Political Crisis in Mali and the Rise of Fundamentalisms

FRIDAY FILE: A coup d’état and the occupation of northern Mali have left many searching for answers to a deepening crisis.

AWID spoke with Head of Cooperation at the Netherlands Embassy in Mali, To Tjoelker, and socio-anthropologist Lalla Mariam Haidara, native of Timbuktu and specialist on women’s rights in Mali, to shed light on the situation.

By Ani Colekessian

Dismantling Gender Stereotypes: The role of laws

FRIDAY FILE: Gender stereotypes disadvantage women in many ways. A book by Rebecca J. Cook and Simone Cusack examines these stereotypes from a legal perspective and argues for a transnational legal approach to dismantling them.

By Kathambi Kinoti

Bringing the Pope to account for widespread and systematic crimes against humanity

FRIDAY FILE: On September 13, 2011, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)[1] and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)[2] filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC)[3] to investigate and prosecute the Pope, the Vatican Secretary of State and two Cardinals for rape, other forms of sexual violence, and torture as crimes against humanity.

Sexual and Reproductive Rights: More than just health

FRIDAY FILE: Four years ago, in 2007, a Brazilian judge prosecuted 1,500 women for procuring abortions.[i] That same year, a twenty-year-old woman, Ana María Acevedo, died in Argentina of cancer-related complications because her doctors refused to treat her; she was pregnant and an abortion might have saved her life.

Argentina: For the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion

Since 2005 feminist and women’s movements in Argentina have been working tirelessly to articulate and promote the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion. AWID spoke to Claudia Anzorena, a sociologist and activist, about the Campaign and its goals and achievements.

By Gabriela De Cicco