“New Brunswick’s political party leaders were grilled on issues pertaining to women’s equality at a roundtable discussion today, International Women’s Day, in Moncton.”

“This year marks the celebrating of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD). International Women’s Day was proclaimed at the meeting of the Second International of socialist parties in Copenhagen in 1910, following on years of campaigning by women in the labour and socialist movements for equality.”

“Spain approved a sweeping new law on Wednesday that eases restrictions on abortion, declaring the procedure a woman’s right and doing away with the threat of imprisonment, despite opposition from conservatives and the Catholic church.

The new law allows the procedure without restrictions up to 14 weeks and gives 16 and 17-year-olds the right to have abortions without parental consent.

The senate’s passage of the Bill on Wednesday gives it final approval.”

“Egyptian women and human rights activists have staged a protest in Cairo against a recent decision that bars women from holding judicial positions.

Thursday’s protest came after the Council of State’s association voted on Monday by an overwhelming majority against the appointment of women as judges in the council, an influential court which advises Egypt’s government.

Up to 80 women showed up at the protest with most of the activists holding up posters that read in Arabic: “This is a black day for Egypt’s history.”"

“the head of CFB Trenton was charged with murder and two violent home invasions… Williams, 46, of Tweed, Ont., was arrested Sunday in Ottawa. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jessica Lloyd, 27, and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38.”

- Perhaps this is only shocking if one ignores feminist analysis of war, and the abundant reports of sexual violence faced by civilians and female soldiers.

From the Arts and Entertainment section of CBC News, where both sides of the story means whether it is old news or new news that male writers make more than female writers:

“James Chartrand, …said that when she wrote as a woman, she struggled to get freelance jobs and found herself making less than minimum wage.

“It was pretty much instant respect,… [Clients] were asking questions. They were listening to my advice,” she said. “They were accepting it. I was spoken to with respect, with no disparaging remarks. My income went up. My rates were not argued with and haggled with. It was quite a difference.”"

And now for the inane commentary:

“Other bloggers say Chartrand has sold out.

“By assuming the identity of a male writer, she skirted the discrimination against women entirely while doing nothing to change women’s lot,” wrote Jessica Wakeman… “She just left the glass ceiling standing there, rather than shattering it.”

Yet others say it supports the argument that girl babies should be given androgynous names to avoid gender discrimination in the future.

“It wasn’t done at all for any feminist reason,” [Chartrand] said. “At the time, I was doing OK, but I wasn’t bringing in much money. I wouldn’t say I was out in the street, but it was hard; competition was stiff. And it was difficult to get work.

“And all of a sudden, when you are starting to be handed jobs, and nothing is argued with and the money is better, it really makes you sit back and think, ‘What do I do with this?’”"

“Bourgeois, who teaches women’s and gender studies at the University of Toronto, says she doubts the challenges facing women’s bookstores has anything to do with a lack of interest in feminism.

Rather, it’s primarily competition from large book retailers who can sell online cheaply and offer larger discounts, said Bourgeois. Between 70 and 75 per cent of the store’s sales are tied to university courses, a market that’s also undergoing a “substantial” change as more professors assign online material, she said.”

“The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity plans to make its cause an election issue. It wants provincial politicians to extend pay equity legislation to the private sector.”
-The NDP received an A+ from the Coalition, the Green Party (its leader the former liberal executive director Jack MacDougall) received a B.
-Jack MacDougall confused “pay equity” (equal pay for work of equal ‘value’ and qualification) with wage parity (paying male and female employees doing identical jobs the same amount)– according to people who attended this press conference for the parties to present their positions on pay equity in the private sector, MacDougall did not even want to enforce the latter in the private sector. Ha! It appears that this is the type of environmental party that thinks it would be better for the environment if women were doing unpaid housework in the kitchen.

Joya will be speaking in Halifax on Saturday, November 21 at 7:00 pm. Her lecture will be held in the Multipurpose Room in the Rosaria Student Centre, Mount Saint Vincent University, 166 Bedford Highway in Halifax.

Females are willing to do more work than men for less credit, a reality that will always keep our daughters down no matter how diligent they are in school and work. And it isn’t a new story. | Leah McLaren

Restricting the availability of legal abortion does not appear to reduce the number of women trying to end unwanted pregnancies, a major report suggests.
You might also want to read this article from Counterpunch’s John Ross: War on Mexican Women – “Get Your Rosaries Out of Our Ovaries!”

“Kealey, who has been vice-chancellor at Buckingham, the country’s only independent university, for eight years, said it was a myth that an affair between student and lecturer was an abuse of power, saying accountability has meant that “the days are gone when a scholar could trade sex for upgrades”.

But he added that some female students still fantasised about their lecturers.”

“There are the jokes about women, about wives, about mothers, about raising daughters, about female bosses. They are told in my presence by men who are meant to care about me, just to get a rise out of me, as though I am meant to find funny a reminder of my second-class status.”

“The media can induce some people to justify, without noticing it, cases of violence against women which appear in press…”

Honestly, the fact that media can influence people is not news, but this may be the most apologetic article I have ever read. “Subtly”, “some people”, “without noticing it” – and that’s in the title and first sentence. Just poor editing? Maybe.

“The researchers say that, with this work, “they do not intend to point to the media as responsible for the increase of cases of violence against women”, but they think that, after the results obtained, “the media should be more rigorous when it comes to tell the news related to this kind of violence“.”

Also check out some recent coverage of “victim blaming” accusations:
Carleton defence in sex-assault case stirs outrage
Hotel blames victim for sexual assault

“Audience members often aggressively demanded a glimpse and — incredibly — angrily dismissed as ‘teases’ women who remained covered up. Concert site workers held up large ’show me your (breasts)’ signs while cameras panned the crowd, searching for women who might comply. Girls and women who obliged the hecklers likely did so for a variety of reasons, including the pressure to demonstrate how uninhibited they are by participating in the objectification of their bodies. This is not about appreciating the beauty of the female body. It is about dehumanizing women — women as objects — and it’s a long way from a spontaneous gesture at a summer concert.”

Read the complete decision here. Pages 14 and 15 concern Ms. MacLeod’s testimony. It appears that the defense actually presented the idea that there were a number of other things going on in Ms. MacLeod’s life that might undermine her memory of the conversation in question, and this was just part of what the judge took into consideration. The statements made in the opening paragraph of the article appear to be false.

I would be very interested to know how often “busy home life” comes up as a means of undermining testimony of male witnesses. It seems to me this could be used fairly often when lawyers are groping for reasons to have witness testimony dismissed.

This is some sort of enlightened retraction to his earlier article Apart from denying women equality, no apparent fix to our low birthrate.

He’s missed the point, again.

From the M.s. Citizenship Feminist Collective:

As of January 1 2008, Winnipeg Police Services’ CrimeStat service changed the definition of sexual assault to “ an offence that combines the components of assault with circumstances of a sexual nature where the suspect is not known to the victim ” (emphasis added) from the definition based on the Criminal Code which includes sexual assaults where the suspect is known or unknown to the victim.

Over 78% of assault in Winnipeg is perpetrated by a suspect known to the victim (Statistic found in “Mean Streets?” Comak, Chopyk and Wood, p.7). This definition change is not in line with Crimestat’s stated principles of disseminating accurate information and promoting transparency and accountability. Winnipeg is the only Canadian city which reports on sexual assaults in this way (As reported by Gabrielle Giroday in the article “ Board wants police website to report all sexual assaults” in the Winnipeg Free Press, May 29, 2009)

We encourage you to sign a petition demanding that Crimestat and Winnipeg Police Services restore the original definition to include those sexual assaults perpetrated by someone known to the victim. We believe that finding holistic and effective solutions to domestic and sexual abuse begins with being given accurate information.

–Indeed, why?

“Currently all 50 [US] states criminalize spousal rape, but remnants of the marital rape exemption are still present in many states’ laws. Most states, like California, for example, define spousal rape as a separate (and lesser) offense than stranger rape.”

“The blog posting was framed as a bit of advice for girls that suggested “men are attracted to smiles, so smile and don’t give me any of that equal stuff. If you want equal, it comes in little packages at Starbucks.” The blog also said there’s “nothing that a man wants less than a woman scowling because he thinks he is going to get shit for something and he has no idea what.””

And Doug Elniski insists he’s not sexist, he said he has three adult daughters and most of the key workers on his election campaign were women, then he clarifies his position with this gem: “If I were sexist I think I would certainly know about it by now.“

On Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at around 10:00am, Dr. George Tiller was shot to death at the church he attended in Wichita, Kansas.

Dr. Tiller was an abortion provider, one of a very small number of doctors who provided late-term abortions. Dr. Tiller was a kind, compassionate, intelligent and gentle person who had the courage to go to work every day to provide abortion care to women with nowhere else to go. He endured constant threats and attacks on his physical safety, including being shot previously.

Dr. Tiller dedicated his life to helping women. He saved many, many lives. His murder is a blow to his family and friends, his community, the women he helped and those he had yet to help, and to the international pro-choice community. He will be greatly missed.

We wish to gather together peacefully to remember and honour Dr. George Tiller. We also stand together against the continued marginalization of women’s reproductive rights in New Brunswick. We stand in solidarity against this province’s illegal abortion policies and restrictions, and against our own Minister for Health, Michael Murphy, who has stated publicly that he is “not entirely comfortable” fulfilling his role as health minister because of his anti-choice views.

We wish to come together as peaceful pro-choice people, to remember and celebrate Dr. George Tiller, and to stand against the continued restrictions to abortion care. We insist on abortion on demand, no exceptions, no apologies. We will support women in their choices, we will stand in solidarity with abortion providers, clinic staff and volunteers, and we will not give in to threats, violence and terrorism.

Please join us for a peaceful vigil in Fredericton:
Saturday, June 6th,
beginning at 9:30pm
outside the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton (554 Brunswick Street).

Everyone is welcome. We will walk together to City Hall.

“Attitude is everything” – Dr. George Tiller.