[empower] women’s activism

Middle East and North Africa: 'Why Do They Hate Us?'

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Mali: 'Crisis in Mali: fundamentalism, women's rights, and cultural resistance'

In conversation with Jessica Horn, a leading Malian women’s rights activist identifies the roots of the crisis in Mali, and the opportunistic use of the crisis by Malian and international Islamic fundamentalists to gain a popular foothold in the north of the country

Jessica Horn: Were there any early warnings that this crisis would emerge?

Turkey: 'Kurdish Women: Resilience in the face of double discrimination'

The Kurdish ethnic group historically inhabited Kurdistan, an area now divided between the modern states of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Kurds form about 20% of Turkey’s population. Since the formation of the state of Turkey, Kurds in Turkey have faced marginalization and suppression of their cultural identity and a very severe assimilation policy. In 1984 the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched an armed uprising against the Turkish state demanding an independent Kurdish homeland.

Iran: 'Supporter of "Mourning Mothers", Ms. Mansoureh Behkish, sentenced to 4.5 years of prison'

Paris-Geneva, April 5, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), deplores the sentencing of human rights defender Ms. Mansoureh Behkish and calls for an end to her judicial harassment.

Bahrain: 'My Father is Dying'

This is the thought constantly running through my head.

As a human rights defender I have learned to numb my emotions and continue working. I have been working on covering human rights violations in Bahrain for more than two years now, documenting all the arbitrary arrests, systematic torture, rapes, kidnappings, extra-judicial killings; the list goes on.

Pakistan: 'International Women's Day and Women's Rights in Pakistan: Interview with Farida Shaheed'

Farida Shaheed is a sociologist with over 25 years’ research experience on women’s issues (including rural development, women and labour and legal rights), especially in Pakistan and South Asia. She is a long-time UNRISD collaborator, and joins us with an interview on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Her article on politics, religion and gender in Pakistan has been published in a special issue of Cahier du Genre entitled “Religion et politique: Les femmes prises au piège”. In this interview, she speaks to UNRISD about International Women’s Day, laws on women’s rights in Pakistan and some of the challenges in implementing them.

Iran: 'Solidarity and its Discontents'

While building solidarity between activists in the U.S. and Iran can be a powerful way of supporting social justice movements in Iran, progressives and leftists who want to express solidarity with Iranians are challenged by a complicated geopolitical terrain. The U.S. government shrilly decries Iran’s nuclear power program and expands a long-standing sanctions regime on the one hand, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes inflammatory proclamations and harshly suppresses Iranian protesters and dissidents on the other. Solidarity activists are often caught between a rock and a hard place, and many choose what they believe are the “lesser evil” politics. In the case of Iran, this has meant aligning with a repressive state leader under the guise of “anti-imperialism” and “populism,” or supporting “targeted” sanctions.

Pakistan: 'Senate unanimously passes Domestic Violence Bill'

Pakistan’s Senate on Monday passed a bill that makes violence against women and children an offence carrying jail terms and fines, state media said. The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill was introduced by Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar and passed unanimously by the upper house of the federal parliament, Pakistan Television reported.

Saudi Arabia: 'End Ban on Women in Sport'

As the world prepares for the 2012 Olympics, the Saudi government is systematically discriminating against women in sports and physical education, and has never sent a female athlete to the Olympics, with no penalty from the international Olympic authorities, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Human Rights Watch called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make ending discrimination against women in sports in the kingdom a condition for Saudi Arabia’s participation in Olympic sporting events, including the 2012 London Games.

خطاب مفتوح لكينيث روث، المدير التنفيذي لمنظمة هيومن رايتس ووتش

عزيزي كينيث روث

في مقدمة تقرير هيومن رايتس واتش 2012، "حان الوقت للتخلي عن المستبدين واحتضان الحقوق"، فإنك تدعو لدعم الحكومات الجديدة التي جاءت بالإخوان المسلمين للسلطة في مصر وتونس. ومن أجل تلبية رغبة "المشاركة البناءة" مع هذه الحكومات الجديدة، فإنك تدعو الدول لوقف مساندة المستبدين. لكنك لست دولة بل مدير مؤسسة دولية لحقوق الإنسان وعليك أن تلعب دورا في الإبلاغ عن انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان، وهي مهمة شريفة وضرورية تم تجاهلها في مقالك بشكل واضح.