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Old 03-02-2015, 09:43 AM   #161
Kobi
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Default Sara Bahayi


Sara Bahayi is Afghanistan’s first female taxi driver in recent memory, and she is believed to be the only one actively working in the country. She’s 38, unmarried and outspoken. And in a highly patriarchal society, where women are considered second-class citizens and often abused, Ms Bahayi is brazenly upending gender roles.

Every day, she plies her trade in a business ruled by conservative men. She endures condescending looks, outright jeers, even threats to her life. Most men will not enter her taxi, believing that a woman should never drive for a man.

Yet she earns $10 (£6.50) to $20 a day, enough to provide for her 15 relatives, including her ailing mother. She relies on ferrying women shackled by traditions and fear, who vicariously live their dreams of freedom through her.

With every fare, Ms Bahayi says, she is determined to send a message to Afghan women: Get out of the house – earn money – don’t rely on men.

Improving the lives of women was a key goal after the Taliban regime collapsed in 2001. Far more girls today are in school. Afghanistan’s constitution guarantees equal rights for men and women. In practice, however, tribal traditions and religious strictures still subjugate most Afghan women and girls. Violence against women remains exceptionally high.

UN officials and women’s rights activists fear that the fragile gains women have made will be further eroded in light of the recent departure of most international forces, a resurgence of the Taliban, and expected reductions in international aid. Today, few role models for Afghan women exist. There are female ministers and lawmakers, as well as Rula Ghani, Afghanistan’s modern and sophisticated first lady. But most hail from privileged or liberal families. Ms Bahayi, though, lives a poor enclave in Mazar-e Sharif. She has neither an influential position nor a powerful family.

All she has is a hunting rifle she keeps loaded in case of intruders. Every day, she is among the rank and file, empowering local women with each fare. “She sends the message that men and women have equal rights,” said Arifa Saffar, head of the Afghan Women’s Network, a non-profit group helping women in Ms Bahayi’s Balkh province. “If a man can drive a taxi, why not a woman? She has shown the reality that a woman can drive just as well.”

Two years ago, Ms Bahayi took a class to acquire her licence to drive a taxi. There were 30 other students, all men. To escape the jokes and stares, she sat in the back. One day another student told her it was disgraceful for a woman to take a class with men. “If you don’t feel shame, I feel shame for you,” he said.

Two weeks later, she passed the road test and received her licence. Only nine of the men passed.

In the late 1990s, the Taliban killed her brother-in-law, and she was forced to care for her sister and her seven children. She worked for various aid agencies. A husband would never have allowed her to work, she said. “That’s why I am single,” she said.

The day after she received her taxi licence, her first client, a woman, was so stunned to see Ms Bahayi behind the wheel that she asked for a tour around Mazar-e Sharif. Along the way, children, and even some men, clapped and cheered. But most men refused to step into her cab. At the taxi stand, her male competitors tried to block her car or stop her potential passengers. Eventually, they got accustomed to seeing her around. But their disapproval persists.

But some men in Ms Bahayi’s neighbourhood see a layer of security for their family’s women. “Being a female taxi driver is like being a female doctor,” said Mohammad Akram, 50, a bearded man who was with three of his female relatives inside Ms Bahayi’s taxi on a recent day. “Our women feel comfortable with a woman driver. They feel safe.”

Safe. It’s a feeling that is vanishing for Ms Bahayi. As she has become well known in this province because of local media coverage, threats against her have grown.

This month, intruders tried to enter her house, she said. Perhaps they were after her beehives, which produce honey she sells to supplement her income. Perhaps they despised her career.

The next day, she bought the rifle. Now she and her brothers take turns sitting on their roof at night, guarding their house.

“My mom doesn’t want me to be a taxi driver,” Ms Bahayi said. “One day, she asked me: ‘Why are you still driving? One day they will kill you.’ ”

Two months ago, some women came to the taxi stand, seeking to be driven to a funeral in a Taliban-infested area. All the male taxi drivers refused. So Ms Bahayi donned a man’s coat and sunglasses and drove the women. She knew she faced a beating, or worse, if the insurgents learned a female was behind the wheel.

She has inspired at least seven other women to learn how to drive, said Ms Saffar of the Afghan Women’s Network. All run private car services for female clients. Ms Bahayi hopes they will become taxi drivers someday.

Now, Ms Bahayi is negotiating with some men to become partners in a car dealership. She will acquire the dealership licence, and they will lease the place. Eventually, she said she plans to kick her partners out – and replace them with women. It will become, she hopes, Afghanistan’s first female-owned car dealership.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-10076486.html
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Old 03-03-2015, 10:23 AM   #162
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Default Barbara Mikulski, Longest Serving Woman in Congress, to Retire



The longest serving woman in Congress in U.S. history is ready to retire. Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski will not seek a sixth term in the Senate in 2016.

"I am here today ... to announce I will not be seeking a sixth term in the United States Senate," Mikulski said. "This is a hard decision to make."

"Do I spend my time raising money or spend my time raising hell?" the Maryland Democrat said is a question that factored into her decision.

Mikulski, whose direct and feisty character paved the way for women who joined the male-dominated Senate, joined the upper chamber in 1987 after ten years in the U.S. House. The 78-year old intends to serve out the remainder of her current term until January 2017.

Mikulski is currently the top Democrat on the powerful Appropriations Committee. She was the first woman to chair the committee responsible for determining and allocating government funding when she took the gavel in December of 2012.

Before joining Congress, Mikulski was a social worker. As a pioneer in the old-boys club, she is known for advocating for collegiality among women in the Senate, organizing a monthly dinner for women senators.

A record number of women - 20 - currently serve in the Senate.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/cong...retire-n315531
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Old 03-08-2015, 05:09 AM   #163
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HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

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Old 03-08-2015, 05:39 AM   #164
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Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in history.

From a young age, Yousafzai made a name for herself in her community as someone who was unafraid to criticize the Taliban. She has been especially critical of terrorist attempts to prevent young girls from getting an education in Pakistan and elsewhere.

During her Nobel speech, she commented on her attempted assassination at the hands of a Taliban gunman in 2012. She was just 14 years old when the gunman boarded her bus, pointed a pistol at her head, and pulled the trigger in an attempt to silence her.

"I had two options — one was to remain silent and wait to be killed," Yousafzai said. "And the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up."

Yousafzai made a full recovery after the shooting.

Her attitude toward the threat of being shot and killed is astounding considering her young age.

"The terrorists tried to stop us," she said. "Neither their ideas nor their bullets could win. We survived. And since that day, our voices have grown louder and louder."

Yousafzai also called attention to her friends in the audience, noting that her story is not all that uncommon.

"I tell my story not because it is unique but because it is not," she said. "It is the story of many girls. Today, I tell their stories too. I have brought with me some of my sisters from Pakistan, from Nigeria, and from Syria who share this story.”
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Old 03-08-2015, 12:35 PM   #165
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International Women's Day

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910
n 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

1913-1914
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.

1918 - 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 and beyond
IWD is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

GoogleAnnually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

http://www.internationalwomensday.co...p#.VPyUxWM5CM9



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