tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73192007407540165212024-03-02T10:47:47.064-08:00Her Blueprint: The Global Fund for Women BlogI.M.O.W. Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11458007184553878049noreply@blogger.comBlogger468125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-20386255533695403452015-08-31T14:02:00.001-07:002015-08-31T14:02:20.054-07:00Her Blueprint is now archivedAs of September 2015, we will no longer be adding posts to Her Blueprint. Since the blog began in 2009, we have included nearly 500 posts from women writers, thinkers, and artists around the globe on women's arts, culture, and current events, reaching more than 300,000 people. We thank you for your support!<br />
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For more information on the Global Fund for Women's current campaigns, programs, and activities, please visit <a href="http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/">www.globalfundforwomen.org</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-53699018028863350382015-08-19T12:58:00.000-07:002015-08-19T12:58:10.012-07:00CLIO TALKS BACK: What’s the Matter with Reckoning Descent Through the Mothers? The well-educated Englishman known as James de Laurence (whose real name was James Henry Lawrence, 1773-1841) had the bright idea in the early 1830s of proposing that descent and succession be credited to the mother’s side – what he called “umbilical descent”. Long an advocate of women’s rights, Laurence published a small pamphlet in Paris (1831) called Les enfants de Dieu, which he then published in English as The Children of God (1833).<br />
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The pamphlet opened with this drawing, entitled “Descente ombilicale des Enfans de Dieu,” or “Navel string Descent of the Children of God.”<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTf3Keb10HJd_COW4gQL7JzDfSWCUqC7GgkVW3nAMEmXbi2ES2U4uCu2z8XAFTCZV6sAHssUwj-hk7kAzt3ehofaL1UDG5UMQW2nUltkuQPQHV7mAtoakF_WfieZ3vxwnnyleC6YdqWN0/s1600/KO%252520-%252520Blog%25252095%252520-%252520James%252520de%252520Laurence%252520-%252520Tokology%252520navel%252520descent-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTf3Keb10HJd_COW4gQL7JzDfSWCUqC7GgkVW3nAMEmXbi2ES2U4uCu2z8XAFTCZV6sAHssUwj-hk7kAzt3ehofaL1UDG5UMQW2nUltkuQPQHV7mAtoakF_WfieZ3vxwnnyleC6YdqWN0/s400/KO%252520-%252520Blog%25252095%252520-%252520James%252520de%252520Laurence%252520-%252520Tokology%252520navel%252520descent-2.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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Laurence explained the drawing in the following words:<br />
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“The umbilical Table shews what would have been the descent of mankind but for the indiscretion of Eve. Eve is painted above with her children united to her body by their navel strings: the sons upright, because they never lie in; the daughters reclining, to produce other children. </blockquote>
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In every son, the navel string ceases, and consequently there is no continuation of his body; but from the daughters descend other sons who die out, and daughters who produce other children in their time. </blockquote>
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Several females, however, are represented childless, and two are departing with their issue to people other parts of the globe. </blockquote>
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The navel string being cut, every individual is as it were an island; could the navel strings have remained uncut, the whole race would form a continent, and every indivieual have his place like a horse harnessed in a team, or a soldier in battle array. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
By the umbilical string, every individual might trace his descent through a line of mothers to mother Eve.” </blockquote>
Calling this new understanding of descent “Tokology,” Laurence insisted that Genealogy understood as lineage through the fathers (as presented in the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Chapter 3: “Genealogy of the Patriarchs”) and claimed to be the only possible understanding, was a mere “pretension.” Paternity was problematic, he asserted; only maternity could be documented. “A mother is the editor of the child – she alone can know who is the author. The navel string is the stalk that unites the fruit to the tree. How vain are the researches of the herald that are conducted by any other clue.” Clearly, Laurence was thinking against the grain by questioning customary “truth.”<br />
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With one dramatic claim, Lawrence challenged the preconceived, male-centered knowledge of his day by arguing for descent through the mothers. For most, this was a shockingly new way of thinking and it represented a big step forward in elevating the status of nineteenth-century European women.<br />
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Clio finds Laurence’s proposal most intriguing – “good to think with” – precisely because it puts women back into human history, at its very center. In fact, early feminists found his challenge to conventional wisdom very stimulating; they influenced the Saint-Simonian women of 1830s France among others throughout the following century.<br />
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What do you think of Laurence’s Tokology? Why Not Umbilical Descent?<br />
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<i>Source: James de Laurence, The Children of God, or the Religion of Jesus Reconciled with Philosophy, written originally in French (London, 1833).
</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-35402681301727350472015-07-06T01:00:00.000-07:002015-08-16T14:06:42.252-07:00The Right to Love and the Magna Carta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The White House on June 26, 2015, Washington, DC. Photo credit: Ted Eytan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The United States Supreme Court slip opinion <br />
of <i>Obergefell v. Hodges</i>, 576 U.S. _ (2015).</td></tr>
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For the United States, Friday, June 26, 2015 will go down in the history books. In a 5-4 <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7319200740754016521#editor/target=post;postID=3540268130172735047" target="_blank">decision</a>, the United States Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex and to recognize such marriages licensed in other states. I distinctly remember two months earlier, on April 28, when the Court heard oral arguments in the case. On that day, all I felt was trepidation. I could not imagine being a citizen of a country that denied such a basic right. <br />
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The morning of June 26 was bright and sunny. I had not set my alarm so did not wake up to National Public Radio, like most weekday mornings. I was enjoying the quiet. After breakfast, however, I logged onto Facebook and KA-BOOM! <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"[T]he right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty."</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/b715GKJNWXA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b715GKJNWXA?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: right; float: right;" width="320"></iframe>That morning, President Obama gave one of the most moving speeches of his presidency, referring to the Court's decision as "<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/26/remarks-president-supreme-court-decision-marriage-equality" target="_blank">justice that arrives like a thunderbolt</a>." (You can watch his speech to the right.)<br />
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As so many around the world expressed, #LoveWins! With a strike of the pen (or these days, hitting of the [enter] key), the United States joined the club of 20 <a href="http://www.freedomtomarry.org/landscape/entry/c/international" target="_blank">countries</a> that recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry, most recently including Ireland.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span> Those countries are Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, and certain states of Mexico also protect same-sex marriage. <br />
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For me, as a lawyer advocating for rights of the poorest, the Court's decision also is a win for the concept of "liberty," coming 800 years after another event in the history books: the June 19, 1215 sealing of the <a href="http://magnacarta800th.com/history-of-the-magna-carta/the-magna-carta-timeline/" target="_blank">Magna Carta</a>.<br />
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The Magna Carta, once a simple agreement between an English King and his 40 barons to avoid civil war, is a charter of liberties that the King guaranteed, subjecting the King and England's future sovereigns to the rule of law. It is now the seminal document of liberty. Among other rights, it guarantees:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"[T]o no one will We </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">deny or delay, </span><span style="font-size: large;">right or justice."</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0i-MrsmDmVZrhTq9UKnamU_zG-yB-HP4999F6zHnK2OTIVERL0zvwM1i9PDjLUUBVeYGPKTuPPIID4tJb9Z5gGD7cSmYKn5X2L7iI2f-GYsblN6o5AHFtkx1VOkiW9AQPlegS_jXBdM/s1600/after-restoration-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0i-MrsmDmVZrhTq9UKnamU_zG-yB-HP4999F6zHnK2OTIVERL0zvwM1i9PDjLUUBVeYGPKTuPPIID4tJb9Z5gGD7cSmYKn5X2L7iI2f-GYsblN6o5AHFtkx1VOkiW9AQPlegS_jXBdM/s320/after-restoration-l.jpg" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Magna Carta. </td></tr>
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The Magna Carta inspired the <a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html" target="_blank">American Declaration of Independence</a> (1776) and influenced the drafting of the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/" target="_blank">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> (1948). Its principles are arguably the West's most significant global export.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-in-the-modern-age" target="_blank">In its time</a>, the Magna Carta guaranteed rights for the male elite. While I too celebrate the constitutional recognition of the right to marry whom we love -- to the point of years, the 800-year anniversary of the Magna Carta is a stark reminder to me of how far we still have to go as a global community.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">On May 22, 2015, the people of the oh-so Catholic country of Ireland <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/marriage-referendum" target="_blank">voted</a> to amend their Constitution to extend the civil right to marry to same-sex couples -- the first country to do so by popular vote. (In contrast, the people of 17 of the 50 American states had <a href="http://www.marriageequality.org/national_maps" target="_blank">denied</a> such a right by ballot.)</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-14120611102434147282015-05-14T11:32:00.003-07:002015-05-14T11:32:43.873-07:00CLIO TALKS BACK: May Wright Sewall organizes the International Conference of Women Workers to Promote Permanent Peace, 1915, in San Francisco, California <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqSJ5Ff_OT-sUVgJcndFyqw07NMelq7OoPopwFRbxneXEtJqy-0zYl9zfxff0jrHI4ZVK2WTNzLDM7FMvyW9WNX7EMtJldhe1mYikmr3pyg-WwHAPyQQk1bqQx0C2tqCNYKkkLaGSvj4/s1600/International+Conference+of+Women+Workers+for+Permanent+Peace+-+organizers,+July+7+1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqSJ5Ff_OT-sUVgJcndFyqw07NMelq7OoPopwFRbxneXEtJqy-0zYl9zfxff0jrHI4ZVK2WTNzLDM7FMvyW9WNX7EMtJldhe1mYikmr3pyg-WwHAPyQQk1bqQx0C2tqCNYKkkLaGSvj4/s640/International+Conference+of+Women+Workers+for+Permanent+Peace+-+organizers,+July+7+1915.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The International Conference of Women Workers to Promote Permanent Peace</td></tr>
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A second women’s peace conference opened in San Francisco during the Pan-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. This exposition had been planned with the intention of announcing to the world San Francisco’s recovery from the devastating earthquake of 1906, and in May 1914 the President of the upcoming exposition, the Hon. Charles C. Moore, had personally recruited May Wright Sewall (1844-1920) to organize a conference of “women workers” (a term that included paid workers, educators, and other unpaid workers such as philanthropists and reformers).<br />
<br />
May Wright Sewall, from Indiana, was internationally-known as a founder and past president of both the National Council of Women of the United States and of the International Council of Women (ICW, 1899-1904), and had long engaged in work for peace. For a decade she had chaired the Peace Section of the ICW. With the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, Sewall turned the focus of the conference toward consideration of peace. In the conclusion to her call to conference, Sewall wrote: “War is out of harmony with all the agencies of modern Civilization. War destroys Civilization – War denies the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, those two basic principles out of which all that we most value in modern life has been developed.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary Wright Sewall</td></tr>
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The International Conference of Women Workers to Promote Permanent Peace opened on July 4th – Independence Day – 1915. According to official records, over 5000 persons attended, of which some 600 were from the Bay Area. Many more might have attended from abroad, but the war raging in Europe greatly hindered transatlantic travel, especially following the sinking of the great ocean liner Lusitania in early May. The accompanying photo shows Sewall (center) and members of her organizing group.<br />
<br />
This conference followed on the heels of the International Congress of Women which had met at The Hague in late April (see Clio’s previous blog on this). What had changed was that in the meantime Jane Addams and others had organized the Women’s Peace Party, and Sewall quickly aligned her effort with the mission of the WPP.<br />
<br />
Sewall reminded those in attendance of the the American suffragists’ “Second Declaration of Independence,” which had been presented at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. She anticipated a third such declaration at the San Francisco conference, which she called a “Declaration of Independence Against War.”
As the concluding conference speaker, Sewall succeeded in snagging William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate, who had recently resigned as President Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State. Hostile to the possibility of American intervention in the war, Bryan came out strongly in favor of national woman suffrage (California women had obtained the vote by state referendum in late 1911) and applauded women’s interventions for peace. “Men ought to vote for woman’s suffrage because they need the aid of woman to accomplish the things that ought to be accomplished.” . . . “I believe that one of the results of this great war, this awful war, . . . is the advancement of the cause of woman’s suffrage.” Men will vote for women’s suffrage, Bryan insisted, “not from ‘chivalry,’ not from a ‘sense of justice,’ but because they want woman’s help to stem the tide of militarism.”<br />
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The Preamble to the resolutions adopted by the International Conference of Women Workers to Promote Permanent Peace read as follows:<br />
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“This Conference, organizing no new movement, represents the Spirit of Co-operation; and its members, adopting the Women’s Peace Party as their specific channel of influence, declare their desire to work with and in all existing societies whose object is the PEACE of the world.”<br />
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The Resolutions passed remind us of the unprecedented engagement of women leaders with issues of war and peace in 1915:<br />
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I. We women workers here assembled declare that this Conference is a protest against the fallacious doctrine that any nation can secure Peace by preparing for War.<br />
II. We demand that patriotism be redefined, and that Greed, Arrogance and Rivalry, which are considered vices in individuals, be not accepted as virtues in nations, and to this end such changes in school books, in instruction and in patriotic observances as will induce loyalty to an international idea.<br />
III. We protest against the misuse of public funds in all countries for the glorification of war, and against all insidious agencies through which militarism is encouraged in youth.<br />
IV. We protest against military drill in all schools and academic institutions.<br />
V. We declare that the time has arrived for crystalizing international sentiment into international institutions. Inasmuch as International Law is now only nominal, we demand that: (a) The people of the nations shall create an international legislative body, necessitating an international court and international police. (b) That there be further created an International Council of Investigation and Conciliation to which all international disputes must be submitted.<br />
VI. This Conference endorses that resolution adopted by the recent International Congress at The Hague which provides for an international meeting of women in the same place and at the same time as the Conference of the Powers which shall frame the terms of the peace settlement after this war, for the purpose of presenting practical proposals to that Conference.<br />
VII. We protest against secret treaties and demand that in future all treaties proposed between governments be made public before being ratified.<br />
VIII. This Conference urges that women be permitted to share political rights and responsibilities both nationally and internationally.<br />
IX. This International Conference urges a general, gradual disarmament of the nations.<br />
X. This Conference recommends that the right of capture be abolished and that no disposition of territory be made contrary to the expressed interests and wishes of its inhabitants.<br />
XI. This Conference urges that the governments of the neutral nations create a Conference of the Neutral Nations for the purpose of mediating between the warring Powers until Peace can be secured.<br />
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<i>Source: See the conference proceedings edited by May Wright Sewall: Women, World War, and Permanent Peace (San Francisco: John J. Newbegin, 1915), 220 pages. Resolutions on pp. 164-165.
</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-87402687307202670082015-05-11T05:00:00.000-07:002015-05-11T09:23:41.118-07:00Collective Trauma and Creativity: Pregnant with Possibility <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Bujumbura, Burundi, a young man protests Burundian<br />
President <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Nkurunziza's run for a third presidential term.</span><br />
<i>Copyright Reuters/Jean Pierre Aime Harerimana</i></td></tr>
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<div class="p1">
Once again, a small African country has erupted in violence. This time in Burundi, mainly young men are in the streets, protesting the president's run for a third, five-year term, despite the two-term constitutional limit. The government has banned the protests, calling the protesters "<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32566213" target="_blank">terrorists</a>." So far, 12 people have been killed, according to protesters, although the government claims only six people have died. Last week's constitutional court <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/burundi-court-validates-president-term-bid-150505095216200.html" target="_blank">decision</a>, ruling the president's third term as constitutional, was met with cynicism, as it is widely believed that the Constitutional Court is under the thumb of the president. Four of the seven court judges, including the Vice President of that court, have fled the country. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9q8T0MSHqsCX93RzhzRsRdXrxPtqrQnlGFHx-QkB7VwHbefS131hhwUhaOvZyfzzTc_ng8X0d14rBMetbPQk6zMBXGJPtfD7r6WYJKyi6amL_G876KHUBPINImOqTDzkT0iyjOftqyA/s1600/16695311524_061cbe99c0_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_9q8T0MSHqsCX93RzhzRsRdXrxPtqrQnlGFHx-QkB7VwHbefS131hhwUhaOvZyfzzTc_ng8X0d14rBMetbPQk6zMBXGJPtfD7r6WYJKyi6amL_G876KHUBPINImOqTDzkT0iyjOftqyA/s1600/16695311524_061cbe99c0_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Minneapolis, about 1,500 people marched in support of <br />
the people of Baltimore. Copyright Fibonacci Blue. </td></tr>
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At the same time in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/baltimore-photographer-de_n_7202076.html" target="_blank">Baltimore</a>, Maryland, another American community erupted in response to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/us/baltimore-protests-freddie-gray.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article" target="_blank">death</a> of yet another young black man at the hands of the police. Peaceful protests as well as property destruction, arson, and looting ensued. These incidents prompted a public debate about the role of violence in civil disobedience, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/04/baltimore-media-tyranny-violence-150430070102282.html" target="_blank">overlaid with racial overtones</a>.</div>
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Thousands of miles away from both, I watched, listened, and grieved, wishing that there was something I could do. And then I remembered a recent conversation I had with Dr. Eberhard Riedel, a psychoanalyst and photographer. Combining his unique sets of skills, Dr. Eberhard founded <a href="http://www.cameraswithoutborders.org/" target="_blank">Cameras without Borders: Photography for Healing and Peace</a> to address issues of "<a href="http://www.cameraswithoutborders.org/imagesforweb/Homepage/RiedelE2013PP56.pdf" target="_blank">collective traum</a>a" in communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other countries. He is particularly concerned with the "<a href="http://www.cameraswithoutborders.org/imagesforweb/Homepage/RiedelE2013PP56.pdf" target="_blank">intergenerational transmission of collective trauma</a>," which if unchecked, "fuels ever-more destructive cycles of violence."<br />
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According to Dr. Riedel, "A traumatized psyche is unable to reflect or imagine and thus experiences itself as isolated from the rest of humanity." Dr. Riedel's work is intimately connected with his own history. He was born in Germany in 1939: "<a href="http://www.cameraswithoutborders.org/imagesforweb/Homepage/RiedelE2013PP56.pdf" target="_blank">I grew up with an awareness of the terror of Nazi death camps and the chaos of war.</a>" <br />
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Through photography, Dr. Riedel's works with communities to reawaken their curiosity (which he distinguishes from hope). <i>Photography for Healing and Peace</i> uses participatory photography methods as part of a holistic approach to healing. As Dr. Riedel explains, in one of his workshops, "a woman who survived sexual violence exclaimed, 'The picture in the camera is like a pregnancy,' and thereby transcended the limitations of her shattered mind. Then imaginatively thinking about what might be gestating in the camera, she rekindled<i> the struggle of giving birth to her future</i>."</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaiikvZVVeHpb3y3Dsg-3p5mx3jIKLrpQueJUnur2iNckFStRcsIbqO1_zuNgnXkWrdg6ba7iXd7yh2i0SVSK0XirEk38HaT_UwYB10zl5K8Z5BvDtRaIXEge9Ok2rO4aT4BaPaUFOpw/s1600/ERiedel+Fig_5+Gray+Web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaiikvZVVeHpb3y3Dsg-3p5mx3jIKLrpQueJUnur2iNckFStRcsIbqO1_zuNgnXkWrdg6ba7iXd7yh2i0SVSK0XirEk38HaT_UwYB10zl5K8Z5BvDtRaIXEge9Ok2rO4aT4BaPaUFOpw/s1600/ERiedel+Fig_5+Gray+Web.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A workshop participant of <i>Photography for Healing and Peace</i> shares, <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">"The picture in the camera is like a pregnancy." </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Copyright Eberhard Riedel</i>.</span></td></tr>
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Meanwhile, another public dialogue is underway among some of the largest foundations committed to addressing the world’s most intractable problems: Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Skoll Foundation. The topic? The power of the arts and storytelling. </div>
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Ford Foundation President Darren Walker recently expounded on the role of the arts to him personally -- and to the Ford Foundation -- in an essay called, <i><a href="https://medium.com/@FordFoundation/on-the-art-of-change-cef0864c4930" target="_blank">On the Art of Change</a> (</i>adapted from his April 17, 2015 speech at the Skoll World Forum). He begins: "For as long as I can remember, the arts have imbued energy and meaning into my life. . . In many ways, because of the arts, my economic situation never limited my expectations of myself. The arts broadened my horizons -- my very sense of the possible." <br />
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He continues, "I am a fervent believer in the transformational, uplifting power of artistic expression. In fact, I am a product of it." But, "Our culture has bought into the idea that if something cannot be measured, then it somehow does not matter." Rejecting that paradigm, Walker announced that, for the next year, the Ford Foundation "is exploring how the arts and creativity intersect with, interact with and and inspire all of our work for social change."</div>
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Walker concludes: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHLezwFdnpeFVhIZNr3oC_wo_SHX6gypI1_CJl8xWcUzQw-5qJRaIGV_xeHw7KPMDLxXWw9A9K0KQ7kTtQZV7qeooLlMTFRiMTG3VS8AfnwK5p02wuXSeg4me7w_pC9KoZgup2L-Oqrw/s1600/15155216360_388111b020_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHLezwFdnpeFVhIZNr3oC_wo_SHX6gypI1_CJl8xWcUzQw-5qJRaIGV_xeHw7KPMDLxXWw9A9K0KQ7kTtQZV7qeooLlMTFRiMTG3VS8AfnwK5p02wuXSeg4me7w_pC9KoZgup2L-Oqrw/s1600/15155216360_388111b020_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ford Foundation President Darren Walker speaking <br />
at the Global Civil Society Leaders breakfast in September <br />
2014. <i>Copyright Open Government Partnership</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
"Twenty some months into my presidency at the Ford Foundation, I hear friends and colleagues asking, "Where does the foundation stand on arts and culture today? </blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
My answer is that, for us, they remain right where they belong -- at the heart of everything we think about, invest in and and stand for. </blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
Simply put, less art leads to more inequality. More inequality leads to less justice. And this is not something with which <i>any of us</i> should be comfortable."</blockquote>
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For the <a href="https://www.hatchforgood.org/why-stories-matter" target="_blank">Rockefeller Foundation</a>, "storytelling is a compelling tool for inspiring action and change, for influencing thought leaders and decisionmakers." Rockefeller <a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/digital-storytelling-social-impact/?utm_source=Social%20Media&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=RF%20Blog" target="_blank">recognizes the importance of digital technology and storytelling for impact</a>, supporting the beta version of <a href="https://www.hatchforgood.org/?utm_source=rf&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=htclaunch" target="_blank">Hatch</a>, a suite of storytelling tools and a community to help "leverage storytelling to drive social impact and improve the lives of the poor and vulnerable around the world." </div>
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And for the <a href="http://www.skollfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Skoll Foundation</a>, storytelling is called out as one of its key <a href="http://www.skollfoundation.org/approach/storytelling/" target="_blank">approaches</a>, "We believe in the power of storytelling both to make vivid the world's most pressing world's problems and to articulate specific solutions with potential for large-scale impact." Its most recent Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship hosted at least two sessions on the arts: <a href="http://skollworldforum.org/2015/04/28/forum2015-storytelling-the-engine-of-history/" target="_blank">Storytelling: The Engine of History</a> and <a href="http://skollworldforum.org/2015/04/21/forum2015-how-to-use-storytelling-to-change-culture/" target="_blank">How to Use Storytelling to Change Culture</a>, as well as supporting and screening films.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRcaFRYoKOKJwbBtVJrU0lnOIhfiNXNSbIPi3ve4vjOfsz3jCCaczGv7t7pqJAo3gXuvi7Y2zMg73RhvsbxON4QdIIcZ09rJVg2WrrZC3VjRziClOJiYH6Iyojd_WFSebgU-U5CgcOKQ/s1600/File+May+06,+9+20+56+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRRcaFRYoKOKJwbBtVJrU0lnOIhfiNXNSbIPi3ve4vjOfsz3jCCaczGv7t7pqJAo3gXuvi7Y2zMg73RhvsbxON4QdIIcZ09rJVg2WrrZC3VjRziClOJiYH6Iyojd_WFSebgU-U5CgcOKQ/s1600/File+May+06,+9+20+56+PM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Art" as a shadow on a concrete floor. <br />
<i>Copyright Deborah Espinosa.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As an artist and advocate for social justice, I am ecstatic, thrilled, <i>over the moon</i> about these foundations' attention to and support for the arts -- and artists -- as a means to spark and illuminate social change. </div>
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Lest we forget, however, we are all artists: the young men in the streets of Baltimore and Bujumbura. And so are the women who participate in workshops by <i>Photography for Healing and Peace</i>, <a href="http://www.photovoice.org/" target="_blank">Photovoice</a> and <a href="http://www.lensational.org/" target="_blank">Lens<span id="goog_47683401"></span><span id="goog_47683402"></span>ational</a>, and <a href="http://www.insightshare.org/" target="_blank">InsightShare</a>, among others, international NGOs that put cameras in the hands of the poorest, the most marginalized, and the most traumatized to enable them tell their own stories.<br />
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So while storytelling is no doubt an incredible tool for donors and NGOs to relate stories of impact, it also offers a path to regaining curiosity and to healing.<br />
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Mr. Walker, I hope that as part of the Ford Foundation's exploration of the arts to realize its mission, you will consider participatory arts programs so that communities in Burundi and Baltimore, for example, can begin to heal from collective trauma and, like you, have their own sense of the possible. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-69978174637994519942015-03-31T16:40:00.001-07:002015-03-31T16:40:43.072-07:00CLIO TALKS BACK: The Women’s Peace Congress at The Hague<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7edMVk4c3FjQ317x6VSsnbJLfiAVhqvxcLbHzNDkpwL5sYOEDtMVMGplvBNQxAo0u-Fjdt4wDkl4kXlAtvYHKT77o5sMGkxKtZ0nUp82_xXZirhfJrUfDTp3kpr1n8VBu-GZB3oQ89o/s1600/wilpf-women-congress-the-hague-1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU7edMVk4c3FjQ317x6VSsnbJLfiAVhqvxcLbHzNDkpwL5sYOEDtMVMGplvBNQxAo0u-Fjdt4wDkl4kXlAtvYHKT77o5sMGkxKtZ0nUp82_xXZirhfJrUfDTp3kpr1n8VBu-GZB3oQ89o/s1600/wilpf-women-congress-the-hague-1915.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women convene at the Hague in 1915</td></tr>
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One hundred years ago this month (April 1915), in the midst of a major war on the European continent, a contingent of women associated with the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) convened a congress in the Netherlands to discuss the prospects for peace. The previous fall, the IWSA had been forced to cancel its next congress, scheduled for Berlin, because of the outbreak of war. The initiative to meet in the spring came from women such as the pioneer Dutch physician Dr. Aletta Jacobs, who were concerned that the world’s women had no voice in matters of war – or peace.<br />
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The International Congress of Women, which met from the 28th of April through May 1st, 1915 in the The Hague, the capitol city of the Netherlands, made front-page news in the world’s newspapers. The American peace activist Jane Addams presided at the congress, which was attended by some 1500 women. Many others who had planned to come (especially from England) were blocked when the Allies “closed” the North Sea.<br />
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The organizing committee had decided, in the interests of fruitful discussion, to place “off limits” three burning issues concerning the war itself. These issues were (1) the causes of the war; (2) the manner in which it was being conducted; and (3) the responsibilities incumbent on the belligerent parties. It was clear enough that the German army had first invaded Belgium, a neutral country, and then France, and had occupied considerable territories in both; its soldiers had destroyed buildings and cultural property (including the famous library in Louvain), they had raped, pillaged, and plundered wherever they went – such misbehavior fostered immense public outrage once it was known (although the German women claimed to know nothing of this, probably due to heavy censorship of war news in Germany). So questions about the causes and consequences of the war were very controversial and evoked extremely emotional responses.<br />
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These issues would undoubtedly have made rational debate impossible, but they were also the issues which provoked the leaders of the major French feminist associations as well as their counterparts in allied England and those in Germany (whose armies had purposefully invaded Belgium and then France) to refuse to participate. In their “Manifesto addressed to the Women’s Peace Congress at The Hague,” the French feminist leaders argued that these three issues (causes, conduct, and responsibility) were precisely the issues that needed to be discussed. They refused to participate in the women’s peace congress unless their German counterparts disavowed and apologized for the actions taken by their country’s government and its armed forces.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Have they disavowed the political and civil crimes committed by their government? Have they protested against the violation of Belgian neutrality? against the attacks on human rights [droits de gens]? against the crimes of their army and navy? If their voices have been raised, it was too weakly to be heard even faintly in our violated and devastated lands. We cannot renew our collaboration until, for them as for us, respect of the law will be the foundation of all social action.” </blockquote>
And, the French women added:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbVJMpMP72Xp7Bc2NvP0RGznrvRei9jbaX4Yq-TcGrCFIUdXB0XthP_JNnjnFd0h4JOn31uxAf0NYhSYrugQU5KGjBLTzxo-deB8MppZv025TsGLkvIgeZUSQZVwLfgxXYNNNZcPinRY/s1600/atthehague.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbVJMpMP72Xp7Bc2NvP0RGznrvRei9jbaX4Yq-TcGrCFIUdXB0XthP_JNnjnFd0h4JOn31uxAf0NYhSYrugQU5KGjBLTzxo-deB8MppZv025TsGLkvIgeZUSQZVwLfgxXYNNNZcPinRY/s1600/atthehague.jpg" height="320" width="202" /></a>“. . . is this the moment to speak about this future peace? None of us think so, and it is with a sad astonishment that we have found in your program [a call for] the conclusion of an armistice. How could we think of this, while our provinces are under the yoke of the enemy, when martyred Belgium stands before our eyes?” </blockquote>
At the Women’s Congress, those who were able to come to The Hague were highly motivated to impress on the world that women’s enfranchisement, their full participation in political decision-making, would lead to the end of war as such. Following their deliberations and votes on a series of twenty resolutions, they formed delegations to speak to civil government leaders in fourteen European capitals about peace. They envisioned a “conference of neutral nations as an agency of continuous mediation for the settlement of the war.”<br />
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Many men declared openly that women should stick to their knitting and stay out of both national and international politics, but others praised this remarkable initiative, which represented the first major intervention of women in international affairs. One prime minister was reported to have said, concerning the proposal for an ongoing conference of neutral nations, that “Yours is the sanest proposal that has been brought to this office in the last six months.”<br />
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Many of the resolutions passed by the International Congress of Women would show up subsequently among President Woodrow Wilson’s famous “Fourteen Points,” forming a basis for negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles after the Germans capitulated on 11 November 1918.<br />
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The French and German feminists finally resolved their differences in a closed meeting at Geneva in 1920, when the French accepted the German women’s apologies.<br />
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<i> Sources: </i><br />
<i>(1) “Manifesto addressed to the Women’s Peace Congress at The Hague by the Conseil National des Femmes Françaises and the Union Française pour le Suffrage des Femmes. To the Women of the Neutral Countries and the Allied Countries,” in La Française, no 346 (24 Avril 1915). Transl. Karen Offen. </i><br />
<i> (2) “Manifesto Issued by Envoys of the International Congress of Women at The Hague to the Governments of Europe and the President of the United States,” in Women at The Hague: The International Congress of Women and Its Results, by Jane Addams, Emily G. Balch, and Alice Hamilton (New York, 1915; reprinted in several recent editions). </i><br />
<i> (3) Towards Permanent Peace: A Record of the Women’s International Congress held at the Hague, April 25th – May 1st, 1915 (June 1915).
</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-36754580459740975452015-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:002015-03-08T13:30:21.534-07:00The Power of Voice, Redux, on International Women's Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj4b5ityvNu6tjQzMwE1lTJ6eXZTkbHurxMOiUWlzWD-ZTAvF00fezD9fNU9DohPDlJg503zPRTl98ePQOOmMmik9Kxwpq5Pr55ebfpjwuAxEqC9KI8fYPQoijHsgnoiw-cpzR_GDEsQQ/s1600/NAWSA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj4b5ityvNu6tjQzMwE1lTJ6eXZTkbHurxMOiUWlzWD-ZTAvF00fezD9fNU9DohPDlJg503zPRTl98ePQOOmMmik9Kxwpq5Pr55ebfpjwuAxEqC9KI8fYPQoijHsgnoiw-cpzR_GDEsQQ/s1600/NAWSA.JPG" height="320" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US congresswoman Jeanette Rankin speaks <br />
from the headquarters of the National American <br />
Women Suffrage Association, 1917. Three years <br />
later, American women had the right to vote. <br />
Photo: Library of Congress.</td></tr>
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Today celebrates <a href="http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp#.VPcW8bPF8-I">International Women’s Day</a>, a 104-year old tradition, honoring women’s social, economic, and political achievements and calling for greater equality and recognition of women’s rights. Its history dates back to the suffragette movement in the United States, when women took to the podiums and the streets, demanding the right to vote. </div>
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You may remember that my first post for <i>Her Blueprint</i>, <a href="http://imowblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-power-of-voice.html">The Power of Voice</a>, shared my experience introducing a public speaking training, grounded in the right to self-expression, to a group of Maasai and Kalenjin women in Kenya — and the transformative effect such training had on them and their community. I'm aware of few development organizations that train rural women in public speaking. So in my own small way, I advocate for public speaking training for rural women in developing countries every chance I get. <br />
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Imagine my excitement, while recently conducting a gender analysis in Malawi, when I happened upon a tool, the <a href="http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/weai_brochure.pdf">Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index</a>, which, among other factors, measures women’s <i>comfort in public speaking</i> as a <i>key contributor to women's empowerment</i>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYN3AYB5vGlgAFwYbSBikNHB8DpEmRT-oegJq-37rd8f_QtEMiS_j1m6Al2M2hcZeIPjXC_02hhMzVLJJoWjTVQRpQ4LT6lDCJUTlhQHhYHk0ISP5VwSRQxXnSd5H-l1vUNS_R2csR5LU/s1600/Espinosa_DS7_9278_high-res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYN3AYB5vGlgAFwYbSBikNHB8DpEmRT-oegJq-37rd8f_QtEMiS_j1m6Al2M2hcZeIPjXC_02hhMzVLJJoWjTVQRpQ4LT6lDCJUTlhQHhYHk0ISP5VwSRQxXnSd5H-l1vUNS_R2csR5LU/s1600/Espinosa_DS7_9278_high-res.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roda from Narok County, Kenya practices her public speaking skills. <br />
Photo: Landesa/Deborah Espinosa</td></tr>
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Launched by the <a href="http://www.ifpri.org/">International Food Policy Research Institute</a> (IFPRI), the <a href="http://www.ophi.org.uk/">Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative</a>, and USAID's <a href="http://www.feedthefuture.gov/">Feed the Future Initiative</a>, the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index is the first standardized tool to comprehensively measure women’s empowerment and inclusion in agriculture. </div>
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Among other constraints, women’s comfort in public speaking is measured along with group membership under the “Community Leadership” domain. “Group membership is an important source of social capital, and this indicator measures whether a woman is a member of at least one group out of a wide range of social and economic organizations.”<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span> High rates of disempowerment in the Community Leadership domain may indicate social and cultural norms that discourage participation in activities outside the home.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></div>
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Among the countries included in the Index <a href="http://www.ifpri.org/publication/measuring-progress-toward-empowerment">Baseline Report</a>, discomfort in public speaking was among the top three greatest contributors to women’s disempowerment in 3 out of 13 countries: Bangladesh, Malawi, and Zambia. For all 13 countries, constraints in the Community Leadership domain, generally, comprise from 14% (Liberia) to 37% (Nepal) of all constraints contributing to women's disempowerment. </div>
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Given the significant other domains that the WEAI measures, i.e., production decision-making, access to productive resources, control over use of income, and time allocation, I am excited that I now have support for asserting the importance of women's leadership in communities, including group membership and feeling comfortable speaking in public to women's empowerment.<br />
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So for all of you international development practitioners out there, how do we honor this year's International Women's Day theme of "Make it Happen?" How does your program or project support women in gaining confidence to speak in public? To share their stories? To advocate for their rights? <br />
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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.</div>
~ Maya Angelou</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1 </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Measuring Progress Toward Empowerment: Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index: Baseline Report (2012).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2 </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Id.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-53978159915307896202015-02-26T04:36:00.003-08:002015-02-26T04:37:48.969-08:00Chiharu Shiota: Drawing Memories in the Air<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Trace of Memory,</i> The Mattress Factory, 2013 (Photo: Priyanka Sacheti)</td></tr>
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I remember being thoroughly enchanted the first time I encountered Japanese installation and performance artist, Chiharu Shiota's work, <i>Trace of Memory </i>at <a href="http://www.mattress.org/">The Mattress Factory,</a> a contemporary art museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Utilising both the spatial landscape of an abandoned 19th century row house as well as specific objects such as a wedding dress, hospital bed, and a pile of suitcases, Shiota enmeshed it all in intricate black wool-thread creations. Everything was visible and yet, <i>not</i>; it was not unlike cobwebs studding the dusty corners of an abandoned house, simultaneously representing decay and life. In a sense, Shiota's work resurrects an otherwise dead house, creating a physically tangible web of narratives through the confluence of thread, space, and air. Perhaps,<i> enchanted </i>was also an appropriate word to describe my engagement with her work, for there was a fairy-tale, other-worldly quality to her work that I had never previously witnessed or experienced elsewhere. Researching further and talking with the artist herself, I discovered that the wool-thread is a signature motif of her work and through which she quite literally binds memories, past, people, and objects.</div>
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Born in Osaka, Japan, Chiharu moved to Berlin, Germany in 1997, where she studied with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramovi%C4%87">Marina Abramovic </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Horn">Rebecca Horn</a>, forerunners of the performance art movement; she has exhibited all over the world, presenting her installation art in both solo and group exhibitions.<br />
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What does installation art specifically mean to her? “I love empty spaces; the minute I come across one such as an abandoned building or an empty exhibition space, I feel as if my body and spirit transcend a certain dimension - and I can then start from scratch,” Chiharu says, presenting the abandoned or blank exhibition space as one void of references or associations and which she is subsequently free to re-interpret and realise her imagined worlds in. What particularly excites her about installation art is the immediacy of communication and engagement with the viewer. “[The viewers] can immediately feel as to what I am trying to show...unlike a painting or sculpture where you may have to engage with it for quite a while before distilling its meaning,” she opines.</div>
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While her work is largely rooted in the soil of her personal memories and concerned with theme of remembering and oblivion, it also sprouts and entwines itself with larger collective memories as well; one glimpses it in installations such as <i>Dialogue from DNA</i> in Krakow, Poland and which was subsequently recreated in Germany and Japan. Currently living and working in Germany, Chiharu reminisces about how it is linked to the time she returned to Japan three years after moving to Germany. "I wore my old shoes and experienced a curious situation; they didn't fit me any more even though they were the same size. This sense of dislocation persisted even when I was interacting with my parents and old friends. Nothing specifically had changed - and yet, I felt differently about them," she says.<br />
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The scenario made her start thinking about the gulf between the idealised memories when one is away from the home and yearning to return to it -- and actually being in home itself. "I began to interrogate the idea of missing and memories and I fused it with the idea of old shoes and the memories associated with them," she says, elaborating that the installation consisted of 400 disused shoes that people had donated along with notes containing specific memories associated with the shoe. Looking at the installation (below), it is almost as if the threads anchor the memories in form of the shoes in place, lest they vanish into nothingness and being unremembered.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chiharu Shiota,<i>
Dialogue from DNA</i>, (2004) Manggha, Centre of Japanese Art and Technology, Krakow, Poland, Shoes, Thread Photograph: Sunhi Mang</td></tr>
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Chiharu has often remarked that
working with thread is a bit like drawing in air. “When I began working
as a painter, I felt that two-dimensional drawings were limiting me. I
needed more space so I started working on installations and using thread
in order to achieve a three dimensional drawing, so to speak. The
threads since then have been a fundamental aspect of my work,” she says. These threads represent multiple meanings in her diverse output of work, whether of connections or ensnarement or opacity. <br />
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Apart from the threads embroidering the surface of Chiharu's installation spaces, they are also home to objects which Chiharu frequently and quite literally weaves into her works; these objects are plucked from the quotidian, facilitating both the unspooling of a narrative while crucially being a narrative in themselves. They also signify absences, absences which become the works' fundamental bedrock. "Specific objects inspire me when I experience a personal association or link with them as I did when putting on my old shoes. Abandoned objects are laden with even more memories and associations," she mentions, suggesting that this surplus of memories adds further narrative texture to her work. "The object itself has a meaning, being a signifier and then my role would be to weave its memories and meaning together using the threads."</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chiharu Shiota<i>, During Sleep, (2004),
</i>Saint-Marie-Madeleine, Lille, France,
Thread, Beds, Performers<br />
Photographer: Sunhi Mang</td></tr>
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While objects frequently figure as the central components of her installation works, her works are also distinctively body-oriented, as evidenced in works such as <i>During Sleep</i>, which features real-life women asleep on hospital beds and the space enshrouded in her customary fog of thread, bringing to forth gendered associations with the fairy-tale Sleeping Beauty.<br />
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She has also chosen to introduce her body as a vehicle of narrative into her works, two of her performances depicting herself with either mud being poured onto herself or naked and smeared with mud. She has also sewn her own umbilical cord into a work; this ultimate symbol of mother-child connection manifesting itself as one of the multiple threads of connections constituting her work. “There is presence in the center of absence; however, when I sometimes sense that there is still a touch of incompleteness, I then choose to put a body," she says. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chiharu Shiota<i>, Trace Of Memory( 2013), </i>The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA, USA<br />
Thread, Various Materials, Photographer: Tom Little</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Having only seen her work at The Mattress Factory gallery in person, I still feel that the exhibition there is a cumulative presentation of much of her preoccupations: space, thread, objects, memories, remembering, and the binary of absence/presence. "I was inspired and nourished by the lives of someone who had already been living there, as opposed to a [blank] cubic gallery installation," she says of <i>Trace of Memory</i>. "I was using the threads to weave someone's personal memories."<br />
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What she accomplishes through <i>Trace of Memory</i> is to render the house and its inhabitants' memories visible. What we see as potential barriers in the form of the complex web-clouds of black web are in fact portals to the memories of the people which inhabited the house; we see the traces they leave behind of themselves through the objects that once belonged to them. The thread-work immerses the house in a sea of remembering, the submarine quality ensuring that nothing is quite like what it is above in the open air. It also hints toward how people and events are altered when glimpsed through the veil of memory. If one were to shear away through the threads, allowing the cold, harsh of contemporary reality to fall upon it, the house will simply be reduced to an abandoned shell of a structure. Seen through the Chiharu's intervention of thread-work, the house assumes another function of that of a memory portal.<br />
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Chiharu transforms absences into presence through her thread air drawings; she invites us to remember and simultaneously pay homage to the act of the remembering.</div>
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If you would like to learn more about Chiharu's work, you can visit her <a href="http://www.chiharu-shiota.com/en/">website</a>.<br />
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<i>Picture credits: </i>All pictures except the first one courtesy of Chiharu Shiota.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-72334772346418211822015-02-17T12:56:00.004-08:002015-02-17T12:56:51.627-08:00CLIO TALKS BACK: Maria Vérone on the “Modernization” of Islam<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Maria Vérone</span></td></tr>
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Several days ago, Clio came across an intriguing text about the “modernization” of Islam, written by a French woman lawyer and published by the International Council of Women. The author, Maria Vérone, a dedicated feminist, was one of the first French women to be admitted to the French bar; she had worked as a teacher and a dancer before studying law. She presided over the Ligue Française pour le Droit des Femmes [French League for Women’s Rights] for many years. By the early 1930s she had been tapped to head the pathbreaking Women’s Consultative Committee on Nationality, appointed by the League of Nations, and she continued to be active in international legal circles, engaged with studying, comparing – and attempting to advance – the status of women in the law both in France and worldwide.<br />
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Here is what she wrote about the status of women in Islam.<br />
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“After long centuries of lethargy, Islam is awakening from its slumber. By a sort of return to primitive religion, Musulmen, as pious as they are broadminded, may now be found who declare, text in hand, that the Prophet never intended to place women in a state of servitude. The Veil, they say, is not obligatory; instruction should be given to girls as well as to boys; polygamy is permitted but not enforced; on the contrary, men are forbidden to abuse their rights. The Egyptian (Islamic) Civil Code has been framed in this spirit, recognising that woman, married or single, has full civil capacity; in this spirit, too, Musulman Tribunals have recently given certain judgments, suing a man for damages towards his ex-wife, whom he repudiated soon after the marriage, she having been compelled to leave the occupation which she followed as a single woman.<br />
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“In Iran, in Syria, in Irak, in Palestine, all the Musulmen inhabiting these parts of Asia have seen the rise of Feminist Associations; Congresses have been held in the more important cities, where the Delegates appeared unveiled before high authorities, where programmes of new demands have been drawn up, and certain reforms are already on the way to accomplishment. In Europe, the young King of Albania, believing that the emancipation of women is not a sign of revolution or of irreligion, has begun by forbidding the use of the Veil, as a start, greater changes may follow. In Northern Africa, pecuniary difficulties, stronger than the most ancient custom, are doing away with polygamy. Men, if not because of sentiment, at least in their own interest, marry only one woman, and this completely changes the moral position of the family; should an era of prosperity follow, it may be that a generation brought up in utterly different surroundings than those of its ancestors, may not desire to return to ancient customs. So, by good will or perforce, the world is changing."<br />
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Do you know, Clio asks, when these words were written and published? Can anybody guess? <br /><br />
Would any of you imagine that it dates from 1937 – well over 75 years ago?<br />
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<i>Source: Maria Verone, “The Evolution of the Family throughout the World,” International Council of Women: Bulletin, 16:3 (November 1937),18-19.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-14901151497475839342015-01-12T07:08:00.001-08:002015-01-12T07:08:24.290-08:00The Year of Living Out Loud<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As 2014 shuffles off its mortal coil, I want to amplify the many voices of 2014 that inspire me to live out loud in 2015. What these voices all have in common is that they are no longer living quietly, accepting the status quo. Instead, they expose their truth, expressing rage, conviction, joy, authenticity, and hope. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"I Can't Believe I <i>Still</i> Have to Protest This . . . "</span> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protester in Washington, DC. #blacklivesmatter<br />
Photo: Ben James.</td></tr>
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Yes, 2014 was the year Americans came out to protest police killings of black men. And to protest grand juries not indicting the white police officers. Even when it is filmed. And in Dublin, Ireland, people protested the fact that Irish women still have no access to abortion services. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Sharon Davis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In New York City, protesters demanded the release of <br />
200 Nigerian girls kidnapped from their school. <br />
Photo: Michael Fleshman.</td></tr>
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And people around the world took to the streets to demand the return of 200 Nigerian girls, who Boko Haram kidnapped from school.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaQwTFuGvV2hZRmDClC4pRJaIa_vN1fV3Iq7q8ShN7Uq_VtaZ51uc1Q4XdlcN6Npx3DE_wTswK2pCJtXXkN1KVwod_JCAsLHnRUSoSNqYe3I-MlcV8UbkOWx14R9iYps3OxPxKuaLjlM/s1600/13980239550_e9011feb76_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNaQwTFuGvV2hZRmDClC4pRJaIa_vN1fV3Iq7q8ShN7Uq_VtaZ51uc1Q4XdlcN6Npx3DE_wTswK2pCJtXXkN1KVwod_JCAsLHnRUSoSNqYe3I-MlcV8UbkOWx14R9iYps3OxPxKuaLjlM/s1600/13980239550_e9011feb76_o.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Malik ML Williams</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Photograph. </span></div>
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In August of 2014, <a href="http://www.lynseyaddario.com/"><span class="s1">Lynsey Adarrio</span></a> photographed 16-year old <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/28/sunday-review/2014-year-in-pictures.html?_r=0&slide=2014-yip-august-slide-RCHP&name=yearinpictures" target="_blank">Yasmin Ritaj</a> with her daughter in her arms in a refugee camp in Jordan. She had just left her abusive husband, while pregnant, to return to her family. The photograph was included in <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/28/sunday-review/2014-year-in-pictures.html" target="_blank">2014 The Year in Pictures</a></i><i>, </i>a compilation of the best single images of<i> </i>the year<i>.</i> </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Project 562</span>.</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvHBl3fhm_sC4jTg5mlgVLCC07_tGHd8YBuF7bS-2ojlO9w6E6H5fELsysOuy6t5KTbnMOHOnw8k8_Dv5Byd3UH5pp2FYyf7rcCAZLAxqYi2FDV0yU-KlyRTsjS3a7ABPzaUO2mwmB9A/s1600/photo+(5).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvHBl3fhm_sC4jTg5mlgVLCC07_tGHd8YBuF7bS-2ojlO9w6E6H5fELsysOuy6t5KTbnMOHOnw8k8_Dv5Byd3UH5pp2FYyf7rcCAZLAxqYi2FDV0yU-KlyRTsjS3a7ABPzaUO2mwmB9A/s1600/photo+(5).JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young patron of the Tacoma Art Museum <br />
pauses to contemplate Project 562. Photo: Deborah Espinosa.</td></tr>
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<i><a href="http://project562.com/" target="_blank">Project 562</a></i> is the brainchild of photographer <a href="http://www.matikawilbur.com/"><span class="s1">Matika Wilbur</span></a>. Thru <i>Project 562</i>, Wilbur is documenting all 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States (which are now numbered at 566). Wilbur, a Native American woman of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes in Washington State, explains, "My goal is to represent native people from every tribe. By exposing the astonishing variety of the Indian presence and reality at this juncture, we will build cultural bridges, abandon stereotypes, and renew and inspire our national legacy." She further explains her work in this <a href="http://youtu.be/7JrRBQEQr3o"><span class="s1">video</span></a>.</div>
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In 2014, I had the privilege of viewing Wilbur's work at the <a href="http://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/inaugural-exhibition-matika-wilburs-project-562/"><span class="s1">Tacoma Art Museum</span></a>. The Project combines compelling portraits with oral narratives -- some in native languages -- about all aspects of their lives. Project 562 is a true contribution to our understanding of Native Americans.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Italian Boys and Violence against Girls.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_-ZEt87SR0JuAaVHO_YtOJVIs93mZdZ6GrROm3S4KzYKYJvRIRBgUXY7ZVeEbuH-06YJxrBMihFb6Up1YFiWfMDBtCaTocWNDpnlozlmPTxjL_oX0C0Xxvngw8O2MOkms02kAQYAXaE/s1600/10922502_811664828900670_1963782180305267747_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_-ZEt87SR0JuAaVHO_YtOJVIs93mZdZ6GrROm3S4KzYKYJvRIRBgUXY7ZVeEbuH-06YJxrBMihFb6Up1YFiWfMDBtCaTocWNDpnlozlmPTxjL_oX0C0Xxvngw8O2MOkms02kAQYAXaE/s1600/10922502_811664828900670_1963782180305267747_n.jpg" height="259" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When asked why he refuses to slap a girl, a young <br />
Italian boy explains. Photo: Fanpage.it.</td></tr>
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"Slap Her," a <a href="http://youtu.be/b2OcKQ_mbiQ" target="_blank">Fanpage.it video</a> is making the rounds on Facebook and it blew me away. Italian boys between the ages of 7 and 11 are asked a series of questions, including "What do you want to be when you grow up? (In case you are interested: firefighter, soccer player, baker, pizza maker, and a police man.) And they are introduced to Martina, a girl. What follows is touching and makes you wonder what happens as Italian boys grow up. </div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://www.endvawnow.org/uploads/browser/files/vaw_prevalence_matrix_15april_2011.pdf">A compilation of data on the prevalence of violence against women</a>,</span> as of March 2011 by UN Women, found that 31.9% of Italian women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. That figure is just a few percentage points lower than the 35.4% of Indian women who experience the same. </div>
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In January 2014, <a href="http://www.west-info.eu/occasional-domestic-violence-doesnt-count-in-italy/"><span class="s1">an Italian court</span></a> ruled that acts of brutal violence against one's wife and children are not considered family abuse if such acts do not happen on a regular basis.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Comic Book <i>Priya's Shakti.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_E-gJIO0eTCW7-OqKPEGVF6EnCTUACQNs223icfgCCzTSq2ZH8MmTMqYfj7ZwzQyRi1HOMs_bzX-MJd7zc5oMxy_TpNofe9IoK7dCbcnfTqlSgk7Pf94U8zEDfUkPL8ZEvwKP6T81PY/s1600/priyashakti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_E-gJIO0eTCW7-OqKPEGVF6EnCTUACQNs223icfgCCzTSq2ZH8MmTMqYfj7ZwzQyRi1HOMs_bzX-MJd7zc5oMxy_TpNofe9IoK7dCbcnfTqlSgk7Pf94U8zEDfUkPL8ZEvwKP6T81PY/s1600/priyashakti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_E-gJIO0eTCW7-OqKPEGVF6EnCTUACQNs223icfgCCzTSq2ZH8MmTMqYfj7ZwzQyRi1HOMs_bzX-MJd7zc5oMxy_TpNofe9IoK7dCbcnfTqlSgk7Pf94U8zEDfUkPL8ZEvwKP6T81PY/s1600/priyashakti.jpg" height="640" width="417" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of comic book, <i>Priya's Shakti</i>.</td></tr>
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The December 16, 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year old woman on a moving bus in New Delhi shocked the world. Two years later, a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/12/16/two-years-after-infamous-delhi-gang-rape-india-isnt-any-safer/"><span class="s1">news article</span></a> recounts the limited progress made in India to prevent more atrocities, including passage of an anti-rape law and a prohibition on the retail sale of acid to deter attacks on women. The article further notes a recent study published in the <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/women-still-feel-unsafe-blame-uber-ht-survey/article1-1296923.aspx"><span class="s1"><i>Hindustan Times</i></span></a> that found that 91% of women between the ages of 13 and 55 said that New Delhi is no safer two years later, and 97% had continued to experience some form of sexual harassment.</div>
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And along comes the comic book, <i>Priya's Shakti,</i> created by Ram Devineni. Priya is a super hero/ gang rape survivor, who conquers her attackers on the back of a tiger with the help of Parvati, the goddess of love and devotion. </div>
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Need I say more? <a href="http://www.priyashakti.com/portfolio/comic-book/"><span class="s1">It's a must read</span></a> (and available for free)! And there's an app for that!</div>
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May your 2015 be filled with peace and joy, love and light. Loudly.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-56343773200584334752014-12-11T06:15:00.000-08:002014-12-11T06:21:24.890-08:00The House with the Mint-Green Walls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<b>Editor's Note: </b><i>After a few nomadic months, Priyanka has settled in New Delhi. Here she shares her feelings on the way art has inspired her own sense of being home. She will resume her regular column with Her Blueprint in mid-January.</i>]<br />
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The first thing that I saw when we walked into the apartment was its mint green walls. </div>
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We had just arrived in New Delhi two days ago. Since June, we had moved from Pittsburgh, traveled across the United States, and divided time between Bombay, Bangalore, and Rajasthan before finally making up our mind to come to India’s capital city. I was both utterly exhausted of being a nomad for the past many months and apprehensive about calling Delhi home. Actually, more precisely, calling <i>India </i>home. </div>
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Apart from annual holidays to the homeland while growing up in Oman, I had never previously lived in India before. I was becoming increasingly disconnected to the idea of calling it home over the years. In fact, the label itself was becoming a complex abstraction for me. Was the home in homeland actually home? What was home anyway? I could worry about the semantics of home later though. Right now, I wanted a house: a nice, comfortable house, where I could anchor myself and start fleshing it into my space again.</div>
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I fell sick hours after landing in Delhi. On our first night, we went to a mall where there was an indie rock concert going on in a huge open-air court. I remember sitting on the edge of a white marble planter, simultaneously listening to the crowd sing along to the music and feeling a dreaded itchiness invade my throat. Every time I had previously visited Delhi, its notorious dust and pollution had not been my friend. The following morning, I woke up to find that the itch had snowballed into a cold: my eyes watered continuously, my nose was on fire, and I had little desire to do anything but remain under the covers for the next day. </div>
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I couldn’t, of course. I had a house to find.</div>
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Our apartment was the second one that the real-estate agent showed us in what would be a long succession of potential homes. Seeing the green walls after a day of battling a burgeoning cold, consuming cold, dessicated sandwiches, and dodging dusty, traffic-clogged roads was like stumbling head-first into an oasis. I wanted to camp out on the sofa itself, refusing to budge further. Afterwards, once we were done with visiting the other apartments (good, terrible, and ugly), the only one that remained with me was the green wall apartment. In the morning light, it would be mint-green, I thought, by dusk, it would assume the shade of pistachio ice-cream. I like the green wall apartment, I told my husband at dinner that night, as we listened to three college-age musicians sing Bob Dylan, let’s take that one. </div>
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** </div>
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We arrived in the apartment. My cold became a fever — and I spent the first week in our new house, ensconced in the bedroom, either staring at the ceiling or the windows bracketing me. On one side, the shadow of a massive peepal tree and its spreading, embrace-like branches and numerous leaves dutifully dappled the balcony while the other tree — whose name I still do not know — was framed within the window, like a minimal black and white photograph. During the day, their leaf shadows stenciled and overlapped one another upon the green walls, the walls fluid canvases. The leaf-shadow dance lulled me into sleep; the green soothed and calmed me. </div>
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The house swiftly became a welcome sanctuary after all those migratory, mobile months. </div>
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** </div>
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We are still in the process of turning our house into a home. In fact, we are still befriending the city, understanding its costume, its dialect, when it sleeps, when it wakes up, the art of razoring through its traffic jams. We potter about in the house, migrating from one room to another, wondering where the guest room should be, what color flowers will look good against the mint. </div>
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A river of traffic flows behind our house. We hear people’s conversations, dogs fighting, and ambulance and police sirens. I was accustomed to a soundtrack of silence in all the places that I had previously lived. This is the first time my ears are constantly negotiating the overwhelming barrage of sound, the sheer plurality of it; my mind is learning how to filter, distinguish one sound from another. However, I don’t miss the silence quite as much as I miss peering above into the nocturnal sky, glimpsing the dense population of stars studding its surface. Here, in the city, like any other city, they are just as invisible as they are during the day. </div>
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**</div>
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Our landlord’s art work meanwhile still dots the apartment walls. In the living room, you can see camouflage-hued tapestries of Paris, a bright bird water-color, an Ancient Egyptian god and goddess in dialogue, and a mountainscape sparely executed in oils. I have decided that these works will continue to hang there on the walls until we discover and introduce our own to them. In any case, they are strangers no more; our daily engagement with the works has made them familiar to us.
There are three paintings though that that we have decided to never remove as long as we stay in the apartment. </div>
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These paintings are portraits of three distinguished women hanging upon one wall in the living room. I call them distinguished simply because that’s exactly the sort of air they exude. I have no idea who these women are. I don’t even know the names of the artists who painted them. What I do know is that these portraits define the house as much as the walls themselves. And like the tree window-photograph in my bedroom window, I am content to see their framed selves on the walls. </div>
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What is remarkable is that each of them wear an identical expression of contemplation in their portraits. They look as if they were mulling over a problem or a puzzle or a query — and were about to unpack their thoughts to the artist. The thoughts would quickly spill out, raw, unadulterated, like paint gushing upon a palette from a newly pierced open tube. Yet, the women would just as swiftly incorporate them into the bigger picture, the larger idea, connoisseurs of both the macro and micro. These women are constantly editing themselves, their thoughts, striving to be better, fuller, richer persons. But they wouldn’t bite back their words, that’s for sure. If they have something to say, they will say it. </div>
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When we say goodbye to the house with the mint colored walls, I already know that we will miss these three ladies. In the next few months, we will be constantly overlaying the house with our presence— paintings, photographs, furniture, objects, books, our conversations — and by the time we leave, the house will have become an alternate version of itself, a new draft, so to speak. Perhaps, by that time, I will have even figured out how to solve the mathematical-like conundrum of learning to call my homeland home. But what these walls and admirable ladies will remind us of will be those initial paint-strokes, those first words on the computer-screen, a freshly new time, when blankness was exciting, when anything could become everything.</div>
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<i>This post originally appeared at the story-sharing platform, Medium over <a href="https://medium.com/@priyankasacheti/the-house-with-the-mint-colored-walls-313a968a2678">here</a></i>.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-31996656434422753392014-12-05T00:57:00.001-08:002014-12-05T00:57:39.915-08:00Belonging Together: The Making of Justice and Art<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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“What does <i>poiesis</i> have to do with slavery?”</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqMITQxVpW3iEiF9K4UopsP0f2vDiyhw7khKhboDHOre_FHxnNDp2bN3BRE90DV_l8ndSAYsjSj5r9SmKy4l9Am97WY2iHEerVjKLMmhtvJugm0GpsNvZAXDDjXzSwKxfhphykmbv1nU/s1600/photo+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyqMITQxVpW3iEiF9K4UopsP0f2vDiyhw7khKhboDHOre_FHxnNDp2bN3BRE90DV_l8ndSAYsjSj5r9SmKy4l9Am97WY2iHEerVjKLMmhtvJugm0GpsNvZAXDDjXzSwKxfhphykmbv1nU/s1600/photo+(2).jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shadow of Monique Villa, CEO of <br />
Thomas Reuters Foundation. Photo: Deborah Espinosa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That is how internationally renowned artist <a href="http://anishkapoor.com/" target="_blank">Anish Kapoor</a> began his 14-minute keynote address during the <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/" target="_blank">2014 Trust Women’s conference</a> recently held in London. The conference, which puts "the rule of law behind women’s rights," gathered advocates and activists focused on solutions to women’s economic empowerment, including women’s access to land and financial services, as well as on the global fight against modern slavery. A short <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/trust-women-2014-opening-video/" target="_blank">video</a> captured the breadth of issues covered. Notable speakers included two Nobel laureates, <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/muhammad-yunus-chairman-yunus-centre-and-founder-grameen-bank-bangladesh/" target="_blank">Muhammad Yunus</a> and <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/kailash-satyarthi-nobel-laureate-chairperson-of-the-global-march-against-child-labour/" target="_blank">Kailash Satyarthi</a>, <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/speakers/2014/" target="_blank">CEOs of many major corporations and NGOS</a>, and <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/i-was-a-slave-real-stories-of-survival/" target="_blank">survivors of the slave trade</a>. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
The Trust Women two-day gathering was highly cerebral, sometimes academic, and always stimulating. It also was visually compelling. Each theme was introduced with a 2- to 3-minute multimedia piece, including <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/trust-women-2014-women-and-finance/" target="_blank">Women and Finance</a>, <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/trust-women-2014-access-to-land/" target="_blank">Access to Land</a>, and <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/trust-women-2014-slavery-and-supply-chains/" target="_blank">Slavery and the Supply Chain</a>. (All of Trust Women conference videos are available <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/?sort-results-by=newest" target="_blank">here</a>.) <br />
<div class="p2">
</div>
<br />
We learned that 35.8 million people are working in slave-like conditions around the world in violation of their human rights on a daily basis. We were challenged to consider whether the supply chains of goods we use everyday include forced labor or debt bondage, including considering the human rights abuses necessary to sustain "<a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/excerpt-livia-firth-creative-director-eco-age-and-founder-of-the-green-carpet-challenge/" target="_blank">fast fashion</a>."<br />
<br />
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/H-_4fYLYPQQ/0.jpg" height="266" style="clear: right; float: right;" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/H-_4fYLYPQQ&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/H-_4fYLYPQQ&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>We were also encouraged to consider how responsive <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/trust-women-2014-women-in-cities/" target="_blank">cities</a> are to women's needs, including safety, particularly given their typically greater reliance on public transport for going to work and taking care of child and household responsibilities.<br />
<br />
And for me, a women's land rights practitioner, of utmost interest was the panel on the issue of women's access to land, which Trust Women aptly described as the "<a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/access-to-land-the-biggest-challenge-for-womens-empowerment/" target="_blank">biggest challenge to women's empowerment</a>." </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
So imagine my surprise when, amidst this dialogue, sculptor Anish Kapoor took the podium. “What does <i>poiesis</i> have to do with slavery?", he asks. I wasn't familiar with the term “poiesis,” but I imagined it referred to poetry. Later, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that <i>poiesis</i> is actually a much broader concept dating back to Ancient Greece — more like "a making” or the "<a href="http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=216" target="_blank">making of art</a>.”<br />
</div>
<div class="p2">
No doubt Mr. Kapoor's words meant many things to many people. For me, his words caused my soul to soften. I had steeled myself for a day on the global slave trade, and there he was opening a part of me that I’d purposefully locked down.<br />
<br />
The artist and advocate in me heard him liken the making of art to acts in pursuit of justice — and that the time is now. </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Does my making have truth? Or is it that belief and therefore beauty is something that lies in the future? Is it something that is always out of reach? . . . Freedom and beauty <i>are</i> the future — only possible because of what we do next."</blockquote>
Kapoor continued:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxH4x_kJhsNclMUshjxcjWI3bYamOQe3uXuEM0f9BMbK6YpjxVK53C3LPQ91ivDVIuGSUCBz8v1rr6CjnxQjCQInJ6AgHbrChMkzi8eNtQ-tUhkLH1HL6obs7thtdVOigY5YVMLJqEtU/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxH4x_kJhsNclMUshjxcjWI3bYamOQe3uXuEM0f9BMbK6YpjxVK53C3LPQ91ivDVIuGSUCBz8v1rr6CjnxQjCQInJ6AgHbrChMkzi8eNtQ-tUhkLH1HL6obs7thtdVOigY5YVMLJqEtU/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Anish Kapoor speaking at the Trust Women <br />
Conference on November 19, 2014. Photo: Deborah Espinosa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The oppressed, as we all know, are asked again and again to wait for the right time to press for change. Right time? What is this right time? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Always in the future. The right time for respect and dignity is always in the future. . . . </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Time and courage and beauty are now. I’m linking them together because I think they belong together. . . . Rights are dreamed of as if they belong in the future. But rights, as we all know, depend on what we do next."</blockquote>
Mr. Kapoor's full speech is available <a href="http://www.trustwomenconf.com/about/news/videos/anish-kapoor-artist/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Thank you Mr. Kapoor and <a href="http://www.trust.org/" target="_blank">Thomas Reuters Foundation</a> for uniting our efforts to make the world replete with justice with the our making of art. They belong together for me, too.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-37285627767929562342014-11-27T03:54:00.000-08:002014-11-27T07:03:09.442-08:00On Gratitude Versus Suffering: Resiliency Can Rise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZU2qfj11g4Be4nUoC1wcA8UQ9v2sU_3BlBH7eZqHSa3_IJoBhcKPukHR4eO2OXx1nATWK0iVqzpOib5qaoZfRk4s1oAqt56ptWKNLUKl07BTSIuyiChNwsMm9S5tL1Lu-WojlNY7riz4/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-27+at+12.13.22+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZU2qfj11g4Be4nUoC1wcA8UQ9v2sU_3BlBH7eZqHSa3_IJoBhcKPukHR4eO2OXx1nATWK0iVqzpOib5qaoZfRk4s1oAqt56ptWKNLUKl07BTSIuyiChNwsMm9S5tL1Lu-WojlNY7riz4/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-11-27+at+12.13.22+PM.png" height="300" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The 16 Days of Activism is a worldwide campaign to end violence against women.</i> Photo credit: UN Women.</td></tr>
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Today is Thanksgiving in my country of origin. It is the holiday in which families and friends gather to share a long meal and be together. To talk. To laugh. To be thankful.<br />
<br />
In France, where I live such long meals happen quite often, to the point I grow tired of dining. Sometimes at long dinners here, I remember myself as a small child at my grandmother's Thanksgiving table covered in pumpkin pies, growing more and more restless in the sunroom of their lovely home near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania because the plastic chair cover was sticking to my tights from sitting so long.<br />
<br />
How far I have come from those days. In some ways. In fact, during the past two years, I have learned more about resiliency and growth because living in a foreign country is like shaking off any idea of cultural rules and trying to not judge myself or others for not understanding what is often perceived as cultural givens. Points of growth come from understanding that the phrase, "It's cultural," somehow gives credibility for why things are the way they are.<br />
<br />
Upon some reflection, I have come to the conclusion that this Thanksgiving I am most thankful for my ability to summon resiliency. I imagine that by working nonstop most of my life for certain goals that I will attain them, that if I do not give up, eventually, I will look up and one day, the goal will arrive. This is not to say, any goal <i>just </i>arrives or all of them. It is to say that through effort, determination, and resiliency that keeping on, eventually, leads one to true change.<br />
<br />
As an athlete, that happened for me. I ran two ultramarathons with a heart problem when most cardiologists said that I could not. Then opted due to more severe heart complications during graduate school to have a heart surgery that confirmed what I had always sort of known, that my heart issue was far more severe than thought for the seventeen years preceding. Yet, I remember laying on the surgery table wide awake, watching my heart beating on the screen completely outside of my own body's control, and the cardiologist actually asking me if I was sure I had supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) because he could not find it. I thought to myself, this man has my heart in his hands, literally, yet he knows nothing of my life story. Of what brought me here, to this moment. He has no idea how often during races, I had to ensure that I took care of myself better than everyone around me because my SVT was not just a quickened heart rate; that when my SVT launched, my chest rocked, my eyes rolled back in my head, my lips sucked in and the loss of oxygen usually rendered me unaware within minutes. He does not know the moment I decided to do this was watching my baby sister's distressed face in the streets of Paris as I tried to calm my SVT because I swore with only four days in Paris, she would not spend her last full day in a hospital. Instead, I just looked at him and said, "Yes, I am sure. I am positive, I have SVT."<br />
<br />
A few minutes later, he found the problem in the core of my heart. He then called in another cardiologist for a second opinion because the risk had grown enormously.<br />
<br />
I walk often by the Institute that performed the<i> successful</i> heart surgery as it is around the corner from my pink cottage. I stare inside and think back to how I willed myself on that table to keep going and now my heart problem is resolved. The same way I willed the 17-year-old girl from a violent home to believe in my own education and my dreams to live in Manhattan. The same way I willed the 25-year-old homeowner trying to protect my property before the global financial crisis on a publishing salary. The same way, I willed the 28-year-old to move to Paris to study French at Sorbonne. Just keep going, eventually I will get there. And, I have. I stood this May one year after my heart surgery and walked the stage earning my Master's degree, a goal that took more years than I dare count.<br />
<br />
Yet, that moment the cardiologist questioned a reality so real to me reminded me starkly of the times in my life when I have shared incredible truths, risked intense vulnerability, only to have someone stare back at me with disbelief and question that truth. <b>And, often those times had to do with me as a victim of violence.</b> It reminded me of the British police detective who erred constantly as he investigated my sexual assault, which had happened in a very well-known London hotel. It reminded me of the ninth grade history professor who gave me a zero in his class even after I told him my final paper was late because I had been having heart problems that no one seemed to understand but kept telling me were from anxiety, although I remained completely silent of the swell of domestic violence occurring in my family's home at the same time because of my own personal shame and the culture that grew that.<br />
<br />
On this Thanksgiving, my thoughts are focused on why culture is often used as a blanket reason for why things are the way they are. Not American culture. Or French culture. But the pervasive global culture that accepts women worldwide are harmed.<br />
<br />
Two days ago, on November 25, international organizations and NGOs worldwide launched the <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/womens-rights/16-days" target="_blank">16 Days of Activism</a> to end violence against women. The violent stories I replay in my mind from my own life trying to make sense of my own story. The stories I have listened to from young women in Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, France, the United States. The frequency of violence is astounding.<br />
<br />
According to the <a href="http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/violence/internationalday/en/" target="_blank">World Health Organization</a>, "Estimates suggest that one in three women globally have experienced either physical or sexual violence from a partner, or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives, and that levels of violence against women and girls remain extremely high."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And, that in some parts of the world, sexual violence is endemic – reports of non-partner sexual violence are as high as 21% in areas of sub-Saharan Africa.</blockquote>
Violence against women is a global pandemic, not confined to any one country or region. <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/" target="_blank">UN Women</a> says, "around 120 million girls worldwide (slightly more than 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point in their lives." In the United States alone, the <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/11/25/violence-against-women-exacts-high-economic-price-world-bank-says" target="_blank">World Bank</a> estimates that, "annual costs of intimate partner violence have been calculated at USD 5.8 billion."<br />
<br />
That is outright and costly human suffering from every angle.<br />
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What does most research suggest as the way to end violence against women? UN Women suggests the current culture of shame and discrimination that surrounds violence against women has to shift.<br />
<div dir="rooted in gender-based discrimination and social norms and gender stereotypes that perpetuate such violence - See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/prevention#sthash.bjpaaRm2.dpuf" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Violence against women and girls is rooted in gender-based discrimination and social norms and gender stereotypes that perpetuate such violence. Given the devastating effect violence has on women, efforts have mainly focused on responses and services for survivors. However, the best way to end violence against women and girls is to prevent it from happening in the first place by addressing its root and structural causes.</blockquote>
Change has to happen. In response, from November 25 to December 10, the <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/end-violence-against-women" target="_blank">16 Days of Activism</a> calls on governments, organizations, advocates, and you to call for an end to gender-based violence as a basic human right. The United Nations urges participation in <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/11/a-global-call-to-orange-your-neighbourhood-galvanizes-communities-to-stop-violence-against-women" target="_blank">Orange your Neighbourhood</a>, to wear orange to reflect your support in breaking the stigma that surrounds violence against women. To change the culture of acceptance to that of nonacceptance.<br />
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I think today of the many loved friends, family, and colleagues I have in my life, and visually if we all sat down at a Thanksgiving table how so many of us would be wearing orange. How so many of us have experienced violence in some way. And, how all of us have channeled that experience in our own way to heal and find resiliency.<br />
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Then, I think of all the incredible women I have met all over the world who have found or will need to find that kind of resiliency to move beyond the suffering that comes from gender-based violence, and I am thankful for the strength that can be forged in a collective culture that does not accept violence against women. It reminds me to stay resilient in my pursuit to ensure greater human rights for all of us everywhere. Because, if we just keep going, one day, through effort, determination, and resiliency, that keeping on will lead us to true change: women everywhere will be safer. And, that will be the worldwide culture, just the way things are.<br />
<br />
The 16 Days of Activism ends on December 10, <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/" target="_blank">Human Rights Day</a>. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-51382883581132597022014-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:002014-11-11T06:25:54.292-08:00The Opposing Trajectories of Zoe Quinn and Alex from Target<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is a strange thing, sharing the world with the Internet. Most of the time it makes life easier, better. It keeps us more connected, but it also exposes us. We could go to sleep one night, our lives seemingly normal, and wake up the next morning in another realm -- all because something we said or did got picked up and shared by someone and subsequently made its way, like the speed of light, onto the computers, cellphones and tablets of strangers around the world. As a feminist writer on the internet, this is a fact that excites and horrifies me all at once. The fact that something I write here at my kitchen table in Brooklyn could somehow touch a nerve and get shared countless times is at once empowering and paralyzing. Just ask Zoe Quinn.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Zoe_Quinn_Camera_2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Zoe_Quinn_Camera_2014.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Zoe Quinn (@TheQuinnspiracy)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As a female videogame developer in a notoriously male-dominated industry, Quinn is no stranger to the dangers of being a woman online. She has been the target of sustained, anonymous online harassment since the release, in 2013, of her free interactive fiction game <a href="http://www.depressionquest.com/" target="_blank">Depression Quest</a>. Quinn, who has suffered from depression throughout her life, developed the game with two goals in mind: to show those who experience depression that they are not alone, and to educate non-sufferers about the depths of the illness. The backlash, according to Quinn, started "<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/zoe-quinns-depression-quest" target="_blank">pretty much the same day</a>" as the game's release. It escalated in severity and volume when an <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/05/1342060/-Eron-Gjoni-proof-that-being-a-white-hetero-cis-male-will-get-you-everywhere#" target="_blank">ex-boyfriend of Quinn's</a> published a tirade on a blog, claiming that Quinn had a relationship with a journalist who wrote about the game. In reality, the journalist in question never actually wrote a review of the game, he simply mentioned that it existed. That was enough. The result was the birth of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/03/gamergate-corruption-games-anita-sarkeesian-zoe-quinn" target="_blank">#gamergate</a> and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/12/zoe-quinn-gamergate-online-hate-mobs-depression-quest" target="_blank">doxxing of Zoe Quinn</a>.<br />
<br />
Over the past few months, #gamergate has spread like wildfire. The issue of women in gaming, which has historically been confined to industry and feminist websites, is now being covered by huge media outlets and countless personal blogs. This is, in many ways, great for women in the longterm both online and off. In the short term, however, the results are a little murkier. Brianna Wu, another female game developer, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/17/brianna-wu-gamergate-human-cost" target="_blank">recently went into hiding after being doxxed and receiving threats </a>such as "I've got a K-bar and I'm coming to your house so I can shove it up your ugly feminist c--t." Notable feminist and games critic Anita Sarkeesian also went into hiding and was <a href="http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml" target="_blank">forced to cancel a speech</a> at the Utah State University after the school refused to check attendees for guns, despite the threats of violence made against Sarkeesian and speech-goers in advance of the event.<br />
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In general, being outspoken and female can be a dangerous proposition. When you are caught being outspoken while female online, the ramifications can be life-altering and, sadly, even life-threatening. The internet, it seems, hates women. It is as if allowing people to be online and anonymous only manages to magnify the misogynistic norms of our culture. And to think, one night when Zoe Quinn went to sleep things were more or less okay, but when she woke up in the morning she was, "<a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-i-learned-as-internets-most-hated-person/" target="_blank">the most hated person on the internet</a>." And all she did was develop a game to try and educate people about the challenges of living with depression. And, she had the nerve to do this as a woman.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdv7NBwIkNVs1Cm1OAvZGn7a0QdTh2UGBp35-WOiSm_PLUkVaAEQc3VnrDptSeZjF3acNrV-4zyamjP_TZtqZZ3HHnSxGwmB7dWrVL4ECaFIviZA62cvwO3AYgwTzPbfRG-6rRyKazklD/s1600/15713396715_cdfee12f69_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdv7NBwIkNVs1Cm1OAvZGn7a0QdTh2UGBp35-WOiSm_PLUkVaAEQc3VnrDptSeZjF3acNrV-4zyamjP_TZtqZZ3HHnSxGwmB7dWrVL4ECaFIviZA62cvwO3AYgwTzPbfRG-6rRyKazklD/s1600/15713396715_cdfee12f69_m.jpg" /></a>Let's compare this, briefly, to the recent appearance of Alex from Target, a kid from Texas who was photographed while bagging groceries at Target by a girl who thought he was cute. His photograph went viral. As of this writing, he has<a href="https://twitter.com/acl163" target="_blank"> 727,000 followers on Twitter</a>. <a href="http://www.courant.com/entertainment/hc-alex-from-target-on-ellen-20141107-embeddedvideo.html" target="_blank">He recently appeared on The Ellen Show</a>. What Alex from Target and Zoe Quinn have in common is that <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/alex-from-target-fame.html" target="_blank">their celebrity happened by no fault of their own</a>. Both of them were doing their jobs and were catapulted into the limelight by outside forces. For Alex, a photograph taken and published online without his consent has made him some sort of b-list teenage sex symbol. This sexualization, and his presence on The Ellen Show as a result of that, is highly problematic. As far as I know, however, Alex from Target is not being sent death and rape threats nor is he being driven from his home in fear of his life. For Zoe Quinn, the fact that she dared create a game in a male-dominated industry put her in harms way. And due to the fact that she is female, her subsequent sexualization, carried out in written as opposed to photographic form, made her the target of sustained harassment.<br />
<br />
For me, there is something inherently wrong happening in both of these situations. In both cases, there was a complete disregard for the right to privacy and the need for consent before sharing photographs or personal information, true or fabricated, with a potential audience in the billions. That aside, the completely opposite trajectories that these two individuals experienced speaks volumes about our society. Don't get me wrong, our need to sexualize people, whether male or female, is incredibly dehumanizing. But that depending on the gender of the individual the result is either empowering or disempowering, that the internet either celebrates or threatens, is just incredible. And sickening.<br />
<br />
I imagine that Alex from Target will end up being just a flash in the pan. The plight of Zoe Quinn, however, has staying power. But that also means that for the foreseeable future she, and many other women who dare to be opinionated on this misogynistic platform, will be in danger. It is a sad reality. Those women who keep speaking our minds and hoping that people listen have to live with the gnawing fear that one day we might wake up in the middle of a nightmare. Welcome to being female on the internet.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-i-learned-as-internets-most-hated-person/" target="_blank">5 Things I Learned as the Internet's Most Hated Person</a> [Cracked.com]<br />
<a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/alex-from-target-fame.html" target="_blank">'Alex From Target' and the Mess of Uncontrollable Fame</a> [New York Magazine]<br />
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml" target="_blank">Anita Sarkeesian Cancels Speech After School Shooting Threat at Utah State</a> [Forbes.com]<br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/17/brianna-wu-gamergate-human-cost" target="_blank">Brianna Wu and the Human Cost of Gamergate: 'Every Woman I Know in the Industry is Scared</a>' [The Guardian]<br />
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/05/1342060/-Eron-Gjoni-proof-that-being-a-white-hetero-cis-male-will-get-you-everywhere#" target="_blank">Eron Gjoni - Proof that Being a White, Hetero-Cis Male Will Get You Everywhere</a> [The Daily Koz]<br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/03/gamergate-corruption-games-anita-sarkeesian-zoe-quinn" target="_blank">Gamergate: The Community is Eating Itself but There Should be Room for All</a> [The Guardian]<br />
<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/zoe-quinns-depression-quest" target="_blank">Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest</a> [The New Yorker]<br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/12/zoe-quinn-gamergate-online-hate-mobs-depression-quest" target="_blank">Zoe Quinn on Gamergate: 'We Need a Proper Discussion About Online Hate Mobs</a>' [The Guardian]<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-51267101078679283012014-11-06T06:53:00.000-08:002014-11-06T18:30:04.149-08:00Programs with Potential: Collective Voice and Sense of Self<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVD5KH8Q8br74if5ao-bolEkt-j73LcdCoEs9GA_DC5Fn3BNfPYdlxsJI3BamuOoaT8_JyNaufQfsNzl6dXAqcmtawz9ztkBYfGYt145B6ckkrINI-Wxqle3dvAHCKWqaGEFwfTxrANfg/s1600/Espinosa_DSC_2280_low-res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVD5KH8Q8br74if5ao-bolEkt-j73LcdCoEs9GA_DC5Fn3BNfPYdlxsJI3BamuOoaT8_JyNaufQfsNzl6dXAqcmtawz9ztkBYfGYt145B6ckkrINI-Wxqle3dvAHCKWqaGEFwfTxrANfg/s1600/Espinosa_DSC_2280_low-res.jpg" height="400" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Women across the world rarely have an opportunity <br />to voice their opinion about an issue that <br />matters to them. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo: Deborah Espinosa</span></td></tr>
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For those of us who are women’s rights advocates and activists with ready access to advocacy platforms and tools, we have constant opportunities to learn about, launch, and participate in advocacy campaigns <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">to voice our opinions about issues that matter to us. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In communities across Asia, Latin America, and Africa, however, women face a far different reality, where advocating for themselves and their community is unheard of or they lack the confidence, opportunities, and/or tools to engage. As a result, community members are often </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">deprived of their voice, rights, and power; government remains unresponsive; and vital needs go unmet. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Thankfully, many development organizations are addressing this lack of civic engagement, and by extension, sense of powerlessness, by supporting community members' right to voice their opinions and realize their rights. These programs are intended to inspire and facilitate positive dialogue between communities and authorities to hold government accountable. </span>Often these local programs feed into national, regional, and even global advocacy efforts.<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span> </span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One notable example is World Vision International's <a href="https://www.smore.com/w5xy-citizen-voice-and-action" target="_blank">Citizen Voice and Action</a> (CVA) approach, which World Vision has implemented so far in 43 countries through 411 programs. First piloted in 2005, CVA is an approach to improve the relationship between local government and communities and thereby improve delivery of basic public services such as healthcare and education.[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span>] A cornerstone of the approach is to educate about citizen and government rights and obligations. Check out the short video to the right to learn more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A study of the impact of the CVA methodology in Ugandan communities, by Oxford University and Makerere University, found that in 100 primary schools in these CVA communities, there was an 8 to 10 percent increase in pupil attendance compared to control communities and a 13 percent reduction in teacher absenteeism.[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span>] CVA in Uganda also generated significant improvements in the delivery of health care services, as presented in this <a href="http://youtu.be/GL10udKm6d4" target="_blank">video</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, <a href="http://insights.careinternational.org.uk/development-blog/governance/local-to-global-advocacy-at-care." target="_blank">CARE International</a> uses a "bottom up" approach to their advocacy programs, particularly by women, grounded in human rights. Tools include raising awareness about rights, budget monitoring, public hearings, social audits, and community score cards in sectors such as health, education, food security, and natural resource management. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, in Bangladesh, a CARE program resulted in groups of extremely poor people successfully advocating for access to public resources such as land and water bodies, enabling them to use those resources for collective livelihood opportunities.[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span>] And on the issue of gender-based violence (GBV), CARE and its partners implemented the <a href="http://insights.careinternational.org.uk/publications/strengthening-womens-voice-evidence-based-advocacy-from-the-grassroots-to-the-global" target="_blank">Great Lakes Advocacy Initiative</a> (GLAI) using an evidence-based advocacy model to increase protection for women and girls against GBV in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At its core, the GLAI relies on linkages between grassroots and global efforts. Underlying the model is the premise that greater participation by women in decisionmaking strengthens civil society and promotes gender equality, helping to address the underlying causes of GBV. The initiative demonstrated the effectiveness of linking grassroots advocates to policy makers, resulting in increased political participation by women at the grassroots and district levels, an increase in the reporting of GBV cases and, in some areas, a decline in the incidence of GBV.[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4</span>] </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many other organizations implement local advocacy programming, including <a href="http://www.familycareintl.org/en/issues/69" target="_blank">Family Care International</a>, which works with indigenous women in Latin America and <a href="http://www.partnersglobal.org/resources/PDC_Yemen_LEAD.pdf/view?searchterm=advocacy" target="_blank">Partners for Democratic Change</a>, which works with youth in Yemen. Many of these organizations share their advocacy tools online, including <a href="http://www.wateraid.org/~/media/Publications/advocacy-sourcebook.ashx" target="_blank">WaterAid</a>, <a href="http://www.care.org/sites/default/files/documents/GBV-2012-Advocacy-guide-for-grassroots-activists-for-GBV-Burundi.pdf" target="_blank">CARE</a>, and <a href="https://www.smore.com/w5xy-citizen-voice-and-action" target="_blank">World Vision</a>. A list of <a href="http://www.micahnetwork.org/sites/default/files/doc/resources/useful_advocacy_resources.pdf" target="_blank">Useful Advocacy Resources</a> is also available online.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDDF5mr0rzddpZ7kLMFpvr6Qw9Jfdwp5HzKyhrWsDFQagN1pmet17R0q1Tcz0cPQBhYRlyZzh1rlRrwB4QkGX28o9-6JyqyUr_V-HVWSBywuQ6HPtLbtJ-fsbagG_xk3nhZkPTxlFKdM/s1600/Espinosa_P1000167_low-res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Copyright Deborah Espinosa" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHDDF5mr0rzddpZ7kLMFpvr6Qw9Jfdwp5HzKyhrWsDFQagN1pmet17R0q1Tcz0cPQBhYRlyZzh1rlRrwB4QkGX28o9-6JyqyUr_V-HVWSBywuQ6HPtLbtJ-fsbagG_xk3nhZkPTxlFKdM/s1600/Espinosa_P1000167_low-res.jpg" height="176" title="Power in Numbers" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The collective voice. Andhra Pradesh, India. Photo: Deborah Espinosa</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">What all of these programs have in common is they create opportunities for individuals to contribute their unique voice and collectively advocate for a better world. </span>As one CVA participant in India explained, "Earlier I used to remain behind my burqa. But I found my voice because of the [CVA] training."[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">5</span>]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my October post, </span><a href="http://imowblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-power-of-voice.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Power of Voice</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, I shared the story of Wanjiku and the courage and confidence that arose when Wanjiku learned of her human right to self-expression, combined with basic training on the art of public speaking. I had the privilege of witnessing not only her transformation, but that of her community, with positive impacts beyond all expectations. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is for this reason that I am so excited about these more comprehensive local advocacy programs. Opportunities to stand up together with our neighbors with a collective voice on an issue that matters to us not only benefits our community, but leaves a lasting impression on our sense of self. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">“<i>Finally I was able to see that if I had a contribution I wanted to make, I must do it, despite what others said. That I was OK the way I was. That it was all right to be strong.” </i></span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><i> </i> ~Wangari Maathai</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] World Vision. <a href="https://www.smore.com/w5xy-citizen-voice-and-action" target="_blank">Citizen Voice and Action: World Vision's Approach to Social Accountability</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">World Vision. </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B01TNkdJ61czcVhlUUt1dzN0ODg/edit" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Citizen Voice and Action: Civic Demand for Better Health and Education Services</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> .</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] Hinton, R. 2011. <a href="http://insights.careinternational.org.uk/publications/inclusive-governance-transforming-livelihood-security-experiences-from-care-bangladesh" target="_blank">Inclusive Governance: Transforming Livelihood Experience from CARE Bangladesh</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] CARE. 2014. <a href="http://insights.careinternational.org.uk/publications/strengthening-womens-voice-evidence-based-advocacy-from-the-grassroots-to-the-global" target="_blank">Strengthening Women's Voice: Evidence-Based Advocacy from the Grassroots to the Global</a>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] World Vision India. </span><a href="http://youtu.be/sGH3qHLWY90?list=UUUZwKz9cMKoAOfIPXZdqMqg" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">WV India CVA Video</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-128827436360749792014-10-21T08:46:00.002-07:002014-10-21T08:46:19.556-07:00The Tampon Taboo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign in Indonesia, <i>Source: Flikr Creative Commons</i></td></tr>
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For girls everywhere menstruation is a rite of passage. Menstruation is a healthy, normal bodily function that affects half of our population -- the overwhelming majority of our women, at some point in time. But for too many girls worldwide this shared experience is a source of shame, restriction and if badly managed -- illness. Menstruation is an age-old phenomenon and across the developed world we’ve built awareness, products and systems to manage menstrual hygiene to enable women to live their lives seamlessly. Even with such support we can still argue that menstruation is something we’d rather not talk about in the developed world -- but in the developing world, the stigma around menstruation has led to an invisibility around it that can really hold our girls and women back.<br />
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According to the Geneva-based <a href="http://www.wsscc.org/">Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)</a>, even sectors such as water and sanitation which “routinely deal with unmentionables such as excreta, ignore girl’s and women’s need for safe spaces to manage menstrual hygiene and mechanisms for safe disposal of materials used to absorb menstrual blood.” As we all know, ignoring a problem -- or menstruation -- does not make it go away. <a href="http://www.wsscc.org/sites/default/files/wsscc_mhm_handout_4pp_2.pdf_final_23082013.pdf">NGO Plan International and A C Nielsen</a> conducted a study and estimated that there are 355 million menstruating women in India -- but only 12% of them use sanitary napkins. The study even found that 23% of Indian girls drop out of school after reaching puberty, with irreversible effects on their health, well-being and participation in society. Millions of girls and women instead rely on old rags, dried leaves and grass, ash, sand or newspaper to manage their monthly menstrual flows -- shrouded by shame and disgust on a vital bodily function.<br />
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-sierra/empowering-women-by-design_b_4861332.html">Columbia University, Millennium Promise and the social enterprise, Be Girl</a> also hosted pilots for menstrual hygiene products and one of their participants, Patience, a 15-year-old girl from Ruhiira, Uganda told them “you suffer a lot; in case you stamp [stain] the boys can make fun of you which causes you to lose your self-esteem […] it’s embarrassing when you are washing your soiled clothes. It makes you not even want to go to school.” The washing of stained rags or clothing can also bring shame, especially in areas of water scarcity. <a href="http://www.begirl.org/">Be Girl</a> reports that in rural Africa, 40% of school girls miss up to 5 school days a month, or 30% of the school year. <a href="http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/our-approach/research-and-publications/view-publication?id=02309d73-8e41-4d04-b2ef-6641f6616a4f">WaterAid</a> found that 82% of their surveyed girls in Malawi did now know about menstruation before it started; girls across their surveyed countries were found to be excluded from water sources during menstruation, and even prohibited from washing and bathing in some communities making what is often a difficult week even more difficult to bear.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6btadIUC4a8rSQRd7mui37DxwJ4NX9hGFFCOdfeEczpVlT0DflGw97H0IG3_MN9iwHdBv-0ns4REZiV_vANnemoyBQOqvBa7LWAet6WPmMyoDktKwUSHtTBgQVkmwIpDNr2zat2iZIWY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-20+at+11.31.02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6btadIUC4a8rSQRd7mui37DxwJ4NX9hGFFCOdfeEczpVlT0DflGw97H0IG3_MN9iwHdBv-0ns4REZiV_vANnemoyBQOqvBa7LWAet6WPmMyoDktKwUSHtTBgQVkmwIpDNr2zat2iZIWY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-20+at+11.31.02.png" height="293" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: WaterAid</i></td></tr>
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Given the success of feminine hygiene and menstruation products, and the important role it has played in women's empowerment history, it would appear that the private sector could have significant market opportunity if they can break this taboo for women and girls -- who are expected to require the products for more tham 50 years. Sanitary products must be designed to be affordable; disposable tampons and sanitary towels are often priced out of reach of low- and even middle-income families if supply is scarce. <a href="http://blog.euromonitor.com/2012/04/sanitary-protection-poverty-and-politics.html">Euromonitor International</a> found that women in India, with average earnings of US $750 per annum earns below the $1,000 per annum deemed necessary to easily purchase disposable menstruation products. Moreover, systems to support menstrual hygiene are necessary, products alone aren’t the solution: appropriately designed and managed community spaces and importantly education on female reproductive health.<br />
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To make this happen, WSSCC believes that breaking the silence around the taboo of menstruation is a crucial first step. Girls should be informed and encouraged to talk and discuss menstruation in an informed and positive manner to prepare them emotionally and physically for the onset of menstruation and their monthly menstrual periods. Families need the education to support their girls and women. WaterAid has also compiled a phenomenal guide, <a href="http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/our-approach/research-and-publications/view-publication?id=02309d73-8e41-4d04-b2ef-6641f6616a4f">Menstrual Hygiene Matters</a>, with nine modules and tool kits -- an essential resource -- to improve menstrual hygienic for women and girls in lower and middle-income countries. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8D1l-2lyXLfsaU8nKrlb_91MpyeUBaChrbXY_MffbIJBVhuPOt9cyYXZ0o0P42DjDsmzyoGlNhjLMTaI2Z0kmY08UZw5EQmiIoytpcgWDi-QMacYT6-JYcZ3dvAsieM9qQMvQ80jvsE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-20+at+11.31.22.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8D1l-2lyXLfsaU8nKrlb_91MpyeUBaChrbXY_MffbIJBVhuPOt9cyYXZ0o0P42DjDsmzyoGlNhjLMTaI2Z0kmY08UZw5EQmiIoytpcgWDi-QMacYT6-JYcZ3dvAsieM9qQMvQ80jvsE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-10-20+at+11.31.22.png" height="356" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'LexiaDaMa'; font-size: 9.000000pt;"><i>WaterAid found that well designed and appropriate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities that address menstrual hygiene can make a significant
difference to the schooling experience of adolescent girls<br />
(Photo: WaterAid/ASM Shafiqur Rahman) </i></span></div>
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As WSSCC spokesperson, Archana Patkar, powerfully argues: “Women are the progenitors of the human race […] Menstruation is therefore something of which they can and should be proud, so each and every one of us should work to improve the lives and life chances for women who do not have access to clean materials, water and safe disposal facilities; who cannot talk about their experiences; or are never asked if they can help define a solution.”</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-9593214786389229672014-10-06T09:16:00.000-07:002014-10-08T13:08:20.079-07:00Documentary Unravels Honor Killings of American Sisters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By Suzanne Mahadeo</span><br />
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The <a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com/" target="_blank">Price of Honor</a> is a documentary that shares the story of Amina and Sarah Said, two teenage sisters from Texas who were killed by their father. It's a film that starts off tragically and ends with the sound of your own heart snapping in your chest. Before the opening credits even begin, you hear the haunting 911 call that Sarah made to the Irving, Texas police department on the day she and her sister were murdered in their father's taxi cab. That recording will stay with you long after you finish the film.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9UEV-vHcGRtyF_3__HyKm15sDuuwV4guidnCmE4D5Z0E6VyIljYPqmNOZh5JbqGxY5WuavjGdGDf9KLNQTsYRkAYdSWlCa8seN2uHYOqNG8316BlRK2sHFQYJj9Gc6EEjM936ghLWHvd/s1600/Amina+and+Sarah.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9UEV-vHcGRtyF_3__HyKm15sDuuwV4guidnCmE4D5Z0E6VyIljYPqmNOZh5JbqGxY5WuavjGdGDf9KLNQTsYRkAYdSWlCa8seN2uHYOqNG8316BlRK2sHFQYJj9Gc6EEjM936ghLWHvd/s1600/Amina+and+Sarah.JPG" height="428" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">American teenagers, Amina and Sarah Said</td></tr>
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The Said sisters' story has touched thousands of people and the documentary will undoubtedly affect many more. It unravels the personalized story of two typical American teenagers. Footage used from old home videos shows them jumping on trampolines, taking up an after-school job as a cashier, and practicing Tae Kwon Do in a suburban strip mall dojo. Seemingly innocuous footage until you realize that the girls didn't know they were being filmed. The person lurking behind windows holding the camera was their father, Yaser Said, the man responsible for their deaths. He is still wanted by the FBI more than six years after he murdered his daughters in what has been deemed an honor killing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yaser Said murdered his two daughters near Dallas and is still wanted by the FBI.</td></tr>
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I asked Amy Logan, the Consulting Producer of The Price of Honor, about the difference between domestic violence and honor killing.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white;">With 800+ million women and girls living under the honor code, honor violence is not only a global problem, it’s a pandemic that global leaders are failing miserably to address for the crisis that it is," she said in an email. "</span><span style="background-color: white;">Domestic violence is usually defined as taking place between intimate partners, whereas honor violence mostly occurs between a female and her blood relatives. Both kinds of violence are motivated by control issues but honor violence occurs because the female is actually considered property of the male blood relative whose honor is at stake if she steps out of line. And with honor violence, the family and community often support the violence, even coercing it with threats of ostracism."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">So how did Amina and Sarah "step out of line" in their father's ignoble eyes? They fell in love with boys their father did not approve of. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Moreno and Amina Said had young love that ended too soon.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Amina dared to exert her human spirit and fell in love with Joseph, a boy from her martial arts class. When Amina and Sarah were not being sexually abused by their father, they daydreamed of their future. Amina and Joseph would pass sweet notes to each other, chat on the phone, and even held hands for an entire day at Six Flags. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">In the documentary, Joseph sorrowfully reminisces about a young love that ended with gunshots and wounds that would never heal. Filmmaker Neena Nejad said that one of the important reasons for making the film was becaus<span style="font-family: inherit;">e, "</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I felt like it gave people like Joseph and Ruth [his mother, who was also very close to Amina] some sense of closure.” (You can also read this touching article by<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Joseph called "</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-honor-killing-of-amina-said-2014-9#ixzz3EjmtJyiC">My Teenage Sweetheart Was Killed To Preserve Her Family's 'Honor'</a>" in Business Insider.)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting Amina Said's tragic grave site.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Even as much as those involved with making this film wanted to bring Amina and Sarah's story to the public, there were terrifying implications that came along with seeking justice for the girls. Filmmaker Xoel Pamos said, "</span><span style="background-color: white;">Something that really shocked me while trying to reach out to several friends of the girls was the fact that they wouldn't talk to us because they were scared. I think these people think, 'if Yaser was capable of killing his daughters, what would he do to us who are totally unrelated?' </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We had one very ugly episode involving threats coming directly from Yaser's family when we approached them to explain their side of the story. We decided to make those interactions public because that's the best way to protect all of us. Those who are featured in the film were offered to blackout their faces but nobody wanted to do so. They knew the risks by coming forward and talking, but telling Amina and Sarah's story was more important."</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amina Said</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Neena said that "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">telling the story of Amina and Sarah outweighed the risks! I feel that people that make death threats are weak and scared because you are opposing their belief system and they react in this way to gain some sort of self worth</span><span style="background-color: white;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">so I don't pay much mind to them."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Perhaps we should follow Neena's lead, because fear of speaking out against honor killings is implicit in why the practice has gone unchallenged to this day. "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The very reason that honor violence has gone on unabated since 5000 BC," said Amy Logan, "is because of this conspiracy of silence around it. If somebody—or a lot of somebodies—</span>doesn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> speak up, it will only continue and probably grow. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">We decided to break the silence around this atrocity and start calling it exactly what it is: community-sanctioned terrorism against half a culture’s population (female) to reinforce the system of male power and privilege." </span></div>
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This documentary should serve as a start to a very important conversation. It's currently being screened at film festivals around the country before it can be distributed online or in theaters. Add <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thepriceofhonor">The Price of Honor to your Facebook feed</a> to keep up to date or go to the <a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com/">film's website</a> to find out about future screenings.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Said</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">"W</span><span style="background-color: white;">e've been lucky, as we have encountered wonderful people along the way who always supported our work, including Muslim and non-Muslim individuals, and we are thankful to those people," said </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">Xoel Pamos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">And what can you do? Amy Logan shares,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">"We hope that after watching our film, people will feel tremendous empathy for women and girls living under the honor code—there are 800 million+ of them! We hope they will tell many others about the film (#CatchYaserNow), donate to the </span><a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com/#!catchyasernow/c17j8" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">Catch Yaser Said Campaign Fund</a><span style="background-color: white;">, and </span><a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com/#!contact/cz2o" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">join our mailing list</a><span style="background-color: white;"> to stay updated on the case."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"It’s important for people to see The Price of Honor," Amy said, "so that they can really understand an atrocity that is happening right in our own back yards in the USA. If we bury our heads in the sand, we cannot prevent more of these crimes."</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-17158036903901724172014-10-01T08:49:00.000-07:002014-10-01T08:49:00.192-07:00The Power of Voice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Wanjiku[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span>] has little formal schooling. She goes about her daily life with a baby on her back and several more at her dusty feet. She tends the crops, cooks the meals, collects the water, and tries to ensure that her children get more of an education than she did. </div>
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Depending on the wishes of her husband, Wanjiku may or may not go to the market, be involved in a women’s group, or handle cash. She may or may not participate in household decision making and rarely owns the land that is the main source of her family’s livelihood.</div>
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Women and girls in her remote village are seen but not heard — an all-too-common custom in traditionally patriarchal communities.</div>
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But not anymore in one community in Kenya. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Justice trainee practices her public speaking skills, <br />
guided by Justice Project staff. Photo: Landesa/Deborah Espinosa </td></tr>
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You see, Wanjiku now knows that Kenya’s <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/index.php?id=398" target="_blank">Constitution</a>, which Kenyans adopted by national referendum in August 2010, guarantees her — and every person — the right to freely express him- or herself, a right that includes the freedom to seek, receive, or impart information or ideas and the freedom of artistic creativity (art. 33). (The right to self-expression is also within the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/" target="_blank">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>.) And along with learning about her rights, Wanjiku was trained in the art of public speaking — a simple curriculum grounded in the right to voice her opinion. The training included techniques and tips on how to speak in public as well as opportunities to practice speaking on a subject of importance to her. </div>
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Wanjiku learned and practiced during a USAID-supported project called, <i><a href="http://usaidlandtenure.net/projects/kenya" target="_blank">Enhancing Customary Justice Systems in the Mau Forest, Kenya</a> </i>(aka the <i>Kenya Justice Project)</i>, designed and implemented by the international NGO <a href="http://www.landesa.org/" target="_blank">Landesa</a>. The Kenya Justice Project piloted a model for improving women’s access to "informal justice" related to land, meaning the all-male, village institutions that resolve disputes but have a reputation for holding entrenched biases against women. Much to our surprise, two months after the pilot’s end, the community elected — for the first time in its history — 14 women as elders, serving alongside male elders resolving disputes. One year later, 22 women were serving as elders alongside men. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Justice trainee shares her knowledge of women's <br />
rights in Kenya's Constitution. Wanjiku resides <br />
in all of us. Photo: Landesa/Deborah Espinosa</td></tr>
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The women had decided on their own to run for election. No doubt, there are many factors that contributed to this outcome. </div>
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This was the first time I’d included public speaking in the design of a women’s rights project, and so at the end of the first training session, I asked the women to share their thoughts about whether training on the right to self-expression and public speaking was worth including again in a project design. Every woman in the room eagerly raised her hand, offering to share her opinion. Up until that point in the project, we’d never had full participation in a single session.</div>
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As the women shared with us how they felt, I was struck by the fact that along with the women’s timidity and discomfort, a glimmer of pride shined through. They explained how growing up as girls they were not supposed to speak directly to an adult. And so they believed that their opinions were unimportant, and certainly never worth sharing. The room shook with potential. </div>
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Although the <a href="http://usaidlandtenure.net/content/kenya-justice-impact-evaluation" target="_blank">short-term impact evaluation</a> did not try to measure a causal relationship between project outcomes and the public speaking activity, specifically, I am convinced that this activity was a critical component to the success of the pilot. Knowledge of their constitutional rights to express themselves, combined with practicing public speaking in a safe and supportive environment, gave the women Justice trainees the courage to dare step out of their comfort zones. And dare to reach for one of the most powerful positions within their community — an elder resolving disputes. </div>
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The community has made many other advances supporting women's rights and empowerment, including greater awareness among men and women of their constitutional rights to land; procedural improvements in elders' resolution of disputes; a requirement of spousal consent for land transactions; and, most recently, an increase in economic development, led by women in the community. </div>
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Wanjiku’s courage to find her own voice is the inspiration for this column on the relationship between the arts (in its many, many forms) and women’s rights and empowerment. This column is certainly a step out of my own comfort zone. Along the way, please share your voice — we have a lot to learn from each other!<br />
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[<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span>] In Kenya, "<a href="http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/silence-is-a-woman/" target="_blank">Wanjiku</a>" is an iconic representation of the "ordinary, Kenyan citizen," the common person. "<a href="http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/silence-is-a-woman/" target="_blank">Her power rests in her ordinariness</a>." </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-86012806344461967512014-09-29T11:26:00.000-07:002014-09-29T11:27:39.302-07:00McKayla Maroney and the Celebrity Photo Leak of (August) 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Much like <a href="http://imowblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/i-embrace-my-female-nerd-and-so-can-you.html" target="_blank">Loren Lynch did in her first post here at Her Blueprint</a>, I feel I ought to tell you a little bit about myself. I have, for most of my adult life, made my income tending bar. One of the great things about this particular line of work is the opportunity to meet an incredible array of people and learn about a diversity of topics including, of course, quite a bit about yourself. Through the almost 6 years I have spent working at a small local pub in Brooklyn, I picked up two valuable pieces of Rebekah-specific information: I do not particularly care about beer or mainstream sports.<br />
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As someone who considers herself something of an academic, I read far too much about the severity of head injuries in football and hockey to be able to see past the brutality inherent in those two sports and through to the games themselves. I find baseball boring and, though I was a big Knicks fan back in the 90's (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCTfxOrX4k8" target="_blank">I had a thing for John Starks</a>), I am not terribly attached to basketball. The one sport that I watch religiously, that I can talk your ear off about (and yes, I know it is not mainstream although this is something I simply do not understand) is elite women's gymnastics.<br />
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For most people here in the United States, women's gymnastics is a once-every-four-years sport. In an Olympic year, they watch all the team and individual events on NBC and fall in love that particular quad's American it-girl: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sya66z4mCiA" target="_blank">Mary Lou Retton</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnrS4o-dQLE" target="_blank">Shawn Johnson</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtJeI_zioRQ" target="_blank">Nastia Liukin</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCflycqc11s" target="_blank">Gabby Douglas</a>. But for us all-the-time fans, there is so much behind those Olympic moments. These young women have, by age 16, already spent the previous 12 years in the gym. What their bodies and minds allow them to do is absolutely breath taking. Forget the athleticism which I could never dream to possess, these girls have more focus at 16 than I have at 31, a fact which is at the same time mind-blowing and enviable. It is interesting because for as much as I would love to see these girls get the attention and appreciation that all their hard work and talent deserves, I think the sport stays more pure, and the athletes more protected from the negative aspects of mainstream fandom, because of the lack of big money and the lack of exposure. Unless, of course, they are one of the lucky five to make it to the biggest stage in women's gymnastics: the Olympic Games. Once that happens all bets are off and no one knows this better than 2012 Olympic team champion and vault silver medalist McKayla Maroney.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWuC1QVgNcT8A_XYh5zvBUpQMxNra6q1_EPE-GivPKaYpVmDoK8fdCIqwAqMrRbC4kqZAKgK-f1TBDFWmekIKgh8zr5fE4SSKSql5TlTXhQ1CMsk4MSZ8poPJwcN6QpAPrAdQzsp3PIxP/s1600/Barack_Obama_with_artistic_gymnastic_McKayla_Maroney_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWuC1QVgNcT8A_XYh5zvBUpQMxNra6q1_EPE-GivPKaYpVmDoK8fdCIqwAqMrRbC4kqZAKgK-f1TBDFWmekIKgh8zr5fE4SSKSql5TlTXhQ1CMsk4MSZ8poPJwcN6QpAPrAdQzsp3PIxP/s1600/Barack_Obama_with_artistic_gymnastic_McKayla_Maroney_2.jpg" height="320" width="305" /></a>Previously known only for her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNG0QJw7-4A" target="_blank">sky high vaulting</a>, Maroney made an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgbaO5DUDeo" target="_blank">error in the Olympic vault finals</a> that resulted in her being awarded the silver medal behind Romania's Sandra Izbasa and spawned the now famous <a href="http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">not impressed face.</a> It was that face, and her regular social media updates, that made Maroney something of a celebrity beyond the gymnastics world. Unfortunately, being in the public eye does come with certain drawbacks. This past August, McKayla Maroney found herself embroiled in a massive scandal when nude photos of her and roughly 40 other female celebrities <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/celebrity-naked-photo-leak-2014-nude-women" target="_blank">were stolen from compromised Apple iCloud accounts and leaked</a> via the imageboard 4chan and then widely disseminated using social media sites such as Imgur, Reddit and Tumblr. As is often the case, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/09/02/ricky_gervais_and_fox_news_take_the_lead_in_victim_blaming_over_celebrity_nude_photo_leak/" target="_blank">the victims were blamed for their own victimization</a>, with people taking to <a href="https://twitter.com/rey_z/status/506416566393921536/photo/1" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and comment boards to tell female celebrities that if they don't want nude photographs of themselves on the internet, they shouldn't take them in the first place. In the case of McKayla Maroney, this issue took on another layer of complexity when it was discovered that the leaked photographs were taken when she was under 18, and therefore considered a minor under United States law. As a result, Reddit removed all of the photographs of her with the explanation that they are <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-warns-about-mckayla-maroney-photos-2014-9" target="_blank">"considered CP (Child Pornography), and break reddit's site-wide rules (in addition to international law...)"</a> At the same time, a group of concerned citizens put together a "We the People" petition to get the US Government to charge Maroney with <a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/charge-mckayla-maroney-production-and-possession-sexual-material-containing-minor/FQ0LnByd" target="_blank">"production and possession of sexual material containing a minor," stating that the government should not let her "</a><a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/charge-mckayla-maroney-production-and-possession-sexual-material-containing-minor/FQ0LnByd" target="_blank">get away with a crime that would get a normal teenage girl landed on the sex offenders list</a>."<br />
<br />
This petition is, of course, absolutely ridiculous and unlikely to gain any real traction. It is an example of victim-blaming at its finest. The absurdity of it becomes especially poignant when placed alongside <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/08/us/ray-rice-new-video/" target="_blank">the recent scandal involving the Ravens star running back, Ray Rice</a>. When a few weeks ago TMZ released the February video of Rice knocking his then-fiancee unconscious in an Atlantic City elevator, it sparked a national conversation about domestic violence and the role of organizations such as the National Football League in combating it. Even among those who were understandably outraged, there was an undercurrent of victim-blaming as well as<a href="http://deadspin.com/ravens-fans-stand-up-for-ray-rice-1633805476" target="_blank"> a noticeable presence of those who were opposed to Rice's indefinite suspension</a>. Rice acted violently upon another person, Maroney was acted violently upon, and yet we, as a society, still don't seem to be clear on the true definition of "victim," especially where women are concerned. There should be no question as to who was in the wrong in each of these situations, and yet there is.<br />
<br />
McKayla Maroney, in spite of it all, is at her Los Angeles gym day after day training for a chance at a second Olympics. The odds are against her, not because of this scandal but because no woman has made two consecutive US Olympic Gymnastics teams since Dominique Dawes and Amy Chow did it in 1996 and 2000. One thing I am certain of, though, is that she will be out there competing on the national and international stage in the years leading up to Rio 2016, if not at the Olympics themselves. She will be out there with the knowledge of all that has happened, and in a skin-tight leotard no less, and I have no doubt that she will show everyone exactly what she is made of. She, along with all the other gymnasts from the US and abroad, are fantastic, hard-working athletes who deserve our respect, just as all women do.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/celebrity-naked-photo-leak-2014-nude-women" target="_blank">The Great 2014 Celebrity Nude Photos Leak is only the beginning</a> [The Guardian]<br />
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/09/02/ricky_gervais_and_fox_news_take_the_lead_in_victim_blaming_over_celebrity_nude_photo_leak/" target="_blank">Ricky Gervais and Fox News take the lead in victim blaming over celebrity nude photo leak</a> [Salon]<br />
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-warns-about-mckayla-maroney-photos-2014-9" target="_blank">The Leaked Photos of McKayla Maroney Were Taken When She was Underage, and Reddit is Freaking Out</a> [Business Insider]<br />
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-50833812587476081682014-09-22T11:40:00.000-07:002014-09-29T23:30:29.543-07:00What I Talk About When I Talk About Money<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ34UkfWdy6IjldjDiMqy4SAn601UwzV22aPLVpCWy8d0fqw2jLvUD-J_YLqEmSDP8Oi-IHz1XBrTJ8PYnhAf76KykVGq2pZHjVhF5AouBJuptqmi1Ohh8W3okSpCsuTRfKEq757pXVgs/s1600/cash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ34UkfWdy6IjldjDiMqy4SAn601UwzV22aPLVpCWy8d0fqw2jLvUD-J_YLqEmSDP8Oi-IHz1XBrTJ8PYnhAf76KykVGq2pZHjVhF5AouBJuptqmi1Ohh8W3okSpCsuTRfKEq757pXVgs/s1600/cash.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Flickr Creative Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Money is never just
about money” argues a leading financial services designer, </span><a href="http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jamesmoed/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Moed</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, over a
dinner attended by financial inclusion professionals hosted by </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://wamukchapter.wordpress.com/">Women Advancing Microfinance UK</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. "Instead," he explains, "it’s pretty much always
about something else."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In conversation
with James, who has over 11 years of experience in helping innovation leaders
and design teams understand people’s complex behaviours around money, we learnt
how we can use Human Centered Design (HCD) to promote global financial
inclusion -- an issue particularly pertinent to the world’s women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the <a href="http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/povertyreduction/focus_areas/focus_gender_and_poverty/">UNDP</a>, 6 out of 10 of the
world’s poorest people are women; women may comprise more than 50% of the
world’s population but only own 1% of the world’s wealth. Some 75% of the
world’s women are without access to bank loans as they have unpaid or insecure
jobs and are not entitled to property ownership.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This blog will share some of the insights from James’
experiences having advised companies, governments, startups, and social
enterprises, most recently as the Director for Financial Service Design at the
London office of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ideo.com/uk/">IDEO</a>,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a global innovation consultancy. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, what is human-centered design (HCD)?</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HCD applies the design process to create innovative
solutions based on observations on humans. The HCD process begins by examining
the needs, dreams and behaviours of people relevant to a prospective solution.
A solution can be a product, a service, an environment, an organization or a
mode of interaction. HCD focuses on desirability (what do people desire?),
feasibility (what is technically and organizationally feasible?) and viability
(what is financially possible?). It is an iterative process -- borrowing from
the designer who observes, prototypes, tests and then repeats until an
appropriate solution is reached. James describes the approach as "building to
learn," creating imperfect examples of solutions to be tested by user
experience instead of aiming to launch the perfectly formed solution
straightaway.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDWyGSxpaV78bLPKkyGn6H4GIRdU6g9etOoIrqaqg_eQZHhveJfO07HdgV8edLGsH5kosjrhGPLIWjTaW4CHE1IBOUYfeKZwGCJ5pHJTAeplRplt-bakCpqFX8MeW4wFNwtnNEIUBnmc/s1600/James+moed+dinner+flyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDWyGSxpaV78bLPKkyGn6H4GIRdU6g9etOoIrqaqg_eQZHhveJfO07HdgV8edLGsH5kosjrhGPLIWjTaW4CHE1IBOUYfeKZwGCJ5pHJTAeplRplt-bakCpqFX8MeW4wFNwtnNEIUBnmc/s1600/James+moed+dinner+flyer.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Original Invitation for the HCD event with WAM UK</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>How can HCD help promote women in financial inclusion?</strong> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HCD depends on human observation and often women and girls
have been ignored in the design of financial products and services. Even if
they haven’t been explicitly ignored, then perhaps not enough nuance to their
culture could have supported their financial exclusion. Such as failing to pay
attention to what women and girls feel like they can and cannot say in
interviews and surveys. Moreover, there is a big difference between what people
say they will do, and what they actually do -- especially when it comes to
money. HCD promotes user insight, so adopting an approach to always consider
gender in the target user group is vital and can be extremely telling.
Designing solutions with women’s behaviours, aspirations and needs specifically
in mind can lead to women-inclusive financial solutions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>What kind of HCD insights on women do we have?</strong> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<em>Investing in women has a multiplier effect</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the major observations in microfinance -- the
provision of financial service to the under and unbanked -- is based on gender.
</span><a href="http://www.womensworldbanking.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WWB-004-FactSheet_r5_2_no_bleed_single.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women’s World Banking</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> found that, "when a woman generates her own income -- and
this holds true no matter what the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>country -- she re-invests her profits in ways that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can make long-term, inter-generational
change: the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>education of her children,
health care for her family and improving the quality of her family’s housing”.
As James highlighted in our conversation, time and time again in his fieldwork, he saw that for women "finances are less about her own interests, but for
others." Financial inclusion for women does not only empower the woman user,
but often has positive impact on her wider community.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bK3outO54Ke4D3_-fHodKUARYZqRxFiFXAV2HByI3AHX2STftP8BJu-KVidEyPeNDB4JHiIYtgljk4VoX12WAXqk-kCC3-5L67UymiAIVd6jAyFWYTdzstAjMzZ-IZbyn7QnbJ8s8gc/s1600/women+community.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bK3outO54Ke4D3_-fHodKUARYZqRxFiFXAV2HByI3AHX2STftP8BJu-KVidEyPeNDB4JHiIYtgljk4VoX12WAXqk-kCC3-5L67UymiAIVd6jAyFWYTdzstAjMzZ-IZbyn7QnbJ8s8gc/s1600/women+community.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Flickr Creative Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some women illiquidity is attractive</span></em><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mind boggling at first, especially when we consider the
gender discrimination that has led to three quarters of the world’s women
unbanked, women may actually prefer access to financial services with features
of illiquidity in some circumstances. Liquid cash could be dangerous to a
woman’s wealth if socially she is obligated to financially help out family
members and friends if they ask. It may be hard for a woman to not hand over
her cash to her husband for example or her friend in financial difficulty -- it
could bring stigma, perhaps attack if she says no. However a savings account
with fixed non-withdrawal periods, or other features to lock funds away, could
provide a socially acceptable excuse. In providing illiquidity in formal
financial services, it could attract women who otherwise would prefer to store
their wealth in more illiquid forms such as gold and livestock or hidden away
in difficult to reach places. Illiquidity could not only protect wealth from
the saver’s own impulses, and the demands of those around her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Women experience high emotional return for good financial
management</em> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recurring theme in James’ work saw that the rewards for
good financial management were beyond financial for women -- this applies to
women across the economic spectrum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://ahorrandojuntos.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Juntos Finazas</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which was borne out of a class project from the Stanford
Design School, helps Spanish speakers save via SMS. The founders saw that SMS
was the right technology to help low-income Latinos as they tend to use mobile
devices more than other groups and are substantial SMS users. Around 72% of successful
Juntos Finazas savers said at sign up that they had never saved successfully
before. Importantly, in feedback, users cite that using the tool to help them
save has made them feel like better mothers, better daughters -- the return is more
than extra money leftover in an account.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In consultation with IDEO, the successful </span><a href="http://www.ideo.com/work/keep-the-change-account-service-for-bofa"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep the Change savings</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> program from Bank of America originated from the observation that women
were more satisfied by the act of saving than the interest rates offered on
savings itself. The program was therefore designed to emphasize the action of
saving rather than focusing on the potential reward. Keep the Change
automatically rounds up purchases on the Bank of America debit card and
transfers the difference to a savings account, building up a savings balance
subtly over time. Since its launch in 2005, the program has led to 12 million
new customers building up an additional $3.1 billion of savings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Financial planning can save lives</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having a financial plan in place affords protection for
life’s shocks, and in some cases can make the difference between life and
death. Although still imperfect, there are now maternity saving programs to
help women save money over time to access skilled maternal care. In Kenya,
where only 43% of births occur in health facilities and many Kenyans still lack
access to basic maternity care and health insurance, medical payment can be a
life-threatening barrier for mother and child. </span><a href="http://changamka.co.ke/m-kadi-maternity/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Changamka</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, established in 2008,
developed a smartcard program which allows women to set saving goals and save
via the mobile payments service, M-PESA. The program is a dedicated maternal
savings program which locks the deposited funds for maternity expenses only.
USAID has written up a case study on this project, which can be accessed </span><a href="http://healthmarketinnovations.org/sites/default/files/Saving%20Lives%20through%20a%20Maternity%20Micro-Savings%20Product%20in%20Kenya.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With financial technology advancing globally the practice of
HCD, people are placed back in the center of experience to build lasting solutions.
With 75% of women worldwide without access to financial services -- and
importantly, the lack of understanding and emphasis upon their needs as cause
and effect of their exclusion -- HCD can provide an attractive framework to
unlock their considerable potential.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more information on the topic connect with <a href="https://twitter.com/jamesmoed" target="_blank">@jamesmoed</a>, <a href="http://wam_uk/" target="_blank">@WAM_UK</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/lisavwong" target="_blank">@lisavwong</a> on Twitter. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Other interesting links on HCD and financial inclusion include:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">A <a href="http://www.cgap.org/photos-videos/bancarizaci%C3%B3n-bringing-savings-product-market">CGAP video</a> on bringing savings products to market</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">The <a href="http://www.ideo.com/images/uploads/hcd_toolkit/IDEO_HCD_ToolKit.pdf">HCD toolkit</a> by IDEO</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Free <a href="http://plusacumen.org/courses/hcd-for-social-innovation/">online course </a>on HCD by +Acumen and IDEO.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-8773194219912582082014-09-15T16:26:00.002-07:002014-09-17T00:31:08.837-07:00CLIO TALKS BACK: Fatima Mernissi on the Future of the Arab World <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZ4NdMeHh0F6wM5ISdI4CRJAvptBTrOXR0ybDzjNjyV7s2M5hD58OEAqAkrt_v6xBLyVcPk-a7teIsKZpZA24ClG1r1HBnjoVSwz5Rnb1zx7oXiDD1mSE0B2l-22Kt4-S6KUT0dEoKxo/s1600/_42471_Fatema_Mernissi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZ4NdMeHh0F6wM5ISdI4CRJAvptBTrOXR0ybDzjNjyV7s2M5hD58OEAqAkrt_v6xBLyVcPk-a7teIsKZpZA24ClG1r1HBnjoVSwz5Rnb1zx7oXiDD1mSE0B2l-22Kt4-S6KUT0dEoKxo/s1600/_42471_Fatema_Mernissi.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fatema Mernissi</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fatema (Fatima) Mernissi (b. 1940 in Fez, Morocco) is a persistent longtime advocate of women’s empowerment in the Arab world. A university-trained political scientist, a social investigator, and multi-disciplinary humanist and writer of considerable note, Mernissi has carefully studied the situation of women in Islam (historically and in the present), conducted interviews with Moroccan women on the street and in the marketplace, and has kept the world abreast of women’s issues – and advances – in the Maghrib. She is a fervent proponent of literacy and education at all levels, especially for women. Mernissi lectures at Mohammed V University in Rabat, and is also affiliated with the University Institute for Scientific Research. Her current projects concern the development of technological literacy for both women and men.<br />
<br />
This eloquent excerpt from her writings, published in English in 1996, contains the seeds of the projects she continues to pursue today:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The only Arab world worthy of being fought for and worth clashing over . . . is one in which the Arab brain can extend its capacities the way a free bird extends its wings to reach the heights. And that Arab world can only exist if – and on condition that – the chief educator of the brain also shares in this modern technological knowledge. And that chief educator is, I tell you, neither the army of educational experts (schoolteachers and university professors), nor the civil servants in the ministries of education and national culture. The chief educator is woman, who, as mother, nourishes the child, in the fateful first five years, with the knowledge she possesses. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The lesson of the Gulf War, a lesson you, the leaders of the Arab countries, will read in no Western document, is that the mother of all battles (umm al-maa’rik) is not the one you fight against the Americans, but the one you fight against illiteracy – the illiteracy of men and women. But, up to now, the impression has been that the budgets of the national education ministries are only for men. Thirty years after independence, 90% of Moroccan women in rural areas are illiterate and 100% of them politically marginalized. You will never be powerful, Mr. Arab leader, in a modern world where democratized and democratizing knowledge is both arm and ammunition. You will never be anything but backward outsiders in the world of satellite-borne information, whilst your mothers, sisters, wives and, most importantly, your secretaries, maids and women workers are illiterate. I omitted your daughters from the list because we all know an Arab man is hugely committed to the education of his daughter. She is the only woman with whom he identifies and whose future causes him concern. But we shall all, men and women, leave behind the mutilating law of the tribe-family and take our first steps in the space and planetary age the moment we realize that our destiny is linked to the most deprived, the most excluded of all: the poor woman, ground down in field and factory, on whom any arbitrary power whatever may be visited. The subjugated, scorned and humiliated Arab will be transformed into an autonomous, self-governing person the day he is suckled by an autonomous mother. And the path to the autonomy of the individual is through access to worthwhile knowledge. The day the political leader understands that the most faithful mirror to his strength is the reflection which comes back to him from the female citizens living in the remotest villages, the planetary Arab will be born. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“An Arab at ease in the galaxies, interested in their movements and attuned to their secrets, can only be born of a woman who weaves her ideas around the satellite networks with the ease with which her ancestors wove a thousand geometrical flowers into their carpets.” </blockquote>
<br />
<i>Source: “Rebuild Baghdad? But in What Galaxy?” from Fatima Mernissi, Women’s Rebellion & Islamic Memory (1996), pp. 9-10. Translated from the French.
</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-40041410849974463912014-09-12T04:30:00.001-07:002014-09-12T04:31:49.314-07:00The Freedom Traveller<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
[<b>Editor's Note: </b><i>This post is by guest contributor Momal Mushtaq. Momal is a women’s rights activist and an aspiring social entrepreneur from Pakistan. Her work in development and media communications, with focus on youth and gender equality, has been recognized by global awards, including a first place award from the United Nations for her work with women. She writes here about her relationship with freedom and equality, and how traveling is her means to self-growth.</i>]<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPZlbxFNjeM3gxR7yRJWA0D3eo7mKCeD9nJkgPYESci6OU9bKXEfpmIsp2C2-JvPbcshpNQp38qbU8RctjagQzMe8yxdEWo39xlJujsn4gaRVcqwvdc72S_8_RMfcLCGFKCR12mSdcwY/s1600/%23Iamfree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPZlbxFNjeM3gxR7yRJWA0D3eo7mKCeD9nJkgPYESci6OU9bKXEfpmIsp2C2-JvPbcshpNQp38qbU8RctjagQzMe8yxdEWo39xlJujsn4gaRVcqwvdc72S_8_RMfcLCGFKCR12mSdcwY/s1600/%23Iamfree.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
As I flipped through the recent issue of my favourite youth
magazine, flashes of the past illuminated the dusty recesses of my mind, like
studio strobes in a television studio. My mind was pulled back into another
universe that revolved around a clingy but optimistic and determined
20-year-old who had not figured out her purpose in life. But, as fate had it,
the winds of change swept my life in its path, and Life, with her capital
letter and dignified simplicity was never the same anymore. It seems that by
giving a girl a kaleidoscope, black-and-white Life was doing her bit to usher
me into modernity and colour, a whole new world, a world so beautiful that
there was no looking back for me afterwards.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
Travelling changed my life; it is as simple as that. They
say that you can learn about different cultures by travelling to places, but
travelling taught me more about myself than anyone else. It widened my
perspective; helped me become more accepting of other beliefs, ideologies, and
lifestyles, and most importantly, it taught me to love myself and my body.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Here's how.<br />
<br />
<b>A New Perspective on Life</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in university, like many other girls in my class, a
private van would pick up and drop me off. If I had ever wanted to go anywhere
else, like the shops or the hospital, my father or brother would accompany me
to and from the venue. I thought that was maybe how life is supposed to be. It
is only when I had experienced an alternative way of living that I started
questioning my previous lifestyle. During my time in Canada, Germany and the
US, nobody stared at me or passed nasty comments as I walked by alone. I
could go wherever and whenever I wanted to!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, when I returned to Pakistan, it began to hurt me
more than ever to realise that the country is sinking below the waterline with
a barrage of social problems hitting her from all directions. From the scourge
of poverty, the stink of corruption, the madness of extremism to what-not!
Almost half of Pakistan’s population -- her womenfolk -- sits back at home, not
because they want to, but because they don’t have a choice. There’s no law
restricting free mobility of women in Pakistan, but the harassment that they
face on streets or while taking public transportation have limited their
movement. Those who can, drive private vehicles, which is rather expensive. Or,
they travel with a male chaperone.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since I could not take it any longer, I decided to launch
the <a href="http://thefreedomtraveller.com/" target="_blank">Freedom Traveller</a> (TFT), an online platform to connect and empower female
travellers, especially from countries where freedom of movement for women is
highly restricted. On TFT, women of all nationalities and beliefs could actively
network, share knowledge and resources, and map their experiences during their
travels. That is the least I could do, considering the resources that I had. I
felt that if women read about other women who are courageous enough to travel
alone in their communities or across borders, other females would be encouraged
to follow suit. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Freedom is an abstract quality that mature minds acknowledge
exists. It is something you can talk, write, or think about, but if you have
not actually experienced it, you cannot feel her essence. I developed a strong
desire to help women experience what it really means to be free because I have
been freed from the grinding restriction of mobility that my life had suffered.
Enabling women to be independent would also have an positive impact on the
country’s economy, too.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also knew that I could not go about preaching the message
of freedom if I did not practice it myself. That could be the reason why I had
learned to drive -- so I could move about more freely in Pakistan. Occasionally,
I go for a jog and ride a bicycle around my neighborhood but, in my heart, I
know that it is never as comfortable as it is abroad, because every time I
venture out I sense creepy eyes boring into me. But, that is not an excuse to
give up. To change, I have to be the change, the flag bearer of the coming
revolution, the freedom rider of this century!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have promised to challenge myself every summer for the
next ten years. This year, for instance, I cycled all the way from Muenster to
Aachen, Germany -- some 200km, to be precise! I did it to prove to every female
around the world that there is no one stopping them from achieving their
dreams. The unashamedly ecstatic waves of pleasure I had felt riding a bicycle,
accompanied with a great sense of accomplishment, cannot be simply put into
words. That is why I am not even going to describe it, because you should try
it.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>More Accepting of Others</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Pakistan, I lived in a small bubble of my own, a bubble
which revolved around the few individuals to whom I owed my existence. That
bubble has been burst with the injection of travelling. Travelling introduced
me to people from various backgrounds and cultures. I now have friends from all
over the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t matter if we
didn’t speak the same language, ate the same food, or wear the same clothes.
Our differences gave big way to our similarities; our diversity connected and
united us. I learned to be more respectful of others, to listen more, and to
talk less.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
One of the most beautiful encounters I had included a German
woman named Carina Schmid. We met briefly at an international gathering in
Austria. A year later, she invited me to Germany for an internship at her
organisation. I remembered keeping at a distance from her because I was too
scared to bare my heart to her. Little did I know that “Cari”, as I fondly call
her, would turn out to be my biggest confidante, and my family outside
Pakistan.<o:p></o:p>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iIXLFcKkFFALgJ6q6GQFu8Kmi1qydxGUY50HTbNg1mqgnrky0U_qG2oT-Xn-MQwNR3qKpUXGJGqPAp6Qoc8Kor2lqH90ejgeavg7_YVdZTCEep_HYXtPspptUQbpAkDSMe9OEefbv5k/s1600/DSC_1929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iIXLFcKkFFALgJ6q6GQFu8Kmi1qydxGUY50HTbNg1mqgnrky0U_qG2oT-Xn-MQwNR3qKpUXGJGqPAp6Qoc8Kor2lqH90ejgeavg7_YVdZTCEep_HYXtPspptUQbpAkDSMe9OEefbv5k/s1600/DSC_1929.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Self Love</b><o:p></o:p></div>
Travelling holds for me other non-utilitarian benefits, of
course -- it taught me to love myself. The more I travelled, the most I
realised that circumstances change, people come and go, but one thing that
remains unchanged is my relationship to myself. As the old saying goes, “the
more things change, the more they stay the same”. I knew I could never be at
peace with my soul if I lost the emotional tools with which to stabilise this
volatile relationship.<o:p></o:p>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
My roommates in the United States, Chenxi and Cheyenne,
fortuitously introduced me to exercise one day. Till then, all I had known
about exercise was that it is a widely-known and practiced phenomenon for
flexing your limbs and maintaining nippy heels. With time, however, it became
an essential part of my life. It taught me to treat my body with the dignity
and respect that it rightfully deserves. I also took up yoga, and felt closer
to myself in ways I could not have imagined before.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
Finally, I would like to admit that this journey of
self-discovery has not been easy. The deviations from the regular life path of
a 24-year-old girl of Pakistani heritage in the land of the pure have been
remarkable by any standards of Pakistani society, but if I were to be given a
letter informing me that I were to return to square one, I would burn the
letter! Today, I may be burdened with a lifelong mission of promoting gender equality,
but I am also blessed with a purpose. And as they say, a life without purpose
is, well, pointless.<br />
<br />
<i>Originally published in <a href="http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/detail_article.asp?id=8861&magId=9" target="_blank">Us Magazine</a> on September 5, 2014. </i><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Photos: </i>Janek Bleker and Partha P Roy </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-37924718185357027552014-09-02T03:16:00.000-07:002014-09-02T03:16:06.025-07:00Fark Bans Misogyny and Maybe, Just Maybe, We Can Now Read the Comments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJ-oAS_docWE1dmsLcrrnSJwcu1oIgU_iWO33exxSeAM0zTIpHCiBQKrKAtxny8t2DNEWkf5HZqLgR52alH-VgS1qAXZcOWNG30inLyBCB5ZYYFweSiKU-jcUUPOSP4x-3_31v0eSblbB/s1600/Drew+Curtis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJ-oAS_docWE1dmsLcrrnSJwcu1oIgU_iWO33exxSeAM0zTIpHCiBQKrKAtxny8t2DNEWkf5HZqLgR52alH-VgS1qAXZcOWNG30inLyBCB5ZYYFweSiKU-jcUUPOSP4x-3_31v0eSblbB/s1600/Drew+Curtis.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drew Curtis - photo by <a href="http://www.laughingsquid.com/" target="_blank">Scott Beale / Laughing Squid</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On August 18, Drew Curtis, founder of Fark.com, an online link-aggregation community that was a precursor to the more widely known and used Reddit, announced that the site would be <a href="http://www.fark.com/comments/8378910" target="_blank">"adding misogyny to Fark moderator guidelines."</a> In his message to users, which has since received thousands of comments, Curtis said, "if the Internet was a dude, we'd all agree that dude has a serious problem with women." One glance at <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/HotRapeStories/comments/11a5p0/welcome_to_all_the_new_blood/" target="_blank">this post on the now defunked subreddit "hotrapestories,"</a> where users repost stories from subreddits that serve as support groups for survivors of sexual assault, provides a small snapshot of the sort of behavior Curtis alluded to in his comments. He then got more specific and listed out <a href="http://www.fark.com/farq/posting/#What_are_the_posting_rules.3F" target="_blank">some of the content that Fark mods will now be deleting from the site</a>. They include "rape jokes," "calling women as a group 'whores' or 'sluts' or similar demeaning terminology," and "jokes suggesting that a woman who suffered a crime was somehow asking for it."<br />
<br />
<br />
While the majority of people reporting on the news have been incredibly supportive of the announcement, like <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/21/fark-bans-misogyny_n_5697905.html" target="_blank">Nina Bahadur of <i>The Huffington Post</i></a> and <a href="http://www.xojane.com/issues/fark-bans-misogyny-in-comments-internet-rejoices" target="_blank">s.e. smith of <i>xojane</i></a>, there are those, such as <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/08/19/fark_misogyny_ban_drew_curtis_wants_to_outlaw_sexist_racist_and_homophobic.html" target="_blank">Amanda Hess of <i>Slate</i></a>, who combine their support with a certain amount of skepticism, wondering whether policing misogyny, especially on a site like Fark, is even possible. As Hess points out in her piece,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"telling members of an anonymous Internet message board to stop hating women is, unfortunately, a monumental ask. But instructing posters to refrain from pushing the boundaries of acceptable human discourse...is an irresistible provocation. The gray area between vile offensiveness and dark humor is where Fark's commenter community thrives." </blockquote>
The community, it seems, is partially built upon a foundation of oftentimes offensive one-upmanship that has made the site feel unwelcome to some women. But in many ways, being female and safely moving around the Internet can resemble a particularly difficult level of Frogger. As <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/08/20/this-is-what-happens-when-you-try-to-ban-misogyny-on-a-major-web-site/" target="_blank">Caitlin Dewe</a>y of <i>The Washington Post</i> points out, much of what makes this announcement so noteable "relates to a core ethos of Internet communities: the idea that moderation, particularly on divisive issues, is akin to censorship -- and that censorship is the bane of the transparent, social Web." The policy, she continues, is less a minor change in the rules of one relatively small website, and more a statement on Internet culture writ large.<br />
<br />
The really interesting question here is less whether Fark <i>can</i> enforce these new guidelines and more whether it <i>should</i>. In 2011, <a href="http://dashes.com/anil/2011/07/if-your-websites-full-of-assholes-its-your-fault.html" target="_blank">Anil Dash wrote a post</a> that makes the argument that, contrary to the seemingly ubiquitous statement on websites that "we are not responsible for the content of our comments," webmasters are in fact under a moral obligation to control the tenor of conversation on their sites. While it is true that the online world can be a hateful and horrible place, it does not have to be the web-based version of the Wild West. Ignoring persistently cruel behavior because, well, it's the Internet, is, in many ways, counter-productive. By turning a blind eye to abuse, many webmasters are creating a safe environment for cruelty while at the same time one where those seeking support, amusement, or an exchange of ideas feel stifled and threatened. Free speech for the mean-spirited does not necessarily translate into free speech for everyone. Take, for example, <a href="http://time.com/3107180/zelda-williams-robin-williams-social-media/" target="_blank">Zelda Williams' recent departure from Twitter as a result of the harassment she endured following the tragic death of her father</a>. The comments and images she received were so cruel, that her use of a popular social networking site was made completely unbearable. Her freedoms of speech and of expression were hindered and nothing was done about it. She is by no means alone in her experience. <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/news/feminist-blogger-in-hiding-mra-death-threats/" target="_blank">In 2013, a well-known Canadian feminist blogger went into hiding</a> after being doxxed and then sent dozens of death threats by the men's rights group Equality Canada. This is the extreme result of what an entirely open Internet culture can foster and shows that what happens on the Internet does not always stay on the Internet.<br />
<br />
It will be interesting to see in the coming months what kind of effect, if any, these new commenting policies have on the bro-culture over at Fark. <a href="http://www.fark.com/comments/8380485/Slates-Amanda-Hess-says-Policing-misogyny-is-fabulous-in-theory-In-practice-its-a-biatch-REPORTED" target="_blank">Given the comment thread that resulted from Amanda Hess' article</a>, it seems as though Fark mods will be fighting an uphill battle, but a worthwhile one. And perhaps down the line, other sites like Reddit and Gawker, as well as social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, will follow suit and curb the online abuse that so many people face. Because, honestly, while of course we have the right to say hateful things to strangers for no good reason other than our own amusement, why should that environment be fostered and protected while those who feel a moral obligation to kindness and respect are sent running offline?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/21/fark-bans-misogyny_n_5697905.html" target="_blank">Fark Bans Misogyny From its Forums, Proves It's Possible</a> [Huffington Post]<br />
<a href="http://www.xojane.com/issues/fark-bans-misogyny-in-comments-internet-rejoices" target="_blank">Fark Bans Misogyny in Comments, Setting a New Precedent for Bro-Culture Websites</a> [xojane]<br />
<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/08/19/fark_misogyny_ban_drew_curtis_wants_to_outlaw_sexist_racist_and_homophobic.html" target="_blank">Fark Wants to Ban Misogyny. Is That Even Possible?</a> [Slate]<br />
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/08/20/this-is-what-happens-when-you-try-to-ban-misogyny-on-a-major-web-site/" target="_blank">This is What Happens When You Try to 'Ban Misogyny' from a Major Website</a> [The Washington Post]</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-48127636152926517132014-08-25T09:03:00.000-07:002014-08-25T09:49:35.289-07:00I Embrace My Female Nerd (and So Can You)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There's something I want to go ahead and put out there: I am a nerd. Many of my female role models live in alternate universes, fight aliens in space, are spies or witches, and are, well, fictional. As this is my first official post as a contributor to Her Blueprint, I feel it is important to get that admission out of the way. <br />
<br />
There's been a lot of social commentary written about calling oneself a nerd (or a geek) as nerd-culture has become increasingly popular with rise of Comic-Con International, shows like <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> and <i>Game of Thrones</i>, and Marvel Studio's super-secret plan for world domina... I mean, modestly successful franchises—it's become popular to be a nerd, and self-proclaimed "real nerds" don't like that people are jumping on their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_%28ship%29">Battlestar <i>Galactica</i></a> or throwing on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browncoat">Browncoat</a> at this stage in the game.<br />
<br />
Any discussion about who gets to call themselves a "real nerd" belongs on another blog (or better yet, on no blogs, as personally, I think it's a ridiculous conversation to have in the first place) — I bring it up as something of an introduction to myself (because
I'll bring nerd things into a conversation whenever possible) and as a
segue into the actual point of this post: the rising popularity of women in sci-fi.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-a/attack_of_50_foot_woman_poster_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-a/attack_of_50_foot_woman_poster_01.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
It’s a broad topic, I know, as well-written female protagonists are hard to come by in any genre, and despite valiant attempts by comic book and fiction writers, female characters rarely translate into box-office dollars and second season pick-ups—until recently, that is. More and more, we're seeing films like <i>Maleficent</i> and <i>Lucy</i>, starring Angelina Jolie and Scarlet Johansson, respectively, put into production; both films are currently in the <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2014&p=.htm">top 25 grossing films of 2014</a>, with Jolie's <i>Maleficent </i>sitting in the #2 spot, with $747.6 million earned so far, 68% of which is from overseas markets.<br />
<br />
Science fiction, and its sister genre fantasy, has always been the refuge of counter-culture; time travel, space exploration, dystopian futures wrought at the hands of despots and the revolutionaries that overthrow them—<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/apr/15/doctor-who-china-political-order">science fiction is where we look for change and hope</a>. As the boom of nerd-culture sweeps Hollywood, the reach of the sci-fi genre is increasing as well. So far in 2014, seven of the top grossing films in <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/southafrica/yearly/?yr=2014&p=.htm">South Africa</a> are sci-fi, already tying 2013's numbers. In <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/argentina/">Argentina</a>, eight of the top 20 grossing films are from the genre, up from six in 2013. Similar increases can be seen in <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/peru/yearly/">Peru</a> and <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/lebanon/yearly/">Lebanon</a>, with 11 and nine films so far in 2014, compared to nine and six in 2013, respectively. <br />
<br />
And there's no lack of science fiction productions on the horizon, with films like <i>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay</i>, <i>The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies</i>, <i>Cinderella</i>, and Marvel's <i>Avengers: Age of Ultron</i>, all coming out in the next year. And each of these films features at least one lead female character. <br />
<br />
In 2013, the <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2013&p=.htm">top ten grossing films</a> earned an average of 64% of their total revenues from overseas markets; as Hollywood's sci-fi moves toward more equal gender representation, that representation can be seen reaching into international markets as well. <br />
<br />
The landscape of television is seeing similar movements, as was evident at <a href="http://www.nerdist.com/2014/07/women-totally-dominated-this-years-san-diego-comic-con-international/">this year's International Comic-Con</a> in San Diego. From events with the casts of BBC's <i>Orphan Black</i> and HBO's <i>Game of Thrones</i>, and <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>'s
Women Who Kick Ass panel, women took the lead with more than ten panels
solely dedicated to female representation across mediums. Women also
ruled the convention floor with gender-bent cosplay and a nerd-themed
fashion show.<br />
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<span class=" meta-field photo-desc " id="yui_3_16_0_rc_1_1_1408928695976_13674">Katey
Sagal, Sarah Paulson, Tatiana Maslany, Nicole Beharie, Maisie Williams
and Natalie Dormer speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con
International, for "Entertainment Weekly: Women Who Kick Ass", at the
San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Photo by Gage <span class=" meta-field photo-desc " id="yui_3_16_0_rc_1_1_1408928695976_13674">Skidmore.</span></span></div>
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There was a time in my life when I wanted to work for the CIA—I wanted to be like Sydney Bristow, Jennifer Garner's character in <i>Alias</i>, traveling around the world in disguises, stealing computer chips and taking out the bad guys. That's a lie, actually, I still want to be like Sydney Bristow, despite every one of my fiercely liberal bones telling me otherwise. Young women—all women—need positive role models, and the amazing thing about the human imagination is that the person inspiring you doesn't need to be real. For better or worse, the reach of popular culture cannot be denied; it is imperative that we continue to move toward and support more female lead characters. And science fiction is a great place to start.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/apr/15/doctor-who-china-political-order">Doctor Who-a threat to the political and social order?</a> [The Guardian] <br />
<a href="http://www.nerdist.com/2014/07/women-totally-dominated-this-years-san-diego-comic-con-international/">Women Totally Dominated This Year's Comic-Con International</a> [Nerdist.com]<br />
<a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/?view2=worldwide&p=.htm">Yearly Box Office</a> [BoxOfficeMojo] </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7319200740754016521.post-80184164479501395602014-08-21T01:03:00.004-07:002014-08-21T02:40:16.845-07:00Abortion Ship Doctor Slams Irish Policy <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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[<b>Editor's Note:</b> <i>This post was written by Tracy Brown Hamilton, a journalist based in Amsterdam</i>. <i>It originally appeared on</i> <i><a href="http://rabble.ie/">Rabble.ie</a>.</i>]</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>WOW Facebook page.</i></span></span></td></tr>
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News broke over the weekend that a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/17/ireland-woman-forced-birth-denied-abortion" target="_blank">woman in Ireland was forced to bear her rapist’s child</a> having been denied an abortion after going on hunger strike. Tracy Brown Hamilton chatted to Rebecca Gomperts of <a href="http://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/649/10-years-of-women-on-waves-2009" target="_blank">Woman On Waves</a> about how Ireland’s laws are failing women.<br />
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The Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act of 2013 was ostensibly going to help secure a woman’s rights, and sparked outrage from Ireland’s pro-life community. But the policy is flawed, according to <a href="http://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/2896/rebecca-gomperts-md-mpp" target="_blank">Dr. Rebecca Gomperts</a>, 47.<br />
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“It’s ridiculous,” Gomperts says. “Women are dying and suffering health problems. Human rights are being violated. It was bad before, but now it’s worse. This policy won’t help women.”</blockquote>
Gomperts is the founder and director of Women on Waves, an organization that, among other things, sails a ship to countries where pregnancy termination is prohibited and offers non-surgical abortions beyond territorial waters.<br />
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Ireland Campaign</h4>
In 2001, Women on Waves launched their <a href="http://anarchism.pageabode.com/andrewnflood/women-on-waves-pro-choice-ship-dublin" target="_blank">first ship campaign</a> – to Ireland.<br />
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“There is a very dedicated pro-choice community there,” Gomperts says, “and they were very interested in the project.”</blockquote>
The number of women who sought Gomperts’ services exceeded anyone’s expectations. “The groups we worked with said, ‘no woman is going to come to a ship for an abortion’,” Gomperts recalls. “But we had 80 calls immediately, and realized we had not brought enough pills.”<br />
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Those who responded included women who had been raped, schoolgirls who could not find a feasible excuse to go to England for a couple of days, mothers who could not afford childcare while away in England, and political refugees who did not have the papers to travel.<br />
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In the end, because they did not have two necessary licenses from the Dutch and Irish authorities –one for operating medical facilities and the other for carrying passengers to sea – Women on Waves was unable to distribute the abortion pill.<br />
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Regardless, hundreds of Irish women continued to reach out to Gomperts for help.<br />
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Non-Surgical Abortion</h4>
According to Gomperts, the abortion pill – mifepristone and misoprostol – can be safely used to terminate pregnancies up to 12 weeks at home, without medical supervision.<br />
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“The World Health Organisation has published guidelines that say women can do this,” she says. “So there is no need for surgical abortion anymore. The only issue is getting women access to the pills.”</blockquote>
To that end, Gomperts has created an international network to help women around the world find a means of getting the abortion pill. “We are not selling drugs,” she clarifies. “We are a referral service; we help women get a medical abortion at home. But they risk prosecution if it’s illegal in their country.”<br />
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And under Ireland’s new abortion policy, punishment has become stricter. “The sentence for such an ‘illegal’ abortion in Ireland used to be three years,” Gomperts says, “and now they have made it twelve years.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 17px;"><i>Dr. Gomperts smiles on the telephone during a recent action in Smir, Morocco.</i> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">: <i>WOW Facebook page</i>. </span></span></td></tr>
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No Link to Depression</h4>
The new law also removes the possibility of suicide risk as a means of permitting legal abortions. “Of course it was already problematic if you are forcing someone to say they are suicidal just to obtain an abortion,” she says, “but now even that is not allowed.”<br />
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Gomperts strongly opposes claims that abortion can lead to mental distress or illness.<br />
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“There have been lots of scientific studies published in major journals,” she says, “that show there is no link between depression or suicide and abortion. None.”</blockquote>
Statistics of women who express regret after terminating a pregnancy can be misconstrued, Gomperts finds. “Our data shows that 1 percent of women regret it,” she says. “But a lot of women mean they regret being in the position to begin with. That’s different.”<br />
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A Selfless Decision</h4>
Gomperts has encountered many women who have been surprised to find themselves opting for termination. “They tell me, ‘I am against abortion, but my situation is different,’” she says. “It takes a certain degree of empathy to extend that reasoning to other people, or to realize that perhaps you are not against abortion after all.”<br />
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People are too judgmental about abortion, Gomperts says.<br />
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“For me, it’s obvious that it’s a selfless decision,” she says. “There are women who, if they had the right conditions, may make a different choice. But when women really find they don’t have what it takes to raise a child in a good situation, then abortion is a very moral decision.”</blockquote>
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Social Justice Issue</h4>
Gomperts, who has two children, says she is a doctor first and an activist second. “As a doctor, I’m here to aid in the well being of people,” she says. “And if you want to make sure that the well being of women is being guaranteed, you have to legalize abortion. For me it’s completely about social justice. The problem with many health issues today, including abortion, is that it comes down to who has the means to access the care.”<br />
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For her, in Ireland and elsewhere, it is an issue that goes beyond questioning the morality of abortion.<br />
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“It has to do with the role of women in society,” she says. “What we see now in Turkey is the population has declined because women are getting more education and are having fewer children, so access to contraception is limited. So women are used for political purposes. Women are instruments.”</blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>The Woman On Waves ship arrives in the Harbor of Smir, Morocco. </i>Photo credit: <i>WOW Facebook page</i>.</span></span></div>
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But Gomperts does not dismiss the feelings of people who, because of their moral or religious convictions, disagree with abortion.<br />
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“I understand there are those who sincerely believe that life starts at conception and that the life without a voice needs to be protected,” she says. “I don’t think a fetus is an independent life form. And if you really sincerely believe that, then you are valuing the life of the fetus over the woman. But it’s a belief. It’s not a science. And in a society you can’t impose these kinds of beliefs on other people.”</blockquote>
She says with this issue, feelings override evidence, and it’s dangerous. “It’s not about facts; it’s about emotions,” Gomperts says. “And the consequences in Ireland are very apparent again when hundreds of babies’ corpses are found on the grounds of former homes for unwed mothers. That is the result of this kind of policy and restrictive law. And that people cannot make that connection is unbelievable.”<br />
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<i>Read more about <a href="http://www.womenonwaves.org/en/page/649/10-years-of-women-on-waves-2009" target="_blank">Woman on Waves</a> on their website and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/womenonwaves" target="_blank">follow them</a> on Facebook for updates and comment. </i></div>
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