Panic Buttons, Technology, and Women in India

Can a ‘panic button’ on a phone really help deter violence in India? Last April India’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, announced the government’s order that by 2018 all phones include a panic button and GPS. And this February, pan-India installation of panic buttons was slated to begin. Since then, a debate has raged about whether this is really a step forward to stem the tide of violence against women and girls. There are a host of technical and access issues, of course. Most phones in India do not include GPS. Feature phones would be reconfigured…

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#MeToo 2019 – Bookstore1

Professor Philip Wagner, Julie Jennings, Chris Serio Martin, E. Scott Osborne Crystal ball, anyone? Where is #MeToo going in 2019? Its already morphed considerably from its 2006 foundations (thanks, Tarana Burke,) but what's next? Bookstore1 hosted our GulfCoast Chapter (USNC-UN Women) for a Community Conversation Sunday, January 14, to look at #MeToo. With the help of Professor Phil Wagner (our local expert on masculinities!) and Julie Jennings, recently back from six years in South Korea, we tackled this head on. Clear-cut answers we had few of, but we did have lots of great ideas and great book recommendations for more…

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Dining For Women Conference

Dining For Women Knowledge is Power Conference May 4-5 US Institute of Peace, Washington DC Over 300 chapter members, leaders, grantees, staff, and volunteers gathered in Washington to celebrate DFW's 15th Anniversary and help plan the future. The energy, sharing, laughter, and learning could not be beaten! Safe to say we all wanted the weekend to continue - how many conferences can you say that about? See more on DFW's Facebook and website and, if you're not a member already - find a Chapter near you and join now! As one wonderful grantee said at the beginning of her panel remarks,…

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Our 19th Annual Film Festival!

The Through Women's Eyes (TWE) Film Festival was back at the Sarasota Hollywood 11 this April, bigger and better than ever. Once again we partnered with the Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) and our fantastic line-up of 19 short and six feature TWE films included: "On Her Shoulders," a riveting documentary about Nadia Murad, a Yazidi in Northern Iraq "Half the Picture," Amy Adrion's exploration of women in Hollywood, and, of course, "RBG," the full-length feature which reveals the notorious Ruth Bader Ginsberg before, well, before she was notorious! I'm delighted to add that RBG won the audience choice award for the entire…

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UNIFIED at UNA Tampa

  United Nations Association (UNA) in Tampa/St Pete hosted UNIFIED, a Gender Equality Live Art Event in July. I was delighted to help our sister UN agency by moderating a panel of fantastic women: Lorna Taylor, CEO of Premier Eyewear and Chair of Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts (TBBCA); Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida; and Beth Houghton, Executive Director of St. Petersburg Free Clinic.  Thanks to the entire team at UNA for such a great event.  

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Delhi Metro: GBV Conversations and Theater

In Delhi, change initiatives are going straight to the people! And what better place to start than the metro? Volunteer students from Delhi University, all men, are taking up posts at ten metro stations and talking to commuters about gender equality, patriarchy, and violence. Organised by the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), it's a small but necessary start to raising awareness. Volunteers are also helping individual victims by providing a toll-free support line for help and more information. And, near and dear to my own heart, the CHSJ is releasing a book of four plays about gender-based violence…

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Film Festival Update!

Through Women's Eyes Film Festival is here! This is a wonderful opportunity to see films not available elsewhere - and it's our biggest UN Women-USNC Chapter Fundraiser. See the full line up on our site (link below). Best deal: the weekend package! TWE Film Festival - April 1 and 2

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October 26: Human Rights

Gulf Coast UN Women/USNC Co-Sponsors: “Gender Rights as Human Rights: Where are We in 2016?” Gender Rights as Human Rights - both locally and globally - was the topic of a panel discussion October 26 at the University of South Florida Sarasota- Manatee. Five panelists shared their experiences and expertise regarding women’s issues in our own local communities and in villages as far away as India and Africa. The Gulf Coast Chapter co-sponsored this event. Scott Osborne, Esq., President of the UN Women/USNC, Gulf Coast Chapter, discussed women in India and how cultural influences can be at odds with the…

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Go Togo RPCVs!

Togo - a tiny country in West Africa - doesn't make it into Western news very often, but it's getting some good press today thanks to fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Jenny Schechter and Kevin Fiori. They are the recipients of the 2016 Sargeant Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service in recognition of their work founding Hope Through Health (HTH) a non-profit dedicated to improving health care in underserved northern Togo. Since 2004 Hope Through Health has focused on expanding health care for the community living with HIV/AIDS. Recently, much needed Maternal and Child Health services have been added to their work. The work of HTH is…

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