North America | United States | Business

The CIA’s Top Directorates Are All Women — Reportedly For The First Time Ever

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CIA Director Gina Haspel — the first woman to ever head the intelligence agency — has appointed Cynthia "Didi" Rapp as the agency's deputy director for analysis. While Rapp isn't the first female to serve as deputy director of the CIA's Directorate of Analysis, her recent appointment has helped women break a major barrier at the CIA. According to NBC News, three of the CIA's top directorates are now headed by women — reportedly for the first time ever. Rapp's appointment follows Elizabeth Kimber's appointment as deputy director for operations in early December. According to The Hill
Latin America | Brazil | Crimes

Here’s The Viral Photo Of The Bloodied Man Female UFC Fighter Allegedly Beat Up For Attempted Robbery

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A female Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter allegedly beat a would-be robber on Saturday after the man threatened her and tried to steal her phone in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty-six-year-old UFC fighter Polyana Viana told MMAjunkie on Sunday that she was approached by a man while she was waiting for an Uber driver. After asking her for the time, he demanded she give him her cellphone and told her he was armed. Making a split-second decision, Viana decided the "gun" he claimed to have was likely "too soft" to be an actual gun and deployed two punches and a kick to the man, and as he
North America | United States | Crimes

In Chicago, women worried about violence join gun club

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Her hands slowed by rheumatoid arthritis, 71-year-old Marietta Crowder stands in front of her paper target, steadies her gun and pulls the trigger. Shots are fired in quick succession. Crowder is perhaps not the typical patron of a gun club. But she is one of seven women learning to safely handle firearms at a shooting range in a suburb of Chicago, a city wracked by gun violence and a soaring murder rate. "My husband influenced me and we thought about it a long time. Maybe you need a gun these days, in your house at least," said Crowder, who lives in a gated community with her retired
Europe | Portugal | Crimes

Portugal makes harassing women in the street a crime

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Anumber of countries have taken steps to make street harassment illegal. Portugal’s Social Democratic party has made verbal sexual abuse a crime, with offences incurring a fine of up to €120 (£95) or a year in prison. In Peru, a recently passed bill defines harassment as any act impacting the freedom and dignity of movement or another person’s right to physical and moral integrity, with such offences in public spaces carrying a maximum sentence of 12 years. And in Belgium, a law passed in 2014 introduced considerable fines and imprisonment of up to one year for street harassment crimes.
South Asia | Pakistan | Crimes

Pakistan province passes landmark law protecting women against violence

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Lawmakers in Pakistan's largest province on Wednesday gave unprecedented protection to female victims of violence, in a bid to stem a rising tide of gender-related abuse in a country ranked as the world's third most dangerous place for women. The new law criminalizes all forms of violence against women, whether domestic, psychological or sexual, and calls for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line and the establishment of shelters. Muslim-majority Pakistan, home to roughly 190 million people, sees thousands of cases of violence against women every year, from rape and acid a
Middle East | Palestine | Crimes

New hotline offers support to Gaza’s blackmail victims

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The all-female police unit in Gaza launched a campaign in October dubbed “We Are With You” to protect girlsof high school age and older from blackmail by men. Lt. Col. Nariman Adwan, chief of Gaza's all-female police unit, told Al-Monitor, “The campaign’s primary objective is to provide women with a safe haven if ever blackmailed. We have established a free hotline and held awareness and guidance lectures that targeted schools, universities, wedding halls and workplaces such as hospitals and factories. The main problem that women face is the lack of a safe haven and confiden
Latin America | Mexico | Activism

Leading Mexico City women draw up ‘manifesto’ to improve the city

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Tackling gender-based violence and unsafe public spaces are the main priorities for women in Mexico City, according to a diverse group of distinguished women who were invited to take part in a special discussion by the Guardian. The group – which included actors, singers, political analysts, human rights activists, journalists and students who live and work in Mexico City – debated the biggest issues and challenges facing women in 2015. The event was held in the garden of Casa Azul where Kahlo, arguably one of the world’s most influential feminists and female artists, lived and create
Latin America | Brazil | Activism

Brazilian women react after sexual comments are directed at a 12-year-old girl

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Women in Brazil are reflecting on their own childhood experiences - and sharing these stories on the internet in big numbers. It begun with a sordid episode on Twitter as the nation watched the junior version of Masterchef, the globally popular TV cooking competition. One of the contestants on the programme was 12-year-old Valentina Shulz and during one episode, several men started tweeting suggestive messages about her online using the show's hashtag. "Does anyone know the Twitter of Valentina? She will date me if she wants it or not," wrote one user. "If she wants it, it's not paedophilia
Asia | Cambodia | Activism

Cambodian women turn to tech in hope apps can turn tide of gender violence

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In Phnom Penh’s bustling cafes, hip-looking young people hunch over their mobile devices. According to Dany Sun, a women’s rights activist likewise armed with a smartphone, this relatively new trend is representative of modern Cambodia. But the technological progress, Sun observes, has not been accompanied by advances on gender equality. Traditional attitudes and cultural norms, which portray women as subservient and inferior to men, continue to underlie the country’s harrowing statistics on violence against women. Sun is one of three women who have been supported by the Asia Found
Latin America | Mexico | Activism

I Am Revenge: The Unheard Stories Of Female Vigilantes

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For the most part, the stories of women enacting punishment on others have been whispered—not adapted for the silver screen like their male counterparts. Below, we explore some of the women who, moral issues aside, have lived and breathed vigilantism: Since 2013, Mexico has seen an increase in grassroots movements led by women, sparked by a decades long battle with gruesome femicide, increased presence of drug cartels, and ineffective law enforcement. Many of these women-led vigilante gangs have been successful in removing leaders of drug cartels from their cities, and creating all-fe
Africa | South Africa | Crimes

Mostly Female Anti-Poaching Group Honored by UN

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South Africa’s Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit, a mostly female ranger group, received the Champions of the Earth award, the United Nation’s (UN) highest environmental prize, on Tuesday, according to the UN. The 26-member unit patrols the Balule Private Game Reserve, which lies within the Greater Kruger National Park. The 2 million-hectare national park is home to leopards, lions, elephants, cheetahs, and hippos, as well as the highly endangered black rhino. The Black Mamba Unit works to stop bush meat and rhino poachers, which has become increasingly difficult in South Africa
Latin America | El Salvador | Activism

Offering Protection to the Women of El Salvador

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Over the weekend Kuros!™ has been establishing pepper spray distribution networks across El Salvador, and distributing cans to different communities across the country. Currently in the midst of an extremely violent gang situation, pepper spray distribution in El Salvador is a very delicate balancing act, and one that Kuros!™ approached very carefully. In the past few weeks, the country has seen a record setting spike in violence; seeing between 35-45 reported murders per day in a country with roughly the same population as Chicago. All this in a country where many people live on less than
Africa | Kenya | Activism

The village where men are banned

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Jane says she was raped by three men wearing Gurkha uniforms. She was herding her husband’s goats and sheep, and carrying firewood, when she was attacked. “I felt so ashamed and could not talk about it to other people. They did terrible things to me,” says Jane, her eyes alive with pain. She is 38 but looks considerably older. She shows me a deep scar on her leg where she was cut by stones when she was pushed to the ground. In a quiet, hesitant voice she continues her story. “I eventually told my husband’s mother that I was sick, because I had to explain the injuries and my depres
South Asia | India | Crimes

Can the Safecity app make Delhi safer for women?

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The Safecity app lets women share their stories of harassment and abuse in public spaces in cities. Elsa D’Silva, one of its founders, says that women can use it to report “what happened, where it happened and when it happened”. D’Silva started to form the idea for Safecity during a visit to Sweden where, having recently begun working on women’s issues following 20 years in the aviation industry, she met the founders of HarassMap – a project that, among other things, uses online and mobile technology to work towards ending sexual harassment and assault in Egypt. Shortly after D�