Women Affairs

Economic impulses and commercial forces drive globalization, but its impact goes far beyond the economy to affect all facets of social and political life. Powerful commercial interests have given rise to a commercial and commercializing global culture that, it is quite apparent, will not be satisfied until it reaches into the deepest recess of social life. Most recently the commercial global culture has generated a new form of slavery, more brutal and degrading than any form of slavery known thus far. Millions of vulnerable women and unsuspecting children throughout the world, some as young as ten years old, are trapped into a vicious and ugly world of exploitation, disease, and abuse. These children are sold, traded, prostituted, and trafficked under the watching eyes of a world community that has decided to ignore their plight. Most of these sex slaves are kept by their masters until their commercial value deteriorates as a result of their deteriorating health conditions with the a...

EDITH M. LEDERER Actress and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman speaks Tuesday during a news conference at U.N. headquarters, urging world leaders and ordinary people to join the global fight to end violence against women. The actress, seven months pregnant and passionately committed to her role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Development Fund for Women, said the violence was probably the "most widespread human rights violation of our time." "One in three women will encounter violence in some way, shape or form against them in their lifetime," Kidman told a news conference at U.N. headquarters. "That's an extraordinary statistic. Yet do we ever hear it?" The 40-year-old Australian star became a goodwill ambassador in January 2006 for the U.N. Development Fund for Women, known as UNIFEM. Its acting executive director, Joanne Sandler, said Kidman wanted to focus on an issue "where she could mak...

Cindy Shiner Preliminary findings of a new study by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Columbia University may have given relief workers the evidence they say they need to focus greater attention on the problem of sexual violence in Liberia. Violence against women and girls, they say, has potentially far-reaching consequences on education, health and development in Liberia as it struggles to recover from 14 years of civil war. "One of the biggest or more common excuses that we hear [from governments and donors] when we try to bring up the issue of violence against women and girls is 'Show us the numbers if you say this is such a big problem,'" said Heidi Lehmann, senior technical advisor on gender-based violence for the IRC. Now, she said, the agency has the figures to back up what it has known through its work in Liberia for several years. The study, which surveyed 600 women and girls in eastern Nimba and central Montserrado counties, revealed communities r...

Women-only subway cars may be reintroduced in Seoul next year as part of efforts to reduce sexual harassment of female passengers, subway operators said this week. The Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp. and Seoul Metro, which operate eight underground train lines in the capital and its adjacent cities, said they are considering the plans. Details to be worked out include whether the women-only cars will run during rush hours or all day long, said Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp. spokesman Kim Han-ki. Now, like their neighbor Japan that also struggles with sexual harassment on trains and was forced to institute women-only cars, Korea is looking to do the same. In 1992, the Seoul Metro ran special cars for women, senior citizens and the disabled during rush hours, but suspended the program a few months later as there was no way to prevent male passengers from entering, said spokesman Kim Jung-mu.

The Employment Relations Authority has ordered ACC to pay almost $10,000 to a woman who was unfairly dismissed, after she and other staff had been targeted in abusive emails. Georgia Choveaux was hired by the Wellington office in August 2004 on a casual contract. She was to provide support and administration to Tim Boyd-Wilson in ACC's data warehousing and business intelligence unit. In February 2006 an offensive email was sent to Mr Boyd-Wilson. It included mentions of Ms Choveaux who was very concerned about its content. It, incorrectly, alluded to an intimate relationship between Mr Boyd-Wilson and Ms Choveaux. ACC engaged Corporate Risk New Zealand, a forensic consultant, the police and internet service provider Microsoft to investigate the source of the email. The email came from an outside source, but is believed to have been sent by an ACC employee. Other abusive emails were later sent accusing Mr Boyd-Wilson of sexual harassment. Not all the emails referred to Ms Choveaux. ...

The issue of sexual harassment in the workplace may be new for many people in this country or may not even be an issue for them, but anecdotal evidence would suggest that its frequency is increasing as a greater number of women enter the workplace. A seminar was told recently by a number of working women and women rights advocates that sexual harassment, especially in the workplace, has not only grown in Pakistan but has adopted new forms. It has emerged that the new tools being used include the computer through which offensive e-mails are sent to women and the mobile phone which is used for SMS messages of the same nature. What is more interesting here is that unlike other forms of harassment where the perpetrator leaves no trace of his misdeeds, in this instance the proof is there for all to see. Granted that emails can be sent from fictitious addresses and SMS from phones which cannot be traced, the fact that this form of abuse is taking place indicates that not enough is being done...