FRIDAY FILE: The first Lesbian March in Rosario, Argentina, to commemorate the Lesbian Visibility and Fight Against Lesbophobia Day, took place on March 7, and gathered more than a hundred people. AWID spoke to activists about the relevance of this day

By Gabby De Cicco

FRIDAY FILES: On February 18 Guadalupe Vázquez[1], one of at least 17 women unjustly imprisoned for allegedly having an abortion, was released from prison after being granted a pardon by El Salvador's Legislative Assembly.

By Gabby De Cicco

FRIDAY FILE: A bill making provisions to economically compensate victims of gender identity-based institutional violence was submitted past November in Argentina. AWID interviewed trans activist, and one of the bill’s authors, Marlene Wayar[1], on its scope and some of the pending debates in the country on discrimination and criminalization.

By Gabby De Cicco

Progressive laws on LGBTIQ in Argentina

FRIDAY FILE : It’s been one year since the abduction by Boko Haram of 276 female students from their boarding school in Chibok, Borno State in northeastern Nigeria. The #BringBackOurGirls campaign began following the kidnapping but the whereabouts of most of the young girls remains unknown[1]. AWID spoke to Nigerian and Cameroonian feminist activists to learn more about the situation of women and girls in Nigeria and neighboring countries as well as the national and international response, and challenges of taking appropriate and efficient action a year after the Chibok kidnappings.

FRIDAY FILE: Tens of thousands from around the world[1] gathered in Tunis, Tunisia from March 24th to 28th for the World Social Forum. It brought together social movements, civil society organizations, formal and informal networks and activists to oppose neo-liberalism, capitalism and imperialism, debating, exchanging, sharing experiences and developing proposals.

FRIDAY FILE - Following the recent announcement by local NGOs that more than 700 women accused of witchcraft had been murdered in Tanzania in a year, AWID spoke with Valerie Yvette Banlog, Founding President of the NGO Femme Action et Développement En Zone CEMAC (FADEC - Women Action and Development in CEMAC Areas) to discuss violence against women accused of witchcraft and the absence of appropriate and effective responses.

FRIDAY FILE - The latest World Health Organization's (WHO) Ebola situation report estimates the death toll in the current Ebola virus epidemic at nearly 9,400 with close to 23,300 people infected[1], AWID spoke to Liberian activists to learn more about the impact of the epidemic on women and girls in the region.

FRIDAY FILE: AWID spoke with Lucinda O’Hanlon, Adviser on Women's Rights from the Women's Rights and Gender Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about the office’s current Campaign “Beijing + 20: Women Human Rights Defenders Campaign”.

In the global North, news headlines frequently play on deeply-rooted prejudices. For example, following the Oklahoma bombing in the US in 1995 or, more recently, the post-9-11 Washington sniper attacks, the media were quick to blame Muslim "terrorists." In both cases, the perpetrators turned out to be disaffected US nationals with no links to the Islamic world or faith. In Britain, and in Europe more generally, the media most often portray minorities as homogeneous groups, frequently represented by religious 'leaders'.