WOMANTRA is a Caribbean based feminist organization focused on woman and female centred scholarship, activism and social programs. In 2008, the first incarnation of the ‘Silent Silhouettes’ project was launched by Stephanie Leitch and Michelle Isava to commemorate the lives of women who died as a result of domestic violence.
FRIDAY FILE: The sudden closure of two of Nike’s subcontracted factories in Honduras left many people out of work. Negotiations between the CGT* and the sportswear manufacturer led to an agreement that sets a precedent for the recognition of workers’ rights.
By Gabriela De Cicco
Translation by Karen Murray
Some weeks ago, Laura Chinchilla, political scientist, former Vice President, and Minister of Justice of the [outgoing] Oscar Arias government of Costa Rica, became the first woman elected as President of this Central American country. Both Chinchilla and Arias are representatives of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN, National Liberation Party), which has social-democratic roots, but in the last several years, has strongly sustained a neo-liberal stance.
by Gabriela De Cicco
The position of the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition on the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti
Human rights are often set aside as an ‘extra’ in emergency response, i.e.,there is no time to assess the specific issues, we go with what we know’. -Jane Barry
FRIDAY FILE: Nicaragua's Comprehensive Law on Violence Against Women, or Ley 779, is a historical demand of the women's movement, but the Decree to implement is problematic according to feminists in this Central American country.
By Gabby De Cicco*
A President who favours traditional family values over women’s rights
FRIDAY FILE - Brazil has been discussing possible legislation known as “Estatuto do Nascituro” - the Statute of the Unborn Child. AWID spoke to Executive coordinator of Catholics for the Right to Decide (CDD/BR) Rosângela Talib about how this, and other similar proposals, will affect women’s sexual and reproductive and health rights (SRHRs), and the particular challenges that religious-based political parties bring to women’s struggle for these rights.
By Gabriela De Cicco
AWID: What abortion legislation currently exists in Brazil?
FRIDAY FILE: As part of AWID’s commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) that was adopted by representatives of 171 States at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, 1993, we are producing a series of Vienna+20 written and audio interviews featuring prominent feminists who were involved in advocating for women’s human rights leading up to and following the Vienna conference
FRIDAY FILE - Indigenous women have and continue to play key leadership roles in their communities as well as in international spaces. AWID talked to Otilia Lux de Coti, Executive Director of the Indigenous Women’s Forum (IIWF) about how indigenous women leadership has evolved in the past decades.
FRIDAY FILE: Between January and February 2012, while demonstrating against the passing of a law violating their human and territorial rights, the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous community from Panama suffered brutal repression. AWID spoke to Mariela Arce (1) about this situation.
By Gabriela De Cicco
Friday File: Tonya Haynes spoke with AWID about a recent “Catch a Fyah” convening she organized of young feminists from different countries, religious backgrounds and ethnicities in the Caribbean.
Tonya coordinates online and offline activities for CODE RED in Barbados. CODE RED began as a student organisation of feminist women and men looking to find space within Caribbean feminism
By Masum Momaya