Women's rights news

Homophobic violence during LGBTI rally in Georgia

May 2013- On Friday May 17th, activists in Georgia came together peacefully to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. When thousands of people, led by ultra-conservative Orthodox priests and church supporters, violently attacked a silent street-action event, the police in the Georgian capital Tbilisi failed to protect LGBTI activists.

Two of our grantees were at the rally. Together with other activists and allies, they had to be evacuated by the police in a small minivan as crowds of brutal anti-gay protestors charged after them, hurling stones and bottles of water at the vehicle and beating on the windows.

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Change is happening

30 years of women's rights activism

March 28, 2013- Mama Cash is celebrating our 30th anniversary this year. We launched a history website that looks back at what we have learned from three decades of funding women’s rights activism. It tells our story, including some of our key decisions, debates, strategies, groups funded and accomplishments.

We also see our anniversary as a perfect moment to reflect on the impact of three decades of women’s organising in making our planet a more just place for women, girls and trans people. This week, we are launching a web series looking at some of the achievements of women’s rights movements in the past 30 years.

Read the first installment >>

Indian women demand freedom, not ‘protection’

February 2013- The gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi last December has provoked unprecedented protests across India. The woman died from her injuries two weeks later. The crime has focused attention on the deep-rooted misogyny in politics, religious organisations, legal systems, and on the streets of India and countries around the world.

Mama Cash spoke to two Indian feminists, Geetanjali Misra and Prabha Nagaraja, to delve deeper into the work that women’s rights activists have been engaging in for decades, and to try to understand why the recent public outrage about this case has been so strong.

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Mama Cash condemns the ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ in Uganda

November 2012 - Mama Cash stands in solidarity with LGBTI people and movements in Uganda, and with feminist and human rights initiatives supporting the struggle against further criminalisation of same-sex sexuality. Mama Cash condemns the so-called ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’, which violates international human rights law.

Last week, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, promised to pass this bill as ‘a Christmas gift to Uganda’.

The Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders

Women defending human rights in Mesoamerica

September 2012- Women human rights defenders in Mesoamerica not only have to deal with threats against themselves and their families, but with rape, physical violence and even murder. 24 women human rights defenders were murdered in Mesoamerica in 2010 and 2011.

The Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IM Defenders) aims to strengthen local, national and regional women’s organisations and networks, so that they are better equipped to deal with human rights violations and violence, and to ensure security and well being for themselves and their communities.

The Aceh Women for Peace Foundation

AWPF sets matters in motion in Aceh

AWPF staff and participants of the women's forum

May 2012- The Aceh Women for Peace Foundation (AWPF) is a great example of a group that aims for massive changes in the long term by achieving small and tangible successes in the present.

In just one year, AWPF has managed to achieve a large reversal in the political involvement and impact by women in three villages in the Indonesian Province of Aceh.

Sign the petition against violence against women in Europe

End violence against women in Europe

Sign the Petition April 2012 - Around Europe, activists address the violence women, girls and trans people experience at home, at work, in the judicial system, and in the streets. They expose and challenge the unequal power relations that normalise and perpetuate such violence and demand that governments take responsibility in ending it.

European countries are now taking a stand. Adopted by the Council of Europe in May 2011, the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence is the first legally binding instrument in the region requiring governments to prevent, stop, and sanction the crime of violence against women.

This groundbreaking treaty only takes effect when 10 countries have signed and ratified it. Stand with women in Europe. Raise your voice by calling on the 47 Council of Europe member and observer states to sign and ratify this Convention.

A new fund for and by sex workers

A new fund for and by sex workers:

the Red Umbrella Fund

El Red Umbrella Fund (castellano, pdf)

Фонд «Красный Зонт» (pdf)

April 2012 - On Friday, April 20, a new and innovative global grant-making mechanism for and by sex workers was launched: the Red Umbrella Fund (RUF).

The Red Umbrella Fund aims to strengthen and ensure the sustainability of the sex worker rights movement by catalysing new funding specifically for sex worker-led organisations and national, regional and global networks.

Sex Worker Activists strategise against violence

March 2, 2012 - On March 3 (International Sex Worker Rights Day) and March 4, Mama Cash grantee Pembe Hayat is organising the second ‘Conference on Sex Work and Human Rights’ in Ankara.

The theme is this year’s conference is ‘Police, take your hands off my body’. The conference gathers sex worker activists from Turkey and from Europe to discuss and strategise against violence from the police and other forms of state violence sex works are faced with.

Break in at the office of Mama Cash grantee Mulabi

Letter of solidarity after break in at Mulabi's office

On February 3rd, the office of our grantee Mulabi (Latin American Space for Sexuality and Rights) in Costa Rica was broken into, their computers were stolen, their office destroyed and the space damaged and violated.

The state of the crime scene led both Mulabi and the police to believe it may have been a hate crime. Mujeres del Borde from Colombia, another Mama Cash grantee, initiated a letter of solidarity calling for an investigation of the attack.

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Stories of Change > 'We need to stand up for our rights'

"We need to stand up for our rights"

Fela Razafinjato January 2012- Fela Razafinjato fights passionately against the discrimination of women with disabilities in Madagascar. People with disabilities usually don't have access to education or jobs. For women and girls the situation is even worse.

During the Mama Cash Voice Convening in 2011, Fela was one of the participants who shared in their own words a story of change from the work they are doing. Powerful stories about how courage, determination, solidarity and a strategic approach can lead to a better life for women, girls and transgender people and to a more just and peaceful world. Fela's story is the second story in our series ‘Stories of Change'.

Read Fela's story >>

Violence against women protesters in Egypt

Increased Violence Against Women Human Rights Defenders in Egypt 

December 2011- In response to recent incidents of violence against women protesters, Mama Cash grantee Nazra for Feminist Studies co-signed a statement denouncing the violence.

This joint statement by several women’s and human rights organisations in Egypt protests the violence targeted at women and emphasizes the fact that women human rights defenders deserve protection, recognition and freedom to participate in the revolutionary process.

Aireana receives French human rights award

December 2011- Paraguayan Lesbian-Feminist organisation Aireana, a Mama Cash grantee, has been awarded the French Republic’s Human Rights Award ‘Freedom-Equality-Fraternity’ 2011.

The awards this year honored the work of organisations fighting violence against women and for the first time, organisations fighting violations of human rights based on sexual orientation and sexual and gender identity.

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Nobel Peace Prize awarded to three women

October 10, 2011 - This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to three women: President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, her fellow Liberian Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkui Karman, the woman who was one of the leaders of the recent uprising against the Yemeni leadership.

One of the three prize winners, Leymah Gbowee, is the founder of Women Peace and Security Network Africa, a Mama Cash grantee. Mama Cash supported the network with a grant in 2008 to help revive the women's peace movement in the Niger-Delta and to stimulate women's active participation and leadership in conflict resolution and reconciliation.

Stories of Change > Domestic violence finally recognised in Armenia

Domestic violence finally recognised in Armenia

September 2011- ‘The cause of the change in thinking about domestic violence in Armenia was the death of 20-year-old Zaruhi Petrosyan in the city of Masis.’

This is the first sentence of a story about how domestic violence was finally recognised as a widespread problem in Armenia.

During the Mama Cash voice convening in May, participants shared in their own words a story of change from the work they are doing. The narratives that emerged are powerful stories, ranging from accounts of personal transformation or organisational change to people’s revolutions. Stories about how courage, determination, solidarity and a strategic approach can lead to a better life for women, girls and transgender people and to a more just and peaceful world.

Read the first of these powerful stories of change, provided by Society without Violence, Armenia >>

Famine in the Horn of Africa

PGI fights to keep girls in schools during famine

August 2011- Environmental disasters like the drought in the Horn of Africa have far reaching and long term consequences for women and girls. The effects can already be felt in Garissa, Kenya where our grantee, the Pastoralist Girls Initiative (PGI), is based.

Women and girls are in real danger of being marginalized further during the drought, and PGI is taking action to keep that from happening.

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Women's rights in Afghanistan; is there hope?

August 2011 — It almost seems common knowledge that life is hard for women and girls in Afghanistan because their rights are being violated on such a large scale. But what are the efforts of Afghan women to change this situation?

We have interviewed Mahfuza Folad, the director of our Kabul-based grantee, Justice For All Organisation, about the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan.

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Women human rights defender assassinated in Colombia

July 22, 2011 — We were deeply saddened to learn about the murder of Keila Esther Berrío Almanza, a 31 years old activist and mother of 3 children living in the City of Women (la Ciudad de las Mujeres) in Turbacao.

Keila championed the rights of women and families displaced from the ongoing armed conflict in Colombia, who found refuge in the City of Women. The City of Women, a housing project founded by the League of Displaced Women in 2006 (supported by Mama Cash), has been a key site for women to organise and to document the violations of their rights committed by state and non-state actors.

The League of Displaced Women and the Observatory Gender Democracy and Human Rights have greatly contributed to raising awareness of the crimes against women committed by different factions within the conflict, including forced displacement from homes, land-grabbing, and multiple forms of violence.

Mama Cash stands in solidarity with Keila’s family, and with League of Displaced Women and the Observatory Gender Democracy and Human Rights as they continue in the struggle to end impunity for crimes against women as a result of the 47-year conflict.

Read their statement about Keila’s assassination >>

Land grabbing in the Philippines

Women stand up against land grabbing

Women farmers in Mindanao, the Philippines are fighting attempts by the Central Mindanao University (CMU) to evict them from land they have been working for 30 years. The situation escalated on June 14th when CMU's security agency opened fire against the farmers, who had set up camp in protest in front of the university, harassed and beat them.

This case is an example of land grabbing and impunity which are both wide spread in the Philippines. Peasant women’s Network AMIHAN, a Mama Cash grantee, is conducting a fact finding mission and is working to get national and international attention for this important case.

Domestic Worker Rights

ATRAHDOM celebrates victory for domestic workers

Domestic workers demand their rights

June 24, 2011 - Domestic workers around the globe gained a historic victory last week. The International Labour Organization (ILO) took a landmark step for women's rights by adopting the Convention on Domestic Workers at its 100^th anniversary meeting in Geneva.

Mama Cash grantee ATHAHDOM was at the meeting to represent the voices of the domestic workers movement in Guatemala. ATRAHDOM commends the ILO for adopting the Convention, but warns that the struggle to attain equal rights and protection for domestic workers still has a long way to go.

Women and conflict resolution in Cote d'Ivoire

Women demand participation

CEFCI staff
February 25, 2011 - In November 2010 the West African country of Cóte d'Ivoire became world news, because incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after he lost the country's presidential election. Now, more than three months later, political, economic and social instability continues to directly affect the people of Côte d'Ivoire.

In conflict situations such as these, women are disproportionately affected by the unrest. But in spite of the obstacles they face, women are powerful agents of reconciliation and peace. The women's rights organisation CEFCI, a Mama Cash grantee, in cooperation with other women's organisations in Côte d'Ivoire, is calling for action to safeguard women and girls from further violence and demanding their participation in the resolution of the conflict.

Political turmoil in Egypt

Egypt: a chance for women's rights!

February 2011 - Following 18 days of pro-democracy protests across Egypt, Mubarak finally stepped down on Friday February 11, handing over power to the Egyptian army. Egyptian women and girls took centre stage in the country's revolution and according to Mozn Hassan, director of Nazra for Feminist studies, Egyptian women feel more empowered than ever and want to be part of the democratic processes ahead of them.

We interviewed Mozn Hassan on February 2nd, when she was still right in the middle of the protests. Read our interview with Mozn Hassan >>

Violence against women in Mexico

Not One More Death

January 2011 - How cynical is it, that an activist who led protests against the unsolved killings of hundreds of women, gets murdered herself? Susana Chávez was recently found dead in Ciudad Juarez, a border city in the north of Mexico. She is the second women's rights activist killed in less than a month.

Semillas, a Mexican women's fund supported by Mama Cash, decided to prioritise and provide training in how to face the violence to women human rights defenders.

African Feminist Forum: Tales of the lionesses

Reflections on the African Feminist Forum

October 2010 - Where does feminism fit in our narrative of African experience? What is the vision of Africa's ‘lionesses'- feminist thinkers and doers? Mama Cash board member Jessica Horn reflects on the opening of the third African Feminist Forum.

At the forum, that was supported by Mama Cash, close to 180 feminist activists from all African sub-regions came together to discuss women's citizenship, state accountability, the market, the environment and our individual roles as activists.

Read Jessica's article, Tales of the Lionesses >>

Michelle Bachelet new leader of UN Women

Congratulations Michelle Bachelet!

September 14, 2010. Michelle Bachelet has been appointed as the new Under-Secretary-General (USG) of UN Women, the new United Nations Agency for Gender.

Mama Cash was truly happy to hear this news. Having Bachelet at the helm of UN Women sends a strong message to the UN and the international community that gender is a top priority for the UN.

Read more >>

Devastation in Pakistan hits women hard

Floods in Pakistan: Update

September 2010 — 20 million people have been affected by the floods in Pakistan in the past weeks. That is more than the 2004 Tsunami, the earthquake in Kashmir and the earthquake in Haiti together.

The situation for women and girls in Pakistan was already less than ideal, and in the aftermath of a disaster like this, women and girls will have even more challenges to face. Read about women's groups supported by Mama Cash who quickly and thoughtfully responded to the disaster.

Read more >>

Marriage Equality Victory in Argentina!

Argentina legalizes same-sex marriage

same-sex marriage Argentina July 2010 - Argentina has become the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. Mama Cash sends out warm congratulations to all of our grantees and colleagues in Argentina. Their hard work and courage over many years has resulted in this truly momentous victory.

The historic July 15th vote in Argentina took place after hours of intense debate and in the midst of huge protests organized by the Catholic church. But despite the opposition, justice prevailed.

Hotline for safe abortion in Pakistan

First hotline for safe abortion in Asia

Flyer for the abortion hotline

June 2010 - A coalition of Pakistani women’s organisations has launched a safe abortion hotline. This is the only hotline of its kind in Asia, following in the footsteps of successful hotlines in Latin America. The hotline will put life-saving information directly into the hands of the women who need it.

Women can call the hotline for practical information about sexual and reproductive health in general and about the use of misoprostol, a drug that can be used to induce miscarriage early in pregnancy.

The hotline was set up with the support of the Dutch organisation Women on Waves and Mama Cash grantee Asia Safe Abortion Partnership.

Read more >>

Women and girls in Haiti

Haiti's Women: Mobilising to Meet the Challenges

Photo: Irin News

March 2010 - In disaster situations such as the one in Haiti, women and girls are at risk when trying to obtain scarce food and water resources, and they often go without food and water in order to keep their children alive. Women and girls also have to deal with a rise in sexual and domestic violence.

Crisis recovery plans frequently ignore women's concerns. This is why women's organisations must be empowered to participate in rebuilding communities and to protect women's rights in the aftermath of this disaster.

Read about Mama Cash's response to the disaster in Haiti >>

An interview with Lydia Alpízar Durán: How are we doing?

Women and women’s rights funding during a time of global crisis

Lydia Alpízar Durán
Lydia is a Costa Rican feminist activist who lives in Mexico City. She has been the executive director of AWID since 2007, and was the manager of the Where is the Money for Women's Rights and Building Feminist Movements and Organisations Strategic Initiatives of AWID from 2003-2006.

Mama Cash sat down with Lydia recently to talk about the global economic crisis, women's lives and funding for women's rights.

Download the interview in pdf >>