Women's Rights

Minerva is a devoted, loving mother who has lived in North Carolina for the past 17 years. She first came to the United States seeking safety and special education for her oldest son who is blind as a result of complications from cancer. Minerva is the head of household for her 3 and 6 year old sons who are American citizens and her 21 year old son who has DACA. Since 2013, ICE has granted a routine stay of removal each year for Minerva and has given her permission to live in the United States. Minerva had her deportation suspended when she was granted prosecutorial discretion by the government several years ago, along with thousands of other people who were not a priority for deportation. Minerva has no criminal record, and everything has remained the same in her case, with no changes. However, when Minerva met with ICE in Charlotte on May 25th, they ordered her to leave the country by June 30. Instead of leaving, Minerva went into Sanctuary at UCC Church with her sons for almost 100 days. At that time, a federal judge vacated her stay which meant she could return home to Winston Salem until her court date in November 2018. Minerva's attorney, Helen Parsonage, continues to explore legal options to keep Minerva home with her children. Please share Minerva's fundraiser at GoFundme (Save Minerva from Deportation under Emergencies). Minerva needs you to sign this petition to help stop her deportation and keep her and her children together and safe in North Carolina. Minerva tells her story in her own words: "My name is Minerva Garcia. I am the mother of four children, and I would do anything for them. I have lived in the United States for 17 years, and I have worked and paid taxes here. I own a home in Winston-Salem, NC. My oldest son is a Dreamer, and my youngest two boys are American citizens. I have been ordered to leave the country at the end of June. Where I grew up, Guerrero, is one of the most dangerous places in Mexico. My oldest son is Eduardo. When he was 3 months old, he had cancer and was made blind. Guerrero was not safe, and there were no schools for him, so we came to the United States. My second son was Diego. Diego came with us to the United States, but when he was 9 years old he was diagnosed with leukemia. We had to fight cancer for a year and a half, and he died in 2007. My third son Antonio. He is here with me, and so is my baby, Mateo. They are three and six years old. They were born in the United States and are American citizens. I am a mother, and I have tried my whole adult life to be strong for my sons. I want them to grow up strong, kind, loyal, educated, and free. I know their best chance to be all of those things is to grow up here in North Carolina where they have always lived. If I am deported, Eduardo loses his mother's support and assistance, and I do not know what will happen to my sons. I fear they will not be safe. I fear they will not be free." Please help now by signing the petition to urge ICE to allow Minerva Cisneros Garcia to stay in the United States with her children.

I grew up loving the game of football. As often as possible, I’d watch the matches on television with family and friends, cheering on our favorite teams and players. But as a woman in Iran, I’ve never seen a single game played in my home country. Iran's largest stadium is named Azadi - which means "freedom" - and it seats 100,000 sports fans. However, not one of those seats is currently designated for Iranian women to freely enjoy sports.  Please sign my petition demanding FIFA use its power to call for an end to Iran’s stadium ban for women. Help me raise 100,000 signatures to represent the 100,000 seats of Azadi Stadium. Women are passionate sports fans just like men, and deserve to cheer on their teams in the stadiums. The fact that this discriminatory ban has existed for 38 years is appalling, and an assault on our right to free assembly. But the good news is that it’s not actually written into our law, and can easily be overturned – if we apply enough pressure on the right people. Iran is the only country playing in this year’s World Cup which bans women from stadiums, a direct violation of FIFA’s gender discrimination statute and their new human rights policy. Yet FIFA president Gianni Infantino has shown no sign of doing anything about it – in fact, he was recently photographed posing with Iranian president Rouhani the day after 35 women were arrested for attempting to attend a football game.  Sign my petition to demand that Mr. Infantino use his power to get Iran to end the stadium ban for women. Support #NoBan4Women. Thank you!  من از طرفداران فوتبال هستم، اما همیشه مسابقات رو فقط از توی تلویزیون دیدم و بخاطر دختر بودنم هیچوقت این شانسرو نداشتم که بازی تیم مورد علاقه‌ام رو در کشورم از نزدیک تماشا کنملطفا این طومار رو که برای پایان دادن به منع حضور زنان ایرانی به ورزشگاه‌ها به فیفا نوشته شده امضا کنید بسیاری از خانمها هم مثل اکثر آقایان طرفدار فوتبال هستند و این حق رو دارند که مسابقات مورد علاقه شون رو از نزدیکتماشا کنند. این مانعی که سالها وجود داره توهینی به همه ما زنان ایرانی است. خوشبختانه منع قانونی در این مورد وجودندارد، بنابراین، تغییر این شرط ممکن استایران تنها کشوری است که این اجازه را به زنان نمیدهد که این بر خلاف قوانین فدراسیون جهانی فوتبال است چرا کهتبعیض جنسیتی محسوب میشود. با  این حال تا کنون هیچ انتقادی از طرف فیفا مطرح نشده است. اگر همه ما خواسته خودمان را مطرح کنیم، فیفا قادر به نادیده گرفتن این وضعیت نخواهد بود فیفا یک مجمع بین المللی است و عده زیادی از زنان در این مجمع حضور دارند که به افکار عمومی اهمیت میدهند لطفا برای درخواست از فیفا جهت پایان دادن به منع حضور زنان به ورزشگاه‌ها این طومار رو امضا کنید Created by My Fundamental Right | Supported by Equality League

WE NEED YOUR SIGNATURE BY JUNE 19, 2018!   Senator Sue Serino (R, C, I—Hyde Park) and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D/WF—Manhattan), the bill sponsors responsible for successfully repealing the infamous "Tampon Tax," have teamed up again to help educate school-aged young women about their menstrual health. Support bill S. 8543/A. 10763 requiring the New York Commissioners of Health and Education to develop age-appropriate educational materials for endometriosis, and other menstrual disorders, to be made available to school districts and health care practitioners across NY State.  The goal of the bill is to raise awareness about these conditions to ensure that young women have the information they need to effectively advocate for their personal health. Given the seriousness of this disease, and the stigma often associated with discussing menstrual health, it is critical that the state makes an effort to educate young women on this important issue. New York State is taking the lead with this legislation so that all states follow suit to include the same educational materials in their school curriculums! Sign and Share https://www.endofound.org/letstalkperiod    

We, members of the international journalism community, are not prepared to sit through another ‘manel’, support organisations that disingenuously claim credit for gender equality initiatives, nor stay silent when female colleagues are sexually harassed before our eyes. Our industry has a responsibility to lead on gender equality in, and through, the media – broader social change depends upon it. Which is why we call on news makers and news readers alike to sign off on standards to which we will hold our news providers accountable. Because we are done pandering to the egos of change-resistant influential men in the hope that our gentle lead will eventually encourage them to join us on a meander towards gender equality in the news business. Time is well and truly up. Read the whole open Letter to end misogyny in the news here. 14 PRINCIPLES OF GENDER EQUALITY FOR THE NEWS INDUSTRY 1. Insist on gender equality in and through the media:  Globally, women represent well under 30% of leadership positions in newsrooms making the narrative of most publications skewed to the male perspective. Recent studies also show that mainstream newspaper journalists and commentators are dominated by men talking about what other men are doing. This imbalance is directly reflected in content, and in curation of panels and moderators at events throughout the news industry. It’s 2018 -  push back and make sure you/your organisation are not contributing to the problem. Bloomberg News’ recipe for embedding gender equality is a useful guide. 2. Use data to drive inclusive representation on panels, in leadership, on stage: “If you can’t count it, you can’t change it” This great point from Joanne Lipman is an important starting place. Most organisations feel that gender inequality is not their problem. But taking the time to map and measure is the only way to be sure. Track the gender of bylined authors, sources, speakers and editors to see how balanced your teams and content really are. Simply counting can lead to change. (Read about/listen to Lipman’s approach to leveraging data in the cause:) . Check out the BBC 50:50 gender balance challenge created by Ros Atkins, and see the toolkit produced by Gender Avenger. Also consider sharing these metrics so you can be held accountable in a spirit of transparency which should also help build trust in your organisation. 3. Call out sexual harassment and tackle it head on (on and offline): “I deeply believe we need an overall code of conduct for men to LEARN how not to treat women in professional setting. There is a lot to learn” Mariana Santos, Founder of ChicasPoderosas, has said. News organisations certainly need  detailed policies that deal decisively with harassment - on and offline. See Press Forward’s resources and read Julie Posetti’s 11-step guide to managing online harassment in newsrooms. 4. Don’t ghettoise gender-equality initiatives: Schedule feature content designed to empower women sources, journalists and editors on the main program, center stage, and on the front page. This is vital if the issues are to be taken seriously, and to ensure male participants are also educated and motivated to embrace change and collaborate on gender equality initiatives. “To relegate issues about women is double-binding - because it makes it a ghetto”- Catarina Carvalho, Editor in Chief, Global Media Group. 5. Create opportunities for women’s active participation: Consider sponsoring women (particularly those in low socio-economic circumstances) speakers and moderators - they generally have less economic power than their male counterparts. And what about sponsoring creche places to accommodate female professionals with primary care responsibilities for young children? (See also Hannah Storm’s 13 suggestions for a more inclusive conference) 6. Insist your partner organisations and contracted contributors abide by principles of gender equality: Ensure all conference partners, sponsors, moderators and speakers are aware of, have access to, and abide by organisational policies and codes of conduct on sexual harassment and gender equality. 7. Sponsors: consider using the funding stick to enforce gender equality standards Sponsors of journalism/media conferences & events should make funding contingent upon gender balance in the content, or directly fund female speakers and moderators. Audit content thoroughly after events and publication, and consider withholding funding if equality is not achieved as promised. Facebook, Google, Twitter, we’re looking at you (along with an array of Northern European media development funds and intergovernmental organisations). Alternatively, perhaps consider the carrot of a funding bonus for success? 8. Share the platform: If your event must include speakers or panels from partner organisations or sponsors, insist they nominate a woman/women with expertise. And if you’re a male executive asked to represent your organisation as a speaker, consider nominating a more junior woman to take your place. Experience grows from opportunity. 9. Mind conversation culture: Male dominance on panels and in meetings, interruption of women who are speaking, or explaining to women things they are perfectly aware of (‘mansplaining’) are the most common ways that women’s voices are silenced in work environments. Making your team sensitive to this and measuring contributions with simple apps (like this one) can help foster an environment where women can thrive. 10. Edit bias out of your hiring and selection  processes: The human brain is designed to use bias to navigate complex reality. It is not, however, designed to create equitable hiring and panelist selection procedures. We have to design programs and mechanisms to correct for bias by hand. For help, see Iris Bohnet’s (Harvard Kennedy School) recommendations on designing a bias free organization. 11. Sponsorship from the top: Achieving balance can’t happen as a grass-roots initiative. Without buy-in from the top, gender initiatives will pop up and peter out. Men sponsoring talented women for promotion is one of the best ways to set an example for management and build diversity into leadership. Adam Grant has some great advice on how to do this if men in your organization are nervous about mentoring and sponsoring women in the post-Weinstein world. 12. To pay equally, negotiate differently: Orit Kopel, CEO of the Jimmy Wales Foundation for freedom of expression and co-founder of WikiTribune, says that the responsibility for equal pay rests with the employer, not the employee. To pay women equally, don’t abuse women’s tendency to undervalue their contribution - give raises to those who deserve them, rather than to those who demand them. 13. Let women pull back and lean in when ready: Just because a woman refuses promotion when she wants to focus more on her family, doesn’t mean she will never want to put her career in high gear again. Many women choose to focus on their children when they are small. Once kids reach a certain level of independence, their parents’ capacity to ‘lean in’ tends to rebound in a big way. So, if a star player refuses once, try again. 14. Apply all of the above in reference to diversity more broadly. This includes race, class, and sexual orientation.