Freedom has been defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance. But, we as women understand that true freedom must involve both the public and private spheres. When considering civic and political rights, economic, social, and cultural rights, women continue to advocate for their human rights and social justice. All these rights intersect with the many dimensions of women’s and girls’ lives, and which can be restrained by state restrictions on civil society, limitations on freedom of expression and media, and conflicts and war. In this complex and volatile world, dominated by patriarchy, political power, profit, and military strength, we women continue to bond and persevere, privately and publicly, for our freedom, empowerment, and rights.
In June, I joined 199 other women in Northern Ireland in signing an open letter admitting to taking the medical abortion pill or buying it for someone else, crimes that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison under Northern Ireland’s Offences Against the Persons Act, passed in 1861. We wanted to highlight the ridiculousness of the law by challenging the authorities to enforce it.
So far, not one of us has been investigated. Meanwhile, earlier this month a 21-year-old woman appeared in a Belfast court for allegedly acquiring and then taking the pill in order to cause an abortion. She is the first woman in almost 40 years to be charged under the act, which has been on the books since Queen Victoria was on the throne.
Unlike me and my fellow signatories, the woman does not appear to be part of any advocacy group and, therefore, does not have access to the strong support network we do. It begs the question: Why has she been singled out?
Rural women, the majority of whom depend on natural resources and agriculture for their livelihoods, make up over a quarter of the total world population, according to the United Nations. And in developing countries, rural women represent approximately 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force, and produce, process and prepare much of the food available, thereby giving them primary responsibility for food security. Since 76 per cent of the extreme poor live in rural areas, rural women are critical for the success of the new Sustainable Development Goals, notes the UN.”
LINK TO FULL 190-PAGE REPORT: LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 2015 – TRANSFORMING RURAL ECONOMIES - http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ldc2015_en.pdf
Huairou - Resilient Women: Integrating Community Resilience Priorities in the Post-2015 Agenda is an action research publication of the Community Practitioners Platform for Resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Community Practitioners Platform for Resilience (CPP) is an organizing and networking mechanism for community-based groups, grassroots women-led groups in particular, to reduce their vulnerability to disaster and climate risks in rural and urban areas. Aimed at building community-to-community support for advancing local development, CPP strategies include fostering exchanges of risk reduction and resilience building practices and establishing multi-community action plans that can be advanced with public officials and/or other stakeholders such as NGOs, donors, and research institutions. This action research spotlights the realities, actions, and gains of CPP’s Latin American and Caribbean member organizations. from Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
Direct Link to Full 64-Page 2015 Publication: https://huairou.org/sites/default/files/Resilient%20Women_web.pdf
Извор: WUNRN – 27.01.2016
