Contributors

Though many politicians in the U.S. believe that maternal healthcare is unnecessary, maternal healthcare should be universal and guaranteed for every woman.

African women face many constraints and discrimination which affect them economically. Though women with economic power tend to make positive choices for their families and communities, too often they are deprived of the opportunity.

This blog post is a response to the post “Invest in women — it pays!”

Participants in Amsterdam perform a flash mob to raise awareness of homophobia and transphobia.

Women and young girls face harassment while using public transportation in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is common and tolerated, and there is no law to punish the culprits.

A response to the blog-post “HIV thrives on poverty.” Overwhelmingly, it is women who are victimized by HIV/AIDS.

Violence against women occurs both at home (within the family) and in the public sphere (rape, robbery, etc.). To best help women, we need to stop treating public and private violence as separate issues.

Many survivors of the conflict in Colombia have fled to Venezuela to take refuge where they face problems like unemployment and poverty. However, a workshop has given some refugee children the opportunity to express themselves through photography.

A new technological platform called Ushahidi could be used to help women in labor experiencing complications all over the world.

Though many believe violence against women to primarily be a problem in other parts of the world, the situation for many women in the U.S. is still problematic.

Different Colombian organizations share their points of view on the violence and armed conflict through videos, including those chronicling family members protesting the deaths of young men lured by the military under false pretenses.

A month after the earthquake in Haiti, problems have emerged involving the treatment of children who are orphaned or separated from their families.

Though the major conflict has ceased in Darfur, in western Sudan, the continuing instability and ongoing attacks have been particularly harmful for region’s young people. But youth both within and outside of Sudan have been vital in raising awareness and funds and trying to bring change to Darfur.

Régine Zamor, a Haitian-American, has gone to Haiti to volunteer her services, despite being unaffiliated with any major NGO. In a video interview, she talks about distributing food that she herself arranged to bring and about volunteering in a clinic.

Fleeing from war-torn Sudan to Chad, many young women are susceptible to sexual abuse. One young woman speaks out about her experiences with being stigmatized by her rape.

The oppressive regime running Burma has both forced many Burmese into displaced person camps in Thailand. Young Burmese people are particularly vulnerable, especially due to issues such as sexual health education and trafficking.

Indonesia has made great strides against gender based violence, both through setting up crisis centers for women, as well as through trying to work with men and boys.

The aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti has been devastating, particularly for its young people. Many young people have blogged about their experiences dealing with this crisis.

Though the situation in Haiti is still critical, young people both in Haiti and outside are responding to the crisis by documenting the aftermath of the earthquake, blogging about it, and raising money and awareness.

The years of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken their toll on the country. But young people are writing music and making videos to both express their frustration as well as to raise global awareness of the situation.

Though many mistakenly believe maternal health to only be an issue pertaining to women, it’s an issue that society as a whole needs to address.

Though Liberia is beginning to stabilize from years of conflict, the effects of civil war have taken a great toll, particularly on its young people. However, the situation is improving due to many programs, especially radio shows designed to deal with the problem of HIV.

The war in Afghanistan has affected young people in a variety of ways. However, young people have found many ways to express themselves despite their circumstances.

Though young people in India are more educated and empowered than in the past, there is still a lack of information related to sexual and reproductive health. More and more people are using technology to bridge this gap.

Violence against women was discussed at a conference held in Rome in November, where many talked about the importance of raising awareness of the issue through the media.

Evidence of egregious police violence against a migrant woman in Greece has influenced a politician to punish the guilty officers.

These excerpts of young people talking about their experiences with armed conflict show how they face the loss of their homes and the disruption of their education.

Violence and sexual exploitation are two of the biggest issues that these young people discuss as they relate their experiences with living with armed conflict.

Drought in rural Kenya has resulted in a lack of food and water, but has also caused violence, uprooted communities, and disrupted the education and lives of young people.

A report on Gender Violence in India breaks down the prevalence of violence and the types of violence that women are being subjected to.

Although violence against women is a serious problem in Puerto Rico, feminist bloggers have been speaking out against this issue that affects women everywhere.

Most conversation starters this week agreed that it is culture that keeps female genital mutilation a part of tradition. There are various ideas on how the international community can eradicate FGM/C.

Despite the alarming frequency of domestic violence in Hungary, existing laws don’t do enough to protect women.

Due to thousands of rapes within the Democratic Republic of Congo women suffering from the health complications are now left hoping to be treated for traumatic fistula, an injury women experience as a result of rape or force of objects to the genitalia.

The Democratic Republic of Congo still tolerates violent sexual assualt. Despite recent free and fair elections, the war continues to use rape as a weapon of war.

Climate change has far reaching effects, but it particularly impacts women, especially those living in developing nations.

Violence against women in India isn’t just a current issue, but rather has deep seated traditional roots in the culture. In order to combat the problem, we must understand its causes.

Violence against women usually occurs when it is considered socially acceptable. People are attempting to use the radio soap operas in developing nations to model positive social change.

It is crucial that women’s voices are included in the dialogue on climate change- in multiple ways. And it is equally important that women in low-income countries are made part of the global discourse.

Many international non-governmental organizations focus on the empowerment and progress of women. Here are some of the most relevant ones.

Many minority women in Canada who face the issue of abuse have to deal not only with the violence itself but with barriers involving race and gender that prevent them from seeking help.

Does marriage mean giving up some rights? Modernization brings new philosophy, ideologies, technology progress and various perceptions.

I would like to talk about religion, globalization and violence against women. Insights from my initial research for a doctoral degree in theology reveal a great deal of information on how women are treated.

According to womenshealth.gov two million girls and women are victims of FGM/C every year. Today a total of 130 million have undergone such a procedure. How is culture related to the prevalence of female genital mutilation, cutting and fistula?

A few conversation starters answered questions on sexual violence in war zones and any interventions that have made a difference in this affliction. Several war zones are discussed where the concern is a lack of interventions.

The Human Trafficking blog by Amanda Kloer at Change.org in the United States has declared victory in their campaign to get a credit card company to stop doing business with a company in Singapore that sells Vietnamese mail order brides.

Violence along the United States – Mexico border has reached staggering levels. It is not only those involved in the drug trade that fall victims to the kidnappings and murders, young women have become unfortunate casualties in this crisis.

Although cases of sexual harassment in Egypt have received global media attention of late, bloggers in Morocco have been assessing the situation closer to home. The bloggers, both male and female, foreign and Moroccan, offer a variety of perspectives on the issue.

Gay people are among many groups of people being marginalized in Indian society. They are gaining acceptance in society through new and ground breaking films about gay identity.

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Brazilian bloggers reignite the debate and campaign to end violence.

Violence against women, as with everything else, begins with how we communicate. Through our language, we have created a culture in which women are seen as weaker, quieter, more submissive, and the lesser of the two sexes.

Climate change is affecting the way of life of Mongolian nomadic families. A new citizen media project is teaching Mongolians how to use internet tools to tell these stories.

We cannot maintain the level of consumption of resources we have today with 6, 7 or 8 billion people. Sooner or later we will have to make the difficult choice between reducing the population or our standard of living.

Even in the most extreme circumstances when survival is at stake, Bangladeshi women stand out for their capacity to unite and together overcome climate change’s effects on their lives.

Sexual violence in armed conflict is increasingly reported with state and non-state individuals. What strategies can help prevent such an affliction?

‘Conversation starters’ answered the questions: “What are some of the best practices in preventing trafficking?” and “How do we protect victims from further abuse and violence?” Below is a brief summary of the thoughts shared at Conversations for a Better World.

Economic and political policies made at international, regional and national levels strongly affect the fight against trafficking. The approach to build a strategy must be holistic.

What connection does finishing the food on your plate in New York, saving the water and the energy here, have to children and women in third world countries? Many.

‘Conversation starters’ answered the question: “Can you share any stories of men and boys mobilizing to stop domestic violence?” Below is a brief summary of the thoughts shared at Conversations for a Better World.

It’s shocking: Between 500,000 to 2 million people, mostly women and children, are trafficked every year according to a UN study on violence against women. What are some of the best practices in preventing trafficking? How do we protect victims from further abuse and violence?

It is a popular saying in Latin America that women always get what they want. For 20 years, fearless women from the Kichwa community, an indigenous group in Ecuador, have been resisting against oil companies’ presence on their lands.

I have dealt with domestic violence and other female issues in my country, Pakistan. There are various trends that perpetuate domestic violence. I have listed some of my conclusions.

Firstly, we simply cannot exclude such a large group of people, if we are serious in our ambitions to turn the tide. Not tapping into the resource of young people is foolish. Secondly, young people will always be the best experts on youth.

Violence against women, above all domestic violence, should be addressed from different perspectives.

Men must be protected from being pressured by traditions and macho culture into committing violence again women or other men.

A teenaged mother in Singapore discusses her decision to see her pregnancy through. The one person who helped her through the experience? Her mother. Watch on!

Art and policy joined forces as the Art Center College of Design launched a campaign to spread awareness.

In this video I talk about Nepal’s high maternal mortality rate. Unless the Nepalese Government and the people decides that maternal mortality is an issues of national importance and priority, the rates will remain high

The young volunteers who are involved in the fight against HIV get nothing in return.

Everything we talk about, maternal mortality, the breaking of promises such as those made at Cairo in 1994, the lack of family planning personnel and commodities, the feminization of AIDS, the ubiquitous nature of gender based violence, all this and more has to do with the basic issue of gender inequality.

Here are links to several documents that offer a snapshot of violence against women from a global perspective as well as prevention guidelines.

Society must change its way of thinking in order to eliminate domestic violence. My experience is that Pakistan has a long way to go in order to fix this problem.

Diamonds: Stories of Women from the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV, a book and documentary, tells the stories of ten women and one girl who are all HIV-positive.

Activist Ursula Rakova has been leading the way to raise funds to help relocate the residents from the Cataret Islands in Papua New Guinea, where it is estimated that by the year 2015 all of the islands will be completely submerged attributed to climate change.

We want to hear from you. The international community has just finished Violence Against Women Awareness month. It is crucial that the topic stays on the international agenda. This is why we are hosting a dialogue for those affected, interested or working on violence against women issues.

68-year-old Aicha Ech Chenna has just been awarded the world’s largest faith-based prize for entrepreneurship, the Opus Prize. She has formed a social work practice with the sole purpose of helping unwed mothers.

A group of women in India have demonstrated that despite the existing gender inequity and their low economic status, they can become a powerful resource to tackle climate change and reduce the emissions that cause it.

Invisible Women Melting is the title of a play written by a graduate student in the United States that seeks to draw the comparison between the negative effects of climate change felt by African-American and African women.

What is the relationship between the economic meltdown and environmental sustainability? How would the meltdown affect the course of environmental sustainability? How can we effectively manage our environment in the face of the present economic meltdown?

If population, family planning and reproductive health are left out of the climate change adaptation debate, there is probably little hope for many of these failing states.

We must press for more attention to women’s roles in clean energy and ‘green’ economies. Much can be done to move social and economic habits towards sustainability by engaging women as promoters of family health, safety, and prospects for a safe and satisfying world.

Desertification is silently but rapidly spreading around the world and Latin America is not escaping its devastating effects.

Women and young people play a crucial role. They have the skills to adapt to climate change, and can be powerful actors e.g. by planting trees, maintaining forests and developing ecological food production and sustainable household energy which are also creating new sustainable jobs.

The disappearance of glaciers in the Bolivian Andes Mountains is causing a concern because the future water shortages will affect the availability of suitable drinking water for a vulnerable migrant population.

Poor women in developing countries and their babies are dying in childbirth because of something as basic as a lack of money and resources. A filmmaker captures one Nigerian woman’s story as she gives birth.

In spite of all odds against them, India’s lower caste women are now organizing and standing up for their rights to maternal healthcare.

In Peru, a new bill related to women’s health and pregnancy has sparked a national conversation.

When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth or due to complications after delivery, it affects not only the family, but also the whole community. These videos, by different human rights organizations, go beyond statistics to tell us the stories of women and their families as they struggle to understand why it is that so many women are dying during childbirth and what needs to be done to stop this.

Maternal mortality is an all too common global problem. Thousands of women are dying everyday–how do we solve the problem?

A new form of poetry called spoken word has grown out of rap music in the United States. Today, young artists are using this new form of poetry to express the pain and heartache of love and sexuality.

Women speak out from all sides of the issue: adoptees, natural mothers and adoptive mothers try to make sense of the legal, reproductive and human rights issues behind adoptions.

Humanitarian activist mothers in Asia are becoming icons for human rights causes worldwide. What does a woman sacrifice for the cause she fights for?

Women’s lives are considered less important. Why else would the world allow over 560,000 women to die in pregnancy and childbirth every year?

To improve maternal health, we must see every woman first and foremost a woman. Not as an African woman, a lower caste Indian woman, a discriminated Roma woman, a struggling Arab woman, or a “Third World” woman.

Japan appears to be the only developed country where the number of HIV positive and AIDS infected people is growing. These statistics about the spread of HIV and AIDS in Japan are particularly alarming because cases of infection are decreasing in rest of the developed world (according to UNAIDS), and because the government has done little to combat the problem.

Pregnant women are still giving birth handcuffed and with their feet shackled. In some places, it is a struggle to ensure human rights for pregnant women. What have been some of the steps made to ensure that they are treated humanely and with respect to the life they carry?

With influence from the Catholic Church, The Dominican Republic has made it illegal for women to terminate pregnancy. Bloggers discuss whether this is wise.

Is it worth it to have a big family? Women from Singapore are debating the “Baby Bonus initiative”, a government plan to raise declining birth rates. Yet, the initiative has not produced its desired results. Why?

Women’s health and rights just don’t seem to count that much – whether within the family or within parliaments. Had it been men, who were sacrificed in such numbers, investments would probably have happened a long time ago

If it goes against the religious mandates of a Catholic organization, can unwed pregnant females be fired from work or expelled from school? Bloggers in Philippines discuss this sensitive issue that goes against the rights pregnant women have.