Empowerment

United Kingdom: Launch of UK Feminista Newsletter

UK Feminista's states that its mission is to get as many people as possible actively campaigning for a world where women and men live as equals. In the UK alone, 100,000 women are raped every year, women are paid 23% less than men, and just 22% of MPs are women. For too long, the myth has persisted that we live in a 'post-feminist' age - and the struggle for gender equality assumed to be over. But the times they are a-changin'. Feminism is stepping out from the margins and reclaiming its position as one of the most important movements for social justice of our age.

International: Faith and Politics in the Lives of Women

Religious women make change happen, whether it’s by seeking peace or inciting war. Strong beliefs can inspire social justice or block a woman's access to freedom or equality. Join the International Museum of Women as they explore the relationship between faith and politics in the lives of women around the world.

North Africa: Bloggers get creative to evade censorship

When confronted with free speech as an act of self-expression, authoritarian powers throughout history have tried to assert their legitimacy and remove threats to their rule through censorship. To achieve this, the censor has had to be quicker than the pen. This task was relatively easy in the days of the printed word. However, today’s Internet revolution – especially blogs and other online social media – has turned the job of censorship into a censor's nightmare.

International: Islam and Feminism in first issue of Contestations

The first issue of Contestations, an online peer-review journal dedicated to creating a forum for discussion and debate about women's empowerment and gender justice, has just been released. The first issue contains an article by Hania Sholkamy about Islam and Feminism, as well as responses to Hania's article from Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Islah Jad, Heba Raouf, Mulki el-Sharmani and Mariz Tadros.

International: AWID launches the Young Feminist Wire

Welcome to AWID’s new online portal that brings together young feminists working on gender equality and women’s rights all over the world. The idea is simple: we believe in the powerful opportunities the internet presents for activists today. This Wire is a resource for feminists of all genders and ages, especially young women.

United States: Pioneering Feminist Rhonda Copelon Dies at 65

The WLUML network is saddened to learn of the passing of friend, ally and inspirational feminist human rights lawyer Rhonda Copeland, who died on 6 May 2010 after a long battle with cancer. She was a professor at the CUNY School of Law, a practicing human rights attorney with and Vice-President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who broke new ground opening U.S. federal courts and international tribunals to gender-based violence and international human rights violations. She worked closely with the WLUML network around issues of having women’s rights recognized as human rights by the United Nations, and around a groundbreaking lawsuit on behalf of nine individuals and the Rassemblement Algerien des Femmes Democrates (RAFD) against the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) of Algeria and its leader. The case charged the FIS with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including assassination, rape and torture.

Maroc: Harcèlement sexuel: Le gouvernement fait marche arrière

Le débat, enterré voilà un an et demi, vient d’être exhumé par le Mouvement alternatif pour les libertés individuelles (Mali). Via son canal habituel (Facebook), le groupe qui avait défrayé la chronique avec son pique-nique ramadanesque réclame aujourd’hui la “liberté de marcher (pour les femmes) dans la rue, l'esprit rêveur et la tête haute”. Les auteurs souhaitent surtout un projet de loi pénalisant le harcèlement sexuel généralisé dans l’espace public, “obligeant la police à intervenir vigoureusement”.

Israel/Palestine: Assaults on Israeli human rights organisations & BDS victories

The current wave of assaults on Israeli peace and human rights organizations, intended to silence and restrict us, only convinces us of the importance of our work and of the impact it has on the Israeli establishment, write the Coalition of Women for Peace. The past year has seen many encouraging developments: The BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement has been growing and “To ourselves, Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis, we need to say: We must not lose hope. We will continue this struggle until the Palestinian people are free and justice is done. And to the people of Gaza and all the Palestinian people we say: Do not despair, we will end the occupation!” - Abir Kopty, CWP activist. The CWP 2009 report is attached below.

International: Reinterpreting 'qawwam'

Director of the New Delhi-based Centre for Peace and Spirituality, editor of the monthly Al-Risala journal and author of almost two hundred books, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is one of India’s best known Islamic scholars. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand, he talks about issues related to Islam and women.

International: Feminism in the Muslim world

One of the most contentious issues within Islam today is the role of women in society. Conservatives endorse a narrow reading of Islamic texts to justify restrictions on women's mobility, legal rights and access to the public sphere, including health care, education and the workplace. Extremists among them use violence to impose their views. Moderate Muslims, on the other hand, find plenty within the Qur'an to support a full role and equal rights for women.