New Brunswick, NJ, November 19, 2015— On November 25, 2015, the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) will launch the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. Along with over 5,478 organizations and other participants from 187 countries and territories, CWGL is calling for an end to gender-based violence and accountability on the part of policymakers and community members to end violence, discrimination, and inequality. Participants planning actions during the 16-day period include: Mother of Hope (Cameroon), Yayasan Gender Harmony (Indonesia), Union of Food and Commercial Workers Local 247 (Canada), CongoInThePicture (Democratic Republic of Congo), Tadwein (Egypt), Women's Aid (Ireland), AWID, UNHCR, and UNWomen, among many more.

Source: http://16dayscwgl.rutgers.edu/2015-campaign/2015-theme

2015 THEME ANNOUNCEMENT

“From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All!”

The year 2015 marks the 24th year of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, initiated in 1991 and coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. Participation in the Campaign has seen over 5,478 organizations, policymakers, governments, UN agencies and countless individuals from over 180 countries worldwide. Together we have brought attention to issues of racism, sexism, cultures of violence, homophobia and called for the implementation of human rights obligations, including the right to health and reproductive rights, and end to militarism and gender-based violence, among others. The strength and longevity of the Campaign is due to these thousands of participants like you.

Source: https://www.apc.org/en/news/section-j-footnotes-headlines

By Flavia Fascendini for APCNews

PERGAMINO, Argentina, 20 March 2015

“In a time when there are 200 million fewer women with access to the internet, where women’s rights activists and advocates are rarely present to disrupt discussions at internet governance and policy spaces and where 98% of sexual rights activists say the internet is crucial to their work, with 51% of them facing violence and intimidation online, how would a feminist internet look like?” This was the concluding remark made by APC’s Jac sm Kee to the “Intergenerational dialogue” panel at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 59) in New York.

by Sylvia Estrada Claudio

If anyone is still to be convinced that Philippine culture is sexist and that a whole lot of men out there think it's okay to be sexually violent to women, then look at what these people have come up with

I can hardly look at the compilation of memes a friend sent me. I do not even know whether I shall write about this because it would only call attention to the memes.

They aren't very scandalous actually. They are just in very bad taste. In any case, I trust the mature reader to decide not to bother to look them up (a good option) or if they wish to do so, look them up without passing them on. I tried to find them myself, but only to find out more about the scumbags who post them.

by Annabs Sanchez

Cybersex: The Virtual is Political

Photo via StudioFOW

Right now, I just finished reading an article on video game porn about a genre called non-con.

Non-con is an innocuous term that's short for non-consent, which is a despicable semantic play on the word rape.

Source: http://www.onebillionrising.org/14368/seen-secret-women-can-transform-lives-heres-khushi-kabar/

As told to the One Billion Rising team.
Khushi Kabir is the Global Coordinator for One Billion Rising Bangladesh.

When did I become a feminist? There are lots of moments in every woman’s life that make her stand up for herself and her sisters, and there were many in mine. But the first one that comes to mind is the day I was told I couldn’t take a seat on the bus, simply because I was a woman.

By Anne Marie Goetz and Joanne Sandler

Source: https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/anne-marie-goetz-joanne-sandler/women%27s-rights-have-no-country#.VKqMi632HbI.gmail

There is no blueprint for holding fast against the arguments used to dismiss women's humanity, or defending our hard won human rights. It's time to meet, to brainstorm and try new formats.

At the 2012 Forum of the Association of Women’s Rights for Development (AWID) in Istanbul, there were heated discussions about whether to lobby for a Fifth World Conference on Women in 2015. The majority of older generation feminists taking part expressed reluctance. A young Turkish feminist took the floor and challenged us, essentially saying: “It’s fine for those of you who had the chance to go to Beijing and Nairobi to decline this opportunity. But what about my generation? We never had the chance to mobilize the way that you did. We need this!”

Assassination Of The Mirabal Sisters Of The Dominican Republic

WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 (the anniversary of the day of the murder of the Mirabal sisters) as the annual date for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in commemoration of the sisters.

This day also marks the beginning of the 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence. The end of the 16 Days is December 10, International Human Rights Day.

Patria Mercedes Mirabal (February 27, 1924 – November 25, 1960), Maria Argentina Minerva Mirabal (March 12, 1926 – November 25, 1960) and Antonia María Teresa Mirabal (October 15, 1935 – November 25, 1960) — were natives of the Dominican Republic who fervently opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. A fourth sister, Bélgica Adela "Dedé" Mirabal-Reyes[1] was not assassinated the day her sisters were. As of 2007, she currently lives in Salcedo, Dominican Republic. She precedes in the sisters'natal house and works to preserve her sisters'memory through the "Museo Hermanas Mirabal" which is also located in Salcedos de Macoris and was home to the girls for the final ten months of their lives).