Shadi Sadr, Iranian women's rights activist, is amongst the winners of this year's International Women of Courage Award given by US Department of State, Office of Global Women's Issues. On March 10, Hillary Clinton will present the awards to the honorees at the Department of State. Shadi Sadr also won the Dutch "Human Rights Tulip" award and Lech Walesa human rights award last year.

http://www.iranian.com/main/news/2010/03/07/iranian-activist-winner-women-courage-award

http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/iwoc/2010/index.htm

Ms. Sadr was among 33 women arrested in March 2007 for gathering outside a Tehran courtroom to peacefully protest the trial of five Iranian women who were accused of “propaganda against the system” and similar charges. She was held in prison for over two weeks before being released on bail. In the midst of the post-election unrest, Sadr was arrested by plainclothes militiamen on July 17, 2009, as she walked to Friday prayers. She was released, after international outcry, 11 days later, and fled to Germany, where she has remained a staunch activist for women’s legal rights.

http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/iwoc/2010/bio/137495.htm

The Gosc Niedzielny Catholic weekly lost its appeal, Friday, after accusing a woman of trying to kill her unborn baby, the Court of Appeal in Katowice ruled. 

The court in Katowice upheld an earlier lower court’s ruling that Gosc Niedzielny and its publisher – archdiocese in the southern city of Katowice – will have to apologize to Alicja Tysiac and pay her 30,000 zloty (7,200 euro) in damages.

Gosc Niedzielny published a series of articles in which it accused Tysiac of attempting to kill her unborn baby and compared the woman with Nazi war criminals. Both courts decided that describing Alicja Tysiac’s case the weekly deliberately used expressions which were offensive, disdainful and aggressive. “Christianity is the religion of love and so should the language of the Catholic weekly be. Instead, it chose the language of hate,” said the judge. 

http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul126999_catholic-weekly-loses-abortion-killer-case-.html

Tutta la mia solidarietà all'imam di Drancy.

Dans un communiqué rédigé en début d’après-midi, Hassen Chalghoumi et les responsables du lieu de culte, expliquent avoir pris cette décision car «il n’est pas possible de garantir la sécurité des fidèles».

http://www.leparisien.fr/seine-saint-denis-93/la-mosquee-de-drancy-fermee-09-03-2010-842029.php

Selon Farid Hannache, le conseiller de l'imam, le bureau de l'association a décidé de fermer la mosquée jusqu'à nouvel ordre". Il a précisé que la décision fait suite à l'agression lundi soir du muezzin par des membres du collectif pro-palestinien Cheikh Yacine, qui mène une fronde contre Hassan Chalghoumi, qualifié d'"imam des sionistes".

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/la-mosquee-de-drancy-fermee-jusqu-a-nouvel-ordre_853947.html

Lo so, questa notizia è giustamente in tutti i media. Ma non potevo non unirmi al coro di celebrazioni. Congratulazioni, Kathryn!

Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman in history to win the Oscar for best director here Sunday, claiming the coveted prize for her Iraq war drama "The Hurt Locker."

The 58-year-old film-maker -- only the fourth woman ever to be nominated for the award -- defeated ex-husband James Cameron to win the golden statuette at the Kodak Theater.

"It's the moment of a lifetime," a stunned Bigelow said as she accepted the award at the glittering Oscars' ceremony, and dedicated it to US troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan

 "Well the time has come," screen legend Barbra Streisand said as she announced the winner, referring to Bigelow's historic shattering of the Oscars glass ceiling.

 http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/03/08/10/kathryn-bigelow-first-woman-win-oscar-best-director

La citation directe, formulée par SOS Racisme devant le tribunal de grande instance de Paris, concerne une affiche diffusée par le mouvement jeunesse du FN – d'abord en région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur et sur son site Internet, et désormais visible partout en France – qui représente une femme intégralement voilée à côté d'une carte de France recouverte du drapeau algérien sur laquelle se dressent des minarets en forme de missiles, avec en titre "non à l'islamisme".

"Sous couvert de dénoncer l'extrémisme religieux, le leader frontiste a très clairement marqué sa volonté de susciter la peur et le rejet à l'encontre de toutes personnes de confession musulmane, mais également des Français d'origine algérienne et des ressortissants algériens vivant en France", juge l'association.

"On assimile l'Algérie à l'islamisme, donc au fanatisme", a dénoncé M^e Lasbeur, qui a invoqué "la provocation à la discrimination, à la haine et à la violence raciales" pour justifier la demande du MRAP.

http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2010/03/08/sos-racisme-engage-une-action-en-justice-contre-le-pen_1316309_823448.html

http://www.prochoix.org/cgi/blog/index.php/2010/03/01/2267-regionales-mohamed-sifaoui-attaque-en-justice-une-affiche-du-fn

Objectives. We examined the relation between living in states that instituted bans on same-sex marriage during the 2004 and 2005 elections and the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations.

any mood disorder (36.6% increase), generalized anxiety disorder (248.2% increase), any alcohol use disorder (41.9% increase), and psychiatric comorbidity (36.3% increase). 

Conclusions. Living in states with discriminatory policies may have pernicious consequences for the mental health of LGB populations. These findings lend scientific support to recent efforts to overturn these policies.

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/3/452

La tolérance consiste à négocier à la pièce avec chaque groupe. Exactement comme le fait la Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec avec ces religieux qui réclament de ne pas être servis par une femme. Elle consiste plus précisément à négocier avec les «communautés», du moins celles qui sont suffisamment fortes pour se faire entendre.

La semaine dernière, les ministres canadiens Lawrence Cannon, Jason Kenney et le chef de l'opposition Michael Ignatieff nous ont offert un portrait assez révélateur. Interrogés par Le Devoir à propos du débat français sur la burqa, ils ont aussitôt invoqué, comme un réflexe, la tolérance et la liberté. Pas le moindre mot sur la laïcité ou pour faire remarquer que la burqa est une pratique pour le moins rétrograde. Pas question de froisser les communautés auxquelles l'État canadien semble avoir sous-traité ses prérogatives. Les femmes, à qui l'on impose ce voile intégral, sont renvoyées à leur communauté. L'État n'en a rien à faire!

 On ne m'en voudra pas de conclure en citant un homme qui a réfléchi à la question. «La tolérance n'est pas la laïcité, écrit le directeur du Nouvel Observateur, Jean Daniel. La première est passive, la seconde active. La tolérance s'accommode de toutes les manifestations publiques des religions. La laïcité défend l'individu contre son groupe d'origine, la femme contre le père oppresseur et garantit que l'on peut changer de religion ou se déclarer athée. Avec la tolérance, on installe des communautés. Avec la laïcité, on construit une nation.»

http://m.ledevoir.com/societe/ethique-et-religion/282943/tolerance-ou-laicite

What does it tell us that female soldiers deployed overseas stop drinking water after 7 p.m. to reduce the odds of being raped if they have to use the bathroom at night? Or that a soldier who was assaulted when she went out for a cigarette was afraid to report it for fear she would be demoted — for having gone out without her weapon? Or that, as Representative Jane Harman puts it, "a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire."

The problem is even worse than that. The Pentagon estimates that 80% to 90% of sexual assaults go unreported, and it's no wonder. Anonymity is all but impossible; a Government Accountability Office report concluded that most victims stay silent because of "the belief that nothing would be done; fear of ostracism, harassment, or ridicule; and concern that peers would gossip." More than half feared they would be labeled troublemakers

 Women are often denied claims for posttraumatic stress caused by the assault if they did not bring charges at the time. There are not nearly enough mental-health professionals in the system to help them. Female vets are four times more likely to be homeless than male vets are, according to the Service Women's Action Network, and of those, 40% report being victims of sexual assault.

But there are some signs that both Congress and the Pentagon are getting serious about this problem. It is now possible for victims to seek medical treatment without having to report the crime to police or their chain of command.

 The failure to provide a basic guarantee of safety to women, who now represent 15% of the armed forces, is not just a moral issue, or a morale issue. What does it say if the military can't or won't protect the people we ask to protect us?

To prepare for Wednesday, the marriage bureau has changed its licence applications so they are gender-neutral, asking for the name of each "spouse" rather than the "bride" and "groom."

The booklet outlining how civil marriage ceremonies should be performed has also been changed. The instructions now read: "I now pronounce you legally married" instead of "I now pronounce you man and wife."

State Minister for Women and Children Shirin Shjarmin Chowdhury said the National Women's Development Policy-1997 would be broad-based and reintroduced to include rights of tribal women, those who are physically and mentally challenged and those hit by climate change.

"We will also include a provision to ensure women's rights to information," The Daily Star quoted her as saying Monday.

Singer Shuvro Dev said: "As a man, I am ashamed that in over 95 percent cases it is a man who throws acid at women. It really hurts me. I swear to work so that no woman is burnt by acid anymore."

Magician Jewel Aich said he didn't believe "the acid throwers are men. They are cowards and worse than the beasts. We have to resist them".

"Women's movement is part of a democratic movement in the sub-continent, including Bangladesh," said Ayesha Khanam, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad.