INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Women's Rights Worldwide
in several short articles

Women in Leadership

January 2012 - Click here for the webcast of a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, on Women in Leadership.
With journalist Nicolas Kristof , Yingluck Shinawatra, prime minister of Thailand; Archbishop Tutu; Michelle Bachelet of UN Women; the CEO of Zain telecommunications in Bahrein and Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

Women in Leadership

from Egyptian Queen Ku-baba 3000 BC
till women Prime Ministers in 2012

January 2012 - This site - highly recommended - on: http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/ is dedicated to the women who have ruled since the beginning of times - or as long as the sources date back. We quote:
There have always been female rulers. Egyptian Queens are believed to have governed from around 3000 BCE, and the first to be named by the sources without any doubt is Ku-baba, who ruled the Mesopotamian City-State of Ur round 2500 BCE.

First female ministers
However, it was not until during and just after the World War I that the first few women became members of the revolutionary governments in Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and Ireland.
Nina Bang, Danish Minister of Education 1924-26, was the first woman to be minister in democratically elected parliamentary government.

Nevertheless, development was slow and it was not until the end of the 20th century that female ministers stopped being unusual, though a number of countries don't have women in their governments at the moment.
See also: http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/First-female-ministers.htm

International Alliance of Women

January 2012 - The International Meeting 2012 will take place in Melbourne from October 8 – October 14 2012. Our hostesses are: Women’s Electoral Lobby, the League of Women Voters of Victoria, and the Union of Australian Women.

Planning is in progress
According to our constitution the purpose of the International Meeting is for the Board and the presidents to inform each other of the work that is going on and to prepare for Congress in 2013.
As part of the International Meeting our hostesses will organize seminars and workshops. Much more information will follow as we go along

Protest of Egyptian women against brutal treatment by military

December 20 2011 - Hundreds of women protested in Cairo against military rule and brutal treatment of female protesters by Egypt's security services. They rallied outside a government complex in Tahrir Square, where earlier at least four demonstrators were shot dead. Dozens of male supporters joined the rally, acting as a protective cordon.

December 27 2011 - Forced "virginity tests" on female detainees were ruled illegal in Egypt on Tuesday, after a court ordered an end to the practice. Hundreds of activists were in the Cairo courtroom to hear the judge, Aly Fekry, say the army could not use the test on women held in military prisons in a case filed by Samira Ibrahim, one of seven women subjected to the test after being arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest on 9 March.

Fekry, head of the Cairo administrative court, decreed that what happened to Ibrahim and six other detainees was illegal and any similar occurrence in the future would also be considered illegal.

The court is expected to issue a further injunction against such tests and decree that the test was completely illegal, opening the door for financial compensation. After the verdict Ibrahim, 25, (see picture) posted on Twitter: "Thank you to the people, thank you to Tahrir Square that taught me to challenge, thank you to the revolution that taught me perseverance."

Women in Egypt

Egypt, 24 November, a letter from Yara.
On Saturday, 19 November, security forced dispersed the injured using violence which provoked people to go back to Tahrir again.

Security forces are using different kinds of tear gases excessively, rubber bullets, birdshot and live ammunition against protesters up till now and they are getting more violent with each passing day causing the death of 30 persons and leaving more than 1000 of injured (official records from the Ministry of Health), including many who were targeted in their eyes and the upper part of their bodies.
People are being arrested arbitrarily and violently, including volunteers field doctors who are helping the injured and journalists covering the events. Field hospitals are being attacked on purpose to disable doctors from helping the injured.

Women - As always, since the start of the revolution in January, women are taking up the streets in different roles. Some are taking the frontline in the protests, others are helping out the injured by providing emergency medical aid, and female doctors are helping in the field hospitals that are being targeted by tear gas.

I have witnessed women brought out of the frontline losing conscience due to tear gas, and we have followed cases of women who got detained by security forces and we are in the process of documenting the circumstances in which they were arrested and the violence that was used against them, if there was any.
Women played, and are still playing, their role for Egypt's freedom and in the fight against militarism.
Yara

16 Ways to Say NO to Violence against Women

November the 23rd - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women! Join us virtually on 23 November at http://j.mp/UNiTEyouth . Youth activists are meeting the UN Secretary-General, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet and other high-level participants to discuss ways to end violence against women and girls.
We will be live tweeting from the event – follow #UNiTEyouth and @SayNO_UNiTE on Twitter.

Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence

On November 7, 2011, the Ukraine became the 17th member of the Council of Europe that signed the Convention. Notably missing: the United Kindom, the Netherlands and Denmark.

November 25 - to December 10 - International Human Rights Day
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence for 2011
International Day Against Violence Against Women

Asia - 160 million females missing ...

November 7 2011 - Mara Hvistendahl is a correspondent with Science magazine and a contributor to publications ranging from Foreign Policy to Popular Science. She is also the author of Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men.
Information on: http://marahvistendahl.com/

Thanks mainly to sex selective abortion, there are over 160 million females missing from Asia’s population and an unknown number missing from other continents.

Unnatural Selection looks at how this gap is transforming communities, leading to everything from a spike in bride-buying to an increase in crime—and details how the West played a role in sparking this global problem.
See also (here) the introduction of Rosy Weiss in Bonn.

International Alliance of Women
Dr. Manorama Bawa, President of the All India Women's Conference, and IAW Vice President at that time, gave a moving introduction on 'Missing Girls', at a IAW side-event of CSW 2007. This is what she told us nearly five years ago.

Rio + 20 - UN Conference on Sustainable Development
June 2012

Nobel Peace Prize to three women's activists
October 7 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to three women's activists, describing it as “a testament to the power of women's leadership.”

Picture: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia, Leymah Gbowee, Jemen and Tawakkul Karman Liberia .

The recipients demonstrate the vital role that women play in advancing peace and security, boosting development and securing human rights around the globe. And the amount of Women Nobel Prize winners increased from 12 to 15, in 110 years. Click for all of them here