the Stand To End Rape (STER) initiative http://africanfeminism.com/police-brutality-against-nigerian-women-an-interview-with-oluwaseun-ayodeji-osowobi/ and http://africanfeminism.com/protests-arent-tea-parties-dont-expect-women-to-be-civil/
Available online at:
http://africanfeminism.com/nigerian-women-protest-against-abuja-police-raid-and-rape/
Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In: Atomic Heritage Foundation, 2017
Provides a basic account of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the censorship that followed, the setting up of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, the birth of the movement led by the hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) and the perception of them in the United States
Available online at:
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/survivors-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
Peru: Thousands march for justice, equality, women’s rights
In: TeleSur, 2018
Massive demonstration in the Peruvian capital, Lima, organized by the Assembly of Women and Diversities and the NGO Ni Una Menos (Not One More), which involved 20 human rights groups demanding justice for women, following the acquittal of a man accused of rape who negotiated with the authorities for his release.
Available online at:
My Name is not Greta Thunberg': Why Diverse Voices Matter in the Climate Movement
In: The Elders, 2020
Xiye Bastida, an 18 y-ear old Mexican-Indigenous climate activist recounts her own experiences and stresses the need to recognize the diversity of the climate justice movement in order to achieve a more equitable and sustainable future.
Available online at:
https://theelders.org/news/my-name-not-greta-thunberg-why-diverse-voices-matter-climate-movement
Women in Guatemala steer change, seek solutions to end sexual harassment in public spaces
In: UN Women, 2018
Highlights the initiative ‘Guatemala Safe City’ as part of the UN Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative to tackle sexual harassment in Guatemala.
Available online at:
We Will Make a New Chile: Interview with Isidora Cepeda Beccar
In: Jacobin Magazine, 2019
An interview with a political activist in Santiago in the context of 'the largest demonstrations in Chile since the return of democracy', which had developed into demands for a new constitution and comprehensive political reform. Beccar argues that the post-Pinochet reforms had primarily benefited a small elite.
Available online at:
https://jacobinmag.com/2019/10/chile-protests-fare-hike-pinera-demands
Indigenous Anti-nuclear Summit Declaration
Indigenous Environmental, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1996
The Indigenous Anti-Nuclear Summit declaration that brought together a network of Indigenous Peoples from different areas that have been negatively impacted by the nuclear chain. This includes Uranium mining in the Grants Mineral Belt; northern Saskatchewan; the areas near the Sequoyah Fuels Uranium Processing Plant, and the Prairie Island Power Plant.
Available online at:
https://www.ienearth.org/indigenous-anti-nuclear-summit-declaration/
Peru: Court hands down first ever sentence for sexual harassment
In: TeleSur, 2018
Report on the first sentencing of a man to prison and to payment of damages to the victim for a case of aggravated sexual harassment toward a 15-year old young woman. It also recalls one controversial case that motivated the rise of the movement NiUnaMenos.
Available online at:
Opinion Special. The George Floyd Protests
In: Guardian Weekly, 2020, pp. 7-16
Six brief commentaries on key issues relating to the resurgence of Black Lives Matter in both the US and Britain. Philip V. McHarris, 'Property damage is not real violence'; Malaika Jaball, 'Police brutality is ingrained in America'; Jericho Brown, 'We need the rage that abolished slavery'; Kojo Koram, 'Systemic racism is a British problem too'; David Olusoga, 'Toppling a slave trader's statue is history being made'; Patricia J. Williams, 'The corrupt language used to describe black pain'.
See also: ‘The Big Story: Black Lives Matter: Do Look Now’, Guardian Weekly, 19 June, pp. 7-14.
Covers protests in the UK against statues honouring slave traders and imperialists; anti-racist demonstrations in Belgium and a petition to remove all statues of King Leopold, who presided over a particularly brutal colonial rule in the Congo; protests against police violence and racism against indigenous and black citizes in Canada; and demonstrations in the Dominican Republic about racist discrimination against those of Haitian descent. There is also an article reflecting on lessons to be learned from how Germany has confronted its Nazi past.
Successes and Shortcomings: How Algeria's Hirak can inform Lebanon's Protest Movement
Vol 03/06/2020, Middle East Institute2020
The author summarizes the beginning of the two movements, but notesthat despite significant victories, given the political power structure has not been overthrown the goals of regime change 'remain elusive'. She considers the successes in Algeria - the wide range of social groups involved and 'ethos of peacefulness' - and the shortcomings of lack of leadership and of a clear strategy to achieve change. Using the Algerian example she suggests lessons for Lebanon, such as maintaining nonviolence and avoiding political partisanship and sectarianism.
Available online at:
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
WECAN is a climate justice body which stresses that indigenous women, women of colour, women on low incomes and from Global South countries live on 'the front lines of climate change'. Therefore solutions to climate change require not only ending extraction of oil and gas, but 'building a new economy' based on communal and women's rights, right of nature and the rights of future generations. WECAN aims to mobilise women around the world in policy advocacy (for example at UN climate conferences) and in movement building.
Available online at:
A Cold War cast of thousands. Anti-nuclear activists and protest-action
In: National Park Service, 2017
Discusses the anti-nuclear weapons movements in the late 1950s, for example the Committee for Non-Violent Action, and the shift of focus, from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s to the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War by many local and national peace groups in the United States. In the late 1970s and 1980s Europe and the United States experienced a resurgence of concern over nuclear weapons.
Available online at:
Thousands protest in South Africa over rising violence against women
In: The Guardian, 2019
In response to the rising murder and rape of women in South Africa (41,000 rapes and 2,700 murders between March 2018 and March 2019), and the rape and killing of university student Uyinene Mrwetyana by a Cape Town post office employee, women all over the country responded by blocking the entrance to the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, launching the #AmINext movement and the #SandtonShutdown (or #TheTotalShutDown) protest. They rallied outside Johnnesburg Stock Exchange on 13 September 2019, forcing South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa to cancel a trip to the UN world leaders’ gathering.
See also https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-09-13/south-african-leader-drops-un-visit-as-women-protest-attacks, https://www.africanews.com/2019/09/13/south-africa-activists-protest-gender-based-violence// and https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/protest-against-gender-based-violence-emerge-in-sa/
Available online at:
Timeline: the history of abortion in Ireland
In: the journal.ie, 2018
Traces the most important steps that in the last 40 years have shaped the public debates and attitudes towards abortion, until the 25th May 2018 referendum that legalised it in Ireland.
See also http://time.com/5286910/ireland-abortion-laws-history/
Available online at:
https://www.thejournal.ie/abortion-in-ireland-4382738-Dec2018/