-
Slander campaign threatens Serbian civil society and independent media
The team of CRTA (Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability), an independent, non- partisan civil society organization committed to developing democratic culture and civic activism in Serbia. Photo: CRTA, used with permission. This story was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation. CRTA is Global Voices content partner. During recent weeks, Serbian politicians and pro-government media have waged a vilification campaign against leading civil society organizations (CSOs)...
Global Voices
-
Turkish university students ‘can't breathe’ under police brutality
Screenshot from Cumhuriyet TV video capturing the detentions and police intervention, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejuGDnQHZfc Protests at one of Turkey's most well-known institutions Boğaziçi University, continue well into the fourth month, triggered by the appointment of a new unelected rector Melih Bulu. Bulu, who took office on January 1, has ties to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and was appointed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, thanks to decree law from 2016 which authorized the president to directly appoint rectors to universities. Students at Boğaziçi University ...
Global Voices
-
Jamaicans agonise, politicians seek solutions after another young woman is killed
Jamaica's ‘Clothesline Project’ was part of 2016's 16 Days of Activism, symbolising the hanging of ‘dirty laundry’ in public to advocate for an end to violence against women and girls. Photo by UN Women/Khristina Godfrey, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Jamaicans are anxious. Over 600 people have died from COVID-19 since the country announced its index case of the virus on March 10, 2020 and the rate of infections remains high amid lingering economic uncertainty. Then, on the eve of the first of three planned weekend lockdowns, news that a young woman had been found murdered two days after she went missing h...
Global Voices
-
‘Aurat March’ organizers face intimidation and threats of prosecution in Pakistan
Aurat March 2021 in Islamabad. Image via Facebook group Aurat Azadi March, used with permission. The Aurat March (Women's March) in Pakistan has faced severe resistance since it was started in 2018. This year was no different as organizers faced tough opposition in the form of disinformation campaigns, accusations of blasphemy, and even threats from the banned terrorist outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. For the fourth consecutive year, the Hum Aurtein feminist collective organised marches across Pakistan on March 8, International Women’s Day, that included public art displays and presentatio...
Global Voices
-
Can the Eurovision Song Contest change Russia's views on migrants from Central Asia?
Screenshot for Manizha's song “Russian Woman” on Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. Russia has nominated Manizha, a female singer of Tajik origin as its representative for the May 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. The major cultural event that has gathered dozens of millions of viewers across Europe every year since 1956, was postponed last year by the pandemic, and in Russia, it has sparked an early debate since not all Russians have welcomed a singer from Central Asia, where most migrant workers in Russia come from, as the chosen face of their country at such a high-profile event A singer ...
Global Voices
-
Latina organizer: The word we need is ‘Thrive’ not ‘Survive’
Cropped book cover of ‘Thriving in the Fight: a survival manual for Latinas on the front lines of change.’ Activist and author Denise Padín Collazo, of Puerto Rican descent, has released her book “Thriving in the fight: a survival manual for Latinas on the front lines of change.” After 25 years of activism for economic policy change in the U.S. in the “fight for racial, political and economic justice” at the faith-based organization Faith in Action, Padín Collazo supports the leadership of women of color through mentorship and writing, especially, as she says, so many drop out of activism due ...
Global Voices
-
Post-Magufuli, will Tanzania review its repressive online content regulations?
A mobile money agent waits for clients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Under 2020 content regulations, individual expression is restricted by exorbitant fees and the government's power to remove “prohibited content.” Picture credit by Fiona Graham/WorldRemit via Flickr, CC BY SA 2.0. In early March, as Tanzanians began to speculate about the health and location of President John Magufuli, many citizens took to social media with their queries and concerns. In response, the government issued threats of mass arrests to anyone who used social media to share false information about the president. Autho...
Global Voices
-
In Kenya, abortion campaigners obscure legislation towards safe reproductive healthcare services
Article 25's Global Day of Action for the Right to Health in Kenya. Photo by theteam25 (CC BY-SA 2.0) Reproductive rights in Kenya is an intimate and emotive topic where hard lines have been drawn on both sides. Pro- and anti-abortion campaigners keep cycling throughepisodes of heightened attention when high-profile cases arise and passions continue to run high. Meanwhile, the country registers numbers of unsafe abortions that are among the highest in Africa. Maternal mortality is high at about 6,000 deaths per year, 17 per cent of them from complications of unsafe abortion. Limited legal reco...
Global Voices
-
South African shack settlement activist wins the 2021 Per Anger Prize
S'bu Zikode, co-founder of Abahlali baseMjondolo movement speaking at the Poverty Scholars Program: Poverty Initiative Strategic Dialogue, November 13, 2010. Image by Michael Premo, (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). South African human rights activist Sibusiso (S’bu) Innocent Zikode is being awarded the 2021 Per Anger Prize. Zikode's work centres on the right to home, land and survival for the most impoverished inhabitants of the country’s shack settlements, and he will receive the humanitarian award from The Living History Forum on April 21. Established by the Swedish government in 2004 and managed by The L...
Global Voices
-
Timeline of the second month of military coup and terror in Myanmar
CRPH or Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is a body established by ousted members of parliament and other concerned citizens as a counter to the governing council of the junta. Photo by author. This edited article originally appeared on the blog of a Global Voices contributor who doesn't wish to be identified. The military regime of Myanmar, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, continued to use its iron fist against anti-coup protestors for a second month, following its power grab on February 1. As of March 17, 217 people had been killed and 1,872 people arrested by the security forc...
Global Voices
- More