In the field of gender and sexuality rights, representations of religion tend to be dominated by fundamentalisms, with dogma being used to justify discrimination, stigma and abuse against those who transgress the narrow confines of patriarchal and heterosexist norms.
Each issue, we chat with readers of Facing Fundamentalisms and share a brief summary of recent events relating to religion, tradition, culture and rights-based organizing in your contexts.
Over half a billion people voted in India’s general election in April and May 2014. For many the result was no surprise; having won 282 of 543 seats, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now holds power in the world’s largest democracy. The election, which was marked by a surge in women voters, and young women in particular, was attributed to women’s concerns about education, employment opportunities, and the rising tide of sexual and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG).
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
FRIDAY FILE: With the presence of more than 700 delegates from 33 countries in the region, government authorities and civil society representatives, the eleventh session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean took place in Brasilia, from July 13-16, 2010. (1)
By Gabriela De Cicco
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
Achievements and challenges of the MDGs aside, we need to make the case for robust and transformatory change in the Post-2015 Development Agenda also noting that the international community is different - there are new and powerful actors in the room, with private sector and business having a bigger role than before.
This year’s theme for International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) is Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence. While ending gender-based violence is a vitally important issue, the UN missed the opportunity entirely to tackle the root causes that allow violence to be a cycle. In its communication materials around the girl child, the UN states: “Investing in girls is the right andsmart thing to do.”
AWID recently spoke with a representative from the Myanmar/Burma Women’s Network and the Women’s League of Burma about the proposed ‘Law On the Protection of Race and Religion’.
Below are the talking points delivered by AWIDer Nerea Craviotto during the event "Human rights for all in sustainable development: Is the post-2015 process really delivering?", co-organized by Amnesty International, the Center for Economic and Social Rights and AWID on 11 September 2014.