During my studies, I went to one of the local courts to attend a proceeding for the seizure of a widow’s property. Seated in one of the benches was a frail looking woman whom I could tell had been sobbing. When the court house was empty, as the matters for the day had been completed, I passed her on my way out; she did not even noticed my presence until I tapped her shoulder, then without lifting her bowed head she said, “I don’t have anywhere to go; they should have dug a grave for me als more...

In general, Mithili women take charge of the ritual life of the families, and provide the wall and floor paintings that accompany the household’s daily, annual, and life cycle rituals. In painting the marriage chamber in their home, the khobar-ghar, the oldest women of the family whose husband is still alive and who has living children will begin the painting with a red dot at the center-point of to east wall. Then the best available artist in the extended family draws in the major figures and more...

This study examines the role of tenancy support programs in assisting Indigenous households maintain their tenancies. It aims to improve our understanding of their operation and effectiveness in sustaining at-risk Indigenous tenancies. Knowledge of tenancy support programs, particularly those operating outside the public housing sector, is limited. The study will describe both mainstream and Indigenous-specific tenant support programs around Australia, outline how they operate, provide details o more...

This Statement is a call to all States, international and national organizations, civil society and communities to uphold the rights of girls and women. It also calls on those bodies and communities to develop, strengthen, and support specific and concrete actions directed towards ending female genital mutilation. However, despite some successes, the overall rate of decline in the prevalence of female genital mutilation has been slow. It is therefore a global imperative to strengthen work for th more...

Just after midnight on January 1st, was the 14th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising, and the caracol of La Garrucha was alive with celebration. From the top of a refurbished school bus we watched a mass of bodies dance to norteños below a vast sky littered with stars, and the occasional covering of fog that characterizes the mountains of the Mexican southeast.
This night marked the end of the third Encuentro [Gathering] of the Zapatistas with the People of the World, and the first Encuentro more...

Mexico has long been plagued by what is called the "dead letter of the law," a serious gap between delightful proclamations and the shortcomings of lived realities. These laws say more about desires than reflections of realities. But ten years on, has any real progress been made? Is gender equality even a goal? Does equality extend any farther than trite tokenism?Chiapas
Within Zapatista communities and more broadly in Maya society, there appears to be a gap between what leadership projects and more...

The National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is a council of national African American women's organizations and community-based sections. Founded in 1935, the NCNW mission is to lead, develop, and advocate for women of African descent as they support their families and communities. NCNW fulfills this purpose through research, advocacy, and national and community-based services and programs on issues of health, education, and economic empowerment in the United States and Africa.

In many creation stories, a woman was the first being to walk Mother Earth. In honor and reverence of this first woman, all matters of import were bestowed upon her daughters and granddaughters. Throughout history, indigenous women bore and supported life, tended to sustenance and medicines, brought forth leaders and themselves led nations. And so it is a sorrowful time, then, when we are confronted with painful reminders of a long history of the subjugation of indigenous peoples by systematical more...

While most articles in this issue of "First Peoples Child & Family Review" may appear to cover eclectic topics including: the special needs of Aboriginal children; domestic trafficking of Aboriginal girls into the sex trade, they are all tied together by one insidious common element - poverty. Aboriginal peoples are particularly disadvantaged with over one in every two Aboriginal children living below the poverty line and many Aboriginal communities struggling to get clean water to drink and he more...

The UN Task Force on Indigenous Women adopted a three-year programme of work. As part of its programme of activities, the Task Force has collected a series of good practices and case studies in addressing the problems that indigenous women face. case studies.
Task Force on Indigenous Women was formed to integrate and strengthen gender mainstreaming in the work of the United Nations system that affects indigenous people, while highlighting the roles of indigenous women and the urgent need to ad more...