International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 5, 2013 6:24:17 PM
How much do you know about the CEDAW, the world's first women's bill of rights? Take this short quiz, test your knowledge, share with friend! 

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 5, 2013 12:36:15 AM
International Women's Day (IWD) is March 8, 2013. Each year hundreds of organizations, governmental entities, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations and the media celebrate the day. Thousands of special events and ceremonies occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women - past and present. Many groups around the world choose different themes each year relevant to global and local gender issues.

We here at the International Models Project on Women's Right (IMPOWR) celebrate women every day! As many of you already know, IMPOWR is an innovative initiative to establish a global collaborative research database on women's rights under law. It promises to play a unique role in supporting the worldwide implementation of the principles underlying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Our theme for IWD 2013 is "CEDAW: Harnessing the Power of the Convention's Might to Promote & Enhance Global Women's Rights." This week we will focus on the seven (7) main categories or topics the Convention addresses, as represented in the IMPOWR database (www.impowr.org/research).

1. Activities of the State, CEDAW Status (Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 14 - issues of accession, ratification and compliance)

2. Civic Life (Articles 7, 8, & 9 - pertains to "firstgeneration"humanrights pertinent to liberty and political participation)

3. Access to Justice (Article 15 - pertains to the inequality and disparities in legal status of women under the law)

4. Women's Healthcare (Article 12 - addresses all aspects of health care that affect women and girls access and rights)

5. Marriage & Family Relations (Article 16 - concerns measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations)

6. Crime & Violence (Article 6, 12 - pertains to disproportionate violence against women, defects in law enforcements protocols, and existing laws, regulations & social norms that preclude women from seeking or receiving protection)

7. Economic & Social Life (Articles 10, 11, 13, & 15 - covers broad area of existence addressed by Article 13; calls for the end of discrimination against women in other areas of economic and social life)

It is our hope that you will learn something new about CEDAW and women's rights each day, participate in our various online activities, share our posts with your networks, and share your own stories of empowerment with us.

Join the conversation by visiting IMPOWR across the web:

♥Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IMPOWR

♥Google+: https://plus.google.com/105062924461744902872

♥LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ABA-International-II-IMPOWR-4240808

♥Twitter: @IMPOWR_Women (https://twitter.com/#!/IMPOWR_women)

We also encourage each of you to drop by our website (www.IMPOWR.org) and learn more about the project,checkour resource database, and/or apply to become an IMPOWR volunteer.

Happy International Women's Day everyone!

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 8:05:31 PM
Chiang Rai, Thailand: A woman picks Oolong #17 tea leaves during a harvest at the Suwirun tea farm.

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images 

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:43:03 AM
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed in Congress! Thank you for making your voices heard!

Read more: http://wapo.st/Z3fVLJ

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:40:09 AM
Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act AND the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Yesterday, Governor Matt Mead of Wyoming signed HB 133, making his state the 50th to outlaw human trafficking.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:23:37 AM
"The House voted 286 to 138 on Thursday to pass the bipartisan Senate version of VAWA. Here's a look at the final vote tally. Among the more notable votes: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) voted against it, while House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who sponsored the GOP alternative bill, voted for it. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) didn't vote.

The vote came just after the House rejected its own GOP bill, 166 to 257, which drew loud cheers in the chamber. Sixty Republicans voted against the GOP bill.

President Barack Obama praised the House for passing the broader Senate bill and said he'll sign it into law as soon as possible." -HuffPost

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:12:40 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:10:25 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:08:56 AM
EVENT ANNOUCEMENT: For those who live in NYC or will be visiting, the following event may be of interest to you. The Women's Initiative For Gender Justice is hosting a panel on "The Sexual Violence in Conflict: Delivering Justice." The panel will take place during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Tuesday, March 15, 2013, from 13:15 -14:45 pm (1:15 -2:45 pm) at the Ford Foundation, 320 E. 43rd Street, NYC 10017.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:06:03 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:04:00 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Mar 1, 2013 4:02:32 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 23, 2013 11:53:31 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:58:27 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:56:37 AM
EVENT ANNOUCEMENT: The World Bank's e-Institute is offering an e-learning course on Gender Equality and Development. The e-course runs from March 11 - March 31, 2013.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:52:42 AM
EVENT ANNOUCEMENT: The International Council for Small Business will hold a webinar featuring The World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law project. This event will take place on February 25 from 4:30-6:30 pm and will be hosted by the George Washington University, in Washington DC. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/YfcTUz.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:43:13 AM
Artist Derya Kilic's recent exhibit portrayed familiar female faces from famous artworks all marred by cuts and bruises. Her intent is to reflect the pervasion of sexual violence by making viewers see that it afflicts women "they know."

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:34:45 AM
"The Violence Against Women Act reauthorization passed through the Senate last Tuesday afternoon, by a vote of 78 to 22. Of those opposing the legislation, all 22 were Republican men. Every female Senator supported the bill."

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:30:56 AM
A New York teacher who was anally and orally raped by a police officer was told her attacker wouldn't be charged with rape, but instead, "sexual assault," because of an archaic law that defines rape as vaginal penetration. The victim, Lydia Cuomo, seeks to change that law to include all forms of forcible sex acts. Thank you, Lydia!

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:21:55 AM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 22, 2013 12:19:23 AM
A paragraph in Art. 475 of the Moroccan Penal Code allows a rapist to marry his victim to avoid punishment and/or to retain the raped victim's "family honor." Efforts are now underway to change this unconscionable law that rewards violent rapists by sentencing their victims to a life of torture, abuse and possibly death!

"Nearly a year after Morocco was shocked by the suicide of a 16-year-old girl who was forced to marry her alleged rapist, the government has announced plans to change the penal code to outlaw the traditional practice.

Women's rights activists on Tuesday welcomed Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid's announcement, but said it was only a first step in reforming a penal code that doesn't do enough to stop violence against women in this North African kingdom law." - Huffington Post

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 21, 2013 11:38:25 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 21, 2013 11:33:06 PM
Anene Booysen was reportedly lured away from her friends and raped by a group of men. She was badly mutilated and left for dead on a building site in the town of Bredasdorp, 80 miles east of Cape Town, and found by a security guard on Saturday morning.

Hospital staff who fought to save her life were given counselling because of the horrific nature of her injuries. Before she died, Anene identified her former boyfriend as one of her attackers. He and another man have been detained, and police say more arrests are likely.

The case is being compared to the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus that triggered huge demonstrations in India against endemic gender violence.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 21, 2013 11:24:25 PM
Malala Yousafzai speaks for the first time since she was targeted and shot in the head last October 2012 for her advocacy of girls' education. Also this weekend we learned that all of our voices and petitions were acknowledged, she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize!!

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 5, 2013 12:11:17 AM
Rosa Parks, the iconic civil rights activist who did so much more for the movement than give up her seat on a bus, was born 100 years ago today in Tuskegee, Alabama. There is a new book on her life, "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks," by historian Jeanne Theoharis and a new stamp, issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 5, 2013 12:08:57 AM
Born on Feb. 4, 1913, today would have been Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday. On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would help spark the civil rights movement.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 10:29:05 PM
Women pose with knives, distributed by India's radical Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena, in Mumbai on January 23, 2013. The Shiv Sena, an ally of the main opposition BJP, has handed out kitchen knives and chilli powder to women in Mumbai following the gang rape of a student in Delhi that ignited a national debate on the best way to tackle sex crimes.

REUTERS/Stringer

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 10:19:25 PM
Wikigender, End Violence Against Women and other partners invite you to participate in this online discussion on “Transforming Social Norms to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls”. The inputs from the Wikigender community will be presented via a summary report at the event.

Wikigender would like to hear your views, lessons learned and best practices or policies in ending violence against women. Participate in this online discussion and be heard at a side event on the topic of social norms - e.g. traditions and practices that shape or restrict the decisions, choices and behaviours of groups, communities and individuals - and the prevention of violence against women (VAW) and girls, taking place on 4 March 2013 during the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York!. End Violence Against Women is partnering Wikigender, alongside Breakthrough, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Partners for Prevention and Womankind Worldwide

Click here (http://bit.ly/WC5v4h) for more info and to participate online from 4th-13th February.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:55:24 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:50:34 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:45:04 PM
In the Spotlight - Contributor of the Month (January 2013), France.

Cheryl Murphy is an attorney currently living in Virginia who received her J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law, where she obtained an Estate Planning Certificate. After graduating, she worked as a law clerk for AARP Foundation Litigation. While working with their Employee Benefits Team, she served as a contributing author to Employee Benefits Law, a well regarded treatise in the field. She has been a contributor for IMPOWR since 2010, with writings focused on the topics of Healthcare and Crimes & Violence in both Bangladesh and France.

Cheryl was born in France, living there as well as in Switzerland for several years prior to moving to the United States. As such, she has particularly enjoyed researching various French laws and law reform efforts. This exposure to an assortment of cultures at a young age, coupled with the fact that she comes from a family where she is one of three girls, drives her passion for researching gender-related issues in different countries. During her time in law school, Cheryl had the opportunity to first pursue this passion by working as a special features reporter on the human rights law journal Impunity Watch, where she covered a range of women’s rights issues, including human trafficking and post-conflict violence against women. Cheryl also holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Massachusetts.

Photo: The Musée du Louvre in Paris, France ©Cheryl Murphy

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Cheryl, thank you for your time, service and commitment to women's rights, gender equality and IMPOWR!


*Note: The above post will be duplicated in the IMPOWR Contributor of the Month album within 72 hours of this post.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:26:51 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:25:24 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:23:42 PM
The U.S. military will formally end its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles, officials said on Wednesday, in a move that could open thousands of fighting jobs to female service members for the first time.

The move knocks down another societal barrier in the U.S. armed forces, after the Pentagon in 2011 scrapped its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:05:20 PM
Malala Yousafzai has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by three members of the Norwegian parliament, with Freddy de Ruiter citing "her courageous commitment to the right of girls to education. A commitment that seemed so threatening to the extremists that they chose to try and kill her."

The winner will be announced in October.

http://nbcnews.to/WK7jYp

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:03:09 PM
"It was very dangerous to open a school (for girls) inside Afghanistan. If we got caught, we will be killed. If the teacher got caught, the teacher will be killed." 
~Sakena Yacoobi, founder, The Afghan Institute of Learning

www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org

+1 if you support this!

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 9:01:07 PM
"I am not interested in making a little change. I am looking to CHANGE the paradigm!" ~Neema Namadamu

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Feb 4, 2013 8:57:56 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 8:25:23 PM
"A society that fails to protect the rights of women is not a free society."

- Laura Bush

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 8:24:27 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:57:31 PM
"The United States is one of only seven countries that have not yet ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

This convention is the most comprehensive women’s human rights treaty and one of the most effective tools for persuading governments to address violence against women.

The United States’ failure to ratify the convention undermines our global leadership to eliminate violence against women."

Indeed this is the position of IMPOWR and the reason behind our innovative database that focuses on women's rights in CEDAW participating countries.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:53:33 PM
According to the Pew Research Forum, the majority of survey respondents under 30-years old answering questions about abortion attitudes revealed the following:

* 41 percent thought the case might have to do with the death penalty, the environment or could not name the subject matter and 16 percent thought it had to do with school desegregation,

* Here's the really depressing kicker: 68 percent of Republicans under 30 knew the content of the Roe decision compared with only 57 percent of Democrats,

* A full 74 percent of those who support overturning Roe consider abortion a "crucial issue" or "one of many crucial issues."

* Among supporters? 31 percent.

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:50:33 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:44:32 PM
"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths -- that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone." 

President Obama

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:42:49 PM
"We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own."

- Barack Obama
Jan. 21, 2013

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:41:25 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:13:08 PM
"Exactly how many people are enslaved is impossible to know.

Estimates range from 27 million, cited by advocacy group, Free the Slaves, to the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) figure of 20.9 million people - of which about 2.2 million are forced labourers of the state, for example, working in prisons.

While women and girls account for the greater share of 21st century slaves, coverage of their plight has been dominated by stories of sex trafficking and lurid tales of being forced to sell their bodies in brothels and on street corners.

Yet data from the ILO suggests that far more women and girls are victims of domestic servitude and other types of forced labour than they are of the sex trade.

Of the estimated 11.4 million women and girls in forced labour globally, around 4.4 million are subjected to sexual exploitation in foreign countries, according to the ILO.

That leaves some 7 million trapped in labour exploitation. Unlike sex trafficking, most of it is taking place in the victims' own countries."

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:04:15 PM

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 7:01:47 PM
"This is not just a Notre Dame issue. At too many universities, too many football players are schooled to see women as the spoils of being a campus god. But it’s also an issue beyond the commodification of women on a big football campus. It’s the fruit of a culture where politicians can write laws that aim to define the difference between “rape” and “forcible rape” and candidates for the Senate can speak about pregnancy from rape being either a “gift from God” or biologically impossible in the case of “legitimate rape.” It’s a culture where comedians like Daniel Tosh or Tucker Max can joke about violently raping, as Max puts it, a “gender hardwired for whoredom.” The themes of power, rape and lack of accountability are just as clear in the case of the Steubenville, Ohio, football players not only boasting that they “so raped” an unconscious girl but feeling confident enough to videotape their boasts.

As Jessica Valenti wrote at TheNation.com, 'It’s time to acknowledge that the rape epidemic in the United States is not just about the crimes themselves, but our own cultural and political willful ignorance. Rape is as American as apple pie—until we own that, nothing will change.'" -David Zirin, The Nation

International Models Project on Women's Rights
at Jan 23, 2013 6:58:48 PM