SPECIAL REPORT: By Brett Wilkins of Common Dreams

US and Israeli airstrikes have killed nearly 300 Iranian and Lebanese children over the past nine days as the attackers target apartment towers, single-family homes, schools, medical facilities, and other civilian infrastructure.

Iran’s Health Ministry said Sunday that 198 women and 190 minors have been killed by US and Israeli attacks since February 28, including six children under the age of 5. The youngest reported victim is an 8-month-old girl.

Children account for more than 30 percent of those killed, according to the ministry, which also said that 1044 women and 638 children have been injured.

• READ MORE: What is Trump’s endgame in Iran as the US-Israel war escalates?
• Israeli media report 30 projectiles from Iran and Lebanon
• Iran war casualties live-tracker
• Other US-Israeli war on Iran reports

Overall, Iran said that more than 1300 people have been killed by the airstrikes, which are reportedly targeting 30 of the country’s 31 provinces.

The Lebanese Health Ministry announced Sunday that 394 people, including 42 women and 83 children, have been killed by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) attacks after Iran-backed Hezbollah joined the war.

The US-based charity Save the Children noted yesterday that the number of slain Iranian and Lebanese minors is the equivalent of “10 classrooms full of children”.

“It is devastating that airstrikes in Lebanon have reportedly caused the deaths of 83 children… among nearly 300 children killed in the region,” said Save the Children Lebanon director Nora Ingdal.

‘Not just numbers’
“These are not just numbers — these are young lives cut short and children whose futures have been forever scarred by war.”

Israel claims it has killed around 200 Hezbollah fighters. However, the IDF’s routine attacks on apartment towers and other residential buildings have drawn widespread condemnation.

On Sunday, an IDF strike massacred 18 people sheltering in an apartment building in Sir El-Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh district. The building was housing some of the nearly 700,000 Lebanese forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks, including around 200,000 children.

Local officials said women and children were among the victims.

Another IDF aerial massacre in the southern Lebanese town of Tafahata killed eight people, including five members of the Ezzedine family, whose home was bombed.

“This time is much worse than the previous war,” Nabatieh Civil Defence chief Hussein Faqih told the National, referring to Israel’s 2023-25 attacks on Lebanon that killed more than 4000 people, including nearly 800 women and over 300 children, in retaliation for Hezbollah’s rocket strikes in solidarity with Palestine during the Gaza genocide.

Israeli attacks on Iran during last year’s 12-Day War also killed more than 1000 Iranians, including 436 civilians.

Worst reported bombing
In the worst reported bombing of the current war — and possibly the deadliest US massacre since more than 400 Iraqis were wiped out in a “precision strike” on a Baghdad bomb shelter during the 1991 Gulf War — around 175 Iranians, most of them young children, were killed in what first responders and victims’ relatives said was a so-called double-tap strike on an elementary school in Minab in southern Iran.

US military investigators reportedly believe the strike was carried out by US forces, but President Donald Trump has blamed Iran.

On Monday, a group of Democratic US senators lead by Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said they were “horrified” by the school strike.

“The killing of school children is appalling and unacceptable under any circumstance,” the senators said in a statement. “This incident is particularly concerning in light of [Defence Secretary Pete] Hegseth’s openly cavalier approach to the use of force, including his statement that US strikes in Iran wouldn’t be bound by ‘stupid rules of engagement,’ in his words.”

Multiple members of the UK Parliament have condemned the killing of Iranian and Lebanese children.

Leftist Independent Jeremy Corbyn, a former Labour leader, said yesterday on Bluesky: “Classrooms of children in Iran. Hundreds of people in Lebanon. The ongoing genocide in Gaza. The message from our political and media class is clear: Their lives are less valuable than others.”

“Every human being matters, and every human being deserves a life of peace,” Corbyn added.

‘School girls slaughtered’
Zahra Sultana, who quit Labour and started the socialist Your Party with Corbyn last year, mocked US and Israeli pretensions, saying in a BBC interview on Sunday — International Women’s Day — that the girls in the Minab school were slaughtered “apparently to liberate women”.

Retaliatory attacks by Iran have killed at least 13 Israelis and wounded nearly 2000 others since February 28, according to Israel’s government. No Israeli child deaths have been reported. Seven US troops and at least 15 people in Gulf Arab nations have also been killed by Iranian counterattacks.

While the world’s focus is on Iran, Israeli occupation forces have continued killing and wounding people in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine.

Drop Site News reported yesterday that eight Palestinians were killed in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including two women and at least as many children.

More than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. More than 20,000 children have been killed and over 44,000 others wounded.

More than 1 in 4 fatalities have been children in a war for which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, and Israel is facing a genocide case currently before the International Court of Justice.

Since the 9/11 attacks, US-led wars have left nearly 1 million people dead in more than half a dozen countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa—over 400,000 of them civilians, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

“Every war is a war on children, and once again we are seeing them pay the highest price for a conflict they neither started nor had a say in,” Ingdal said yesterday.

“Wars have laws, and children must be off limits in every conflict,” she added. “World leaders must act urgently to prevent further escalation. There must be an immediate cessation of hostilities, and all parties must uphold international humanitarian law and do everything in their power to protect civilians—especially children.”

Republished under Creative Commons.

More than 2000 people — mostly women and union members — marked International Women’s Day two days early last week on March 6 with a lively rally and march in Melbourne, capital of the Australian state of Victoria.

Chants of “Women united will never be defeated”, “Tell me what a feminist looks like? This is what a feminist looks like” and “When women’s rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!” rang through the streets.

Speakers addressed the inequality women still faced at work and in society, the leading roles women play in many struggles for justice, including for First Nations rights, against the junta in Myanmar, against Israel’s genocide in Gaza/Palestine, and against oppressive regimes like that in Iran.

• READ MORE: Luamanuvao reflects on International Women’s Day and ‘Pacific dreams’
• International Women’s Day activists protest in solidarity with Palestinians
• Other International Women’s Day reports

“Palestine is not for sale.”  Video: Green Left

When Michelle O’Neill, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) spoke, some women chanted “CFMEU” to demonstrate their displeasure at the ACTU’s complicity in attacks against that union.

The rally also marched to Victoria’s Parliament House.

Republished from Green Left.

in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, activists marked International Women’s Day on Saturday and the start of Ramadan this week with solidarity rallies across the country, calling for justice and peace for Palestinian women and the territories occupied illegally by Israel.

The theme this year for IWD was “For all women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” and this was the 74th week of Palestinian solidarity protests.

Activists in Aotearoa New Zealand marked International Women’s Day today and the start of Ramadan this week with solidarity rallies across the country, calling for justice and peace for Palestinian women and the territories occupied illegally by Israel.

The theme this year for IWD is “For all women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” and this was the 74th week of Palestinian solidarity protests.

First speaker at the Auckland rally today, Del Abcede of the Aotearoa section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), said the protest was “timely given how women have suffered the brunt of Israel’s war on Palestine and the Gaza ceasefire in limbo”.

• READ MORE: Muslim nations condemn Israel’s ‘war crimes and acts of genocide’
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• Gallery: NZ women call for long-term peace and justice in Palestine
• Other Gaza genocide reports

“Women are the backbone of families and communities. They provide care, support and nurturing to their families and the development of children,” she said.

“Women also play a significant role in community building and often take on leadership roles in community organisations. Empowered women empower the world.”

Abcede explained how the non-government organisation WILPF had national sections in 37 countries, including the Palestine branch which was founded in 1988. WILPF works close with its Palestinian partners, Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) and General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW).

“This catastrophe is playing out on our TV screens every day. The majority of feminists in Britain — and in the West — seem to have nothing to say about it,” Abcede said, quoting gender researcher Dr Maryam Aldosarri, to cries of shame.

‘There can be no neutrality’
“In the face of such overwhelming terror, there can be no neutrality.”

Dr Aldosarri said in an article published earlier in the war on Gaza last year that the “siege and indiscriminate bombardment” had already “killed, maimed and disappeared under the rubble tens of thousands of Palestinian women and children”.

“Many more have been displaced and left to survive the harsh winter without appropriate shelter and supplies. The almost complete breakdown of the healthcare system, coupled with the lack of food and clean water, means that some 45,000 pregnant women and 68,000 breastfeeding mothers in Gaza are facing the risk of anaemia, bleeding, and death.

“Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinian women and children in the occupied West Bank are still imprisoned, many without trial, and trying to survive in abominable conditions.”

The death toll in the war — with killings still happening in spite of the precarious ceasefire — is now more than 50,000 — mostly women and children.

Abcede read out a statement from WILPF International welcoming the ceasefire, but adding that it “was only a step”.

“Achieving durable and equitable peace demands addressing the root causes of violence and oppression. This means adhering to the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion by dismantling the foundational structures of colonial violence and ensuring Palestinians’ rights to self-determination, dignity and freedom.”

Action for justice and peace
Abcede also spoke about what action to take for “justice and peace” — such as countering disinformation and influencing the narrative; amplifying Palstinian voices and demands; joining rallies — “like what we do every Saturday”; supporting the global BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign against Israel; writing letters to the government calling for special visas for Palestinians who have families in New Zealand; and donating to campaigns supporting the victims.

Gaza’s hospitals had been “reduced to rubble by Israeli bombs”, she said.

“UN reports that over 60,000 women would give birth this year in Gaza. But Israel has destroyed every maternity hospital.

“Women will be delivered in tents, corridors, or bombed out homes without anasthesia, without doctors, without clean water.

“When Israel killed Gaza’s only foetal medicine specialist, Dr Muhammad Obeid, it wasn’t collateral damage — it was calculated reproductive terror.”

“Now, miscarriages have spiked by 300 percent, and mothers stitch their own C-sections with sewing thread.”

‘Femicide – a war crime’
Babies who survived birth entered a world where Israel blocked food aid — 1 in 10 infants would die of starvation, 335,000 children faced starvation, and their mothers forced to watch, according to UNICEF.

“This is femicide — this is a war crime.”

Eugene Velasco, of the Filipino feminist action group Gabriela Aotearoa, said Israel’s violence in Gaza was a “clear reminder of the injustice that transcends geographical borders”.

“The injustice is magnified in Gaza where the US-funded genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people has resulted in the deaths of more than 61,000.”

‘Pernicious’ Regulatory Standards Bill
Dr Jane Kelsey, a retired law professor and justice advocate, spoke of an issue that connected the “scourge of colonisation in Palestine and Aotearoa with the same lethal logic and goals”.

The parallels between both colonised territories included theft of land and the creation of private property rights, and the denial of sovereign authority and self-determination.

She spoke of how international treaties that had been entered in good faith were disrespected, disregarded and “rewritten as it suits the colonising power”.

Dr Kelsey said an issue that had “gone under the radar” needed to be put on the radar and for action.

She said that while the controversial Treaty Principles Bill would not proceed because of the massive mobilisations such as the hikoi, it had served ACT’s purpose.

“Behind the scenes is ACT’s more systemic and pernicious Regulatory Standards Bill,” she said. ACT had tried three times to get the bill adopted and failed, but it was now in the coalition government’s agreement.

A ‘stain on humanity’
Meanwhile, Hamas has reacted to a Gaza government tally of the number of women who were killed by Israel’s war, reports Al Jazeera.

“The killing of 12,000 women in Gaza, the injury and arrest of thousands, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands are a stain on humanity,” the group said.

“Palestinian female prisoners are subjected to psychological and physical torture in flagrant violation of all international norms and conventions.”

Hamas added the suffering endured by Palestinian female prisoners revealed the “double standards” of Western countries, including the United States, in dealing with Palestinians.

Women from Aotearoa, Philippines, Palestine and South Africa today called for justice and peace for the people of Gaza and the West Bank, currently under a genocidal siege and attacks being waged by Israel for the past 16 months.

Marking International Women’s Day, the rally highlighted the theme: “For all women and girls – Rights, equality and empowerment.”

Speakers outlined how women are the “backbone of families and communities” and how they have borne the brunt of the crimes against humanity in occupied Palestine with the “Israeli war machine” having killed more than 50,000 people, mostly women and children, since 7 October 2023.

The speakers included Del Abcede and Lorri Mackness of the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Gabriela’s Eugene Velasco, and retired law professor Jane Kelsey.

• Images by Asia Pacific Report’s David Robie
• More photos and videos at: https://bit.ly/3F5HVxF

International Women's Day and Palestine

1 of 12

By Peter Boyle in Gadigal Sydney

Papua New Guinea’s national airline flight from Port Moresby to Cairns today was operated by an all female Air Niugini crew in recognition of International Women’s Day.

With the day’s theme of “Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress”, the national airline continues its progress in equal participation for all women within the organisation, whether it be on the ground or in the sky.

The flight was under the command of Captain Beverly Pakii (inset) with First Officer Chantilly Padigaga. and assisted in the cabin by Jarmilah Mileng, Mimijanna Mabone and Magdalene Lapana.

• READ MORE: PNG’s first female pilot to attain Fokker command

In January, Captain Pakii became the first female pilot in Air Niugini and Papua New Guinea to captain a jet aircraft after attaining her command on a Fokker jet aircraft.

With this achievement, it enabled her to command or captain flights on the Air Niugini domestic and international network that are operated by Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 aircraft.

Her first commercial flight was on January 4 this year on a Fokker 100 aircraft flight from Port Moresby to Lae and return.

Republished with permission.

The Israeli army has raided dozens of homes in the West Bank and detained 20 Palestinians, including two women — journalist Bushra al-Taweel and activist Sumood Muteer.

Quoting witness accounts, Quds News Network reported that al-Taweel was beaten up by an officer who insulted her before she was arrested.

Today is International Women’s Day.

• READ MORE: Biden to an­nounce Gaza port as Is­rael blocks aid from com­ing by road – 20 starve to death in Gaza

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said 57 journalists have been detained since October 7, with 38 of them still in jail. The organisation added that 22 of them were detained without charge.

Since October 7, at least 424 Palestinians, including 113 minors, three women and 12 prisoners in Israeli custody, have been killed in the West Bank alone.

At least 7450 Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war in Gaza.

Female Palestinian journalist and ex-prisoner Bushra Tawil was arrested by Israeli occupation soldiers last night during a raid into the city of Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank.

According to eyewitnesses, Al-Tawil was subjected to a brutal attack by soldiers during a field… pic.twitter.com/59aRvQLrgA

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 7, 2024

The Gaza Media Office has reported at least 180 journalists and media workers have been killed since October 7.

Israeli forces ‘likely’ machinegunned reporters
Meanwhile, a new digital forensic report has found that Israeli forces “likely” shot machinegun at reporters after shelling them, killing one journalist and wounding six others on the Lebanese border last October 13.

The Israeli army targeted a group of journalists including AlJazeera’s crew, a colleague from another agency was killed and two of our colleagues at Aljazeera were injured, along with several others.

— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) October 13, 2023

An Israeli tank crew fired shells at a clearly marked group of journalists near the border, killing one Reuters reporter and wounding six others, including two Al Jazeera reporters and an Agence France-Presse reporter.

An analysis by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), commissioned by Reuters, has found that the journalists were also targeted with machineguns, likely fired by the same Israeli forces.

“It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists,” TNO’s report said.

“The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of [the machinegun] fire could not be established.”

AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd, reacting to the finding, said: “If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack.”

A group of “pink shoes” women in Aotearoa New Zealand campaigning for gender equality in the Catholic Church took their message with a display of well-worn shoes to St Patrick’s Cathedral plaza in Auckland today on International Women’s Day.

It was part of a national and global “Pink Shoes into the Vatican” campaign.

“Women from all over the country have sent their worn out shoes with their stories of service to the Catholic Church, only to find that the doors to full equality in all areas of the ministry and leadership remain firmly closed,” said an explanatory flyer handed out by supporters.

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“A vibrant church requires a synodal structure in which all members share full equality by right of their baptism.”

The organisers, Be The Change, say: “We are interested in your story. You are invited to email or write to us telling of your experience with the church. You do not have to be a practising Catholic to participate.”

• Email: Be The Change

‘Pink Shoes into the Vatican’ campaign stories.  Video: Be The Change

Papua New Guinea’s police commissioner, David Manning, addressing the International Women’s Day celebrations this week, let it be known that violence against women is becoming a serious disease.

Yes, we agree. It is a growing threat to women and children, family unity and community harmony.

On the same token Sir, may we also point out that some of the women and children that suffer from this disease actually live in the confines of police, army and correctional service barracks.

• READ MORE: Other reports on PNG police violence

The wives of soldiers, cops and warders are not immune to this disease. Most, if not for Tik Tok, suffer silently.

It is a national disease that needs to be addressed at all levels in our country. And the country’s security forces better start taking this message seriously. Violence against police wives must stop, must desist against army wives, and cease against CS wives.

Peace and family harmony must be restored in your homes before you go out and deal with the bigger picture in the community. You might think your uniform gives you ultimate power over your wife but your wives are the custodians of your homes and children.

Respect your wife and treat her well. If your home is safe and secure, your commitment and focus on delivering law and order to all corners of the country will be fulfilled peacefully.

Expressing disgust at thuggery
This week, we join the public in expressing our disgust at continued violence and thuggery by police against members of the public.

This in itself is another serious disease that you mister commissioner, need to stamp out. When violence continues unabated, it goes to show that something is wrong, some of the practices and procedures you are putting in place, are weak and unworkable.

A young man, the son of a cop, in the prime of his life, almost had his life snuffed out by three allegedly drunk cops on February 27.

These Fox Unit policemen were arrested on Wednesday and charged with the cowardly attack on schoolboy Samuel Naraboi that left the 20-year-old in a coma at the Intensive Care Unit at the Port Moresby General Hospital for a week.

Realising they were wrong and there is no escape for them, they surrendered to their commander and were brought in and processed.

As the NCD and Central Divisional Commander Anthony Wagambie Jr lamented: “For this incident, whatever the circumstances were, the level of injury inflicted on the young man is not warranted at all and this is way beyond.

“I would also like to make it known that this does not reflect the majority of hardworking police personnel. Police have been constantly reminded about ethical conduct and performing duties within the rule of law.

‘Rebuilding public confidence’
“We are trying our best to rebuild public confidence in the Constabulary, and such action by individuals only hinders the progress.”

The last sentence catches our eyes and ears and we agree with your commander Wagambie Jr. A few rotten apples are dragging down the police force.

The majority of sworn-to-oath hardworking policemen and women are getting the flack for the bad deeds of a few rotten cops.

You need to put your big foot down Commissioner. We suggest, you sack every violent rotten cop who doesn’t understand their roles and responsibilities in policing, law and order.

They are the ones bringing the force into disrepute.

This PNG Post-Courier editorial was published on 10 March 2022. The original title was Violence in any form is a serious disease. Republished with permission.

It is the duty of men to uplift women and not undermine them or stand in their way, says Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

“Women are leaders. They are Fiji and it is our duty as men to uplift them, not undermine them or stand in their way,” Bainimarama said at an International Women’s Day celebration.

“Women are mothers, sisters, and wives, and they are CEOs, entrepreneurs, and managers.

• READ MORE: International Women’s Day around the world

“They are daughters, granddaughters, and nieces, and they are Olympic medal winners, civil servants, and ministers.

“We have always believed that women’s empowerment is the key to building a better country.”

Bainimarama said free education had put more girls in Fiji’s classrooms and that open-merit recruitment had put more women in leadership within the country’s civil service.

“Social support — like vouchers for rural pregnant women and free sanitary pads for students — has put security in women’s lives.

“And our laws punishing domestic violence have put offenders who abuse women behind bars.

Celebrating progress
“Today, on Women’s Day, we celebrate that progress knowing we have much more work to do to break gender biases and level the playing field in our society.

“So, as we acknowledge the achievements women in Fiji have made and are making, we recognise that true equality is a never-ending pursuit.

he also thanked the swomen who made up half of the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office for the effort in seeking to “modernise Fiji, empower all Fijians, and leave no one behind”.

Luke Nacei is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

Women’s participation in decision-making is fundamental to improving gender equality but despite making up half of Fiji’s population, representation at all levels of leadership for women is severely lacking, says an opposition political leader.

The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Viliame Gavoka, said this in his statement as the international community commemorates International Women’s Day today.

Gavoka said this year’s theme reminded Fijians that bias made it difficult for women to move ahead.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific gender reports

He said knowing that bias existed was not enough, action was needed to level the playing field.

Gavoka said that for far too long, Fiji had continued to “shamelessly lag behind” in protecting and promoting women’s rights and their peace-building expertise.

“A study carried out by the Fiji Women Right’s Movement reveals that 42 percent of Fiji boards or executive committees of for-profit or non-profit organisations or government agencies have no women at all and 26 percent have less than one-third female participation,” Gavoka said.

“The research on gender diversity and equality on boards looked at 192 board members across 38 government-controlled organisations and state-owned enterprises,” he said.

“The purpose of the research was to determine the level of women’s representation in the boards of the 38 entities.”

Lack of diversity
He said the research also identified challenges that limited the participation of women in Fiji’s leadership, such as lack of diversity and opportunity for women elected to preside as board chair.

“According to the research, women hold only 18 percent of board chair positions and sometimes it is the same women appointed as chair of boards in multiple organisations,” he said.

“In many cases, the same people are on multiple boards. This curtails the opportunities for others to join, contribute and gain board experience.

“Ensuring that women are better represented on boards is important to dismantle patriarchal ideals that are heavily entrenched into our society and limit women’s participation in decision-making.

“There is strong evidence that a gender-equal and diverse governance board improves accountability and diversifies the expertise, knowledge and skills available.”

Gavoka said that when SODELPA would be voted into government, they would ensure to “break barriers and accelerate progress”, including:

• setting specific targets and timelines to achieve gender balance in all branches of government and at all levels through temporary special measures such as quotas and appointments; and
• encouraging political parties to nominate equal numbers of women and men as candidates and implement policies and programmes promoting women’s leadership.

“On this year’s International Women’s Day, we should also pause and reflect on the sacrifices of our women in all facets of society despite the challenges they’ve endured to bring change and progress.”

Republished with permission.

A proposed draft Police Bill in Fiji has come under intense scrutiny from civil society groups and opposition parties.

The draft legislation will give police greater surveillance powers if passed in Parliament.

The proposal is now open to public submissions and the government says it will replace the Police Act 1965.

• LISTEN TO RNZ DATELINE PACIFIC: The draft Fiji Police Bill (duration 5′:00″)
• READ MORE: Other Fiji police reports

The draft Bill gives police the powers to secretly or forcefully enter any premises to place tracking devices.

Police can secretly monitor and record communications of people they suspect are about to commit a crime or have committed one, the Bill states.

The draft law also allows police to recruit an informer or anyone else who can provide information in relation to a police matter.

The government has not stated why it is necessary for police to search a crime scene and seize potential evidence without a warrant as stated in the Bill.

Police powers need ‘updating’
But the Minister for Police, Inia Seruiratu, said the Police Act 1965 needed to be updated because officers were now tasked with enforcing laws aligned to new and emerging challenges such as the global govid-19 pandemic, terrorism, transnational organised crime and other crimes evident around the globe.

Seruiratu said the Bill was a preliminary draft of submissions received by police during three days of consultations with the force’s key stakeholders in May 2019.

“Policing has developed beyond the traditional roles it is known for and the Fiji Police Force needs an enabling foundation that not only assists them in the work they are constitutionally mandated to do but will greatly enhance our national efforts to effectively respond to the rapidly evolving criminal landscape.”

However, the opposition parties have condemned the draft legislation and warned it encroaches on the civil liberties, democratic values and fundamental rights of Fijians.

The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party, Viliame Gavoka, said they would do everything in their power to ensure the draft legislation did not reach the floor of Parliament.

Gavoka said the “draconian” draft Bill would turn Fiji into a “police state”.

“There’s lots of uproar in the community about police brutality as it has been ongoing for some time,” he said.

“And then to introduce a Bill like this is truly frightening.

People ‘fearful of the police’
“The mentality of the country right now is fearful of the police. And here we have a Bill that gives them more powers to virtually do whatever they want to do with you.”

The president of the National Federation Party, Pio Tikoduadua, said the government’s plan to introduce a law that could allow authorities to enter and search anyone’s property through force at any time was “frightening”.

Tikoduadua said it was “inconceivable, ridiculous and insane”, adding a provision in the proposed Bill would make police force subject to military law in emergencies.

“So, when police are subjected to military law, does it make them soldiers? This is unthinkable in a democracy. It is martial law and can be invoked at any time.”

Former opposition leader Mick Beddoes said the proposed legislation would empower the police to suppress instead of protecting the people who had paid $US1.8 billion in wages to the security forces since 2017.

Beddoes said the Bill would dilute people’s constitutional rights and impose on them some of the harshest penalties and fines.

He said the proposed new law was ‘unwarranted and unjustified’.

Human rights activist Shamima Ali said this violated the fundamental rights of police officers who risked their lives on the front-line to ensure Fijians were safe.

Speaking at the International Women’s Day in Suva this week, Ali said i was time to push the barriers.

“The Police Bill has the potential to further shrink us,” she said. “We might think, ‘oh it doesn’t concern us. We’re only concerned with bread and butter’. This concerns everyone.

“We already have high rates of police brutality, pending cases and other criminal allegations. There are some hardworking, honest officers in the force but there are also the bad cops.”

The Coalition on Human Rights said this was not the time to be giving police more powers when Fiji was facing a pandemic of police brutality cases where individuals had lost their lives at the hands of police.

Its director, Nalini Singh, said this was unacceptable and a disgraceful reflection on the force which should be the bastion of lawfulness in this country.

Raised human rights concerns
“As the Coalition on Human Rights, we have repeatedly raised our concerns about the excessive force used by the Police during arrests on individuals, and the lack of transparency and urgency from the Police in investigation processes.

“And yet our call for urgent action have been left unanswered. This proposed Police Bill 2020 is a sad reflection of Fiji’s priorities in its commitments towards upholding and respecting human rights of Fijians.

According to data from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, between May 2015 and April 2020, 400 police officers were charged with serious violent-related offences.

The ODPP data showed the offences included 16 charges of rape, two charges of murder and nine charges of manslaughter.

The largest women’s group in Fiji, Soqosoqo Vakamarama iTaukei, said police officers had the right to be part of a union.

The group’s spokesperson, Adi Finau Tabakaucoro, said the Bill was supposed to help facilitate the work of the force.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission said it would, in its substantive submission, call for alignment of the Bill with the state’s human rights obligation under the domestic procedures and international conventions and treaties that Fiji had ratified.

Submission after tabling
Commissioner Ashwin Raj said his office would make its submission when the Bill was tabled in Parliament.

Raj said any commentary on the draft bill, before it was tabled in Parliament, was “premature”.

Meanwhile, police and the roads authority received an application for a protest permit march next week against the draft bill.

Lautoka-based businessman Ben Padarath also lodged applications with the Suva City Council.

The move has been supported by Opposition Whip Lynda Tabuya who said she would gather signatures for a petition to be presented to Parliament when it sits next month.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A Papuan demonstration held near the Gajayana stadium in Malang city, East Java, ended in chaos with protesters accused of smashing a police truck window after they were ordered to disperse for violating health protocols.

Glass fragments hit the police officer who was behind the wheel. The protest began as a peaceful demonstration to commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD) that was being held by the Women’s Movement with the People (GEMPUR).

The protesters had earlier gathered on Jalan Semeru in preparation for a long-march to the Malang city hall. At the same time, protesters from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Papuan High-School and University Student Association (IPMAPA) also began gathering at the Gajayana stadium.

• READ MORE: West Papuans reject special autonomy and other reports

When the GEMPUR protesters decided to disband and cancelled the long-march, the demonstrators from the AMP and the IPMAPA began protesting and held speeches.

Police along with Malang City Covid-19 Task Force members ordered the demonstrators to disperse because they were violating health protocols.

Three trucks were on standby to evacuate the protesters and take them to their respective locations. Negotiations became protracted with protesters refusing to be evacuated and instead smashing a police truck window.

Malang municipal police chief Senior Commissioner Leonardus Simarmata claimed that the protest action commemorating IWD was just “a cover” and the objective was opposition to the controversial Special Autonomy extension plan (Otsus) and calls for Papuan independence.

West Papua independence banners
Aside from violating health protocols because the protest was held during the covid-19 pandemic and the Micro Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (PPKM), the demonstrators also unfurled banners with messages rejecting Special Autonomy and proclaiming demands for West Papua independence.

“The intent was actually noble, but during the pandemic and Micro PPKM crowds are prohibited. And also the action was only used as a cover by the AMP and the IPMAPA to call for West Papua independence,” Simarmata told journalists.

While there were efforts at negotiations to take the protesters back to their respective locations, said Simarmata, “provocative actions” continued when they asked demonstrators to get into the trucks provided.

Because the demonstrators resisted and refused to get in the trucks, police then forcibly broke up the protest. Protesters were then taken to the Malang municipal police headquarters for questioning.

“The Satreskrim [criminal and detectives unit] is questioning them, who was involved and pushed the officers. We also confiscated the shoe used to kick out the truck window,” said Simarmata.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoNews Left. The original title of the article was “Demo Hari Perempuan Sedunia di Malang Ricuh, Pendemo Pecah Kaca Truk Polisi”.

By CIVICUS in Manila

There has been a hostile environment for civil society in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in 2016. Killings, arrests, threats, and intimidation of activists and government critics are often perpetrated with impunity.

According to the United Nations, the vilification of dissent is being “increasingly institutionalised and normalised in ways that will be very difficult to reverse.”

There has also been a relentless crackdown against independent media and journalists.

• READ MORE: Nine killed after Duterte’s order to ‘finish off communists’
• More Philippines reports

Threats and attacks against journalists, as well as the deployment of armies of trolls and online bots, especially during the covid-19 pandemic, have contributed to self-censorship—this has had a chilling effect within the media industry and among the wider public.

One tactic increasingly used by the government to target activists and journalists is to label them as “terrorists” or “communist fronts,” particularly those who have been critical of Duterte’s deadly “war on drugs” that has killed thousands.

Known as “red-tagging” in the Philippines, this process often puts activists at grave risk of being targeted by the state and pro-government militias.

In some cases, those who have been red-tagged were later killed. Others have received death threats or sexually abusive comments in private messages or on social media.

Rampant impunity means that accountability for attacks against activists and journalists is virtually non-existent. Courts in the Philippines have failed to provide justice and civil society has been calling for an independent investigation to address the grave violations.

Filipina journalist Inday Espina-Varona tells her story:
‘Silence would be a surrender to tyranny’

The sound of Tibetan chimes and flowing water transformed into a giant hiss the night dozens of worried friends passed on a Facebook post with my face and a headline that screamed I’d been passing information to communist guerrillas.

Old hag, menopausal bitch, a person “of confused sexuality”—I’ve been called all that on social media. Trolls routinely call for my arrest as a communist.

But the attack on 4 June 2020 was different. The anonymous right-wing Facebook page charged me with terrorism, of using access and coverage to pass sensitive, confidential military information to rebels.

That night, dinner stopped at two spoonsful. My stomach felt like a sack with a dozen stones churning around a malignant current. All my collection of Zen music, hours of staring at the stars, and no amount of calming oil could bring sleep.

Strangers came heckling the next day on Messenger. One asked how it felt to be “the muse of terrorists”. Another said, “Maghanda ka na bruha na terorista” (“Get ready, you terrorist witch”).

A third said in vulgar vernacular that I should be the first shot in the vagina, a reference to what President Rodrigo Duterte once told soldiers to do to women rebels.

I’m 57 years old, a cancer survivor with a chronic bad back. I don’t sneak around at night. I don’t do countryside treks. I don’t even cover the military.

Like shooting range target
But for weeks, I felt like a target mark in a shooting range. As a passenger on vehicles, I replaced mobile web surfing with peering into side mirrors, checking out motorcycles carrying two passengers—often mentioned in reports on killings.

I recognised a scaled-up threat. This attack didn’t target ideas or words. The charge involved actions penalised with jail time or worse. Some military officials were sharing it.

Not surprising; the current government doesn’t bother with factual niceties. It uses “communist” as a catch-all phrase for everything that bedevils the Philippines.

Anonymous teams have killed close to 300 dissenters and these attacks usually followed red-tagging campaigns. Nineteen journalists have also been murdered since Duterte assumed office in 2016.

Journalists, lawmakers, civil liberties advocates, and netizens called out the lie. Dozens reported the post. I did. We all received an automated response: It did not violate Facebook’s community standards.

It feels foolish to argue with an automated system but I did gather the evidence before getting in touch with Facebook executives. My normal response to abusive engagement on Facebook or Twitter is a laughing emoji and a block. Threats are a different matter.

We tracked down, “Let’s see how brave you are when we get to the street where you live,” to a Filipino criminology graduate working in a Japanese bar. He apologised and took it down.

Threat against ‘my daughter’
After I fact-checked Duterte for blaming rape on drug use in general, someone said my “defending addicts” should be punished with the rape of my daughter.

“That should teach you,” said the message from an account that had no sign of life. Another said he’d come to rape me.

Both accounts shared the same traits. They linked to similar accounts. Facebook took these down and did the same to the journalist-acting-as-rebel-intel post and page.

The public pressure to cull products of troll farms has lessened the incidence of hate messages. But there’s still a growth in anonymous pages focused on red-tagging, with police and military officials and official accounts spreading their posts.

Some officers were actually exposed as the masterminds of these pages. When Facebook recently scrapped several accounts linked to the armed forces, government officials erupted in rage, hurling false claims about “attacks on free expression.”

This reaction shows the nexus between unofficial and official acts and platforms in our country. It can start with social media disinformation and then get picked up by the government, or it leads with an official pronouncement blown up and given additional spin on social media.

Official complaints
We’ve officially filed complaints against some government officials, including those involved with the top anti-insurgency task force. But justice works slowly. In the meantime, I practise deep breathing and try to take precautions.

Officials dismiss any “chilling effect” from these non-stop attacks because Filipinos in general, and journalists in particular, remain outspoken. But braving dangers to exercise our right to press freedom and free expression isn’t the same as having the government respect these rights.

Two years ago, journalist Patricia Evangelista of Rappler asked a small group of colleagues what it could take for us to fall silent.

“Nothing,” was everyone’s response.

And so every day I battle fear. I have to because silence would be a surrender to tyranny. That’s not happening on my watch.

Inday Espina-Varona is an award-winning journalist from the Philippines and contributing editor for ABS-CBNNews and the Catholic news agency LiCASNews. She is a former chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the first journalist from the country to receive the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Prize for Independence.

Australian university leaders are nearly three times more likely to be a man than a woman.

Of 37 public university chancellors, just 10 are women (27 percent) and 27 (73 percent) are men. It’s exactly the same for vice-chancellors: 10 are women and 27 are men.

Together, this means men hold 54 of the 74 top jobs in Australian higher education.

• READ MORE: Most of Australia’s university leaders are white, male and grey. This lack of diversity could be a handicap
  

Last year presented a big opportunity for progress towards gender equity among university leaders. During 2020, vice-chancellors at 15 of Australia’s 37 public universities either announced their departure from the role, or actually left.

This move of 41 percent of the vice-chancellors in a single year provided the best opportunity for improving gender equity in living memory.

Unfortunately, Australian university councils, which appoint vice-chancellors, did not take up the opportunity. The gender ratio didn’t change at all.

To date, women have been appointed in just four of the 15 (27 percent) interim or ongoing replacements made. Two of these four women moved from one vice-chancellor position to another. In 11 of the 15 announced vice-chancellor replacements – 73 percent of cases – a man won the role.

Men also dominate the upper levels of Australian academia. The latest available figures (from 2019) show:

• 86 percent more men than women at associate professor and professor levels D and E (10,363 men, 5,562 women)
• 11 percent more men than women at senior lecturer level C (6,355 men, 5,724 women)
• 25 percent more women than men at lecturer level B (7,428 men, 9,253 women)
• 15 percent more women than men at associate lecturer level A (4,426 men and 5,093 women).

Overall, the numbers of men and women employed as academics aren’t very different. In 2019, Australian universities employed 54,204 full-time and fractional full-time academics: 28,572 men (53 percent) and 25,632 (47 percent) women. It’s the seniority of the positions they hold that differs starkly.

These figures do not include casual staff.

Isn’t the gender balance improving?
Optimists often assure me leadership gender equity is improving. Granted, the percentage of female chancellors in Australian has increased in the past five years. In 2016, WomenCount reported 15 percent of Australian university chancellors were women.

While the increase is positive, it remains disappointing that women occupy only about one-quarter of these increasingly powerful and important roles.

The shift in senior academic ranks has also been slow. In 2009, 73.5 percent of professors were men. Between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of female professors has risen from 26.5 percent to 35 percent. That’s an improvement of less than one percentage point per year on average.

At this rate, it will be the late 2030s before women make up half of the professoriate in Australia.

Why does gender inequity persist?
The most common reason put forward for gender inequity is related to women’s role in childbearing. But the fact that only women can grow, birth and breastfeed babies does not, on its own, explain why there are 86 percent more male associate professors and professors than women in these roles, nor why there are nearly three times more male than female vice-chancellors and chancellors.

After all, these womanly activities take a relatively short amount of time and most women I know can skilfully multi-task while pregnant and breastfeeding.

However, the fact that women take on the bulk of child-raising duties might help explain the inequities. Of course, people of every gender can equally well raise children. But they don’t – it’s mostly left to the women.

For women, the results of this unequal sharing of responsibility include:

• less time and energy for academic pursuits
• more teaching (often) and less time for research and publishing
• lower academic and leadership profiles (usually)
• fewer opportunities to engage in activities that count for promotion and for senior leadership roles.

Of course, not all women have children. And those that do find that they grow up, learn to feed, dress and eventually support themselves and move out of home.

Is it also possible that Australian university culture and practices privilege men’s careers and hold back women’s advancement?

University decision-makers, including promotion committees, might well favour men because of:

• relatively uninterrupted and neat career trajectories
• relatively greater freedom to engage in research and publishing without the disadvantages of part-time employment, never mind the mid-afternoon school run
• more easily quantified outputs
• more frequent opportunities to lead
• the cumulative achievements, profile and trajectory that come with all of the above.

Let’s shake up the status quo
Most universities try to redress gender inequity. Committees, agenda items, plans, targets and mentoring programmes abound. But evidently these efforts aren’t working.

After many years in executive and governance leadership, I continue to observe decision-makers often thinking of men first, or only of men, when searching for suitable leadership candidates.

On the rarer occasions that women are offered leadership opportunities, they have to adopt the “right” style and carefully balance gravitas and humility. They must learn how to perform gender judo and ensure they don’t fall into the success versus likeability conundrum that Facebook chief operating officer and author Sheryl Sandberg made famous.

In short, to become academic leaders, women must skilfully navigate the unconscious bias and sexism that permeate universities.

While shifts are occurring, they are painfully slow, as the gender data over the past decade and predicted trajectories show.

Might it be time for women (and enlightened men) to take matters into their own hands to begin to undermine the status quo? I think so – so I’ve written a book that proposes techniques to adopt to these ends.

What will you do to contribute to greater gender equity?

Dr Marcia Devlin is an adjunct professor, Victoria University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

While International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women, Fiji must not lose sight of the struggles ahead, says Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali.

She stressed this in a statement as Fiji marked International Women’s Day today, March 8, saying that while the country’s progress towards gender equality was still lagging, public services needed to be scaled up to meet women’s rights and increase women’s participation.

Ali said Fiji must continue the collective action to demand for accountability for crimes against women and girls in the country.

• READ MORE: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe freed in Iran on eve of International Women’s Day, but faces new charge

“Inequality, climate emergency, covid-19 and the rise of exclusionary politics have further exacerbated our vulnerability as a nation to address the serious violations of women’s human rights,” Ali said.

She said violence against women and girls continued to increase and anecdotal evidence showed this was because of the patriarchal society that Fiji lived in.

“We have a very patriarchal society that’s underpinned by religious and cultural attitudes towards women and their place in our communities,” she said.

“This is further exacerbated by lack of political will on part of government to commit to the issue of eliminating violence against women and girls. We have poor law enforcement, particularly around the area of gender-based violence.”

Laws not well implemented
She said that while Fiji had good legislation and protection orders in place, it was not doing well at implementation level.

“Gender neutral laws and programmes that are not rights based often act as a backlash for women,” Ali said.

#Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre not only does great work, it’s also a terrific example of @MFATgovtNZ – @dfat donor harmonisation. PM @jacindaardern was joined in opening the Nadi branch of FWCC by @AusHCFJ & Minister @MereseiniRakui1. Vinaka Shamima Ali & team for your great work! pic.twitter.com/OzCvRGcMcH

— Jonathan Curr (@JCurrNZ) February 27, 2020

“Programmes that are not rights based do not address the root cause of violence against women which is gender inequality.”

Ali said Fiji needed to continue to advocate for more women leaders in government, Parliament, on statutory boards and in leadership positions.

“We have the general elections next year and more women need to contest the polls. We need to challenge the status quo and demand for inclusion, create an enabling environment, address inequalities, educate our women and girls and amplify their voices,” she said.

“We have many women leaders in the world, in the Pacific and in Fiji. From my experience, effective women leaders are feminists who do not just accept the status quo.

“Feminist leadership challenges patriarchy, is fearless, is compassionate and leads with humanity, kindness and firmness.”

Fiji Times articles are republished with permission.

Violence against women is at epidemic proportions in the Asia Pacific.

The region’s governments, if they are to find ways of preventing domestic violence and support its victims, need reliable data, but getting the numbers is a difficult undertaking.

Public health researchers Dr Henriette Jensen and Dr Kristin Diemer join The Jakarta Post’s “Ear to Asia” host Ali Moore to discuss the quest to understand the dimensions of violence against women, and programmes aimed at bringing about lasting change.

Yesterday was International Women’s Day.

A podcast from the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne.

Produced and edited by profactual.com. Music by audionautix.com.

• Ear to Asia podcasts

A few days ago, I received a message from my son’s secondary school announcing that it would be celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) on Friday. The message read:

“The school is selling Feminist jumpers to mark the event. Jumpers are on sale for 10 pounds ($13) – please ask your daughter or son to bring 10 pounds cash to the English office if she/he would like to wear one.”

A few hours later a friend called to tell me, tongue-in-cheek, that International Women’s Day t-shirts are passe and that sex toys are the new t-shirts, sending me a link to “IWD sex toys” currently on sale.

READ MORE: More International Women’s Day articles – Al Jazeera

The irony is that International Women’s Day began as an initiative of the Socialist Party of America to honour the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, which, at the time, was the biggest industrial action ever taken by women workers in the United States.

Hence, the dedication of a day to women began as a struggle against capitalist economic exploitation, where women demanded better working conditions and higher wages.

It is true that, over the course of the 20th century, International Women’s Day has undergone many transformations. In certain countries and contexts, it has served as a day simply to celebrate women and their accomplishments.

It has also been a catalyst to mobilise women around the world to rally for a variety of political causes: from working women’s rights through the right to vote and participate in politics to anti-war protests and, more recently, gender equality.

Problematic tokenism
There is, of course, always a certain problematic tokenism when setting aside one day during the year in which we either celebrate women and/or protest gender inequality.

But in the past few years, and particularly with the rise of Trumpism and the far-right across Europe, South America, India and many other places, International Women’s Day has taken on increased potency and significance.

Indeed, the demonstrations organised today, March 8, across the globe have become more militant and intersectional since 2016.

One has only to think of Spain, where last year millions walked out to protest against gender inequality and sexual discrimination, or the US, where the Feminism for the 99 percent movement called for a women’s strike.

The agendas of many of these protests go well beyond “equality”: They are demanding gender, racial, economic, and climate justice, understanding that these issues are inextricably linked.

And yet, as the message from my son’s school and the IWD sex toys reveal, alongside the more militant direction of International Women’s Day, there has also been another parallel development, namely, the increasing commodification of March 8 and its branding by corporations.

Solidarity by shopping, not struggle
Scholars call this brand activism, where corporations attempt to improve their reputation by using some popular and often progressive cause in their PR and advertising campaigns. The businesses and corporations thus give in order to get.

An example of this is the fashion e-tailer Net-a-Porter which has launched an exclusive limited-edition collection of IWD T-shirts in collaboration with six women designers. It is true that all of the profits go to a charity supporting women survivors of war, but activism and empowerment here is equated with buying an expensive t-shirt with words like “You Go Girl”.

Women, in other words, are encouraged to express their solidarity not through struggle or protest, but by shopping.

This corporate appropriation is clearly part of a wider cultural phenomenon – the rise of neoliberal feminism.

This kind of feminism encourages women to invest in themselves and their own aspirations, inciting them to build confidence and “lean in”. And while such feminism acknowledges the gendered wage gap and sexual harassment as signs of continued inequality, the solutions they posit, such as encouraging individual women to take responsibility for their own well-being, do not challenge the structural and economic undergirding of these phenomena.

Neoliberal feminism is palatable and marketable precisely because it is a non-threatening feminism. It doesn’t address the devastation wrought by neoliberal capitalism, neo-imperialism or systemic misogyny and sexism, so it is easy to embrace and it sells well on the marketplace.

Its message is the exact opposite of the one advanced by the women’s strikes at the beginning of the 20th century.

Feel-good feminism
Moreover, given the rise of this feel-good feminism, it is not hard to understand why suddenly everyone is eager to claim the “feminist” label: from movie stars like Emma Watson to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Nor is it difficult to understand why this feminism makes good business today.

The popularity of feminism and its widespread embrace is not a bad thing per se. But it is crucial to understand what kind of feminism has become popular and why.

A watered down and defanged feminist message is neither going to uproot patriarchy, nor is it going to help us resolve the existential threats to life on earth.

We thus have two competing forces at work at the moment. On the one hand, we have a popular, commodity-driven feminism that serves as a handmaiden to neoliberalism.

On the other hand, we have a growing movement of mass feminist mobilisation that is demanding transformative social justice.

In the US, such mass mobilisation has been spearheaded by activists like Alicia Garza, who is one of the cofounders of Black Lives Matter and Linda Sarsour, who was cochair of the 2017 Women’s March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, as well as the 2019 Women’s March.

Their feminism is a threatening one because it challenges the intersecting systems of oppression: from white supremacy through Islamophobia to misogyny and neoliberal capitalism. These women carry on the revolutionary spirit that sparked the first IWD over a century ago.

Which feminism “wins” in many ways depends on us. I, for one, have made my choice. Today, I will join the Global Women’s Strike and will bring my two sons along.

Dr Catherine Rottenberg is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham. This article was first published by Al Jazeera English.

Hundreds of women’s rights activists commemorating International Women’s Day yesterday gathered near the Horse Statue monument before holding a long march to the Aspiration Park in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

IWD is commemorated globally on March 8 to commemorate the gains won by women working in economic, political and social fields.

About 65 different social organisations took part in the long march with rally organisers estimating that thousands of people took part in the rally.

READ MORE: International Women’s Day

The protesters, who wore various kinds of head bands, arm bands and purple banners, were not just made up of women, but men who also took part calling for women’s equality.

Taking up the momentum of the 2019 presidential and legislative elections, the theme taken up IWD 2019 was “An Independent Political Platform for Women”.

This year’s peaceful action focused on the movement to awaken women’s consciousness and demand political space for women which is democratic, equal and free from violence.

“We know that the state has failed to provide security and protection for us, women, because we are still seen as objects, we are seen as dead objects which have a voice but our voices are never listened to, our voices have been lost from the Indonesian political stage”, said IWD committee member Dian Septi in a speech.

‘Child marriage, no!’
The peaceful action was also aimed at calling for women’s rights and other demands such the exploitation of women, sexual violence, decent wages, polygamy, child marriage and for the ratification of the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS).

“Polygamy, no; child marriage, no; RUU PKS? Yes!,” shouted the protesters.

Following the action, representatives from IWD 2019 planned to meet with the Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection in order to convey eight types of problems being faced by women:

• women and labour;
• women and education;
• women and sexual violence;
• women and health;
• women, identity and expression;
• living space and agrarian rights;
• women, policy and legal protection; and
• women, media and technology

Translated by James Balowski of Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Peringati Hari Perempuan Internasional, Aktivis Long March ke Istana”.

When the women of Bougainville march today to mark International Women’s Day, the recent violence in Buka will be at the front of their minds.

Fighting, which claimed two lives and resulted in the torching of 34 houses on nearby Sohana Island is easing, according to Helen Hakena of the Leitana Neham Women’s Development Agency.

But Hakena said that as the autonomous Papua New Guinea province prepares for an independence referendum in October, it needs to be united and for that reason the theme of the march is “We Are More Powerful Together”.

“United people moving together towards referendum. We don’t want to be divided so today the women are calling for that,” she said.

“We will be calling for a total ban on alcohol because that is also triggering a lot of violence around Buka and the rest of Bougainville.”

Helen Hakena also said the women want to see illegal weapons surrendered because they were still being used to frighten people.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

Dozens of women held a rally at the Zero Kilometre point in Indonesia’s Central Java city of Yogyakarta to commemorate International Women’s Day yesterday.

Taking up the spirit of feminism, the women, who came from a number of different groups, took up issues related to gender equality in Indonesia.

Action coordinator Adinda Aurellia said that Indonesian women hope that through the commemoration of IWD they could demand the rights that they should be afforded.

“We are voicing many demands at this year’s event in the framework of commemorating International Women’s Day, because there are in fact still many regulations in force that repress women,” said Aurellia.

The many cases of violence that still occur against women was also one of the topics taken up at the action.

This is bearing in mind that violence against women is an issue that to this day is still widespread because of the prevalent stereotypes about women in society that still see them as weak.

Through the rally on Thursday, the protesters hope that gender equality can truly be realised in Indonesia and that discriminative behaviour against women will no longer occur.

Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was “Peringati ‘International Womens Day’, Puluhan Perempuan Gelar Aksi di Titik Nol Kilometer Yogya”.

• More Indonesian articles
• International Women’s Day in Auckland

The Zonta Club of Auckland “celebrated change” through its yellow rose awards on International Women’s Day today.

Speakers included Michelle Kidd, QSM, of Te Rangimarie Charitable Trust, Latayvia Tualasea Tautai of the National Council of Women, and Rez Gardi, young New Zealander of the Year for 2017.

The celebration was at the Ellen Melville Centre in Freyberg Place and the Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was on hand to take some pictures.

This year also marks the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.

• Zonta District 16 – New Zealand

Zonta NZ Women's Day Awards

1 of 12

Vanuatu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade is proud to have two women appointed to the top positions of First Political Adviser and Second Political Adviser – Anthea Arukole and Jeanette Yiu-Hing Faerua respectively.

These two are the only women to occupy these leading political adviser positions in the current government.

It is also believed to be the first time in Vanuatu’s history that women have occupied both first and second PA positions in a single government ministry.

There have been many efforts and initiatives to advance women in political participation and decision making in Vanuatu and when the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ralph Regenvanu, took office in December last year and appointed women into the two key positions in the cabinet, it gave comfort to the gender advocates that there are male champions who are committed to advancing women.

This is very positive news for Vanuatu on International Women’s Day.

Both women have been key figures in the Graon mo Jastis Pati (GJP) since it was established

Arukole is an active member of the national executive of GJP and is not new to the First Political Adviser position.

Foreign Affairs move
She was previously the First PA at the Ministry of Internal Affairs prior to moving to Foreign Affairs.

Before taking up the First PA role in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in February 2017, GJP Minister Alfred Maoh had another woman as his First PA, Emily Tumukon.

“Having been part of the national executive of a political party for has helped to grounded me for my role as a political advisor and i am no stranger to leadership and management roles,” Arukole said.

“While being first political adviser is challenging, I have a lot of support within the party as well as from senior officials of government whom I encounter.

“It helps also that the current Acting Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also a woman, Roline Tekon.”

Minister Ralph Regenvanu said he was very satisfied with the performance of his two key political advisers to date.

Vanuatu Daily Post media director Dan McGarry was full of praise for his editor, Jane Joshua, author of this news story, on International Women’s Day. In the last four years alone, he said on Twitter, Joshua had written nearly 270 front page stories for the Vanuatu Daily Post.

To mark International Women’s Day tomorrow, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is publishing a report entitled “Women’s rights: Forbidden subject” which sheds light on the difficulties that journalists – both women and men – can encounter when they cover women’s rights.

Covering women’s rights does not come without risks for reporters.

RSF has established that from 2012 to 2017, the rights of at least 90 journalists in around 20 countries were seriously violated because they dared to cover or talk about women’s rights or gender issues.

Several months of research has yielded the following chilling breakdown of these cases:

• 11 of these journalists were murdered,
• 12 were imprisoned,
• at least 25 were physically attacked, and
• at least 40 others were or are still being threatened on social networks.

Gunned down
In India, Gauri Lankesh, the editor of the secular and feminist weekly Gauri Lankesh Patrike, paid with her life for articles that criticised the woman’s place in the caste system.

She was gunned down on September 5, 2017.

In Iran, many feminist journalists have been subjected to judicial harassment and imprisonment in connection with their writing.

They include Mansoureh Shojaee, who now lives in exile, and Narges Mohammadi, who is still detained.

However, it is not just women journalists who are persecuted by the enemies of women’s rights.

‘Fake news’ charge
In Somalia, Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim was arrested and sentenced to a year in prison on a fake news charge after he interviewed a rape victim.

“Journalists should not have to risk their lives in order to cover women’s rights in 2018 but unfortunately they do in many parts of the world,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“In this report, we show how press freedom’s predators obstruct investigative reporting and coverage of women’s rights by journalists, both men and women.

“And we offer very clear recommendations for ensuring that both halves of humanity enjoy the right to equal treatment by the media everywhere, without which we cannot talk of journalistic freedom and pluralism.”

Predators with many faces
Who are the people who prey on women and journalists? RSF’s report initially identifies extremist religious groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State.

In the United States, journalists who cover abortion rights receive death threats from pro-life groups.

Criminal organisations often seek to silence reporters. In Mexico, covering the many murders of women in the northern state of Chihuahua is particularly risky.

Authoritarian regimes – led by those in China, Turkey, and Egypt – are also opposed to letting women’s issues become a subject of public debate.

In France, Canada, and many other countries, hordes of enraged internet users unleash cyber-harassment campaigns against journalists. When the victims are women, the attacks become even more virulent and usually acquire a sexual dimension.

In response to the persecution, some reporters have had no choice but to flee into exile, some have stopped reporting, and others have chosen to resist.

In this report, RSF pays tribute to all of these journalists and offers recommendations to governments, international organisations, online platforms, and news organisations so that women’s rights are no longer regarded as a taboo subject and journalists who want to cover this issue can do so freely.

Reporters Without Borders is a Paris-based media freedom watchdog. Pacific Media Watch works close with RSF.

• More gender articles

Young Papua New Guinean women and girls must be encouraged to enter into a broad range of careers and be involved in decision-making, says a ward councillor in in Lae.

Carol Yawing, the only woman in the Lae urban local level government, said parents must take the education of girls seriously.

Her comments came days after Papua New Guinea celebrated International Women’s Day with the rest of the world this week.

Her plea also followed the visit of Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who also spoke out in support of better educational opportunities for girls.

By Katharina R. Lestari in Jakarta

More than 1000 Indonesian women took to the streets of Jakarta this week to demand greater respect for women’s rights and gender equality.

The women marched through the city centre at the weekend and converged on the presidential palace to mark International Women’s Day that fell on Wednesday.

“Women’s rights in this country are not recognised, which is seen in the way laws, which should protect us, often neglect us,” march organiser and women’s activist Ririn Sefsani said.

She cited the high maternal death rate among Indonesians as an example.

“Indonesia has an abnormally high maternal death rate when compared with many other countries,” the programme manager for activist group Partnership for Government Reform, said.

Child marriage, a lack of healthcare facilities and poor or non-existent reproductive health education were to blame for many deaths, she said.

Indonesia recorded 359 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in 2012, according the latest government figures, more than triple the rate in 2007, which stood at 102 deaths per 100,000 births.

Child marriage
Child marriage is also a major obstacle to a woman’s right to an education, Sefsani.

According to the Indonesian Statistics Agency, about 340,000 Indonesian girls aged 15-18 get married each year.

Indonesia is ranked 37 on the global child marriage index and is the second highest in Southeast Asia after Cambodia.

Indonesia’s marriage law says the minimum age a woman can get married is 16, but this is often flouted with many 15-year-olds or even younger being married off without any intervention from authorities.

“No more child marriages. No more maternal deaths,” Sefsani told the women protesters, as she called on the government to make sure that people’s rights laid out in the Constitution applies to both men and women.

Women’s rights activist Musdah Mulia called for equality across the board and an end to patriarchal and discriminatory regulations which are a contributing factor behind violence against women.

“There must be no discrimination based on anything including religion,” she said, singling out bylaws discriminating against women.

Discriminatory bylaws
According to the National Commission on Violence against Women says there are more than 400 discriminatory bylaws targeting women across Indonesia.

In Aceh province, which adopts stricter Shariah-based rules and where women are often caned if they break them, one bylaw bans women from straddling motorcycles.

Women should unite to stop all forms of violence, including that done in the name of religion, Mulia said.

Using the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8), media unions and journalist groups jointly launched a campaign emphasising a critical media need to protect women’s right to voice freely and safely in the online space.

“Today we celebrate the great gains made by and for women around the Asia-Pacific, but we also recognise that a lot more work is needed to support journalism on digital platforms,” the IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

“The internet is a vital space of opportunity for gender equality, but it can also present an enormous threat to freedom of expression if left unchecked.”

Online harassment, trolling, abuse, cyber bullying and death threats increasingly have a disproportionate gender dimension, according to the IFJ. It has monitored the rising threat to women’s voices online and documented a pattern of abuse, particularly prominent in South Asia.

These findings are backed by other research that shows women are three times more likely to encounter abuse online than men.

Byte Back Campaign
The IFJ Byte Back Campaign is intended to raise awareness to document, share information, and shame trolls; encourage support for all journalists to develop skills to combat threats online and support others; to drive media and government policy reform and to push for strong commitments by governments and online platforms to take strategic approaches to dealing with threats and abuse in a meaningful way.

“Online abuse is intended to silence voices and push women out of the media and critical spaces,” the IFJ said. “More than ever we need women journalists to join the media and to write and voice perspectives on issues that otherwise would not be heard. Journalists of all genders; their unions; media houses; moderators of social media platforms; the public and governments must take firm steps towards ensuring women’s rightful place in the digital world.”

The campaign is part of a wider IFJ strategy for gender equity which includes improving equal access to leading newsroom positions for women and men; closing the gender pay gap in journalism; strengthening equal treatment for workers; developing and implementing gender equality policies in the newsrooms; and securing fair and balanced gender portrayal in news content.

“It is only when these critical online spaces and voices are protected and defended that we can see a diversity of information, analysis and opinion co-exist and contribute to building healthy and vibrant democracies in Asia.”

Join the IFJ Byte Back Campaign by using the hashtags #DontTroll #DefendMyVoiceOnline

Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede, an activist for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), was there to capture some images.

The global rallies climaxed in Washington, DC, following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Del Abcede’s video clip.

Women's solidarity march in Aotearoa

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More than a million people have poured into the United States capital to march in opposition to President Donald Trump, a day after the Republican took office, as sister demonstrations took place in cities across Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Women and men of all ages took to the streets of Washington, DC, rallying around issues like women’s rights, reproductive rights and immigration to mark International Women’s Day, reports Al Jazeera.

The march was supposed to be along the National Mall, the stretch of parkland that runs from Congress to the White House.

But it spilled onto Pennsylvania Avenue, the street where the new president and property tycoon now lives, and where his Washington-based hotel is.

The global protests began in Auckland as more than 2000 people turned out to march for global women’s rights in New Zealand’s largest city just hours after incoming President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington.

Many carried banners and placards as they marched from the US Consulate, near Britomart central railway station, up Queen Street to Myers Park in the heart of the city.

Some placards read “Women of the world unite”, “Our Planet Our Future”, “Girl Power”, “Human Rights are Women’s Rights”, “My Body, My Rights”, “Men of Quality Respect Women’s Equality” and “No Hate Mongering”.

Many marches took place in other cities across New Zealand.

In Auckland and many of the global marches, women protesters wore knitted pink cat-eared “pussy” hats, a reference to Trump’s admission to having committed sexual assault in a video that was made public weeks before the election, sparking outrage.

Video: Del Abcede

The Pacific nation’s leading rugby organisation, Samoa’s Rugby Union, has hosted its first Samoa Women’s Rugby Conference and has announced it will be making this an annual event.

The conference was held earlier this month to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8 in the capital Apia. It highlighted the importance of supporting and encouraging the country’s women in rugby.

The SRU’s women’s development officer Toluiva Keneti says the event’s main focus was to address the issue of gender imbalance prevalent in the sport.

“We are looking at using rugby as a tool to break barriers and stereotyping in the community, especially for women playing rugby,” she said.

Senior programme officer for the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development Robert Wong Sin says there are numerous cultural barriers that contribute to the impediment of women’s participation in rugby but he believes things are changing.

“The idea that ‘rugby’s a man’s sport’ or those stereotypes that women are too fragile… those barriers are slowly starting to break down.

“Families are embracing the idea of having their girls participate in more physical sports,” he says.

Room for improvement
Wong Sin says although things are getting better, “there’s still a lot of room for improvement and definitely lots more room for participation”.

The SRU Women’s Rugby Conference took place over the course of two days and brought in 15 female secondary school teachers to partake in workshops to become coaches, referees and sports administrators in their schools.

According to SRU there are currently just over 500 registered female rugby players in Samoa but Keneti says the union lacks female coaches and referees and believes conferences like these will increase female contribution to the sport.

Samoan National Rugby League (NRL) game development manager Gabrielle Apelu is the country’s last remaining pioneer of Samoan women’s rugby and says she understands the challenges of sportswomen best because of her background in rugby but believes Samoa is given a bad rap from New Zealand on issues of gender equality, especially in sport.

“Most Western philosophies that categorise women and barriers to sport never take into consideration cultural values and standards and quantify results in Western terms which are very often misleading and badly interpreted.

“In this day and age there is no stigma. What changes are women’s priorities,” Apelu says.

Chairwoman of the Samoa Women in Sports organisation Nynette Sass says as Samoan women grow up their domestic responsibilities influence their decisions and their focus shifts to their family.

Sports active when young
“Girls are usually active in sports when young, but progress to refrain from sports as they get up to the university level to focus more on studies. By the time they are in the workforce, they’re required to work and prioritise their families and all other obligations ahead of themselves, hence there is no time to do what is deemed at times as frivolous activities.”

United Nations Samoa representative Mele Maualaivao says financial challenges are also a contributing factor to sports lacking female involvement.

“If women’s sports were able to be the great income earner that they are for men, many more young women would be encouraged to play professionally,” Maualaivao says.

Nynette Sass says encouraging women to play rugby also has health benefits for the nation.

“Samoa is waking up to the realisation of the bad effects of a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating of processed food with increasing numbers of people falling prey to Non Communicable Diseases (NCD). Lately the message has really hit home with the increase in cancer deaths.”

According to the World Health Organisation half of all adults in Samoa are at high risk of developing NCDs such as cancer, diabetes and obesity. A report by the Samoan government last year showed that cases of high blood pressure and obesity have almost doubled in the past 10 years.

Domestic violence
Keneti, Maualaivao and Wong Sin are taking their gender balance message beyond rugby and sport. They are also encouraging women to take a stand against domestic violence through their initiatives.

A study carried out by the WHO last year found that from the 1640 women aged between 15 and 49 years surveyed 65 per cent of respondents reported violence that was either physical, emotional or sexual.

According to Wong Sin, initiatives through sport are the most efficient and effective way to strive toward addressing issues like gender equality.

“In sport there should be no discrimination. Sport encourages team building and character development and develops leadership. So we feel having this forum sustained over the next few years will encourage women to take essential positions not only on the field but also in the background and contributing to sports development overall.”

Keneti says initiatives like the SRU conference are educating women to stand up to violence and encouraging women to play alongside men.

This, she says, nurtures a sense of equality, which can build confidence to face any environment and to “never go silent”.

“This is not just about rugby itself, it’s not about a rugby ball, not about how famous rugby can become in Samoa: it is about educating women that it is a game for all,” she says.

Maualaivao believes “it is an exciting time to be a woman in Samoa,” and says she is optimistic about bringing change in attitudes toward women’s issues in Samoa.

“Any time a woman is asked to think of herself as a woman first, it can bring enlightenment to her situation and to her understanding of the challenges she may face.

“Empowerment of women is key to all other aspects of gender equality being addressed.”

Anuja Nadkarni is a journalism graduate from AUT and is completing her Honours degree in Communication Studies. She is currently on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course.

While the world was busy celebrating Women’s Day on March 8, in Fiji many women from different communities were struggling for their basic needs.

“In my community, I want to see improved infrastructure including proper crossings and bus shelter,” says a woman from Lautoka, Alecy Amua, who is worried about children’s safety.

“I want young people to access the training and support they need,” says Amacy Antonio of Suva, who is concerned about the violence and bullying in the communities that encourages suicide.

The irony is that the voices of these women are unheard and this leads to major issues that women are facing in Fiji.

“Women in Fiji have been recently facing issues related to food security, market economy, health, infrastructural problems — which are long standing — and access to the water,” says Sian Rolls, programme associate media advocacy of the regional feminist media organisation FemLINKPACIFIC.

“Women from significant communities are apathetic to the issues because they haven’t had the opportunity to access to the leadership or communication training or to speak for their family, for the community or for themselves.

“They cannot find a way to reach out to the local government agency.”

Lengthy, tiresome communications
The process of informing the government about the problems is not only lengthy but also tiresome.

For people living in a settlement, they have to take their issues through the advisory council.

Information is then taken to the district level and finally feedback is sent back to the community.

For those living in a village, they need to work through the provincial council.

Both systems still prefer men for communicating about issues.

This means major gender discrimination and ultimately women are excluded from the decision-making process.

However, the Fiji government has shown improvements in some areas.

Women in Parliament
Fiji has the highest number of women in Parliament in the Pacific – 16 percent.

There are also four women in the Fiji cabinet.

But local areas are underprivileged and women from these communities need government attention.

In 2014, the national gender policy was adopted. But such information is not making its way down to the advisory council level or provincial council level — or even to the villages.

Lack of education about the policy at local level means officials need to be reminded to include women in development planning.

In fact, women are facing problems about articulating their issues and fighting against gender discrimination.

Community radio
To give a voice to Fiji women, femLINKPACIFIC launched its own community radio in 2004.

The purpose of the radio was to bridge the gap between young and older women. Young women are keen to learn new technology whereas older women have not been able to present their issues.

The radio is a platform where women can raise their voice together and solve community issues.

FemLINKPACIFIC’S Sian Rolls believes that the more women are invested in, the better off their community is. With the objective of making women self-sufficient, they are willing to create an environment for their voice to be heard.

While FemLINKPACIFIC’s work is not focused on disaster and relief, its Women’s Weather Watch network and campaigns have been reflecting weather patterns. Its advocates say this programme is the only women’s centre information and communication model being used in the Pacific.

“As a leader I want to see myself, first to be a reliable person and well educated. I must work out my time between my family commitments and socialisation,” says Luisa Yalobula.

She is the leader of Bulileka Women’s Group and thinks that tradition, education, sometimes husband, source of income and communications are the barriers for the leadership.

Rolls says: “It is not only about changing the stories, but it is about bringing their voices to the society. Because when a woman shares her story, experiences on a multimedia platform, it makes a lot of difference in people’s mind.”

After Cyclone Winston
Fiji women used to consider themselves secondary to their husband and children. Because of that they are compromising their own health to make sure that their children’s requirements are taken care of, say advocates.

This includes pure water and hygiene issues. Usually dignity packs do not come with the immediate relief supplies, which accelerates women’s hygiene issues.

In Vatani Kaba village, Tailevu, for example, women need to travel a lot to access basic healthcare. Women have to spend almost $200 to get to the nearest main medical centre.

They have to catch a bus to a jetty and then they have to catch a bus for a nearby town and if they have to go to the capital, Suva, then again catch another bus to reach to centre.

Also, women from this village are facing major issues related to pure water. They have one pool in the middle of the village and it is the only source for them to get pure water.

In 2014, the women got vaginal infections for not getting the pure water.

Now far worse
It took 8 months for their recovery but again a dry spell and Cyclone Winston have made things worse for this village.

FemLINKPACIFIC’s programme associate network coordonation Frances Tawake says: “Many families have moved to the mainland because of the poor access to water in Vatani. If this problem is not solved now, no one will be left at the village.”

The government has not taken this issue seriously even though women have been talking about it in their district meetings.

“We will continue to voice our issues about water until it gets fixed. We will not lose hope. Our grandmothers, our mothers have gone through this and now it’s our turn. This water problem should not continue,” says Merewairita Nasiri, 39, from Vatani Kaba, who is determined to solve this issue for her village.

Apart from this, many of the women have lost their homes and now they are facing problems in terms of their shelter.

“Internal displacement is becoming a major issue for the women. Women are forced to move to the urban centre which may lead to the possibility of sexual exploitation. We do have some sexual harassment cases from the evacuation centres.”

Menka Goundan, a research officer from the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, gave some insights about the women’s condition after Winston cyclone.

“In some cases, because of the economic insecurity, women are forced to provide one meal a day to their families. Also, some of the families are less likely to send their girl child to school,” says Goundan.

Cyclone Winston first struck western Fiji early last month before double backing and devastating the country on February 20 with a death toll of 44. It has been more than a month now since for these women to try to rebuild normal lives again.

Ami Dhabuwala is a postgraduate student journalist at AUT University. She is reporting on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course.

“Coinciding with this March 8 – as International Women’s Day – we women also have the right to equal wages and prosperity,” said one of the women protesters in a speech.

Based on Tribun Jabar’s observations, a number of police personnel were mobilised to secure the protest action.

Several worker representatives also entered the city hall in order to meet with officials and discuss their demands.

Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report in Tribun Jabar was “Buruh Perempuan Demo Menuntut Kesetaraan Upah di Balai Kota Bandung”.

By Mary Jack Kaviamu

My journey started in 2008, when I sought the endorsement of community leaders in my home island of Tanna to contest the Vanuatu provincial elections. I didn’t get their approval. I was told it is against kastom for women to be in Parliament, and that I wasn’t prepared to take up such a challenge.

I tried again in 2012, this time paying my candidate fee without the approval of the community chief. When the community leaders learnt of this, they organised a meeting to stop me from contesting. They asked that I give up my candidate fee to a male candidate of their choice, promising in return that they would support me in the 2016 national general election.

I respected their decision and gave my ticket away. Their male candidate failed to win.

In 2015, cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu, with Tanna being one of the worst-hit islands. Women bore the brunt of the devastation, forcing them to seek out new ways to survive. A realisation began to dawn that it was time for them to stand up and speak for themselves.

After numerous meetings with women groups, the first ever Tanna Women’s Forum was held in October 2015. More than 1200 attended the meeting where women demanded change to a political system that held them down, tied them in poverty, and gave them no opportunity to speak out.

It was a breakthrough moment as many of these women have lived under threat all of their lives.

The women put their heads together and agreed it was time someone took the lead. I was nominated. The women agreed that I would contest the next general election scheduled for late 2016.

Just days later the government announced a snap election, effectively wiping out our time to put together an election campaign. We moved ahead, anyway, with membership numbers now standing at 3700. We had much confidence that we would secure one of the seven seats in the Tanna open constituency.

With very little time to prepare, I took on the challenge with much confidence. That as a solid membership of women we could succeed, and that even if we failed to win a seat, we would learn valuable lessons from the snap election experience that would better prepare us for the next general elections in 2020.

I had so much confidence. I wasn’t thinking of losing; our hopes based on the registration figures signed by women across the island.

Crossing controversial territory
The first obstacle was informing community leaders of our decision to field our own candidate – a woman. Working with a chief that I have close ties to, a community meeting was arranged whereby I would declare and launch my candidacy.

No one uttered a word, except a female friend who stood up, and much to my surprise, said: “I am not in support of women being electoral representatives in Parliament, and I am also against the policy of reserving seats for women.” I took this understandably as coming from someone speaking from her heart, but it also confirmed that the notion that women “do not belong in Parliament” was not held by men alone.

With no financial backing (other than two small personal contributions totalling 15,000 vatu) I had to dig into my own pockets to fund the campaign. I must say the election process is very expensive, with transportation in Tanna costing 20,000 vatu per day. We hired six public transport vehicles for the campaign.

We managed to visit (and revisit in some cases) 19 communities, speaking with roughly 700 men and women. Our slogan was Hemi Taem! (It is time!).

Taking centre stage during the campaigns was the most challenging. The questions and comments raised by communities were not difficult to answer, but there were also tricky ones coming from those who perceived us to be defying kastom.

‘You have not killed a fly or an ant, how can you prove that you can work like men in parliament. You are nothing but a woman.’

‘Our custom and culture perfectly points out your place – which is to look after the children, and mine (male speaking) is to do the talking. Where is your respect for this kastom? Are you from Australia that you don’t know our kastom? Who has given you this right to contest?’

‘Maybe we can vote for you in the provincial council election, but not to parliament.’

‘Our fear right now is the domestic violence law; we do not want our women to take those laws into their own hands.’

‘We don’t want to vote for women, because we don’t want women to have the right over us men.’

‘We don’t want our women to vote for women. If they do, we will divorce them.’

In a lot of places, prior to our campaign meetings, there would be community meetings, most held in the nakamal where “consensus” was often reached for all community members to vote for a particular candidate.

In some cases, I wasn’t allowed to go and campaign – even to speak to just the women. In one case, some women called me and said: “Mary, please don’t come to our community as you will not be allowed to speak here.”

Discrimination and the threat of violence
The campaign revealed that culture is a main contributor to the limitation of woman’s influence in politics. I’ve seen how a lot of people are reluctant to vote for a woman.

We did not receive discrimination from men alone, but women also. The discrimination we received was more on emotional violence. Discrimination against women in the society was very obvious at the time of campaigning and we observed how discrimination was somewhat based on a woman’s age, her marital status, her level of education and economic status.

And as such, a woman may not be considered to be valuable or worthwhile if she does not fit the collective representation of both men and women.

Personally, I was able to endure a male-dominated political campaign period, but stories of threats of violence experienced by some women have just been unbearable. There are many of such accounts, ones that I share with a sad heart.

This is one woman’s account of the threat she received from her partner the night before the poll:

I was already in bed pretending I had fallen asleep for some hours, but my husband came up and woke me up. He held a knife to my throat and demanded that I tell him who I was going to vote for. I was so afraid, I did not speak. He told me to speak or else he would beat me. I started crying. I was short of breath and was shaking. I cried out, “please help me … someone listening outside, please help me!”

But nobody came to my rescue because they were afraid of my husband. He pushed me down, punched me again on my stomach and head, and said he was giving me a chance to speak or else he would beat me up. He knew of my intention to support women in this election.

I begged him to let go of my throat or I was going to die, and I promised him that I was going to vote for the candidate of his choosing.

Another woman also had a similar story.

I saw you talking with those women, but I have stated clearly my rules and you have to follow them. We are going to vote for a male candidate and not for any woman. If you fail my words and I find out the numbers at our polling station, I will make you pay for it.

Other women were reportedly threatened by their partners to show candidate photos after they had cast their votes to prove they voted for a particular candidate. In some polling station, men threatened to divorce or physically torture their wives if results showed a significant number of women’s votes from that particular polling station.

A way forward
Political parties, as we know, are the most important institutions affecting women’s political participation. Even though our group knew we could have more support (moral and financial) from political parties if we ran under one of them, we still made the hard choice of running as an independent candidate.

We had a few reasons for this, with the main one being that bigger political parties filed their candidates in advance, leaving no space for women to contest under their ticket. Secondly, women still have a long way to learn about the processes and lobbying involved in politics.

In spite of the challenges women continue to face, I see a new generation of powerful women flourishing in Tanna. Women with a strong sense of identity and power.

Through our journey, many have come to understand that participation in the electoral processes involves much more than just voting. It is time to exercise the democratic rights that have either been ignored or violated over the last 36 years.

Through our journey in politics, many have come to appreciate that through political participation women can have the freedom to speak out for the first time in the island’s history, which they’ve done through campaigning, assembling, associating and participating.

I have seen the power of ordinary women who have stood up against injustices to say they are tired. I have seen the faces of those who shed tears because of so much ill-dealing and threatening within their homes and communities.

We have started a journey where we will continue to celebrate the united power of women who have taken the first steps to uncovering the multiple forms of discrimination and injustices. We shall continue to seek the empowerment of women to a level where they can think and speak for themselves.

Mary Jack Kaviamu has more than 10 years experience working with provincial government, which included a period as acting secretary-general of the Tafea Provincial Government Council. She worked at the Pacific Institute of Public Policy (PiPP) from 2010 to 2015 to implement a programme of political stakeholder engagement in Vanuatu. She is currently a manager for ActionAid. This article was first published on both Vanuatu Daily Digest and the PiPP blog and is republished by arrangement with PiPP.

In a report to be released today on International Women’s Day, the Gender Council of the International Federation of Journalists highlights high levels of gender discrimination and violence against women in the media across the globe.

“We have hit a plateau, a place where movement and change appear non-existent,” states the report, pointing at the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), which indicates every five years the place women hold in the news.

Its 2015 report starkly concludes that “Progress for women in news media has grinded  to a halt.”

The GMMP 2015 report, which was conducted in 114 countries with the help of some IFJ affiliates, shows that women make up “only 24 percent of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news, exactly the same level found in the 2010 report.”

These findings echo many of the regional and country reports presented earlier this year to the IFJ Gender Council. The reports, compiled by Gender Council members from around the globe, include snapshots of the situation for women journalists in: Palestine, Africa, Latin America, Europe, Mexico and Peru.

In many regions issues of violence, safety, continued bullying and harassment continue to undermine  women’s role in the media. In some regions, women suffer from  outright sexism and discrimination in the news rooms and hiring practices, while in others it is the lack of access to promotions and jobs, or continued rising of unemployment – with women having the lowest rates of re-hiring and most often forced into unstable working conditions.

“The aftermath of the financial crisis continues to impact many women journalists and their unions,” says co-chair of the IFJ Gender Council Mindy Ran. “with a return to the bad old days where equality is once again seen as a luxury item to be added on as an extra – not at the beating heart of our unions. It is a dangerous trend that will leave the most vulnerable forced out of the profession, or decision making posts in our unions, effectively erasing yet more of our voices.”

‘Our responsibility’
IFJ president Jim Boumelha said: “It is our responsibility to fight against any form of discrimination in the newsrooms.