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Hello World 
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Next Year marks the 20th year after the ICPD Conference and we have a lot to do as advocates as it relates to evaluating if we have accomplished the objectives agreed on at that conference and if not,what are the next steps. If you do not know what the ICPD is take a read below:
The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo was a milestone in the history of population and development, as well as in the history of women’s rights. At the conference the world agreed that population is not just about counting people, but about making sure that every person counts.
ICPD delegates reached a consensus that the equality and empowerment of women is a global priority. It approached this not only from the perspective of universal human rights, but also as an essential step towards eradicating poverty and stabilizing population growth. A woman’s ability to access reproductive health and rights is cornerstone of her empowerment. It is also the key to sustainable development.
A total of 179 governments signed up to the ICPD Programme of Action which set out to
Taken from http://www.unfpa.org/public/icpd/
<3 kevz
Respect. I think the word that best describes what I’m trying to get at with this blog. I feel like there’s this notion in society today that a women’s self-respect and self-worth lie completely between her legs, and because of this notion a lot of other social issues arise. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve heard some variation of the phrase have some respect for yourself ladies and keep your legs closed. Statements like this pigeonhole women and keep society in that outdated mindset that all a woman is good for is sex and childbearing. Self-respect, to me, has to do with self-love and standing up for yourself and what you believe in. It’s like a reverse golden rule, “treat others how you would like to be treated” treating yourself that way too. Self-respect has nothing to do with how much sex you have or how revealing your clothes are.
So, “slut-shaming” is what I’m getting at now. “Slut-shaming” is the shaming or acting of woman, making her feel inferior or guilty for engaging in certain sexual behaviors that deviate from traditional norms or expectations. Girls do it, calling each other sluts with no self-respect because they make sexual decisions that are simply different from their own. And by doing this, they open a door for men and the rest of society to disrespect women and look down on women who simply have different viewpoints than their own. This just adds to the inequality of women and double standards, because you less often see anyone calling a man a slut with no self-respect.
So all of this serves to contribute to another, bigger societal problem which is “victim blaming.” It’s the mindset that women are responsible for being raped, or “they were asking for it,” because of the way they were dressed, the way they were acting or the amount of drugs or alcohol in their system. This culture in society emphasizes and teaches victims not to get raped, or not to do things that would promote getting raped, rather than punishing perpetrators and teaching not to rape. No matter what the person is wearing or how they may be acting, forced sex without consent is rape. Keeping in mind that consent cannot be obtained if the person is passed out drunk. So where did “rape culture” and “victim blaming” come from? Well if we’re allowing society to look down on women as “sluts,” then we can’t be surprised when that same society isn’t sympathetic towards them when they are raped.
Back to respect. Respect is essential to stopping “slut-shaming” and the problems that emerge from it. Having respect is having an open mind towards understanding that not everyone’s opinion on sex and how and when to have it is going to be same as yours. Rather than resorting to calling each other names, we should open our minds and our hearts towards understanding people who are simply different than ourselves.
When she was 12 she experienced her first period. She was a Hindu girl studying in grade six. Her parents were well educated and she was grown up with no any difficulties. In her culture, there is a practice of keeping a girl in a dark room for almost 15 days during first menstrual period. The girl can’t see her father and brother. The belief exists that if the girl during her first menstrual period sees her father and brother, she is supposed to be cursed. And same was the case of her. She was not allowed to play with her loving brother, was not allowed to ask for chocolates from her dad.
Her mom told her that every woman goes through this stage on her life. She had no idea about what all is this about. She was curious. She thought of why only women had to experience this annoying shit in their life. But staying in a dark room for hours and hours, she was freaked. She was depressed. She cried a lot. She had pains all over her body. Headache, chest ache, lower abdominal pain used to act upon her together leaving her feeble and difficult in breathing.
On the other hand her school days were missing. She had taken part in a drama in an upcoming Parent’s Day event at school. She was so much excited for that. But she could not attend the rehearsals timely. Later, hearing the news that her character in drama is taken by another, she was broken.
She missed lots of opportunities during those period days. She was cheerless. She was gloomy. No one was there by her side.
Still, she hates being on periods. Every time, she undergoes this period days, body aches start to roll upon her. She can’t concentrate on her studies, on her works. Sometimes she hates herself for being a girl.
http://reproductiverightsunsw.tumblr.com/post/50247350365
Wow! How time flies. I can’t imagine I am year older (again), thought I this morning when I received an SMS from a friend I have long lost sight of. It read thus; “Happy Birthday and many more years” This is a classical birthday message that anyone will send to a friend or even an unknown person, you might be thinking. But this is not the case for me because unlike in the previous years when I will just receive these messages and file, I have this year decided to carefully study these Birthday messages before filing or even deleting and as well carefully look through all the Birthday messages I have been sent at each one of these occasions.
Though written in different styles and strongly influenced by the nature of my relationship with the sender of the birthday message, there is a wish that was omnipresent in all the messages: Wishes of Good Health; which is what my friend’s, “Many More Years” in the above extraction from his birthday wish message to me seeks to express The result of this crazy study revealed to me how much Cameroonians care about their health.
The health of the average Cameroonian, like that of any normal human being in the world, is very important to him/her. What would vary might be the approach to ensuring that they stay healthy and maintain an equilibrium that is necessary for them to live a life worth living. Important as being healthy might be to Cameroonians, they are not unaware of the barriers to staying healthy. Talking about barriers to staying healthy in Cameroon, if you ask any Cameroon what the greatest barrier to staying healthy is, you would likely hear him/her answer ‘ACCESS’.
While it is clear from all indications that access to health is a stumbling block to Cameroonian’s staying healthy, it should be noted that even where these health facilities are available, users complain bitterly of the quality of the services rendered. Thus, it is common place to see a health practitioner sarcastically questioning a teenage girl about the reason for her pregnancy and making fun of her pregnancy by using very insulting and violent language. Worst still, it is common place to get a health practitioner who openly discusses results of the medical test of his/her patients without any sense of guilt or fear. The judgmental nature and lack of confidentiality in Cameroon’s health services is so widespread and across all spheres of society that a government minister recently declared that a journalist who had been tortured to death while in detention had died of HIV/AIDS.
With judgemental attitudes like these from health professionals and lack of confidentiality, no wonder an ever increasing number of pregnant teenagers refuse to go for prenatal checkups. To stay clear of insults and other traumatizing language and behaviours, they thus decide to stay at home with the risks that this carries.
It is high time the quality of health services in existing health facilities be improved so that patients, especially young persons, can have the best possible experience and not be afraid, for instance, to get an HIV test because they are not sure the results will remain between them and the health professionals.
The quality of health services, though often ignored, is an important factor in reinforcing the access of young people in particular and society at large to health facilities and should be considered as such by policy makers and health professionals. The availability of health facilities that have little or no consideration for the quality of the services offered creates more problems than it solves.
As government leaders, policymakers, healthcare professionals, NGO representatives, corporate leaders, and global media outlets gather in Kuala Lumpur to attend the Women Deliver 3rd Global conference to hold from the 28th-31st May 2013, it is my greatest desire that the quality of health services as they are now be carefully studied and appropriate action taken to make them less judgmental, more efficient, and more youth friendly.
Melissa Harris-Perry’s Panel looks at Elizabeth Smart’s recent comments on abstinence-only sex education and whether the policy is effective.
WATCH IT HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty_MA_mrow8
Showing off your style rather quiet or wild: Prom is the day that many seniors look forward to, not just because it’s the last dance but also their fantasies come true. From new dresses and suits to limos and party buses. Although the event may not bring all roses and butterflies, there’s a lot of stress put into prom also.
There’s a stress of finding a date, choosing and matching colors, and figuring out transportation. For females it’s a stress of finding the perfect dress, hairstyles, nails, makeup, shoes, jewelry, and making sure that everything no one has the same dress as you.
“I’m very stressed because … I haven’t found the perfect dress,” senior Shantell Bates said.
Now the stress has increased because of the dress code at the Rooster Tail — where King seniors will be having their prom this year — has to be followed.
For the guys it’s easier because they don’t have much to worry about except their tuxedo and transportation.
“I just got my tuxedo from Men’s Warehouse,” senior Kemoni Johnson said.
It’s not all stressful, though. Many students are looking forward to taking pictures and going out with friends afterward. Possibly getting a room or traveling to another city as some say that might do.
“After prom, I plan on going hanging out with friends, maybe going to Cedar Point or the spa,” senior Semaj Combs said.
So to all the seniors of 2013 that will be attending prom, relax and have fun. It may seem stressful in the beginning but it will get better. By the end of the night all your fantasies will have come true.
You could qualify for FREE birth control (what better way to celebrate National Women’s Health Week?). Find out here and spread the word to your lady friends.
Why is it important to continue the fight for sex education in southern states like Texas and Mississippi?
I joined the Texas Freedom Network and Advocate for Youth’s CAMI program about two years ago. Through training and advocacy work for health and sexual reproductive rights, I became empowered. I began to embrace the role of a young Latina single parent, an activist, and a student. I finally believed that someone like me could fight for change instead of waiting for someone to do it.
When I became a young parent in Brownsville, Texas, I knew that it would be too difficult to break the cycle of poverty I was raised in. When I found out that I was pregnant, I criticized myself. In the Valley, I grew up with the negative stigma that pregnant teenagers would not obtain a post-secondary education and live off of government assistance. Immediately, my mother told me that I needed to continue with my education and I did. However, I did not know what my path was. I just knew that I needed to obtain a degree to not live in poverty.
After four years of sleepless nights, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Government. I was accepted to Teach for America and will be teaching high school social studies in a rural area in the Rio Grande Valley. I finished the first phase of my life at 22 years old and with a three year old and with the help of my family, friends, and government assistance.
Several factors helped me accomplish many achievements.
1) My daughter, Frida, has been my motivation to work hard in everything I take on.
2) Activism has empowered me to embrace my identity as a strong Latina single parent and help others by changing the negative stigma of young parents. This includes the network of activists that have supported me for two years now.
3) My mother and younger sister have helped greatly by caring for Frida.
I set out to write this post for several reasons. First, it was to provide a better evaluation of what it takes to attend college while being a single parent. The process of completing my work was extremely difficult. Many times, I found myself waking up at two or three in the morning attempting to finish my homework because that was the only time where I could concentrate without the sounds of toys. I did not want to wake up but I knew I had to. Of course, many times I wanted to give up and I sacrificed completing many assignments because of the circumstances that I encountered as a young parent.
I do not hope to become a spokesperson for all young Latina mothers. I hope to inspire them. I hope to set the example that no dream is beyond reach. I could have made many excuses to not complete my responsibilities as a student but I decided not to because I had made a commitment to obtain an education. If there is anything that I want people to know, it is that yes there are many barriers but you decide where you want to be in the future and you choose your path to get there. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.
My name is April Flores and I beat the statistic.
“Sadly, real or perceived controversy keeps schools from providing young people with the information and skills they need to become sexually healthy adults. Just like other topics taught in school, sexuality education should be developmentally appropriate, sequential and complete.
Irrational fear – the cultural belief that teaching young people about sex will cause them to have sex – keeps administrators and educators from doing what they know is best: providing young people with developmentally appropriate, sequential and honest sex education. Never mind that 30 years of public health research clearly demonstrates that when young people receive such education, they are more likely to delay sexual initiation, and to use protection when they do eventually become sexually active, than those who receive no sex education or learn only about abstinence. Withholding information about sex and sexuality will not keep children safe; it will only keep them ignorant.
Ninety-five percent of all Americans have sex before marriage. About half of all young people begin having sex by age 17. Providing a foundation of quality sex education is the only way to ensure that young people will grow into sexually healthy adults. It can augment what children learn at home and combat misinformation learned from peers or found on the Internet. Porn is not the best way for teenagers to learn about sex, but it will fill the vacuum when sex education is politicized and withheld from our classrooms.
Quality sex education should start in kindergarten. Early elementary school students need to learn the proper names for their body parts, the difference between good touch and bad touch, and ways in which they can be a good friend (the foundation for healthy intimate relationships later in life). Fourth- and fifth-graders need information about puberty and their changing bodies, Internet safety, and the harmful impact of bullying. And seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders are ready for information about body image, reproduction, abstinence, contraception, H.I.V. and disease prevention, communication, and the topic they most want to learn about: healthy relationships.”
Media is considered as the strongest means of communication to the audience. We get lots of information from the means of media. At the same time media is also making the young generation violent. The program showing the violent source in the media is making the long term effect in the mind of the young generation. The higher levels of viewing violence on television are co-related which influenced certain of aggressive attitude and behavior. It is difficult to prove that the media violence leads to real life violence. Media violence may not make people violent but it may teach them that violence is a normal way of solving problem.
Youth are emotionally unstable and lacks the cooping mechanism which comes in the form of suicide, murder and other abnormal deeds. Recent incident seen in Nepal is the practice of throwing acids on the face of girls. These type cases are found especially in youth in the case of failure in love. When the failure or rejection is not cooped by the individual they try to harm the one who is responsible. This type of incident was rarely seen in Nepal but nowadays due to the reason of media on which such nasty cases are shown, youth are following the foot steps shown in media to show their frustration and anger.
Jamaica has done it again. In an effort to turn the volume up against the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country, renowned vocalist and actress Sheryl Lee Ralph was introduced as the newest ambassador to help in this venture.
The Ministry of Health was instrumental in inviting the Jamaican born now Hollywood star to get on board and had a launch on Tuesday April 23, 2013. This reception saw several stakeholders attending to welcome the CEO of Diva Foundation – Lee Ralph.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson was very keen in his greetings and stated that “The disease was seen as a death sentence, no longer today as we have ART and support from Global fund, World Bank and PEPFAR. We now need to see how we can sustain these improvements with HIV/AIDS. Jamaica is amongst the first country to be looking at sustainable study in regards to HIV/AIDS.” He further went on to say that there is unity with the political parties, civil society and private sector and therefore nothing can stop us now. “HIV/AIDS as a developmental issue must now be treated in that way.”
Ms. Denise Herbol, Mission Director of USAID uttered firm words and reinforced that Partnership amongst all sectors will help us to achieve an AIDS free generation.
The JaBCHA Foundation was one of the key partners’ at this event and its Managing Director, Mr. Earl Moore beckoned that stigma still exists, especially amongst church people. “Private sector is not doing enough and again I will emphasize the churches are not doing enough and it is embarrassing.”
AIDS Healthcare Foundation was in attendance as well and its Southern Bureau Chief, Mr. Michael Kahane brought greetings from his organization. “This country is blessed with the willingness to accept new ideas. As the largest HIV/AIDS organization in the world we are happy to be on board with Jamaica.”
Ms Sheryl Lee Ralph with her melodic singing began her presentation “I am an endangered spices … I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs.” “Jamaica now is the time, you saw us light that fire earlier, you should take action and start talking about sex. We are going to love our children more by talking to them about sex and inform them about abstinence. We can and must do better when it comes to HIV/AIDS, it is everyone’s problem. Get involve, get inform, get proper information. I talk about condoms too, use them! I know you are saying it doesn’t feel good, well HIV doesn’t either. The number one reason most persons don’t talk about their status is because they don’t know their status. “Get tested!” 15-49 age groups are carrying the burden of this disease. “Get tested!” “I love you, God does not make mistakes.”
Ashe ensemble did performance from beating of drums, singing and dancing and had those in attendances wowed by the high energy that they end on and showed that young people are indeed creative and can make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
This is truly a step in the right direction for Jamaica as it increases awareness on HIV/AIDS. People should become inform and stay in the know. There should be no more stigma and discrimination towards people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
I had the privilege of attending Jamaican Parliament on the day that the current Minister of Finance presented the budget for the 2013/2014 financial year.
My views:
In general, it shows that there are minimal, but positive trends for the economy in future, and a wide range of strategies will be employed to improve Jamaica’s economic performance in the coming years.
Implications for youth:
I was very disappointed at the little reference that was given to the role that youth would play in the execution of our island;s master plan, however I have to commend the minister for the provisions that will be made for entrepreneurship, and skills building for young entrepreneurs.
Health-wise, I was even more disappointed. Youth health was neither mentioned in the budget of the Minister of Health, nor under the budget for the Minister of Youth and Culture. Yes, I understand that youth will fall under some possible breakdown under the allocation of funds, but it would be pretty nice to know if any of the funds in the budget were allocated to youth. Of course, this will help us in our advocacy, ad in seeking funds and sponsorship for carrying out our advocacy work regarding Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
I think now even more, we need to arrange and successfully enter a meeting with both the Minister of Youth and the Minister of Health to see what the plans are for us, how we fit in, and what our role is.
With each new year (financial and otherwise), comes increased challenges in getting financial support for projects and initiatives. This year, we need to ensure that we confront the government and make appeals for funds to be specially allocated for youth health initiatives. No amount of planning for growth and development will succeed if there is not a healthy batch of young people to work. It’s our right and our duty. Let us act.
Transgender women are the fastest growing population of the HIV-positive. The National Institutes of Health came out with a report, noting that almost a third of transgender Americans have HIV. Trans women of color specifically are at a greater risk than their white sisters. Through a survey, it was found that 56% of black trans women have HIV. The 2009 study from NIH also noted that many transgender women may not even know their HIV status. With an alarming statistic like this, we have to wonder what’s causing it.
When individuals are thrown into social injustice, it can be difficult to escape from. Trans women are profiled and disproportionately targeted and arrested by the law enforcement. The police will try to use condoms as evidence of sex work, so trans women face the “choice” of keeping themselves and their partners safe or getting arrested. When they’re forced into jail, trans women are often housed with male inmates or they are put into solitary confinement, as if either path is any better. Sex workers are generally more likely to be HIV-positive than those who are not engaged in sex work, but because of the disproportionate targeting of trans women, trans women sex workers’ risk for HIV is four times greater.
While sex work is a valid way of meeting financial needs, some trans women turn to it as an option because of discrimination in employment. In most of the United States, it’s completely legal to turn down or dismiss a person based on gender identity and sexual orientation. People can even be denied housing or become evicted because of their gender identity and orientation. This leaves a dangerously negative and significant impact on their economic well-being and safety. It also makes it difficult for trans women especially to keep up with their hormonal therapy, since it’s often not covered by insurance, if they can even pay for that insurance with what the circumstances are. With lack of access to basic health care, many incompetent doctors, clinics, social stigma, and overall institutions that discriminate against trans women, especially those of color– it’s all a very nasty formula expressing why trans women are hit so hard with HIV.
So, what can we do to help? Trans people are often absent from public campaigns for sexual health and safety. We can start by including them into that, and into many of our discussions and campaigns of social justice as well. We could get trans-specific in our literature in safer sex guides. We could also set up community centers as a safe space for trans people and create some peer groups, which would be strong social networks and a good use of peer outreach for safer sex and HIV testing. And of course we could and should create social support and do our part to de-stigmatize our trans brothers and sisters. Look up a local or national activist organization today.
Child abuse is one of the saddest and most tragic problems in Nepal and is alarming as cases are often kept undercover and are rarely reported. There are three types of child abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Child abuse is a serious problem that plagues Nepalese youth and should be stopped. Most child abuse happen to children under the age of 18 and the abusers could be anyone from the parents to the siblings or even babysitters and neighbors.
Currently, it is estimated that 45% of the children are the victims of sexual abuse, out of them, 6:1 female child and 4:1 male child are sufferers. According to CWIN, 64% of the cases of children below 16 years were recorded among the incidents of sexual abuse in Nepal.
Since the fate of the nation relies upon the youths, and it is their duty to care for the younger ones and support the elderly while carrying the entire nation on their shoulders, we all must work together against child sexual abuse and provide a safer environment for every children where they can enjoy their life liberally.
Child abuse cannot be uprooted very quickly. This certainly invites social disasters, failures and ruins the children’s life. It’s everyone’s duty to uproot this social evil to enhance the prosperity of the children and their life.
By
Kamal Gautam
Nepal
Tennessee state lawmakers decided to pass a resolution this week. Before I tell you what the resolution was, let me give you a quick background on how Tennesee deals with its social issues. The bills that have been introduced in this state include: school prayer, fines on students who have saggy jeans, public displays of Christianity’s Ten Commandments, public access to the names of doctors who provide abortions, and the most “popular” is the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill which would prevent teachers from ever discussing homosexuality. Tennessee has also pushed the education system to teach the “controversies” of evolution and climate change. This state has also made an attempt to deal with its high teen pregnancy rates by restricting discussion in sex education, in fear that a truly comprehensive lesson might be arousing to the teens.
The latest endeavor has the state of Tennessee set to celebrate “Traditional Marriage Day” on August 31st, after passing a resolution to dedicate such an observation on the date. Gay rights activists are pushing against this measure. They declared that August 31st should be called “Tennessee Marriage Equality Day” instead. Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project suggested that these two different advocate groups have similar goals. He was quoted saying, “We’re not opposed to traditional marriages, but we believe traditional marriage is for everyone.”
Now in the “Traditional Marriage Day”’s defense, advocates for the measure claim that the day is merely about pointing out the economic benefits of getting married, hoping that more couples would be encouraged in doing so. It surely has nothing to do with stigmatizing and railing against marriage equality. No, of course not. Yet the official written resolution itself quotes the Christian Bible and in a clear statement says that marriage is to be “expressed only between a man and a wife.”
This is strange. If “Traditional Marriage Day” was simply about encouraging couples to get married and enjoy economic benefits, then why should same-sex couples be prohibited from doing the same? And isn’t every day pretty much Traditional Marriage Day then? I mean, especially in Tennessee where a state constitutional amendment was passed in 2006, banning marriage equality. This measure was supported by 81% of voters and since then, Tennessee has seen little progress on this issue. But activists are still fighting.
Check out the Tennessee Equality Project’s Facebook page and proclamation!
For years it has been argued that the Caribbean family structure is one that is “unstructured”. This may be the result of us having diverse and always-emerging family patterns. The nuclear family is seen as ideal by many, but when you look at our reality there are many single-parent families; in most cases headed by the mother. What impact does this have on our youth development?
Needless to say, there are many impacts this may have on youth development. The positive side is that these single-parent homes may impact the children in a way that they may want to be the agent of change for their families. They, therefore, push to be the best in all they do to achieve their highest potential and ultimately become the star of that family.
The negative is that most mothers within single-parent families may be weak and are yet to develop assertive parenting skills of which their child or children may take advantage. This is indeed sad, as these children basically become their own parents and do whatever they like because there is no authoritative figure in their lives. These children may become a part of little cliques and succumb to negative peer pressure of substance abuse and start engaging in risky sexual encounters.
While we want to encourage nuclear family practices in our society, it must be noted that people will, in most cases, go against the norm. So even the growing practice of females becoming liberated and having children on their own, without a male being directly involved, must be taken into consideration.
We should be facilitating youth development at the community level through social groups, youth information centres, after-school programmes, and counselling intervention to address some of the issues that may arise with regards to these youths.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
Transgender Woman Arrested for Exposing Breasts, Jailed With Men
Trigger warning: transphobia
A transgender woman from New York was arrested in Savannah, Ga., last week for allegedly exposing her breasts, reports Savannah’s WSAV. But when deputies booked Ashley Del Valle, 38, she says a nurse examined her genitals, and determined that she was “technically a male.” As a result, Del Valle was placed in a holding cell in the men’s prison ward.
“I also came to realize that the focus on personhood ignores the fact that a zygote, embryo, or fetus is growing inside of another person’s body.”
| — | Libby Anne, “How I Lost Faith in the ‘Pro-Life’ Movement” |
This is really important to consider. You absolutely can advocate for a zygote, embryo, or fetus. But understand that in doing so, it subsequently infringes on the rights of the person this being resides in.
Giving a fetus personhood is not equality. No one currently has the special right of using another’s person body without constant consent.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights have filed a lawsuit to block an Arkansas law banning abortion care after 12 weeks from going into effect.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe had vetoed the extreme measure in March, citing concerns that it violated Roe v. Wade and that subsequent legal challenges would prove “very costly to the taxpayers of our state” as the “costs and fees [of defending an unconstitutional law] can be significant.” The Legislature overrode Beebe’s veto in March.
The suit seeks a preliminary injunction against the law, which is set to take effect in July.
“This law is one of the most dangerous assaults on women’s health that we’ve seen in decades,” said Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “We may not all agree about abortion, but we can all agree that this complex and personal decision should be made by a woman, her family, and her doctor, not politicians.”
And not just women, of course. Everyone is entitled to reproductive/sexual healthcare and rights.
Read more here: http://www.salon.com/2013/04/17/arkansas_abortion_ban_faces_legal_challenge/
When debating whether a fetus’s “right to life” trumps a woman’s “right to choose” — or whether the news media has paid enough attention to the trial of a Philadelphia doctor who allegedly killed seven babies born alive during late-term abortions, as well as a pregnant woman — Americans are bitterly divided on abortion. Before abandoning facts for rhetoric, let’s tackle some misunderstandings about this procedure’s history and impact.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-abortion-rights/2013/04/18/bd53c884-a5e5-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_story.html
Remember to always reduce, reuse, and recycle.
And maybe start some eco-feminist discussions?
Enjoy some Captain Planet.
Gonna take pollution down to zero.
When I was small maybe of 8 or 9 years old, I used to stare at clocks and watches. I used to think how does that minute hand and hour hand move around 360 degree angle with such unnoticeable movement. I always saw the second hand doing tick tock but rarely saw the other hands moving but yet TIME ROLLED ON!!!
It took thousand and thousand years for humans to turn into intelligent, social and civilized species on earth but it did not take few decades or centuries for humans to turn into materialistic, self-oriented devils, might be these existed in paralleled manner with civilization long back, but TIME IS STILL ROLLING ON.
Now many things have changed, more advancement, technologies, social media are flourished all over in a speeding phase. New products, unimaginable creations, discoveries, inventions, innovations now exists for real. But humans seems more like robots, women are treated as sex objects, some are victimized, others commit the crime, men are always the winner, everyone is in the battlefield competing, arguing with one another, everyone wants to be the best. But TIME WILL STILL ROLL ON.
Its all about time and it is said it waits for none. But one thing is true time always give us chance to correct things unless we are late in doing so. We can correct ourselves, we can change the world and make it a better place to live. HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!
By
Isha Karmacharya
Nepal
In a society where the growing population of youth is unstoppable, there remains a huge problem concerning the employability of some young people. They are encouraged to venture into tertiary studies and then enter the world of work, which most ambitious young people strive to do.
It was recently brought to my attention that a young graduate of a prominent university after showing up to an interview was rejected solely base on his age. This is scandalous and should not be accepted within our society. Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age should not be the reason to reject an individual for employment especially a young person. How will these individual get the necessary experience they so desire if they are not given the opportunity to show the skills and abilities that they have garnered?
The Jamaican society is not doing much to engage and keep young people active and wanting to be a part of nation building. Young people are within their most productive years and can do so much for the population and aid in development. However, if there is no enabling environment for this then these young people will seek to find greener pastures. These greener pastures promises much more opportunity and then without a doubt the quota for brain drain will increase.
Don’t deny us from becoming a part of the working class because we are young. We want to make a contribution to the development of this nation. For every young person a decent job is a means through which they can become fully independent. Having young people employed will lead to sustainable development and more productivity as they would have entered in the workforce as a skilled professional and is expected to move up the ladder over a period of time.
When young people are deprive from entering into the workforce the worst case scenario is that they will turn to drugs, crime and violence and may become more vulnerable and susceptible to disease.
There need to be polices that speaks to youth employment opportunities both within the private and public sectors in order to address the growing problem of employers not wanting young people being in their organization.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
Restrictions Will Force 40-
Year-Old Abortion Clinic To
Close This Weekend
Last week, Virginia’s Board of Health voted to finalizeunnecessary regulations that will force many of the state’s abortion clinics to shut down. Those new restrictions — which are known as the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, or TRAP laws — are already having their intended effect. Hillcrest Clinic, which opened to the public just nine months after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion services, will be closing its doors this weekend.
DOWNLOAD THE EARTH DAY OF ACTION TOOLKIT HERE
What do reproductive and sexual health have to do with the environment and Earth Day?
A whole lot.
When we think of Earth Day, visions of green recycling signs and oceans often come to the forefront of our minds. But today’s environmental issues run much broader and deeper than just our recycling bins and waterways.
Natural disasters and resource shortages hit impoverished communities first and worst. With women making up an estimated 70% of those living below the poverty line, they are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. This increased vulnerability for women and girls is oftentimes manifested in high rates of maternal mortality, pregnancy complications, and poor overall reproductive health. This is just one example that illustrates the intersection of reproductive health and the environment.
In our own backyard in the United States, low-income communities and communities of color bear the greatest burden of environmental injustice.
Take Mossville, Louisiana as an example.
The small, rural, and predominantly African American town became the site of the highest concentration of vinyl plastic manufacturers in the US, in addition to housing a coal-fired power plant, oil refineries and other chemical production facilities.
Together, these facilities produce more than 4 million pounds of carcinogenic toxic chemicals that end up in the soil, air and water of Mossville. This community’s exposure to these toxins has resulted in grave health impacts, from high incidences of asthma to a cancer epidemic.
It is not a coincidence that these toxic plants were built in a lower-class community of color and not a place like downtown Washington, DC, a place populated by people of privilege and significant socio-political power. Mossville, Louisiana is a clear cut incidence of environmental racism.
Another alarming instance of environmental and social injustice happening right before our eyes has to do with toxic chemical exposure.
Mounting scientific evidence reveals that chemicals in our air, water and everyday products—from our furniture to our personal care and cleaning products—are harming our reproductive health and fertility. This is frightening news for those of us that are planning big spring cleaning extravaganzas or like to paint our nails every few weeks. But what about if you clean houses for a living or work in a nail salon? Your exposure to toxic chemicals is likely to be constant and severe.
Women of color and immigrant women are overrepresented in professions that entail extreme and dangerous exposure to toxic chemicals.
Again, it’s not a coincidence that low-income women of color are disproportionately burdened by toxic chemicals through their jobs.
This is why we must take action this Earth Day and raise our voices in support of the Safe Chemicals Act, a piece of legislation that would make the 84,000 chemicals in commerce today safe for use by all consumers, but most importantly, communities that are disproportionately harmed by toxic chemicals.
How You Can Take Action on Earth Day:
As advocates for young people’s sexual health and rights, many may not think of us as having a stake in the immigration reform game. But in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The health and wellbeing of young people both within and outside our borders, regardless of immigration paperwork, is of the utmost importance to our organization. While we may not take a stand on every issue in immigration reform, there are a few that rise to the top—some of which were included in the Senate’s Gang of Eight bill, and others which were left out.
The Good
In 2010, Advocates for Youth stood strong with DREAMers (undocumented youth) across the country and had our hearts broken when the Senate voted down the DREAM Act, which would have given young people who arrived in the United States as children a pathway to citizenship. In the current bill, DREAMers who arrive to the United States before the age of 16 and who have completed high school in the United States can apply for a Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status and move more quickly through the process to become citizens. There is also no age cap to this provision.
Currently, those who apply for asylum in the United States have one year to do so. The current bill would lift that extremely short deadline which would help reduce the burden of those needing asylum in the United States, many of whom identify as LGBT and are coming from countries that persecute these communities.
Many of our families have had members who were deported for low-level offenses, simply because they were without papers. As a result, they are barred from re-entering the United States for extended periods of time, even if they have children here who are citizens. The current bill gives those who have been deported with family still in the United States the ability to apply for RPI status.
Too often individuals, and especially those who identify as LGBT, have been abused in immigration facilities. This bill would provide training and resources on appropriate use of force, individual rights, and cultural sensitivity.
The Bad
Because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex couples do not receive the same benefits of heterosexual couples when it comes to sponsoring a spouse from another country. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would have resolved this situation, but unfortunately it was left out of the bill.
For those that gain RPI status, they will not have access to public benefits like Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program or food stamps. For the 11 million undocumented people who now will have a pathway to citizenship (yay), that 13-year process could mean no access to healthcare during that time (extra boo). We’ve already had long discussions around the Affordable Care Act about what it means to go without healthcare (from awful health outcomes to additional costs being placed on hospitals), and especially those who would be given RPI status should be able to access the healthcare they need to lead healthy lives.
There is a lot more good and a lot more bad, but these are the issues we’ll be watching closely.
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“A society can be measured by the way it treats its most vulnerable. The three groups that are most vulnerable in any society are: the elderly and infirm, the young; babies, toddlers, school age and adolescence, inclusive and lastly, the mentally ill. For our purpose, vulnerable is the susceptibility of certain groups to physical, emotional, and or sexual injury.” Having established who are considered vulnerable within our society it is clear that these individuals should be highly cared for and protected base on their levels of vulnerability.
However being in the school system for the short period of time that I have been exposed to have shown me that there is little regard to children sometimes. Countless cases of verbal abuse and sexual abuse just to name a few are reported to the office on a regular basis. Children are being denied freedom of expression and this may hinder the child positive growth and development and begs the question, what are the rights of a child?
There are so many organizations that claim they are for the best interest of the child and when we go to the media the things we hear happening to our children is more than outrageous. Is it that we have totally neglected those that will become the future of our society? What really is the best interest of the child?
The child Care and protection act is up for review pretty soon. One will anticipate that the reviews will include more penalties for those who are found guilty of infringing on the rights of the child. For too long have we sat down and quietly allow our children to become victims of sexual, physical and verbal abuse. We must report these cases if known to the necessary authorities for their perusal.
The reports of the various crimes against our children have been alarming and we can tell of what it is by the frequency of what we hear in the media, we just imagine those that goes unreported. Crimes against children 2010-2012 {Murdered 2012-41, 2011-55 & 2010-49} {Sexually abused 2012- 766, 2011-912 & 2010-768}. What kind of society are we living in? How is it that so many of our children are impacted negatively by other members of the society. It is time we hold people accountable for these actions. Enough of the beauty talking and start doing real work with our children.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
Trolling seems to be the new thing on Twitter and facebook there are several facebook pages dedicated to trolling and trolling alone but how far is too far?
Trolling is defined by “about.com” as “Named for the wicked troll creatures of Named for the wicked troll creatures of children’s tales, trolling is purposely sowing hatred, bigotry, racism, misogyny, or just simple bickering between others. Trolls themselves are emotionally-immature users who thrive in any environment where they are allowed to make public comments, like blog sites, news sites, discussion forums, and game chat.purposely sowing hatred, bigotry, racism, misogyny, or just simple bickering between others. Trolls themselves are emotionally-immature users who thrive in any environment where they are allowed to make public comments, like blog sites, news sites, discussion forums, and game chat.”
Cyber Bulling is defined by the Jamaica Gleaner in an article published on July 25, 2012 as: “Cyber bullying is when a child is tormented, harassed or embarrassed by another child through social media. This can have a negative impact, resulting in depression, anxiety, severe isolation and even suicide.”
so u can see how easily go from an innocent joke to bullying, yes bullying a lot of us are guilty of sharing pictures of and “retweeting” tweets that we don’t think are offensive because its funny but what about the individual in that picture or what about the person you are openly making fun of online? do we stop to think about how they feel?
In Jamaica we are a culture that makes fun of everything and everybody we are the first to laugh at you when you slip and fall before we help you up and our online presence is even worse we often dont think when we retweet or share we just do it because its funny and whats surprising is that I’m yet to see a group formed to stop cyber bullying or trolling (maybe i should start one). its sad how we dont think about how our actions affect someone else. lets end cyber bullying.
Almost everybody has a facebook or twitter account but how many of us take the time out to be careful about what we post or share?
there are several risks that come with having any form of social media account and here are a few safety tips that can help you stay safe online and prevent any mishaps like identity theft or even worse a life and death situation.
for more information on online safety please click the LINK below
Only 23% of sexually active teens have been tested for HIV. Are you one of them? Find free or low-cost clinics near you!
A few weeks back I listened attentively to ‘SOS Doctor’, one of the best health programs that be on Radio in Cameroon. As I listened, I got very happy at the great job that Dr. Dion Grace, a member of the National AIDS Control Committee of Cameroon was doing to educate Cameroonians on anti-retroviral drugs. She eloquently and insightfully answered every one of the questions that were posed to her by listeners who called-in and am sure her intervention in the program was a timely one. Everything was fine until when a listener called-in to ask what is it that could be done to reduce stigma on people who are on anti-retroviral drugs. Dr. Dion as usual gave a very insightful answer to this question going as far as citing the example of Ivory Coast where the drugs are put in anonymous packages so that they can be taken by patients without fear of stigma by the people around them. She went ahead to cite cases where some special containers of various doses is been used in some countries to reduce stigma. This was quiet interesting to know, but when she started advising people on anti-retroviral that they could tell people around them that they are taking vitamins or pills in order to avoid stigmatization I grumbled the following to myself: Do I have to be so ashamed of my status that I have to lie to others?
I have no statistics on this but I can assure you that having to lie on your HIV status is the order of the day in Cameroon especially amongst young people to avoid stigma and discrimination. Well, this to an extend is understandable given that People Living With HIV/AIDS(PLWHA) are considered as being punished by God for either their sisns or those committed by their family. But when telling a lie to avoid stigma is a behaviour that is reinforced health professionals, I have reservations and clearly doubt how efficient this approach could be.
I am utterly convinced that a problem can only be solved if its root cause(s) is/are carefully tackled. As a young person living in a society where most PLWHA are young persons, I compare telling a lie on your HIV/AIDS status to survive to deliberately refusing to tackle the problem from it’s source and launching an attack on its leaves instead.
To reduce stigma in the most sustainable way possible, education rather than lies is required.Young People, their families, and the communities in which People on anti-retroviral drugs have to be educated on the dangers of stigma and on the importance of accepting PLWHA. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations’ Secretary-General, vividly spelt out society’s responsibility to PLWHA when he declared that, “We can fight stigma. Enlightened laws and policies are key. But it begins with openness, the courage to speak out. Schools should teach respect and understanding. Religious leaders should preach tolerance. The media should condemn prejudice and use its influence to advance social change, from securing legal protections to ensuring access to health care.”
Lies do nothing but contribute in amplifying the myth around HIV/AIDS in the Cameroonian society. People on anti-retroviral drugs do not need to lie on their status to survive stigma, they need to accept themselves as they are and deserve the care and protection that every other human being is due by the society in which they live.They deserve to live a real life and not a life of lies.
Hello World ,
It is I again. This will be my second and last picture post for the month… as I certainly would not want it to appear as If I am cheating the system 
. But I got this picture through an email and I wanted to share it. It summarizes the U.N developmental goals.
The U.N developmental goals become accrued in 2015; which is 2 years from now. How have we been doing? Are all our goals met? If not.. how much further do we have to go to meet them. What is the next step? What does post 2015 look like? These are some of the questions our policy makers and leaders of the world are asking themselves now. These are exciting times my loves… If you have not been involved in social activism yet… now is a perfect time to get on board and help get the ball rolling.
To aid in your social activism thrusts, I also want to share with you one of the best kept secrets on the internet. It is a new social media platform called merit hub. It is described by one of the users as a “niche facebook”. That is.. it is like a facebook for social activists like our selves. What is even more exciting is that this site facilitates a competition known as the “Your Big Year” Competition where one social entrepreneur is given the opportunity to travel the world and be a global ambassador for one year 
. The link is below. Go and check it out now!! .. what are you waiting for? I have joined and I’m positively addicted
So go ahead world. Get involved… I will return to blog on serious issues in my usual slightly sarcastic manner.. at a later date. Till then.. later
<3 kevz
Are you a young person (14-24 years old) who is:
So recently mother found “a little something” in my room,my toy and I am not ashamed. Yes, I admit I felt a little bad for making her upset. However, I’m a young adult, this is my life, and I see it as a responsible way of safely satisfying sexual urges. Exploring ways to engage in safe sex can be very fascinating. There are so many options, and there is something for everybody. I had to explain to my mom that it is a new day; our generation is not so closed up about sex, and sexual relationships as compared to her generation and that of my grandparents. Sex is not taboo, and as long as I’m being responsible, I have the right to engage in any kind of safe sex that that I want to. What applies to me, applies to you….as long as you’re being responsible, explore and do what works for you! Why? Because however you explore, SAFE sex is the BEST sex!! For more information on sex, sexuality, and sexual relationships visit our website at www.advocatesforyouth.org.
I am 18 years old; the turning point away from childhood and the dawn of adulthood. I am an adolescent… or as my mother is quick to point out an “Adult with less sense”. I am mentioning these facts to set, what I believe to be, a suitable premise upon which to start my discourse on what I have been observing (during my almost two decades of existence) on the Jamaican social landscape.
Over the past few years, I believe it is safe to say that women in Jamaica have been moving in leaps and bounds to attain what is viewed in the public eye as a definition of “success”. Women are now attaining tertiary level degrees and are in many top managerial positions across corporate Jamaica. In fact, it is now observed that an overwhelmingly large percentage of graduates from the University of the West Indies (Mona) are females with 83% of those attaining first class honours being women (2006). Now while I applaud my fellow oestrogen endowed counterparts for achieving such feats, I am also a bit worried (among other things) what impact this will have on the male to female relationship dynamics in the future (or it may very when be in the present as this trend has been happening for some time now).
What I have been observing is that as a result of the success of our nation’s females, the amount of successful males which are being produced are significantly less in comparison. A simple correlation to the principles of supply and demand denotes that when an item is in short supply, what often results is excess demand. The result of this is what I term, the scarcity of the successful Jamaican male.
This, I believe has several implications for the young, hopeful successful female who seeks to engage with an individual of the opposite sex who is equally or even more so successful than herself. I have summarized these points as follows:
1.) The female may have to open her options to include other items which are in greater supply (i.e the “Average Jamaican male” … which in comparison to the “average male” in more developed countries, can be renamed as “the less-than-average-male”)
2.) If the female is undaunted and still continues to pursue the scarce successful Jamaican male, she often has to endure high levels of cockiness and conceit. After all, excess demand pushes up price… or in this case “ego”.
3.) If the females decides to explore international markets for this item, this may work out well for her. She should however keep in mind that she will be facing greater competition as there may be females who are a more rounded and attractive package than herself in the eyes of the international market.
I am not seeking to be pessimistic. In fact, I pride myself in being a cautious optimist. In this case however, the gravity of reality has impacted the balance between caution and optimism more in the favour of the former.
I do hope, for my sake, and for the sake of my counterparts who still see a glimmer of hope in the Jamaican male, that the supply of this desired item will increase in the near future.
I welcome any comments, criticisms and bashings with an open mind.
<3 kevz
Disclaimer: This discourse is not the rant of an 18 year old seeking to find a suitable companion of the opposite sex. Instead it should be viewed as unorthodox social commentary.
A day in the life of a 6th form student in a prominent Jamaican traditional high school:
I arrive at school only to find that, my Economics teacher for my first session would be “unavoidably absent” (for the third time this term); my Business teacher arrived half a session late due to yet another urgent matter which absolutely had to be dealt with before coming to class and the classes for the latter part of the day, to the joy of most students, would be cancelled due to the ending of school early to facilitate students supporting athletes at the Inter-Secondary Schools boys and girls championships (popularly known as Champs). It was amazing to notice however that although school ended at 1pm students still loitered until 6pm- it very much defeated the purpose.
It is not my primary intention to make such occurrences seem like the norm; indeed, there are times when I actually have a productive day at school. However it is my intention to point out that days such as these are a reality among many students in Jamaica and that they happen far too often.
The education system reflects the larger problem of inefficiencies within our Jamaican institutions. The school term is often disrupted by external forces (which is arguably understandable) but far more often by internal factors. These factors include excess events and activities which pull students out of class to plan and execute and more so disrupt the aura of learning which a school needs to maintain. Additionally, there are noticeable issues of teacher tardiness and absence which adds friction to the learning process and the absence of continuous and vigilant holistic enforcement of rules through sanctions to deter and diminish deterrent behaviours among students.
It is these examples of inefficiencies which lead me to disagree with the notion of extending the school, year past the 190 days which was presented in an article in the Jamaica Saturday Gleaner on March 2, 2013. If the school year is extended, it still remains that there exists the same administrators…the same teachers…and the same students which operate within the frame work of school year to replicate the same inefficiencies.
It is my view that the resources which would be required to extend the school year should be pumped into correcting the inefficiencies which occur within the educational system and improving the quality of our education system after which these implementations should be monitored to track changes in academic performance. After this is concluded then we can investigate whether it would still be necessary to extend the school year as a means to further improve academic performance.
Extending the School year? … ummm Not about that life..
<3 kevz
If you haven’t heard already, the law makers in North Dakota are pushing for another anti-choice bill. This time it’s an abortion ban on the basis of personhood. If passed, this would effectively give fertilized eggs all the rights of U.S. citizens. And it would cut off abortion care completely. Beyond abortion this bill would also charge doctors who damage embryos in any way with criminal negligence. It also prevents doctors from being able to perform in vitro fertilizations. Now you might be thinking an unconstitutional bill like this couldn’t possibly get passed by Senate or the House, but it did. Shockingly, it passed the House by a vote of 57-35 and it’s currently making its way to the Governor’s desk.
The state’s recent six-week abortion ban is already in direct violation of Roe v. Wade and will bring about several legal costs for taxpayers when challenged. This next measure of a total abortion ban will surely cause North Dakota to face the same results, costing the state more than they bargained for. And how will they pay for these litigations?
During a recent debate between Senator Margaret Sitte and Dr. Kristen Cain about the abortion restrictions and pending abortion ban, Senator Sitte accidentally lets something slip. When asked if these bills will cost taxpayers possibly millions, Senator Sitte unintentionally admits that there are outside interests behind the unconstitutional abortion bans who are willing to spend those millions to make sure people in North Dakota will not have access to reproductive healthcare and rights. Watch as Senator Sitte tries to lie her way out of it.
Watch the debate between Senator Sitte and Dr. Cain!
This abortion ban won’t be a law until Governor Jack Darlymple of North Dakota signs it, and it’s unclear if he will or won’t.
To contact Governor Jack Darlymple:
Office of Governor
State of North Dakota
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0100
701.328.2200: phone
701.328.2205: fax
Two personhood bills — Senate Bill 2303 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 4009 — have already passed the Senate, and the GOP-controlled House is expected to take them upsometime this week. But if North Dakota successfully enacts a total abortion ban, there will be serious consequences for the state that extend even beyond women’s reproductive freedom. Here are five ways the state will suffer under personhood:
1. There will be fewer doctors in the state available to provide medical care. In a historic move for the North Dakota Medical Association, the nonpartisan organization has come out againstpersonhood. The group points out that the anti-abortion measures go too far to “interfere with the physician practice,” and they suspect it will be harder to find qualified medical professionals willing to practice in North Dakota if the state imposes so many complicated restrictions on doctors. Some doctors have already testified before state lawmakersto say they will leave North Dakota if the abortion bans pass.
2. Maternal health care will be compromised. Doctors could becharged with criminal negligence if anything happens to an embryo — which could prevent them from making quick decisions that could help save women’s lives. The tragic case of Savita Halappanavar, a woman who died after being denied an abortion in a Catholic hospital because her doctors were reluctant to provide care that could get them in trouble with the law, highlights the serious consequences of state lawmakers coming between a woman and her doctor.
3. Women could be forced to resort to illegal abortion procedures.Under a personhood law, women will end up resorting to dangerous “backroom” abortions, one former pediatrician warned North Dakota lawmakers last week. That Fargo-area doctor did his medical training before Roe v. Wade, when women were dying of bacterial infections after botched abortion procedures — and he warns that the passage of the proposed personhood measures would pull North Dakota back into “the stone age of medicine.” There’s evidence to back up that claim. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the legality of abortion hasabsolutely no correlation to abortion rates around the world, because women will continue to seek to terminate pregnancies regardless of the law.
4. Women won’t be able to use in vitro fertilization to try to have a family. Ironically, in addition to compromising medical procedures for the women seeking to terminate a pregnancy, personhood measures also place restrictions on the women who are trying to get pregnant. “These bills will stop the practice of in vitro fertilization in this state,” Dr. Stephanie Dahl, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductive medicine specialist in Fargo, explained to lawmakers. Doctors wouldn’t be able to perform any procedure that carries the risk of damaging some embryos, so women would be forced to travel to South Dakota or Minnesota for in vitro treatment, a six-week process that requires multiple sonograms and up to 12 visits to the doctor.
5. The state will become embroiled in expensive lawsuits. North Dakota’s six-week abortion ban already runs afoul of Roe v. Wade, and will certainly invite several costly legal challenges. A total abortion ban would lead to similar consequences. Two personhood bills were recentlystruck down in Oklahoma, suggesting that the courts won’t take kindly to North Dakota’s push to restrict women’s constitutional rights, either. Nevertheless, even the self-proclaimed “fiscally conservative” Republicans in the state are willing to defend their abortion bans on the state’s dime.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/19/1738321/north-dakota-suffer-personhood/
— Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and Kierra Johnson, Beyond Choice: How We Learned to Stop Labeling and Love Reproductive Justice
There are no words to explain the joy you feel when a 8 years old brother comes running towards you when you ring the doorbell of the house. That sheer happiness has no measure when your sister celebrates her 13th birthday with a blush in her cheeks. Oh!! The delight in the face of yours when the 4 years old nephew writes his complete name in the brand new copy you brought for him. That enjoyment when you get a chance to take your 7 years old niece to the ice-cream parlor and let her enjoy the flavor of her choice. How excited they all are about their birthdays, dinner in the good restaurants and vacation trips. How fascinated they are about new dresses, toys and movies. Everyday they have some stories to tell you, be it of their own or their friends or the neighbors. They have countless complains to make. They have equally greater number of demands to be fulfilled. They are the children, they are our own and we love them. We care for them, dream for them, work for them. We laugh, play, pray, plan, let go, hold on, forgive, forget, …… (list goes on) …for them. For the children. They are the heart of our family. They have lighted our world. The children !!
But, when the noun, Children, gets some other tag in front of it the entire scenario changes. For eg. STREET CHIRLDREN !! . What images do we get now ?? What impression do we have for them?? Is it the same as we have for OUR OWN CHILDREN?? No, certainly not. The 8 years old street child, does not rush to open the door. He does not have a home nor any relatives who would knock his door waiting for him to open it and asks for the chocolate as promised on the last visit. Yes, he runs around, rushes here and there but to ask some money. Some money, not to drop in the piggy box, but to drop in the hands of that ‘bicycle repair’ shop for DENDRITE.
The thirteen years old street-girl does not have any idea that she just stepped in teen-age, perhaps the second most beautiful phase of life after childhood. Oh! But she is a street child so the term ‘beauty’ has lost amid the black smoke of the vehicles, rough eyes of the strangers and monstrous hunger. By the time she has blushes on her cheeks, fellow street children rape her and she does not even know what it is. Messed hair, torn clothes, bare foot she stands in one corner of a busy street, (lonely too in some cases) and watches the young girls moving here and there. I have no idea if she understands fashion, but the way she looks at them from top to bottom with a charm in her eyes, I can tell she dreams to look like them some day. Baby girl, please don’t dream. Did you forget that you are a street child ?
What about the four years old child? Don’t worry Sir. Don’t worry Ma’am. We can find street children of every age, within the boundary of UN’s definition for a child or how my country defines. In the street, there is a four year old boy too. He giggles like any other four year old young boys. Though there is no one to cheer his laughter, time and again he keeps on rolling on the ground with utter joy, the joy of getting a Five Rupee note. He made the largest earning in the gang !! …. One day, he woke of early morning. The last night’s supper (dendrite) was not enough for him to make him sleep longer. He saw some parents holding the hands of a boy of his age and taking to school. Forgetting he was a street child, he smiled at the little one dressed well in some good school’s dress and went nearer. He got a good early morning thrash from the father of that neat lad. The dad held the boy in his arms and walked away. This little one, went back to his bed of old rug and cuddles up with the gang.
The seven years old girl of the street world also wants to have ice-cream as your and mine nieces do. She stands near the shop inspite being chased many times, by the owner and the customer. Some workers of the shop abuse her verbally. She feels like telling them, “Wait, I will tell my dad when he returns back home and then he will see you all”. For a while she forgets that she has no home to go to, no dad who his waiting for her complains. Helplessly she stands there. Finally she gets a cone of ice-cream. She runs away with it. Had she been taught to thank, she would have surely thanked them. But what she knows is just something else. She gifts them back all the bitter words she had got while standing there.
Street children they are !!! How horribly the entire thing changes with that one tag!! How bitterly the babbling talks change into cries of agony!! How all of a sudden stories of demons and heroes are exchanged with the packets of dendrites and drinks!! The butterfly dreams get raped in the cold street!! The Barbie looks changes into scary face!! Nothing is good out there!! No one is good!! Mamma!! They dream of you !!
I don’t want to enter into the statistical data on this issue. They are either utterly disappointing or manipulated with one’s interest. Being positive all the time is a disguise actually. But I can try and we all can try. Try to believe that things will turn out good, may be not how we want but the way it should be. Try to understand that they are the ones who were given birth by the Humans and not by the Street. They are our breed. The human breed !!!
Their life(if they have any) would be fairly good if we familiar strangers would always think, “He/She is a human child and has a soul.” !!!!
As a former teen mom and human I could not help but address the questions and worries of the discontent toddlers in the New York City’s controversial anti-teenage pregnancy ads.
Just because I had you as a teen does not mean that you are not capable of doing well in school and graduating high school with honors just as I did.
BREAKING: North Dakota legislature passes nation’s most restrictive abortion law, bans all abortions after 6 weeks
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/15/1724911/north-dakota-six-week-heartbeat-ban/
Steubenville “Rape Crew” Lawyers Argue that Silence is Consent
Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows a few details about this case. A teenage girl was drinking at a party, was drugged, became unconscious, and now two guys are on trial for “allegedly” raping her. (Man, I hate that word.) This particular case caught national attention after the internet crew Anonymous unveiled some of the shady business surrounding the actual case. The self-proclaimed Steubenville “Rape Crew” recorded themselves after the alleged rape, describing that the victim had been drugged, urinated on, and raped. They also took photos of themselves with the victim and tweeted before and after the crime, implying that this assault was premeditated. But apparently being on the Steubenville high school football team puts you on a pedestal, and being the alleged rape victim is a greenlight for a slew of death threats and attacks. It’s another case in which we get a glaring view into sports and rape culture, and how blurred the line can be sometimes.
Originally, the attackers (Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond) were charged with kidnapping. They had been moving the victim from party to party without her consent. I’m sorry to say that those charges were now dropped. In response to the rape charges, the attackers’ lawyers have decided to argue that silence is consent even though the victim didn’t have the ability to say no or yes since she was drugged by her alleged rapists and was unconscious. The lawyers of course wanted the charges dropped completely, but the attempt failed. So, they decided that this was the next best course of action: to argue that she didn’t affirmatively say no. It’s okay. Take the time to move away from the computer and scream.
Here’s a bit of light in this situation: protesters have gathered outside the courthouse, local or otherwise, for #OccupySteubenville and Operation RollRedRoll to support “Jane Doe” and other victims of abuse. They describe their occupation for March 13-15:
This will be a SILENT OCCUPY. There will be NO sound system, NO microphones, NO music, and NO guest speaking. ALL attempts from anyone trying to set up equipment will be immediately shut down. WE must now give Lady Justice, who stands on top of the Jefferson County Courthouse, her chance to speak the VERDICT. In doing so, WE will allow our voices to become…SILENT. Only our signs and banners will speak what’s on our minds. Imagine…hundreds possibly thousands of masks, dressed up, remaining peaceful, while occupying in silence. This will be a MASSIVE Anonymous presence that will speak VOLUMES.
This will be a time of standing united, in our support of Jane Doe, with our Anonymous family. We will enjoy each other’s company and act like family.
This is YOUR chance to be creative and artistic in support for Jane Doe. Let your signs, banners, and shirts speak what’s on your mind. Be Creative. Be Positive. Make the statement that YOU want the world to READ. Imagery is worth a thousand words. Let us not forget that we are a peaceful people and we are here to respectfully and peacefully support Jane Doe. Regardless of the verdict…we will remain calm and we will remain peaceful.
Though some media responses to this trial has brought this case forward and revealed tons of supporters out there, other responses haven’t been the most helpful in ensuring true justice for the victim with headlines and descriptions of the attackers like “the almost-certain demise of their dreams of playing football” and articles like this, heavy with sports glorification and victim blaming.
In the words of SPARK activist Carmen Rios:
“When athletes are accused of rape – and this is not the first or, unfortunately, the last time – often their teammates and coaches will scramble to defend them. That’s wrong. Athletes receiving preferential treatment is not uncommon and is undeniable at schools across this country, and in the case of Steubenville the safe haven of a team ready to go up to bat to defend two rapists has effectively squashed discussion around the central problem of the case: it doesn’t matter who rapes, or who is raped. It matters that a rape has occurred and that it occurred on camera and on the Internet and with great pride and joy from those allegedly involved. It matters that when these boys were publicly scrutinized for this behavior, which is undeniably tasteless and violent behavior stemming from probably equally tasteless and violent attitudes toward women, their teammates and coaches defended them publicly and privately. It matters because the only way people learn is by being told the truth – and the truth is that Coach Saccoccia and all of the Steubenville Big Red team should have stood in solidarity with what is right, and not who they know.”
Let’s hope this trial ends fairly and with great justice for those who deserve it.
Few years ago when social networking had just started to create a niche in the urban Nepalese society, newspapers were flooded with advertisements that offered money for spending certain time on the internet by doing the assigned work. Having recently finished my grade 12 exam and with nothing constructive to , the offer sounded lucrative at that time .I and other two of my friends went over to the address mentioned in the advertisement to learn more. For a menial amount of money they said they would open a blog account for us on which we needed to post on regular basis and make it popular and we would be remunerated as per our activity and its popularity. This was how I first heard the word ‘blogging’. I found it least interesting and never went back to that place again so I don’t know if my blog username was ever created or not. Since then I kept hearing now and then about blogging and its maximum use all over the world but could never understand why it was so popular. Frankly speaking, blogging has always been a neglected activity for me and it kind of irritated me hearing ‘blogs, blogging, blogs, blogging’ everywhere. Every other person from teenagers to adults in the western world seemed to have a blog and I wondered who would be interested in reading a write up that said ‘I wore a red dress yesterday and everybody said I looked beautiful’??
My concept of blogging was that it was a recreational activity done by people who had absolutely nothing better to do (For e.g. Housewives with husband issues, teenagers with boyfriend issues, rich women showing off their luxury goods etc) and the people who actually followed the blogs and commented were no different. I also kept seeing so many blog links on my facebook newsfeed which actually affirmed my previous view on blogging and I thought I had better things to do than write ‘how I loved the way that boy looked at me that day.’
But very recently I was watching CNN news where a big discussion was going on about the Fiscal Cliff in US. And One of the participant in discussion was introduced as a very popular blogger for economic issues and I wondered how come a ‘blogger’s’ opinion be so important that it made to US national news agency? This was the first time I realized that blog could actually be more than a ‘time pass’ and it started catching my interest. My curiosity of the blogging world was finally addressed when I was selected as a member for the Youth Activist Leadership Council (YALC)-2013. My first impression when I heard that regular blogging would be a fundamental activity of all the members of the council was ‘What?? Blogging?? Even here??” But then I smiled and said, “Of course! I would love to do it (Sigh!)” . Finally, YALC Inception training was the real eye-opener when I understood how blogging could be an excellent tool for advocacy and an effective medium to share and hear about various people’s views on the issues of our concern. Also, it actually was interesting to read how people put their heart into writing every sentence and making people who read it feel like it was their own story.
I had definitely formed an ignorant view on blogging. Everyone who blogs does not do it just for killing time (it isn’t wrong eitherJ) but shares a piece of his/her story for people to feel that they are not alone out there. My inadvertence was shutting me from a greater form of globalization. But as it is rightly said that everything happens when the time is right and better late than never! 
So here I am finally taking my first step into the world of blogging. I apologize to all the bloggers for my ignorant views. Please accept me into your community with love and kindness. I hope this will be fun and informative at the same time!
Let the journey Begin!!
Malala Yousafzai is the youngest nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize ever.
In her hometown, the Taliban banned education for women. Malala Yousafzai started writing under a pen name for BBC when she was around 11 or 12 years old, describing the inequities. She appeared on television, has done interviews, has done whatever she could to promote her beliefs, that everyone has a right to an education. Now she’s known as an activist for education and women.
This comic serves as a short summary of what Malala Yousafzai is internationally known for: her courage.
[source: watermarked in image]
From a simple Wikipedia search:
On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus.[17] In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition,[18] but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to a hospital in the United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her,[19] but the Taliban reiterated its intent to kill Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin.[20]
Former British Prime Minister and current U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a United Nations petition[21] in Yousafzai’s name, using the slogan “I am Malala” and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Brown said he would hand the petition to Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari in November. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has announced that 10 November will be celebrated as Malala Day.[22]
Today is the International Women’s Day. Although in the United States, lots of people do not recognize this day since it is not a Federal holiday and it is not a topic that gets too much public attention, in my country—China, it is a national recognized day and people celebrate it by appreciating women’s contribution to the society. On this day, female workers usually get a day off or they will receive gifts from their work places. In recent years, even in some universities, male students will put up banners which have good words and wishes for female students. The whole society comes together to recognize and appreciate women’s contributions. As a result, I want to write a blog on this special day to send my appreciation to those women who fight for sexual and reproductive health and justice.
I appreciate them being so brave. Being able to stand out and voice the demand for sexual and reproductive health and justice as women are hard—especially giving the perception towards this issue in a lot of societies are really negative. I remember when I was talking to someone back home about her work in HIV/AIDS field and she told that she even could not let her husband’s family know since they may question her. And for me, even today my family still not 100% in supporting of my work since there is a belief that a good girl should not talk about sex. As well as in this country, there is always a negative stereotype of sex. So I really appreciate those who dare to stand up and break the silence—whether she is the girl who tells her story of unsafe abortion in front of media and demands contraception rights for Catholic school’s student, or those wonderful female staff members around me in Advocates for Youth who work days after days in promoting young people’s sexual and reproductive health and justices domestically as well as internationally. I want to say thank you for being so brave!
I appreciate them being so strong. Societies always define females as weak and need protection, however, societies should also know that women today are becoming strong and fight for their own fates. In terms of sexual and reproductive health and justice, women are no longer just victims but they become advocates and activists that are changing the unfair social rules. I appreciate my Nigeria friends who work hard to empower local girls as I appreciate my Nepal friends who are changing the culture. I want to say thank you for being so strong!
And I also appreciate them for just being so passionate and awesome. Every time when I talk with an activist, I feel the passion—a passion of selfless devotion and a positive energy of making the change. I also feel the awesomeness, and I really appreciate their power which inspires me and keeps me to also stand up to be the voice for young people’s sexual and reproductive health and justice!
Violence against women
In this new era we must bring all to reduce or even ban violence against women. This must be done at all levels both in partnership with men, women and all actors of society and the world.
As young people we need to use information technologies at our disposal such as social networks to overcome violence against women by making our voices heard and informing the world against this evil practice.
If by social networks we can educate our young people today against the absolute respect of the rights of women, and they are also aware of their role as future man and father, we made great strides in reducing violence against women.
In addition we women we must love each other to stop the violence between ourselves and against ourselves.
Stop cheating, betrayed and all else that might bring us to our sisters hate or would lead to discord, will help us win the bet.
We girls mobilize and unite to reduce violence against women from all social networks we know.
To enrich my blog I suggest you read the following story:
There was once a young married couple who loved and lived in almost perfect harmony, but as each couple had their own problem.
Most immanent problem of this couple was made that the husband complained every time the lack of attention from his wife. Made by the husband was a follower of cleanliness he hated to see things a mess in the house in general, the worst of all was that his wife from a poor background left leg still open after use toothpaste.
The husband in his horror when, after having warned several times without success, this morning or is repeated, he beaten bloody.
Any woman desperate not knowing who to back left the marital home with her baby 3 months.
She died two days later after rain in the paternal home after taking rat poison.
Here is what led to the anger of a single man on the whole family.
He lost his wife forever
Parents are losing their children forever
The child lost his mother and this will surely have a negative impact on its future.
Share this blog I invited everyone that mobilize so that it does happen again, and that day all women is their lip smile now and forever.
Thanks
Les jeunes femmes nigérianes et de la technologie
Le 8 Mars est célébré comme la Journée mondiale internationale de la femme. C’est un jour important où les questions qui ont directement un impact sur les femmes sont portées à la scène.
La technologie est l’utilisation de nos connaissances, les outils et les compétences nécessaires pour résoudre des problèmes pratiques, et d’étendre les capacités de l’homme.
Une femme n’est pas simplement un humain de sexe féminin, mais aussi une personne extraordinaire avec une histoire unique à raconter. Quelle meilleure façon de partager et de dire à ces magasins uniques autres que sans effort en utilisant la plate-forme créée par la technologie.
Sachant comment les jeunes femmes technologie d’affichage donnent un aperçu de la façon de mieux les encourager à utiliser la plate-forme prête que la technologie offre.
Ces derniers temps, il ne sera pas étrange de trouver des femmes avec peu ou aucun intérêt dans la technologie. Cela peut être mis en boucle sur quatre facteurs de base qui ne sont pas seulement propres aux femmes nigérianes, mais peuvent également exister au niveau mondial. Ces facteurs sont les suivants:
Perceptions: Il s’agit du processus d’acquisition, d’interprétation, de sélectionner et organiser l’information sensorielle. Le domaine de la technologie est considérée par stéréotypée des femmes à être intimidant, car il est largement dominé par les hommes. Les femmes peuvent généralement crois qu’ils ont moins de compétences adéquates par rapport à leurs homologues masculins. Cette perception a toujours été transmis de génération en génération.
Auto-efficacité: La croyance que l’on a les moyens d’exécuter les cours des actions nécessaires à la gestion des situations futures. Il s’agit de la perception d’une personne de leur capacité à atteindre un objectif. Dans la poursuite de la barrière tôt causé par avoir une perception supposée, les femmes peuvent constatent rapidement qu’ils sont peu ou pas de capacité de nager dans l’océan de la technologie. En tant que tel, le zèle et l’intérêt de passer de la réflexion à l’action est brusquement arrêté.
L’estime de soi: l’appréciation subjective d’une femme d’elle-même comme intrinsèquement positive ou négative dans une certaine mesure. Il est intéressant de noter que la plupart des femmes qui avaient surmonté le dilemme présenté à l’équilibre entre le travail et avant devant la maison peut avoir fait cela à un certain sacrifice personnel. La société nigériane volontiers embrasser une femme qui est seule vus mais pas entendus. Pour avoir un impact dans le domaine de la technologie, il doit y avoir une volonté d’adopter une estime de soi positive.
Soutien social perçu: La perception et la réalité que l’on est pris en charge, a l’aide disponible par d’autres personnes et que sur fait partie d’un réseau de soutien social. Le soutien social peut prendre diverses formes. Pairs, la famille, les conseillers et les enseignants sont tous des exemples de soutiens sociaux. Le soutien social peut être mesurée à l’appui réel donné, et de la disponibilité de soutien perçu. Malheureusement, une femme moyenne nigériane peut rapidement supposer que la technologie est un domaine dominé par les hommes peut-être pas le meilleur endroit pour avoir un impact.
Les progrès technologiques peuvent être extrêmement obtenu si les meilleurs éléments de notre capacité humaine, ce qui inclut les femmes avec plaisir, de participer. La participation des femmes est donc devenue un enjeu puissant de l’innovation, de la compétitivité et de la durabilité main-d’œuvre. Notre absence continue dans le domaine de la technologie ne peut être mesurée dans la technologie n’est pas créé, les problèmes non résolus, et les emplois non pourvus.
Hmmmm…..
Last week my friend told about the changes she noticed in her body her mum wouldn’t tell her why she had those little changes she came over to my house and I told her to go to a youth friendly service center but she bluntly refused I was so shocked and asked her why, she told me that the service providers are not friendly people and that after the first time she went there she swore she won’t go there anymore.
Common guys our youth friendly services shouldn’t be so disastrous that a young girl would bluntly refuse to go a youth friendly service it should be a place where young people feel comfortable and enjoy going without any fear. A youth friendly service should be full of fun and also educative programs. It was noticed that most of service providers do not have an appropriate and acceptable attitude towards youth who visit youth friendly services. Just recently I attended a meeting in the minimum package for youth friendly services and how we the youth want a youth friendly health service should look like.
We included that fun and games should be used as a bait to attract the youth, good and well mannered of the service providers, well maintained waiting rooms. Standard operating protocols (SOP) to maintain a good ambience for young people – including a clean spacious waiting area, potable drinking water, clean toilets and educational material are in place. Young people feel comfortable when they visit health facility and find the surroundings and procedures appealing and acceptable. There can be youth friendly services in Nigeria without the involvement of youth in the design, protocols and management of a youth friendly center and also identifying the vital role of Women.
Population determines how you receive your treatment, in national hospital people have being treated like a slave most especially people living with HIV/AIDS, and that is not proper. Some doctors and the nurses have no regard for any one. People are just servings, why because no full attention and good treatment due to the high population in the hospital, the parent are paying consultation fees and children are paying while also parent are paying too, if you want to see any doctor you have to pay 500 hundred. Most of the patients who come from a far distance find it difficult to go back to their destination because of poor transportation systems. As a result of this people will have to be there as early as 6 o’clock in the morning but they would not attend to you till in the evening due to their unprofessional attitude, they might even hide your folder because they would not want to attend to you, and ask you to come back to the next week and they will be insulting you on your status. They don’t care, and as a young person that is living positive, facing different types of stigma due to their bad attitude, for example, when I have an appointment with them, I get discouraged because of the way I am being treated. Their attitude towards people living with the virus could make the patients lack the zeal to take their drugs. I also imagine the little children facing the same fate. Even for you to collect your drugs is a problem. The federal ministry of health should do something about it by giving free health care and also by bringing qualifiers doctors and well trained nurses that will have good relationship with their patients, and know how the patients are feeling.
Population determines how you receive your treatment, in national hospital people have being treated like a slave most especially people living with HIV/AIDS, and that is not proper. Some doctors and the nurses have no regard for any one. People are just servings, why because no full attention and good treatment due to the high population in the hospital, the parent are paying consultation fees and children are paying while also parent are paying too, if you want to see any doctor you have to pay 500 hundred. Most of the patients who come from a far distance find it difficult to go back to their destination because of poor transportation systems. As a result of this people will have to be there as early as 6 o’clock in the morning but they would not attend to you till in the evening due to their unprofessional attitude, they might even hide your folder because they would not want to attend to you, and ask you to come back to the next week and they will be insulting you on your status. They don’t care, and as a young person that is living positive, facing different types of stigma due to their bad attitude, for example, when I have an appointment with them, I get discouraged because of the way I am being treated. Their attitude towards people living with the virus could make the patients lack the zeal to take their drugs. I also imagine the little children facing the same fate. Even for you to collect your drugs is a problem. The federal ministry of health should do something about it by giving free health care and also by bringing qualifiers doctors and well trained nurses that will have good relationship with their patients, and know how the patients are feeling.
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!!!!
In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8 March as International Women’s Day. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. For the United Nations, International Women’s Day has been observed on 8 March since 1975.
Worldwide today:
In the face of such unacceptable figures, the international community is strongly committed to change the plight of women.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women” seeks to strengthen international community’s commitment to put an end to violence against women.
As part of the effort the UN leads to fight violence against women, Secretary-Generals Ban Ki-moon’s UNiTE campaign calls on all governments, civil society, women’s organizations, men, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in addressing this global pandemic.
(information adapted from www.un.org please see link below)
http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/
Trailblazers – Celebrating exemplary women in Jamaica
International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Women have fought relentlessly for equality in many parts of the world and continue to fight for this right. For decades, women have fought for and continue to fight for the right to rock the world with their true potential. On the road to this year’s International Women’s Day which we celebrate this Friday, conferences, legislations, blood, sweat and tears have gone into elevating women to where they are today. The Focus of this piece will be on The Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Portia Simpson Miller
The first female to ever lead Jamaica in the capacity of prime minister, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller created history in Jamaica’s political landscape. Simpson Miller was elected as prime minister in March 2006. Serving for a year before her party lost the general elections. in 2007, she again became prime minister after her party, The People’s National Party, won the general election in December 2012. With her political career starting in the 1970s, she has had gained experience managing several portfolios. While serving as Prime Minister, Simpson-Miller retained the positions of Minister of Defence, Development, Information and Sports. She had served as Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sport, Minister of Tourism and Sports and Minister of Local Government throughout the years.
Simpson-Miller was ranked by Time magazine as among its “100 Most Influential Persons in the World” in 2012.Simpson-Miller was named Person of the Year by The Gleaner and Observer in the Gleaner awards 2011.Simpson-Miller is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former female presidents and prime ministers.
The job is not done. Violence against women and discriminations in various forms are still a way of life for many. We have won many battles, but the war is a far cry from being over. until then, before we get back into the trenches, let’s have a mini victory party and celebrate the women who have made it and shown others that it can be done. Tell a woman today how awesome she is, as we celebrate International Women’s Day.
Readers digest: More information about women making great strides in Jamaica can be found on this link. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130304/flair/flair1.html
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
SEE COMPLETE IMAGE:
http://stfuprolifers.tumblr.com/image/44301669632
The Arkansas Legislature has approved the earliest abortion ban in the nation.
And it’s now up to Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe to decide what to do next. If he vetoes the bill, his veto could be overridden by a simple majority in the Republican Legislature as it was earlier Thursday on a similar 20-week abortion ban bill.
The Arkansas Senate gave final approval Thursday morning to the Human Heartbeat Protection Act, which would ban abortions at 12 weeks into pregnancy if a heartbeat is detected, with exceptions for cases of rape or incest, to save the life of the mother or for a lethal fetal condition. The bill now goes directly to Beebe.
Through “fetal pain” laws, other states have begun approving abortion bans at around 20 weeks into pregnancy — such a ban became law in Arkansas with the veto override early Thursday — but this bill would go further, turning Arkansas into the only state to ban abortions that early in a pregnancy.
Abortion rights groups immediately urged Beebe to reject the bill. “This extreme legislation would insert politics into women’s personal medical decisions, and we urge Gov. Beebe to veto it immediately,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.
“Lawmakers in Arkansas are placing women’s lives on the line by passing the most severe ban on access to safe, legal medical care this country has seen in recent years,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.
In vetoing the 20-week ban on Tuesday, Beebe said the bill violated Supreme Court precedent that establishes states cannot limit abortions before viability. That was one of 10 “fetal pain” laws that have been enacted in 10 states, based on the assertion that the fetus can experience pain after 20 weeks. Cases have been filed against such laws in Arizona and Georgia.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/arkansas-legislature-passes-12-week-abortion-ban-88245.html
It passed with votes of 286 to 138.
The NY Times describes the legislation:
The newly passed legislation creates and expands federal programs to assist local communities with law enforcement and aiding victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Most notably, the bill goes further by offering protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse, as well as allowing American Indian women who are assaulted on reservations by non-Indians to take their case to tribal courts, which otherwise would not have jurisdiction over assailants who do not live on tribal land.
And who are the 138 representatives who voted against this?
Here’s the name and shame:
Aderholt
Amash
Bachmann
Barton
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Broun (GA)
Burgess
Campbell
Cantor
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Collins (GA)
Conaway
Cotton
Crawford
Culberson
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Fincher
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Guthrie
Hall
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hurt
Johnson (OH)
Jones
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
Kingston
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lankford
Latta
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCaul
McClintock
Meadows
Mica
Miller (FL)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Perry
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Salmon
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stockman
Stutzman
Thornberry
Wagner
Walberg
Weber (TX)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoho
This is a post by a fellow blogger called BrashBlackNonBeliever. These are her words and feelings about how “pro-life” advocates use PoC, specifically Black women and children, to further their agenda. Some of it will be edited for language censorship.
“I am beyond f****** SICK of these so-called “pro-life” advocates using Black women and children to further their agenda.
Those conservative assholes don’t give a F*** about us when we’re walking this earth, but I’m supposed to believe they give a f*** about Black babies? I’m supposed to believe these motherfuckers actually care about pregnant Black women?!
They don’t give a f*** about Black families in the hood, struggling to live.
They don’t give a f*** about the single Black mothers doing everything they can for their kids.
They really don’t give a f*** about the Black parents on welfare.
No, to them, we’re nothing but welfare queens and wh**** who never should have spread their legs.
Our children are nothing but drug dealers, thugs, or future drug addicts and prostitutes who need to be put down like dogs.
That is, until one of us gets pregnant and they need a new face for their “pro-life” campaign.
Then our babies are “precious children.”
Then they pretend to be worried about the future of the Black race.
Only then do we need to protect ourselves against “extinction” by never having abortions.
Only then do they care oh so much about racism and they seek to warn us about how racist Planned Parenthood and abortions are.
Well I, for one, am completely fed up with their BS. I can see right through them. They don’t give a f*** about Black people and they never have.
Stop using Black bodies as props and pawns.”
http://stfuprolife.tumblr.com/post/43324196733/brashblacknonbeliever-i-am-beyond-fucking-sick
“When I introduce the concept of reproductive justice to new audiences, at lectures or workshops, I always frame it in the same way. I use a really simple exercise, where I draw a stick figure on a piece of butcher paper, or an easel, or a chalkboard. Then I ask the question: “What things in this person’s life will impact their ability to create the family they want to create?” Usually it takes a few minutes for the audience to get going, but within five or ten minutes the result is a stick figure with many, many issues written in bubbles around them. Things like religion, money, environment, language, race, gender, sexuality, laws, incarceration end up surrounding the person.
This activity is a pretty decent illustration of my definition of reproductive justice—it’s working to build a world where everyone has what they need to create the family they want to create. And that work requires incorporating and taking into account all of those items written in bubbles on the diagram, as well as many we probably leave out. Almost always this exercise results in “ah ha” moments, and it’s had a striking universality—from using it with college students to using it in Latina immigrant communities on the border. Reproductive justice is an easier concept to explain in ten minutes than in a two-word soundbite, like pro-choice, but that additional context also allows for so many more of the issues and challenges or our every day lives to be made visible and explicitly included in our work.”
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/02/08/communicating-complexity-reproductive-justice/
“I suspect it’s difficult for men to imagine a world in which their bodies have long been inextricably linked to their value as an individual, and that no matter how encouraging your parents were or how many positive female role models you had or how self-confident you feel, there is an ever-present pressure that creeps in from all sides, whispering in your ear that you are your body and your body defines you. A world where, from the time of pubescence on, you can feel the constant and palpable weight of the male gaze, and not just from your male peers but from teachers and sports coaches and the fathers of the children you baby-sit, people you’re supposed to respect and trust and look up to, and that first realization that you are being looked at in that way is the beginning of a self-consciousness that you will be unable to shake for the rest of your life. Even if they are never verbalized, the rules of bodily conduct for females become clear early on: when school administrators reprimand you for the inch of midriff that shows when you lift your hands straight in the air or youth group leaders tell you that the sight of your unintentional cleavage is what causes godly young men to fall, you learn that your body is dangerous and shameful and that it’s your responsibility to cloister it in a way that is acceptable to everyone else. You learn that your body is a topic of public debate that everyone is entitled to weigh in on, from a male classmate telling you that those jeans make your ass look huge to the male-dominated United States Congress dictating the parameters that rape must fall within to be considered legitimate. To be a woman, and to live life in a woman’s body, is to be held to a set of comically paradoxical standards that make you constantly second-guess yourself and jump through a million hoops in pursuit of an impossible perfection.”
As someone who is Vietnamese and also identifies as being queer, these images really struck a chord with me. I rarely really see backgrounds or faces like my own in the LGBTQ or mainstream feminist/reproductive & sexual healthcare and rights movement, due to lack of representation and exclusion.
So, I’m sharing a few images of queer folks in Vietnam.
This couple of one year (Phat & Minh) are grooming their dogs.
This couple of one year (Vy & Bay) are just relaxing at home, watching TV and snacking.
This couple (Thien and Vuong) works at a wedding studio together and are having some lunch.
They’ve been together for more than five years now. Ly is drying her cat after a bath, and Huyen is trying her new blades.
Hung and Ngan are relaxing at home, listening to some music. They’ve been together for six years.
Consider this a lens into another culture. They’re real people who are experiencing love. They’re just ordinary people doing ordinary things.
Beyond aesthetics, I find these images to be great political statements given the social context.
Check out the photographer responsible for these images!
“Lasting beauty, never fades, embrace your body by using *****”
Advertisements are created with the purpose to convince people that the product is good for use to them. This point must be quick and direct, therefore in most cases these advertisement appeals or sends a sexual connection to an individual. This is done deliberately as humans react easily to sexual details as we are considered to be sexual beings.
The tag line in the first stanza highlights a section in a well known advertisement on television. Within this advertisement, much emphasis is place on the physic of the female body. Thus, in this advertisement it is easy to get a man’s attention to it as the using of women’s bodies and associate getting the woman if he buys the product. It is playing on his instinctive rather than intellectual view of the world. The advertisement spends no time discussing her qualifications for sexual desire — her mere existence is enough. No wonder, why so many of our young man in our society bleaches the skin. The advertisement promises a lighter skin hue and with its high level of sexual connection to the male gender they turn to the product. Then we say as a nation the young men have not found their identity thus they are not comfortable with their sexuality.
“Four men sit alone at the beach. Three beautiful women in bikinis walk by and ignore the men’s invitation to join them. The drink arrives. Immediately, those same women join the men, sitting on their laps or hugging them. Obviously, it was the drink that convinced the women that these men were desirable.”
After a male view this advertisement they are convinced that this drink is definitely going to give them that sexual appeal to woman that they so desire. Thus this advertisement would prove to be effective to the company that is advertising the product. Even though it is sending a false connotation to the male some males may not detect it that easily, as it arouses their sexual senses. No wonder you hear the popular saying “sex sells” in advertising ones business. These advertisers might play on an individual feelings; the desire to be sexually attractive; strong beautiful or healthy; to be a perfect example of masculinity or femininity.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
Jamaica continues to be a country that has a very youthful population and they can contribute so much to national development, but how will this happen if the voices of youth are just swept under the carpet? Unfortunately policies within Jamaica are not youth friendly since in the decision making process the voices of youths are not recognized. While leaders from various organizations around the world are preparing to meet in Bogotá, Colombia from 27 to 28 February 2013 to discuss what is working in their countries towards the Millennium Development Goals, most Jamaican youth will not be a part of this process. What happens after Post MDG 2015 in Jamaica is a crucial period which should see youth becoming more engage in the decision-making process which ultimately impacts on their future. We will never achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Jamaica until youth are being given the chance to voice their concerns.
Former Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton at “Youth Rising,” Tunisia on February 25, 2012 states, “There are underlying dynamics that are affecting young people everywhere- changes in demographics and technology, economics and politics that are bringing together this unique moment in history. Young people are at the heart of today’s great strategic opportunities and challenges, from rebuilding the global economy to combating violent extremism to building sustainable democracies” It is on this premise that it becomes much clearer that input in decision making should be coming from youth to identify unmet needs.
The USAID must be commended on presenting their first policy on youth in development; they have truly recognized the valuable contribution that youth can make in giving of their skills and resources in fostering holistic development in any nation. It is without reservation that I would recommend this policy to be used at its fullest potential within any given society where applicable.
A copy of this policy is available below in the link for your perusal.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
फेरी तेही दिन; फेरी तेही आशु, फेरी त्यो बन्द।। थाहा छ ति बिचरा बिचार र चिन्तनका गरीब मान्छे मेरै समाज बनाउछु भनी लगिपरेका छन। जसले फेरी स्वार्थको कु-राजनितिमा हजारौको गास खोस्दै थिय; कैयौमा नकरात्मक धारणा ल्याउदैथिए। मेरो भन्नु एही छ कि ति निमुखाहरुको निर्णयले फेरी हजारौलाई जिउदै मारेको छ। लक्ष्यनै स्पस्ट नभएका घुसले पेट भरेका ति भुसिया दिमागलाई के थाहा बन्दले कती जिउदालाई मार्छ भन्ने । यो एउटा स्वाभिमानी न्याएप्रेमी जनताको आक्रोश हो; देश र जनता प्रतीको समयएमयता हो। मेरो भनाइ यो होइन कि माग राख्नु गलत हो, तर भोलिका शन्ततिको सन्स्कार झल्काउने यो कुरुती पहिलाउने यो बन्द र एस्को साथ लिने गरीब नेता भनाउदाहरुलाई कुन नेपालीको मनले मान्ला? घिन लाग्छ मलाई जब आफ्नो आस्थित्यो यि निमुखा बिना बुद्धीका युवा सँग दाजिन्छ। युवा को अशिम शक्ती लाई रोडमा ल्यायी तमाशा देखाइन्छ; यो सब जात्रा नेपाल मा हेर्न पाईन्छ। मलाई विश्वाश छ एक दिन इे नेता भनाउद हरुले देश्लाई बन्दको नमुना बनाइ बैदेशिक पर्यटन नेपाल भित्राउने छन। । यो सचो हो कि बन्द हिजोको यथार्थ थियो, आज बाधेत्ता, तर संसार आधुनिक र आर्थिक रुपान्तरन को नारामा चलिरहदा बन्दका सैयौ बिकल्प हाम्रो अघी नै छन। यो त “जस्को लट्ठी उस्को भैंसी” जस्तो भाईगोनित। उस्को त्यो गरीब बुद्धीमा बन्दको बिकल्प छाओस। यो आहिलेको अवस्थाको कारण हो; यो नेपालीको प्रगती नचाहने केही सोचहरु र तिनको समर्थन गर्ने स्वार्थी मानब को देश र जनतालाई देन हो। After all, leadership is not a quality and ability that lies in vested interest; it is art of scarifying for others।
मेरो प्रश्न छ ति गल्लीका भाते कुकुरहरुलाई जो कुबुद्धीका पछी-पछी छणिक रमाइलोका शहभागी छन। मलाई थाहा छ ति कुकुर को घरमा नि चुल्हो बल्दैन तर त्यो भोश्याह बुद्धिले एक गास खानाको र रक्सीको भरमा ति कुकुर को बिबशतमा खेल-वाड गरेको तितो सत्ये हो। यो मेरो मात्र होइन ३ करोड जनाता को प्रश्न हो, म ति आउने युवा नेता भनाउदाहरुलाई एउटै प्रश्न सोध्न चाहन्छु: बन्द को बिकल्प के??? तिमी पनि यस्तै सोच र बन्दको रितमा चल्छौ भने म तिम्रो भ्रमित बुद्धीलाई सुधार्न मेरो पाइला सधैं बढाउने छु। राजनीति, बुढो बुद्धी, अर्काको डाहा, सबैमा प्रयोग भएका ति भ्रमित युवालाई मेरो एउटै प्रश्न: तिम्रो गलत कार्य को बिकल्प के??? ति बोल्नै नपाई सेलाउदै गरेका अर्काको भलाइमा उठेका आवाजहरुलाई मेरो एउटै प्रश्न:तिम्रो आत्मा दाह को बिकल्प के??? ति परिवर्तन संघालेका बिभिन्न संघ-संस्थालाई मेरो एउटै प्रश्न: तिम्रा दृष्टि र लेन्-देनबाट परिवर्तनको सम्बाहक कहलाउनुको बिकल्प के??? ति सुरक्षाको प्रतिनिधित्यो गर्ने, आफ्नो सुरक्षा नभएका सुरक्षाकर्मी लाई मेरो एउटै प्रश्न: तिम्रो डर, भर र विश्वाशको बिकल्प के; टुलु-टुलु हेर्नु को बिकल्प के???? ति अनन्तताको सपनामा होमिएका change maker युवालाई मेरो एउटै प्रश्न:तिम्रा अथक अनी घमन्डी प्रयाश को बिकल्प के??? बुढो र कुबुद्धी का सिकार मेरा युवा साथीररु कतिन्जेल आफ्नो सामर्थ दैनिक गुण्डा-गर्दीमा रोडमा बिताउछौ? न्यायको बाटो मा बोल्ने ओठ, तिम्रा ति निती नियम का कथा को बिकल्प के? ३ करोड नेपाली जनता भनाउदा हो, तिम्रो त्यो गलत भोट को बिकल्प के?
म यही भन्छु बन्द समाधान होइन, यो समस्या हो; तिम्रो र मेरो, हरेक गरीब हाम्रो, एकातिर हामी आर्थिक सम्ब्रिद्धी को सपना देख्छौ, अर्कोतिर, अर्बौको घाटा हुने कर्म। यस्तो अवस्थामा म अचम्म पर्छु यो जनताले नचाहेको, जनाताकै लागि, नेता र कार्यकर्ता द्वारा, जनता माथि गरिने यो भोलिका सन्न्ततिको सराप दिलाउने बन्द को कुबुद्धी कहिले सम्म? आफ्नो आक्रोश्लाई अरुको भोग र प्याश सँग नदाजौ ।।।। राजनीति सबैको अधिकार हो तर जनता कसैका बाउको ठेक्का होइनन। एक पटक को गल्तीमा सधैं जनतालाई बली नचढाये हुन्छ। हिम्मत छ भने नयाँ सोच को राजनीति देखाउ नत्र धर्तिको बोझ नबनेनी हुन्छ। तिमीहरु जस्ता खोक्रो आडम्बरको राजनीति गर्ने चोरहरुले परिवर्तनको फुइ नलाये हुन्छ। श्री पशुपती नाथले हामी सबैलाई सद्बुद्धी प्रदान गरुन।।। जए नेपाल।।।
(See link: http://stfuprolife.tumblr.com/post/42021609348/all-states-except-oregon-now-limit-abortion-access)
The above graph lists all the states and their abortion restrictions. Although, Roe v. Wade gives people the right to abortion, Planned Parenthood v. Casey gave states the right to limit access to abortion without posing an “undue burden.” Even though the World Health Organization has already declared that a restriction or limitation of safe, legal, and accessible abortion leads to a decrease in health for people, specifically women (although we all have the understanding that it’s not just women who are affected by this).
Some states have less than a handful of clinics that can even provide these services and some states simply have unreasonable restrictions that prevent people from getting the healthcare they need. This forces people to travel, sometimes out of their means, to get an abortion. Others seek more dangerous options. Until this changes, there are some things that are helping people right now.
There is a particular page that I have been supporting on my own site (ST*U, Pro-Life) called the Abortion Assistance Blog. This is how it describes itself:
A collection of abortion funds, individuals willing to provide transportation and/or lodging before and after your appointment, and other resources.
This blog is intended to be a resource for people of all genders, races, sexualities, and abilities. If you are offering help, but not willing to help someone based on one of those categories, please say so. Everyone deserves to be safe and supported.
This blog has several links, providing help and information. It lets readers know how they can help or where they can find help. Many people go on the blog leaving contact information or simply letting others know that they could provide transportation, lodging, or monetary support. I recommend to everyone to check it out and share.
It’s just not enough to just say that we support reproductive/sexual health care and rights anymore. It never has been.
Yet another study that disproves that men and women are fundamentally different.
Everyone, throw out your copy of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. That book is a load of crap anyway. Anyone who has taken a gender studies class has known this. Yet the notion that men and women are inherently different still invades our culture. For some reason, people still look at gender as if it’s on a linear spectrum from point A to point B rather than gradations of several variables.
But lo and behold, yet another study backed up by the American Psychological Association delivers another credible opposition against the idea that men and women are so different from each other from how they act and think.
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology analyzes 122 different characteristics from over 13,000 individuals in 13 studies. The Journal is divided into three sections. According to the study, these sections are:
Attitudes and Social Cognition addresses those domains of social behavior in which cognition plays a major role, including the interface of cognition with overt behavior, affect, and motivation.
Among topics covered are the formation, change, and utilization of attitudes, attributions, and stereotypes, person memory, self-regulation, and the origins and consequences of moods and emotions insofar as these interact with cognition.
Of interest also is the influence of cognition and its various interfaces on significant social phenomena such as persuasion, communication, prejudice, social development, and cultural trends.
Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes focuses on psychological and structural features of interaction in dyads and groups.
Appropriate to this section are papers on the nature and dynamics of interactions and social relationships, including interpersonal attraction, communication, emotion, and relationship development, and on group and organizational processes such as social influence, group decision making and task performance, intergroup relations and aggression, prosocial behavior and other types of social behavior.
Personality Processes and Individual Differences publishes research on all aspects of personality psychology. It includes studies of individual differences and basic processes in behavior, emotions, coping, health, motivation, and other phenomena that reflect personality.
Articles in areas such as personality structure, personality development, and personality assessment are also appropriate to this section of the journal, as are studies of the interplay of culture and personality and manifestations of personality in everyday behavior.
“Although gender differences on average are not under dispute, the idea of consistently and inflexibly gender-typed individuals is,” Bobbi J. Carothers of Washington University in St. Louis and Harry T. Reis of the University of Rochester from the study explains, “That is, there are not two distinct genders, but instead there are linear gradations of variables associated with sex, such as masculinity or intimacy, all of which are continuous.”
Click to see the study here!
On Valentine’s Day, I decided to take a ride to LOVE park, where Philadelphia’s One Billion Rising Celebration was taking place.
According to local activist Caryn Hunt:
Today all over the world, feminists – women and men, will gather together in solidarity against violence towards women. In Philadelphia, One Billion Rising will happen at Love Park, at 2:14PM.
The event is the creative juggernaut of Eve Ensler, the feminist activist and playwright best known for The Vagina Monologues. She has traveled the world speaking everywhere as a witness to the misery and horror that women face simply because they are women, and because entrenched patriarchal cultural “norms” ignore or discount violence against women and girls. There is no end to the injustice once you become aware of it. And trust me, at some point, almost every woman on the planet becomes aware of it.
Ensler’s event has drawn some criticism for not doing enough to actually deter violence against women, and for including men. It shows a kind of immaturity to whine about what Ensler hasn’t done, compared to what she has done. That aside, it is an old, old criticism of the feminist movement to slam privileged white women for their efforts to change things for more oppressed female groups.
While I do agree that it does not do enough to bring attention to the issue of violence, it is a creative way to bring attention to women’s issues around the globe. And also, some have criticized the event for including men. While I am understanding of the idea of women’s space, we have to be careful that transgender women aren’t lumped in as men.
This came true when an attendee asked me why I was wearing women’s clothes. I will admit that I am not the most passable transwoman, but that question made me feel so uncomfortable inside, as if I was some dudebro who was trying to make a mockery out of the event and to “appropriate” women’s struggles. Although the woman backed off when I told her I was transsexual, it is still a case study of transgender women and their relation to women’s rights.
I am a feminist. I support the rights of both cisgender and transgender women. I support the rights of cisgender women to have an abortion, to use birth control, and to have access to screenings for various cancers and domestic violence services. I also support the right of transgender women to be recognized as women and to be able to access all transition related medical care, as well as to access women’s spaces, and to not have to be thrown in the men’s side of things. I will always support both cis and transwomen’s issues, don’t get me wrong, but instances such as these make me potentially uneasy about organizing in mainstream feminist circles or attending events such as this, as there seem to be too many people who think I am some form of “male invader”.
But at any rate, a transgender woman whom I am friends with heard the exchange, and after a while, I just decided I couldn’t dance and that I was going to stand on the sidelines like a grumpycat while the women attended did some Zumba.
It is getting more difficult for me to identify as a feminist these days, even though there are a lot of good people associated with that label!!!
-Jordan Gwendolyn Davis
One Billion Rising
Valentine’s Time’s Day has always been a weird holiday for me for lack of a better word. This Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2013 I decided to do something different, something I will never forget – I attended One Billion Rising. The event was put on by Girls For Gender Equity (GGE) Youth organizers, a Brooklyn-based intergenerational grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the physical, psychological, social and economic well-being of girls, women and their communities. GGE partnered with the Brooklyn YWCA and Vibe Theater Experience, a performing arts organization that empowers teen girls through the creation and production of original performances.
Many others and I were invited to Strike, Dance and Rise with millions of women across the globe to demand an end to gender-based violence. I had no idea what that meant or how that would look when I RSVPed for the event. After leaving the event, I realized that the element of what we were doing could not be imagined but instead must be lived.
What I wasn’t planning to see was the large variety in ages present in the room. The youngest of us RISING, STRIKING and DANCING was seven years old. The room was filled with middle schoolers, high school youth organizers from GGE and the Sadie Nash Leadership Institute, adult organizers, and older women who were residents of YWCA.
SIS Practicing for One Billion Rising Dance at the Alumnae Reunion
After a game of GGE’s rendition of BINGO we were invited to learn the One Billion Rising Breaking the Chains Dance. Always taking the opportunity to get some aerobic exercise I decided to join in. After the umteenth step I decided it was better for me to take a seat and watch. I watched teenagers teaching both children and older women this dance. When someone missed a step complete strangers in the audience were there cheering them on. I even observed two teen women who had never met each before that day helping each other learn the steps. I highlight this because as an organizer who works with bullying and horizontal hostility, I can’t express the significant value of seeing two young women join hands to break the chains that seek to restrain them from achieving their potential to succeed in this world.
After dancing we were invited to share words on why we RISE today. Women and men of all ages took the floor to speak on why they were present. A young woman from Vibe Theater Experience spoke about wishing she could be there for a friend who had bruises “that were so strategically placed” in seventh grade. She expressed that she listened to everything her friend was saying, but not was she wasn’t saying. A resident of YWCA rose for her friend that died at the hand of her abuser in 1973. She made it a point to tell us “that sometimes we have make it our business.” Participants rose for their sisters, their mothers, their classmates and their friends. One of the youngest to rise was in middle school. She rose to commemorate the third anniversary of her sister who was killed by her boyfriend. Another middle schooler talked about being bullied in school and how that affected her. She left us with an important message about finding our space and how not only do we have to be there for each other but for also for ourselves. She said, “I have my room, and there I’m not nerd, I’m not geek, I’m just my beautiful self.” As a person who is at least twelve years older than her, those words still resonate with me and touched the 10-year old in me growing up in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. Exactly one day after the Reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act was passed in the Senate, it is extremely clear that violence against women is very well alive and present right here in Brooklyn, NY. Like Natalie Gyte, I was skeptical about coming together for yet another Eve Ensler movement to “dance” away violence. Gyte says that the movement does not acknowledge the “root causes” of violence like patriarchy and the control and subjugation of women’s bodies. I argue that my experience with One Billion Rising did in fact address a major issue that leads to the maintenance and perpetuation of gender-based violence –Silence!
This event was a space where no one’s experiences were dismissed or discounted. I do not know a space where 10-year olds can stand in front of complete strangers and voice their reasons for rising against violence. I don’t know of many spaces where women of different colors, creeds and ages feel that their experiences are validated, seen as authentic and an integral part of what we need to move forward. A space where our elders murmur in agreement with a teenager in a pair of Jordan XIII’s when she talks about racing up a flight of stairs in her junior high school prom dress and ringing all the doorbells in attempt to save a friend involved in sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. So no this was not a space where women just “danced”! It was a space were we worked collaboratively, shared impromptu teachable moments, cried, laughed, took up space and demanded that our voices be heard. It was the space, where some of us did not have to speak because of our sisters shared our stories, although we had never met before. We were somehow singing the same song, in our own voices, each taking a different verse but always in harmony. My experience in breaking the chains was a divine moment in breaking the silence that Audre Lorde says will not protect [us]! It was the energy in that room that caused us to rise in voice, in song, in movement (a first language for some), in love, in vision and in solidarity.
Nearing the end of the event I convinced our birthday girl, a beautiful bright-eyed seven-year old to cupid-shuffle with me. It was while I held her hand to kick, kick when I realized why I do this work. Brushing a tear away from my face and walking it out, I realized that she is why I go hard in the paint everyday so that girls like her can live in communities free from violence. Where young black girls voices and experiences are validated. Where she has complete control over her body and the right to lead a self-determined healthy life!
“It is our Duty to fight….It is our duty to win. We must love… and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
- Assata Shakur
Whether we choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, the fact of the matter is that it’s nearly impossible to ignore the roses, teddy bears and big red hearts abound today.
Of course the big elephant in the room on Valentine’s Day is sex — oftentimes the unspoken piece of the puzzle amongst all of those cheesy gifts.
Part of being responsible while sexually active on Valentine’s Day and every day is practicing consent with your partner(s) as well as safe sex. But what about the impact your birth control has on the environment? Not something we always stop to think about.
It’s an important thing to think about and I’m happy to deliver some good news. Any birth control is better than no birth control when you’re looking out for the planet’s health.
You’ve probably heard somewhere along the line that the estrogen-based hormones in birth control make their way into our waterways and in turn cause a host of health issues. While estrogenic compounds are found in waterways, birth control and other forms of hormonal contraception are not major contributors to this issue.
Instead, agricultural and industrial waste are the more likely culprits. The total yearly volume of entrogenic growth hormones given to farm animals is more than five times that of humans’ consumption of oral contraceptives. Estrogen also makes its way into our waterways through the use of common herbicides, like Atrazine and Roundup, as well as common industrial chemicals like BPA, which is commonly found in our plastics.
If you’re interested in using a contraceptive method that’s hormone-free, consider the copper IUD. And if it isn’t a good fit for you, choose another method rather than going without. When it comes to having sex, the greenest thing you can do is use birth control!
While birth control pills aren’t to blame for the presence of the majority of hormones in our environment, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about the issue.
Early puberty, infertility, and developmental defects have all been linked to hormone disruption as a result of the estrogenic compounds in our water. Compounding the problem are endocrine system disrupting toxic chemicals in our everyday care products.
So what’s an aspiring green valentine to do? Continue using your birth control method, learn about the link between reproductive health and environmental health and current thinking on greening contraception, and ask your Senator to support the Safe Chemicals Act, which would regulate hormone disrupting chemicals before they end up in our products and harm our health.
Where we share all of our emotions. About all of the states.
Just say NO to… Abortion?!
It’s basically the mantra of anti-choice lawmakers across the country and one that they’re now espousing inside the classroom. Currently there are two similar bills, one in Montana (HB 239) and one in Texas (HB 1057), that prohibits a school district from allowing any abortion services provider to teach sex ed in schools. And of course, by abortion providers, they really mean Planned Parenthoods.
The bill in Texas was just introduced last week, and includes a ban on “any entity or individual that performs abortions or an affiliate of an entity or individual that performs abortions” from providing human sexuality or family planning instruction. Talk about a case of the scarlet letter (“A” for abortion, in this case). The motive behind this piece of legislation is clearly to ensure any organization that is either a Planned Parenthood or any individual and/or entity that affiliates with Planned Parenthood is not welcome in Texas classrooms. It even reinforces stigma against abortion providers themselves, by actually banning individuals that perform abortions inside the classroom. This lawmaker (and so many others) simply does not want a more comprehensive conversation about sex education, including contraceptives, even when the Lone Star State has the fourth highest teen birth rate in the country. The bill would also put an “opt-in” requirement for sex ed, meaning all students must obtain a written consent form from a parent or guardian to even be able to sit in the classroom.
Montana is in the same boat, except it’s just further along in the process. On Wednesday, February 6, the House passed a bill (HB 239) that would, like Texas, require parental permission before students can attend sex education classes (“opt-in”) and also ban any “person, entity… affiliate or agent” that is a provider of abortion services to offer, sponsor, or furnish any course material on sex ed. The definitions are broad enough to, again, be harmful to local Planned Parenthoods or any organization that affiliates with the group, that has a stake in sex ed curriculum.
And to round out the “don’t you dare affiliate with anyone who dare say the A-word” news in the states, we turn our head to North Dakota, where two researchers who were granted federal funds to evaluate a local sex education program had their funds frozen from the University’s president (North Dakota State University) because they had signed an agreement to work with Planned Parenthood. While he justified his actions because of a (vague and contested) 1979 state law that prohibits any federal funds being used by entities that provide or refer abortions, the real reasons seems to be political pressure more than anything. Once anti-Planned Parenthood legislators caught wind of the grant and made comments about cutting the University’s funding if it dared move forward with accepting the grant, NDSU president peculiarly decided to freeze the funds (and without conferring with the researchers OR anyone from faculty leadership), making the announcement on a local conservative talk radio show.
Texas, Montana, North Dakota FAIL.
Now here are some other states and my emotions about them.
North Dakota vs. South Dakota = STALEMATE
Apparently, the Dakotas have gotten together and decided they want to make it as hard as possible for women to have any type of access to abortion. North Dakota’s Senate just passed a Personhood Constitutional Amendment initiative on Thursday that would amend the state’s constitution to give legal rights and protections to human embryos. YUP, you read that right, the state’s CONSTITUTION. If it passes the house, North Dakota voters will decide on it in the 2014 elections. And then South Dakota decides to hop back on the anti-abortion bandwagon and introduced a bill that would redefine the 72-hour waiting period as to not include weekends or holidays, which could drastically eliminate access to safe abortion for women – especially since there is only one comprehensive women’s clinic that provides abortions in the entire state. So yeah… neither state wins this round this time around. Sorry, Dakotas. Better luck next time.
And the winner is…
…Colorado!
The state’s House Health, Insurance, and Environment committee passed a comprehensive sex ed bill last week (HB 1081) that would define sex education in the state as having to be age appropriate, culturally sensitive, evidence-based, and include positive youth development. It also creates a grant program and a cash fund to ensure the implementation of comprehensive sex ed programs throughout the state. Legislatively, it’s only part-way there (and there are Senate challenges ahead), BUT we should all give a round of applause for Colorado ‘cause they are on their way.
But the real winners are the activists who told their representatives why comprehensive sex education is important. Big high-fives go out to Colorado Youth Create’s youth activists, Scarlett and Adrian, who were the only high school students testifying during the hearing. Listen to their awesomeness HERE!
Do you have any rants or raves about things going on in YOUR state? Or maybe you live in one of the above states? Please share all of the feelings in the comments section below!
Curated by Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes, State Strategies Manager, Advocates for Youth
http://www.fundabortionnow.org/explore/by_state
(oldie but goody)
Health is a major part of our lives, something I am currently experiencing since my recent bout of malaria has left me restricted to my bed, unable to walk or even eat without taking multi-vitamins to make me feel hunger and a state of constant headache – literally.
But thankfully, I’m getting better but time is ticking.
Before this onslaught of malaria, I attended the World Bank Youth Forum (WBYF) of which I have the privilege of being a member of. The Forum is an eclectic mix of young Nigerians from entertainment to youth development, from human resource management consultants to Education as a Vaccine (EVA Nigeria) advocates. It’s a quarterly meeting where World Bank representatives and experts have a forum, a think tank if you will, to share their ideas, ensure a better understanding of their work and implement community development projects. We’re presently raising funds and materials for a primary school in desperate need.
The Forum focused on Results based Financing for Service Delivery in the Health Sector.
The Meeting continued with presentation from the Health Sector team of the World Bank on its portfolio of projects in Nigeria.
Dr. Dinesh Nair – Lead Health Specialist the Bank is a finance (HIV/AIDs, Malaria, Polio, Results Based Financing – RBF), and knowledge institution (status of health in Nigeria, nutrition ESW, impact evaluation (result financing Vs normal financing, pharmaceutical work). As at 2011, the Human Development Indicators ranking was 156/187. Needless to say that the Giant of Africa is off-track to achieve the health MDGs and not surprisingly, the nation seems to be taking steps back in their attempt to meet the MDGs, especially where women and children are concerned.
World Bank supports the Health Sector in Nigeria with the aim to strengthen health systems and address MDGs, focus on input and results based programs, and contribute to body of knowledge through analytical work.
Dr Mariam Olaide Jagun shared insights on the World Malaria Projects which aims to strengthen communities (through community directed interventions – CDIs by providing information and services in terms of commodities in 3 LGAs), communities systems strengthening (improve access (Patent Medicine Vendors), health systems strengthening (logistics management information system – Anti malaria drugs, M & E)
WB has a new strategy – work in a few states, introduce innovations & focus on results
A participant raising a question at the meeting
Dr. Wole Odutolu made a presentation on the Bank’s NSHIP. The Bank launched the PBF project in April, 2012 to be implemented in 3 states – Adamawa, Nasarawa and Ondo States. Pre pilot started in December 2011. Results from the pre-pilot show increased indicators in the three states. A key challenge is child delivery at home.
The project has a 4 pronged approach:
Performance based financing (PBF). This ensures hospital autonomy, community involvement, hospital bank account, quality as against quantity of the facility/service.
DFF – operational costs are given to hospital to run the hospitals. This ensures control
LGA PHC – provides incentives to LG to supervise Health facilities
Disbursement Link Indicators (DLI) for Governance issues
Presentation on World Bank Programmes in the Health Sector in Nigeria The Session was facilitated by Dr. Dinesh Nair – Lead Health Specialist. According to him, the Bank is a finance (HIV/AIDs, Malaria, Polio, Results Based Financing – RBF), and knowledge institution (status of health in Nigeria, nutrition ESW, impact evaluation (result financing Vs normal financing, pharmaceutical work). According to World Bank Research, Nigeria is a potential economic tiger with large HD issues. The population of Nigeria is 167 million . As at 2011, the Human Development Indicators ranking was 156/187. He used indicators to emphasize that Nigeria is off-track to achieve the health MDGs. Such indicators (2003 – 2008) include Modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rates, Antenatal Care Coverage, Delivery in a Health Facility, Skilled Birth Attendance, DPT3 Coverage, and Measles Coverage. Very low service uptake is also an indicator.World Bank supports the Health Sector in Nigeria with the aim to strengthen health systems and address MDGs, focus on input and results based programs, and contribute to body of knowledge through analytical work Dr Mariam Olaide Jagun shared insights on the World Malaria Projects which aims to strengthen communities (through community directed interventions – CDIs by providing information and services in terms of commodities in 3 LGAs), communities systems strengthening (improve access (Patent Medicine Vendors), health systems strengthening (logistics management information system – Anti malaria drugs, M & E)WB has a new strategy – work in a few states, introduce innovations & focus on resultsDr. Wole Odutolu made a presentation on the Bank’s NSHIP. The Bank launched the PBF project in April, 2012 to be implemented in 3 states – Adamawa, Nasarawa and Ondo States. Pre pilot started in December 2011.
Results from the pre-pilot show increased indicators in the three states. A key challenge is child delivery at homeThe project has a 4 pronged approach:Performance based financing (PBF). This ensures hospital autonomy, community involvement, hospital bank account, quality as against quantity of the facility/service. DFF – operational costs are given to hospital to run the hospitals. This ensures control LGA PHC – provides incentives to LG to supervise Health facilitiesDisbursement Link Indicators (DLI) for Governance issues
CONCLUSION:
2 key decisions that contributed to the success of the July meeting are:
* the decision by the forum to open up some of its meetings to non-members which saw the attendance of 15 non -WBYF members at the meeting, especially young people working around health issues as it concerns the theme of the July meeting
* The newly introduced Youth Forum Training Series also added the necessary flavour to the meeting as it provided an opportunity for young people to learn from their peers
-Courtesy of World Bank Youth Forum
So next week the Boy Scouts of America are set to announce a policy change that would allow troops to “permit” gay and bisexual Scouts and troop leaders.
That’s cute.
Now I don’t want to come off as completely phlegmatic to the decision. This is huge – and a major step in a positive direction for an organization that impacts the lives of so many gay and bisexual young men. This change will allow young men like Ryan Anderson to get the honor of an eagle scout award in recognition of his amazing work (that is a tough feat, y’all,) one he had previously been denied.
But forgive me if I don’t shower you with admiration when you say “okay, so we’ll allow people to decide if you can come in now.”
Excuse me?
So you’re moving away from denying I’m a boy, to allowing people to make that decision for me.
I should note that I was a Boy Scout. A gay Boy Scout. I wasn’t a particularly good Boy Scout, mind you. I spent a couple years with my troop and I don’t think I went up in rank any higher than second class (which if you don’t know much about the Boy Scouts, that’s pretty low.) I’m not a particularly good rule follower and have never had much interest in ceremony. I was in it for the camping and the comradery. I was in it because I wanted to be a boy.
Which is what I feel this half-hearted policy change and much of the national discourse around it is failing to address.
As men, cultural expectations of our masculinity often deny us opportunities to build meaningful relationships with other men. As gay men, those opportunities are even fewer and often wrought with trauma because of our perceived transgression of what it means to be masculine. To put it simply; being a boy is supposed to look one way and you get punished when it doesn’t.
The biggest impact being a part of the Boy Scouts had on my life was an opportunity to figure out how to relate to other men and discover who I was in the process. Yes, I went on long backpacking trips, and learned how to tie knots, and to use a bow and arrow, and to start fires. Yes, I swam and biked miles for a merit badges, climbed mountains, and slept outside. I also remember singing Britney Spears songs along with my troop on the way to campsites, choreographing dances in front of the campfire, and picked a lot of flowers.
I remember making friends, and talking about what was going on in our families and what we felt about it, and trying to figure out this puberty thing and all of the weird associated emotions. We were boys talking and being with each other attempting to sort out what this whole living thing was and where we fit into it. Also camping.
But as I mentioned, I didn’t progress far in the Boy Scouts. While I loved the activities and the people, my interest in and capacity to really climb the ranks of the organization was pushed aside by my own coming out process as well as a plethora of medical issues I was going through at the time. While I knew I was gay, or at least something of the sort even if I didn’t currently have the language, I didn’t come out while I was a part of the organization. At the time “gay” and “boy” weren’t things I felt I could simultaneously be. Even as an adult with access to much more language and knowledge on ideas of what it means to be a man or to be gay, I still struggle to feel I can exist in both identities. But being in the Boy Scouts gave me a chance to see what that could possibly look like.
Sometimes boy scouts go on to be and do absolutely brilliant things; achieve that Eagle Scout award, change the world, and be that incredible leader in their community. And sometimes boys just need a space, a time, a place, to figure out what being a boy means.
Which is why this movement away from complete exile to allowing for gatekeepers is not nearly enough. The Boys Scouts of America don’t need a policy that permits discrimination, but refuses it. Gay men, gay boys, are not one or the other depending on who is allowing us to come to the table. We are always both.
The Girl Scouts are modeling a brilliant path, allowing trans youth to become girl scouts and troop leaders. Why are we so resistant to allow the same opportunities of self discovery of identity to our boys? When “boy” is being defined in such specific terms that few people have access to it, who are we actually helping? Deciding for anyone what they are allowed to be; whether that is an astronaut or a brain surgeon –or a boy– is a failure of our society. The denial of the ability of young men and boys to define what that means to them is harmful not just to gay, bisexual or trans young people, but to all our young people.
The Boy Scouts of America’s motto is “Be Prepared.”
Well Boy Scouts, be prepared for some serious change. Because being a boy means so much more than being straight.
Roe v. Wade guaranteed abortion as a legal right across the country. A separate decision two decades later, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, guaranteed states’ rights to limit access to abortion, so long as it did not pose an “undue burden” on the woman.
States have, over the past four decades, made no short use of that latter right. Only one state, Oregon, has not layered additional restrictions on top of the Roe decision. At the other end of the spectrum is Oklahoma: With 22 abortion restrictions, it has more than any other state. The chart below, courtesy of Remapping the Debate, has the full list. You can also gohere for an interactive version of the graphic, which will let you look at what type of restrictions each state has set.
SOURCE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/31/all-states-except-oregon-now-limit-abortion-access/#
I just read an article online by Kenechi Uzochukwu on the online Nigerian magazine called “YNaija” titled “Men Can Do Nothing against Rape.” He was trite and came from the perspective of a bigot parading as an enlightened man.
I’ve been lead to believe that this type of behaviour comes from a society of men who thing that all men who rape are victims of the oppressive and taunting women-folk who parade themselves in too short, too skimpy outfits without understanding the consequences that their actions, and in some cases, inaction, can influence another person’s actions unto another.
I’m sure in his head he tried his hardest to explain that all rape victims were put into that position because men would rather not rape children (most of the time, anyway) and they’d rather not rape themselves. So, women turn out to be the privileged few worthy of their unwelcome advances or violence. And therefore, it’s left to women, that is, every single female on the planet who is, has or may be in danger of being raped. We started the teasing that leads to rape, therefore we have to stop men from raping us, from raping all of us. We attack their sensibilities by our indecent attires, so they attack us to retaliate.
What I have failed to comprehend from this person’s article is whether he even considered another, more viable, less involved in pointing fingers at women as being the predominant causes of rape. He never considered those being victims of sexual violence as a result of war or unrest at the areas, where the opposition make use of rape as a form of psychological warfare. A way of demoralising their enemies into submission.
He wrote that sometimes women are attacked as a result of other women’s indecent dressing so the rapist could assuage his burning desire. Even if that were true, is the victim in that scenario to blame for what someone, a person who she may not have seen or heard of, has done to influence the rapist to attack an innocent bystander?
What about victims attacked due to prejudice and discrimination? Are they to blame also for the colour of their skin, the religion they belong to, the class they were born into because they deserved it and were unworthy to be treated any better?
Green parties. Green movements. Green rights. Green actions. Green holidays. Green programs and policies. Green diets. Green institutions. Green people. Green economies. Green societies. Green culture.
So what is green?
It’s no longer only about color. It’s even not longer about environment and sustainability. This concept became wider and complex. “Green” now encompasses collective human rights (third wave of human rights), cultural values, economical interactions, social interactions between people. I would even say… “green” now means thinking models; attitudes and emotions of people. Thinking green and feeling green means to behave certainly, so this behavior will lead to sustainability.
‘Green’ now has certain set of values, which can be considered as also values of SRHR. Green parties, for instance, are usually pro-gay, pro-right. They support freely distributed contraception, STDs and HIV prevention programs, understanding that people’s good health conditions is important for sustainable development.
Some people, ‘green’ became less green, since the focus on environment and sustainability is weakened. However, I don’t agree with this. Yes, except ‘green’ there are more colors: red, orange, yellow, violet, blue…. But original green part is still there and it even became stronger with a support of other colors. This rainbow helps to make bigger changes and gives hope to people like me…
Academic curricula, training plans and sessions on reproductive health or on environmental sustainability should incorporate both of these topics and show their interrelatedness.
Awareness building in the mainstream public is important for reaching better conditions of reproduuctive health and rights and of environment. This can decrease the level of risks and dangers and increase the level of responsibility of individuals.
Unfortunately, the programs on sustainable development and on reproductive health are very seperate in Kyrgyzstan. Local experts and activists tend not to see the intersections between these two important issues.
I think, for advancement of interelatedness of the issues, we need to finance more academic research, which will try to reveal possible connections between reproductive health and environment. In my university, for instance, there’s small research conducted only on environmental issues. They don’t even attempt to see the relatedness of such issues with repoductive health and rights.
I hope in future this will change.
When I was browsing internet, I found video, made in 1995. Makarevich, Sukachev, Grebenshchikov, Kinchev and Stigrey are against littering.
Moscow colleagues on the project \”We\’ll do it\” unearthed video of mid 90s (likely made in 1995), a commercial for the protection of our environment, against garbage in the streets at the St. Petersburg TV channel NBN.
The Earth is our home. No need to trash!
In the frame Makarevich with a car, Sukachev with cigarette butts, Grebenshikov with the bottle, Kinchev with cuspidor, Stingrey with pensioners.
here\’s the video:
If people do not know why they do not have children, maybe the reason is the environment. It is not secret that the environment affects our health. It affects also our reproductive organs. There is even a term -
“ECOLOGICAL infertility.”
In recent years, the term “ecopathology” appeared, which meanshealth problems associated with exposure to environmental hazards.
Environmental factors can be divided into three main groups: physical, chemical, toxic.
Physical hazards:
Radiation exposure, which every year increases. The main reason – increase in the number and concentration of radioactive waste, which is buried in the ground, often in urban areas. Unfortunately, the burial places are poorly controlled.
Chemical and toxic factors
food, water, cleaning supplies, clothing – we can’t imagine our lives without these, however they can damage our reproductive health. A special place in the ecosystem, damaging the oocyte and sperm production, plays today phytoestrogens – almost obligatory component of flavours in the perfume and food industries.
Women’s participation in the development, planning and implementation of policies in the field of environmental protection and sustainability in Central Asia is still low. At the same time, the international community recognized that without the full and active participation of women we can not achieve sustainable development.
Women play a key role in protecting the environment and natural resources and promote sustainable development. For example, women still bear the main burden of work in the household and in this respect are the major groups that determine the trends in consumption. Thus, women play an important role in the development of sustainable and environmentally sound production and consumption.
Therefore, it’s important to raise the issue of the active involvement of women in decision-making at all levels, and to integrate a gender perspective into all policies of sustainable development.
Contries of Central Asia should support gender mainstreaming in the sustainable development and introduce new programs and policies in order to attract more women into sustainable development projects and programs.
New market economy with greater level of consumption brought not only economical freedom to Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian republics, but also huge challenges for local habitats. Businesses brought new problems to Kyrgyzstan: air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, waste and landfills, soil erosion and other problems. People became less responsible for their actions: more people in the streets of Bishkek littering around; they don’t recycle paper, glass, metal at all. They stopped caring about green areas of Bishkek, destroying lawns and cutting off trees. Irresponsibility of businesses and pursuit of higher profits brought destruction of park in and around Bishkek. Now, instead of green trees you can see only tall grey buildings.
The irresponsibility became a plague for Kyrgyz society. Not only environmental sustainability, but also sexual and reproductive health is in danger. People became less responsible for their sexual life; they don’t visit doctors; they ignore family-planning; they don’t use condoms; they don’t want to be informed about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
This situation makes me sad. One of the ways to improve it is to start to nurture responsibility in the children, who go to kindergartens and schools. I hope this will change the situation for better.
At the first glance, reproductive health/rights seem not be linked to environmental issues. However, there’re tight connections between these.
Lack of reproductive health/rights bring us to overpopulation, which means the Earth can’t handle this and provide with food and energy for all people. Global warming and pollution are also aggravated by overpopulation.
If there’re reproductive rights and people can protect their reproductive health, people are educated about family planning, sex, reproductive rights/health, than the rapid growth of population is mitigated. Generally, there’re several mitigation strategies for avoiding overpopulation:
- Governmental policies, like in China: “One family – one child”. I think such policies should be implemented only in extraordinary cases
- Social marketing activities in order to build certain social norms. This involves various activities, like informational campaigns, printing and distributing informational brochures, conducting public events, trainings, etc.
- Forced sterilization. I’m against such practice, since I believe it violates fundamental human rights.
- Free condoms and lubes distribution, free and high-quality medical and consultational services. I guess, this approach can be considered one of the most effective and not violating human rights
However, the most important factor to stop overpopulation is to advance human rights and especially the rights of women. If women are emancipated, they will more actively participate in workforce.
I believe that environmental sustainability can be achieved if each individual made simple steps and had good habits. For instance, let’s take such simple steps and habits of people through the prism of sex.
When people have sex, they use a lot of water: Before sex they take shower and also after sex. Some couples have sex in the bathroom without turning off the water. Such waste of water resources for sure doesn’t bring more sustainability. Instead, people can have shower only once: before sex. After sex they can just wipe away liquids and lube or at least not to take full shower. The other important thing is to avoid having sex in the bathroom without shutting off the water. This simple rule can save a lot of liters of water in the lifetime of a single person.
The other thing is when people throw condoms not into trash bins, but in the streets or in nature. Many people have and love sex outdoors. However, while having sex outdoors we should care about the nature.
The last thing is having sex and thinking about energy consumption at the same time. Do we really need TV-set or radio or computer to be turned, while we are enjoying our partner? Is it ok to have sex in a dark room? Of course, all of these depends on certain preferences of each person, but we should keep this in mind anyways.
I tried to analyze the peculiarities of advocacy and activism of environmental movement and LGBT movement in Kyrgyzstan.
The main similarities are:
However, of course, both of them have specific peculiarities. For instance, LGBT activists face much more hidden and overt dangers than evironmentists.
I love Valentine’s Day, but not for the reason you’d probably think.
I’m areally not the flowers and candy kinda girl. I’m more open to be wined and dines, gifted (with something expensive) and taken on an exciting adventure (I’m a born Nigerian…I like to have fun and enjoy…).
But really, before I realised that men use that day to gift women to the point that some would probably have no choice but to give in to a man’s (or woman’s) advances due to the whatever feeling coursing through her (I’d stake my money on alcohol, but everyone’s different).
V-Day, more than anything is a study in human relationships. The old dance men and women did. How far will he go? How much will he spend just to get her to open her legs so he could take a peek at the promised land (some Nigerian men tend to be much more coarse than this, I’m saving your brains the image).
Instead of getting stuff and buying expensive flowers that’ll last a week or getting candy that’ll cause you that expensive triip to the dentist’s office anyway, why not spend it on you favourite chatrity? Volunteer your time, donate you money. Especially to causes helping and championing women’s rights, expecially if they’re closely related to sexuall and reproductive health rights.
If you visit this website and are reading this post, you know you should. It’s just one of those things we have to do to promote and make the work of women’s rights progress.
Just Do IT
Everytime I saw a Bollywood movie, the culture used to fascinate me. To be honest, it still fascinates me now. For a nation filled with such rich culture and heritage and human resources – especially the women who are all so beautifully dressed in an attempt to match their outfits to the extent of their beauty – with their long hair flowing like black gold, one would think somethings wouldn’t be the norm in India.
They founded and polished technology, ideas and even the kama sutra (yes, I am that predictable) and for some reason, dowry killing still goes on? How does that work exactly???
In Africa, or at least Nigeria, the man and his family come over to the intended bride and her family to pay the dowry or bride price. Yep! You read it well…men pay dowries, not women and nowhere in history has anyone witnessed or heard about the woman’s family threatening, assualting or even killing the man because he couldn’t pay. Money first, bride after. Not before.
It never made sense to me why the woman had to pay to be married into her intended husband’s family. Even if it were a gift, why would one be so incensed as to actually hurt and murder the woman because she couldn’t pay?
In this day and age, why bother with the dowry? Shouldn’t it be some form of ritual demanded by custom yet executed to agreement of both families to be a symbol of the new couple’s commitment to eachother and the joining of two families?
Nigerians have started to do this now. The days of spending millions of naira for the dowry for a wife has passed. Why can’t the South Asians follow suit?
Call me crazy, call me backward and repressed due to my education and culture because I was born and breed in a highly religious yet corrupt nation like Nigeria. Call me stupid and call me unsophisticated…call me what you will.
But whoever called parents irresponsible, unknowledgeable, unconcerned for the welfare and self esteem of their daughters at Abercrombie and Fitch must have a very crappy relationship with their daughters.
Whoever heard of push up bikinis for & year olds? Why would someone think up of a ridiculous thing like that? It’s bad enough that seven and eight year olds are given bikinis to where, but then create one that’s supposed to attract male attention and make them feel insecure because they don’t have anything to push up? Now that’s just terrible!
I know it’s an old story, but it also calls to attention to this day that companies who target sex and sexuality at young kids should be sanctioned. Why would anyone even consider a product like that? Talk about pushing the boundaries of offering your kid to the pedophile who hangs around the beach on a silver platter.
I once read a book in high school involving a sequence of events that highlighted a certain detective’s fight against sexual offenders interested in the participation of child as sexual objects physically while they filmed the act and distributed it to the black market. At one time, the detective watched a video where this poor little girl was cajoled into entering the pool or hot tub with this man, where he did things to her, and subsequently ended her life – while still in the water with him. That is how I recalled that book. And I pitied the detective. I felt so sorry that he had to see that and he was unshaken. I felt sorry for him that he’d spent years of his career seeing things like that as a pice of his soul chipped away when he saw young, innocent 6 years old being used, abused and murdered for some pervert’s pleasure and entertainment.
The possession of and distribution of child pornography is a criminal offense, so says the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
The child is groomed, in some instances to deliberately befriend and establishing an emotional connection with the child, to lowering their inhibitions, preparing them for the sexual activity to come. Exploiting their innocence. Damaging them, maybe irrevocably.
In Nigeria, it is the common belief that the sexual exploitation of a child, or at least a minor is often done in the hands of someone the child knows well, or at least, someone with access to the child without the reservations of the family. What’s worse, it is sometimes seen as the norm.
When I was a little girl, my best friend Anna and I knew this man who would always try to grab us and take us inside as a way of playing with us. He never caught me, but Anna did mention that the one time he drag her to his room, he tried to touch where she usually used to go to the bathroom to pee. We never thought anything of it; we even thought he was a bit strange, playing with little girls almost twenty years older than he was. Now that I think about it, if I were Anna’s mom, that guy would be missing the part of his body his kids would come out from.
In a country where some cultures have no problem with marrying still developing young girls, its not hard to find things like this happening. I am just thankful that we were somewhat protected (believe it or not) and weren’t exposed to worse violations.
The fact was, we didn’t know any better. And I am glad that more twisted things didn’t happen. But every day, one hears news about some poor girl being molested and abused by her father, or uncle or cousin and nothing being done about it. In Nigeria, I’m sure if women compared notes about growing up and the role of sex was assessed, we’d be really shocked about the similarities we had and forgot about.
Sometimes…playing isn’t just playing. Man has a dark side to them. And I hope our children never get to see the extent of which the darkness can reach. If they do, what innocence would we find, then.
It’s the New Year and as 2013 begins in most parts of the world, loved ones and people you are in anyway close to express their wishes for you in diverse ways. One popular way of expressing wishes to others for the New Year is through greetings cards and I did receive quite a good number of them this year. Unlike in the past years, I decided to make a careful study of the messages on these greetings cards. ‘This Guy is crazy!’, is the thought that might be lingering in your mind. Just stay with me so that I can share my surprising discovery.
Though written in different styles and strongly influenced by the nature of my relationship with the sender of the greetings card, there is a wish that was omnipresent in all the messages: Wishes of Good Health. The result of this crazy study revealed to me how much Cameroonians care about their health.
The health of the average Cameroonian, like that of any normal human being in the world, is very important to him/her. What would vary might be the approach to ensuring that they stay healthy and maintain an equilibrium that is necessary for them to live a life worth living. Important as being healthy might be to Cameroonians, they are not unaware of the barriers to staying healthy. Talking about barriers to staying healthy in Cameroon, if you ask any Cameroon what the greatest barrier to staying healthy is, you would likely hear him/her answer ‘ACCESS’.
While it is clear from all indications that access to health is a stumbling block to Cameroonian’s staying healthy, it should be noted that even where these health facilities are available, users complain bitterly of the quality of the services rendered. Thus, it is common place to see a health practitioner sarcastically questioning a teenage girl about the reason for her pregnancy and making fun of her pregnancy by using very insulting and violent language. Worst still, it is common place to get a health practitioner who openly discusses results of the medical test of his/her patients without any sense of guilt or fear. The judgemental nature and lack of confidentiality in Cameroon’s health services is so widespread and across all spheres of society that a government minister recently declared that a journalist who had been tortured to death while in detention had died of HIV/AIDS.
With judgemental attitudes like these from health professionals and lack of confidentiality, no wonder an ever increasing number of pregnant teenagers refuse to go for prenatal checkups. To stay clear of insults and other traumatising language and behaviours, they thus decide to stay at home with the risks that this carries.
It is high time the quality of health services in existing health facilities be improved so that patients,especially young persons, can have the best possible experience and not be afraid, for instance, to get an HIV test because they are not sure the results will remain between them and the health professionals.
The quality of health services, though often ignored, is an important factor in reinforcing the access of young people in particular and society at large to health facilities and should be considered as such by policy makers and health professionals. The availability of health facilities that have little or no consideration for the quality of the services offered creates more problems than it solves.
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