EVERYDAY SEXISM AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN FIGHT BACK GLOBAL EDITION!
The first global women that we're going to celebrate for fighting back against everyday sexism are from India. The above video is of a Bollywood actress who was criticized by a journalist for speaking out against the treatment of women and girls in India.
Following the brutal rape and murder of a young woman last year in India, the government set up a hotline for women to call to get help in situations involving domestic violence or sexual abuse, and it's been a really huge success. It makes me feel really happy to see that so many women and girls are standing up for themselves and reaching out and asking for help, and knowing that they deserve to be treated so much better than they are. Reaching out and asking for help is a huge step in taking back all of our power as women.
"In a little less than a year, the helpline has handled more than half a million distress calls from women in trouble, Faruqui said."
http://news.yahoo.com/since-delhi-rape-women-see-key-changes-074424448.html
This next woman is a journalist from Colombia, who has been speaking out and fighting for women who have been the victims of sexual violence at the hands of men in the military.
"Bedoya's discourse goes beyond Colombia - it addresses the crisis of the misogynisation of warfare. "It happens in all wars now, the abuse of women's bodies as a weapon of war," she says. "But in Colombia, after decades, women had come to regard their bodies as weapons of war as almost normal. It was only when we began to document the abuse of women's bodies as a weapon of war that we understood the scale."
"Bedoya lives with an armed escort. "Here, I've been free to walk the streets," she says.
"When I get back, there's the bulletproof car, all the bodyguards. But that's my life, that is what I have chosen."
However, she adds: "The worst that can happen to me has already happened. There are threats against me, and every morning I leave the house knowing that I may not return in the afternoon. But the worst they can do is kill me, and I'd rather die of a bullet in Colombia than of sorrow in exile."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/14/jineth-bedoya-lima-colombia-women
The next is an Open Letter to Caribbean men, From Caribbean women. The most amazing part about this letter is that it really could be addressed to any men anywhere by any women in any culture and it would read the same.
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/03/12/an-open-letter-to-caribbean-men-from-caribbean-women/
I wanted to end this global edition, by bringing it back to the U.S. where women and girls are taking all this inspiration that they are getting from their sisters worldwide and continuing to fight back as well. The first article is about a woman who is fighting back against pictures of women and girls being posted on the internet without their permission by men who want to degrade, humiliate, and objectify them. This woman is collecting the men's personal information and then reporting their behavior to their bosses, their colleges, and local authorities.
"One of the leaders of these "people" is Samantha*, a 25-year-old Redditor who recently launched Predditors, a collection of incriminating personal information - photos, social media accounts, screencaps of CreepShots posts - that she plans on using to "out" Redditors whom she considers sexual predators. One days, she hopes, the site will allow users to report men to a select group of moderators, who will then investigate and verify claims and report the worst offenders to the appropriate local authorities."
http://jezebel.com/5949379/naming-names-is-this-the-solution-to-combat-reddits-creepshots
The next young girl is a teenager whose courage and bravery is an inspiration to all women and girls. I'm only going to quote this one part, because I think the entire article needs to be read. When I read stories like this one, it reminds me of why I've spent so many years doing the type of work that I do. My own strength definitely comes from the strength of other women. Whenever I feel like giving up, their courage pulls me through.
"I not only survived, I didn't give up. I've been told that a special prosector is going to reopen the case now. This is a victory, not just for me, but for every girl."
http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/daisy-coleman-maryville-rape
The last group of American women, is a group that we haven't heard to much from when it comes to the feminist community. It's from Asian-American women, and it's helped start a conversation about the intersection of misogyny and racism. As someone who is racially mixed, which makes me both a woman of color, and not a woman of color all at the same time, I can definitely say that as a woman of color a lot of times you experience this strange form of misogyny that is also mixed with racism.
"#NotYourAsianSidekick. Launched by writer and activist Suey Park over the weekend, the hastage was about making a "space [for Asian-American, Pacific Island and Native Hawaiian women] to use our voices, build community, and be heard."
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/16/notyourasiansidekick_ignites_massive_conversation_about_race_stereotypes_and_feminism/
