gender equality
gender equality
New Organisation for Sex Workers
Sex workers have launched the Johannesburg branch of Sisonke, an organisation that advocates for the legislation of sex work.
Sisonke is advocating for sex workers to be recognised as professionals who have the same rights as other workers. “We want to work with the police. We want to walk the streets and hotel foyers freely”, the organisation says.
Sisonke head of the Johannesburg branch, Busi Dhlomo, states that: “The police demand sex and assault us if we refuse.” Dhlomo has also criticised hospital staff for refusing to treat sex workers.
To read the article titled, “Prostitutes form body to advocate for right to trade,” click here.Source:<br /> SowetanArticle link:Russian Mayor Links Homosexuality to Spread of HIV
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkobv’s administration has banned several gay rights marches in Moscow in the interests, it argues, of ensuring security and preventing public disorder.
Luzhkobv has been quoted as saying, "We have banned, and will ban, the propaganda of sexual minorities' opinions because they can be one of the factors in the spread of HIV infection."
To read the article titled, “Mayor links homosexuals to spread of HIV,” click here.Source:<br /> IOL HIV/AidsArticle link:Working with the Media on Gender and Education
Nationally, regionally and internationally millions of individuals and thousands of civil society groups and organisations are campaigning for quality education for all. The “Working with the Media on Gender and Education: A Guide for Training and Planning” is guide draws on learning from two "Gender, Education and the Media" workshops which were held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2005 and in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2006. The guide is aimed at helping organisations working on gender and education to develop and implement media-advocacy strategies for gender equitable education.
For more information, click here.
South Africa’s Gender Rating Drops
According to the World Economic Forum, women still lag far behind men in top political and decision-making roles, a waste of talent given that their access to education and healthcare is nearly equal.
In its 2008 Global Gender Gap report, the Forum ranks South Africa at 22nd place, slipping back from 20th place (out of 128 countries) in 2007, but well ahead of the United States (in 27th place) and Canada among others.
The country scored well on women in ministerial positions and in parliament, but badly on several other indicators. This includes women’s participation in the labour force, life expectancy of women, women’s literacy and wage equality.
To read the article titled, “SA's gender rating drops,” click here.Source:<br /> Independent OnlineMENINISTS AT AWID
After arriving in the Cape and having to deal with freak windstorms (nothing like a windstorm to give you the impression that the last diet might actually have worked !) I finally get a chance to prep for AWID. Lately I find myself in an interesting position as a man who advocates for the rights of women and other vulnerable groups.
I remember getting flack from several colleagues in the sector when I managed one of the countries first long term treatment centres for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Johnannesburg. How, they would ask, do I as a man, manage to relate to and therefore be so passionate about the women that we work with daily to educate about their own rights?
Nothing demonstrated this more to me the day we joined hundreds of women in a protest march to one of Johannesburgs largest Taxi ranks. We marched to bring attention to the sexual assault of a young lady who was attacked for wearing a miniskirt. As I looked around me I saw this sea of women, vibrating with an energy that was palpable, singing revolutionary songs that brought the taxi rank to a stand still. I also remember some of the taxi drivers taunting me as I shouted and sang amongst my fellow activists and women who simply had enough of being degraded on the daily commute to and from work in the mode of transport that they depend on for their very existence.......
AWID will present a lot of amazing networking opportunitites but out of all of this I would like to perhaps see a discussion develop that would talk to the issue of the role of men in feminist activism.........lets wait and see shall we?Women'sNet website
Link description:Women'sNet website<br />South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) website
Link description:<br />Selling Sex in Cape Town, ISS and SWEAT, 2008
Link description:<br />Cops moan their case is prejudiced
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