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Navigating Gender-Based Violence in Indonesia
By Dewi Aryanu, community organiser, IndonesiaĀ  Trigger Warning: Sexual harassment, sexual violence ā€œWhy did you take off your hijab? I sent you to live in a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) so that you know to…
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International Womenā€™s Day in Mexico City: A mega-march against the patriarchy
By Laura Carlsen   The International Women’s Day march in Mexico City was one of the largest in the world in recent years. After receding during the pandemic, the traditional mobilisation returned in 2023 stronger…
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Myanmar: “We Will Fight until We Winā€
Women have been at the forefront of the sustained resistance to stop the military coup and demand for democracy in Myanmar. Since 1 Feb 2021, when the military seized power, people from different communities and…
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What Coronavirus Teaches Us About Inequality, Discrimination and the Importance of Caring
They say coronavirus doesnā€™t discriminate, that it puts us all at risk, that it dictates an equally threatening future for all humankind. But the measures that have been implemented in Central America to deal with…
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Juneteenth, June 16th, and the unfinished business of black liberation
This is an important week for reflection. Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, sits alongside June 16th , the day that saw a series of uprisings…
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Women and the Migration Crisis
By Audrey Lopez Valdivia “Asylum was never meant to alleviate all problems ā€” even all serious problems ā€” that people face every day all over the world.ā€ This is what U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions…
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Day 3: Power
Written by Laura Carlsen   Today we talk about strategies. The day begins with JASSā€™s presentation on the power framework. What do we know about power? Lisa VeneKlasen, JASS Executive Director, explains that power is…
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Standing up when everything is at stake ā€“ land, territories & rights
Written by Mikas Matsuzawa With President Donald Trump poised to pull the US out the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, a hard-won global commitment to reduce carbon emissions, many fear the consequences for vulnerable communities and…
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Nourishing our movements: Reflections from JASSā€™ Cross Movement Dialogue
As women, we are always vulnerable to violence but there are shades of violence directed to women who do not conform to the social expectations of what it means to be a good woman: lesbians,…
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Six Months Without Justice
The skies wept as together we received the month of September in the town of La Esperanza, Honduras. Hundreds of visitors brought with them hearts that beat to the rhythms of their struggles, their love and…
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Women Voicing their Demands in Zimbabwe
Ahoy macomrades Ahoy. This was the call to action on June 13 as hundreds of Zimbabweans converged in the nationā€™s capital at the Harare Magistrates Court to support the release of Pastor Evans Mawarire who…
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Brazil: Sustainability vs Survival
Everywhere at the Human Rights Council (HRC) the catchphrase on everyoneā€™s tongue is ā€œshrinking spaces for civil societyā€. But what does it mean, really? How are activists grappling with this ā€œshrinking spaceā€ in their work?…
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I Write (and Wear) What I Like
Sister ko mabva matakura masofa acho mukati rega ndifambe ndakasenga (Sister, your body looks like you carried the couch with you into town). Hure (prostitute) Eish mukoma vari kunakirwa kumba uku (Eish, your husband/boyfriend should…
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President Obama: Break Barriers to Post-Rape Care
During 16 Days of Activism on December 9, JASS Crossregional Program Director, Carrie Wilson spoke at a White House Rally on behalf of the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflictā€”which JASS…
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Climate and Indigenous Peoples: the real dispute at the UN
As a global capital, New York City is accustomed to high-level discussions on earth-shaking issues. But something different is happening.  Two events in a single week – the UN Climate Summit and the UN World…
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Seven Striking Things about Zimbabweā€™s Stop Rape Now March
Over four hundred women are waiting in front of Harare Town House, a spot that once marked the centre of the city. There are all sorts of women in the crowdā€”the young and the less…
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Ending Rape in Cambodia
Why do men rape women? This is a simple question with a complex answer. My friends, relatives and colleagues ā€“ both men and women ā€“ often ask this question. Last year, Cambodians were put on…
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When reality becomes stranger than fiction, Gumbura gets going!
Rape of women and girls is proving to be a deliberate constant in Zimbabwe. On 3 February the Harare magistrate court concluded an ā€˜exceptionalā€™ case in which Robert Gumbura, founder and supposed ā€˜pastorā€™ of an…
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Not another Soldier on our Streets
Mahatma Gandhi used to say, ā€œWhat is obtained with violence can only be maintained with violenceā€. It is with violence that the power elite successfully kidnapped democracy in our country. As much as they have…
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Waiting for Elections in Zimbabwe
ā€œTheyā€™re already neck-and-neck, heading for a run-off!ā€ Thatā€™s a running joke on the streets of Harare as we wait for July 31, the day of Zimbabweā€™s national elections. Walking through the city’s streets, standing in…
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Upcoming Zimbabwe Elections, Wiztech, and Feminist Politricks
7 am TALKCITY cyber cafe, Joina City Mall, Harare A long, winding queue has formed from the Julius Nyerere entrance, past the Edgars shop, across Jason Moyo, stopping right at the corner of the main…
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Womenā€™s Bodies as War Booties
Women are wooed. Women are raped. Women are impregnated.Women are abducted. Women are raped. Women become mentally ill.Women are wrongly accused. Women are raped. Women get death threats.Women are raped. Women are raped. Women are…
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The Fairy Tales Patriarchy Tells Us
I am sitting in a private taxi. Earlier, when I stepped into it, I noticed the cab driverā€™s gaze run over my bodyā€”the kind of look that makes my skin crawl and my fingers dig…
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Are we Sweeping Domestic Violence Under the Rug?
By Adelaide Mazwarira As an avid fan of the TV show, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, I couldnā€™t help but take interest in its latest episode which was receiving a lot of outrage over…
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Step by Step: Honduran Feminists March for People’s Sovereignty
When life can only be half-lived, itā€™s hard to keep hope. When soldiers, churches, governments, death, crime and fear all conspire to choke off life like the heavy blow of the midday sun or a…
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Blaming the Victim Sparks Outrage in Indonesia
“Sometimes it can be intentional. They do it for fun and then the girl alleges that itā€™s rape. Cases of teenage rape are sometimes the victimsā€™ fault.”   – Minister Mendikbud Nuh, Indonesiaā€™s Education Minister…
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Honduras Resists!
when the heart becomes brave . . . every dimension is transformed  It is difficult to reconcile bravery and the heart, but it is more challenging to separate this relationship from romantic love and even…
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How Long? – Thoughts on Women and Occupy Wall Street
Translated from Spanish by Emily Goldman A few days ago, Iread the following item on Democracy Now!:   “In other news from ā€˜Occupy,ā€™ activists in New York erected a tent to be used only by…
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Women Build their Collective Power by Pen and Paper in Buhera
By Vimbai Njovana Ā  The period from the FTX till now has been something of a whirlwind tour for me and an exhausting one too. As I reflect on the skills gained and the time…
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Learning to Live Under Dictatorship Without Accepting It
JASS Mesoamerica Team + Feminist in Resistance, Tegucigalpa, Honduras Ever since I can remember, my country has had democratic governments. That is, until now. We have always been told that democracy is the way to…
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They can cut down flowersā€¦ but they CANā€™T STOP SPRING FROM COMING!
Since the coup dā€™etat, Honduras has suffered many blows. The military has maintained its power, in ways both visible and invisible and brought a wave of threats and death into our lives.We live in fear…
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How Hondurasā€™s Military Coup Gave Birth to Feminist Resistance
Adelay Carias is a Honduran feminist, researcher and writer, member of Feminists in Resistance and Las Petateras, and a contributor to the Center for International Policy’s Americas Program. I remember the coup dā€™Ć©tat as if…
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Fighting for gender justice: Campaigning to end rape in war
ā€œIt has probably become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in armed conflict.ā€ – Major-General Patrick Cammaert, former commander of UN peacekeeping forces in the eastern Congo Jacqueline Nolley Echegaray reflects on the recent International…
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Maria SuƔrez Toro reports from Haiti: Violence against women and social assessment in the camps in Haiti
by MarĆ­a SuĆ”rez Toro, FIRE While I lay in a tent in FIREĀ“s camp in Haiti, I remember one of the first popular songs that changed social consciousness regarding violence against women, at a time…
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Womenā€™s Human Rights Situation in Honduras following the Coup
We, the Honduran Feminists in Resistance, are convinced that the restitution of democracy to Honduras does not mean only the return to government of President Zelaya ā€“ it must also signify respect for the Honduran…
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Video from the Observatorio in Honduras
Video of Honduras: Young Feminist in Resistance Speaks Out   JASS and allies organized an international delegation to travel to Honduras (August 17-21, 2009) for a week-long womens rights watch. The delegation is conducting a…
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Media Ignores Escalating Sexual Aggression Against Honduran Women Protesters
Escalating Sexual Aggression Against Feminist And Women ProtestersAgainst Military Coup In Honduras Ignored By Global & National Media By Margaret Thompson FIRE ā€“ Feminist International Radio Endeavour/Radio Internacional Feminista August 17, 2009 – Tegucigalpa, Honduras —…
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International Delegation Amplifies Honduran Women’s Voices
Press Release TEGUCIGALPA ā€“ JASS (Just Associates) announced that an international delegation arrived in Honduras Monday for a week-long womenā€™s rights watch. The delegation is conducting a local and virtual Observatorio (Feminist Transformation Watch) from…
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Message of Support
From the green hills of Vermont, I send all my solidarity to the companeras and compaƱeros in Honduras and also to all those right at this minute who are in front of the White House…
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Women Mobilize Against Coup in Honduras
  July 21, 2009 – In a show of solidarity, women throughout the Americas are mobilizing to pressure the US government and international organizations to take a stronger stand against the June 28 coup in…
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Virtual March Tomorrow!
Wednesday July 22, 2009, Special FIRE coverage of the protests in Washington in solidarity with the people of Honduras defending their human rights and institutionality A virtual march at FIRE will accompany the Washington protests…
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Rally in front of the White House
Call to Action This Wednesday at 10:00 am, JASS, CODE PINK, Women of Color United, Las Petateras, Feminist International Radio Endeavor, and Foreign Policy in Focus, will hold a RALLY in front of the WHITE HOUSE in solidarity…
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We are all the Women of Honduras
JASS and our Mesoamerican allies Las Petateras express our solidarity with all the feminist organizations and social movements of Honduras in condemning and repudiating the coup against democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. The coup, led…
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Reflections on the NWI Conference and Guatemala Observatorio
After the Nobel Womenā€™s Initiative Conference in Antigua, a group of us ā€“ Petateras, JASS, FIRE, and key international allies ā€“ conducted an Observatorio and Fact-Finding Mission on the situation of violence against women in…
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Participant Profile: Safaa Adam and Redefining Democracy
Video of Participant Profile: Safaa Elagib Adam Safaa Elagib Adam is a bold voice for Darfurian women, working to ensure these vital stakeholders are involved in building peace. Though Darfurian women are at risk of…
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Context: Guatemala
Video of NWI Women Redefining Democracy: Guatemala–A History of Violence and Struggle 36 years of violence and oppression because of the armed conflict in Guatemala left more than 100,000 dead, 50,000 disappeared, 250,000 orphans, more…
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Guatemalan Lawyer Gladys Monterroso Kidnapped and Tortured
March 25, 2009 – Gladys Monterroso, lawyer, University professor, and Secretary General of the Encuentro por Guatemala party, and wife of Human Rights Ombudsman Sergio Morales, was kidnapped in Guatemala City on Wednesday March 25…
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The government war on women’s rights in Nicaragua
Feminists stand up against anti-abortion crusade and Daniel Ortega’s rightward turn On Nov. 25, 2008, police blocked 400 women’s rights activists from marching in Managua’s annual commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of…
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Be sporty, healthy and fun feminist!
By Kamilia Manaf, Institut Pelangi Perempuan (Indonesian Youth Lesbian Center) Sport is very helpful for the physical and mental health. Sport can reduce stress, anger and depression. Several people do sport for fun and hobby,…
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Pens and Presentations Down
By Keba, South Africa A session that was supposed to be about experiences of hate crimes, and remembering people we have lost at the hand of homophobia ended up into something else. The session started…
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Troubling Twists of History in Nicaragua
Since my return from Guatemala, I’ve been trying to keep up with the unfolding political repression in Nicaragua. I admit that it’s impossible for me to watch from a rational distance. It’s very personal for…
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JASS and Las Petateras at the Americas Social Forum
  “Las Petateras,” JASS’s movement building allies in Mesoamerica, convened a press conference this morning to kick-off the activities planned during the Americas Social Forum, as well as to announce the declaration made by the…
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Peace is a mere illusion when rape continues
  These remarks were delivered at the Wilton Park Conference: Women targeted or affected by armed conflict: What role for military peacekeepers? on May 27, 2008, by Stephen Lewis*.  http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/50445 Here is an unassailable truth:…
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Political Crises Affect Women and Girls Most
I sit here in Harare agonising, and wishing I had the same courage our Swazi sisters have. The fear is just paralysing!! NGOs Ban, Political Crisis Stall ‘Basket Fund’ Saturday, 06 September 2008  THE political…
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