8 March 2011 - International Women's Day Edition

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY Special Edition

Folks, today is the 100^th Annual International Women's Day. As you may or may not know, women's human rights issues are very near and dear to my heart. I hope you will check out some of the links and stories below and celebrate women with me today.

While some argue that women have gained many rights and are now on an even footing with men, the numbers tell a different tale (check out UNDP's Gender Inequality Index here). Despite the disparities in income, wealth, education, property ownership, opportunity, legal protections and basic respect as parents and homemakers, my focus is upon the great untapped resource of women globally, in the arts, sciences, economics, politics, journalism, legal arenas, big business, armed conflicts, peace negotiations, the home and as leaders in general in our societies. Our international culture can and must be improved by an increased presence of women in all of these sectors.

IWD CELEBRATIONS AND EVENTS:

• The most comprehensive list of events, not surprisingly may be found on the official website of IWD.

• Cambodia = Boo! The government has unfortunately denied permission to the Cambodian Women's Movement Organization to hold a rally today.

• Philippines = Valenzuela City is celebrating March as Women's Month by organizing a series of celebrations “to underscore women's role in society and to further promote their human rights.”

• USA = The International Center for Research on Women is hosting an event this evening in Washington, DC bringing together “social pioneers for a conversation on breakthrough innovations poised to transform the trajectory of women's lives” and then presenting their annual “Champions of Change” award.

• USA = The Tahirih Justice Center is also holding an event in Washington, DC tonight, to “celebrate the advances made over the last century, and to … fight to end global violence against women.”

IWD VIDEOS:

• UNWOMEN's online videos are all available here and they are awesome.

• Judi Dench narrates and Daniel Craig acts in this 2 minute video for International Women's Day. Dame Dench reprises her role as M, and Craig his role as 007, as Dench discusses the various natures of women's current inequities in the UK.

• Hillary Clinton's video message is available here.

• Reese Witherspoon and AVON's message about violence against women is here.

• The Russian take on IWD is online here.

IWD HISTORICAL TIMELINE:

• WeAreEquals has posted a great interactive timeline of International Women's Day here.

RELEVANT ARTICLES:

• THIS site is truly your best resource for everything IWD-related.

• The Guardian newspaper has listed its Global Top 100 Women in Law, Top 100 Women in Politics, Top 100 Women Activists and Campaigners, and Top 100 Women in Writing and Academia.

• The Daily Beast and Newsweek are honoring 150 Women Who Shake the World.

• Author Murad H. Elsaidi has recently published this important article in the Muslim World Journal of Human Rights: “Human Rights and Islamic Law: A Legal Analysis Challenging the Husband's Authority to Punish 'Rebellious' Wives.”

• This article in FastCompany magazine discusses how female farmers are and will remain an important force in fighting global food shortages.

• A report on ways to reduce the risk of HIV for women is available here.

MY NOTES FROM LAST WEEKEND'S UNWOMEN CONFERENCE IN NYC, 26 February, 2011:

• Mallika Dutt from Breakthrough's talk was my favorite. She said (and I am paraphrasing), “we are at a moment of crisis and opportunity; UNWOMEN provides us the opportunity to make a turning point into a tipping point, where 'women's issues' are taken seriously in politics … especially because we know that male politics have failed (look at all our wars and at the current Jasmine Revolution), so let us catalyze the power of the international women's movement and bring that power to the table … the table which is round, and respectful and forward-thinking."

• I also really appreciated the words of Karima Bennoune, a professor of law at Rutgers, who said, “we need to maintain a vigorous championing of universality without exception because the daily struggles as human beings (against sexual assault, e.g.) are the most important; we must all be unapologetic supporters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in every situation.”

• Sindi Medar-Gould from BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights also made some comments worth mentioning: “UNWOMEN must follow through on their international commitments; many nations sign the UN documents which support women's rights, but they never follow through; this is a deliberate political strategy because no one can be forced to implement the declarations they sign … UNWOMEN must look for and support gender-mainstreaming in very real ways, not just in ceremonial actions.”

9 January 2011

AFRICA:

• Tunisia = A protestor last month set himself on fire to campaign against unemployment measures. Since then, protests have continued across the country eliciting a violent reaction from police officers who have used live ammunition against the protestors, killing at least 20 people. (EGV)

• Sudan = Today is voting day; Sudanese are deciding whether to pass the Independence Referendum which will decide whether the South will gain independence from Sudan. (EGV)

• Congo = The Republic of Congo is on the brink of adopting a new law which would make it the first nation in Africa to ensure judicial protection for its indigenous peoples, as soon as President Denis Sassou Nguesso signs it. (IRIN)

MIDDLE EAST:
• Iran = Executions have reached a total of almost 70 people in one month, most recently including a public hanging in Tehran on January 5^th. Advocates are concerned that many of these deaths are the result of Iran’s political and free-speech repression. Karim Lahidji of the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights has called on the international community to adopt targeted sanctions per the UN General Assembly Resolution of 21^st December 2010 [Addendum 3, Draft resolution III]. (FIDH)

CULTURAL:
• The Human Rights World Affairs Blog Network has published a Human Rights Year in Review for 2010, which you can check out here. It also lists some issues to pay attention to in 2011; what do you think of these “predictions”? Do you agree? Did the author miss anything from 2010 you think should have been included?

• Kakenya is a short film about a young Kenyan girl who is trying to become a teacher; you can find an interview with the filmmaker here. Have you seen it? Feel free to post a review here.

ALSO OF INTEREST:
• US law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll is continuing their human rights advocacy work on behalf of foreign subcontractors working on US bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently Agnieszka Fryszman, a partner at the firm, initiated a case under the World War II era Defense Base Act, scoring a 7 figure settlement for the family of a Nepalese subcontractor who was killed while working in Iraq. According to Fryszman, the men they represent were hired by a subcontractor working for KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary. (NLJ) Do you know of any other law firms or big businesses doing good work? Let me know and I’ll highlight them on the HRRU.

• Dutch lawmakers are questioning Royal Dutch Shell PLC this month about its oil sector activities in Nigeria. Amnesty International claims oil pollution is degrading locals’ water and food supplies, as well as their livelihoods. (WSJ)

• Columbia University’s Law School has put together an online Islamic Law Research Guide, a good resource for some basics on Islamic Law.

• UN Women, a United Nations agency focused on “gender equality and the empowerment of women,” officially began operating on 1^st January, 2011. (UNWomen)

As always, your comments, story suggestions and feedback are always welcome.

Here’s to a happy and human-rightsy 2011 for all!