#MeToo has changed the media landscape, but in Australia there is still much to be done
In: The Conversation, 2019
Report on the Australia response to the emergence of the #MeToo movement.
After the Arab Spring
In: Journal of Democracy, Vol 26, 2015
This issue of the Journal published six articles assessing the regional uprisings. Michele Dunne 'After the Arab Spring: Caught in History's Crosswinds' suggests that despite difficulties in understanding the failures of the 'Spring' some lessons can be drawn; Michael Robbins 'After the Arab Spring: People Still Want Democracy' argues that data from the Arab Barometer suggested most Arabs still want democratic government; Marc Lynch, 'After the Arab Spring: How the Media Trashed the Transitions examines how the media that supported deposing dictators 'can make it harder to build democracy'; Charles Kurxzman and Didem Turkoglu 'After the Arab Spring: Do Muslims Vote Islamic Now?' assess whether Islamic parties have become more popular than they were before 2011, and Mieczslaw P. Boduszynski, Kristin Fabbe and Christopher Lamont, 'After the Arab Spring : Are Secular Parties the Answer?' examine sceptically whether the existing secular parties are equipped to play a positive role. (The sixth article on Tunisia is listed under E.V.B.b.2. Tunisia.)
A European Green Deal: Striving to be the first climate-neutral continent
European Commission , Brussels, 2019
The EU Commission presented its plan for updating its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in December 2019. The goal of net zero emissions by 2050 was to be given legal force by a climate law in 2020, and its target for 2030 was a 50-55" cut (lifting its previous 40" target). The plan links these targets to a call for a new growth strategy, decoupled from resource use, and sets out a time line and more detailed aims.
See also: Simon, Frederic, 'The EU releases its Green Deal. Here are the key points' 12 Dec. 2019: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/12/12/eu-releases-green-deal-key-...
Available online at:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en
Ukrainian Pacifist Movement: Bill No 3553 of Zelensky's Military Dictatorship should be withdrawn
War Resisters International2020
Full statement by the WRI affiliate Ukrainian Pacifist Movement condemning the bill introducing 'intolerable elements of military dictatorship'. The bill required mandatory military registration for employment and draconian fines and imprisonment for COs and those showing solidarity with them. It also empowered police to hunt for draftees on the streets and transfer them forcibly to army recruiting centres.
See also: 'The Brutality of Military Commissariats in Ukraine: Reaction of UN and MPs', Truth Seeker, 23 September 2019
This article explores the practice of arbitrary detention of conscripts in Ukraine. It includes footage (in Russian) of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement that opposes compulsory military service.
See also: Harding, Luke, 'Ukraine reintroduces conscription to counter threat of pro-Russian separatists', The Guardian, 1 May 2014.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/ukraine-military-conscript...
Available online at:
Feminicide: A Global Phenomenon. From Brussels to El Salvador
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Report, Brussels, 2015, pp. 39
Edited every two years on the occasion of the European Union and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (EU-CELAC) Summit, this fifth edition of the series ‘Feminicide: A Global Phenomenon’ addresses the chapter on gender from the Action Plan, and points to other initiatives aiming at eradicating feminicide/femicide, and also inspiring the implementation of the Action Plan EU-CELAC on this matter.
The ZAD and No TAV: Territorial Struggles and the making of a New Political Intelligence
Translated from the French by Kristin Ross
Mauvaise Troupe Collective2018, pp. 240
Account of two major struggles by local people in conjunction with a wide range of external activists to defend their local territory: 1. against building a new airport near Nantes in France by ZAD (Zones a Defendre) and 2. against a high-speeed rail line (Treno ad Alta Velocita) in northern Italy by No TAV. The resistance has developed into alternative forms of social and economic organization within the defended territories. The book discusses the role of different strategies and tactics, and how to maintain alliances between diverse groups through dialogue.
See also: Jordan, John, 'Battle of the ZAD', Red Pepper, Jun-Jul 2018, pp. 24-29
'Habitable Earth': The Big Story, Climate Justice
May-June 2019
In: New Internationalist, 2019, pp. 15-37
Examines a range of technical issues relating to reaching carbon zero emissions targets, but focuses primarily on different forms of campaigning. These include Buddhist temples disinvesting from fossil fuels in Japan, and the often effective use of the law in Latin America, as well as examples of direct action. There is also a brief account of the Costa Rican government's programme to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Iran: More than 100 protesters Believed to be Killed as Top Officials Give Green Light to Crush Protests
Amnesty International2019
Amnesty issued this early condemnation of regime violence against 'verified video footage', eyewitness reports and other information on the 'excessive and often lethal force' used to crush largely peaceful protests in over 100 cities. Amnesty also notes the role of security forces in seizing the bodies of the dead, or compelling relatives to bury protesters without an autopsy, as well as the internet shutdown imposed by the regime.
See also: Human Rights Watch, 'Iran: No Justice for Bloody Clampdown', 25 February, 2020, pp. 18.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/25/iran-no-justice-bloody-crackdown
This lengthy report, written after the mass demonstrations had been crushed, provides information about protests, and the authorities' response, in different provinces. It also indicates the difficulty of getting precise figures for deaths (estimated at a minimum of 304) and imprisonments (about 7,000 according to one member of parliament), given the closing down of the internet and regime threats to families.
Available online at:
CO Update
War Resisters' International 2020
This hundredth issue of CO Update (which brings together a number of news items already published by WRI in June 2020 as separate stories) begins by noting that the annual International Conscientious Objection Day on 15 May 2020 was celebrated round the world mostly by actions online. This issue includes the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement's condemnation of the new draconian bill designed to enforce conscription (referenced above), and the Council of Europe's reiterated appeal to Turkey to recognize conscientious objection (noted in the Introduction). It also covers court cases to oppose EU financing of Eritrean development projects that employing conscript labour; the Azerbaijan government's parliamentary announcement about a prospective Alternative Service Law (promised to the Council of Europe in 2003 but not delivered); the suspicious death of a Turkish air force conscript; and two opposing bills in the US Congress: to extend draft registration to women, or to end draft registration.
See also other monthly issues of CO update for detailed news from around the world.
Available online at:
Special: ‘Nigeria – The Boko Haram girls’
In: The New York Times, 2018
Following the kidnapping of more than 200 girls in April 2014 by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram, the campaign #BringBackOurGirls started and was supported worldwide. In this New York Times’ special more than a hundred girls who have been released four years later are photographed and some of their stories are narrated.
See also https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/boko-haram-returns-some-of-the-girls-it-kidnapped-last-month; https://www.dw.com/en/inside-boko-haram-chibok-girls-as-status-symbols/a-18677263;
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/meet-metoo-activists-one-worlds-hostile-environments/; https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbpxn9/boko-haram-has-kidnapped-another-110-teenage-girls and https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/07/john-simpson-can-anyone-bring-back-nigeria-s-lost-girls
In 2018, the documentary ‘Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram was released. To purchase the documentary, visit HBO official website https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/stolen-daughters-kidnapped-by-boko-haram
See the official website of #BRingBackOurGirls campaign here https://bringbackourgirls.ng/
Available online at:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/11/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-girls.html
World Facing ‘Moment of Opportunity’ to End Violence against Women, Third Committee Hears amid Calls for Gender Equality in Politics
UN General Assembly Report2018
The Third Committee’s (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) report on the advancement of women worldwide. The Third Committee had before it the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (document A/73/38). Also before the Committee were reports of the Secretary-General on Trafficking in women and girls (document A/73/263); intensifying global efforts for the elimination of female genital mutilation (document A/73/266); intensifying efforts to end obstetric fistula within a generation (document A/73/285) and intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (document A/73/294). The Committee also had before it a report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on violence against women in politics (document A/73/301).
Available online at:
Dalit rights activists break new grounds in South Asia
UN Women
2018
Brief account of the initiative of Moni Rani Das, a Dalit woman living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who started advocating for nearly 3 million Dalit women living in the country and became the first Dalit woman sitting on the National Human Rights Commission in Bangladesh. Her activism is a source of empowerment for 120 million women altogether that live in South Asia and contributed to the transnational activism of FEDO, Feminist Dalit Organisation based in Nepal, which formed connection with the UN’s Women Fund for Gender Equality; more local organisations such as Nagorik Uddyog in Bangladesh, Swadhikar and Asia Dalit Rights Forum in India; and the Human Development Organization (HDO) in Sri Lanka. By predominantly promoting women’s economic rights, FEDO’s activity constitutes a protection against gender-based violence against Dalit women.
Across Latin America, women fight back against violence in politics
UN Women2018
Reports on how women in Bolivia, Brazil, Honduras and Mexico who are willing to hold public offices experience violence and do react against intimidation.
Relevant document on political violence against women for each of these countries can be found below.
International: INCLUDE PDF; http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm
Bolivia: http://observatorioparidaddemocratica.oep.org.bo/ (Spanish). For further readings, please see http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/11/take-five-katia-uriona
Brazil: http://www.brasil5050.org.br/ (Portuguese)
Mexico: https://www.gob.mx/conavim/documentos/protocolo-para-la-atencion-de-la-violencia-contra-las-mujeres-en-razon-de-genero-2017; http://mexico.unwomen.org/es/digiteca/publicaciones/2017/10/protocolo-oaxaca
Available online at:
Nigeria: Crackdown on Police Brutality Protests
Human Rights Watch2020
Provides a close examination of the development of the anti-SARS protests, especially between 8-15 October 2020.
See also: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54508781
Available online at:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/16/nigeria-crackdown-police-brutality-protests
Thousands in Argentina protest acquittal in teeneage girl’s murder
In: Al Jazeera, 2018
Reports on the revival of the #NiUnaMenos movement following the acquittal of two men accused of sexual violence and the murder of 16-year old Lucia Perez in the coastal city of Mar del Plata. It also provides data on femicide since 2008.
For the same event, see also http://time.com/5472053/argentina-protest-lucia-perez-ni-una-menos/.
Available online at:
Glasgow's Festival of Climate Resistance
In: Peace News, No 2657, 2022, pp. 7-7
Provides brief examples of protests and related activities in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021 during the COP 26 Conference. Almost all the events were organized by the COP 26 Coalition, a UK-based coalition of groups committed to climate justice, which also assisted activists from abroad.
Women worldwide must be heard and respected
In: The Guardian, 2019
Letter published by The Guardian on International Women’s Day 2019, signed by women activists and actresses, as a public statement advocating the protection of women’s rights worldwide.
Another letter addressed to an international audience was published by The Guardian and was signed by prominent African women from all spheres titled ‘Equality for African women’. It can be accessed on here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/08/equality-for-african-women.
Available online at:
¡Viva Nos Queremos! (Art)
Author(s): ' Mujeres Grabando Resistencia
In: NACLA Reports on the Americas, Vol 50, No 4, 2018, pp. 418-422
The initative of 14 women of capturing the feminist struggles through artistic production within the #VivaNosQueremos campaign. Many cities throughout the world joined the campaign and printmaking appeared in cities like Ciudad Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico State, Puebla, New York, Chicago, Montreal and Barcelona as well as other countries like Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Italy.
Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising
Author(s): ' Starhawk'
New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island BC, 2003, pp. 288
Part 1: the author, an activist and ecofeminist, chronicles the global justice movement from Seattle to Genoa. Part 2 explores the future of the movement and debates between advocates of violent and nonviolent tactics.
Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery
Author(s): ' Starhawk'
Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1988, pp. 384
Often cited exploration of issues from an eco-feminist perspective by activist drawing on experiences in 1980s peace movement affinity groups. Explores power along three axes – power-over, power-within and power-with, and provides materials on individual and group empowerment.