insert_link Africa Gambia MPs uphold ban on female genital mutilation Gambian lawmakers voted this afternoon to uphold a 2015 ban on female genital mutilation, rejecting a controversial bill seeking to overturn the law after months of heated debate and international pressure. Legislators killed the bill by voting against all the proposed amendments to the 2015 text that would have decriminalised the practice. Rights groups and the United Nations had urged MPs to reject the bill, saying it […] today15 July, 2024
insert_link Local Solidarity and Support. Don’t Punish, with a focus on women and gender diverse people who use drugs – 26 June 2024 Y-Fem is a registered feminist human rights organization which is focused on feminism, women’s rights and movement building to ensure women’s can assert and demand their rights in all spheres of life. Y-Fem is focused on improving intersectional and inclusive coordination amongst organizations working in the women’s rights and feminist space in Namibia as well as movement building with a focus on rural grassroots level mobilizing. “Support. […] today26 June, 2024
insert_link World Sheinbaum victory: a win for Mexican women? By Laura BONILLA Nearly two decades after its then-president described women as "two-legged washing machines," Mexico has elected a woman to lead a country with a long history of gender-based bigotry and violence. The new leader, Claudia Sheinbaum, has talked about the desire of women to "live without fear" and rails against the stereotype that a woman is "prettier when she keeps her mouth shut." But […] today3 June, 2024
insert_link Entertainment Taylor Swift has got the 1830s all wrong By Emily Ireland, University of Liverpool Taylor Swift has become incredibly popular as a documenter of her dating history. But in her new album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, she tries her hand at writing about actual history. In the second verse of “I Hate it Here” (track 23 on the mammoth 31-track anthology version of the album), Swift sings about playing a game that involves […] today15 May, 2024
insert_link Africa Tanzania’s political parties have few women in leadership and candidate lists: some solutions By Victoria Melkisedeck Lihiru, The Open University of Tanzania Tanzania, in keeping with global political trends, reserves 30% of seats in parliament for women. These so-called special seats were introduced with multiparty politics in 1992, in response to the low numbers of women elected to positions of power. There were only eight elected female parliamentarians after the first multiparty elections in 1995. Ten years later, 17 […] today14 May, 2024
insert_link Uncategorized Obstetric and gynecological violence: Empowering patients to recognize and prevent it Women who receive obstetric and gynecological care must be heard when they say that they have received inadequate, violent treatment. (Shutterstock) By Audrey Ferron-Parayre, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Catherine Régis, Université de Montréal; Emmanuelle Bernheim, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa, and Sylvie Lévesque, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) In recent years, media and social networks have brought to light growing denunciations of obstetric and gynecological care that is considered […] today17 April, 2024
insert_link Africa A decade after the kidnapping of the Chibok girls in Nigeria, what has the #BringBackOurGirls movement achieved? By Temitope Oriola, University of Alberta In April 2014, the terrorist organization Boko Haram kidnapped 276 high school girls in Chibok, a town in northeast Nigeria. About 57 of the girls managed to escape on the night of their capture. Boko Haram had demonstrated its intentions regarding the education of girls and young women prior to the mass kidnapping — two months before the Chibok kidnapping, Boko Haram […] today17 April, 2024
insert_link Africa The Gambia may allow female genital mutilation again – another sign of a global trend eroding women’s rights By Satang Nabaneh, University of Dayton The Gambia’s ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) since 2015 is under threat. Proposed changes before parliament could permit medicalised female genital cutting and allow it for consenting adults. This potential reversal has thrust the country into the global spotlight as the latest example of the backlash against gender equality. The Gambia’s criminalisation of FGM was not the first in west […] today2 April, 2024
insert_link Opinion Pieces UN Rights Experts Make False Promises About Prostitution The essayist, an expert in human trafficking, writes that a guidance paper produced by a UN human rights group on eliminating discrimination against “sex workers” actually “advocates for policies that will endanger women and girls.” TONY WEBSTER/CREATIVE COMMONOpinion By Taina Bien-Aimé The United Nations working group on discrimination against women and girls published a paper last year that not only fails to address the widespread human rights violations caused by prostitution […] today14 March, 2024
