Category Archives: Feminism

Asian domestic workers abused by foreign employers

The shocking abuse of Asian domestic workers at the hands of their employers has been captured in the latest exhibition by award-winning photojournalist Steve McCurry.

via Asian domestic workers abused by foreign employers.

The Iran agreement is a disaster for Isis | Federica Mogherini | Comment is free | The Guardian

this is not just about Isis. The whole Middle East is in turmoil. Sectarianism is on the rise. We need to restart political processes to end wars. We need to get all regional powers back to the negotiating table and stop the carnage. Cooperation between Iran, its neighbours and the whole international community could open unprecedented possibilities of peace for the region, starting from Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

The sceptics will argue this is very unlikely, or impossible. The pessimists will warn of the dangers. The negotiations in Vienna showed no brain-teaser is too hard to solve as long as there is the political will to overcome the difficulties. Travelling to Iran is an obvious choice for me; as years of negotiations have come to an end, our common work is definitely not over. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

via The Iran agreement is a disaster for Isis | Federica Mogherini | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Dutee Chand, Female Sprinter With High Testosterone Level, Wins Right to Compete – The New York Times

The final appeals court for global sports further blurred the line separating male and female athletes on Monday, ruling that a common factor in distinguishing the sexes — the level of natural testosterone in an athlete’s body — is insufficient to bar some women from competing against females.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland, questioned the athletic advantage of naturally high levels of testosterone in women and therefore immediately suspended the practice of “hyperandrogenism regulation” by track and field’s governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations. It gave the organization, known as the I.A.A.F., two years to provide more persuasive scientific evidence linking “enhanced testosterone levels and improved athletic performance.”

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RELATED COVERAGE

Sports of The Times: Sprinter Dutee Chand Challenges Ban Over Her Testosterone LevelOCT. 6, 2014

Gender Games: The Line Between Male and Female Athletes: How to Decide?JUNE 18, 2012

I.O.C. Sex-Verification Rules Are Flawed, Critics SayJUNE 25, 2012

The court was ruling on a case, involving the Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, that is the latest demonstration that sex is part of a spectrum, not a this-or-that definition easily divided for matters such as sport. It also leaves officials wondering how and where to set the boundaries between male and female competition.

via Dutee Chand, Female Sprinter With High Testosterone Level, Wins Right to Compete – The New York Times.

Could I Become the Next Sandra Bland? | Dame Magazine

three White women passed through the full-body scanner at the TSA security line, with no fuss, before they got to us. My mother entered first. She followed protocol: raising her hands, and then stepping out of the scanner when she was asked. The TSA official said she had to search my mother’s hair.

Because the TSA has an ugly, discriminatory history with scrutinizing Black hair, I was expecting a pat down on my long Senegalese twists. But I fully expected them to lay off my mother, whose hair is long, thin, and bone straight. The idea of her being able to hide so much as a pen in her hair is absolutely comical. But there was the TSA guard, with her claws up, ready to work through my mother’s scalp. That’s when my mother did what has now become the unthinkable: She refused.

I watched the TSA guard swell like an airbag with faux-institutional power, and at that moment I forgot myself, and started right through the full body scanner, hearing but not hearing the other TSA officer yelling at me, “Ma’am, ma’am, step back. Step back!” I was not going to let them take my mother from me. I know my anger could cost me my life—we are living in a climate where a Black woman can be brutalized or killed in custody and then blamed for her own death. But that was exactly why I was fuming. My instincts were locked and loaded, a simple chant thrumming in my head: Sandra Bland, Sandra Bland, Sandra Bland.

via Could I Become the Next Sandra Bland? | Dame Magazine.

Khadija Ismayilova on trial – a lesson in courage for the international community – Reporters Without Borders

Azerbaijan freely accepted its obligations as party to the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and many other treaties. These obligations include respect for freedom of information. There is no reason why Azerbaijan’s partners should yield to its blackmail, to its angry accusations of interference, arrogance and destabilization in response to the smallest allusion to its repressive methods.

via Khadija Ismayilova on trial – a lesson in courage for the international community – Reporters Without Borders.

A group of priestesses discuss their plans before setting off in search of ‘vanishing’ millet varieties from a neighbouring village in eastern India. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

IPS Inter Press Service posted a photo:

A group of priestesses discuss their plans before setting off in search of ‘vanishing’ millet varieties from a neighbouring village in eastern India. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

Tribal Priestesses Become Guardians of Seeds in Eastern India
By Manipadma Jena
NIYAMGIRI, India, July 21, 2015 (IPS)—
As the rhythmic thumping of dancing feet reaches a crescendo, the women offer a song to their forest god for a bountiful harvest.

via A group of priestesses discuss their plans before setting off in search of ‘vanishing’ millet varieties from a neighbouring village in eastern India. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS.