Manchester Female Reformers At Peterloo Massacre

From the Guardian:
The Peterloo massacre  on Monday 16 August 1819 - 193 years ago tomorrow - took place when a peaceful crowd, assembled to demand the reform of Parliament, was attacked by armed soldiers and yeomanry, leading to many deaths and injuries. The events of the day have been the subject of many books, novels, prints and poems, but the role of women has often been overlooked.

As the reform movement gathered momentum in the spring of 1819, women stepped onto the public stage, setting up Female Reform Societies  in a number of towns. Blackburn women led the way. On 5 July the Female Reformers, described as "very neatly dressed for the occasion", and each wearing a green favour in her bonnet or cap, attended an outdoor public meeting, at which they presented a Cap of Liberty made of scarlet silk to the chair, John Knight.

At least 18 people were killed on the field or died later of their injuries, of whom four were women. These were Margaret Downes – sabred; Mary Heys - trampled by cavalry; Sarah Jones – truncheoned on the head by special constables; and Martha Partington, – crushed to death in a cellar. Of the 654 people listed as being injured, 168 were women.

Women In & Beyond the Pakistan Movement

From the Express Tribune:

Partaking in the Pakistan Movement was of a great historical significance for Muslim women of the subcontinent who had never participated in such a great number in any political movement. It was a befitting culmination of the reformist trends of the late nineteenth century for emancipation of Muslim women finally becoming a tangible reality.

Much before than that, the Khilafat Movement of the 1920s had been the first instance when Muslim women had made their presence felt in the political arena. With Maulana Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali Johar in jail, their mother Bi Amman, had taken up the cudgels against British imperialism with assistance from her daughter-in-law. She addressed large meetings from behind the curtains and traveled to various parts of India to garner support.

Pakistan Movement, when born, followed a similar trend. Women came to symbolize the struggle for a separate homeland and made immense contributions to the effort through their enthusiasm for social uplift and by demonstrating qualities of leadership, sincerity, intellect, courage and resolve.

Philippines: More Women On Peace Panel

From the Inquirer:

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Annabelle Abaya urged the incoming Aquino administration to place more women on the government panel with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as she noted their critical role in balancing or cooling the usually tense atmosphere in talks. Abaya said government negotiating panels should include at least two women.

Sudan: Jonglei Women Defect

From Bor Globe Network:

Six months to national general elections in Sudan scheduled for February next year, five former female cadres in the National Congress Party, Jonglei state, have defected with their supporters from the National Congress Party to join the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Among the incoming members included Dr. Monica Simon Ngong, Susan Akuach, Grace Aluong, Martha Akuol, Ayak Philip among others, who held various responsiblilities in the tune of National Congress Party. However, one of the six is from United Sudan African Party (USAP)..

The women cited lack of equality in the national congress, both in form of gender and race.

Japan: Women & Politics

From Mysinchew.com:

Many Japanese woman, including younger female members of parliament, are hopeful for a change that has eluded them for many years under the previous administration

“The Japanese voters have greater expectations of women than before,” said Yoriko Madoka, a member of the House of Councilors (the upper house of Japan’s National Diet) since l992. The women in parliament will bring changes to Japanese politics, added the acknowledged gender advocate within the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

Exposed to the realities of Japanese society, the new and younger female members of parliament are more aware of gender issues and of the need to get rid of discrimination against women, said Madoka.

In terms of female presence in politics, Japan ranks 99th in the world, up from its previous standing of 134th, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organisation of Parliaments.

This shows that women’s involvement in politics is increasing. The current female composition of the lower house, numbering 54 , or 11.3 percent of the total—up from 9.2 before the last election—is still far below the 30 per cent government had set in 2005 as the target ratio of women in important positions by 2020.

Yet the number of women parliamentarians who now sit in the House of Representatives is already unprecedented in the history of Japanese politics, thanks in part to women’s groups that campaigned hard to send more women to parliament.

Posthumous Senate Appoinment for Famous 5

From The Star:

Eighty years after they changed history, the Famous 5 have done it again - this time by becoming the only Canadians to be appointed honorary senators.

The Famous 5 are Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby, and in 1929, they won a landmark court ruling that recognized women as "persons," thus opening up the doors for women to sit in the Senate.

This week they were posthumously appointed to the Canadian Senate.

This is the first time that such an honour will be bestowed upon a Canadian, said Frances Wright, founder of the non-profit Famous 5 Foundation.

"It's a fabulous gift," she said on Sunday from Calgary. "It shows that dreams in Canada can come true and particularly when you dedicate your life, as the Famous 5 did, to contributing to the growth of Canada."

The Senate voted to name the women honorary senators on Oct. 8, just 10 days before the 80th anniversary of their historic triumph.

The Famous 5 lobbied to have women included in the definition of `persons' under the BNA Act of 1867 so they could participate in all levels of political life.

After failing to persuade the Supreme Court, the Famous 5 took their fight to the British Privy Council, then Canada's highest court, and won.

"By not being present in the Senate, (women) had no ability to amend a bill or encourage its passage," Wright explained. "That's why they wanted women to be in the Senate."

Of the five women, Emily Murphy most yearned to become a senator but this would never happen, Wright said.

In 1930, she was passed over for a senate opening for Alberta businessman Patrick Burns. This was puzzling, Wright said, because Burns was a Liberal and then prime minister, R.B. Bennett, was a Conservative, like Murphy.

Murphy would die a year later and she never again found an opportunity to be named a senator. Until now.

"These were women who had tremendous impact," Wright said. "They could have been outstanding senators if prejudice hadn't prevented it."

Today, 35 of Canada's 105 Senate seats are occupied by women. The first female Canadian senator was Cairine Wilson, appointed in 1930, just months after the Person's Case ruling.

Pakistan: Women & Politics

From The Star:

The women wings of PAS, DAP and PKR have vowed to be the stabilising factor in Pakatan Rakyat in light of the Kedah DAP’s pullout from the state coalition.

Central committee member Dr Lo’Lo Mohamad Ghazali said the women wings had urged the central committee for the leadership to have more consultations and communication, and for each party to be more sacrificial for one another.

She said they had agreed to it.

“We are the stabilising factor and we will ensure that Pakatan will continue to be strong. These are common problems and I believe it would help Pakatan to mature,” she said.

Iran: Women March

From Moni Basu @ CNN International:

Women, regarded as second-class citizens under Iranian law, have been noticeably front and center of the massive demonstrations that have unfolded since the presidential election a week ago. Iranians are protesting what they consider a fraudulent vote count favoring hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but for many women like Parisa, the demonstrations are just as much about taking Iran one step closer to democracy.

For the first time, women were allowed to register for the presidential race, though none, including Eshraghi, were deemed fit to run by the religious body that vets candidates. But women's issues surfaced in the campaign.

That was partly the result of a women's movement comprised of educated, urban, middle-class women that has grown in recent years with the addition of more conservative and poorer women, said Tohidi, a longtime observer of women's rights in Iran. Ironically, traditional women first gained voice under the clerics.

India: Women's Reservation Bill

From Asia Times:

Close on the heels of earning political points for appointing Meira Kumar as the country's first Dalit (untouchable) woman speaker of the Lower House (Lok Sabha) last month, the UPA has now committed itself to a cachet of women-empowerment measures.

As showcased by President Pratibha Patil in her parliamentary address on June 4, the UPA has now promised to reserve 50% of its seats for the fairer sex in village councils and city municipalities in its 100-day action plan. The measure is a throwback to erstwhile Congress prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's move in 1992 to earmark 33% of all seats for women in panchayats (elected village councils).

Widely seen as a deft political masterstroke, this radical move will give a substantially larger representation to Indian women in a country with a population of 1.1 billion - an increase from their current entitlement to a third of the seats in urban and rural councils.

When viewed along with the government's commitment to push for the path-breaking Women's Reservation Bill - that seeks to reserve a third of the elected seats in parliament and in state legislatures for women - this move will ensure the largest-ever political space to Indian women compared to any other country in the world at any time.

Among the UPA's other women-centric welfare measures include 100% literacy for women (as against the current figure of 54%) in the next five years through the National Literacy Mission, fixing the women's quota in central government jobs and setting up of the National Mission on Empowerment of Women for the implementation of women welfare programs. All these items are listed as priorities in the government's "100-Day Action Plan" with the women's reservation bill leading the list of 25 promises for action.

Women Key to Iranian Elections

Many stories this week regarding the quest to target female voters' support in this week-end's elections in Iran.

Middle East Online:

"... while the young women of Iran made their voices heard -- believing, perhaps for the first time, that at least part of their destiny is in their own hands"

Al Jazeera:

"In an unprecedented move, Mousavi, the leading reformist contender, introduced his wife Zahra Rahnavard onto the campaign platform alongside him. Rahnavard is an accomplished intellectual in her own right - a sculptor, author and chancellor of Tehran’s liberal arts-strong Al-Zahra University. She will also be Iran's first First Lady – in the public sense of the term – if her husband is elected. Already, she is being touted as a national heroine, her face gazing out alongside Mousavi's on posters and her name being chanted at rallies and demonstrations."

BBC News:

"President Ahmadinejad often speaks of women as the heart of this society. He talks of empowering them and makes much of his plan to provide insurance for housewives and share Iran's oil wealth with poorer families. But Mr Mousavi has - for Iran - an unusual political asset; his wife, Zhara Rahnavard.

She is Iran's first top-ranking female university professor and like her husband is a respected painter. Their most daring move as a couple has caused a stir - they hold hands as they campaign together.

All four candidates are making promises to women. It makes political sense. Women make up about half the electorate. They were a key part of a groundswell that brought the reformist President Mohammad Khatami to power in 1997 and saw him re-elected in 2001. "

Meira Kumar

From the Times of India:

A Dalit woman as Lok Sabha Speaker! Indian democracy will cross yet another milestone with the Congress leadership deciding to nominate Meira Kumar for the post.

The surprise decision, which would mark the breaching of a glass ceiling besides boosting the empowerment message, came after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi pitched for Kumar to preside over the 15th Lok Sabha. She argued that the choice would facilitate the difficult task of enacting the women's quota in the legislature besides making a statement on the partys commitment to social empowerment.

The decision, far removed from the rumours doing the rounds, came at a meeting of the Congress core committee on Saturday afternoon.

AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, Congress would be creating a historical milestone by opting for the first dalit woman Speaker. In the past also, Congress chose the first woman PM, youngest PM, first woman President.

Women Key to Afghanistan Future

From Google News:

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Kabul Saturday there would be no progress in Afghanistan without its women, adding that things are "going better" in the turbulent nation.

Wrapping up a three-day visit, the minister said he had noted an "admirable courage" among the Afghan women he met during his trip.

"The future of democracy passes through women," Kouchner told reporters. "Without the women in Afghanistan, there will be no progress."

Aung San Sui Kyi - New Charges

From the Canberra Times:

The United States has called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, as Western governments condemned new charges brought against the pro-democracy icon by Myanmar's military junta.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "deeply troubled" by the case laid against Aung San Suu Kyi just days before her six-year-long detention was to have expired.

The democracy activist has been charged with breaching the terms of her house arrest in a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house and hid inside her home.

Aung San Suu Kyi, now removed from her home, is being held at the grounds of Insein Prison, where the Myanmar government said she faces trial on Monday.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is "gravely concerned" about the case, his deputy spokesman Marie Okabe said in a statement, adding Ban believed the democracy activist "is an essential partner for dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation."

In Geneva, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, called for Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed, and said her detention broke the country's laws.

Global Summit of Women 2009

From Yahoo News:

Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sport, Yu—Foo Yee Shoon, will make an official visit to Chile from May 14 to 16 to attend the Roundtable of Women Government Ministers at the Global Summit of Women 2009.

The event is an annual event where women leaders from government, business and other sectors share strategies to accelerate women’s economic progress.

Vote: For Saudi Women

From the Star:

Saudi Arabia is considering allowing women to vote in municipal elections this year but they would still be barred from running for office, a senior government official was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest oil exporter and a key ally of the United States. The absolute monarchy applies an austere form of Sunni Islam which bans unrelated men and women from mixing.

The meeting in the Eastern Province, the first indication that the municipal vote will take place this year, recommended that the government continues to name half the members of the council, al-Watan said.

Magna Carta of Women - Update

From the Daily Tribune:
"A lawmaker from Iloilo yesterday accused her colleagues of attempting to derail the passage of the Magna Carta of Women even as she said that the move did not succeed.

Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin revealed that Parañaque Rep. Eduardo Zialcita and Deputy Speaker for Visayas Cebu Rep. Raul Del Mar tried but failed to insert some provisions that would allow educational institutions to terminate and refuse employment or enrolment to women who become pregnant out of wedlock.

Earlier, the Commission on Human Rights said the Magna Carta of Women would ensure that women and girls would have the same rights as men and boys in civil, political, economic, social and cultural aspects of life.

The CHR maintained that aside from ensuring that laws are not biased against women, laws should also be crafted to specifically protect women’s rights and promote the development of their well-being."

Nuala O'Loan

From the Belfast Telegraph:
"The North's former Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, has been appointment as Ireland's United Nations envoy on women and peace-making.

The announcement has been made by Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Martin to mark International Women's Day.

The establishment of the role is part of the Government's action plan for developing policies within the UN on women, peace and security.

Ms O'Loan has worked as a human rights lawyer and is also Ireland's Ambassador for Conflict Resolution."


Web Links:
Wikipedia - Nuala O'Loan
Equality & Human Rights Commission - Dame Nuala O'Loan
BBC News - O'Loan UN Envoy

Moroccan Women

From the New Zealand Herald:
"It was backed by the king and finally passed, a hotly disputed reform to empower women, cast off their vulnerability and set a trend in North Africa -- Morocco's landmark 2004 family law.

Five years later, the reform of "Mudawana", as it is called, is "positive overall" but still falls short of expectations, according to the rights' activist and outspoken head of Morocco's Democratic League for Women's Rights (LDDP), Fouzia Assouli.

Moroccans today have "embraced the idea of women's rights but we are still behind in terms of society's expectations," she said in an interview ahead of International Women's Day on March 8.

Her group was created in 1993 and today counts 13,000 members in this North African country that, much like Turkey, often acts as a link between the Arab and Western world."

Women in Iraq

From CNN:
"Four thousand women are running for office in Iraq's provincial elections Saturday, and many of them will be guaranteed seats under an electoral quota system.

Regardless of the votes their candidates receive, parties are required to give every third seat to a woman, according to a report this week from the International Crisis Group.

Al-Mamuri said she believes Saturday's vote can help women improve their position in society."

State & Status of Women

Excerpts from Sarwar Bari's article for the News International:

"For many years we have been witnessing women being prevented to participate in the electoral process both as voters and candidates. Shamelessly, despite their cutthroat competition, the religious and so-called liberal parties engaged in this fraud. And the Election Commission of Pakistan has never taken any action against this clear violation of its code of conduct. In addition, the state has been ominously silent on the closure and burning of girls' schools and women's colleges in some parts of the country. It also must be noted that recently, when the Islamic Ideological Council announced some pro-women recommendations on divorce, the mullahs aggressively opposed them, while the so-called pro-women parties did not bother to defend the recommendations.

Is it not an irony, especially when the Constitution of Pakistan (Articles 25 and 34) guarantees equality between the two sexes? Let us not forget that Pakistan also signed the Convention for the Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In order to achieve the objectives of CEDAW, Pakistan has also launched a Gender Reform Action Plan. In short, it could be concluded that the constitutional and policy framework of the state of Pakistan is externally pro-women, but inwardly it has no shame when its own laws are violated.

As long as the state is dependent on these two retrogressive forces [mullahs and feudal/tribal sardars] we will neither see any improvement in the status of women nor in governance in Pakistan. The implementation on the Constitution of Pakistan, the CEDAW and the MDGs will remain only a dream. The unholy alliance of mullahs-feudals and the state will not let us, and the world, have peace. "

Please use the link above to read the full article.