Anonciata, a mother of four, survived a brutal raid on her town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but not without injury.
In 2010, militiamen broke into her home in Rutshuru, demanding she give them her teenage daughter who had fled upon their arrival. When she refused, they beat her and cut off her lips with a machete.
Tahrir Square, the site known around the world for Egypt’s historic revolution has another much more dubious reputation — as a dangerous place for women.
The formula for the attacks on female protesters in the square, they say, has become familiar and vicious: Men will surround a woman, separating her from her companions, grope her, sometimes ripping off her clothes, and sexually assault her.
Recenlty, various grassroots groups have sprung up to raise awareness and protect women in the square. Learn more here.
“I am a Muslim and a woman and if I’m trying to make clear the role of the Moroccan and Muslim woman, that we are not just confined and sitting in one corner, that has nothing to do with your faith and religion. It is almost fate for me. It’s my duty and my passion to show another facet of Arab women, the real Arab women to the Western world and the world in general. We are very strong, we’re human beings and we have our own personality on our own. We want to be seen like that. We don’t want this projection of the Western world or Islamic culture on us from both sides. We just want to be seen as human beings.”
“Frequently, you see women relegated to very traditional roles - I’ll build the robot, and you can be secretary for the group. Unless you’re very assertive, men can take over the group.” - Angela Bielefeldt, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Colorado Bounder
Join us for a live chat tomorrow at noon as we make sense of some of these numbers:
+ In 2008, 41% college freshmen males planned to major in science and engineering vs. 30% for women.
+ Only 19% of software developers are women.
+ Only 5.5 percent of commercial patent-holders were women.
Curious to know your thoughts on this, Tumblr. Especially those of you in school. How’s the gender ratio in your majors? How, if at all, does the gap affect you?
(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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HEAL Africa co-founder Lyn Lusi died Saturday from cancer at age 62. The organization, which stands for Health, Education, Action in the community and Leadership development, helps women in the Democratic Republic of Congo who suffer from assault and other traumatic injuries.
We featured her work earlier this month in ‘The Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman’: Healing the Eastern Congo.
On Jan. 12, 2010, a magnitude-7 earthquake rocked Haiti, killing some 223,000 people and leaving 1.5 million homeless.
(Haitians wash clothes in a stream on Jan. 8, 2011; Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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