Women News Network - WNN

From clearing excrement to New York modelling

By Salim Rizvi, New York | BBC News | Friday 4 July, 2008

A former scavenger on the catwalk alongside a professional model

Walking down the catwalk in front of the great and the good in New York is a far cry from using your hands to clean up human excrement for a living.

But this week a group of such women - known in India as scavengers - have been doing just that. They have been attending a United Nations conference here and doing some modelling at the same time. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Betancourt hails ‘perfect’ rescue

BBC News | Thursday, 3 July 2008 11:48 UK

Ingrid Betancourt rescue 2 July, 2008 | AFP

French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt has hailed as a “miracle” her release from more than six years of captivity in the Colombian jungle.

“There is no historical precedent for such a perfect operation,” she said.

Ms Betancourt and 14 other hostages were rescued without a shot being fired after rebels holding them were tricked into handing them over. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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New toilet technology empowers low-caste Indian women

AFP - Wednesday 2 July, 2008

Scavenger women of India attend the United Nations

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Usha Chaumar was seven years old when she began collecting human excrement with her mother in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.

By the age of 10 she had married and, with her mother-in-law, continued going from house to house performing this demeaning task.

“They used to call me ‘Bhangi’ (part of the lowest of Indian castes) and treat us badly,” Chaumar, now 33, told AFP in an interview here.

She was one of the country’s estimated 700,000 so-called human scavengers on the lowest rung of India’s social hierarchy, who for centuries have had the wretched task of cleaning toilets and collecting human excrement. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Louise Hogan - Independent.ie - Tuesday 1 July, 2008

Ukranian prostitute - Image:Axel Schmidt/Getty/AFP

THE majority of women trafficked into Ireland for sexual exploitation are forced to work as sex slaves in large provincial towns, new figures show.

According to Ruhama, the support group for women who are sexually exploited for commercial purposes, the group of 44 victims whom they have helped were forced to work in the sex trade in various locations, including . . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Muslim convert who vanished from Gaza

Martin Chulov and Sian Powell | The Austrailian | Monday June 30, 2008

AMID a chaotic swirl of people, car horns and dust, the donkey carrying Tanya Louise Smith slowly approached a place a world away - and civilisations apart - from anything she had experienced in the suburban calm of Sydney: the Gaza Strip.

Almost three months pregnant and no doubt feeling the effects after her long journey from Yemen, Ms Smith, 20, was about to enter a place where few young Australians had ventured.

The Muslim convert’s odyssey from Sydney had taken her to the ancient city of Sana’a, in Yemen, where she met and married a Palestinian from Gaza and immersed herself in Islamic studies along with a small group of similarly devout Australians.

But when Gaza-based militants blew up the border wall with Egypt in mid-January, a door into another world was opened to foreigners for the first time in decades. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Wealthy New Yorker jailed for keeping slaves

The Sydney Morning Herald - Friday 27 June, 2008

Varsha Mahender Sabhnani and her husband Mahender Sabhnani. Picture AP

A wealthy New York woman was sentenced to 11 years in prison today for keeping two Indonesian women as slaves, forcing them to work up to 20 hours a day for years after confiscating their passports.

Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted with her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, in December of forced labour, peonage, harbouring aliens, document servitude and conspiracy. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Probing polygamy

Natalie O’Brien | The Australian | Thursday June 26, 2008

Keysar Trad and his wife Hanifeh pictured at their home in Sydney. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

WHEN his wife was away in Lebanon for several months with their six children, Keysar Trad was lonely and considered taking a second wife.

It seemed the natural thing to do for Trad, 44, who lives in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Trad had already lived through the experience of being the son of his father’s second wife, who became part of the family after the first wife became too ill to look after their children. A childhood spent living with a mother and a stepmother was completely normal. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Reprieve for abused Mexican women - Canada

Federal Court tosses out refugee board decisions, giving families another chance at a life in Canada

The Toronto Star - Jun 25, 2008 04:30 AM
Lesley Ciarula Taylor, Immigration Reporter

For this Mexican family, who wished to remain anonymous, the Federal Court
decision has provided another chance to stay in Canada after they lost their
refugee hearing because they lacked documents.
Image: GLENN LOWSON FOR THE STAR

In a series of stunning decisions, the Federal Court of Canada has jumped to the defence of Mexican women trying to stay in Canada to escape violence and abuse. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Lawsuit alleges Little India beauty salon chain exploits workers

The class action says Ziba employees, many immigrant women, were paid less than minimum wage and forced to work long hours with no breaks. The Artesia firm denies wrongdoing.

By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer - June 23, 2008

AT ISSUE: Owners of Ziba Beauty, which specializes in eyebrow threading, shown here at another
salon, deny allegations that workers were underpaid and didn’t get breaks.
Image: Lori Shepler, Los Angeles Times

For two decades, Ziba Beauty salons have brought the ancient Indian techniques of eyebrow threading and henna tattoos to a clientele that has included Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Salma Hayek and Naomi Campbell.

Ziba Chief Executive Sumita Batra, 39, and her staff have styled models for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone magazines and TV shows “America’s Next Top Model” and “Extreme Makeover.”

But now Batra and her family partners are accused of building their business by exploiting workers, many of them female immigrants. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Three women who might join the GOP ticket

David Paul Khun - Politico - June 22, 2008 5:18pm EST

From left to right, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison,
former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Photo: Composite image by Politico.com

While the vice presidential slot may be John McCain’s best means of wooing those Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters who remain loath to embrace Barack Obama, the Republican party is a thin source of politically viable women, leaving McCain with few top-tier options.

The most-mentioned potential running mates — former Republican candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty — are all men. Yet no clear front-runner has emerged, and there are at least three women McCain might select to fill out the ticket. All three would mark a symbolic turn away from Vice President Dick Cheney, the ultimate D.C. old-boys-club insider. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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U.N. Security Council says sexual violence akin to war crimes

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice introduced the resolution, saying rape that other sexual assaults belong on the council’s agenda.

By Maggie Farley, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer - Friday June 20, 2008

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, seated next to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, led a Security Council meeting today in New York. The issue of sexual violence was pushed onto the council agenda by advocacy groups after China, Russia, and South Africa last year called it an unfortunate byproduct of war, but not a matter of international peace and security. Image: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council affirmed Thursday that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, and called for measures to combat such attacks.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice introduced the U.S.-sponsored resolution at a special session attended by diplomats from 60 nations. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Prostitutes’ ranks thin after waves of arrests

Nina Berglund - Aftenposten (News from Norway) - Thurs 19 June, 2008

Scenes like this, where Nigerian prostitutes try to
snare new customers, have led to police action against
the world’s oldest profession in Oslo.
PHOTO: JAN TOMAS ESPEDAL

There’s been a marked decline in the number of prostitutes on the streets of Oslo this week. The decline follows two waves of arrests aimed at cracking down on human trafficking.

Police in Oslo arrested nearly 70 persons earlier this week, all of them tied to the Nigerian circles of prostitutes who have been aggressively going after customers on downtown streets during the past year. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Times Iraq Correspondent wins award

Times Online - Wed 18 June, 2008

Deborah Haynes, who was
presented with an award last night
(David Bebber/The Times)

Deborah Haynes, The Times Baghdad Correspondent, won the Amnesty International National Newspapers award last night for her series of articles about the plight of Iraqi interpreters who worked for the British Army. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Ethiopian children face starvation

By Gavin Hewitt - BBC News, Ethiopia - Wed 17 June, 2008

More than 126,000 Ethiopian children
could be affected by malnutrition

A woman walks slowly down a track between eucalyptus trees. On her back is a boy, his head emaciated and swollen.

She is just one of several hundred mothers who have walked for hours to find help. But her son, whose name is Tareknge, is starving. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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500 clergy set to desert Church over ‘betrayal’ on women bishops

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent - The (London) Times online
Monday 16, 2008

More than 500 clergy could leave the Church of England in response to proposals to consecrate women bishops that will be debated at the General Synod next month.

Bishops voted narrowly to approve the consecration of women, without enshrining the legal safeguards sought by traditionalists. Instead, dioceses that appoint a woman bishop will merely be asked to sign a voluntary code of practice to ensure that Anglo-Catholics who oppose the move are not discriminated against or forced to act against their conscience. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Afghan mothers-to-be face dangerous journey

KATHERINE O’NEILL - GlobeandMail World News - Friday 13 June, 2008

They travel at night on back roads from rural areas to get ultrasounds and other medical attention

KANDAHAR CITY, AFGHANISTAN — Only when Shala lifts up her shapeless, lavender-coloured burka, can you tell that the 32-year-old Afghan woman is with child.

Almost four months pregnant, the mother of three has made the dangerous journey to Kandahar city from her home in rural Panjwai district to get an ultrasound.

Shala and her husband travelled part of the 50-kilometre distance by donkey and avoided all major roads for fear of hitting a homemade bomb. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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More underweight babies born in U.S., report finds

David Crary - AP - The Austin Statesman - Thurs 12 June, 2008

Number highest in decades.

NEW YORK — The percentage of underweight babies born in the U.S. has increased to its highest rate in 40 years, according to a new report that also documents a recent rise in the number of children living in poverty.

Babies with low birth weights — less than 5.5 pounds — face a greater risk of dying in infancy or having long-term disabilities.

The findings were released Thursday. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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People trafficking group jailed

BBC News - Wednesday 11 June, 2008

The two families controlled the woman
for financial gain

Two families have been jailed for their part in the people trafficking and forced prostitution of a Czech woman.

The 31-year-old woman from the Czech Republic was brought over to Manchester three years ago with her two children with promises of a better life.

The families, Roma gypsies from the Czech Republic, put the 31-year-old woman to work on the streets and in the brothels of Manchester. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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2 activists (and 2 views) of women’s rights in Morocco

by Daniel Williams - International Herald Tribune - Tuesday 10 June, 2008

Nadia Yassine believes a secular ban on polygamy violates Moroccan “identity.” (Eve Coulon/Bloomberg News)

RABAT, Morocco: Saida Idrissi and Nadia Yassine have a lot in common in the fight for women’s rights in Morocco.

The two advocates battle violence against women while campaigning for their education and the ability to participate in politics. They are nonetheless separated by a divide that, according to both, makes it impossible for them to work together, weakening the drive for equality in the Middle East.

Idrissi, a secular human-rights activist, says Islamic tradition must not be. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Make Forced Marriage a Crime Against Humanity

By Donald Steinberg - Christian Science Monitor - Monday 9 June, 2008

The UN must protect conflict zone ‘bush wives.’

New York - Nearly a decade after Angola emerged from a civil war that killed half a million people, one image from my work there continues to haunt me: that of young women huddled in the shadows in rebel demobilization camps.

They all told the same story. They believed in the rebel movement, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and its leader, Jonas Savimbi, and ran off to join the rebels. While there, they fell in love with a UNITA freedom fighter, got married, and had a child. Now, they had no interest in returning to their villages and families. . .

. . . read complete editorial . . .
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Turkey’s High Court Overturns Headscarf Rule

By SABRINA TAVERNISE with Sebnem Arsu - The New York Times
Friday 6 June, 2008

Image: Lynsey Addario for The New York Times
Turkish women wearing head scarves walked through the streets of Istanbul. Turkey’s top court
ruled today that Islamic head scarves violate secularism and cannot be allowed at universities.

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s highest court dealt a stinging slap to the governing party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, ruling that a legal change allowing women attending universities to wear head scarves was unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court said in a brief statement that the change, proposed by Mr. Erdogan’s party and passed by Parliament in February, violated principles of secularism set in Turkey’s Constitution.

The ruling sets the stage for a showdown between . . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Korea’s Cited as Source of Sex Trafficking

By Kang Shin-who, Staff Reporter - The Korea Times - Thurs 5 June, 2008

North Korea remains a source country for trafficking humans for forced labor and sexual exploitation, and South Korea also actively trades women and girls for sex in and out of the nation, according to a U.S. report.

An annual U.S. report by the Department of State said a growing number of South Korean women and girls are traded within the country and to other destinations including Japan, Hong Kong and even Western Europe.

The report, titled “Trafficking in Persons Report’’ for 2008 attributed the causes of the trend to South Korea’s strict law against domestic sex trafficking, adding that South Korea is a source of sex trafficking for women from. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Denmark Searches for Miss Headscarf Undaunted by Embassy Bomb

By Tasneem Brogger - Bloomberg.org - Wednesday 4 June, 2008

June 4 (Bloomberg) — Hibo Abdull wants to be Denmark’s first Miss Headscarf.

The 24-year-old aspiring actress is competing to scoop up the title in a pageant for headscarf-wearing women sponsored by state broadcaster Danmarks Radio.

While some Danes regard the hijab as a symbol of what they see as the inferior status of women in Islam, Abdull says her scarf should be celebrated. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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