WHRnet - Women's Human Rights in the News

Taking Action

Pakistan: Transgender man and his wife imprisoned in Pakistan
WLUML, 5.6.2007
Shamial and Shahzina urgently need letters of support and solidarity addressed to them. Your show of support is urgent for them at this time and also for them to use later if and when they need to make a legal appeal.

Petition to the UN Human Rights Council
Human Rights Watch
The Human Rights Council faces many challenges. One crucial challenge is to develop its work methods in a manner true to the sentiment repeated annually by the Commission on Human Rights: “acknowledging the need to integrate the gender perspective in a more systemic way into all aspects of [its] work.”

Act for Special Procedures: A Global Petition
The United Nations Human Rights Council’s special rapporteurs and representatives, independent experts and working groups - collectively known as the “Special Procedures” - are among the most innovative, flexible and responsive tools created by the UN to promote and protect human rights.

Free Women's Rights Defenders in Iran
Petition Demanding Immediate and Unconditional Release of Women’s Rights Defenders Arrested in Tehran on March 4, 2007

International Support for Women’s Campaign
Iranian women’s rights activists are initiating a wide campaign demanding an end to discriminatory laws against women in the Iranian law. The Campaign “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws” is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest of the same aim, which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran

PAKISTAN: Another Hindu girl forcibly converted to Islam after being abducted
9th January 2007
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) received the information that a 17-year-old Hindu girl, Deepa has been missing since she was abducted by her Muslim tuition teacher on 31 December 2006. It is alleged that she was forcibly converted to Muslim and married to the said teacher.

Beginning of a New Inquisition in Nicaragua
As part of the electoral campaign, the Frente Sandinista under the leadership of ex-revolutionary Daniel Ortega and his Somocist vice presidential candidate, along with other right wing parties (PLC, ALN) have formed an alliance with the Vatican and its catholic hierarchy and some evangelical churches to rush through a law by Thursday, October 19th, 2006 to outlaw any form of abortion.

Help stop the shut down of Gina Form Bra factory in Thailand
Your action is urgently needed to help stop the shut down of the Gina Form Bra factory in Thailand. 1600 unionized workers could lose their jobs and their hard-won union.

Take Back the Tech!
APC
During the Know How conference held in Mexico City from August 23-26, the Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) issued a call to every grrls, librarians, lecturers, writers, techies, geek grrls, bloggers, emailers, SMSers, advocates, trainers, storytellers, poets, writers, web managers, theorists, graffiti artists, photographers.. to take control of ICTs and consciously use it to disrupt gender relations.

Iran: Seven Women Risk Death by Stoning
Amnesty International, 28th September 2006
Parisa was arrested in April 2004, while working as a prostitute in the city of Shiraz in southern Iran.

Urgent Action - Zimbabwe
Amnesty International is gravely concerned by credible reports that members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), including those named above, have been beaten at Matapi Police Station in the capital, Harare. They were transferred to Harare Central Police Station on 14 September.

Global Day for Darfur
On September 17 people around the world will take part in the Global Day for Darfur to show world-wide support for the Darfuri people and to put pressure on our Governments to protect the civilians.
We hope that you will be able to join us on the Global Day for Darfur.

South Africa: Sexual Offences Bill altered
Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce Press Statement, 7th September 2006.
Yesterday, the Justice Portfolio Committee added a new provision to the Sexual Offences Bill effectively aimed at criminalising the clients of sex workers.

United Nations Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
European Women's Lobby, 25th August 2006
United Nations Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities will be finalised and adopted by the Ad Hoc Committee between 14th and 25th August 2006 and due to be adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007.

CIVICUS urges Zimbabwe Attorney General to drop charges against activists
CIVICUS, 25 August 2006.
CIVICUS wrote to the Attorney General of Zimbabwe, Sobuza Gula-Ndebele, to express its concern about the charges facing 153 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) for their participation in a peaceful march on 21 August 2006.

Honduras: Garifuna Woman Murdered
The latest killing comes amid a wave of repression directed against the Garifuna community of San Juan Tela, which is resisting plans to build tourism projects on Garifuna ancestral lands in the Tela Bay area. Send your messages protesting the killing and demanding a thorough investigation and punishment of those responsible.

Sierra Leone: Women need rights and protection
Amnesty International, August 1, 2006. Amnesty International today launched a campaign to highlight the problems faced by women in Sierra Leone in accessing the justice system.

Humanitarian Emergency in Lebanon
Our friends in Lebanon, the Center for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD-A), are asking for assistance in their effort to care for the needs of internally displaced civilians.

Action: South Africa's constitutional court declared the Termination of Pregnancy Act invalid
The Gender AIDS Forum calls on all South African human rights
activists and advocates to mobilise around this issue.

UPDATE: Iran: Support Iranian women - demonstration 12 June 2006
WLUML,16 June, 2006
Please issue statements condemning the violence and asking for the release of all those still in prison.

Indonesia: Solidaritas Perempuan appeal for quake victims
SP Kinasih, 3 June 2006
Solidaritas Perempuan Kinasih Yogyakarta (SP Kinasih), one of SP’s 13 community branches, has set up a Help Centre (known in Indonesian as ‘Posko’) for the quake survivors, especially women and children.

Lebanon under aggression
Since Wednesday 10 July, the Israeli army has launched a massive military operation against Lebanon and its people allegedly in response to the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah.

Support Women Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights First Defender Alert
Today, please take action to protect Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, president of the Women's Assistance Center in Cancun, Mexico. In December 2005, she was charged with criminal defamation and jailed for several days after implicating prominent businessmen in a child pornography ring. Credible evidence suggests that the prosecution was initiated solely to harass and silence her activism on behalf of women and children.

Thai Branch of PR Multinational Sues Thai Labour Campaign Coordinator
Action needed to stop Publicis Thailand Harrassment of Thai Labour Campaign!

Publicis Thailand, the Thai subsidiary of French-based global public relations giant Publicis Groupe (with revenues of €3.83 billion in 2004) has charged Junya Lek Yimprasert, coordinator of the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC), with "defamation by propagation." Yimprasert's "crime" was republishing an article from CSR Asia Weekly on the TLC website about an unfair dismissal case filed by five workers against the public relations company.

Equal Human Rights for Transgendered people
Petition Online, May 5th, 2006
60% of all gender variant people are subjected to hate crimes. 8.3% of visible transwomen in the United States die by murder, versus 0.0055% in the general population. Amnesty International reports ongoing incidents of police brutality against transgendered women around the world. Yet even the United Nations does not recognize gender variant people as deserving of equal human rights.

Make some Noise
Amnesty International- May 2006

Every two seconds somewhere in the world, a woman is subjected to violence.

At least one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

Iran: Condemn the violence used against Iranian women on international women's day
WLUML, March 14, 2006
WLUML is deeply concerned about reports of violent attacks and arrests of women's rights activists, women's groups and human rights defenders on 8 March 2006, International Women’s Day. Those gathered were attacked and assaulted by plain-clothes militia, special anti riot forces of the Revolutionary guards, soldiers and police.

Call for Signatures: WITH WOMEN WORLDWIDE
International Women's Health Coalition

The global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is failing. Over the last few years important progress has been made to increase access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, but the numbers of people infected continue to rise dramatically...

Call for Support
The European Women's Lobby, together with ASTRA,International Planned Parenthood Federation Europe and Catholics for Free Choice, kindly ask for your support to call on the members of the European Parliament to sign the written declaration 0079/2005 on
women's rights to self determination, adequate sex education and
family planning...

CODEPINK: Women Say No To War
We, the women of the United States, Iraq and women worldwide, have had enough of the senseless war in Iraq and the cruel attacks on civilians...

Help Send Emergency Relief to Women and Families Devastated by the Earthquake in Pakistan
MADRE- The October 8th earthquake in Pakistan is responsible for over 80,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries, and over three million people left homeless. Entire families no longer exist.

Iran: Condemn the violence used against Iranian women on international women's day
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) March 14, 2006
WLUML is deeply concerned about reports of violent attacks and arrests of women's rights activists, women's groups and human rights defenders on 8 March 2006, International Women’s Day. Those gathered were attacked and assaulted by plain-clothes militia, special anti riot forces of the Revolutionary guards, soldiers and police

What is the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign?
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991.

16 DAYS of activism against gender violence
For the Health of Women, For the Health of the World: NO MORE VIOLENCE. Violence against women is traumatic to the body, mind, and spirit and can prevent women from being fully active participants at home and in the world.

In search of the “disappeared”: Taking the campaign to Africa
Pambazuka News- Imagine your loved one simply “disappeared”. You approach the local authorities and are met with blank stares. Years later you are still searching, wondering what happened to them or whether they are still alive.

URGENT UPDATE ON THE IRAQ CONSTITUTION
WHRnet, 18 August, 2005- We have small margin of time in which to continue our efforts to ensure a positive outcome for women's rights in the new Iraqi constitution. Please join us in extending your support to Iraqi women and lobbying both your politicians and Iraqi parliamentarians.

Women protest for workplace rights
The Weekend Australian, July 30, 2005. MELBOURNE--Militant union activist Craig Johnston lent his support to a small but vocal group of protesters who took their campaign to improve working women's rights through central Melbourne today.

MADRE Opposes Abolition of Iraqi Women's Human Rights in Draft Constitution
July 20, 2005—New York—MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, opposes renewed attempts to impose Islamic law on the people of Iraq. As reported in today's New York Times, a current draft of Iraq's new constitution subordinates guarantees of women's human rights and international law to religious Sharia law and replaces one of the Middle East's most progressive personal status laws with arbitrary interpretations of religious law.

UN experts deplore Zimbabwe’s campaign of forced eviction
Since 18 May 2005 Zimbabwean authorities are reported to have forcibly evicted an estimated 200,000 people from Harare and 29 other locations across Zimbabwe, with some reports stating that up to a million people may face eviction if the operation continues.

Ethiopia: Abduction and Rape--Law Reform and the Case of Woineshet Zebene Negash
On 9 May 2005 the new Ethiopian Penal Code finally came into effect, which removed the marital exemption for abduction and rape.

WE CAN END ‘HONOUR’ KILLING
On March 16th 2005, the We Can Campaign was officially launched in Quetta, Balochistan with a high profile seminar involving around 500 participants from the district, provincial and national alliances, including representatives from the Government, media, INGOs and civil society.

Womens Access to Health Campaign (WAHC)
The Women’s Access to Health Campaign (WAHC) is a campaign promoting women’s health worldwide.

Darfur Genocide - Call for Humanitarian Intervention
We call upon our governments and the United Nations to intervene immediately to protect civilians and guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid in Darfur, Sudan.

Free Iranian woman journalist, human rights and civil society activist
Please sign this petition to free Dr. Mahbobeh Abbasgholizadeh, an Iranian woman journalist and civil society activist, and a prominent advocate of human rights and gender justice. She was recently taken from her home.

Gender Peace Audits
examine whether peace-making institutions and international institutions' security programs are gender-sensitive and responsive to women's needs. They also seek to strengthen ties with NGOs, supporting them in developing strategies to influence national, regional and international processes and agreements. They also develop a technical framework to study, document and analyze NGOs peace-building efforts.

Violence against Women: A Global Health Emergency
The Women’s Access to Health Campaign (WAHC) 2005 focuses on the impact of Violence Against Women as a public health concern and a human rights violation.

Two Women Sentenced To Death in Nigeria for Adultery
wo Nigerian women have been tragically sentenced to death by stoning for having sex out of wedlock. Both sentences were imposed in the northern Islamic state of Bauchi, Nigeria.
Please urge Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo to take immediate action to prevent these atrocities from occurring.

Crises in Darfur, Sudan
The crisis in Darfur, Western Sudan is horrific, and may well worsen if immediate action is not taken. There are actions and activities you can initiate to make sure that the situation in Darfur does not deteriorate any further.

Stop Human Traffic Campaigns Network
By joining Anti-Slavery's campaigns network you will become part of a community of activists fighting to stop trafficking. You will receive regular email updates and actions as part of our Stop Human Traffic Campaign

Defending the Alien Tort Claims Act
The ATCA, which allows victims to try human rights abuses in American courts, is under attack. Organizations that represent multinational companies want to limit this law. Join this campaign.

Beijing + 10 Review: A Feminist Strategy for 2004-05, A Working Paper for NGOS on How to Move Forward
This paper emerged from the Center for Women's Global Leadership's (CWGL) various activities and meetings to contribute to efforts towards making women's participation more decisive in the UN review of the Beijing Platform for Action BPFA and the Millennium Declaration and Development Goals (MDG).

HIV+ gay Nigerians step up call for acceptance
Nigeria's gay and lesbian community stepped up its call for
acceptance last Tuesday (May 4), as the 4th National AIDS Conference was underway in Abuja.

Are Gay Rights Human Rights?
At the last session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), Brazil proposed a resolution on 'human rights and sexual orientation' (E/CN.4/2003/L.92) which claims that sexual diversity is an integral part of Universal Human Rights as reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Right now, there is an opportunity for you and your organisation to make a difference to the way in which economic, social and cultural rights are thought about both within your own community and internationally.

Campaign to End Corporate Violence Against Colombian Trade Unionists
In the midst of the 'war on terror,' U.S. companies in Colombia are literally getting away with murder. The largest and most brutal paramilitary organization in Colombia, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), was designated a 'terrorist organization' by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. This means that any person providing financial or material support to the AUC is in violation of U.S. law, 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. This has not stopped Coca-Cola bottler Pan American Beverages (Panamco) or Alabama based Drummond Company, Inc, which operates a large coal mine in Colombia, from providing support to the AUC, which then murders and tortures trade union leaders seeking to represent workers at the companies' facilities in Colombia.

Stir it Up! Campaign against Coffee Multinationals
The world's biggest coffee companies have not done nearly enough in the past year to help the 25 million coffee farmers who are struggling. Oxfam has analyzed and scored each of the 'Big Four' coffee companies on their actions to help solve the global coffee crisis. Scores were based on the price companies paid to farmers (70% of score), support for policy alternatives (10%), financial contributions (10%) and leadership in industry-wide initiatives (10%). Oxfam scores none of them above 'failure'.

Play Fair at the Olympics
Join Us in Demanding that Sportswear Companies Play Fair and Respect Workers' Rights. On March 4, Oxfam International, the European Clean Clothes Campaign, and Global Unions launched an international campaign demanding that the Olympic movement extend its commitment to fair play to the workers who make Olympic branded sportswear.

50/50 Campaign: Get the Balance Right!
The Women's Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO) spearheads this campaign that targets balanced representation of women and men in local and national politics worldwide. Launched in New York on June 8, 2000, during the five year review of the Beijing Platform for Action, the 50/50 campaign is not just about numbers, it is also about women making a difference. At each major UN conference in the last ten years, women have successfully established that every issue--social, economic and political--- affects women and that all women's issues involve and reflect the concerns of society as a whole. When women bring their experiences and feminist perspectives to the table everyone benefits--peace and justice can become a reality in the present rather than in some distant future.

Security for Women during Afghanistan's Constitutional Loya Jirga
As Afghanistan's second constitutional Loya Jirga approaches this Fall, it is vital to have security from a gender perspective to ensure that women observers and participants can circulate freely without harassment and fear. Write to President Hamid Karzai to call for an immediate implementation of recommendations in the interest of protecting the lives and basic rights of Afghan women.

The World Campaign against Coca Cola
An International Boycott of Coke has kicked off in June 22, 2003 to protest of Coca Cola's alleged complicity in the murders of Colombian bottling plant worker organizers, and Coke's disregard for environmental and health standards in India.

Stop CAFTA
The US/Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated by the United States and Central America. President Bush has referred to CAFTA as a top priority for his administration, as it will help move forward FTAA. CAFTA would roll back labor and human rights throughout Central America and the US. It would move the FTAA process forward. 'Corporate Globalization' (neoliberalism) gives corporations and market forces control over people and free trade agreements like CAFTA make this happen.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 1, which is World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

First World Forum “WASH”
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is organizing the First Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Forum in Dakar at the CICES Convention Centre on November and December, 2004. This First Global WASH Forum is done with the collaboration of a wide range of multilateral, bilateral, public and private institutions. The objectives of the Global WASH Forum are: (a) to draw lessons on how successful water, sanitation and hygiene programs, sector reforms and development partnerships are in leading to the eradication of poverty, and (b) to strengthen regional and national partnership initiatives aimed at attaining the goals of the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Fear of imminent execution in Iran: Afsaneh Nouroozi
Amnesty International has recently learned that Afsaneh Nouroozi (female, age 32) is at imminent risk of execution after the death sentence against her was upheld by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, is the only authority able to grant clemency at this stage. Please send appeals written in your own words as quickly as possible, in English, Farsi, Arabic or your own language to the following individuals...

FTAA Call to Action
From November 19 - 21, 2003, trade ministers from around the Americas will gather in Miami, Florida (United States) for talks on the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA). People from throughout the Americas are called upon to join the peaceful mobilization to demonstrate the growing opposition to the FTAA. The mobilization will include a parade, cultural events and educational activities that will show the strength of popular opposition to the FTAA.

About-Face
About-Face promotes positive self-esteem in girls and women of all ages, sizes, races and backgrounds through a spirited approach to media education, outreach and activism.

AdBusters
Adbusters Media Foundation is a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs dedicated to reinventing the outdated paradigms of the consumer culture and building a brave new understanding of living. Their aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century. The site offers spoofs of familiar advertisements.

Media Activist Kit
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) offers a kit on 'how-to' guides for identifying, documenting and challenging inaccurate or unfair news coverage, along with information about how to promote independent media.

Mapping the State of Women's Economic Justice Organizing
The Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice (WICEJ) is undertaking an effort to assess the current status of women's economic justice organizing. Organizations and individuals involved in this work are invited to fill in the on-line survey. This process will result in a report to all participants, shared via e-mail and Internet. Survey deadline is on November 14, 2003.

Kampala Declaration: Prevent GBV in Africa
Over 30 leaders from non-governmental organizations and local authorities from the Horn, East and Southern Africa convened in Kampala, Uganda in September 2003 for the first Regional Dialogue, Preventing Gender-based Violence: Sharing Experiences, Breaking New Ground, organized by Raising Voices and UN-HABITAT's Safer Cities Programme. The Kampala Declaration was developed in which the participants call on civil society, local authorities, UN agencies, governments and funding agencies to increase attention, investment and action on preventing gender-based violence in Africa. Read the Kampala Declaration and join in preventing gender-based violence by adding your name/organization in support.

Paraguay: Minister Of Women’s Affairs Will Promote Civil Unions for Same-Sex Couples
Maria Jose Argana, the recently appointed Minister of Women’s Affairs in Paraguay, has expressed to local media her desire to propose legislation in favor of civil unions for same-sex couples. Paraguayan activists will request an interview with the Minister and will submit a civil union proposal for her consideration. In order to bind the Minister to her words and promise, international pressure is needed.

Gildan Attempts to Discredit MSN Report on its Labour Practices
The Montreal-based T-shirt manufacturer, Gildan Activewear, is attempting to discredit and suppress a report coauthored by the Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) and the Honduran Independent Monitoring Team (EMIH) on the company's labour practices in Central America and Mexico. The report documents cases of mass firings of union members, inadequate wages and high production targets, health and child care issues concerning hours of work and the pace of production, workers' concerns that urine or blood tests for new employees were for pregnancy, as well as other workplace problems. Visit this page to know how you can help call on Gildan to cooperate with an independent investigation.

Coca-Cola and Anti-Union Violence
Coca-Cola workers and union leaders in Colombia and Guatemala are under attack. In Colombia, labour leaders have been threatened, kidnapped, beaten, and even killed. In Guatemala, unionized Coke workers face intimidation tactics including illegal reductions of salary, wage suspensions, and neglect of machinery maintenance that creates an unsafe working environment. Campaign for Labour Rights supports these workers' struggles to pressure Coca-Cola to take all necessary steps to ensure that its bottlers and franchises around the world, and specifically in Colombia, reject any connection to paramilitaries, to reject all use of violence against trade unionists, and to support right of workers to organise.

Action Alert: The Big Secret
The United Methodist Women’s Action Network is enjoining American citizens to act against the erosion civil liberties through the USA PATRIOT Act.

Unions for Women
An initiative of the International Confederation for Free Trade Unions, the Unions for Women Campaign strives for the increase of women’s membership in trade unions, with the ultimate goal of doubling the number of women union members. The Campaign aims at breaking down the barriers to women becoming union members, activists and leaders.

Stop AIDS Campaign
The Stop AIDS Campaign is an initiative of the United Kingdom (UK) Consortium on AIDS and International Development. It brings together some of leading development and HIV/AIDS groups in the UK. Launched on World AIDS Day in 2001, the campaign works to raise awareness in the UK about global HIV/AIDS epidemic and to campaign for urgently scaled up international action.

Live and Let Live
'Live and let live' is the slogan of the two-year UN World AIDS Campaign 2002-2003, which focuses on eliminating stigma and discrimination. The Campaign encourages people to break the silence and the barriers to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

Guerilla Girls Greatest Hits
The Guerrilla Girls is a group of anonymous females who take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in public wearing gorilla masks. For 18 years, they have produced over 100 posters, stickers, books, printed projects, and actions that expose sexism and racism in politics, the art world, film and the culture at large. They use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny. This page provides images of their campaign posters.

Reporters Without Borders’ Insurance Scheme for Free Lancers
Reporters Without Borders is calling on the whole profession to think about journalists' safety and is proposing an insurance scheme for freelancers. Their campaign 'Freelance journalists: for three euros, we've got you covered !' is also an appeal to editorial offices, press clubs, syndicates, journalism associations and schools, specialized Internet sites, news sites, etc., to help spread this information to freelance journalists by passing on the promotional campaign materials to their freelance contacts and members.

Freedom to Read Act
The USA PATRIOT Act gave federal government total access to personal information, including readers’ personal information in library and bookstore records. The Fund for Women Artists issues a call on everyone in the United States to join the campaign for the restoration of protections for the privacy of bookstore and library records through the passage of the Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003 (H.R. 1157).

PEN Year long campaign to challenge impunity
International PEN has embarked on a campaign to challenge impunity for violations of the essential right to freedom of expression. The campaign was officially launched on November 25, 2002 and will culminate with the release of a PEN report on the problem of impunity and a series of public programs during International PEN's 69th World Congress of Writers in November 2003 in Mexico City.

Female Sexual Dysfunction: A new medical myth (FSD-Alert.org)
FSD-Alert introduces an educational campaign that challenges the myths promoted by the pharmaceutical industry and calls for research on the many causes of women's sexual problems. The pharmaceutical industry wants women to think that sexual problems are simple and offers drugs as magic fixes. But positive sexual experiences require accurate, unbiased information. The FSD-Alert campaign is committed to the role of activism and education for women's sexual empowerment.

Refugee Women’s Safety in Britain
The need to ensure the safety of refugees, particularly women and children, has become more evident in Britain. Visit Refugee Action’s campaign page for the promotion of refugee women’s safety in Britain and know the many ways you can help.

Violence Against Women/Potential Expulsion of Women Refugees
Join the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) in calling on the U.S. government not to limit the availability of asylum to women who have been victims of gender-based human rights abuses. The cite the case of the possible expulsion of Rodi Alvarado, a survivor of severe domestic violence, to her country of origin, Guatemala.

Women-Friendly Workplace and Campus Campaign
The National Organization for Women (United States), through its Women-Friendly Workplace and Campus Campaign, targets the elimination of workplace discrimination and abuse and encouraging employers to have family-friendly policies. Read more about the campaign strategies through this site.

Show Real Corporate Responsibility: 'Treat Your Workers'
Read about the Global Treatment Access Campaign’s project initiative on demanding corporate social responsibility in educating their workers on HIV/AIDS and providing facilities and access to comprehensive treatment, as well as creating non-discriminatory policies.

Stop Saudi Executions: Asian Women Migrant Workers on Death Row
Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Saudi Arabia to impose a moratorium on executions until all death penalty cases are independently reviewed. This review should include the examination of the practices of the justice and interior ministries that may have violated basic due process rights of Saudi citizens and foreigners sentenced to death. HRW expresses concern over the cases of two Asian women migrant workers, Sarah Jane Landicho Dematera of the Philippines, who was sentenced to death in 1993, and Siti Zaenab binti Buhri Rupa of Indonesia, who received a death sentence in 2000. Neither woman had access to a lawyer or any other form of legal assistance, and consular officials were not present at their trials. Both women were convicted on the basis of confessions, a common feature of the kingdom's justice system.

Hungry for Change - A Call to Action
Women’s rights are being serially eroded in developing countries, in order that a luxury foodstuff be produced for consumers in the West. Sign this petition by the Environmental Justice Foundation and it will be sent to the major European and American shrimp importers and retailers, and to politicians internationally.

Violence against Women in the Russian Federation
Amnesty International is campaigning to prevent violence against women in the family in order to raise public awareness of this issue in the Russian Federation and to urge the government to take concrete steps to deal with it. Log on to this site to know how you can help.

34 Million Friends of UNFPA
The “34 Million Friends” campaign is a grass-roots movement that was independently initiated by two American women, Lois Abraham of New Mexico and Jane Roberts of California. Funds raised from the “34 Million Friends” campaign will go towards UNFPA’s core programme budget, to compensate for the loss of support from the United States. Funds are applied to UNFPA’s main priority area, which is to help ensure universal access to quality reproductive health information and care to all couples and individuals by the year 2015.

Stop the Wage Cut! Stop the Levy!
This site contains the statement made by the Coalition for Migrants’ Rights in response to the Hong Kong government's announcement on February 25 to cut $400 from the salaries of all Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) signing new or renewed contracts and institute a bi-annual levy on the employers. This government pronouncement also resulted in the cutting of wages of FDWs with old/valid employment contracts by their employers, using the wage cut policy as an excuse.

International Organization for Migration (IOM) Calls for an End to Violence Against Migrant Women and the Trafficking of Women and Children into Sexual Bondage
The web page contains important overview information and Internet information resources and organizations that may be used by groups and individuals in their campaign against violence against migrant women and the sexual trafficking of women and children.

An International Appeal from the Hague Appeal for Peace Japan
The Hague Appeal for Peace Japan is concerned that Japan’s Article Nine is in the brink of nullification. This page contains Hague Appeal’s statement.

Week of Action Against Small Arms
The International Action Network on Small Arms is encouraging groups and individuals to join the events for the global celebration of the Week of Action Against Small Arms from June 1 to 8, 2003. Visit this page to know the events in your country or region.

Please Stop the International Amina Lawal Protest Letter Campaigns
An Appeal from BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights

Emergency Campaign on Iraq
The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) invites everyone to visit its campaign page on Iraq. The campaign presents activities, fact sheets and latest reports on the crisis brought about by the United States war against Iraq. You can extend support to the CESR campaign through this page.

International Women’s Health Coalition: Take Action to Defend Women’s and Girl’s Rights Everywhere
The United States government, through President George Bush, has persistently tried to roll back women human rights gained at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo since 1994. At the Asian population conference in December 2002, the Bush administration tried to block the reaffirmation of ICPD. More meetings will be held in the future. Tell Bush that you support the progress made for the rights of women and girls at Cairo and do not want to see the Cairo Programme of Action rolled back. Moreover, tell Bush that you are outraged by his refusal to release funding for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Demand Emergency Contraception Over-the-Counter
Help the Women's Capitol Corporation (United States) convince the Food and Drug Administration to make “Plan B,” a brand of emergency contraception, available over the counter. The Feminist Majority Foundation is submitting petitions in support of this important initiative to expand and protect women's reproductive rights.

Inter Parliamentary Union: Campaign against Violence against Women
The site gives information about the Inter Parliamentary Union's campaign against female genital mutilation.

V-Day Worldwide Campaign
The V-Day Worldwide Campaign site dedicated to eradicating violence against women. It also serves as a networking and communication tool for V-Day organizers around the world.

International Human Rights Law Group Campaign in Morroco: Empowering Girls and Young Women at Risk
A national campaign against sexual assault, human trafficking and forced labor in prostitution and domestic service.

African health advocates call for action to save women’s lives from unsafe abortion
Participants in Africa’s first regional consultation on unsafe abortion speak out against the Global Gag Rule, saying it impedes efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

Antiwar.com
See the Peace Actions page of Antiwar.com for actions you can take to protest war in Iraq.

Campaign against Warlordism in Afghanistan: Take Action for Women's Rights!
Letter writing campaign appealing to those who have the power to guide Afghanistan towards a future of peace and stability where human rights, including women's rights, are respected and entrenched. Use the draft letter and addresses supplied by Rights and Democracy. For information, please contact: Lauryn Oates, loates@ichrdd.ca.

Every Child Has a Name
Join MADRE in “Every Child Has a Name,” a campaign to deliver emergency aid to Iraqi families and help people in the US take an active stand against Bush’s war.

Greenpeace petition
Sign up for the Greenpeace petition to lobby the Security Council to Say “No” to a War on Iraq.

Violations of Women's Human Rights in Gujarat
As International Women's Day approaches, the Network Women Living Under Muslim Laws is calling for greater solidarity and renewed actions to highlight the situation of women in the ongoing genocidal practices that are taking place in the Indian state of Gujarat since late February 2002.

Stop Esso
Greenpeace campaigners argue that if the Bush administration was acting to limit global warming, there would be no need to invade Iraq to secure cheap oil. According to Greenpeace, Esso is the primary oil giant responsible for lobbying the US and other governments to undermine international progress on global warming.

Sign the Amnesty International Petition to End Domestic Violence in Russia
Every year 14,000 Russian women are killed by their husbands or relatives.