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Video: Girls, Football and Corrective Rape in South Africa

Published date: 
12 Apr 2012

Girls & Football SA focuses on the development of girls and women through sport, media and education. In this short video, the role of football in creating a safe space for girls and women in South Africa is explored, with a specific focus on the prevalence of corrective rape in the country.

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Global Report on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders

Global Report on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders
Published date: 
12 Apr 2012

Coming at a time when WHRDs have received little attention in the human rights arena, the Global Report on the Situation of WHRDs plays a crucial part in advancing the recognition of WHRDs.

It is intended that the Global Report is primarily an advocacy and capacity building tool, both important measures for WHRDs’ protection and the prevention of further abuses. The Global Report is a contribution to the ongoing documentation of the situation of WHRDs that will enable informed advocacy from the local to regional and international level.

To download the report in pdf click here.

Hard copies are available by email request to whrd [at] apwld [dot] org.

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Podcast: The Good and Bad of Online Campaigns

Podcast: The Good and Bad of Online Campaigns
Published date: 
12 Apr 2012

In this edition of Global Voices podcasts we have company in the voice of co-host Yazan Badran, a Global Voices author from Syria based in Japan. The topic this month is global social media campaigns: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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Global Voices: Citizen Media Summit 2012

Date of event: 
2 July 2012 - 3 July 2012

The Global Voices Summit convenes bloggers, activists and technologists for public discussions and workshops about the rise of online citizen media movements worldwide. There will also be a private gathering of Global Voices contributors preceding the Summit. We hope to see you in Nairobi!

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Voices from digital spaces: Technology related violence against women

Voices from digital spaces: Technology related violence against women
Published date: 
10 Apr 2012

Drawing on findings from APC's MDG3i: Take Back the Tech!i project with women's rightsi organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explores the links between the interneti, cell phones and violence against womenwww.takebackthetech.net/whatstheissue " class="glossary-indicator">www.takebackthetech.net/whatstheissue " href="http://www.genderit.org/glossary/12/letterv#term986">i and illustrates that technology related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence. Women'sNet, a member of the APC, participated in the research that lead to this paper.

 

The complex relationship between violence against women (VAW) and information communication technologies (ICTs) is a critical area of engagement for women's rights activists. ICTs can be used as a tool to stop VAW, while on the other hand VAW can be facilitated through the use of ICTS. However few women's rights activists are working actively on this issue. Consequently, a political and legal framing of the issue is not established in most countries.

The purpose of this paper is to assist women’s rights groups working to end VAW to understand some of the implications of the intersection between these violations and ICTs. It also aims to encourage these groups and other key actors to invest in policy- making processes and advocacy work in this area.

Download the full paper here.

Read also the executive summary of the paper.

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Malawi’s Women Seek Cultural Rights Changes

Malawi’s Women Seek Cultural Rights Changes
Published date: 
6 Apr 2012

Last February, women in South Africa marched to reclaim taxi ranks in Johannesburg following an incident where 2 young women were harassed for wearing mini-skirts. Bhatupe Mhango reflects on the situation of women's rights in Malawi after a very similar incident occured in her country.

Women’s rights activists in Malawi say despite laws that protect them on paper, there are still societal barriers that treat women as second class citizens.

Bhatupe Mhango, a Malawi human rights worker now based in Liberia, said during one recent incident, women wearing skirts and shorts were molested and harassed by vendors.  She said this highlights the obstacles facing the country’s females on a daily basis.

“They [activists] are really asking for society to change their attitudes, their mindsets on how women are perceived in society as a whole,” said Mhango.

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Market Photo Workshop: Call for Applications: Tierney Fellowship

Application Deadline: 
25 Apr 2012

The Market Photo Workshop in partnership with the Tierney Family Foundation realise the importance of creating opportunities for photographers to cultivate the development of photographers and photography as a medium. The Tierney Fellowship creates an ideal space for a photographer to produce a new body of work.

The Market Photo Workshop in partnership with the Tierney Family Foundation invites applications for the Tierney Fellowship.

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Zaphamban’ izindlela!

Published date: 
4 Apr 2012

What happens when a corrupt old policeman and a market woman switch bodies? The latest in the "Crossroads" series hit the airwaves for Women’s Month in South Africa. CMFD produced the isiZulu, South African adaptation for People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), supported by Oxfam GB. Previously produced in English, Swahili, French and Portuguese, the drama uses humour to get people thinking, and talking, about women’s rights. POWA is facilitating discussion groups, listening on stations such as Alex FM, Kasie FM, Eldoz FM and Ndofaya FM.

 

The story...
When a market trader becomes frustrated with the local police inspector who is more interested in lining his pockets than finding her missing daughter, a magic drink  provided by the local alcohol brewer causes the trader and police inspector to switch bodies. Each has the opportunity to see how the other gender lives! - with hilarious results and eye-opening perspectives. All the while, the search for the missing woman continues - will she be found in time?

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From COP17 to Rio + 20 for South African community media journalists: Where is the voice of women in Climate change reporting?

From COP17 to Rio + 20 for South African community media journalists: Where is the voice of women in Climate change reporting?
Published date: 
26 Mar 2012

Women’sNet and The Media Development & Diversity Agency are proud to present a meerting we are calling ‘The Johannesburg Agreement’, the second phase of a series of workshops to train women journalists from community media (Radio and TV) in the practice of online and mobile citizen journalism in the wake of the COP17 conference and the Climate Change phenomena. The first phase was held in Durban between 28 November and 9 December 2011, a series of activities were facilitated around the COP17 conference, with the aim of empowering women to produce information that offers an alternative to mainstream media coverage. Female journalists working for registered community and small commercial radio stations and television have been invited to participate in The Johannesburg Agreement.

The initiative was developed following the women and media and environment conference organised by the department of environmental affairs in August of 2011 to engage community media with regards to COP17. This conference came twelve years after the adoption of the Kyoto protocol, and was seen as critical milestone to getting parties to sign an agreement that will see lowering of carbon emissions in the world. Our interest as a collective was on telling the story of how climate change affects OUR communities, and in particular women who work on the land and depend on it for their families’ livelihood.

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Getting the balance right: gender equality in journalism

Getting the balance right: gender equality in journalism
Published date: 
26 Mar 2012

This handbook is a timely, illustrated and easy-to-read guide and resource material for journalists. It evolved primarily out of a desire to equip all journalists with more information and understanding of gender issues in their work. It is addressed to media organisations, professional associations and journalists’ unions seeking to contribute to the goal of gender equality.

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