“Kanaky, my land, for your liberty I will never stop fighting”: Investigating Kanak women activists’ roles, experiences, and strategies within the independence movement in Kanaky, New Caledonia

<p>This research uses a post-colonial feminist lens to investigate how development towards gender equality and equity can be promoted alongside processes of decolonisation in Kanaky-New Caledonia. In particular, it explores the ways that Kanak women in the pro-independence movement negotiate gender and indigeneity, and how these interactions subsequently influence society and the movement. Three key themes emerged from this research: violence, gender roles within the customary context compared to the western political context, and the responsive strategies that women employ. Issues raised related to violence focus on: physical violence related to political unrest, removal of self-determination, racial gaslighting around independence negotiations, gender and racial discrimination, and physiological and mental health. This thesis finds that Kanak women have different roles in customary contexts compared to political contexts. This thesis subsequently investigates how Kanak women experience and interpret these roles and highlights links and disconnects between gender roles and experiences in these two spheres. Tensions and negotiations between the customary sphere and the political sphere become very clear in institutions like the Customary Senate which occupies a place between the customary sphere and the Western political sphere. The Kanak women independence activist participants in this research utilise a plethora of strategies to navigate challenges they face in the customary sphere, in wider society, and within the independence movement. This indicates significant self-mobilisation of Kanak women towards gender equitable social change, which development actors should value and support. This research emphasises the intersectionality of Kanak women’s experiences, the importance of self-determination to gender and development strategies, and the value of recognising and supporting self-mobilisation. Based on these research findings this thesis argues that decolonisation and decoloniality are integral to gender-focused development.</p>

“Kanaky, my land, for your liberty I will never stop fighting”: Investigating Kanak women activists’ roles, experiences, and strategies within the independence movement in Kanaky, New Caledonia

<p>This research uses a post-colonial feminist lens to investigate how development towards gender equality and equity can be promoted alongside processes of decolonisation in Kanaky-New Caledonia. In particular, it explores the ways that Kanak women in the pro-independence movement negotiate gender and indigeneity, and how these interactions subsequently influence society and the movement. Three key themes emerged from this research: violence, gender roles within the customary context compared to the western political context, and the responsive strategies that women employ. Issues raised related to violence focus on: physical violence related to political unrest, removal of self-determination, racial gaslighting around independence negotiations, gender and racial discrimination, and physiological and mental health. This thesis finds that Kanak women have different roles in customary contexts compared to political contexts. This thesis subsequently investigates how Kanak women experience and interpret these roles and highlights links and disconnects between gender roles and experiences in these two spheres. Tensions and negotiations between the customary sphere and the political sphere become very clear in institutions like the Customary Senate which occupies a place between the customary sphere and the Western political sphere. The Kanak women independence activist participants in this research utilise a plethora of strategies to navigate challenges they face in the customary sphere, in wider society, and within the independence movement. This indicates significant self-mobilisation of Kanak women towards gender equitable social change, which development actors should value and support. This research emphasises the intersectionality of Kanak women’s experiences, the importance of self-determination to gender and development strategies, and the value of recognising and supporting self-mobilisation. Based on these research findings this thesis argues that decolonisation and decoloniality are integral to gender-focused development.</p>

Tending To The Devastating Wounds Of Nigerian Girls And Women

In 2018, one thousand, one hundred people were murdered across six states of north- west Nigeria, in 2019, two thousand two hundred people and between January and June 2020, one thousand, six hundred people were killed. In addition, more than 200,000 have been internally displaced [Strife 2021]. These are what we read daily; and further alarming are that the attacks and abductions seem to be more targeted at educational institutions of all levels in recent times, particularly across north-western Nigeria. For example, the abduction of at least 20 college students and two staff from Greenfield University Kaduna in April 2021. In February 2021, gunmen seized 279 girls from a school in Zamfara state and the abduction of 200 students by some reports; from a school in Tegina, Niger state. In early July 2021, more than 100 students were also abducted from Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna. While these attacks are not restricted to girls and women alone, this report aims to explore what the effects and related trauma of this seemingly intractable violent conflict on girls and women in Nigeria are and answer how we can curb the continuous occurrences. We reflect with women activists across the country, on ways to address the violence, and support the healing and rehabilitation. The paper also outlines fifteen major recommendations in response to the key question of how to support recovery and the past everyone can play to halt the menace. KEYWORDS: Girls, Women, Violence, Nigeria, Abduction, Kidnapping, Rehabilitation, North-West Nigeria, Effects, Healing.

Amnesty International and Women's Rights

Amnesty International's (AI) focus on civil and political rights has marked their work with a gender bias from the outset. In the first comprehensive look at AI's work on women's rights, Miriam Ganzfried illustrates the development of their activities regarding women's rights issues over twenty years. Through interviews with staff members and activists and unprecedented access to archive material from the Swiss and the German AI sections, she shows how women activists strategized to make AI increase its work on women's rights. Additionally, the book demonstrates that, despite the leadership's commitment to the Stop Violence Against Women campaign, internal resistance hampered the integration of women's rights into the organization's overall work.

The Politics of Legal Abortion: From Direct Action to Dialogue

In her highly influential 1984 study Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood, Kristin Luker speculates that opposition to legal abortion among women was likely to be strongest among those who were full-time homemakers without a college education (Luker 1984, 163). But despite a marked decline in that demographic group and a well-documented rise in public support for gender equality since then, the rate of support for legal abortion has remained stubbornly fixed at between fifty and fifty-five percent (Shields 2012). This tepid support has coincided with a steep decline in abortion services in rural states, and ever more sweeping restrictions on abortion being tested in the courts (Rose 2006, 89). Karissa Haugeberg's Women against Abortion and Katie Watson's Scarlet A both seek to address this state of affairs, albeit in markedly different ways. Haugeberg provides a historical chronicle of the motives and strategies of certain key women activists in the fight against legal abortion, with an eye toward how their concerns “came to serve as blueprints to legislators and judges who continue to craft policies and laws that erode women's right to abortion” (Haugeberg, 8). Katie Watson draws upon her experience as an attorney and bioethicist to write a guide “intended to encourage and equip you to engage in respectful, productive, private conversation about your experience with, and opinion of, abortion” (Watson, 37). Though both authors reveal their support for legal abortion, both are concerned to understand the motives and goals of those who fight against it.

The Dynamics of International Norms Diffusion: The Study of Women Activists in Bali

Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pendekatan aktivis-aktivis perempuan di Bali dalam mendifusikan norma global kesetaraan gender. Aktivitas mereka berhadapan dengan adat budaya Bali yang patriarki. Dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif berjenis fenomenologi, penelitian menggambarkan pengalaman aktivis perempuan di Bali dalam ruang transnasionalisme. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa upaya untuk mendifusikan norma dari ranah global ke ranah domestik dan lokal, tidak terjadi secara linear. Ratifikasi Konvensi mengenai Penghapusan segala Bentuk Diskriminasi terhadap Perempuan oleh Pemerintah Indonesia pada tahun 1984, tidak berarti bahwa norma kesetaraan gender dapat menyebar dan terinternalisasi dalam masyarakat secara otomatis. Aktivis dalam gerakan perempuan memiliki peran yang penting dalam mempromosikan pentingnya hak-hak perempuan. Mereka melakukan adaptasi agar norma kesetaraan gender pada level global, mendapatkan penerimaan di segmen tertentu dari budaya Bali. Pilihan strategi dalam difusi norma oleh para aktivis perempuan di Bali adalah hasil interaksi antara identitas pemahaman mereka terhadap budaya lokal, interaksi dalam jaringan advokasi internasional serta penggunaan kesempatan politik baik yang berasal dari ranah internasional maupun domestik. Pengalaman berinteraksi langsung dengan aktivis gender di negara Barat menimbulkan gagasan kreatif untuk mengadopsi praktik perjuangan gender yang telah berhasil di luar negeri untuk diterapkan di level lokal.Kata-kata kunci: norma global, difusi, glokalisasi, gerakan gender, transnasionalismeThis article aims to analyze the approach of women activists in Bali in diffusing global norms of gender equality. Their activities deal with patriarchal Balinese cultural tradition. Using a qualitative method of phenomenology, the study describes the experiences of women activists in Bali in the space of transnationalism. This study finds that efforts to diffuse norms from the global to the domestic and local domains do not occur in a linear fashion. Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the Government of Indonesia in 1984 does not mean that gender equality norms can spread and be internalized in society automatically. Activists in the women’s movement have an important role in promoting the importance of women’s rights. They make adaptations so that the norms of gender equality at the global level gain acceptance in certain segments of Balinese culture. The strategy choices in the diffusion of norms by women activists in Bali are the result of the interaction between their identity and understanding of local culture, interaction in international advocacy networks and the use of political opportunities both from the international and domestic spheres. The experiences of interacting directly with gender activists in Western countries give rise to creative ideas to adopt the practice of gender movement that has been successful abroad to be applied at the local level.Keywords: global norms, diffusion, glocalization, gender movement, transnationalism

Islamization of Zia Regime: An Appraisal from Gender Perspective

General Zia Ul Haq’s military regime is known, for many for its blatant violation of human rights, hanging, flogging, and imprisonment of political workers. Even intelligentsia and journalists were executed for political reasons during this regime. However, his regime was particularly known for suppression of women rights in his process of Islamization. After deposing Bhutto by imposing Martial Law General Zia took over the helm of affairs of the country on the 5th of July 1977 and remained in power with full autocracy till 17th August 1988 when his plan was ablaze in the air near Bahawalpur. This study is an attempt to analyze the process of Islamization by General Zia, its causes, suppressive actions act against various segments of society especially women. The study is also an attempt to search for the answers to the question “Was his policy of Islamization a sincere effort to implement the Islamic system or merely politically motivated? The response of women against Islamization regarding gender-related laws is also a significant part of the paper. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to investigate and research the facts about the Islamization process and the struggle of women against it. The memoirs and interviews of participating women activists, scholars, and other leading figures have also been consulted to fill the leftover scholarly gap. Pakistan is predominantly a feudal and tribal nation with patriarchal beliefs and mindsets. In the South Asian region, religion has always played an essential role in the lives of ordinary men and women, although women have been enslaved and dominated in the name of religion far more than males.