Jewish Women Fight For Equality At Jerusalem Western Wall

National Public Radio
July 30, 2010

Israeli law prohibits women from reading the Torah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, one of Judaism's most sacred spots. Anat Hoffman wants to change that. She's the chairwoman of Women of the Wall and a leading figure in the Reform movement in Israel. Earlier this month she was arrested for carrying the Torah at the wall. Hoffman tells guest host Rebecca Roberts about the incident and why she is so steadfastly working to upend the gender-based restrictions...

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Rape in the Camps: Lacking Security, Women Organize to Protect Themselves

DemocracyNow!
July 14, 2010

Something that gets lost in all the coverage of the Haiti earthquake is how people on the ground organize in the face of adversity. Rape and violence against women has become increasingly widespread in the tent camps across Haiti. While Haitian police and UN forces have done little, women on the ground are organizing to protect themselves. We spoke with Malia Villard Appolon, coordinator of KOFAVIV, the committee of women for survival...

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Miskito Women Fight on Nature's Side

By Thelma Mejía
Inter Press Service
June 18, 2010

Seven years ago, in the isolated Honduran region of Mosquitia, on the Caribbean coast, a group of women, mostly single mothers, elderly or widowed, overcame their fear and timidity -- thanks in part to a waste recycling project...

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"Women in Focus" at Film Festival

By Marcela Valente
Inter Press Service
May 12, 2010

The First International Women and Film Festival for Gender Equity drew enthusiastic audiences this month in the Argentine capital, where movies from nearly 40 countries were screened...

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Civil Rights Activist Dorothy Height Dies

by ALLISON KEYES
Morning Edition
National Public Radio
April 20, 2010

...Harvard professor Charles Ogletree called Height "an absolute genius."

"Everything that we do today is influenced by her sacrifices decades ago, her marches as a teenager against lynching, her buying a building right on Pennsylvania Avenue to in a sense to talk about the slave trade, and her commitment to open up doors for others is unparalleled," Ogletree said...

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Equality for Women - "The Core of the Problem is Care"

Daniela Estrada interviews SONIA MONTAÑO, head of ECLAC's gender unit
April 12, 2010
Inter Press Service

"Women help to reduce poverty and raise family incomes, but they pay too high a price for it, because in every country their working days are longer than men's," said Sonia Montaño, head of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean's (ECLAC) Division for Gender Affairs...

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New Millennium, Same Old Backlash?

Saturday 27 March 2010
by Maya Schenwar
Ms. Magazine

From the climate of angry machismo that accompanied the drive toward the Iraq war, to the Bush-led campaign against contraception and abortion that has overflowed into the current Congress, this past decade has seen a host of reactionary shifts in attitudes towards women. Barbara J. Berg chronicles this current backlash in Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future (Chicago Review Press). Ms. recently interviewed her.

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Female WWII Pilots, The Original Fly Girls

by SUSAN STAMBERG
Morning Edition
March 09, 2010
National Public Radio

..."A few more than 1,100 young women, all civilian volunteers, flew almost every type of military aircraft — including the B-26 and B-29 bombers — as part of the WASP program. They ferried new planes long distances from factories to military bases and departure points across the country. They tested newly overhauled planes. And they towed targets to give ground and air gunners training shooting — with live ammunition. The WASP expected to become part of the military during their service. Instead, the program was canceled after just two years..."

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Domestic Violence: A Pre-Existing Condition?

DemocracyNow!
March 03, 2010

March is Women’s History Month, recognizing women’s central role in society. Unfortunately, violence against women is epidemic in the United States and around the world.

Domestic violence is on the minds of many now, as reports published by The New York Times implicate New York Gov. David Paterson in an alleged attempt to influence a domestic violence case against one of his top aides. The Times reports, based in part on unnamed sources, say that the Paterson aide, David W. Johnson, attacked his girlfriend on Halloween night, Oct. 31, 2009, “choking her, smashing her into a mirrored dresser and preventing her from calling for help.” New York state police from the governor’s personal protection detail contacted the victim, despite having no jurisdiction. Then the governor himself intervened, the Times alleges, asking two aides to contact the victim and to arrange a phone call between him and the victim. The call occurred on Feb. 7 of this year, the night before the victim was to appear in court to request an order of protection from Johnson. She did not appear in court, and the case was dismissed. After the exposé, the governor ended his bid for election and suspended Johnson without pay.

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Haitian Feminist Leader Myriam Merlet (1953-2010)

DemocracyNow!
January 19, 2009

We end today’s show with the sad news of the passing of Haitian political activist Myriam Merlet. She died under the rubble of her home after it collapsed on her last week. Myriam Merlet was the Chief of Staff of the Haitian Ministry of Women and an outspoken feminist who helped draw international attention to the use of rape as a political weapon. We speak with playwright and activist Eve Ensler who knew Myriam very well and air video of Myriam speaking in 2008 at VDay.

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