The UK government needs to listen to Iceland’s progressive prime minister when she says robust welfare policies are the antidote to far-right extremism. And what’s more, investing in social infrastructure – in care, in health, in schools – is essential to driving the growth the government wants, says Amy Brooker of the Women’s Budget Group.
Why the UK must take a bold stance against global attacks on women’s rights
Amid a worldwide backlash against women’s rights, and after its own aid cuts that further threaten those rights, it has never been more urgent for the UK government to speak up loudly for global gender equality, says the Gender and Development Network.
The era of anti-rights: what can you do about it?
With movements to roll back gender rights on the rise around the world, Kelly Mundy and Rachel Noble explain why the fight to protect them is more important than ever and set out three things we can do to support them.
How the pregnancy penalty supercharges global inequality
In a blog for International Women’s Day, new parent Anthony Kamande reflects on the heavy cost his partner and family have paid for the simple act of having a baby. The world, and especially its poorer countries, needs a pregnancy rights revolution, he says, and international funders such as the IMF must play their part.
Defying violence and repression, women are finding new ways to connect and campaign for human rights
Whether resisting oppressive laws in Zimbabwe, peacebuilding in the former Yugoslavia, or speaking up for migrants on the US-Mexico border, women are leading the push for rights across the globe. Anandita Ghosh introduces the latest issue of the Oxfam-edited Gender & Development Journal on “Women Human Rights Defenders”.
St. Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Healthy Relationships and Challenging Violence
This Saint Valentine’s Day, Bethan Cansfield and Lourdes Montero look at what it means to have a healthy relationship and how unhealthy ones may be formed. oday, many couples, in many countries will be celebrating Saint Valentine’s Day – or ‘El día de los enamorados’ (‘Day of Lovers’) in some Latin American countries. Whilst a chance to celebrate the spectrum …
A manifesto for a new era – or seven reasons why the Women’s March was different
Nikki van der Gaag reflects on her experience of the Women’s March on London; why Oxfam supported it, why it was different from past events and where we can go from here. t is not often that an ordinary citizen is part of something that they know will go down in history. But the Women’s March last Saturday was one …
This is not bad luck it is sexist violence
Damaris Ruiz, Coordinator of Women’s Rights for Latin America and the Caribbean, looks at the social acceptance of violence against women and what we can do to end it. “What bad luck I had with that man”. That’s what a teenage friend told me 25 years ago and I still think about this phrase with the same frustration. My friend …
Make education safe for all: Let girls learn!
Oxfam’s Gender Justice Programme Coordinator in Malawi, Anthony Malunga, reflects on Malawi’s education system and on what can be done to protect girls in the classroom and support their aspirations. lobally, education remains the key investment area needed by all countries to ensure they have current and future capacity for development. In Malawi, girls’ education is affected by multiple, socio-cultural …