Latin America
Argentina: Campaign - Men Fighting 'Machismo'
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 10, 2011 (IPS) - An original campaign led by men is getting thousands of men in Argentina to reflect on the abuse of power and commit themselves to helping eradicate violence against women.
The campaign is called "260 men against machismo", in allusion to the number of "femicides" – a term coined for gender-related murders – committed in this country in 2010, according to statistics compiled from news reports.
The idea is to recruit well-known figures from different spheres, like politics, art, show business, the labour movement, the armed forces and religion, to get publicly involved in the campaign and urge men in their areas or their communities to discuss these issues and sign a commitment against violence.
Mexico: Women Reject Normalisation of Gender Violence
![Lydia Cacho Ribeiro receives death threats on a regular basis. [Melanie Haider/IPS]](/files/images/105581-20111024.thumbnail.jpg "Lydia Cacho Ribeiro receives death threats on a regular basis. [Melanie Haider/IPS]")
NEW YORK, Oct 24, 2011 (IPS) - Ninety percent of the non-governmental organisations in Mexico are founded and run by women, says journalist and women's rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, even as crimes against women remain cloaked in impunity.
Cacho was recently in New York, where she was awarded the Civil Courage award from the Train Foundation, and also spoke at a special event hosted by Columbia University.
When Felipe Calderón became president in 2006, he deployed the military in a federal offensive against drug cartels and criminal groups, resulting in a virtual war in which more than 40,000 people have died.
Rigid Coptic Divorce Law Sparks Brawl, Protests
CAIRO, Egypt (WOMENSENEWS)--Despite the stigma attached to divorce, ending a marriage is still relatively easy for Muslim women in Egypt. All they have to do is file paperwork with a family court and the deed is done, as long as they're not seeking alimony or damages from their husbands.
For the country's millions of Orthodox Christians, or Copts, it's been nearly impossible since Pope Shenouda III, the head of one of the most conservative churches in Christianity, forbade divorce except in the case of conversion or adultery three years ago.
Bolivia: Women fight superstition and machismo in mining cooperatives
LA PAZ, Jun 23, 2011 (IPS) - Hundreds of women belonging to mining cooperatives in Bolivia are striving for the right to mine seams of tin and silver in the country's western highlands, where an age old superstition maintains that the presence of women "scares away" the minerals.
In these freezing high-altitude mineral-rich but impoverished areas, native women have been assigned a secondary economic role for centuries. But now they are seeking to make headway in traditionally male domains, say researchers interviewed by IPS.
Growing international demand for metals and soaring prices for the tin, silver and gold that are abundant in Bolivia have encouraged thousands of mainly indigenous peasant farmers and people from outside the altiplano region to go down the mines, organised in cooperatives.
Guatemala: Women-only buses against sexual harassment
GUATEMALA CITY, Jun 24, 2011 (IPS) - "We are all safer here; it's great because this way there are no men groping you," Jaqueline Escobar, a sales executive, told IPS on a bus that is exclusively for women, a service against sexual harassment that is being tried out in the Guatemalan capital.
Guatemala City's mass transit system, Transurbano, launched a pilot programme on Jun. 14 with dozens of buses identified with signs reading "For Women Only" and pink ribbons, which run between the city centre and neighbourhoods to the north and south.
From Guatemala: What God was thinking when he created women
A creation myth reminds survivors of violence of their capabilities and value.
When Ines Santizo was a young girl her mother woke her up on the middle of the night and told her to get out of the house: Her stepfather was coming home in a drunk and violent state. Before Ines could escape, her stepfather kicked her in the face and broke her nose. “My mother thought I was going to die, there was so much blood,” Ines said. “I swore right then that I would never allow a man to treat me like that again.”
A Toolkit for Intersecting Violences
This is a companion to the CAWN report Intersecting Violences (2010) by Patricia Muñoz Cabrera. The report provides a review of feminist theories and debates relating to violence and poverty as they affect women, with a focus on Latin America. In this Toolkit we provide some practical examples on how the intersectional analysis explored in the report is being put into practice on the ground.
Guatemala: Government must act to stop the killing of women
Amnesty International today urged the Guatemalan authorities to act to stop the high numbers of women being killed across the country and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice, ahead of on 8 March.
According to official figures, 685 women were killed in 2010 alone in Guatemala amid a culture of impunity, a legacy of the 1960-96 internal armed conflict which led to hundreds of thousands human rights violations which remain unaccounted for.
Jamaica - Street Theatre to Address Gender Violence - Vide
Every Monday Say NO-UNiTE's YouTube channel will feature a video on ending violence against women recommended by Say NO supporters. Visitors are encouraged to engage in an open discussion on the featured video or topic at hand by posting comments on our channel (see below).
The Center for Indigenous Peoples' Cultures of Peru (CHIRAPAQ)
CHIRAPAQ (The Center for Indigenous Peoples' Cultures of Peru) was formed 1986 in Ayacucho, Peru by a group of Andean and Amazonian women. Their goal was to increase cultural representation of Indigenous Peoples, defend Indigenous rights and strengthen Indigenous identities in their communities.
Today, investigates violations of Indigenous Peoples' rights, offers women and youth human rights trainings and works to document and preserve Indigenous culture. The organization also works to eradicate poverty and hunger in the Andean region through community self-help programs that increase self-sufficiency and access to food and expand the community's economic base.