What would a combination of self and community care look like? For activists in Chechnya, it means creating individual and organizational security plans, for example, that ensure if one woman is threatened, there are others standing by to help to keep her safe, writes Keely Tongate. Luiza encounters regular violence and intimidation in her work […]
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Lisa VeneKlasen and Alia Khan. The authors present first a contextual analysis of the forces and actors shaping the reality of women’s lives today. They outline the importance of changing hearts and minds with time-tested strategies and new forms of organizing that can fuel development of and support for alternative economic arrangements that respect the rights, dignity, and […]
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What impact is the rise of religious fundamentalisms having on women’s rights and freedoms? How are activists fighting back?. This session – one of the top ten breakout sessions as voted for by Forum participants – shared insights from AWID’s research which gathered analysis from hundreds of activists on religious fundamentalisms, along with strategies and […]
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This session – one of the top ten breakout sessions as voted for by Forum participants – presented findings from a Musawah research project on rethinking and challenging the concept of qiwamah (male authority) in Muslim family laws, which legitimises and institutionalises a patriarchal model of family. It also explored strategies to transform power relations […]
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FRIDAY FILE: LGBTQI individuals in Africa face numerous civil, political, economic, social and cultural barriers. AWID spoke to Hakima Abbas, the Executive Director of Fahamu about the challenges of LGBTQI activism and how the politics of foreign aid impacts the struggle. By Kathambi Kinoti. AWID: There are currently many setbacks to LGBTQI rights in Africa, […]
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Vandana Shiva. The brave and courageous Delhi gang rape victim breathed her last on December 30, 2012. This article is a tribute to her and other victims of violence against women. Violence against women is as old as patriarchy. But it has intensified and become more pervasive in the recent past. It has taken on […]
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Srilatha Batliwala. Today’s targeting of women in processes of realigning economic controls is perhaps quite unique. In order to unpack and understand economic power, we must revisit the different realms in which power operates, and the various forms that it takes – visible, hidden and invisible, says Srilatha Batliwala On the eve of the 12th AWID […]
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I’m attending the Association of Women’s Rights in Development conference in Turkey. I’m blogging my thoughts here at the F-word. I had wanted to write about each day’s reflection, but many of these topics run every day and my thoughts are evolving through each day. There are over 18 sessions per breakout session so this is specifically […]
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A hot topic at this AWID Forum has been the revolutions in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. One of my favorite sessions so far has been about the innovative ideas young feminists in Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and Lebanon used before, during and after the uprisings. These inspirational young women were out on the […]
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As I was casually browsing the many booths with information and goods from the various women’s organisations at the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Conference in Istanbul, Turkey last week, I spotted some T-shirts that grabbed my attention. Although I had already walked past the booth, the message on the T-shirts made me do an […]
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What impact is the rise of religious fundamentalisms having on women’s rights? How are women’s rights activists fighting back? Interesting questions in the light of the developments at international human rights fora in recent years, amongst which the ICPD, the Human Rights Council, current Rio+20 negotiations and the CSW a couple of months back. The latter was […]
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For me, economics are still rocket science, even though I bravely engaged in the session on demystifying economics and macroeconomic policy.. But three more days to come to work on my skills for Transforming Economic Power. Today started with the economical, social and political power of women in the MENA region. Before the official AWID Forum […]
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I arrived (very) early on Thursday morning to attend the 4 day Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) forum 2012 in Istanbul. I was immensely excited. This conference is probably the biggest meeting of feminists I have ever attended (aside from the Commission on the Status of Women) – and the most radical. There […]
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Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. Summary of challenges and strategies discussed in the pre-AWID Forum and the subsequent strategy meetings WLP partners joined over one hundred leaders, grassroots activists and academics from the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) and others from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to discuss the challenges faced by women in the MENA region and […]
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On the final day of the AWID Forum WLP held the panel discussion “Interfaith Perspectives on Religious Fundamentalisms and Women’s Rights.” During the panel leading activists from the Middle East, Central and South Asia, and the United States commented on fundamentalist groups, their recent rise in power, the values they hold, and their view of […]
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Militarism, Violence & Conflict
Labour & Work
The Role of the State
Sexuality
The Planet and Ecological Health
Financial Flows
Access to and Control of Resources
Private Sector and Corporate Power
Culture and Religion
Global Governance