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According to the World Health Organization, 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). Over in Egypt, the figures are alarmingly high: some 87 percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 have suffered FGM. The practice can of course lead to long-term physical and psychological consequences. We hear the harrowing account of one survivor in Cairo and speak to Dr. Reham Awwad, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon whose centre is helping victims.The fight against female genital mutilation in Egypt
Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Anthony wrote the 19th amendment to the US Constitution in 1878, but it wasn't ratified until 1920 after major social unrest and persecution of activists, and according to the US government as a war measure in order to make the world safe for democracy. Notably, the national movement and passage of women's suffrage came after intense state by state advocacy and legislative acts and more involvement in society and work by women. When Wyoming was still a territory, legislators passed the Wyoming Suffrage Act of 1869. Alternatively, South Carolina originally rejected the 19th Amendment on January 28, 1920. The state belatedly ratified the amendment on July 1, 1969. Minority women still struggled to practically vote until much later and even still today face challenges to equal access to voting, demonstrating that even ratification of legislation is still a part of the beginning process to change. Collection of Anti Suffrage Political Propaganda Cartoons Trump Pardons Susan B Anthony From Conviction of Illegally Voting In a controversial move, Donald Trump pardoned Susan B Anthony from a guilty conviction for voting. During her court trial, Anthony argued that any state law restricting women from voting is null and void due to the fact that women were citizens and their right to vote is protected in their Person. The White House released a statement regarding the pardon of Susan B Anthony. Vintage Women's Suffrage Photographs Tim Ballard, CEO and founder of Operation Underground Railroad and a member of the US Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking, highlights the aspects of how the pandemic effects trafficking. In March 2020, the FBI warned school closures would heighten the risk of exploitation. Ballard indicates a lack of infrastructure in the home leads to more exploitation. He shares that the United States is the top consumer in the world for child exploitation material. Ballard highlights the statement from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, "In the first quarter of 2020, NCMEC became aware of predators openly discussing the pandemic as an opportunity to entice unsupervised children into producing sexually explicit material. At the same time, we experienced an explosion in reporting to our CyberTipline from both the public and electronic service providers, all while transitioning to a teleworking environment."  CyberTipline Reports have increased 90.46%, or by about 6 million in real numbers, compared to the same time last year for online solicitations. Ballard expresses the importance of spreading true information and educating parents, teachers and as many possible people that have children in their care about the threats of human trafficking.  Clashes broke out between riot police and women's rights activists and Islamists on the front line of an International #WomansDay march in #Istanbul on Sunday. Women and men joined the event in Islamabad, one of several rallies across the country, for what is known in Pakistan as the Aurat March, using the Urdu word for women. Hundreds of men and women from the Red Mosque brigade, consisting of several local militant groups, and a Taliban allied religious party staged a rival rally just across from the women’s march venue, District Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said. Police official Mazhar Niazi said the officers blocked the Islamists as they tried to break through a cordon to attack the marchers. A Reuters witness and Niazi said the Islamists threw stones, bricks, sticks and shoes at the marchers. Niazi said no one was injured. Samra Zafar arrived in Canada as a teenage bride and was trapped in an abusive marriage for a decade before leaving with her two children. She speaks about the challenges new immigrant women face when trying to escape intimate-partner violence — before it turns deadly.
 The Polk County Sheriff's Office has arrested 124 people in an operation that targeted human trafficking, prostitution, and the sexual abuse of children. The six-day effort, dubbed “Operation Santa's Naughty List,” sought to help victims of human trafficking who may have been forced into prostitution.  Professional golfer Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, 44, was arrested in the operation and charged with first-degree misdemeanor solicitation, CBS affiliate WTSP reports.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that Gainey was arrested in an undercover sting called "Operation Santa's Naughty List," which lasted six days. The investigation yielded 53 arrests for prostitution, 46 arrests for soliciting prostitution and five arrests for intent to sexually harm a child, according to the sheriff's office. Also among the arrested suspects: A Disney security guard who showed up naked to try to buy sex from an adult undercover detective, WTSP reports. With anti-government protests raging in Hong Kong, China has become especially sensitive about its sovereignty, forcing fashion brands like Versace, Coach and Givenchy to apologize for T-shirt designs that appeared to show Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as separate territories. Amazon faced the same pressure when it was found to be selling shirts that support Hong Kong's protesters. Chinese supermodel Liu Wen terminated her contract with Coach. And actress Yang Mi ended her endorsement deal with Versace, stating "The motherland's territorial integrity and sovereignty is sacred." The controversy involves two cities that have semi-autonomous status, Hong Kong and Macau. But China also claims Taiwan, a democratic island that Beijing calls a breakaway province.
Two bare-breasted women staged a protest inside the Giessen district court building on Friday, during a hearing for the appeal of Dr. Kristina Hanel, who has been accused of promoting abortion.
Protesters were dragged outside the courthouse where they were met with applause. "It cannot be illegal any more, the legal situation must change, the law is from 1872, it's enough. We live in 2018," - said the protester. Dr. Kristina Hanel was accused of promoting abortion on her website where she wrote that her practice offers the procedure and allegedly put a price for it. She was ordered to pay a €6000 fine ($7000). The charge has spurred debate in Germany over whether she was advertising abortion, or simply providing information for those who need it.  Mack was indicted on April 19 on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy in New York federal court. The expectation is that Mack is cutting a deal with prosecutors to provide information against Nxivm founder Keith Raniere, who was arrested last month in Mexico and remains in federal custody. A bail hearing for Raniere is set for next week.
Mack is accused of masterminding a scheme with Raniere to recruit young women into a secretive group that purported to be focused on women’s empowerment but in reality served as a sex ring for Raniere and others. The women were instructed to serve as “slaves” to male “masters.” According to court documents the women were subjected to brutal conditions including extremely restrictive diets to keep them thin, sleep deprivation, and submitting to being scarred by a branding tool with a symbol that incorporated Raniere’s initials. The cult organization started by Raniere and spearheaded by Mack is called NXIVM, pronounced nexium, acts as a multi level marketing front supposedly offering 'personal development' seminars and products. According to The New York Post, Mack’s Smallville co-star, Kristin Kreuk, introduced Mack to NXIVM in 2006. While Kreuk admitted that she was involved with the sex cult, she claims that her involvement predated the ritual brandings and other humiliating practices to which the cult subjected women. |
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