Hindu women’s activism in the service of the political goals of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar and the debates around the legal rights of Muslim women illustrate the perils of identity politics in matters of gender equality
How can we cheer NATO for promising equality for women in an institution we deplore? We are saying: ‘military security’ is an oxymoron. Women ascribe a totally different meaning to the word security
The battle to defeat the Indecent Dressing Bill in Nigeria marks another point in the struggle between feminists and the cultural conservatives and faith based fundamentalists who argue for control over individual behaviour
Faith-based organizations are playing increasingly prominent roles in service delivery. However, the premise that such organisations promote gender equality and the empowerment of women needs critical re-examination.
The modern women's movement changed the terms of debate and eventually the national conversation. During this electoral cycle, Obama, Democrats and progressives alike have failed to define and then proudly grab the terms of debate.
As a political instrument of power projection and status, nuclear weapons carry a peculiarly masculine symbolism. In the 1980s, Greenham women were at the forefront of challenging masculine ideologies of defence and security. We need to seize the initiative and again become the agents of security
What we see in global civil society depends on what value lens we use to define it. The trend towards networked organisation may have emancipatory effects, but may also obscure inequalities and clashing values
Accessing justice has been a long process for the sterilized HIV positive women whose cases are being heard before a judge in Namibia - and longer still for the women who may never have their day in court
"If we’ve done as much with as little resources as women have, think what we could do with more. Women are the energy of the future… its up to women to show what women’s leadership in the UN can do." Charlotte Bunch
Earlier this year the Philippines became the first country in Asia to launch a National Action Plan to implement SRC1325, and in a bold move, the control of small arms was made a key part of the strategy
"It is not about feminism, it is about business. Member states give us money to implement projects, and if I implement a project that only affects 50 percent of the population, that is bad business." Agnes Marcaillou, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.
By relying on the secular state as the answer to the religious right and entrusting the Left with the protection of women's rights, feminists in Latin America may have overlooked the root causes of attraction to the religious right: the state's failure to deliver social services to all
