Patricia Daniel is senior lecturer in social development at the Centre for International Development and Training, University of Wolverhampton, England. She is currently involved in a study on gender, peace and stability in Mali, in collaboration with the University of Bamako and the Centre for Democracy and Development in Lagos. She has also blogged for 50.50. Her website is here.

Recent articles

by Patricia Daniel

I think it's worth recalling the origin of the international day for the elimination of violence against women. It actually commemorates the assassination of three sisters, members of the underground working to depose the dictator Trujillo, on the 25^th of November 1960 in the Dominican Republic.

The picture shows a mural of the Mirabal sisters, called ‘Song of Liberty', on the seafront in Santo Domingo. It was painted on an obelisk erected by Trujillo and thereby subverts him in more ways than one.

The collective code-name for the three sisters was las mariposas (butterflies) which gave the title to a 1998 novel based on their experiences "In the time of butterflies" by Julia Alvarez.

This was later (in 2001) turned by and with Salma Hayek into a movie which was doubtless further romanticised.

But still, how often do we have the chance to see a strong female role model in the cinema these days? Even Joe Queenan has said: "I think women need to start their own film industry: this (mysognynist) one isn't working."

November 25th was initially declared International Day Against Violence Against Women at the first Feminist Encuentro for Latin America and the Caribbean held in Bogotá, Colombia, July 1981. Almost twenty years later, in 1999, thanks to lobbying from the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University in the US, the special significance of November 25^th was officially recognized by the United Nations.

by Patricia Daniel

I'd recommend the film Brick Lane based on Monica Ali's book (which I haven't read).

It's a salutary reminder of the everyday violence which is visited on so many women because decisions about their future, their behaviour and their aspirations, are made by other people - family, community, religious representatives and so on. No wonder the making of the film caused a little controversy among those same (male) community leaders in Brick Lane.

A reclaimed feminism can illuminate the ways that binary thinking flattens the diversity of people's lives and thus does violence to their effort to reclaim themselves, says Patricia Daniel.

As Heiligendamm watches the world depart, Patricia Daniel looks for traces of hope from the 2007 G8 summit.

As the 2007 G8 summit approaches, Patricia Daniel sees Angela Merkel at the top and asks, how do women best influence the political agenda - from inside, from outside or through the worldwide web?