International Women’s Day Centenary 1911-2011

Statement for March 8, 2011
World March of Women

Today, women in the Philippines and all over the world gather in different places and spaces to show our collective strength and make our collective voice heard as we speak out our sufferings, challenges, triumphs and aspirations. Our voices are joined together as we resist the abuses and marginalization wrought upon us by economic policies that discriminate against giving women productive employment, just wages and benefits at the workplace, and opportunities for livelihood and income; by societies that allow, or even promote, violence to be committed against women with impunity; by governments and public institutions that turn a blind eye to the human rights of women.

On the Centennial of International Women’s Day: APL-Women Lambasted Aquino’s ‘Empty-PDP’

Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) March 8, 2011

Thousands of members of APL Women joined the World March of Women rally in Manila and other urban areas around the country in commemorating the 100th year of International Women’s Day.

2011 is International Women’s Day Centenary
How Far Have We Gone?

WeDpro’s International Women’s Day’s (IWD) Statement

WeDpro’s work since 1989 has taken on the path which addresses women’s human rights especially all forms of violence. In recent months, after an organizational review and direction setting in late 2005, WeDpro has committed itself to addressing the social and economic rights of its constituents. Redeveloping and enhancing its programs in two former United States military baselands in the cities of Angeles and Olongapo, as well as continuing its national and international engagements, WeDpro saw that the situation of women -- particularly the urban poor, the victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking — and the nth generation of youth caught in the same trap of violence, as unabated.

Crisis, Hope and Change: Focus and Partners Launch Report on Filipino Women

By Mary Ann Manahan – 30 March 2011

Focus-Philippines, with its partners in the national coalition Welga ng Kababaihan (women on strike), recently launched in a forum on gender and poverty its State of the Filipino Women report, a product of a two-year project that involved focus group discussions with women from the basic sectors in urban and rural communities.

UN Human Rights Council: A Stunning Development Against Violence

Unprecedented Support for Statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Joint press release from: ARC International, International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, COC Nederland, CAL–Coalition of African Lesbians, GATE - Global Action for Trans* Equality, IGLHRC-International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, IDAHO-International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and Thailand's Sexual Diversity Network.

Our Bodies, Ourselves: A New Edition for a New Era

the classic book about women’s health and sexuality written by women for women

Since its first newsprint version in 1970, Our Bodies, Ourselves has been created and revised by women speaking from our own research and experiences about our bodies, health, and medical care.

Book Review By Linda Gordon
The Making of Our Bodies, Ourselves: How Feminism Travels Across Borders

Kathy Davis, Duke University Press, 2007

The most influential Left/progressive book of the last third of a century was Our Bodies Ourselves, the feminist women’s health manual. This claim is meant to be provocative, of course, but it’s true. Distributed in millions of copies throughout the world, the book was part of a women’s health movement that transformed U.S. medicine and popular health and sexuality culture. Now it is contributing to a global women’s health movement.

A Woman's Letter to the Bishops: A Reply to the Pastoral Letter of the CBCP on the Reproductive Health Bill

13 February 2011

I will not respond to all the points raised in the Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines which you sent us, your Filipino brothers and sisters, last 30 January. Most of them are old points that have been raised and clarified repeatedly in so many debates and too few dialogues in the past decade, though it drives me almost to tears that it seems the good Bishops have not been listening intently or understanding with empathy.

New Report Details Rights Abuses Stemming From Philippine Abortion Ban

August 5th, 2010

The Center for Reproductive Rights released a new report, Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban, which illustrates the harmful consequences of the Philippine ban on abortion from a human rights perspective. By criminalizing abortion, the report states, the government has severely curtailed the reproductive rights of Filipino women and forces them to resort to dangerous alternatives. Despite the ban, each year, an estimated 560,000 clandestine abortions occur in the Philippines, 90,000 women suffered complications requiring hospitalization, and 1,000 women died.

Feminist Futures Conference

28 & 29 May 2011 * North Melbourne Town Hall
* Workshops * Panels * Art * Performances * Open Spaces *

Feminist Futures is a conference organised by the Melbourne Feminist Collective that aims to provide a safe, supportive and active space for discussing different strategies to create a feminist future. It is an open environment for anyone interested in imagining and creating feminist futures in our community.

The Women's Legal Aid Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service in QLD

Applications for Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) and/or applications for Legal Aid

The Women's Legal Aid Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service in QLD is pleased to announce the launch of a new program designed to assist women with applications for Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) and/or applications for Legal Aid.