Feminization of HIV/AIDS
The feminization of HIV epidemics has been steadily on the increase globally. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 75 per cent of young people infected by the disease are females. Experts cite the lack of information on how female adolescents can protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, and sexual coercion and violence, and lack of sex and health education as major problems. The International Women’s Tribune Centre’s Women Ink Program is doing an excellent job in raising an awareness on this issue globally. This month, the issue of a monthly e-mail bulletin issue #77 is focused on the intersection between gender and HIV/AIDS. A book on “You, Your Life, Your Dreams and “Get the Facts”, a flipchart are printed for adolescents are produced by the Family Care International. The book on HIV and AIDS, edited by Alice Welbourne and Joanna Hoare, gives useful information on the analysis of the key challenge by HIV/AIDS on gender perspective in Cambodia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Papua New Guinea, the positive action by HIV positive women themselves, and community support. Gender Equality & HIV and AIDS: A Challenge for Education Sector, edited by Sheila Aikman, Elaine Unterhaiter & Tania Boler, to be released in August, will help those working on gender issue and HIV/AIDS in the field of education. The book gives new guide on the education of boys against violence against girls, and on teachers against sexual abuse of girls.
Filed under Gender Issues, World Affairs | Comment (0)Illusion of Virginity
In France, people are debating over Islam and Virginity. They focus on the virginity repair operation provided by private clinics for a price of around $3000 per one semicircular cut plus 10 dissolving stitches. Young Muslim girls living in Europe are customers of the hymenoplasty service to restor their hymen before the wedding night. This “illusion of virginity” is important for the girls, who want to be married in a Muslim tradition, because Muslim men have a traditional expectation of “breaking the bride’s hymen” at first intercourse of the wedding night. After one such operation, a girl said that virginity is more important to her than life. To be married, Muslim girl has to go to the extreme of getting a “Certificates of Virginity” to proof to friends and families, especially the groom’s family. When done properly by a qualified cosmetic surgeons, hymen replacement cannot be detected and produce the expected vaginal bleeding on the wedding night. This effort by Muslim girls to recapture their virginity is sociological significant in the modern life of big cities, not only in Europe and North America, but also in other Islamic mediteranean countries where girls have freedom of movement and sexal encounter at early ages. But the marriage rituals are based on an archaic tradition of treating the female body (not the male body) as sexual object. Muslim societies do not expect the men to be a “virgin” on Wedding day. This kind of debate is long overdued, not just in France, but a in all Muslim states that have officially opted for a democratic, egalitarian society. There is a contradiction between what the states advocate in the economic and social field at the various United Nations gatherings, and the decisions made in the sexual- rights and reproductive health. The demand for Muslim women to put on veil or to be a virgin on the wedding night represents the denial of the economic dimension and human right to self-determination of the women. Right now there are several court cases in France on this issue of virginity repair operation. Several marriages had be annulled after the groom found out that the bride went through hymenoplasty operation. The debate in the French Parliament touches on subjects such as the ground for dissolution of a marriage, equality of the sexes, and the intrusion of religion into modern daily life. Muslim women have to liberate themselves from the “Virginity Myth” first before they could think of achieving the United Nations Millennium development goal of gender equality.
Filed under Gender Issues, United Nations | Comment (0)“The Horse” Exhibition
The excellent exhibition on horses’ lives, ongoing at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, has given me not only the information on the physical and biological evolution of the horse, but also, new knowledge on how horses have shaped the world for centuries. We entered the exhibit area hearing sound of thunderous galloping and images of wild horses running freely in their natural environment. Then we saw the Botai diorama of horses lives and the inter-relationship between humans and horses. These wonderful audio-visual presentation were from all the regions of the World, from ancient to the present time - the involvement of horses in war and in peace. The artistic decorations on the horse body and on the saddle, sowned by hand, for male and female riders are stunning. The paintings of horses by early artists from the cave to art galleries around the World are also beautiful and inspiring. We saw also how horses are trained and domesticated by humans. Seeing the physical fragility of horses’ legs, I am concerned about what humans are doing to these majestic creatures - using them for funs and games of hunting, of Mongolian horseback sport, polo and horse racing. We must be sure to protect the horses from being abused by humans, especiall in agressive and dangereous activities. For example, in horse-racing, the track can be made to fit more to the fragile legs of the horses etc. I want to congratulate all the people involved, including the collaborators: the Abu-Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, the Arab Emirates, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau-Ottawa, the Field Museum of Chicago and the San Diego Natural History Museum for creating this marvelous exhibition.
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