women Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Top 10 Wins for Women’s Movements

by Christine Ahn | Mar 9, 2011

For the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day, my colleagues and I at the Global Fund for Women decided we needed to shake things up. On a daily basis, we are fed a heavy dose of bad news about the plight of women: one in three women are survivors of rape, domestic violence on the rise due to joblessness, and so on. Although women experienced some setbacks in 2010, they were also the drivers of major victories for women across the world.

Protecting Women Human Rights Defenders

by Laura Carlsen | Mar 9, 2011

Josefina Reyes began her career as a human rights organizer the same way as thousands of women across the globe–defending her family and her community. The middle-aged mother staged a hunger strike to demand the safe return of her son after Mexican soldiers abducted him from their home. She lost another son to the drug war violence that has come to characterize the Valle de Juarez, where the Reyes family lives. Josefina spoke out against this violence, particularly against abuses committed by the army and police deployed to fight organized crime.

Women Lead Latin America’s Growing Anti-Militarization Movements

by Laura Carlsen | Feb 4, 2011

When George W. Bush left the White House, the rest of the world breathed a sigh of relief. The National Security Doctrine of unilateral attacks, the invasion of Iraq under the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction, and the abandonment of multilateral forums had opened up a new phase of U.S. aggression. Despite the focus on the Middle East, the increased threat of U.S. military intervention cast a long shadow over many parts of the world.

Blood Sport

by John Feffer | Apr 6, 2010

In the Mayan game of pitz, the first team sport in human history, two sets of players squared off in a ball court that could stretch as long as a football field. The object of the game was to use hips and elbows to keep the ball in the air and, if possible, get it through a hoop set high on a stone wall. The ball was roughly the size and heft of a human head. Indeed, given the sheer number of decapitations in the Popol Vuh, the sacred Mayan text that prominently features the game, scholars have not ruled out the possibility that the teams sometimes played with the heads of sacrificial victims. It’s also probable that, at the conclusion of the game, one team or the other fell en masse beneath the priests’ daggers.

The State of the World’s Women

by Christine Ahn, Anasuya Sengupta | Apr 1, 2010

It’s a year of anniversaries for the global women’s movement, but not necessarily a year of good news for women globally. International Women’s Day, begun in Copenhagen at an international socialist gathering where women pledged to achieve universal suffrage, was celebrated for the 100th year, while the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is in its 30th year. To date, 189 countries have signed CEDAW. The United States, Iran, and Sudan are among those who have yet to ratify or sign it.

Postcard From…Copenhagen

by Yifat Susskind | Dec 16, 2009

Last weekend, women farmers from Africa and Latin America gave President Obama a message that he can’t afford to ignore. In a letter delivered to the president and U.S. negotiators in Copenhagen, the women argued that the poorest, most disenfranchised people in the world hold the key to resolving the biggest global challenge of our time.

Swiss Minarets: Only the Tip of the Iceberg

by Faruk Ekmekci | Dec 16, 2009

On November 29, a majority of the Swiss population decided to ban the construction of new minarets in their country. Many Muslim leaders and laypeople were “surprised” at the Swiss decision, viewing the decision as an aberration from Western ideals and voicing anti-Swiss criticisms in return. Turkish minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator Egemen Bağış, for example, argued that Switzerland wouldn’t have taken this decision if it were an EU member. Yet the Swiss decision on minarets reflects a far deeper fear shared by thousands of people in Western Europe. Members of the Christian Democratic Union party in Germany, the Freedom Party in the Netherlands, and the Danish People’s Party have already applauded the decision.

The Cairo Detour

by fpifadmin | Dec 15, 2009

Six months ago, President Obama dazzled audiences from Cairo to Jakarta—and everywhere in between and beyond—with his call for a “new beginning” with the Muslim world. It came after the new president made a series of confidence-building statements, speeches, and diplomatic overtures with a consistent, sobering message: It is time for relations based on “mutual respect” and “mutual interest.” Obama declared at Cairo University that there “must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.”

Interview with Iranian Poet Farideh Hassanzadeh

by John Feffer, Melissa Tuckey | Jun 12, 2007

Farideh Hassanzadeh (Mostafavi) is an Iranian poet, translator, and freelance journalist. Her first book of poetry was published when she was 22 years old. Her poems appear in the anthologies Contemporary Women Poets of Iran and Anthology of Best Women Poets. She writes regularly for Golestaneh, Iran News, and many other literary magazines and newspapers. Her poems translated into English appear in Kritya, Jehat, interpoetry, museindia, earthfamilyalpha, and Thanalonline. Her anthology of contemporary American poetry will appear in 2007. You can read her poem Isn’t It Enough? here.