Mother's Day has Radical Roots (2003-05-11)
Growing up, when I asked my mom what she wanted for Mother's Day, she always said world peace. I figured that was just her way to let us know that she didn't expect lavish gifts from our $5 allowance. Little did I know that one woman's call for peace was the reason behind the first Mother's Day. Here's an excerpt from Juliet Ward Howe's Mother's Day proclamation.

"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country, to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm, disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

It's too bad the swarmy Hallmark images of breakfast in bed have taken the oomph out of that first Mother's Day rallying cry. For this Mother's Day, forget the flowers. I want radical moms to unite in a call for justice. I want peace.

The High Price of Violence (2003-04-28)
Domestic violence in the United States costs $5.8 billion a year in health-related costs, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Women in Afghanistan Still Live in Fear (2003-04-09)
I just finished a story on women in Afghanistan. While the Bush adminsitration made much show out of liberating women there from the oppressive Taliban regime, they have been distinctly less talkative about what's happening to women there now.

In case you missed this news amidst the all-Iraq-all-the-time news coverage, here's some highlights from a March 2003 State Department report on human rights practices in Afghanistan:

"As lawlessness and sporadic fighting continued in areas outside Kabul, violence against women persisted, including beatings, rapes, forced marriages, and kidnapings."

"Approximately 85 percent of women were illiterate and in rural areas, illiteracy rates among women often were nearly 100 percent. "

"There also were reports that minority women sometimes were subjected to forced marriage, which sometimes resulted in self-immolations"

In other words, women are still waiting for liberation. But our thoughts are turned toward liberating others now. Too bad for them.

Women and war (2003-02-25)
I'm wrapping up a story on women's roles in the military and thought I'd post these handy, and fascinating, sites on the topic:

• Women in the Military Project--A project of the Women's Research and Education Institute, lists milestones in women's military service and stats on status of women veterans today.
  
• Center for Women Veterans--The center is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Has an essay that provides a useful overview of women's service in the military as well as links to issues affecting women veterans today.
  
• Women In Military Service For America Memorial--Full of information and photos documenting over a century of women's military service.
  
• Military Women Veterans--A personal site maintained by Capt. Barb, very comprehensive in its coverage of women veterans, with extensive links, literature reviews and photos--plus plenty of pro-woman ranting to boot.
  
• Medal of Honor citation list--Lists the Medal of Honor citations for every person who ever received the award. There's only one woman, Mary Walker, on the list--under Civil War recipients.
  
• History of the Army Nurse Corps--Self-explanatory, no?
  
• History of Women in the Marine Corps--Again, you get the picture, yes?

Women and peace (2003-02-25)
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom offers resources on women's peace organizations and the UN's efforts towards including women in post-conflict planning--plus human rights news as it affects women.

Girls, women and war (2002-12-06)
The current situation in Uganda and Southern Sudan is an example of how conflict affects women and girls differently than it affects men and boys and points to the lack of services to meet the needs of women affected by war.

Women working for peace (2002-11-20)
As the US contemplates war, women are raising their voices as peacemakers. The UNDP and UNIFEM are working to give women a bigger role in crisis and recovery efforts -- including the creation of a manual on how to employ gender approaches in conflict situations. Women Waging Peace also works to include more women in peace processes. Academics are also calling for more women to be heard during peace talks. More information is available through the UN special collection on Gender Aspects of Conflict and Peace.

Find out how your state rates for women (2002-10-29)
Mississippi is not the place to be if you're a woman, according to a report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research. The study rates each state in the nation on the basis of women's political participation, employment, economic autonomy, health and reproductive rights. Ole 'Miss came in dead last. If you want equality, head north--Connecticut and Vermont tied for best state for women.

UN weighs in on women, peace and security (2002-10-23)
Though a new UN resolution on Iraq continues to dominate headlines, last week Secretary General Kofi Annan asked the Security Council to consider strengthening a resolution of a different sort--one that deals with women and their contribution to peace. Last week, Annan released a report on women peace and security to mark the two-year anniversary of Resolution 1325, which recognized women's contribution the promotion of peace. The report recommends specific actions for the Security Council to consider to strengthen Resolution 1325. The Secretary General's report summarizes the findings of the study on women, peace, and security carried out through the cooperation of several UN agencies. Supporting documents are available from the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

Find your outrage (2002-07-02)
The Arab Regional Resource Center on violence Against Women has an online archive of news coverage on violence against women in Arab countries.

Crossing the digital divide in Africa (2002-06-14)
I'm developing a story on women and the digital divide in Africa and ran across these links:

• Women of Uganda Network, an NGO formed in 2000 to support use of ICTs among Ugandan women. Site includes extensive resource links, event calendar and subscription to monthly e-newsletter.
  
  
• Gender and ICTS, site by Canada's International Development Research Centre. Includes an annotated bibliography and summaries of main concepts with links to full text of research.
  
  
• The African Internet - A Status Report. Includes figures on Internet penetration in Africa, infrastructure development, consumer costs for ISPs, and other stats. Includes contact information for the author. Does not include gender-specific information.
  
  
• Africa Tech Forum, a U.S. nonprofit working to nurture the technology industry in Africa. Site includes technology news in Africa.
  
  
• Gender, Information Technology and Developing Countries(pdf format), June 2001 research paper prepared by the Academy for Educational Development for USAID.
  
  
• Human Development Report 2001: Making new technologies work for human development, report prepared by the United Nations Development Programme.
  
  
• United Nations General Assembly meeting on ICTs for development, summary of a panel discussion: “The UN’s role in supporting efforts to promote digital opportunity, in particular in Africa and the LDCs: Challenge of inclusion in the world economy through ICT”
  

Research on women's issues (2002-06-10)
I go to these sites to find the first spark of story ideas to pitch to Women's Enews:

• WomenWatch -- Portal site to the United Nations entities that address women's issues. Includes calendar of events, news, UN publications, and various stats on the status of women around the world.
  
  
• United Nations Population Fund -- Index of latest news on the work of the Fund.
  
  
• Institute for Women's Policy Research -- Includes press releases and links to research on health, employment, Welfare, work and family. Offers email updates.
  
  
• Isis International -- Includes calendar of events and links to research and advocacy on human rights, women and media, women and ICT.
  
  
• Women's Learning Partnership -- Includes statistics, bibliographies, articles, a calendar of events and links to local women's organizations.
  
  
• Moving Ideas -- Collects and posts research and policy reports from left-leaning think tanks.
  

Girls in the system (2002-03-20)
I neglected my blog while working on a freelance piece on girls in the juvenile justice system. To assuage my guilt, I've compiled this list of the studies and stats I consulted to write the story. National research shows that girls are more likely than boys to be put away for minor offenses and for violations of probation or parole in the absence of new offenses. A majority of girls in the juvenile justice system were victims of physical or sexual abuse before they wound up there. Girls' trauma, depression and past victimization can't be solved by shoving them into programs originally designed for boys. Read more:

• Justice by Gender.
  A report by the American Bar Assoc. and the National Bar Assoc. May 2001.
  
• Juvenile Female Offenders.
  A Status of the States Report. October 1998.
  
• An Overview of Research on Girls and Violence.
  Institute for Minority and Urban Education. 1999.
  
• Guiding Principles for Positive Female Programming.
  Greene, Peters and Associates. 1998.
  
• Key Studies: Girls in Juvenile System.
  Building Blocks for Youth.
  

• Fact Sheet on Residential Correctional Facilities.
  Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
  
• Fact Sheet on Female Offenders.
  Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
  
• 2001 Outcome Evaluation Report.
  Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
  
• Educate or Incarcerate.
  Report on Girls in the Florida and Duval County Juvenile Justice Systems. November 2000.
  
• Fact Sheet on Kids in Florida's Adult Prisons.
  Justice Policy Institute.