Across Women's Lives Archives - The World from PRX
79 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsA daily public radio broadcast program and podcast from PRX and WGBH, hosted by Marco Werman
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Abortion is illegal in Malta. Activists are trying to increase access.
July 01, 2021 17:57On the predominantly Catholic island, abortion is illegal under all circumstances. During the pandemic, activists have strengthened networks to increase access to abortion information and services. The post Abortion is illegal in Malta. Activists are trying to increase access. appeared first on The World from PRX.
Iron Dames: The all-female team racing to bring change to motor sports
March 19, 2021 18:51The Iron Dames is one of just three all-female teams in the world. Far from a marketing gimmick, they’ve already qualified for big-name races and hope to lead the way for future female pilots. The post Iron Dames: The all-female team racing to bring change to motor sports appeared first on The World from PRX.
How women and girls are especially at risk of hunger during the pandemic
December 04, 2020 17:55They are more likely to go without food so others in their family can eat. And, for them, hunger leads to other dangers. The post How women and girls are especially at risk of hunger during the pandemic appeared first on The World from PRX.
Abortion increasingly hard to access in Turkey
October 05, 2020 18:55Abortion has been legal in Turkey since 1983, but the ruling AK Party and president have been chipping away at access to the procedure over the past decade. The post Abortion increasingly hard to access in Turkey appeared first on The World from PRX.
Afghan women negotiating with the Taliban say they feel ‘heavy responsibility’
September 23, 2020 18:25For the first time in two decades, members of the Afghan negotiating team are officially meeting with the Taliban to work out a peace agreement. There are only four women on the team, and they say they carry a heavy responsibility on behalf of women in their country. The post Afghan women negotiating with the Taliban say they feel ‘heavy responsibility’ appeared first on The World from PRX.
RBG’s early days in Sweden shaped her fight for women’s equality
September 21, 2020 19:15In the early 1960s, Ginsburg traveled to Sweden, and learned Swedish, to work on a law project with a Swedish scholar, Anders Bruzelius. Her observations of Swedish society opened up her eyes to the possibilities for women's equality in the United States. The post RBG’s early days in Sweden shaped her fight for women’s equality appeared first on The World from PRX.
Social media censorship in Egypt targets women on TikTok
September 18, 2020 19:10The government cites conservative values as the reason for policing music and dancing clips on the trendy video-sharing platform. The post Social media censorship in Egypt targets women on TikTok appeared first on The World from PRX.
A racial slur remains in hundreds of place names throughout North America
September 17, 2020 18:35Clashes throughout North America about the racial slur "squaw" is starting to lead to place name changes. The post A racial slur remains in hundreds of place names throughout North America appeared first on The World from PRX.
Latin American women are disappearing and dying under lockdown
August 25, 2020 04:20The pandemic worsened but did not create this problem: Latin America has long been among the world’s deadliest places to be a woman. The post Latin American women are disappearing and dying under lockdown appeared first on The World from PRX.
Polish activists fight against anti-LGBT movement
August 19, 2020 19:32 - 3.2 MBThis past Sunday, hundreds of far-right nationalists gathered at the gates of the University of Warsaw in Poland. They rallied against “LGBT aggression” and chanted taunts about a well-known activist known as Margot. Another group countered them, rainbow flags in hand, while a massive police presence kept them apart. Margot — Małgorzata Szutowicz — a 25-year-old nonbinary person who uses female pronouns, runs a radical, queer collective in Warsaw called Stop Bzdurom, or Stop the Nonsense, w...
Polish activists fight against anti-LGBT movement
August 19, 2020 19:32Poland is considered the worst country in the European Union in terms of gay rights. The post Polish activists fight against anti-LGBT movement appeared first on The World from PRX.
COVID-19’s cost to working mothers
August 06, 2020 18:37 - 44.2 MBIn early July, Deb Perelman, the food blogger behind Smitten Kitchen and a mom of two kids, penned an op-ed for The New York Times with a provocative title about life during COVID-19: “You Can Have a Kid or a Job. You Can’t Have Both.” Perelman described the struggle of caring for children while still trying to keep up with her work, a problem ultimately “solved” when her husband was furloughed and then laid off from his job. But research shows that in the majority of American households, wo...
Abortion is a protected right in Spain. But the govt blocked a website that provides abortion info and pills.
July 16, 2020 19:38 - 2.06 MBAccess to abortion in Spain is sacrosanct. The procedures are free — covered by the public national health care system — and allowed up until the 14th week of pregnancy for any reason; until the 22nd week with a doctor’s note; and sometimes after 22 weeks if there are issues with either the fetus’ or the mother’s health. Since abortion become legal in 1985, right-wing politicians have periodically made feeble attempts to limit or ban access to it. Each time it happens, though, the action is...
Women’s pro soccer made gains toward parity. Will coronavirus undo it?
May 14, 2020 18:43 - 2.33 MBProfessional women’s soccer players from around the world laced up in Paris last summer for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. A record 1.1 billion people watched the tournament, according to FIFA — a 30% increase from the 2015 event in Canada. Athletes on the field became household names, and players' jerseys hit record sales worldwide. Related: Two Berlin soccer teams now kept apart by COVID-19 Off the field, momentum was also rising. As women’s soccer was drawing more and more fans, the p...
Women leaders eschew ‘macho-man’ politics in COVID-19 response
May 11, 2020 17:05 - 2.24 MBThe day Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern imposed a strict nationwide lockdown in March, no one in New Zealand had died from the coronavirus. Compare that to the United Kingdon: 335 people had already died by the time Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the British public to stay home. Like many world leaders, Ardern held daily press conferences where she appealed to New Zealanders to unite in their battle against the virus. “We are all in this together,” she told them. Ardern streamed Facebo...
LGBTQ helplines see surge as queer communities face lockdown in hostile homes
May 05, 2020 19:30 - 2.84 MBWhile in lockdown, Betina, a young woman in São Paulo, Brazil, stays busy cooking and working. She tries to stay calm by meditating. But Betina, who identifies as a lesbian, faces another challenge. Her parents are homophobic, she said, and she doesn’t feel comfortable being herself while working from home because of the pandemic. “My parents make sure I know they are not OK with my ‘choices’ every day. And being a lesbian made them so disappointed in me that no matter what I do, it’s ne...
Ugandan archbishop breaks with tradition to promote birth control during pandemic
May 01, 2020 18:41 - 1.61 MBThe archbishop of the Church of Uganda has broken with tradition to publicly urge women to use birth control to avoid getting pregnant during the pandemic. Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, who was enthroned as archbishop on March 1, put the onus on women to prevent unwanted pregnancies. “I am really concerned [that] after [this] coronavirus situation, we will have many, many women who will be pregnant. Actually, we need to be careful. I want to call upon you women — don’t forget to use your contra...
COVID-19 interrupts fertility plans for hopeful couples in the United Kingdom
April 27, 2020 18:33 - 2.21 MBThousands of women may lose out on their chance to have a baby because of COVID-19. Fertility clinics across Britain shut their doors in mid-April, pausing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for many women midcycle. The decision has left thousands in limbo. No one knows when the clinics will open up again and for those who have spent years trying to conceive — the closure is a cruel blow. As lockdowns began, jokes were made about the baby boom in nine months' time. But it’s hard for som...
ISIS families held in Syrian camps face uncertain futures. Now, the coronavirus also looms.
April 17, 2020 21:21 - 2.66 MBFive years ago on a summer day, Michelle said goodbye to her sister who told her she found a job in Austria. Her sister had a friend there, so it wasn’t completely out of the blue. “When I hugged her, it didn’t feel like I was going to hug her for the last time,” said Michelle, who asked that her full name not be used and that her sister not be identified because she fears backlash against herself and her family. Related: Policymakers rush to stave off economic collapse on the African cont...
Rohingya women are traditionally kept out of leadership roles. Will the coronavirus change that?
April 16, 2020 15:16 - 1.89 MBWhile cases of COVID-19 in Bangladesh have surpassed 1,200, none so far have been reported in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps. Still, one refugee there, a mother named Chekufa Ra, speaking through an interpreter, described a feeling of overwhelming dread about what happens if there’s an outbreak. Ra said clinics and schools have closed, and many volunteers are gone. It’s difficult to find food. And fear is rampant. The internet has been blocked, so many people don’t have basic informatio...
Buddhist nun recommends calming the mind to cope with pandemic
April 10, 2020 15:37 - 2.14 MBIn some religions, chanting helps to settle the mind and prepare it for meditation. As much of the world lives in isolation due to the coronavirus outbreak, many have suggested using the time to meditate and be in the here and now. Buddhists believe the path to enlightenment requires periods of detachment from the world — so self-quarantine offers an opportunity. Karma Lekshe Tsomo is a Buddhist nun and social activist who splits her time between India and the US. She is from California ...
How groups are helping domestic violence survivors during coronavirus lockdowns
April 02, 2020 18:51 - 1.65 MBSince the coronavirus outbreak began earlier this year, millions of people across the world have been ordered to stay home under the assumption that home is the safest place for them. But what if home itself isn't safe? That's the case for many survivors of domestic violence who are now stuck with their abusers for long periods of time, unable to get help. Some countries are trying to step in. France, for example, is funding hotel rooms for survivors of domestic violence. In China, dome...
Women in Mexico take to the streets to protest femicide
March 09, 2020 19:00 - 2.52 MBIn Mexico, women are having a historic moment. On Sunday, International Women's Day, tens of thousands took to the streets to demand an end to gender-motivated violence. Many are also following up this past weekend’s action by another form of protest Monday — staying home, not going to work, disappearing from public life. The idea of women striking has existed for years in different parts of the world, but this year in Mexico, it’s taken on a new life with the horrific, back-to-back murders...
Two key decisions on abortion in Colombia and Argentina this month
March 04, 2020 23:00 - 1.45 MBThe morning after Colombia’s Constitutional Court upheld a restrictive abortion law this week, two Congress members from opposing parties phoned into one of the country’s most popular radio shows and debated the decision. Rep. Juanita Goebertus, a member of the left-leaning Green Alliance party, favored expanding women’s access to abortion procedures, while Sen. Jhon Milton Rodríguez, a member of the evangelical Free and Just Colombia party, favored further restricting access. Goebertus an...
Thousands join march to fight against femicide in Mexico
February 19, 2020 22:49 - 2.63 MBWomen in cities across Mexico have been protesting almost daily in response to two horrific murders in Mexico City this month. Ingrid Escamilla, who was 25, was reportedly murdered and mutilated by her boyfriend, and Fátima Cecilia Aldrighett, who was 7, was abducted as she left school and found dead in a rural area. Related: Instagram art project spreads awareness about femicides in Mexico They are among the victims of an astonishing level of violence against women in Mexico — an averag...
Alyona Alyona breathes new life into Ukrainian rap scene
January 16, 2020 20:58 - 3.29 MBAlyona Savranenko grew up in a small village in central Ukraine. She had a modest upbringing, one she loved — featuring unpaved roads, cows grazing in the field and mushroom picking in the forests. She enjoyed swimming in the lake throughout the summer and ice skating on it during the winter. When Savranenko turned 6, she started writing poetry, and when she was a bit older, she would write pop songs. Then she turned 12, and hip-hop found her. “The first raps I heard were probably Ameri...
Haitian American musician Nathalie Joachim pays tribute to underrepresented women of Haiti
January 14, 2020 17:58 - 1.46 MBFlutist and composer Nathalie Joachim first came up with the idea for her debut album in late 2015. She was in Haiti, exploring her Haitian heritage and wanted to know about female artists from the island. Together with her parents, she could only come up with a dozen or so. "I was really inspired to make an album centered around the voices of female artist from Haiti largely because they're left out of Haiti's musical history." "I was really inspired to make an album centered around the v...
The ‘forgotten victims’ of femicide in France: Women over 65
November 25, 2019 20:07 - 2.37 MBIn May, Chantal Monté sat down with her husband to celebrate her 72nd birthday. He killed her exactly one month later. The tragedy made Monté the 78th victim of femicide in France in 2019. While the definition of femicide varies around the world, in France, it typically means when a woman is killed by a partner or ex-partner. There have been 116 femicides in France so far in 2019, according to Agence France Presse, a French press agency. Meanwhile, the advocacy group Femicides by Companion...
Who are Turkey's Saturday Mothers?
October 21, 2019 17:39 - 2.28 MBHanim Tosun feels at home at the Istanbul office of the Human Rights Association, also known as the IHD, its acronym in Turkish. It was here that she and a group of Kurdish women launched the first Saturday Mothers vigil 24 years ago. The Saturday Mothers is one of the longest-running peaceful protest movements in the world. On Saturdays since 1995, the women would gather in Istanbul's Galatasaray Square, a popular pedestrian shopping area, to demand the whereabouts of their sons, fathers a...
France moves to make reproductive technology legal for all
October 18, 2019 18:16 - 2.35 MBIsabelle Laurans and her boyfriend tried for years to have a baby. When nothing else worked, they decided to try in vitro fertilization, or IVF. But halfway through the process, Laurans' boyfriend changed his mind. He dumped her the day they were supposed to make the embryo in the lab. Laurans says she doesn’t remember most of what went through her mind that day. What she does recall is the overwhelming fear that she’d never get to be a mom. “I was 38. I knew it would be perhaps too late...
Only 20 Nobels in the sciences have gone to women. Why?
October 09, 2019 20:28 - 3.05 MBThe 2019 Nobel Prizes for chemistry and physics were awarded this week, and — as is the case most of the time — they went to men. That’s despite steps the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which runs the Nobel program, took just last year to be more inclusive. The academy's secretary-general, Göran K. Hansson, sent a letter to scientists asking them to take geography and gender into consideration in their nominations and asked more women to suggest candidates. But efforts to diversify Nob...
Trudeau's 'because it's 2015' feminist moment is over. Will women support him again?
October 04, 2019 19:00 - 2.24 MBGender equity is a big issue in Canada’s upcoming election, in part because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made feminism a cornerstone of his first campaign. Back then, when a reporter at a press conference asked him why, Trudeau replied simply: “Because it’s 2015.” It became an iconic moment for Canadian voters. In the following four years, Trudeau and his Liberal Party championed pay equity. They increased support for child care aid for low-income families, and Trudeau appointed a Cabinet ...
In Québec, teachers return to school under new religious symbols ban
September 24, 2019 18:34 - 2.36 MBStudents and teachers in Québec have returned to school for the first time since a law banned teachers and public employees in positions of “authority” from wearing religious symbols — this means no headscarves, Sikh turbans, Christian crosses or Jewish skullcaps. The law, which passed in June, is not a complete ban and included a clause that applies the law only to new hires or those who change jobs. So, Maha Kassef returned to the classroom last week wearing her headscarf. She currently ...
Florida teen girls step up to translate Indigenous Mayan languages
September 20, 2019 19:38 - 1.85 MBIt can be hard to find a truly quiet place in the Lake Worth, Florida-based Guatemalan-Maya Center. Just inside one door, case workers and other staff answer phones and talk clients through paperwork, immigration processes and other services. A long, narrow room on the ground floor has chairs along one wall that are often filled with people waiting for help. Other activities, like planning for cultural events and staging for projects and donations, spill over to the spaces in between. Re...
USC students work with refugees to engineer solutions for better camp life
September 11, 2019 18:30 - 2.78 MBOmer Azizi knows what it’s like to be stuck in a squalid tent with only a United Nations-issued ID tag confirming his existence. He fled Afghanistan’s Taliban tucked in his mother’s arms, and spent his childhood in various Pakistani refugee camps. Over the years, he watched his parents fight the odds to get the family out of refugee camps. They finally made it to the United States in 2014, and today, Azizi is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California. But he hasn’t forgotte...
Period apps share your fertility data with Facebook
September 10, 2019 21:14 - 2.29 MBIf you're trying to get pregnant, you may have turned to an ovulation- or period-tracking app for help. Millions of women around the world use them for a variety of reasons. But what happens to the highly personal data people enter in these apps? In some cases, it gets fed to third parties — including Facebook. That's according to a Buzzfeed News investigation and a new report by the UK-based advocacy group Privacy International, which looked at apps being used in different parts of the worl...
How comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi became the woman who proposed to MBS
September 05, 2019 14:33 - 2.6 MBOn a recent Wednesday, Noam Shuster-Eliassi strolled around the tiny village in Israel where she grew up, Neve Shalom or "Oasis of Peace," wishing goodbye to her neighbors. The Israeli comedian was heading to Harvard University in just a few days for a fellowship at the Divinity School. There, she will be writing an hourlong comedy show in Hebrew, English and Arabic. She is calling it, “Coexistence My Ass.” The name pokes fun at Shuster-Eliassi’s upbringing in the village, the only place in...
These Chilean women joined thousands suing for discriminatory health insurance. Can reforms fix it?
August 28, 2019 15:39 - 2.2 MBIf you’re a woman or over 60 in Chile, you have to pay two to three times more for your health insurance. At least, when it comes to private health care. Older people pay more, too. And if you have a pre-existing condition, like asthma, you’ll be denied coverage. But Chile’s government is debating right now whether to change that. First, a breakdown of how health care works in Chile. There’s the public system that anyone can access, which is paid for by a 7% tax on salaries. And then there...
Musician Maria Beraldo rebels against Brazil’s far-right leader through song
August 07, 2019 21:41 - 2.58 MBMaria Beraldo has the word “Trouble” emblazoned in bold black letters on her bright red leggings. For this Brazilian lesbian singer-songwriter, speaking openly about political issues is just part of who she is. Beraldo’s first solo album, “Cavala,” is a feminist anthem that presents a strong counter-balance to Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, notorious for his anti-woman and homophobic remarks. For Brazilian lesbian singer-songwriter Maria Beraldo, speaking openly about politic...
Mothers and babies lack basic needs in Greek refugee camps
July 18, 2019 00:26 - 3.74 MBThe first real shelter that Nadereh Shahbazi and her family slept in when they arrived in Greece was a tent pitched under a piece of red, corrugated iron that shielded them from the relentless Athens, Greece, sun. But when it rained, their tent floated in the mud. The family of three escaped from their home in Afghanistan fearing for their lives, and after weeks of homelessness in Athens, the family managed to find a tent in a refugee camp on the city's outskirts. Shahbazi was full term an...
A Syrian mom in Istanbul builds a business from her own kitchen with Whatsapp
July 11, 2019 18:11 - 2.86 MBOn weekday mornings, the smartphones of more than a hundred Istanbul residents light up with a cheery Arabic greeting and pictures of home-cooked Syrian dishes that Samar al-Mallah plans to cook that day. Then Mallah, a mother of four, waits for the orders to come in. And they do. “I believe you can reach the heart of a person through food,” Mallah said. “Food is something you can send a lot of messages with. You can put all of your love, all of your feelings. You can build relationships...
These Argentine women fight against a justice system 'written by men, for men'
July 10, 2019 15:02 - 2.33 MBMarcela Juan’s work is grueling, but important. As a prosecutor in Lomas de Zamora, a suburb 45 minutes outside of Buenos Aires in Argentina, she handles some of the area’s most disturbing cases. Juan specializes in cases of domestic violence, and femicide — the killing of a woman or girl based on her gender. Juan has been doing this kind of work for over a decade and her caseload is full. She says that especially over the past four years, these types of cases have continued to rise. By her...
Crowds chanted 'equal pay' — but that could take centuries
July 09, 2019 20:58 - 2.07 MBThe crowd at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon chanted "Equal pay!" as the US women's soccer team defeated the Netherlands 2-0 to win their fourth World Cup title. Before the final, US co-captain Megan Rapinoe criticized FIFA for disparities in prize money between the men and women. FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed doubling the total prize money of the World Cup to $60 million last week. The men’s edition in Russia last year, featuring 32 teams, had a total prize money pot of $40...
How sex traffickers use modeling contracts to lure young women
July 08, 2019 21:05 - 2.09 MBAmerican financier Jeffrey Epstein pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of sex trafficking as prosecutors accused him of luring dozens of girls as young as 14 to his luxury homes in New York and Florida and paying them for sex acts. An indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan accused Epstein, 66, of arranging for girls to perform nude "massages" and other sex acts and paying some girls to recruit others, from at least 2002 to 2005. "The alleged behavior shocks the conscience an...
Mandatory sex ed curriculum stirs controversy in Argentina
July 03, 2019 19:34 - 2.44 MBIt’s a rainy night in mid-May, and around 50 young adults are squeezed into a small classroom in the Casa Fusa health clinic in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In breakout groups, they polish their presentations — about safe sex. Some have Power Point presentations lined up while others offer up demonstrations, games and skits. They show how to use a condom, for both men and women, and talk about things like consent and preventing HPV and HIV. That may not sound too unusual, but in Argentina, sex...
Argentina is divided over abortion — even the feminists
June 27, 2019 17:47 - 2.61 MBLuciana Angueira, a social worker in Villa Fiorito, a poor neighborhood outside of central Buenos Aires, Argentina, says many of the women she sees are looking to end their pregnancies, but don't want their husbands to know. “That would mean they are being unfaithful — the men are very possessive,” she said. “We have some patients who don’t believe in abortion, but they still come here looking for pills because they don’t want more children.” In Villa Fiorito, families struggle to meet ba...
‘Maternity jail’: Women in Argentina and the US find ways around restrictive abortion laws
June 25, 2019 16:47 - 2.45 MBJoanna, 27, a mom and a university student in Buenos Aires, Argentina, couldn’t imagine having to raise a third child. She’s spread thin as it is. So, when she found out she was pregnant again this past spring, she thought long and hard about what to do. It wasn’t easy, but she decided to get an abortion. That’s what brings her to Casa Fusa, a small clinic tucked away on a busy street near downtown on a sunny May afternoon. “I’m nervous, but I’m quite sure about what I’m doing. So, that h...
'Commentary for Good' brings underrepresented languages to the Women's World Cup
June 19, 2019 15:47 - 2.2 MBIt’s never fun to hear the sound of your own voice. But that’s part of the job for Adele Willie, Jennesa Hinge Moli and Lavenia Yalovi. Or at least it is now. A year ago, they were recruited to be among the first generation of female sports commentators from the Pacific Islands. Willie and Hinge Moli are from the archipelago nation of Vanuatu. Yalovi is from Fiji. “What I like is the tone of my voice,” Hinge Moli responds shyly during a listening exercise. Hinge Moli and her colleague...
After decades in the shadows, Russia's feminists grab their spotlight
June 05, 2019 21:29 - 5.21 MBRussian feminists paraded a 13-foot-tall model vagina down the streets of St. Petersburg on May 1, 2018, without getting arrested. It was a big win. “[Police] arrested only those who they have orders to arrest,” says Leda Garina, director of the Eve's Ribs, a social, artistic, documentary and communication project devoted to the subject of gender discrimination. “But there were no vagina orders, so they didn’t know how to react.” The giant vagina didn't spark police action in 2018, but par...
Chile’s historic first World Cup appearance tells a much larger story of women’s soccer
June 04, 2019 20:49 - 2.03 MBWhen the Chilean women’s national team, La Roja, takes the field in France, next Tuesday, June 11, it will be a dream most of the players never thought possible. Not because of talent but because of a pure lack of resources and support. “It was a dream to be on the national team. But the way you dreamed it wasn’t the way it was." Iona Rothfeld, soccer player and founder of the National Association of Women Soccer Players — ANJUFF “It was a dream to be on the national team. But the way y...