“If this is happening to me, I can’t be the only one.” That epiphany is shared in the new documentary, The Invisible War, which takes an in-depth look at the impunity with which rape in the military is handled. Directed by Kirby Dick, it was recently featured at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, where it garnered the [...]
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An AIDS-Free Generation Begins With Women
Last week the Supreme Court declared that Obamacare was constitutional and this was a huge victory for women’s health. Once Obamacare goes into effect health insurance companies won’t charge women more money and birth control will be covered. But the fight for women’s health does not end here, as other health issues affecting women need [...]
Canada’s War on Women: The Battle of New Brunswick
As a self-proclaimed Maritimer, I’ve lived in New Brunswick off and on throughout my undergraduate and graduate student life. Although small in population, New Brunswick is a province with boundless natural beauty and is home to the kindest people you would ever have the good fortune to meet. I am in awe of this place [...]
Women’s Bodies: The Connection Between Title IX and Michigan’s Vagina Monologues Reading
All over the world, vaginas and what comes out of them are considered dirty – much like women themselves. In first world countries like the U.S., our periods are gross and embarrassing. In so-called developing nations, women’s periods and the health of their vaginas aren’t just disgusting – they’re evil and dirty. Some girls are [...]
Rio +20: Women + Environment = Empowerment
This week, hundreds of organizations will gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while the Heads of State and Government will meet as part of the United Nations Conference on sustainable Development, Rio +20, to review progress on issues about environment and development. Activists around the world come to attend the discussions, share and exchange ideas, [...]
Here’s to the Sisterhood of Women Ambassadors
Most diplomats are still men, but today, there are more and more women in those jobs. Last week’s Annual Celebration of Women Diplomats, sponsored by the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, recognized the 28 women who serve as their country’s ambassador to the United States. These women come from many parts of the world – the Middle [...]
As Drug Wars Intensify, Violence Against Women Soars: Announcing Tweetchat 6/6 at #Defensoras
It seems that every day now, we read articles or hear stories about the “drug wars” south of the U.S. border: how civilians are getting caught in the cross-fire, and whether we should finally admit defeat. Almost no one, however, is exploring the intricate relationship between the war on drugs and the broader, more global, war on [...]
Waging a Global War FOR Women
I just returned from the “2012 International Parliamentarians Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action,” an international conference in Istanbul focused on the global effort to make life-saving family planning and reproductive health care available to all women around the world. The clear message at the conference was that we absolutely know [...]
Sex Selective Abortions, Missing Women, and the PRENDA Bill
Because of gender bias and sex discrimination there are an estimated 160,000,000 girls and women missing from the planet today. This isn’t man-bashing or “victim feminism” by the way. It’s just a documented statement of fact. By virtually any measure this is dystopian. One hundred and sixty million is staggering number to absorb. It is [...]
Undecided Women, Don’t be Fooled: Your Control of Birth IS ABOUT Jobs
Women, especially young childless undecided women voters, are talking about jobs, not abortion rights, right? What women really care about is not contraception, not access to family planning resources, not social issues like gay marriage, abstinence-only sex “ed” or Mitt Romney’s 50 year old bullying. Nope – it’s the economy. Women, “like everyone else,”– that [...]