Gender

At CSW69, calls to fund feminist futures grew stronger amid economic injustice, fragmented advocacy, and a political declaration dodging anti-rights backlash - echoed not in plenary halls, but in sidelines, courtrooms, and coalitions demanding more.

In parallel to the newly-issued guidelines for Germany’s feminist foreign policy, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has also launched a new strategy on feminist development policy. Here’s a look back at key moments in international development institutions’ back-and-forth on gender policy.  

Feminist approaches to global health policy have the potential to create more equal health systems. Considering and addressing power dynamics paves the way to tackle discrimination. More responsive health policies are expected to improve health for all.

Determined to stay in power, Brazil’s incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro borrows from Donald Trump’s playbook and is preparing the ground for a stolen election myth. He rose to power by learning how to mobilize voters from Barack Obama – and by flooding the internet with fake news.

As the COVID-19 pandemic draws to a close, it will leave the vulnerable, especially countless LGBTQIA+ persons, desperate for deliverance and justice. In this regard, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) has become more significant than ever. It calls us to seek those who are scared and traumatized, and lift them from the rubbles.

Digital Rights Foundation, in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, conducted a series of focus group discussions with researchers from across the globe in order to deconstruct ‘gendered disinformation’, understand existing work on the subject and identify areas for future interventions.

Educated on diverse gender perspectives by the internet and emboldened by global feminist movements like #MeToo, Filipino youth are boldly pushing the issues of body autonomy and sexuality to the frontlines of the struggle for gender equality. With social media as a platform for convergence, alliance and advocacy, they are treading territory that previous feminist movements shied away from.

Physical or sexual violence is part of women's everyday experience in many places - also in the workplace. Often it is about abuse of power. There have also been cases of gender-based violence in some non-governmental organisations in recent years. Protective measures have been taken as a result. But is that enough? An interview with Christine Ash Büchner.

Ms. Silvia Sartori, Senior Project Manager of ENERGIA, the International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy, speaks about why gender matters in the energy debate, how a ‘victimization narrative’ inaccurately represents women, and what can be expected from the Gender and Energy Compact launched in September 2021.

Most regions in the world have been – to some extent – affected by climate change, and Southeast Asian countries are no exception. Within the group of people who are affected,  recognition needs to be accentuated on the disproportionate impact of climate change along gender lines.

More than a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the virus continues to ravage the Asia-Pacific with catastrophic human, social, economic, and developmental costs. Many LGBTIQ+ persons experienced increased vulnerability on top of systemic human rights violations and social inequity many currently shoulder as the pandemic places more stress on health systems and social safety nets. 

The internet we have today has become as real as any social spaces we occupy in-person. So much of our lives are integrated digitally now and opting out of the digital space is no longer a choice for us. Today, to be online is to exist and to be seen.

Norway is considered one of the ‘greenest’ countries on the planet but recently the country has come under fire for approving a copper mine in the Arctic described as the “most environmentally damaging project in the country's history”. This article aims to explore how green technology is still being recapitulated by capitalism and ‘business as usual' and uses a gender lens to explore the relationship of nature, green technologies and capitalism.

Mother Nature is once again the subject of the male gaze but this time the impact may be even more oppressive. This article expands the feminist concept of ‘male gaze’ towards nature and critiques geoengineering as being an inherently male/masculine technology that is a product of and a means to further capitalistic agenda.

Since September, Tunisians have been reporting experiences of sexual violence online under the hashtag EnaZeda, Tunisian Arabic for "me too". In the meantime, the protest has spread to the streets.

Cambodia has made notable progress in constitutionalizing gender equality. However, there is still no solution for persisting gender stereotypes, discrimination of women and marginalized groups and domestic violence.

Stereotyped gender roles continue to be reinforced from a very early age in Colombia. Traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity are very deeply rooted in the collective mentality of the macho culture.

The United States it the only established democracy in the world failing to ratify CEDAW. While common justification lies in the realm of patriarchy and religion another lies in the notion of American exceptionalism – in fact its exemptionalism.

CEDAW is a key international human rights treaty aimed at the achievement of gender equality worldwide. It helps women around the world to bring about change in their daily life.