Cambodia is still struggling to regain its footing after years of warfare and harsh regimes. The country is making great strides but one area it falls short in is women’s rights. A study conducted by ADHOC Cambodia in 2012 revealed how far behind the country is in protecting and promoting women. Women in Cambodia as subjected to abuses with little legal recourse available to them. Although women were granted an equal rights status during the 1990s, they are still considered lesser in Cambodian society. Domestic abuse, human trafficking, and sexual violence are daily realities for women living in Cambodia. [Read more…]
Malaysia – Is It Becoming a Hot Bed of Human Trafficking?
Malaysia’s human trafficking has grown significantly over the years. Even though it has not reached the levels of countries like South Korea and Thailand, it is still a serious problem. Men and are being forced into prostitution and labor by the thousands. The victims are mainly migrant workers coming to Malaysia to find work. Because of their undocumented status, it’s easy for them to disappear into the sex trade and other illegal work. The migrant workers have little protection against traffickers. Foreign women are especially vulnerable when working in Malaysia. [Read more…]
Women Victims of WWII Get Strong Support
During the Second World War, tens or even hundreds of thousands of women in Asia were made as sex slaves by the Japanese soldiers. Not many people knew about this until in the early 1990s when, one by one, these so-called comfort women gradually came out in the open to reveal their tragic stories.
Specifically, it was the women’s movement in South Korean that first raised the issue of forced recruitment of Korean women back in 1990. The movement’s sole purpose is to obtain recognition and compensation for surviving comfort women. A year after in 1991, a former Korean comfort woman testified in public and revealed her suffering during the war.
By 1992, women leaders in Korea and Japan including surviving comfort women and legal experts have called on international organizations to include the United Nations to investigate the matter and conduct hearings.
[Read more…]
Violence Against Women
There have been many crimes committed against the so-called weaker sex but none is more common than domestic violence against women.  Perpetrators of the said violence are usually husbands or common-law partners of the victimized women.  Countless women go through the painful process of domestic violence on a daily basis which makes it clear that help from a third party such as a charitable organization is required to rescue these women.
Records will show that women have been subjected to the most gruesome act of violence from the hands of their partners.  Some of these include acid throwing during fits of jealousy, female genital mutilation for suspected infidelity, forced prostitution and human trafficking of women who initially believed they were being married for love, marital rape, and sexual slavery, among others.  The list seem endless and more and more women are ending up as victims without any recourse for help.
Women in this situation should know that there are organizations which they can approach and ask help from. Â If it physically impossible to ask assistance themselves, they should find a way to get their message across through friends or relatives who can ask for help that will remove them from such a situation. Â People who know of women who are undergoing such cruelty are encouraged to report what they know especially if it is the only way to help these women.
Many women have already died, are carrying horrible deformities, or have totally lost their sanity because of being subjected to violence. Â It can be stopped but someone has to make it stop.
The Fistula Foundation
Fistula is a non-profit organization that aims to help women who have been abandoned by their husbands after suffering the dreadful birth complication. Fistula is an injury that results from prolonged labor which cuts off blood supply to the tissues of vagina and bladder. This results in the tissues death leaving a hole through which urine and feces pass through uncontrollably. This problem exists in countries where proper health care and practices are out of reach resulting in many women without husbands left to fend for themselves. With 100,000 new cases each year in the developing world, only a fraction of these women get the help they need. A total of 2 million women are affected by fistula worldwide and from that figure, only 6,500 get the medical treatment and attention they need to continue living a normal life. The birth complication has long been eliminated with the advent of cesarean sections which is not only costly but out of reach of most developing countries. Along with incontinence, nerve damage can also result in paralysis leaving the lower extremities useless taking away their ability to contribute as productive members of society.
The organization was put up by people who saw the debilitating effects of the childbirth condition when they were on volunteer work in developing countries as members of the Peace Corps. The organization was officially put up in the year 2000 and it has brought the plight of these helpless women to the media and many charitable organizations the world over. Relying on the efforts of private citizens’ doctors and other large organizations who regularly donate supplies and equipment, the organization has managed to help many women in the affected regions of Ethiopia. The foundation currently does most of its work there but that doesn’t mean that the complications do not affect other parts of the world. Countries where health care is still a luxury, there are higher cases and they work purely to educate the public about the dangers and debilitating effects of the birth complication that is Fistula.
Wacky Charities – Keep-a-Breast.Org
Breast cancer kills millions all over the world and like most killer diseases, early detection is the key. New treatments and diagnostic procedures aim to cut off the disease as early as possible to allow the best approach and combination of treatments that may result in reduction or prevention of the disease taking hold in the first place. The Keep-a-Breast Organization aims to raise awareness of the disease through one of the most innovative and wacky methods I’ve ever seen in quite sometime, taking plaster casts of breasts (the whole torso actually) and having prominent artists working with them, turning them into works of art for all to enjoy.
With tie-ups in media and other organizations, they hope to bring the message of prevention and care to all women they come across through exhibitions of their art (torso casts) along with mini-versions they offer at events such as concerts and exhibits of their collection.
The life-casts are made, painted and auctioned off to fund other awareness programs they hope to reach more of the younger generation with. From tee’s to other items, they do auctions and sell merchandise for the benefit of breast cancer awareness. Breast cancer is considered to be the the sixth most lethal disease that afflicts women from all ages which makes the call for better diagnosis and treatment all the more urgent. Support Keep-a-breast.Org and help women become aware of the risks and methods by which they can stay healthy and safe for the rest of their lives.
“Friends†Get Together To Help Women In Congo
They were the best of friends in the long running TV show Friends, and they are really close friends in real life as well. I am sure you know the people I am talking about – Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox. These girls have taken their friendship to great lengths, and now, they are getting together to extend a helping hand to some women who need it the most.
The friends are currently busy with a project which is aimed at empowering women in Congo. More than giving their verbal and public support, Aniston and Cox are actually spending time to help the cause out. One activity they engaged in was to take part in a dinner which helped raised awareness for their charity. They were joined by Sheryl Crow. The friends are now working on catching the attention of Senator Hilary Clinton.
The organization is called OmiPeace, which is actually a humanitarian fashion brand, and is run by Mary Fanaro, another friend (not a TV “Friend,†as I am sure you know). Courtney Cox is really passionate about what they’re doing. It was quite touching to read what she said: “OmniPeace was created to give back. I can’t think of a better way to support my best friend and all the work that she and OmniPeace do to donate to causes supporting peace, education, human rights and the end of extreme poverty by 2025. Mary’s passion is so contagious and wonderful. It has taught me that anything is possible with enough perseverance and tenacity.â€
To find out more about OmniPeace and how you can help, visit www.omnipeace.com/.
Colleges Benefit From Anonymous Donor
This is what I was talking about in my last post: people who give away what they have in order to help others who need it more. You have perhaps heard of this anonymous donor who has been giving away humongous sums of money to colleges all over the United States. I just saw it on FOX News last night, and boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
According to the New York Times, this is how the giving goes:
The call typically comes from a banker, bringing word of a fairy godmother. This is followed quickly by a check arriving in the mail — or two checks, the larger earmarked for scholarships for women and minority students, the smaller to be spent at the recipient’s discretion.
Take note of the gender – it is a woman who is giving away this money. While that should not really matter, it provides an interesting topic for conversation. Who could this woman be?
In any case, it does not seem that we are going to find out anytime soon. Even the recipients of the moneys are not allowed to find out who the donor is; not the school board, not the president, no one!
So which schools have been blessed with these donations? Binghamton University in New York, Montclair State University in New Jersey, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Michigan State University to name a few. And just in case you have no idea about the sums involved, reports say that the donor has given away a total of $70 million to date.
Colleges Benefit From Anonymous Donor
This is what I was talking about in my last post: people who give away what they have in order to help others who need it more. You have perhaps heard of this anonymous donor who has been giving away humongous sums of money to colleges all over the United States. I just saw it on FOX News last night, and boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
According to the New York Times, this is how the giving goes:
The call typically comes from a banker, bringing word of a fairy godmother. This is followed quickly by a check arriving in the mail — or two checks, the larger earmarked for scholarships for women and minority students, the smaller to be spent at the recipient’s discretion.
Take note of the gender – it is a woman who is giving away this money. While that should not really matter, it provides an interesting topic for conversation. Who could this woman be?
In any case, it does not seem that we are going to find out anytime soon. Even the recipients of the moneys are not allowed to find out who the donor is; not the school board, not the president, no one!
So which schools have been blessed with these donations? Binghamton University in New York, Montclair State University in New Jersey, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Michigan State University to name a few. And just in case you have no idea about the sums involved, reports say that the donor has given away a total of $70 million to date.
Colleges Benefit From Anonymous Donor
This is what I was talking about in my last post: people who give away what they have in order to help others who need it more. You have perhaps heard of this anonymous donor who has been giving away humongous sums of money to colleges all over the United States. I just saw it on FOX News last night, and boy, was I pleasantly surprised.
According to the New York Times, this is how the giving goes:
The call typically comes from a banker, bringing word of a fairy godmother. This is followed quickly by a check arriving in the mail — or two checks, the larger earmarked for scholarships for women and minority students, the smaller to be spent at the recipient’s discretion.
Take note of the gender – it is a woman who is giving away this money. While that should not really matter, it provides an interesting topic for conversation. Who could this woman be?
In any case, it does not seem that we are going to find out anytime soon. Even the recipients of the moneys are not allowed to find out who the donor is; not the school board, not the president, no one!
So which schools have been blessed with these donations? Binghamton University in New York, Montclair State University in New Jersey, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Michigan State University to name a few. And just in case you have no idea about the sums involved, reports say that the donor has given away a total of $70 million to date.