Creating an Afghanistan for Afghans

The situation in Afghanistan has posed quite a challenge for the Obama administration despite nearly a decade of US intervention in the region. Since the 2001 invasion, the US has lost over 1,000 service men and women in Afghanistan. Though estimates differ on the total number of Afghan causalities lost since the start of the war, according to the United Nations’ Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 2009 proved to be an especially deadly year as “at least 5,978 civilians were killed and injured in 2009, the highest number of civilian casualties recorded since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.” Most deaths were a direct result of Taliban activities in the region. Terrorism, women and human rights abuses, the opium trade, and economic woes top the list of problems plaguing Afghanistan, but policy makers have skimmed over a glaring issue facing Afghanistan: the lack of government legitimacy among the population has left Afghans without a voice, and in some districts, even sparked sympathy for the Taliban.

Several indicators point toward rampant disdain and distrust of the government by the Afghan people. The Washington Post reported that “In an assessment of 121 Afghan districts that it considers crucial to winning the war, the U.S. military found that only about one-quarter -- or 29 districts -- could be classified as sympathetic to the government.” More alarming, 48 districts were categorized as tolerant or sympathetic toward the Taliban. Some of this may be traced back to the reelection of President Karzai in 2009, which was both marred by fraud accusations and heavily contested by his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah.

Government legitimacy, however, is more than transparent elections; it is about the ability to produce results and provide security and social services without corruption. The US military’s study found that most Afghans believe that governmental corruption affects their daily lives. This is not surprising as a 2006 survey (PDF) conducted by Integrity Watch Afghanistan found that half of public services were believed to be the result of bribes. The government cannot sustain a sense of legitimacy among the people when it is tarnished by corruption and incompetence.

Afghan women are particularly impacted by the empty lip service paid to them by their government. For instance, while the government allots seats in both houses of Parliament for women, female politicians are often targeted in militant attacks. Less than two months ago a female Provincial Council member survived an assassination attempt after being targeted in a drive-by shooting. An Afghan Parliament member was also shot just a month before. The government has failed to give women a voice in Afghanistan by not providing adequate security against militants who want to extinguish their influence in the government.

When corruption trumps justice and government inaction or incompetence leads to loss of life or other destruction, it becomes obvious why Afghans do not overwhelmingly hold positive views of their government. Political legitimacy will only come when Afghans feel that the government represents them. In the meantime, the international community must do more to ensure that Afghanistan’s policies are representative of the Afghan people.

The US should continue to put pressure on the Karzai regime to stamp out bureaucratic corruption. Unconditional support for a leader entrenched in endless corruption scandals will only discredit the US in its efforts to rebuild Afghanistan, while increasing the risk of losing Afghan trust to the Taliban or other groups. NGOs should continue to serve as watchdogs during future elections and give Afghans confidence in their voting system. More importantly, both the US and NGOs should assist in building Afghanistan through social and humanitarian efforts aimed at strengthening institutions (such as healthcare and education). Much of these efforts should be targeted specifically at empowering women. As the world watches the developments unfold in Afghanistan, we should remain reminded that this is not just a war zone, but rather a state and nation building operation.

Image Source: flickr

Knowledge is Power: theme proves true worldwide

The first day of Feminist Majority’s Women, Money and Power Summit came to a mind-blowing end at The General Assembly on Women and Power. With moderator Amy Brenneman (long-time activist, but also known for roles on “Judging Amy,” and “Private Practice,”) FM’s president Ellie Smeal, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and three Afghan women scholars; the room was filled with such courage and life experience. A somewhat chatty person like myself couldn’t help but leave speechless.

The point was clear as day: Women’s rights should be assumed, just like any other human right. These rights are not only essential to the individual woman’s quality of life, but also a country’s development. As Amy Brenneman expressed: the more a country utilizes 50% of its population, the better (for areas of economics, ecology, education, security, community development, etc…) Above all, the birth place of a woman should not determine her rights or safety.

FM then personalized these ideas with the case study of Afghanistan. Between Amy, Ellie and the three scholars (each who had lived in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, but moved to the United States for the right to education,) personal stories were shared. Stories of both passive resistance, like teachers taking class attendance and then dismissing the girls, of aggressive resistance, like protesters throwing acid at young women on their way to school: No matter the circumstance, each time, the Afghan women would keep returning, keep pushing on. One Afghan scholar told us that when she was kept back from school, because of the Taliban, she begged and pleaded with people to secretly teach her. When that fell through, she trained herself through old textbooks. Each of the three expressed a yearning to go back or work towards a better Afghanistan, either through teaching, politics or medicine. The stories were harsh, but the courage and the passion these girls have is so beautiful.

Congresswoman Sanchez reiterated this message of global solidarity by showing that women’s safety is one of her great priorities, particularly human-trafficking (something that is so often brushed under the rug for later.) Sanchez also pushes other females on the hill to dive deeper on global relations, leading trips of newer employees to conflict areas like Iraq so that they can have a realistic perspective when voting.

All in all, Ellie Smeal said, we must do everything within our means: we cannot abandon our Afghan/ global sisters.

After this panel, I can’t help, but want to divide into two: one person to go to the hill to speak out, one to go the library to absorb all like a sponge.

photo credits: United Nations Photo from flickr.com

Save the Date for the Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference!

Mark your calendars! The Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference will be held on November 6 & 7, 2009 at Santa Monica College in Los Angeles, California.

Feminists from campuses across the Western United States will converge to discuss women’s rights and equality issues, and to formulate a plan of action.

We’ll address feminist topics including exposing fake clinics, Afghan women’s rights, rape kit backlogs, femicide, anti-choice extremism, marriage equality, health care reform, immigration, global reproductive rights, birth control access and much more.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to network with dynamic speakers and student leaders and fight to improve the lives of women worldwide!

Early Bird Registration will open soon, for the low cost of $15 for individuals, or $12 for each person in a group of 5 or more.

To reserve your spot TODAY, email Allie at amcdonald@feminist.org or Jacqueline at jsun@feminist.org and include your NAME, ADDRESS, EMAIL ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, SCHOOL, AND EXPECTED GRAD DATE.

If you plan on flying in for the conference, LAX is the closest with airport, while Bob Hope Airport in Burbank is the second closest.

Group hotel rates are available at the Travelodge Pico Blvd. Santa Monica. To reserve your room today, call: 310.450.5766 and ask for the "Feminist Majority Foundation" special rate!

We hope you can make it! Website and Facebook event are soon to come!

For Equality,

Allie, Jacqueline and duVergne
The West Coast Campus Team

Afghanistan Is the Most Dangerous Place in the World For Women

Coverage of Afghanistan in the US media rises, falls and occasionally just disappears. But it's been in the news a lot recently mainly because the public's support for the war is at an all time low. Just this morning key US generals in the country stated that if more troops aren't poured into Afghanistan, the US may have to admit "mission failure."

But what about the women? After all it was in their name that this war was waged for eight years ago, right? Remember? Well, now even women's groups are at each other's throats over whether or not the US should pack up its bags and leave Afghanistan, forget about the war, forget about the women and call it a day. The argument is that the US presence isn't making a difference for Afghan women's rights, so why stick around?

This is a very dangerous position to take on the war. 70% of Afghan women suffer from domestic violence, making it the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman according to UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women). Recently President Hamid Karzai not only rigged the elections, but signed the Shiite Family Law, which basically makes it legal for a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to satisfy his sexual needs.

There is no question the US mission there is "misguided", to be diplomatic, but what is the alternative? What will happen to not only Afghan women, but the women of the region if the US leaves?

Watch this video and see if you can come up with some answers. Failing Afghan women means failing all women. Don't doubt that even for a second. Join the Feminist Majority Foundation's Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls today.

Newsday Tuesday: August 25 Edition

Well the time has come by friends, this is the last Newsday Tuesday that I will be writing as it is my last week interning at FMF. I have really enjoyed writing this every week. It has helped to keep me informed on the week's events, as I hope it has for you, too. I have gotten all of the news that I use for these weekly blogs from the Feminist News Wire that FMF puts out every day. You can get your news this way too! You can sign up for Weekly News E-mails or subscribe to our News feed.

But even though I am leaving you as your Newsday Tuesday correspondent, that doesn't mean the news stops happening! Let's catch up on what has been a very busy week, here and around the world!

Afghan Elections

The participation of many Afghan women in last week's elections was threatened by strict polling regulations and fraud. A severe shortage of female workers to staff women-only polling places limited the ability of millions of women cast their ballots. Despite large turnout at many polling places, men greatly outnumbered women voters as a result.

During the Afghan elections, the Taliban allegedly cut off the fingers of at least two Afghan women in the Kandahar providence after they had cast their ballots. (You can read my blog post about particularly repressing voter turnout among women.

National

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau has instated an initiative that aims to encourage women to breast-feed for longer after returning to work. States, such as Vermont, have started launched programs that offers free assistance to businesses in the state to help to comply with this new law.

Last week, a Planned Parenthood clinic, for fear of losing its license, filed for a restraining order against the state health department to prevent it from being revoked. The threat of losing their license stems from an informed consent law passed in 2005 and a disclosure form proposed by the health department.

A federal judge scheduled a January 2010 trial date Wednesday in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of Proposition 8.

Oklahoma confirmed Wednesday that the state will file an appeal with the state Supreme Court of a judge's decision to overturn a controversial abortion law. On Tuesday, an Oklahoma County District Judge overturned a state law requiring women seeking abortions must first receive an ultrasound and a description of the fetus from a doctor.

New York Governor David Paterson promised a group of protesters Tuesday that he will sign a bill that will prohibit incarcerated pregnant women from being shackled while in labor.

The Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa withdrew special defenses last Monday in a lawsuit involving a woman who was raped at gunpoint in the hotel's parking garage in front of her children. In court documents, the hotel originally argued that the woman was negligent and "failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities."

World

Thousands staged a protest Saturday in Bamako, Mali's capital, against a proposed law that would give women greater marriage rights in the country. The law includes provisions that grant inheritance rights to children born without married parents, change the legal age for marriage to 18, and replaces "paternal power" with "parental authority" in family law.

Currently, there is a bill in the Bahamian legislature that would criminalize marital rape. The bill is aimed at combating attitudes about spousal relationships that leave women vulnerable to abuse. As it stands now, charges of rape can only be brought against a spouse if the couple is legally separated or in the process of getting a divorce.

The Danish Conservative Party is proposing to ban burqa and niqab attire as part of an integration initiative. Conservative party officials have criticized the attire as being oppressive towards women and “un-Danish.”

Human Rights Watch released a report last Monday that indicated hundreds of Iraqi gay men have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered since the beginning of 2009. Iraqi authorities have not acted to stop militias that are actively targeting men suspected of engaging in about it too) Extremist election-day violence erupted primarily in the south and southeast regions of Afghanistan, homosexual conduct and may be complicit in some attacks.

...and a friendly reminder

If you're in the DC area, Madam's Organ in Adams Morgan (try saying that 5 times fast!) is the place to be on Thursday night!

FMF Presents: Hell No! We Won't Go - A Networking Benefit for the National Clinic Access Project

Madam's Organ (2461 18th St. NW - Woodley Park Metro) Thurday, August 27 5:00 - 9:00pm

If you are following Feminist Campus on Twitter, please RT! Spread the word! I'll be there, so you better be too!

Photo courtesy of swanksalot on flikr.com

Afghan Election - High Stakes and Women Being Left Out

On Thursday, Aug. 20, the polls will open for Afghanistan's presidential election. This is the first election since the U.S. led invasion in 2001, to be primarily run by Afghans, and as you can imagine, in a country that's been the site of conflict for decades, the election process has many faults. The validity of the election is threatened by potential fraud, disenfranchisement of women, strict voting regulations and threats of violence from the Taliban.

Women's votes are at particular risk due to the fact that polling locations are sex-segregated, and the country's Independent Election Commission estimates that there is a shortage of approximately 13,000 female poll workers; meaning women who do intend to vote, will have no polling place at which to do so.

Additionally, immense voter registration fraud is suspected. While male voters' ballots must include an ID photo, women's are not required to do so. Sima Samar, Chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, is extremelely concerned by the unusually high number of female voter registrations coming from traditional and conservative regions, and suspects voter fraud.

Other threats to the general election, and even moreso, to women's ability to leave home and cast their ballot, are Taliban threats of violence. Despite a government-issued request that international media not cover any election-day violence so as not to further scare and deter voters, current President, Hamid Karzai, has urged voters to cast their ballots no matter what. Additional peacekeeping troops will be deployed to protect voters.

Photo courtesy of flikr.com

Afghanistan on the Silver Screen

Last week a group of FMF and Ms. interns took a little after-work field trip to see the Sundance award winning documentary, Afghan Star. Here at the FMF, Afghanistan is a daily topic of conversation as one of the organization's major prioritites is the Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls. This summer, the west coast FMF interns have been working with board member Helen Cho to give new life to the campaign, so we thought it would be very appropriate to educate ourselves more about Afghanistan through Afghan Star.

Afghan Star follows an Afghan tv show of the same name which emulates shows life American Idol. Although there is nothing too controversial about a show like this in the United States, in a country that has faced war for the past thirty years and was transformed under the rule of the Taliban, the show is revolutionary. Under the rule of the Taliban from 1996-2001, music was outlawed completely, and today it is still considered blasphemous by the Muhajideen and religious elite. Although the top contestants are now famous among the 11 million fans of the show (1/3 of the country's population), it has also put thier lives in danger, particularaly for the three female contestants (3 out of 2000).

As the documentary states, this seemingly trivial television show is groundbreaking in Afghanistan because for many of the younger generation, sending in a text message vote for thier favorite contestant is the first time they have participated in a democracy in which the vote of a man and a woman are equal. Furthermore, it is significant that contestants from all ethnic and tribal backgrounds share the same stage as equals.

Afghan Star is a deeply moving and eye opening educational experience. As you follow the contestants through their experience, particluarly Setara, the 21 year old woman who faces death threats daily because she danced on stage, or the young female engineering student who constructs her own satellite each week out of house hold items in order to tune in to the show, you will be angered, terrified, inspired, and humbled.We applaud and thank the film's director Havana Marking for her remarkable contribution to our education and understanding of Afghanistan. Check here for a theater near you! www.zeitgeistfilms.com/afghanstar/

Midwives make huge difference

The Feminist Majority Foundation has worked for years to help Afghan women on the issues that are important to them. Those include increasing girls' access to education, supporting women's groups in Afghanistan, and promoting women's health and security.

Maternal mortality is shockingly high in Afghanistan, and is certainly one of the biggest issues facing women in that country. One of the ways to help Afghan women receive safe maternal healthcare is to train women to be midwives. CNN has an article today about just how needed and effective it is to have women helping other women.

Healthcare is lacking in many regions, and according to the article, many men refuse to have their wives see male physicians for cultural reasons. Having midwives not only solves that issue, but it also provides women with a valuable job in their society.

Trained midwives are helping pregnant women who face numerous difficulties survive. If we want to decrease the devastatingly high maternal mortality rates in the world, one answer lies in training women in communities to be midwives. If you're looking for a valuable way to help women survive and live safer lives in Afghanistan, you should check out FMF's Afghan Women's Health Campaign.

Photo courtesy of www.flickr/advocacy_project

Ellie Smeal on Afghanistan

HuffingtonPost.com is featuring a great post by FMF President and Co-Founder Ellie Smeal and FMF Board Member Helen Cho on why we simply cannot abandon Afghan women and girls.

In the past few days, there's been a lot of talk in the blogosphere, critiquing FMF for being an organization that promotes non-violence (in fact, it's a cornerstone of our mission statement!) and yet has recently rejected the call from some to pull out of Afghanistan. As Ellie and Helen so eloquently state,

"We cannot endorse this position because the cost to women and girls would be too high and the U.S. responsibility for the current failed state of affairs in Afghanistan is too heavy. If the U.S. were to pull out of Afghanistan, the United States would be once again breaking our promise to the Afghan people, and the country would likely fall under Taliban control."

Read the entire post. Tell us what you think.

For more information on the Feminist Majority Foundation's Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls, check out http://feminist.org/afghan/! To take action with our Afghan Women's Health Campaign (raising funds to support Afghan midwives combatting the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world), click here.

Photo courtesy of Norma Gattsek.

Weaving Their Way to Independence: How One Non-profit Organization Is Fostering Female Empowerment and Development in Afghanistan

The book “Be the Change,” is a compilation of interviews and profiles of some of the world’s most successful philanthropists. One philanthropist’s work in Afghanistan is particularly impressive because it has grasped, all at once, the interconnectedness of development in terms of education, employment and access to healthcare.

Connie Duckworth and her “hope by design” non-profit organization, Arzu, provide sustainable income to the women of Afghanistan by providing materials, which enable women (particularly widows) to create and sell high-quality Afghan rugs to high-paying American customers. One rug already exists in the White House.

Yet, Duckworth’s organization goes one step further. As Duckworth states, “It’s not about entitlement. It’s about dignity.” So, in exchange for supplies and a 150% profit of each rug, Afghan weavers must sign a social contract. Every family must send all its children to school and all women (regardless of age) must attend Arzu-sponsored literacy and numeracy classes. Additionally, in order to combat the second highest infant mortality rate in the world, Afghan women must also register with Arzu and agree to travel (at no cost) to health care centers for pre and postnatal care. These rules are mandatory and enforced.

Much like Afghanistan itself, the Afghan rug-making industry has been ravaged by 23 years of constant warfare, resulting in a disrupted supply chain and displaced artists. Afghan women have been weaving for centuries, but until now, the sale of these rugs has been conducted through countless middlemen who often leave female artists out of compensation altogether. Now, with Arzu’s help, 700 women engage in their economy, free from the dangers of economic slavery.

Connie Duckworth's story is that of the first female sales and trading partner at Goldman Sachs who, after years of success, joined the Afghan Women's Council and realized she could not only help other women, but also enable them to become financially, intellectually and physically independent. Arzu is a brilliant model for development and female empowerment.

Green-Pink Conference Day 2: Takin' it to the streets!

On June 20th, the West Coast FMF interns and other feminist and environmental activists attending the Green-Pink Western Regional Training traveled to Planned Parenthood Los Angeles' beautiful headquarters for a day of action and action planning! Co-sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Sierra Club, and Planned Parenthood LA, the training was an opportunity for people to see women's rights, reproductive health, and environmental activits find common ground and develop a plan of action.

On Saturday, we started out thinking about how to get public attention for our concerns through community organizing and advocacy. Through the session, Community Organizing 101, we learned about the important tactics in effective organizing. We then put our knowledge into action distributing literature on Planned Parenthood's services around South-Central Los Angeles, and raising awareness of the low-/no-cost health services available to the community.

A common misconception is that Planned Parenthood only provides birth control, but the reality is that PP provides testing for STIs, HPV screenings, counseling, gynecological exams, cancer screenings, and more, for both women and men. Planned Parenthood is an integral part of low-income communities.

With the help of all the FMF interns and other conference attendees, we distributed 3300 door hangers advertising the free and low-cost services, in just 2 hours! Planned Parenthood now expects to see a rise in calls and appointments.

After the community action, the conference concluded with a section on advocacy. We learned how easy it is for someone to take a stand on an issue they care about: calling their Senator or Congressperson, circulating a petition, and even visiting your Senator or Congressperson in their field office! Yes, that is right - you can go and have your voice heard! Literally!

We then developed our personal goals and plans of action for when we get back to campus. Julia, another FMF intern and I, developed a plan to tackle welfare reform!

I urge you to speak up for the global issues you feel passionately about. Visit your representatives, launch an activist group, and develop your plan of action. Consider taking action on FMF's Afghan Women's Health Initiative, to reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan, or FMF's Global Reproductive Rights and Health Campaign, to ensure that women around the world have access to the vital reproductive health services they want and need.

-Anita Lederer, FMF Campus Intern

Day One of the Green-Pink Regional Training Conference Inspires Activism

Last Friday, FMF and Ms. interns, along with about 20 feminist and environmental activists from across the Western states, participated in the Green-Pink Regional Leadership Training conference on Reproductive Rights and Health and the Environment, co-sponsored by FMF, the Sierra Club, and Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. The fusion of these three powerful groups resulted in a conference that was both informative and inspirational.

The first day of the conference served as an opportunity for FMF and the Sierra Club to explore the ways in which the issues of environmental responsibility and women's empowerment are inter-related, through info sessions as well as fun activities. In particular, the Global Reproductive Health and the Environment session outlined the connection between women's empowerment and ability to access and afford family planning, and environmental issues as they relate to overconsumption and population growth.

One issue that really sparked our interest was the impact that access to clean water (or lack thereof), has on women. We also learned some startling facts about the fate of women in Afghanistan. 1 in 6 Afghan women will die during childbirth and many more will suffer from obstetric fistula, which is an easily repaired medical condition, and results due to lack of access to medical care and skilled attendance during childbirth.

To give you a glimpse of some more of the shocking statistics and issues we discussed, consider the facts that:

- 200 million women around the world want to access family planning services, don't have them.
- Education is the single most important factor in determining how many children a woman will have.
- In democratic societies around the world, women only comprise 18% of parliamentary seats.

The list of depressing realities went on and on, but by examining these truths and injustices we were able to see that women's empowerment - through education, household bargaining power, political power, equal wages, employment opportunities, equal access to health care and nutrition, ability to access family planning despite financial or sociological barriers, and equal representation under the law - is absolutely crucial to changing the fate of the world!

After hearing about the reality of the problems facing women and the environment, we were all eager to discuss some solutions. The West Coast FMF interns took the stage as we presented our research on the United Nation's Milennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were agreed upon by 189 nations in 2000 to develop efforts to combat poverty, hunger, discrimination and more. They truly consider issues of gender and the environment in all of their approaches. Unfortunatley, in our research, we discovered that while some progress has been made, more must be done to ensure that the lives of women have dramatically improved by 2015.

Throughout the day we also came across the fact that the U.S., the richest nation in the world, has consistently fallen behind on its promise to commit, at the bare minimum, .7% of its Gross National Income to international family planning funding. We must urge the U.S. to uphold its promises to the women of the world!

Cassie Gardener of the Sierra Club encouraged us to host a Green-Pink Party. This event raises awareness of the inter-relations of women's empowerment and environmental issues while raising $300 to pay for the life-saving surgery for a woman with obstetric fistula.

To conclude the day, Allie McDonald, FMF National Campus Organizer, and Cassie discussed how we can form effective campus organizations to address these issues. This was an opportunity for those who've been involved with campus activism to share helpful advice and ideas, and for those who want to launch a new group to learn the tricks of the trade.

Overall, day one of the conference was an excellent opportunity to discuss important issues with fellow social justice activists. In addition to learning more about these problems, we were inspired to implement solutions on our campuses and communities.

-Danae Garfield, FMF Campus Intern & Hastings College student

Photo: FMF interns Bonarene Wakam and Mary Kwan make their way through the "Barriers to Family Planning" obstacle course.

Choices Campus Leadership Interns Kick off the Summer in LA!

Hey Feminists!

Summer has begun here in Southern California, where we have just started our exciting new internships at the Feminist Majority Foundation. There are seven of us so far and ten more to come. We’re already busy at work here in our beautiful workspace.

Yesterday, our first day of orientation, we had the opportunity to meet Kathy Spillar, the Executive Vice President of FMF, who sat down with us for over two hours and described the incredible work the Feminist Majority Foundation is doing and the action campaigns we will be working on this summer. Some of the campaigns we’re excited about are the Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics, the Afghan Women’s Health Initiative and the Global Reproductive Rights Campaign.

We also had the opportunity to meet each other and are excited to work together this summer.

Jenna, a student from Scripps College spent the year studying in Mexico, Senegal and France and is majoring in International Relations and French.

Beau is a student at Harvard, majoring in Human and Evolutionary Biology with a minor in film. She just got back from teaching English in Burkina Faso.

Sierra is a senior at Occidental College and an American Women’s History major.

Jessica just received her BA is Sociology and Studies of Women and Gender from the University of Virginia.

Danae is a senior at Hastings College, studying Communications Studies, Music and Women’s Studies.

Julia just graduated from UCR with degrees in English and Women’s Studies and hopes to go to Loyola University in Chicago for the dual masters degree in Social Work and Women’s Studies program.

Anita Lederer is a senior at Boston College, majoring in History and Political Science.

We look forward to many more blog posts!

Newsday Tuesday

Another week gone by, another week's worth of feminist news to roundup.

Lots of good news on the domestic front:

• Same sex marriage became legal in Maine! New England is quickly becoming a haven for LGBT marriage rights (so come on Rhode Island, what's your excuse?).
• The DC Council voted 12-1 to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states (the only opposing councilmember being Marion Barry, noted beacon of morality in DC politics).
• The proposed 2010 FY budget eliminated the majority of abstinence-only funding (team science ftw).

International news was mixed. On the negative side:

• Afghan girls and women continue to struggle for their rights. Most recently, scores of girls became ill after gas attacks on their schools (outraged as I am? Join the Afghan Women's Health Campaign and visit FMF to learn more).
• A Saudi judge stated that it was okay for husbands to hit their wives for overspending.

But! Lest you think the global news was all bad:

• Spain announced the legalization of over-the-counter emergency contraception (with no age limits)!
• And finally, American journalist Roxana Sabieri was released from prison in Iran. Sabieri was initially convicted on baseless espionage charges and sentenced to 8 years in prison. We are all celebrating her freedom.
  

This has just been a sampling, but you can sign up for weekly emails from the Feminist Majority Foundation's newswire here. You can also follow @feministnews on Twitter.

Pressing Issues Raised at the Global Women's Rights Awards and What You Can Do About Them!

Each year, the Feminist Majority Foundation honors extraordinary people who have overcome great obstacles, adversity, and threats to their own lives and well-being to expose global women's rights injustices and fight for women's rights worldwide. Last Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of attending the 5th Annual Global Women's Rights Awards.

Amidst the sold out ballroom, the almost rowdy live auction hosted by Jay Leno, and the bustling Ms. Obama poster and Afghan craft sales, I couldn't help but be in awe of the fact that I was mingling with truly incredible, beyond inspirational, groundbreaking, unrelenting feminist honorees.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent, took a stand when no one else would and exposed the horrendous conditions the Taliban was, and continues to inflict upon women and girls in Afghanistan. Afghan women and girls lack access to the most basic human rights: to leave the home, earn money, visit the doctor, and go to school without facing atrocious cruelties such as acid attacks. The situation for Afghan women and girls is not improving but with the help of brave women like Christiane Amanpour and yourself, we can make sure the international eye is watching the plight of Afghan women and girls. Sign online petitions and help raise money to train an Afghan midwife and reduce maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan.

Dr. Neal Baer (Executive Producer) and Mariska Hargitay (as Detective Olivia Benson) have brought hard-hitting women's issues to primetime television through Law & Order: Special Victims' Unit for over eight seasons. Through bringing the all too real issues of hate crimes, sexual assault, domestic violence and the backlog of rape kits in Los Angeles, among many, to mainstream media, Baer and Hargitay have helped raise awareness, raise outrage, and have helped prompt viewers, activists and lawmakers to fight against these all too prevalent occurrences.

Last but not least, the remarkable and inspriring team behind the film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, was honored. Produced by Abigail Disney and directed by Gini Reticker, Pray the Devil Back to Hell tells the story of Leymah Gbowee and the thousands of other Liberian women who organized peacefully to end a gruesome civil war and elect the first female head of state. The story is one of peaceful activism, grassroots organizing and powerful feminism at its finest. Disney and Reticker, through the production of this film, have helped ensure that the story of how women have shaped a country's history does not go unrecognized or rewritten through a patriarchal lens. Spread the inspirational story of the Liberian women and celebrate women's collective successes by hosting a screening of Pray the Devil Back to Hell on your campus.

Newsday Tuesday, April 21st Edition

Here at FeministCampus we want to make sure that all our readers are staying in-the-know on recent feminist news, so we're going to kick off a weekly sampling of feminist news tidbits, the Cliff's Notes version, if you will! Here goes:

Good News!
We'll start off on a happy note - the Washington state legislature passed a bill expanding domestic partner rights. Although passage in the NY Senate is iffy, at the very least the New York governor announced a same sex marriage bill. I love it when public leaders take a stand! Along the same lines, let's hear it for the leaders in Sierra Leone who signed a female genital mutilation agreement. Finally, the Oregon House tips its hat to women's health by Oregon House passing an HPV vaccine bill requiring state-regulated insurance companies to cover the vaccine.

Bad News!
And the not-so-great news includes the ongoing tale of the brave Afghan Women that we wrote about last week - hundreds pelted the women in the clash between protestors and counter-protesters of a highly restrictive new Shia family law. On the home front, unfortunately the Indiana State House amended an anti-choice bill to include a fetal pain provision.

That's all for now - those of you who want a daily dose of feminist news should be sure to check out the Feminist Daily NewsWire, and @feministnews on Twitter!

Afghan women demand their rights

Afghan women marched on Parliament yesterday to demand the repeal of the new law that severely restricts the freedom of women in Shiite communities.

Women took to the streets, and were quickly surrounded by a large mob of men from the nearby madrasa. Fortunately, there was a strong police presence, including several female officers, to protect the protesters, the NY Times reported.

The Afghan ambassador to the U.S. said the law, which permits marital rape and requires women to obey their husbands, will not go into effect. The Afghan constitution includes provisions requiring gender equality, which means the new law would not comply.

In response to international pressure, the Afghan government is currently reviewing the law. President Obama denounced the law as "abhorrent," and other heads of state and human rights organizations criticized the law for limiting women's rights.

We hope Ambassador Jawad is right and the law will not be implemented. But now is not the time to rest. The international community must demand the full, immediate repeal of the law. Otherwise, Shia women in Afghanistan will simply be second-class citizens.

Urge President Karzai to withdraw the draconian draft law that would restrict women from leaving their homes, working, going to school and obtaining medical care without their husbands' permission. The law also includes provisions that grants child custody only to men and revokes women's rights to refuse sex with their husband.

Educate your legislators about conditions for women in Afghanistan. Ask them what they are doing to ensure women's health and well-being abroad. You can learn more about Afghanistan and ways to take action globally at our website.

Questions? Contact us at campusteam@feminist.org. A world that is good for women is good for everyone.

Photo source: nytimes.com

Feminist Friday!

It's the end of the week! Are you pumped? We wanted to share some updates from the week, in case you hadn't yet heard.

Some positive events:

Get on board with our National Crisis Pregnancy Center Protest Day this Monday, 4/13! Tell your campuses and communities these are not comprehensive medical clinics, yet they receive millions of dollars in state and government funds.

We were excited the Vermont legislature overrode the governor's veto Tuesday and approved a same-sex marriage bill. The Iowa Supreme Court's recent reversal of a state law prohibiting same=sex marriage was also a great victory.

Consequently, the District of Columbia City Council voted Tuesday to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Congress approves all DC laws, so U.S. legislators may once again address same-sex marriage on a national level.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his administration will review the recent law he signed that allows Shiite men greater control over their wives. The decision was in part a response to the international outcry after the government published the new law.

Despite these advances, it's been a bad week for feminist health care.

The Women's Choice Clinic in Oakland is closing. This feminist clinic was an important provider of repro health care and family planning services for Bay Area women, and did a lot of outreach to minority and queer communities. This article lists ways you can get involved to assist the clinic.

The New York Abortion Access Fund is going broke, with less than $5000 in the bank. Learn more here and help NYAAF provide abortion services for low-income women.

The fight for women's lives goes on, and we need your help to make equality a reality. Thanks for all your hard work and have a good weekend!

NYWLC's Day Two’s Opening Plenary, Feminism Without Borders, Just Wrapped

Day two’s opening plenary, Feminism Without Borders, here at the National Young Women’s Leadership Conference has just wrapped. With increased economic globalization there is an increasing need for women worldwide to come together to fight for the rights of all our sisters.

The plenary speakers did a wonderful job of explaining the historical context of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty aims to give women equal legal standing according to the laws of each nation, and the current situation of Afghan women and girls with the first hand accounts of courageous Afghan activists of various ages.

Did you know? Even though Americans helped to author CEDAW, they are among a handful of nations worldwide including Sudan, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia that have not ratified the treaty. We need to push now for the Senate to ratify this treaty!

We were also shocked to learn that 1 in 6 women in Afghanistan die during childbirth compared to 1 in 2,500 in the US. Afghan women have had acid thrown in their faces while trying to go to school and dozens of schools have been destroyed to prevent women and girls from attending, all while about 85% of the country’s women can not read or write.

The daily atrocities faced by women both domestically and internationally cannot be addressed unless women step up and speak out for themselves. Plenary speaker Mavis Leno summed it up very well by saying, “If women don’t speak up for women, no one speaks up for women. It’s us or no one!”

We will be continuing to blog from the conference and tweeting. Make sure to follow us on the conference twitter widget; we will be using the hash tag #nywlc for all conference-related tweets.