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Category: International Women’s Day

  • Setting Our Sights on the Equality of Women



    A month ago, I heard on the news that Boston public schools would be closed on February 3 because of the severe Arctic cold and wind chill forecast for that day and the next. My first thought was: what if the students’ mothers are working single mothers, what if they cannot take off or cannot afford to lose the pay—given inflation of food, energy and rents and the impoverishing impact of Covid?

    Boston is a severely unequal city with an extremely segregated public school system: 80 percent of children in public school are low-income; 90 percent are students of color, mainly Latino and Black; higher income families with children leave for suburbs when their children become of school age, according to the Dorchester Reporter. Almost all new residential buildings are high-income; and the city is referred to as “two Bostons.”

    In one of these “two Bostons” live low-wage women workers, a wage that consigns them to poverty compounded throughout their lives and in old age. “Nearly two-thirds of all low-wage workers in the United States are women,” an inequality worsened by racial inequality. Consider, too, the persistent “motherhood penalty”—whereby mothers are further set back financially by lack of paid parental leave and government-funded child care.

    But, my worry today for these working mothers and their children that day concerned only one dimension of the arduous reality facing many women—most egregiously women of color—as we mark International Women’s Day, March 8, a day founded on the fact of women’s inequality. Female textile workers launched the first march on March 8, 1857 in protest of unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women—one of the first organized strikes by working women, during which they called for a shorter work day and decent wages.

    Women have gained considerable rights since that and subsequent marches, through our own organizing, protests, and arrests: the right to vote, to own property, to inherit, to education, to have once-legal rape in marriage criminalized. A revolution for human rights without weapons, fists or a drop of blood spilled. Yet, only a handful of countries are nearing full equality for women; and ours is not even close. Indeed, U.S. women’s progress in gaining equality has both stagnated and lost ground.

    Worst of all, violence against women by men in all its forms: pornography, rape, prostitution, physical beating, murder increased during Covid. Women’s reproductive rights have been trampled by the 2022 Supreme Court decision to void the right to abortion; and many states are sponsoring a plethora of regulations to deny women access to abortion and birth control. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that domestic abusers can own guns – a “death sentence for women and their families,” given “abusers are five times more likely to kill their victims if they have access to firearms.”

    From 2001 to 2019, approximately 7,000 U.S. soldiers died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, a period of time in which more than 18,000 US women were killed—nearly 3 per day—by current or former intimate partners. (For those who assume male violence and war are inevitable, don’t waste your time on a doomed view. Consider this: during thousands of years in Neolithic Europe women and men lived in egalitarian, peaceful societies, according to respected archeologist Dr. Marija Gimbutas.)

    In that same period of U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, an estimated 14,400 US women died before, during and just after childbirth—more than twice the number of US soldiers killed in these wars. Thousands of memorials commemorate those who gave their lives for their country in war; name one for women killed by men or who lost their lives giving birth to the next generation.

    The injustice of women’s inequality ripples out to national governments. Peace and the security of nations are powerfully linked with the equality of women. Comparing the security and level of conflict within 175 countries to the overall security of women in those countries, researchers have found that the degree of equality of women within countries predicts best how peaceful or conflict-ridden their countries are. Further, democracies with higher levels of violence against women are less stable and more likely to choose force rather than diplomacy to resolve conflict.

    So, if you care about turning back from the warpath the U.S. is on and eliminating nuclear weapons, consider the words of the revered Ghanian statesman and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan:

    “There is no policy more effective in promoting development, health, and education than the empowerment of women and girls … and no policy is more important in preventing conflict or in achieving reconciliation after a conflict has ended.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Illegal migration bill will hurt women trafficked to UK, Starmer tells PM

    Labour leader attacks plans, but Rishi Sunak calls Starmer ‘just another lefty lawyer standing in our way’

    Rishi Sunak’s plan to stop small boat crossings will “drive a coach and horses” through protections for women who are trafficked to Britain as victims of modern slavery, Keir Starmer has said.

    The Labour leader made the warning to coincide with International Women’s Day, as he labelled new legislation to tackle illegal migration a “gimmick” and warned it was likely to lead to yet another broken promise.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • If you think society is less misogynist in 2023, think again

    Content warning: discussion of sexual violence

    8 March is International Women’s Day. Women and allies around the world are joining together in celebration of our strength, and we’ll be commemorating all of us who have died at the hands of men.

    We are, of course, gathering in solidarity against against sexism and misogyny. Over the past few months, I have spoken to a number of people who feel that misogyny isn’t as bad as it used to be; that somehow our UK society is learning to be better. They cite the fact that sexual consent and boundaries are now practiced in many relationships. But let’s face it, a man checking whether his sexual partner consents is the bare minimum of what he should be doing anyway. It’s disturbing that it’s taken us until 2023 to get this far. The bar is very, very low when it comes to how we expect cis men to act.

    If you think this shows that men are somehow better these days, you’d be wrong. The number of women who are being spiked on a night out is alarming, and in 2023, it’s now normal for notices in club toilets to suggest politely that men “stop spiking”.

    On top of this, violence against women during consensual sex is now completely normalised. We are often labelled and shamed as being ‘vanilla’ if we don’t want to be strangled, or if we don’t want to consent to a man’s kink. Strangling during sex is highly gendered, and is now the norm, rather than the exception. Men often strangle us without our permission. In 2019, the BBC wrote:

    more than a third of UK women under the age of 40 have experienced unwanted slapping, choking, gagging or spitting during consensual sex…”

    Four years later, I would argue that not much has changed.

    Are rough sex laws really protecting us?

    The ‘rough sex’ defence has been consistently used by violent men who have murdered women. In 2021, the Domestic Abuse Act did, in theory, rule out this defence. The new law states that:

    Consent to serious harm for sexual gratification [is] not a defence.

    But campaign group We Can’t Consent To This has pointed out that the new laws aren’t working. The group said:

    in November 2021, the Court of Appeal decided Sam Pybus’s sentence of 4 years 8 months should not be increased, after he strangled Sophie Moss until she was dead, and claimed that she had encouraged him to do it. We think there could be no clearer sign the law is not yet working.

    The lead appeal judge argued that Sophie had consented to being strangled; quite how the misogynist judge could know this is a mystery. And how exactly could she consent to being strangled until she was murdered? Pybus had a history of violence against women, and had strangled his previous partner, too. But, of course, Sophie was held accountable, even in her death, because Pybus’s actions were apparently consensual.

    In England and Wales, it has now also become an offence for someone to inflict harm through non-fatal strangulation. But We Can’t Consent To This said:

    With the introduction of a 5 year sentence for Non Fatal Strangulation, shockingly, it’s possible to kill a sexual partner and get a shorter sentence than you would have for not killing her. These short sentences for manslaughter are common – in each case the violence used is shockingly severe.

    Misogyny as the norm

    Of course, misogyny doesn’t just rear its ugly head during sex. It’s so normalised in our society that we don’t even see it for what it is. An obvious example of this is the treatment of famous women when they dare to challenge famous misogynist men. In 2022, the world witnessed Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in court. I felt sick when I heard how Depp had treated Heard. But I felt even more sick when I realised that the world was defending him; that it didn’t matter how disgusting he was towards women – nothing could pull him off his pedestal.

    The misogynist backlash Heard received – surprisingly from all genders – was absolutely sickening. As Canary guest writer Annie Stevens wrote at the time:

    Any man that uses terms like “idiot cow”, “withering cunt”, “worthless hooker”, “slippery whore” or “waste of a cum guzzler” (Depp’s words) to describe women is clearly a misogynist.

    And yet, despairingly, the world still stood by Depp, hero-worshipping him as a cis man who could do no wrong, even when his vile misogyny was shown to the world, plain as day. This case is a prime example of how society excuses and emboldens men to act however they want. Stevens wrote:

    there is no question that it will impact survivors here who have seen friends, family and colleagues back Johnny and claim that Amber is a liar.

    Women have already been pulling out of cases due to the fear of going through what Amber did. Not only that, this case has also emboldened abusive men.

    Prioritising feelings of men

    Since then, the case of another cis man, footballer Benjamin Mendy, has been in the public spotlight. He, along with his friend Louis Saha Matturie, was accused of multiple sexual offences, including rape, by 13 different women. It will, no doubt, have taken the women all of the courage they could muster to be involved in this prosecution, particularly after they witnessed how Heard was treated by the world.

    Unsurprisingly, the majority-male jury found Mendy not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. A retrial is due to take place after the jury couldn’t reach a verdict about one count of rape and one of attempted rape.

    Instead of focusing on whether a majority-male jury should even be allowed in such cases, the mainstream media commented on how Mendy’s life had been shaken up by the accusations. Rather than talking about how the women will have been traumatised by such a man, the BBC wrote that:

    The allegations and trial had been “absolute hell” for Mr Mendy.

    ‘Not all men’

    Of course, you might be a man reading this, thinking to yourself that “not all men” are misogynists, “not all men” are predators, and that “not all men” are sexist. But this is a tiresome argument, used by many of you around the world to excuse yourselves from doing any work on your own patriarchal behaviour. By saying “not all men”, you’re refusing to self-reflect. And this refusal is insulting to the very women who you claim to care about, and who you say you would never harm.

    The “not all men” argument is useless to us. It doesn’t make me or my friends any safer in our homes. It doesn’t prevent us from being harassed, or spiked in a club, or murdered by people who claim to love us. 1,425 women have been killed by men in the UK over a decade, between 2009 and 2018. 62% of women are killed by their current or former partner. Others are murdered by relatives. In 92% of the cases, the women knew their killer.

    Men, it’s time that you step up

    I have previously written about how UK society likes to victim-blame women for the misogyny we encounter. I said:

    As women, we are sick and tired of being told to moderate our behaviour. “Follow the rules”, they say. “Don’t walk alone in the dark”. “Don’t be drunk”. “Don’t dress a certain way”. How, exactly, does moderating our behaviour in any way address the root issue: the misogyny entrenched in our society?

    It is not, in any way, a woman’s responsibility to change how we act. The time has come for men to step up. Look at yourselves, your own behaviour, and the behaviour of your male friends. Look at how patriarchy is entrenched in all of you, and how you all need to do the work to unpick it. Call out your friends who have misogynist or sexist opinions, and challenge them. Don’t shy away from difficult conversations.

    And if women call you out for being sexist, don’t get defensive, and don’t let your male fragility rear its ugly head. Instead, take the time to reflect. When you want to open your mouth and protest, “but not all men”, think twice. After all, you can never, ever know what it’s like to live in a misogynist world.

    We need your understanding. But more than that, we need you to be actively willing to fight sexism and misogyny within yourselves and in society, wherever it manifests.

    Featured image via Eliza Egret

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • To Strengthen Women’s Resilience to Disasters, Make the Wealthiest Pay Their fair share



    She will be called Aya. This is the name that nurses gave to the infant baby pulled from the rubble of a five-story building in Jinderis, northern Syria. A miracle. Beside her, the rescuers found her mother, dead. She had given birth within hours of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on the night of February 6, 2023. Like her, more than 50,000 people died in the earthquake. As tragic as it is hopeful, this story has moved the international media. It also reminds us that over 350,000 pregnant women who survived the earthquake now urgently need access to health care, according to the United Nations. And this is only one aspect of women’s vulnerability to natural disasters.

    Floods, droughts, earthquakes, and other extreme events are not gender-neutral, especially in developing countries. Evidence shows that women and girls die in greater numbers and have different and uneven levels of resilience and capacity to recover. Of the 230,000 people killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, for example, 70% were women. Because of gender barriers, they often have fewer survival skills: boys are taught to swim or read first. This makes it difficult for them to access early warnings or identify safe shelters.

    In addition, it is more difficult for women to escape from danger, since they are most often responsible for children, the elderly, and the sick. Heightened tensions and fear, as well as the loss of income provoked by disasters, drive increased domestic violence against women and girls. They are also the first victims of sexual violence and exploitation when entire populations are displaced—this was one of the first concerns in Pakistan when more than 8 million people had to leave their homes because of the terrible floods in June through August of 2022.

    Progressive taxation—making the richest people and multinationals pay their fair share—is one of the most powerful tools for reducing inequality of all kinds.

    Natural catastrophes negatively impact everyone economically, but women and girls are disproportionately affected. World Bank data show that female farmers suffer much more than male ones in rural areas. Assigned to domestic tasks, they are more dependent than men on access to natural resources and are, therefore, the first to suffer when these become scarce. In every region, food insecurity is higher among women than men. In 2020, it was estimated that nearly 60% of the people who go hungry are women and girls, and the gender gap has only increased since then. Their lack of access to bank accounts also means that women’s assets are less protected than men’s.

    And, of course, recovery from any crisis builds on societal expectations related to gender roles. Consequently, women bear the brunt of the increased domestic burden after a disaster at the cost of missing out on other income-generating activities. We know that women spend, on average, 3.2 times more time than men on unpaid care work, and the COVID-19 pandemic—another human-induced natural catastrophe—made evident how unequally unpaid care and domestic work is shared, and how undervalued and underrecognized it is. This is a major constraint on women’s access to education, an obstacle to their entry into and advancement in the paid labor market, and to their political participation, with serious consequences in terms of social protection, income, and pensions.

    Gender inequality exacerbates the impact of natural disasters, and the consequences of natural disasters exacerbate gender inequality. This is an unacceptable vicious cycle. With the world already facing a growing number of climate-related tragedies, governments must take immediate and long-term action to invest in universal access to health care, water and sanitation, education, social protection, and infrastructure for gender equality and the full enjoyment of women’s human rights.

    As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, let’s keep in mind that it is impossible to build more resilient societies without fighting for gender equality.

    Even in times of crisis, when state coffers are nearly empty, there are equitable solutions to raise revenues to fund the investments needed to strengthen women’s resilience: to make those who profit from the crises ravaging the planet, including from those natural disasters, pay, as recommended by the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), of which I am a member alongside, among others, Joseph Stiglitz, Jayati Ghosh, and Thomas Piketty. Instead of implementing austerity programs that devastate the most disadvantaged, states can increase their fiscal space by taxing companies and the super-rich more.

    It starts with taxing the super profits made by multinationals, and several countries in Europe and Latin America have already begun to do so. This is particularly true for the pharmaceutical giants that have made a fortune selling vaccines against Covid-19, which they were able to develop due to public subsidies. This is also the case for multinationals in the energy or food sector: Oxfam estimates that their profits increased by more than two and a half times (256%) in 2022 compared with the 2018–2021 average. For the same reasons, it is urgent to tax the richest, who get away with paying hardly any taxes these days. One cannot accept that, as Oxfam reminds us, a man like Elon Musk, one of the wealthiest men in history, is taxed at 3.3%, while Aber Christine, a market trader in Uganda who sells rice, is taxed at 40%.

    Progressive taxation—making the richest people and multinationals pay their fair share—is one of the most powerful tools for reducing inequality of all kinds. As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, let’s keep in mind that it is impossible to build more resilient societies without fighting for gender equality. Continuing to ignore it is a political choice, and an even more perilous threat to development than natural disasters themselves.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Questions To The Head Of UN Women On International Women’s Day

    Questions To The Head Of UN Women On International Women's Day

    Image: moderndiplomacyeu/@tibettruth

    The theme of this International Women’s Day is ‘Embracing Equality’, which no doubt will be voiced with much enthusiasm by activists on Day 3 of the 67th CSW in New York. We wonder how objectives on advancing rights for women is serviced by their silence on China’s forced sterilizations of Uyghur and Tibetan women?

    We also have a couple of questions (photo above) to the current Executive Director of @UN_Women, Ms Sima Bahous. These were presented to her predecessor; who not only found it difficult to answer, but blocked our Twitter account to avoid them!

    We have not gone away, nor has the justification and importance of these inquiries.

    This post was originally published on TIBET, ACTIVISM AND INFORMATION.

  • International Women’s Day – ‘Pink Shoes into the Vatican’ campaign

    Asia Pacific Report

    A group of “pink shoes” women in Aotearoa New Zealand campaigning for gender equality in the Catholic Church took their message with a display of well-worn shoes to St Patrick’s Cathedral plaza in Auckland today on International Women’s Day.

    It was part of a national and global “Pink Shoes into the Vatican” campaign.

    “Women from all over the country have sent their worn out shoes with their stories of service to the Catholic Church, only to find that the doors to full equality in all areas of the ministry and leadership remain firmly closed,” said an explanatory flyer handed out by supporters.

    Pink shoes in St Patrick's Cathedral plaza, Auckland 080323
    Pink shoes in St Patrick’s Cathedral plaza, Auckland, today. Image: David Robie/APR

    “A vibrant church requires a synodal structure in which all members share full equality by right of their baptism.”

    The organisers, Be The Change, say: “We are interested in your story. You are invited to email or write to us telling of your experience with the church. You do not have to be a practising Catholic to participate.”


    ‘Pink Shoes into the Vatican’ campaign stories.  Video: Be The Change

  • End violence against women, say unionists on International Women’s Day

    “End violence against women” was the theme of the Geelong Women Unionists Network’s 21st International Women’s Day breakfast, reports Jacqueline Kriz.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Australia’s leading women in technology

    Technology Council of Australia chief executive Kate Pounder says there are long-term structural issues keeping the number of women in technical roles in the sector frustratingly low and outside of societal expectations. In an interview with InnovationAus.com ahead of International Women’s Day, Ms Pounder welcomed the federal government’s Pathway to STEM Diversity Review and is…

    The post Australia’s leading women in technology appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • Smash the patriarchy, marchers sing on International Women’s Day

    The Hunter Workers Women’s Committee continued the tradition of loud and proud street marches with its International Women’s Day. Niko Leka reports.

  • Paula Sanchez: ‘When we believe in justice, we can fight for it anywhere’

    Paula Sanchez told an International Women’s Day function, hosted by the Sydney’s Kurdish community, that IWD was for women and men “because equality is something we all have to fight for”. Pip Hinman reports.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Sydney’s Kurdish community celebrates International Women’s Day

    Sydney’s Kurdish community celebrated 2022 International Women’s Day at a well-attended gathering at the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre in Kings Park.

    Guest speakers included former NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, Socialist Alliance NSW Senate candidate Paula Sanchez, Green Left co-editors Susan Price and Pip Hinman and award-winning writer Claudia Taranto representing Sydney PEN.

    A poem was performed by Ruken Kaya and the evening ended with Kurdish music and dancing.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Women march for equal rights

    Two hundred people took part in the International Women’s Day protest organised by Hunter Workers’ Women’s Committee. Kathy Fairfax reports.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • The On-Water Matters Sweeping Out The Morrison Government To Oblivion: A Big Week In Politics

    Listen on other podcast players here

    Dedicated to the memory of Senator Kimberley Kitching.

    The floods in northern NSW and Queensland are causing major political headaches for the Morrison government and, as the floodwaters flow back into the oceans, their ideological obsession with small government has been laid bare.

    Communities expect governments to act when events occur that are beyond their control and beyond their abilities to repair. Otherwise, what is the point of government?

    Are they not also made up from the people that live in these communities? Scott Morrison’s response has been haphazard, confused, illogical and, when it finally arrived, it was far too late.

    And with an election around the corner, the federal government’s chances are receding as quickly as the northern waters.

    Although current polls are indicated a change of government is in the air, Morrison has to continue what he has always been doing – announcing. A nuclear submarines base has been “announced” to be built in either Brisbane, Newcastle or Wollongong – areas where the Coalition needs to hold seats, or gain seats, if wants to have any chance of an election victory in May.

    But these three locations are not even in the top five recommended by the Australian Defence Force, but why should this matter if there’s an election to be won? And for the most “transactional” Prime Minister has ever seen, this is all that matters: the public interest comes a distance last.

    And what type of company does Peter Dutton keep? The Minister for Defence has some very peculiar relationships with a few Brisbane-based companies who, in turn, donate to the Liberal–National Party. It’s a stark reminder the Joh Bjelke-Petersen corruption of the 1970s and 1980s has never really disappeared: different faces, different characters, but the same old malfeasance. If only we had a federal anti-corruption commission that could look into these activities.

    It was also International Women’s Day this week: it seems Morrison was too busy to make any announcements or statements about IWD, but after his performances in 2019 and 2021, it’s probably a good thing he kept quiet. Anything he says will remind the election about the incredibly low number of women in the Coalition – just 21 per cent – and who wants to be reminded of that?

    And we might see another one-term government next week, with the South Australia Government facing a 5 per cent swing against it, and facing a loss of at least four seats. It’s a part of an international swing against the conservative regimes who want to see their role reduced, at a time when electorates are seeking more involvement of governments during an insecure and unpredictable time.

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    The post The On-Water Matters Sweeping Out The Morrison Government To Oblivion: A Big Week In Politics appeared first on New Politics.

    This post was originally published on New Politics.

  • Hospitals under fire and hard-won abortion rights: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

    A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from International Women’s Day in Istanbul to ‘kill the bill’ protests in Cambridge

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Post-Courier: Violence in any form is a serious disease – target ‘rotten cops’

    EDITORIAL: By the PNG Post-Courier

    Papua New Guinea’s police commissioner, David Manning, addressing the International Women’s Day celebrations this week, let it be known that violence against women is becoming a serious disease.

    Yes, we agree. It is a growing threat to women and children, family unity and community harmony.

    On the same token Sir, may we also point out that some of the women and children that suffer from this disease actually live in the confines of police, army and correctional service barracks.

    International Women's Day
    International Women’s Day

    The wives of soldiers, cops and warders are not immune to this disease. Most, if not for Tik Tok, suffer silently.

    It is a national disease that needs to be addressed at all levels in our country. And the country’s security forces better start taking this message seriously. Violence against police wives must stop, must desist against army wives, and cease against CS wives.

    Peace and family harmony must be restored in your homes before you go out and deal with the bigger picture in the community. You might think your uniform gives you ultimate power over your wife but your wives are the custodians of your homes and children.

    Respect your wife and treat her well. If your home is safe and secure, your commitment and focus on delivering law and order to all corners of the country will be fulfilled peacefully.

    Expressing disgust at thuggery
    This week, we join the public in expressing our disgust at continued violence and thuggery by police against members of the public.

    This in itself is another serious disease that you mister commissioner, need to stamp out. When violence continues unabated, it goes to show that something is wrong, some of the practices and procedures you are putting in place, are weak and unworkable.

    A young man, the son of a cop, in the prime of his life, almost had his life snuffed out by three allegedly drunk cops on February 27.

    These Fox Unit policemen were arrested on Wednesday and charged with the cowardly attack on schoolboy Samuel Naraboi that left the 20-year-old in a coma at the Intensive Care Unit at the Port Moresby General Hospital for a week.

    Realising they were wrong and there is no escape for them, they surrendered to their commander and were brought in and processed.

    As the NCD and Central Divisional Commander Anthony Wagambie Jr lamented: “For this incident, whatever the circumstances were, the level of injury inflicted on the young man is not warranted at all and this is way beyond.

    “I would also like to make it known that this does not reflect the majority of hardworking police personnel. Police have been constantly reminded about ethical conduct and performing duties within the rule of law.

    ‘Rebuilding public confidence’
    “We are trying our best to rebuild public confidence in the Constabulary, and such action by individuals only hinders the progress.”

    The last sentence catches our eyes and ears and we agree with your commander Wagambie Jr. A few rotten apples are dragging down the police force.

    The majority of sworn-to-oath hardworking policemen and women are getting the flack for the bad deeds of a few rotten cops.

    You need to put your big foot down Commissioner. We suggest, you sack every violent rotten cop who doesn’t understand their roles and responsibilities in policing, law and order.

    They are the ones bringing the force into disrepute.

    This PNG Post-Courier editorial was published on 10 March 2022. The original title was Violence in any form is a serious disease. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pat O’Shane speaks about a lifetime of defiance at IWD

    Pat O’Shane told a packed-out International Women’s Day celebration in Cairns about her lifetime of defiance against racism and authorities. Alex Bainbridge reports.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Black Alliance For Peace Statement On International Women’s Day

    As the world’s eyes are on Ukraine on this International Women’s Day, March 8, 2022, we are reminded of the disproportionate impact that war and militarism have on women. This is a reality that the women of the global South are acutely aware of because of the steady assaults on the humanity of peoples in the South executed by the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination. The militarized terror of the Axis of Domination in the service of their economic elites have been even more intensely felt by the women of Africa and the African Diaspora. 

    The socialist groundings of the day were expressed in its early unfolding. Indeed, the earliest militants for International Working Women’s Day, lifted up the violence of capitalism as labor exploitation.

    The post Black Alliance For Peace Statement On International Women’s Day appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Women’s empowerment ‘the key’ to building better Fiji, says PM

    By Luke Nacei in Suva

    It is the duty of men to uplift women and not undermine them or stand in their way, says Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

    “Women are leaders. They are Fiji and it is our duty as men to uplift them, not undermine them or stand in their way,” Bainimarama said at an International Women’s Day celebration.

    “Women are mothers, sisters, and wives, and they are CEOs, entrepreneurs, and managers.

    “They are daughters, granddaughters, and nieces, and they are Olympic medal winners, civil servants, and ministers.

    “We have always believed that women’s empowerment is the key to building a better country.”

    Bainimarama said free education had put more girls in Fiji’s classrooms and that open-merit recruitment had put more women in leadership within the country’s civil service.

    “Social support — like vouchers for rural pregnant women and free sanitary pads for students — has put security in women’s lives.

    “And our laws punishing domestic violence have put offenders who abuse women behind bars.

    Celebrating progress
    “Today, on Women’s Day, we celebrate that progress knowing we have much more work to do to break gender biases and level the playing field in our society.

    “So, as we acknowledge the achievements women in Fiji have made and are making, we recognise that true equality is a never-ending pursuit.

    he also thanked the swomen who made up half of the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office for the effort in seeking to “modernise Fiji, empower all Fijians, and leave no one behind”.

    Luke Nacei is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • International Women’s Day 2022

    International Women’s Day is today 8 March and celebratory events are being held around the world. This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias, aimed at imagining “a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.” While this special day offers hope for gender equity, it is also a reminder of the omnipresent phenomenon of violence against women, which exists regardless of the day, and needs to be addressed in a fundamental way.

    There is too much to choose from (as usual); for last year’s see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2021/03/08/celebrating-international-womens-day-in-2021/]

    Still, here some concrete samples:

    Upasana Rana reports Global Voices of 7 March on Nepal [https://globalvoices.org/2022/03/07/this-international-womens-day-lets-come-together-against-violence/]

    On the same site Njeri Wangari tells us about how Feminist music icons from around Africa to celebrate this International Women’s Day. See her Spotify playlist with hits from artists like Fatoumata Diawara, Cesária Évora, Shishani Vranckx, Thandiswa Mazwai, and more.

    Amnesty International issued a statement “International Women’s Day: Dramatic deterioration in respect for women’s rights and gender equality must be decisively reversed“

    • Alarming assaults on women’s rights around the world in 2021/22. 
    • Legal protections dismantled, and women human rights defenders now at unprecedented risk.
    • Protection and promotion of women’s and girls’ rights and support for women human rights defenders crucial, including for Covid-19 recovery. 
    • Governments must act decisively to reverse regressions and uphold human rights for women and girls. 

    Catastrophic attacks on human rights and gender equality over the past twelve months have lowered protection for and upped threats against women and girls across the globe.  On International Women’s Day, the organization called for bold action to reverse erosions of human rights for women and girls.   

     “Events in 2021 and in the early months of 2022 have conspired to crush the rights and dignity of millions of women and girls.  The world’s crises do not impact equally, let alone fairly. The disproportionate impacts on women’s and girls’ rights are well-documented yet still neglected, when not ignored outright.  But the facts are clear. The Covid-19 pandemic, the overwhelming rollback on women’s rights in Afghanistan, the widespread sexual violence characterizing the conflict in Ethiopia, attacks on abortion access in the US and Turkey’s withdrawal from the landmark Istanbul Convention on Gender Based Violence: each is a grave erosion of rights in its own terms but taken together? We must stand up to and stare down this global assault on women’s and girls’ dignity,” said Amnesty’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard. [see https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/03/international-womens-day-dramatic-deterioration-in-respect-for-womens-rights-and-gender-equality-must-be-decisively-reversed/]

    Human Rights Watch focuses on Afghanistan: On International Women’s Day, we should remember Afghanistan, and consider what the state of women’s rights there means for the struggle for gender equality worldwide. The Taliban were notorious for violating women’s rights when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. So, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again on August 15 last year, Afghan women’s rights defenders were deeply skeptical that the new rulers would be any different from the Taliban that controlled the country before, despite their pledges to respect women’s rights. They were right.

    In less than seven months since taking over, the Taliban have:

    • closed most girls’ secondary schools;
    • created barriers to women and girls pursuing higher education;
    • banned women from most paid employment;
    • abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs;
    • restricted women’s movement including blocking them from leaving the country alone;
    • dismantled Afghanistan’s system that provided protection from gender-based violence;
    • created barriers to women and girls accessing health care;
    • beaten and abducted women’s rights protesters;
    • silenced female journalists;
    • banned women’s sports; and
    • appointed a men-only administration.

    Afghanistan is not the only country where women’s rights are under attack this International Women’s Day. But the speed and extent of the obliteration of women’s rights in Afghanistan is a warning to women around the world about the fragility of progress toward equality, how quickly it can vanish, and how few will defend it. We should all be in solidarity with Afghan women; their fight is a fight for women’s rights everywhere. [See: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/08/standing-afghan-women-and-girls-international-womens-day]

    Caitlin Fitzsimmons in the Sydney Morning Herald of 6 March argues that “International Women’s Day highlights climate justice as a feminist issue”. Women are on the front lines of the global climate crisis, making up 80 per cent of the 21.5 million people displaced every year by climate-related events. [See: https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/international-women-s-day-highlights-climate-justice-as-a-feminist-issue-20220303-p5a1ba.html]

    On International Women’s Day, UN Human Rights stands with women and girls human rights defenders of all ages, backgrounds & identities leading our collective struggle to protect our climate and environment. See.g.:

    Meet Brianna Frueran, a Pacific climate change activist fighting for her native Samoan islands’ survival.

    Meet Mya Pol, a content creator from the United States who advocates for disability rights and educates people about environmentalism on her social media platform.

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • On a Grim and Bloody International Women’s Day, Let’s Build Feminist Solidarity

    Rio de Janeiro's councillor and activist Marielle Franco is remembered during a demonstration to mark International Women's Day in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 8, 2019.

    On this International Women’s Day, as the world watches a historic and bloody war unfold in Europe — while people in the United States and Europe largely continue to ignore the suffering of the millions of Black and Brown people who have been rendered stateless by war, corruption and the climate crisis, many of them women — we need to fortify ourselves, pump up our optimism and bolster our resolve to fight for a better world.

    Women are always vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse in the context of war and occupation. War is both a spectacle of toxic masculinity, expressed through the use of state power to dominate, conquer, occupy other territories. Even as some women are also soldiers (militarism is not solely a cis male phenomenon), women still are for the most part collateral damage in wars launched by men.

    So, this year I invite us to celebrate feminism by remembering women who were internationalists, solidarity builders and peacemakers, who crossed borders to undermine borders, who built trans-national bridges based on shared vision of post-capitalist and post-colonial futures, women who resisted empire with every fiber of their beings.

    I invite you to remember those women who do not have monuments built to honor them, but who left legacies of resistance to patriarchy and defiance of the roles that were designated for them. With each woman profiled here, say her name, and then say Presente!

    These are movement rituals of remembrance, and a way of disciplining our hopefulness (to paraphrase Mariame Kaba).

    One woman who comes to mind who rarely gets recognition is Nigerian feminist activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (1900-1978). Historian Cheryl Johnson-Odim wrote a powerful biography of Ransome-Kuti some years ago entitled For Women and the Nation, which introduced many of us to the amazing life of this woman. Ransome-Kuti was a women’s rights activist, suffragist, educator, political leader and self-proclaimed African Socialist. She is perhaps best known as the mother of the late Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. She was also a member of the internationalist group, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and traveled around the world. A staunch and outspoken critic of Nigerian military rule, Ransome-Kuti was harassed and targeted for her activism. In 1977 the military raided her family home, attacked family members, and threw Ransome-Kuti from a second floor window causing injuries that lead to her death in 1978. Her courage and tenacity provide inspiration, not only to Nigerian and African feminists today, but to all of us.

    A second woman who influenced me as a teenager growing up in Detroit in the 1970s was Grace Lee Boggs (1915 -2015). A Chinese American philosopher, leftist, writer, humanist, organizer and visionary, she built her political life inside of Detroit’s Black freedom movement for over 60 years. When we think of Black and Asian solidarity and women who boldly stepped outside of the limited role society may have assigned them, we cannot help but think of Grace Lee Boggs. She was life partners and political collaborators with Black auto worker, organizer and intellectual James Boggs. Together, they coauthored the provocative political tome, Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century, which is read in study groups and classrooms to this day. Engaging in a life of struggle, Grace Lee Boggs worked alongside, debated and built campaigns with the likes of C.L.R. James and others. She hosted Freedom Summers in Detroit where young people around the world came to work in community gardens and study political history. Stephen Wards’s book In Love and Struggle is a great testimony to Grace and Jimmy’s egalitarian marriage and lifelong comradeship.

    Finally, there is Marielle Franco (1979-2018), the young queer Brazilian political leader who was brutally assassinated in the streets of Rio de Janiero in 2018. Franco grew up in the favelas outside of Rio and was an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and for the poor. She won election to the city council as a part of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). Her work, including opposition to militarism and state violence, focused on Brazil, but in death she became an international symbol of feminist resistance. Murals, street names, gardens and scholarships have been created as tributes to her in countries around the world. In protests after her murder, thousands of voices roared through the streets of Rio, saying “Marielle lives!” in Portuguese.

    In the work and sacrifices of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Grace Lee Boggs and Marielle Franco, we are reminded not only of brutal repression but also of endurance and perseverance, of the spirit of women’s resistance transcending borders and transcending individual lives.

    So, what can we do on International Women’s Day to honor the legacies of feminist internationalists? Here are three ways to begin. Go to the website of Grassroots Global Justice Alliance to learn about and support their work to build grassroots feminist networks around the world. Learn more about groups like Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) that are supporting feminist resistance to war in Russia and Ukraine today. And join us at the Portal Project this afternoon for a conversation with feminist abolitionists, Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Beth E. Richie and Erica Meiners.

    Despite narrow and disparaging reductions of left feminist politics as “identity politics,” left feminism demands that we infuse all of our organizing with a spirit of internationalism, with radical democratic practice, and with a deep and unshakeable commitment that we throw no one under the bus in our envisioning and fighting for a better world.

    Looking ahead, we need a revolution of values, systems and cultures. And feminist organizers and cultural workers must, as the late writer-activist Toni Cade Bambara reminded us, “make revolution irresistible.” That is our task. Let’s embrace it.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Questions To The Head Of UN Women On International Women’s Day

    Questions To The Head Of UN Women On International Women's Day

    Image: moderndiplomacyeu/@tibettruth

    On this International Women’s Day we have posted two questions to the current Executive Director of @UN_Women, Ms Sima Bahous. These were presented to her predecessor who not only found it difficult to answer, but blocked our Twitter account to avoid them! We have not gone away, nor has the justification and importance of these inquiries.

    This post was originally published on TIBET, ACTIVISM AND INFORMATION.

  • Russia’s feminists are in the streets protesting Putin’s war

    Russian feminists have united against the occupation and war in Ukraine under the banner of Feminist Anti-War Resistance.

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Gavoka slams Fiji’s ‘shameless’ inaction over women’s rights

    By Talebula Kate in Suva

    Women’s participation in decision-making is fundamental to improving gender equality but despite making up half of Fiji’s population, representation at all levels of leadership for women is severely lacking, says an opposition political leader.

    The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Viliame Gavoka, said this in his statement as the international community commemorates International Women’s Day today.

    Gavoka said this year’s theme reminded Fijians that bias made it difficult for women to move ahead.

    International Women's Day
    International Women’s Day

    He said knowing that bias existed was not enough, action was needed to level the playing field.

    Gavoka said that for far too long, Fiji had continued to “shamelessly lag behind” in protecting and promoting women’s rights and their peace-building expertise.

    “A study carried out by the Fiji Women Right’s Movement reveals that 42 percent of Fiji boards or executive committees of for-profit or non-profit organisations or government agencies have no women at all and 26 percent have less than one-third female participation,” Gavoka said.

    “The research on gender diversity and equality on boards looked at 192 board members across 38 government-controlled organisations and state-owned enterprises,” he said.

    “The purpose of the research was to determine the level of women’s representation in the boards of the 38 entities.”

    Lack of diversity
    He said the research also identified challenges that limited the participation of women in Fiji’s leadership, such as lack of diversity and opportunity for women elected to preside as board chair.

    “According to the research, women hold only 18 percent of board chair positions and sometimes it is the same women appointed as chair of boards in multiple organisations,” he said.

    “In many cases, the same people are on multiple boards. This curtails the opportunities for others to join, contribute and gain board experience.

    “Ensuring that women are better represented on boards is important to dismantle patriarchal ideals that are heavily entrenched into our society and limit women’s participation in decision-making.

    “There is strong evidence that a gender-equal and diverse governance board improves accountability and diversifies the expertise, knowledge and skills available.”

    Gavoka said that when SODELPA would be voted into government, they would ensure to “break barriers and accelerate progress”, including:

    • setting specific targets and timelines to achieve gender balance in all branches of government and at all levels through temporary special measures such as quotas and appointments; and
    • encouraging political parties to nominate equal numbers of women and men as candidates and implement policies and programmes promoting women’s leadership.

    “On this year’s International Women’s Day, we should also pause and reflect on the sacrifices of our women in all facets of society despite the challenges they’ve endured to bring change and progress.”

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Commitment to diversity and inclusion is not just limited to the visible

    In a year marked by so much public discussion about the importance of diversity, it is heartening to see such impressive female representation among our chief scientists around the country. There is no question: visibility and representation are important. It is also important, however, to ensure that our commitment to diversity and inclusion are not…

    The post Commitment to diversity and inclusion is not just limited to the visible appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

  • Let’s use International Women’s Day to stop infantilising women’s role in war

    Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. It’s 2022. Yet we’re still a long way from women’s emancipation. And the war in Ukraine has amplified this more than ever. Because when it comes to war, women are infantilised. Our ability to defend ourselves is equated with the vulnerability of children.

    But even worse, this is done without hesitation or critique.

    Women and children first

    In the mainstream media, story after story reflects the ‘women and children first’ narrative. Whether it’s reporting on people leaving the country or bomb attacks, women are put in the same breath as children.

    This has been exasperated by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy banning men from leaving the country. In the rush to put Zelenskyy on a pedestal, there’s been little criticism of this frankly obscene mandate. No one, ever, should be forced to fight on behalf of any state or organisation. But even setting this fact aside, there’s been a general acceptance that Zelenskyy’s priorities are right.

    It’s 2022. But a woman’s role as a mother and victim is still enforced in nearly every news bulletin reporting on casualties or refugees. There is no dialogue around fathers leaving with children while their mothers stay and fight. Surely, by now, we should have reached the stage where the message is ‘parents and children first’?

    And that’s not to say that powerful women aren’t represented in the conflict. Whether that’s BBC journalists Lyse Doucet and Orla Guerin reporting from the conflict, or women Ukrainian MPs such as Kira Rudik staying to fight, women’s strength is, to some degree, represented:

    Rudik is right, “bravery has no gender” (though the Sun sexualising women fighters is a whole other article). But when news bulletin after bulletin repeats the ‘women and children’ mantra, this message is undermined. It shows that we’re still stuck in the mindset of female vulnerability.

    Women as fighters

    Our past and our present is full of women fighters. But with the exception of Boudicca and possibly Joan of Arc, it’s unlikely many of us encountered them in our history lessons. In more recent history, women have fought on the frontline in the Mexican revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Sri Lankan civil war, and the French Revolution, to name just a few examples.

    However, in recent years, it’s the women of the YPJ (women’s protection units) in Rojava (north east Syria) who’ve shown the power of women fighters. And the Kurdish Freedom Movement more generally has shown the power of a movement for direct democracy that places women’s liberation as one of its central tenets.

    Women are disproportionately affected by war, especially through gender-based sexual violence. But this should make their role in conflict even more vital. The YPJ, for example, focuses on education as much as combat. As YPJ commander Zanarin Qamishlo described in 2021:

    the Women’s Protection Units had an impact, both from the military point of view and how to develop it to protect the people or from the social side, and how to influence the authoritarian masculine mentality to change it and push it towards justice and equality, and how for women to become a strong and beneficial will that can break the shackles of outdated customs and traditions.

    Qamishlo continued:

    It changed the stereotyped image of women’s military organizations, as the female fighters presented battles to liberate cities and villages from ISIS mercenaries, took up arms, and not only fought the enemies, but fought the male mentality that permeates the details of life.

    Celebrating women warriors doesn’t mean glorifying war

    Celebrating women’s role in combat does not and should not mean glorifying war. It’s not about saying everyone or anyone can or should fight. But there are times when fighting back is necessary, and it’s about time we all recognised that women are just as capable on the frontline as men.

    As women, we need to reclaim our history and our present as warrior women. Generations of white men have tried to teach us that women don’t fight; that our role is in the home or dressing wounds. History tells a different story.

    So this International Women’s Day, let’s reclaim our history and our power. Let’s stop using the phrase ‘women and children’ to depict vulnerability. The patriarchy has spent generations telling us we’re weak. It’s time to fight back.

    Featured image via North Press Agency screengrab

     

     

    By Emily Apple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Women Up Front: AJWS Grantees Celebrate International Women’s Day Around the World

    Though the COVID-19 pandemic is still creating challenges for AJWS grantee partners around the world, many found safe, powerful ways to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. Each year, International Women’s Day—an important part of Women’s History Month—is an opportunity to focus on the victories of women activists and advocates, and their ongoing struggles …Read More

    The post Women Up Front: AJWS Grantees Celebrate International Women’s Day Around the World appeared first on American Jewish World Service – AJWS.

    This post was originally published on American Jewish World Service – AJWS.

  • NGOs, MPs warn ‘draconian’ draft bill will turn Fiji into police state

    By Christine Rovoi, RNZ Pacific journalist

    A proposed draft Police Bill in Fiji has come under intense scrutiny from civil society groups and opposition parties.

    The draft legislation will give police greater surveillance powers if passed in Parliament.

    The proposal is now open to public submissions and the government says it will replace the Police Act 1965.

    The draft Bill gives police the powers to secretly or forcefully enter any premises to place tracking devices.

    Police can secretly monitor and record communications of people they suspect are about to commit a crime or have committed one, the Bill states.

    The draft law also allows police to recruit an informer or anyone else who can provide information in relation to a police matter.

    The government has not stated why it is necessary for police to search a crime scene and seize potential evidence without a warrant as stated in the Bill.

    Police powers need ‘updating’
    But the Minister for Police, Inia Seruiratu, said the Police Act 1965 needed to be updated because officers were now tasked with enforcing laws aligned to new and emerging challenges such as the global govid-19 pandemic, terrorism, transnational organised crime and other crimes evident around the globe.

    Seruiratu said the Bill was a preliminary draft of submissions received by police during three days of consultations with the force’s key stakeholders in May 2019.

    “Policing has developed beyond the traditional roles it is known for and the Fiji Police Force needs an enabling foundation that not only assists them in the work they are constitutionally mandated to do but will greatly enhance our national efforts to effectively respond to the rapidly evolving criminal landscape.”

    However, the opposition parties have condemned the draft legislation and warned it encroaches on the civil liberties, democratic values and fundamental rights of Fijians.

    The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party, Viliame Gavoka, said they would do everything in their power to ensure the draft legislation did not reach the floor of Parliament.

    Gavoka said the “draconian” draft Bill would turn Fiji into a “police state”.

    “There’s lots of uproar in the community about police brutality as it has been ongoing for some time,” he said.

    “And then to introduce a Bill like this is truly frightening.

    People ‘fearful of the police’
    “The mentality of the country right now is fearful of the police. And here we have a Bill that gives them more powers to virtually do whatever they want to do with you.”

    The president of the National Federation Party, Pio Tikoduadua, said the government’s plan to introduce a law that could allow authorities to enter and search anyone’s property through force at any time was “frightening”.

    Tikoduadua said it was “inconceivable, ridiculous and insane”, adding a provision in the proposed Bill would make police force subject to military law in emergencies.

    “So, when police are subjected to military law, does it make them soldiers? This is unthinkable in a democracy. It is martial law and can be invoked at any time.”

    Former opposition leader Mick Beddoes said the proposed legislation would empower the police to suppress instead of protecting the people who had paid $US1.8 billion in wages to the security forces since 2017.

    Beddoes said the Bill would dilute people’s constitutional rights and impose on them some of the harshest penalties and fines.

    He said the proposed new law was ‘unwarranted and unjustified’.

    NGOs claim draft Bill violates rights
    The draft bill also forbade officers from joining a union and it would be unlawful for them to go on strike or to take any other type of industrial action.

    Human rights activist Shamima Ali said this violated the fundamental rights of police officers who risked their lives on the front-line to ensure Fijians were safe.

    Speaking at the International Women’s Day in Suva this week, Ali said i was time to push the barriers.

    “The Police Bill has the potential to further shrink us,” she said. “We might think, ‘oh it doesn’t concern us. We’re only concerned with bread and butter’. This concerns everyone.

    “We already have high rates of police brutality, pending cases and other criminal allegations. There are some hardworking, honest officers in the force but there are also the bad cops.”

    The Coalition on Human Rights said this was not the time to be giving police more powers when Fiji was facing a pandemic of police brutality cases where individuals had lost their lives at the hands of police.

    Its director, Nalini Singh, said this was unacceptable and a disgraceful reflection on the force which should be the bastion of lawfulness in this country.

    Raised human rights concerns
    “As the Coalition on Human Rights, we have repeatedly raised our concerns about the excessive force used by the Police during arrests on individuals, and the lack of transparency and urgency from the Police in investigation processes.

    “And yet our call for urgent action have been left unanswered. This proposed Police Bill 2020 is a sad reflection of Fiji’s priorities in its commitments towards upholding and respecting human rights of Fijians.

    According to data from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, between May 2015 and April 2020, 400 police officers were charged with serious violent-related offences.

    The ODPP data showed the offences included 16 charges of rape, two charges of murder and nine charges of manslaughter.

    The largest women’s group in Fiji, Soqosoqo Vakamarama iTaukei, said police officers had the right to be part of a union.

    The group’s spokesperson, Adi Finau Tabakaucoro, said the Bill was supposed to help facilitate the work of the force.

    Meanwhile, the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission said it would, in its substantive submission, call for alignment of the Bill with the state’s human rights obligation under the domestic procedures and international conventions and treaties that Fiji had ratified.

    Submission after tabling
    Commissioner Ashwin Raj said his office would make its submission when the Bill was tabled in Parliament.

    Raj said any commentary on the draft bill, before it was tabled in Parliament, was “premature”.

    Meanwhile, police and the roads authority received an application for a protest permit march next week against the draft bill.

    Lautoka-based businessman Ben Padarath also lodged applications with the Suva City Council.

    The move has been supported by Opposition Whip Lynda Tabuya who said she would gather signatures for a petition to be presented to Parliament when it sits next month.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • NGOs, MPs warn ‘draconian’ draft bill will turn Fiji into police state

    By Christine Rovoi, RNZ Pacific journalist

    A proposed draft Police Bill in Fiji has come under intense scrutiny from civil society groups and opposition parties.

    The draft legislation will give police greater surveillance powers if passed in Parliament.

    The proposal is now open to public submissions and the government says it will replace the Police Act 1965.

    The draft Bill gives police the powers to secretly or forcefully enter any premises to place tracking devices.

    Police can secretly monitor and record communications of people they suspect are about to commit a crime or have committed one, the Bill states.

    The draft law also allows police to recruit an informer or anyone else who can provide information in relation to a police matter.

    The government has not stated why it is necessary for police to search a crime scene and seize potential evidence without a warrant as stated in the Bill.

    Police powers need ‘updating’
    But the Minister for Police, Inia Seruiratu, said the Police Act 1965 needed to be updated because officers were now tasked with enforcing laws aligned to new and emerging challenges such as the global govid-19 pandemic, terrorism, transnational organised crime and other crimes evident around the globe.

    Seruiratu said the Bill was a preliminary draft of submissions received by police during three days of consultations with the force’s key stakeholders in May 2019.

    “Policing has developed beyond the traditional roles it is known for and the Fiji Police Force needs an enabling foundation that not only assists them in the work they are constitutionally mandated to do but will greatly enhance our national efforts to effectively respond to the rapidly evolving criminal landscape.”

    However, the opposition parties have condemned the draft legislation and warned it encroaches on the civil liberties, democratic values and fundamental rights of Fijians.

    The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party, Viliame Gavoka, said they would do everything in their power to ensure the draft legislation did not reach the floor of Parliament.

    Gavoka said the “draconian” draft Bill would turn Fiji into a “police state”.

    “There’s lots of uproar in the community about police brutality as it has been ongoing for some time,” he said.

    “And then to introduce a Bill like this is truly frightening.

    People ‘fearful of the police’
    “The mentality of the country right now is fearful of the police. And here we have a Bill that gives them more powers to virtually do whatever they want to do with you.”

    The president of the National Federation Party, Pio Tikoduadua, said the government’s plan to introduce a law that could allow authorities to enter and search anyone’s property through force at any time was “frightening”.

    Tikoduadua said it was “inconceivable, ridiculous and insane”, adding a provision in the proposed Bill would make police force subject to military law in emergencies.

    “So, when police are subjected to military law, does it make them soldiers? This is unthinkable in a democracy. It is martial law and can be invoked at any time.”

    Former opposition leader Mick Beddoes said the proposed legislation would empower the police to suppress instead of protecting the people who had paid $US1.8 billion in wages to the security forces since 2017.

    Beddoes said the Bill would dilute people’s constitutional rights and impose on them some of the harshest penalties and fines.

    He said the proposed new law was ‘unwarranted and unjustified’.

    NGOs claim draft Bill violates rights
    The draft bill also forbade officers from joining a union and it would be unlawful for them to go on strike or to take any other type of industrial action.

    Human rights activist Shamima Ali said this violated the fundamental rights of police officers who risked their lives on the front-line to ensure Fijians were safe.

    Speaking at the International Women’s Day in Suva this week, Ali said i was time to push the barriers.

    “The Police Bill has the potential to further shrink us,” she said. “We might think, ‘oh it doesn’t concern us. We’re only concerned with bread and butter’. This concerns everyone.

    “We already have high rates of police brutality, pending cases and other criminal allegations. There are some hardworking, honest officers in the force but there are also the bad cops.”

    The Coalition on Human Rights said this was not the time to be giving police more powers when Fiji was facing a pandemic of police brutality cases where individuals had lost their lives at the hands of police.

    Its director, Nalini Singh, said this was unacceptable and a disgraceful reflection on the force which should be the bastion of lawfulness in this country.

    Raised human rights concerns
    “As the Coalition on Human Rights, we have repeatedly raised our concerns about the excessive force used by the Police during arrests on individuals, and the lack of transparency and urgency from the Police in investigation processes.

    “And yet our call for urgent action have been left unanswered. This proposed Police Bill 2020 is a sad reflection of Fiji’s priorities in its commitments towards upholding and respecting human rights of Fijians.

    According to data from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, between May 2015 and April 2020, 400 police officers were charged with serious violent-related offences.

    The ODPP data showed the offences included 16 charges of rape, two charges of murder and nine charges of manslaughter.

    The largest women’s group in Fiji, Soqosoqo Vakamarama iTaukei, said police officers had the right to be part of a union.

    The group’s spokesperson, Adi Finau Tabakaucoro, said the Bill was supposed to help facilitate the work of the force.

    Meanwhile, the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission said it would, in its substantive submission, call for alignment of the Bill with the state’s human rights obligation under the domestic procedures and international conventions and treaties that Fiji had ratified.

    Submission after tabling
    Commissioner Ashwin Raj said his office would make its submission when the Bill was tabled in Parliament.

    Raj said any commentary on the draft bill, before it was tabled in Parliament, was “premature”.

    Meanwhile, police and the roads authority received an application for a protest permit march next week against the draft bill.

    Lautoka-based businessman Ben Padarath also lodged applications with the Suva City Council.

    The move has been supported by Opposition Whip Lynda Tabuya who said she would gather signatures for a petition to be presented to Parliament when it sits next month.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Want a fairer, more sustainable world? Let women lead.

    Women around the globe bear the brunt of climate disaster. They are also the ones driving some of the most innovative and successful solutions. This International Women’s Day, Fix hosted an Instagram Live convo between two fabulous femmes and climate communicators: Grist 50 Fixers Maeve Higgins and Thanu Yakupitiyage took to IG to school us on artistic expression, immigration justice, and female leadership and ingenuity in the climate movement.

    Maeve is a comic, writer, and co-host of the Mothers of Invention podcast. Thanu is an activist, DJ, and U.S. communications director at 350.org. Their whole conversation is fire — and one we highly recommend watching — but we’ve pulled together a few highlights here for your reading pleasure.

    The following excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

    On their chosen art forms

    Thanu: For me, DJ-ing is very much about joy. It’s about creating spaces to envision the world we want to see. Ten years ago, when I started in the immigrant rights movement, I often found that it was intense, policy-oriented work. That’s true of a lot of the social justice work that I do. We don’t always think, “OK, what are we fighting for?”

    When I DJ, I curate spaces particularly for queer folks, for people of color, for immigrants to connect. It’s about building the world we’re fighting for — I feel an arts practice helps to do that. And I love comedy! I would love to know, for you, what that has to do with climate.

    Maeve: That’s so funny, because that is what happened — what you mentioned about joy and levity being a crucial part of what a future would look like. I write about immigration, too, and I’m an immigrant myself. Moving to the U.S. as a white person from Europe really got me curious about other people’s experience, particularly if they’re not white and European. I think a lot of migration stories and climate stories are told like, “Here’s a victim, here’s a person whose life is made up of sadness and tragedy,” and that’s dehumanizing. Humor is a way of returning what’s already in people’s lives. No matter how dark things get, you’re going to giggle at a funeral. Your humanity is going to bubble up in some way.

    On the right to migrate

    Thanu: There’s a lot of updating that needs to happen to global immigration policy. When thinking about external migration, we have to think about the role of the United States, of Canada, of Europe, in creating this climate crisis. All of the most polluting industries are from the West. We have to connect climate to imperialism and colonialism, and to the right of communities from the Global South to be able to migrate for their safety and their prosperity.

    Maeve: I really connect with that. Talking about this and explaining it to people is valuable work, and I love how you do that. I worry about the message that climate is a threat to national security. I don’t agree with that messaging, because it’s fear-based. What’s a good way to discuss this, and make it known?

    Thanu: That framing is super dangerous. I actually think we have to be careful when people say governments should call a climate emergency — I’m like, “Hold up. Let’s actually think about what a national emergency entails. In a national emergency, borders are shut down and communities are oppressed.”

    Maeve: That’s exactly how Trump created the “Remain in Mexico” program.

    Thanu: Exactly. When it’s put in a national security frame, it’s actually super racist. It stops Black and brown communities from being able to cross borders. I think it’s important not to use the trope of “We have to do something about climate, because otherwise a billion people are going to migrate.” From my perspective, migration is a human right. We need to focus on the industries that have caused the climate crisis, not the vulnerable communities that are moving.

    On International Women’s Day

    Maeve: We know that the people who are affected first and worst by climate chaos are women. There’s a balance here, where you don’t want to be too prescriptive, especially with language, but you also want to point out that this is really important. On our podcast, Mothers of Invention, we honor the fact that women and femme people are so often the ones coming up with solutions in their communities and outside of their communities. That was kind of an exciting revelation for me, to be honest.

    Thanu: That’s exactly right. When we think about the climate crisis, it’s often women who are also holding down the family dynamics, ensuring that their families and communities have food. And when you think about the places most impacted by the climate crisis, whether it’s parts of Africa or South Asia or the Pacific islands, it’s often women and femmes that are trying to figure out how we move from crisis and chaos to resilience and mitigation. And that’s what I love about your podcast, how y’all really center those solutions.

    Maeve: There’s another podcast I’ve been listening to called Hot Take — it both enrages and energizes me. One of the hosts is a hardcore investigative journalist, Amy Westervelt, who’s been writing on climate for years and really has got the goods. The other host, Mary Heglar, is an absolutely gorgeous writer. Their podcast is giving me life at the moment. Do you have heroic femmes and women doing work in this space that you’d like to shout out?

    Thanu: My friend Céline Semaan from The Slow Factory talks a lot about climate and fashion. And a lot of the climate youth, like Xiye Bastida and Helena Gualinga and Jamie Margolin — there are so many amazing women, femmes, queer folks who are thinking about climate and its intersections. Young people really give me energy. I think they understand the connections here, and also are able to root things in joy.

    I don’t do climate work out of fear. I totally recognize that people are fearful. But I think that this year has reinforced to me why we need compassion and kindness and love. This is a rough and tough world. And I’m not fighting because of fear — I’m fighting because we deserve more than this.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Want a fairer, more sustainable world? Let women lead.

    Women around the globe bear the brunt of climate disaster. They are also the ones driving some of the most innovative and successful solutions. This International Women’s Day, Fix hosted an Instagram Live convo between two fabulous femmes and climate communicators: Grist 50 Fixers Maeve Higgins and Thanu Yakupitiyage took to IG to school us on artistic expression, immigration justice, and female leadership and ingenuity in the climate movement.

    Maeve is a comic, writer, and co-host of the Mothers of Invention podcast. Thanu is an activist, DJ, and U.S. communications director at 350.org. Their whole conversation is fire — and one we highly recommend watching — but we’ve pulled together a few highlights here for your reading pleasure.

    The following excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

    On their chosen art forms

    Thanu: For me, DJ-ing is very much about joy. It’s about creating spaces to envision the world we want to see. Ten years ago, when I started in the immigrant rights movement, I often found that it was intense, policy-oriented work. That’s true of a lot of the social justice work that I do. We don’t always think, “OK, what are we fighting for?”

    When I DJ, I curate spaces particularly for queer folks, for people of color, for immigrants to connect. It’s about building the world we’re fighting for — I feel an arts practice helps to do that. And I love comedy! I would love to know, for you, what that has to do with climate.

    Maeve: That’s so funny, because that is what happened — what you mentioned about joy and levity being a crucial part of what a future would look like. I write about immigration, too, and I’m an immigrant myself. Moving to the U.S. as a white person from Europe really got me curious about other people’s experience, particularly if they’re not white and European. I think a lot of migration stories and climate stories are told like, “Here’s a victim, here’s a person whose life is made up of sadness and tragedy,” and that’s dehumanizing. Humor is a way of returning what’s already in people’s lives. No matter how dark things get, you’re going to giggle at a funeral. Your humanity is going to bubble up in some way.

    On the right to migrate

    Thanu: There’s a lot of updating that needs to happen to global immigration policy. When thinking about external migration, we have to think about the role of the United States, of Canada, of Europe, in creating this climate crisis. All of the most polluting industries are from the West. We have to connect climate to imperialism and colonialism, and to the right of communities from the Global South to be able to migrate for their safety and their prosperity.

    Maeve: I really connect with that. Talking about this and explaining it to people is valuable work, and I love how you do that. I worry about the message that climate is a threat to national security. I don’t agree with that messaging, because it’s fear-based. What’s a good way to discuss this, and make it known?

    Thanu: That framing is super dangerous. I actually think we have to be careful when people say governments should call a climate emergency — I’m like, “Hold up. Let’s actually think about what a national emergency entails. In a national emergency, borders are shut down and communities are oppressed.”

    Maeve: That’s exactly how Trump created the “Remain in Mexico” program.

    Thanu: Exactly. When it’s put in a national security frame, it’s actually super racist. It stops Black and brown communities from being able to cross borders. I think it’s important not to use the trope of “We have to do something about climate, because otherwise a billion people are going to migrate.” From my perspective, migration is a human right. We need to focus on the industries that have caused the climate crisis, not the vulnerable communities that are moving.

    On International Women’s Day

    Maeve: We know that the people who are affected first and worst by climate chaos are women. There’s a balance here, where you don’t want to be too prescriptive, especially with language, but you also want to point out that this is really important. On our podcast, Mothers of Invention, we honor the fact that women and femme people are so often the ones coming up with solutions in their communities and outside of their communities. That was kind of an exciting revelation for me, to be honest.

    Thanu: That’s exactly right. When we think about the climate crisis, it’s often women who are also holding down the family dynamics, ensuring that their families and communities have food. And when you think about the places most impacted by the climate crisis, whether it’s parts of Africa or South Asia or the Pacific islands, it’s often women and femmes that are trying to figure out how we move from crisis and chaos to resilience and mitigation. And that’s what I love about your podcast, how y’all really center those solutions.

    Maeve: There’s another podcast I’ve been listening to called Hot Take — it both enrages and energizes me. One of the hosts is a hardcore investigative journalist, Amy Westervelt, who’s been writing on climate for years and really has got the goods. The other host, Mary Heglar, is an absolutely gorgeous writer. Their podcast is giving me life at the moment. Do you have heroic femmes and women doing work in this space that you’d like to shout out?

    Thanu: My friend Céline Semaan from The Slow Factory talks a lot about climate and fashion. And a lot of the climate youth, like Xiye Bastida and Helena Gualinga and Jamie Margolin — there are so many amazing women, femmes, queer folks who are thinking about climate and its intersections. Young people really give me energy. I think they understand the connections here, and also are able to root things in joy.

    I don’t do climate work out of fear. I totally recognize that people are fearful. But I think that this year has reinforced to me why we need compassion and kindness and love. This is a rough and tough world. And I’m not fighting because of fear — I’m fighting because we deserve more than this.

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Want a fairer, more sustainable world? Let women lead. on Mar 12, 2021.

    This post was originally published on Grist.