Egypt

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Population: 82,079,636
Capital: Cairo
Language: Arabic (official)
Religion: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%
Life Expectancy: 72.66 years
GDP per Capita: $6,200


• Only males may confer citizenship; children born to women with foreign husbands are not conferred the benefits of citizenship
• 47% of women say they have experienced physical abuse by a male partner or intimate
• Honor killings regularly occur (2006)—47% of honor killing were because the woman had been raped
• Infant mortality rates are higher for girls then boys
• 90% of girls who have undergone female genital mutilation were under 14 years old at the time. An estimated 90% of FGM procedures are performed by doctors or other trained medical personnel.
• Under 5% of women are in government


I’m sure we are all aware of what’s been going on in Egypt over the past few weeks. Take a look at these quotes from this article ; the article talks about women and the recent protests and uprisings that have taken place.


“The revolution called for democracy, equality and freedom. But importantly, it also advanced the position of women, because it allowed women, and other excluded groups in society, to take part in a movement that was redefining society.”


“Egyptian women have the right to an equal position in the new society, and through their role in the revolution they have learned the most important lesson, which is that through ongoing mass protest and determination they will eventually win their demands.”


“This should inspire all fighters for women’s rights around the world. Through building a mass movement for change we can win full equality for women.”


Here some more neat articles if your intrested:


--Egypt protests--thousands of men and no groping!

--Changes in women rights-egypt

--Women inspired by Arab uprisings

And here is my favorite quote from the first one, “Egypt has a sexual harassment problem. In a 2008 study, 86 percent of women said they had been harassed on Egypt's streets—any woman walking through a crowd of men in Egypt braces to get groped. But in the square, crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder, men apologized if they so much as bumped into you. After wandering around the protests for days, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't been groped, a constant annoyance when I'm faced with large crowds in Cairo. When I pointed this out to other women in the square, we all took a moment to reflect. "I hadn't even thought of that," one woman in Tahrir told me. "But it's because we're all so focused on one goal, we're a family here."


I find it amazing that what is happening in Egypt is bringing so many people together and also allowing a chance for women to stand up for what they believe in and an opportunity for change, hopefully women around the world can be inspired by these brave Egyptian women!


Thanks for Reading!

Sudan

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Population: 45,047,502

Capital: Khartoum

Language: Arabic (official), English (official)

Religion: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north)

Life Expectancy: 55.42 years

GDP per Capita: $2,200

• Has neither signed nor ratified the treaty of the UN convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
• State laws restrict both women’s movement and dress
• Lesbians and gays are criminalized in national law and subject to the death penalty
• Abortion is Illegal or severely restricted only to save woman’s life
• Over 90% of girls and women between 15-49 years have had female genital mutilation (2001 data)
• Rapes of women in Janjawid militias in Darfur are systematic. Prosecutions are non-existent, and some raped women have been prosecuted for adultery.
• Under 30% of women work for pay

Here is a link to an interesting article, by Jane Edward “reflecting on untold stories of Southern Sudanese women”-- link.  Here is one quote from it that I love;



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“The decision of those women and the man to bury my grandmother confirms women’s courage and determination to uphold some of the most important cultural aspects of their society. It is this kind of courage and commitment that makes those ordinary women extraordinary. The actions of those women further defy the traditionally held assumptions that women are “weak,” “disempowered” and unable to perform or to make crucial decisions in difficult situations.”

Here is another article about women protesting in Sudan and being arrested. It’s awful that these women are being arrested and being treated so terribly, but I love that there are women who are protesting and standing up for themselves and wanting to make a difference!-- Link

“The same law that requires giving a woman forty lashes for wearing pants requires giving a man who rapes a boy, a girl or a woman one month in prison.” –Watch the video below to hear more about this;

Ethiopia

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Population: 90,873,739
Capital: Addis Ababa
Language: Amarigna (Amharic) (official) 32.7%
Religion: Orthodox 43.5%, Muslim 33.9%
Life Expectancy: 56.19 years
GDP per Capita: $1,000

• Lesbians and gays are criminalized in national law
• Up to 71% adult women have said they have experienced physical abuse by male partner or intimate
• 75% or more of births are not attended by a doctor, nurse or midwife
• In a 2000 study there were between 700-1000 deaths of mothers per 100, 000 live births
• Female Genital mutilation is a common practice between 50-90%
• There are reports of 1,000 rapes a year in Addis Ababa alone
• Over 75% of women are illiterate

For Ethiopia I just wanted focus on one thing and that is this video of women from an Ethiopian tribe called the Suri tribe. Keep in mind this is just one tribe in Ethiopia and this practice is not very common, however I found it fascinating!

The part that I love is the girl who says that “if a boy likes [her] he will give her cattle, or he can go find another girl!” Ya! You go girl! I love seeing a young girl like this stand up for what she believes is right. That’s not saying what these women are doing is right or wrong, but for them it is an important and standard way of life. And i just love the fact that she is going against that! I wish more women would be like her, seriously, stand up for what you believe in and if I guy doesn’t like you for who you are then he’s not worth it!

Argentina

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So beautiful. I love her wrinkles.

Population: 41,343,201
Capital: Buenos Aires
Language: Spanish
Religion: nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing)
Life Expectancy: 76.76 years
GDP per Capita: $14,700


• In just Buenos Aires province, police receive an average of 53 complaints of domestic violence a day
• 103 women die from breast cancer each week
• According to this website “Argentina has more plastic surgeries and non-surgical procedures than all but 12 countries in the world. That’s the conclusion of a new global survey carried out by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, or ISAPS. Last year Argentines had 132,486 plastic surgeries; according to the survey. Argentina has an estimated 517 plastic surgeons, putting in 11th place worldwide. That’s more than France (464), Canada (425) and the U.K. (274).


For Argentina I want to focus on one group of women specifically, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is a human rights activist organization that has fought for over thirty years for the right to re-connect with their abducted children. The mothers' children were abducted by Argentine government agents during the "Dirty War" 1976-1983, many of the children were tortured and killed. "The military has admitted that over 9,000 of those kidnapped are still unaccounted for, but the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo say that the number is closer to 30,000" (link)


The 14 founders of the association include, Azucena Villaflor de De Vincenti, Berta Braverman, Haydée García Buelas, María Adela Gard de Antokoletz, Julia Gard, María Mercedes Gard and Cándida Gard (4 sisters), Delicia González, Pepa Noia, Mirta Baravalle, Kety Neuhaus, Raquel Arcushin and Sra. De Caimi. These brave 14 women started the demonstrations on the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, on 30 April 1977. Since then the women have continued to gather and protest wearing white head scarves with their children's names embroidered on them every Thursday afternoon.


The women have continued to raise awareness and hold on to the memory of their lost children throughout the years by the creation of an independent university, bookstore, library and cultural center. Read more here


Here is another link to the mothers’ website.


Below is a well done video of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, it will at least give you some sort of idea of what it looks like

Also here is the song that U2 wrote about the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo—Its called Mothers of the disappeared.

Thanks for reading!

Brazil

Elaine Davidson is the "Most Pierced Woman" according to the Guinness World Records and she’s Brazilian!! Check her out on wikipedia to see just how many piercings she has….you won’t believe it! I'm not at all saying that this is a common thing to do among Brazilian women, i just thought it was fascinating.  

Population: 201,103,330

Capital: Brasília

Language: Portuguese

Religion: Roman Catholic 73.6% (nominally)

Life Expectancy: 72.26 years

GDP per Capita: $10,900

• 30% of adult women who say they have experienced physical abuse by a male partner or intimate

• 72% of murdered women were killed by a relative of friend

• Abortion is illegal or only done to save women’s life

• 217 women die each week from breast cancer

• Has a total of 6 Miss Universe winners, from 1952-2010, which is one of the highest in the world.

• Is a source country for sex trafficking. In fact, “Brazil has one of the worst child prostitution problems in the world and is one of the favored destinations of sex tourists from Europe and the United States” LINK.

If you’re interested here is an overview of what women in Brazil have gone through throughout history. It’s very straight forward and full of interesting facts; Womens history in Brazil

Now moving on to something a little different, Ms. Rouseff!

Dilma Vana Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman and economist to hold office in the country, in 2005 she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff of Brazil. She became a socialist in her youth and "joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. Rousseff was captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972 and reportedly tortured." She help found the Democratic Labor Party in Rio Grande do Sul state. She was included in the Forbes' list of the most powerful people in the world, at the 16th position. You can read all about her here.

"Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Tuesday on a popular television program that she has opened the way for every girl in the country who dreams of being president."

"What is most important about my being president is that now all girls can aspire be president and it will be seen as completely normal in Brazil that a woman becomes president"

"Rousseff said that her taking office as president represents the breaking of a paradigm and blamed the macho mentality for spreading an image of her as a "tough" woman." "Did you ever see a man who became leader of the country being called 'tough?'" the president asked, adding that "women are expected to be fragile, at least the image people have is that women are fragile...and when a woman takes a position of leadership, of authority, she's seen as stepping outside her proper role."

"She said that since poverty in Brazil is worst among women and children, she will adapt government programs for combating destitution to make them favor women more, especially single parents"

Here is the link to the article that the above quotes are from

Wow! What a role model for girls and women of Brazil and of the world! She's a women who has been through a lot and has achieved a lot. If your interested there is lots of information and biographies on her out there, go ahead and research it! Its so neat to see everything that she has done. She hasn't let the fact that she is a women hold her back! I'm am positive it hasn't been easy for her but now she's inspiring women all over the country, how exciting!



Dilma Rousseff (Kinda opposite of Elaine Davidson eh?)
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