Honduran President called ‘murderer’ at inauguration of UN anti-femicide initiative

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.

Available online at:

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Honduran-President-Called-Murderer-at-Inauguration-of-UN-Anti-Femicide-Initiative-20190214-0009.html

Dominican Republic. Policies fuel teens pregnancy

Human Rights Watch2019

Describes the Human Right Watch campaign against the denial of sexual and reproductive rights to young women in the Dominican Republic, which has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Latin America. The country has failed to provide scientifically accurate, right-based sexual education programmes in schools, as the authorities announced they would do in 2015. This article also provides the link to a 50-page report, I Felt Like The World Was Falling Down On Me: Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights In The Dominican Republic’, which is based on interviews with 30 girls who became pregnant before turning 18 and provides an overview on the stigmatization and clandestine-abortion related risks these young women face.

Available online at:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/18/dominican-republic-policies-fuel-teen-pregnancy

How was the March 8 International Women’s Strike woven together

In: Viewpoint Magazine, 2017

Highlights the organisation and impact of the October 19, 2016 Strike in Argentina - the first women’s strike in the history of the country (and Latin America), which alone mobilised 250,000 people in Buenos Aires. The strike inspired by the same initiative taken by Polish women, which extended to many countries in the world thanks to the coordination of groups activities, petitions sent to the UN and manifestos.

Available online at:

https://www.viewpointmag.com/2017/02/16/how-was-the-march-8-international-womens-strike-woven-together/

The Big Story: Syria

In: New Internationalist, No 485, 2015, pp. 12-29

This supplement on Syria provides a time line and other helpful contextual information about the complex developments in Syria from 2011-15, as well as an analysis of the role of civic activism in rebel held territory.  The issue includes a discussion of artistic creativity since 2011, stories of individual journalists opposing Assad or ISIS, of a doctor treating victims of chemical attack, a teacher under ISIS, and an article on the White Helmets.

See also: Abbas, Omar, 'Dr Jalal Nofal: Connecting Relief Work and Civil Activism in Syria', War Resisters’ International, 11 Nov, 2016

https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2016/dr-jalal-nofal-connecting-relief-work-and-civil-activism-syria

An account of the leftist political background of Dr Nofal, his nonviolent resistance (including arrests and imprisonment), and his medical initiatives as a psychiatrist in Damascus from 2011-14. He was smuggled out of Syria early in 2015, but continued from a border town in Turkey to broadcast, to offer training for social workers and support for refugees, and also to help social workers inside Syria.

Grassroots will drive North Africa women’s rights push

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.

Top 8 Climate Change Campaigns of 2018

In: Greenhouse PR, 2018

Greenhouse was established in 2006 to 'use the power of communications to drive positive social and environmental change.’ This report covers eight diverse 2018 campaigns which Greenhouse participated in. These include international media campaigns to pressure world major insurance companies to stop insurers covering coal mines and power plants, and promoting ethical banking. It also includes campaigns on environmentally aware farming methods. 

Available online at:

https://www.greenhousepr.co.uk/top-8-climate-change-campaigns-of-2018/

Mexico: Submission to the Committee On the Elimination of Violence Against Women

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.

XIVth Dalai Lama: Peace is more than the absence of war

In: Waging Peace Series, Booklet 28

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA, 1991, pp. 1-9

When receiving of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s 1991 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award, the Dalai Lama advocated total nuclear disarmament as a pre-requisite for the goals of demilitarization and the ending of all national forms of military establishment.

Special Issue

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.

The Race Issue. Black and White

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.

Protesters criticize AMLO’s plan for domestic violence’s shelters’

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.

Available online at:

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Protesters-Criticize-AMLOs-Plan-for-Domestic-Violence-Shelters-20190305-0007.html?fbclid=IwAR3-6VQ-3LlNLCE93hcx25nKmhk3mgXZANWfE027Z3bxHJBXJYu_WY8fRns

When we are together, we are strongest

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.

Available online at:

https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2019/05/27/where-we-are-together-we-are-strongest/

Take Five: Fighting femicide in Latin America

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

Available online at:

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/2/take-five-adriana-quinones-femicide-in-latin-america

Black Lives Matter in Brazil

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.

Available online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34TtbTmyjUo&t=3061s

The New Faces of the Unions

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.  

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