The release came a week after Burma held its first elections (in 20 years), which was coincidentally won by the biggest military-backed party (Union Solidarity and Development Party). The Burmese government however, did not allow for any international election monitors to enter country, a move which has been condemned by the international community and leaders at the United Nations.

Suu Kyi’s own party, the National League for Democracy won the last election in 1990 but was not allowed to take power, in 1991 she was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.

Despite the excitement and joy regarding Suu Kyi’s release, no one knows what is to happen next. Will she and the NLD begin the move forward and push towards regime change? Will this result in her being arrested once again? Why did the government release her so soon after the election? There is room for much speculation as to why the release came at this time: perhaps the government hopes to improve their legitimacy and international image or are constructing a diversion for international press covering their “failed” election. This may even be a relatively short lived period of freedom for Suu Kyi, as no one is to know if the government will arrest her again to reassert their power.

It is without a doubt that the NLD and followers of Suu Kyi are ecstatic about her release, but we can not help but worry what the repercussions will be in the coming weeks.

Although anxiety exists, it was a proud day full of promise and hope, here Suu Kyi expresses her positive outlook for her people’s future:

“We must work together, we Burmese tend to believe in fate, but if we want change we have to do it ourselves.”

Follow Aung San Suu Kyi via BBC news:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11752993

As I was reading about the SDC, I found myself relating everything in the report to many class discussions in my class, Networks as Capacities for Peace. In particular, our discussions regarding the viability, effectiveness, strengths/weaknesses and such of networks (for example three we examined were the African National Congress in South Africa, the Zimbabwe diaspora, and the Cordoba Initiative), in which we asked many questions about the implications and potential of different elements of networks, such as leadership and the possible necessity of a “critical yeast” (key leadership figures or critical events that propel a movement/network forward), membership and the positives/negatives about plurality or diversity, advocacy and the role of media/social media, etc. The SDC appears to have effectively addressed each of these different needs or elements.

The SDC is a coalition of more than 190 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations with over 1 million (!) activists and 100’s of communities committed to ending the genocide in Darfur (they report a total of 130 million people represented by the coalition- this is massive membership or partnership #s!). The report mentions how the SDC is able to use everyone’s collective abilities for expertise and resources, ie. they are successfully leveraging the social capital of all members of this massive coalition. The various ways the SDC does this is, 1) the creation of various programs such as the Communities United to Save Darfur program, 2) a huge and effective online forum and online advocacy (particularly social media-Facebook, Twitter, Youtube), 4) strong media relations made effective by a clearly formulated and communicated media and advocacy strategy, 3) in-person opportunities to strategize, build capacity, and create effective advocacy (through their Darfur A! ctivist Leaders and most notably the participation and strategic influence on policy and strategies of the Darfuri diaspora, ie. the Darfuri Leaders Network), and 4) not only strong domestic advocacy (pressuring and influencing US political leaders and Congress), but also advocacy within the international community (UN, NATO, EU, AU, Arab League). At the end of the report they even list all the coalition partners, the Board of Directors (which appears to be an interfaith and interethnic mix–notably, their Chairperson is Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, M.D., My Sister’s Keeper…which could be another discussion along the lines of the one brought up during the Cordoba Initiative presentation regarding who the leader of the network is and how that effects its functioning/perception…), and their statement of activities/revenue and expenses–>supporting an image of the SDC as transparent and accountable as well.

The mission (THEORY OF CHANGE) of the SDC is to raise public awareness and mobilize a massive response to the atrocities in Darfur…which it seems to be effectively acheiving.

Overall, the Save Darfur Coalition really stood out to me, in light of all the questions about networks we’ve discussed in our class, as a good model for an effective network. One that is successfully and effectively leveraging the social capital of its members and partners, its ability to bridge such a wide variety of actors and other networks (190+; coalition partners notably also include the National Council of Churches, and Catholic, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic networks and organizations), its multitrack efforts to advocate with community, national, regional and international leaders and organizations, and effectively utilizing the media, especially social media to advocate its cause.

A good place to go from here would be to question how its methods could be replicated or what lessons can be drawn from the SDC that can be applied to other networks? I think the SDC is an effective network, however, I wonder what role the specific nature of their campaign and theory of change (the atrocity of genocide) has on its huge success at motivating mass advocacy and activism? As well as what role or influence who it has on its Board and supporting it in Congress has on its success?

Is the SDC a good model as a network? If so, can (should) it be replicated or used to remodel other less effective networks and campaigns for other global issues just as pertinent? Any thoughts?

Zafar began her presentation with an explanation of the origins of patriarchy and moved on to share astounding figures that illustrate why focusing on economic empowerment of women can change the world. 70% of people living below the poverty line are women. The economic loss to a society that has a lack of women participating in the market is 0.7% of GDP. In both South Asia and the Middle East, female participation in the economy is only half that of male participation. Thus, there is a clear correlation between a society that does not utilize all of its human resources and poverty.

However, this is not only a problem of economics. The most difficult part about empowering women economically is changing a society’s attitudes and perspectives towards women. During her presentation Zafar stated, “Microfinance is simple, but changing mindsets is not.” Therefore, the real challenge to empowering women economically is making both men and women realize the worth of a woman in both social and economic terms. The underlying devaluation of women in some societies continues to be an uphill battle for organizations like the KASHF Foundation, and for our global community as a whole. Hopefully, one day we will reach a global society where equity between women and men is the norm. Thankfully, organizations like Kashf are doing some of the most important work in the world, and leading us in that direction.

Please click the link below to check out the Kashf foundation and all the wonderful work they do!

http://www.kashf.org/site_files/display_content.asp?id=5

Wasn’t slavery abolished? Actually, no. In fact, there are more slaves in the world today than at any point in our history. Slave Hunter by Aaron Cohen and Christine Buckley (New York, NY: Simon Schuster, Inc., 2009) looks at the eye-opening truth behind human trafficking from Cohen’s perspective as a “slave hunter,” documenting and rescuing victims of sexual exploitation and forced labor.

Cohen, inspired by Jubilee, a movement to forgive debt and free slaves, began his human-rights activism first by building a grass-roots campaign with his friend Perry Farrell called Drop the Debt. Believing awareness is the first step to eradication, Cohen dedicated himself to bringing public awareness to the existence of modern-day slavery. Cohen characterizes human trafficking as the new face of slavery, dedicating his book its victims.

Cohen is a “slave hunter,” identifying human beings who are trafficked and exploited for labor and/or sexual purposes. Cohen’s memoir recounts his first-hand experiences in brothels, massage parlors, restaurants, bars, and war zones. A one-time former partner with Jane’s Addiction front-man Perry Farrell, Cohen used his musical connections and social skills to promote his activism alongside Bono, Ricky Martin and the Dalai Lama.

Slave Hunter documents Cohen’s journey in distinct sections, each describing a different area of the world where he has traveled: Cambodia, Sudan, Latin America, Myanmar, and the Middle East. Cohen’s fieldwork begins with a process he calls “night frighting,” where he poses as a sex tourist collecting evidence against traffickers in brothels. He easily finds brothels through taxi drivers who earn vouchers for gas when they bring in customers. Cohen keeps a video journal, where he photographs and records interviews with trafficked women and children on his cell phone. After buying some time with them, he then engages them to talk about their lives and experiences. “Yum-yum thirty dollar. Boom-boom fifty dollar,” says one of the children he meets in a brothel. He notes for twenty dollars more a man can have unprotected sex with this child. Cohen is aware he might not be able to save the girl he is talking to at the moment, but he believes his efforts will help prevent future potential victims. Through Cohen’s words, we hear the victim’s stories: their pain, their fear, and their misery. In many cases, he helps keep hope alive for the numerous women and children he encounters.

While Cohen’s work has documented slavery, he has also seen genocide in Sudan and terrorist operations in Asia. Through his field work around the world, Cohen has identified links between the trafficked women and connections to organized crime, gangs, drug cartels, and natural resources such as oil, gold, and uranium.

Brothels usually have the backing of at least one mafia family. In situations where Cohen is able to buy the freedom of the women and children he encounters, the madams (or slave masters) and the girls sign statements that will keep Cohen and his fellow rescuers from being charged with kidnapping. While Cohen’s critics express outrage that he gives money to the traffickers, the money keeps the girls’ families safe from mafia threats. The trafficked women and children are then provided safety for the time being. Instead of sitting in meetings talking about human rights, Cohen wants to make sure trafficked victims have a safe place to sleep. After they are taken to safety, the women and children are given a chance at an education and reintegration into society.

At one point in the memoir, Cohen describes how he has hit men coming after him after he has raided several brothels. “Our actions have probably roused more than one gang boss tonight with some very bad news. By taking back nearly thirty girls, we have cut off the bad guys’ cash flow to the tune of about $3 million,” Cohen writes. He points out that ‘Canadian journalist Victor Malarek’s research would later put the average profit a trafficker could make from one woman at about $160,000.’

Many governments do not recognize trafficked women as victims, which is why Cohen’s work is so important. Cohen teamed together with Michele Clark to promote public education and awareness seminars. Clark works on the policy side of things, as a coordinator at a think-tank based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Cohen and Clark both share a victim-centered approach towards human trafficking, which they believe is essential to anti-trafficking work. Cohen has presented his research to help develop prevention programs, and discussed the importance of the Internet in the exploitation of women and children.

We live in a global community, one in which slave labor effects everyone. Cohen exposes this world-wide problem in all the countries he has visited. In Ecuador, where there are no victim shelters, trafficked women are not considered refugees, and therefore are not admitted to refugee camps. Cohen served as a field operative and consultant in Ecuador, intending to shed more light on trafficking patterns there by documenting and photographing trafficked victims.

Cohen’s missions involved analyzing the scope of trafficking and helping locals develop a national anti-trafficking strategy. Cohen’s journeys also led him to Sudan, where he documented slave redemptions, buying the freedom of slaves for anywhere from twenty to eighty dollars each. Under Sudan’s penal code, slave redemption is a violation of sharia law, punishable by limb amputation, death or crucifixion. Cohen’s travels also led him to Myanmar, where ethnic Shans are employed by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The SPDC uses slave labor to build infrastructure in the country’s new capital, as well as at facilities producing uranium, that is used to process fuel for nuclear reactors (which is in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions). In Thailand on another visit, Cohen documented the indigenous people from the Hmong ethnic group, who are denied political refugee status elsewhere, and wait in camps where they easily fall prey to traffickers that take advantage of their situation.

Cohen’s memoir gives us access to experiences and thoughts we may otherwise never have had. Arguably, the single most important thing to take away from reading Cohen’s memoir is that it illustrates the fact that governments and organizations, as well as individuals, are capable of making a difference in taking a human being out of enslavement. We live in a world that is growing smaller by the minute, and we must all develop a greater sense of universal responsibility for each other.

Perspectives on Global Issues’s Spring 2010 issue on Human Security will feature an interview with Slave Hunter author Aaron Cohen. The issue will be available in late April 2010.

Honor killing is an international phenomena happening mainly in impoverished and uneducated areas. In most of the cases, the crime of honor killing is committed by close relatives of the victim, who is found guilty of tarnishing the family image or reputation by her behavior. Most killers, based on Rana’s experience, are not in peace with themselves after committing such a crime because they were themselves victims of social pressures leading them to do such acts.

According to official figures, 31 women are victims of honor killing every day in the world. But Rana stated that based on her experience, the number is much higher as in many instances these crimes are not investigated by the authorities due to the taboo attached to it.

When Rana started working as a reporter for the Jordan Times in the 1980s, she realized that the crime of honor killing was a taboo subject in Jordanian society and was not reported in the media. In addition, she noticed that the perpetrators of such crimes were mostly never brought to a court or if so, faced minor prison sentences ranging from three months to a year. Therefore, Rana used her position at the Jordan Times to publish on a regular basis stories of women subject to “honor killing.” Her aim was to raise public awareness on the issue by reaching out intellectuals, officials and general public trough the Jordan Times. The newspaper received numerous letters to the editor from Jordanian citizens supporting her work and officials started to look at the issue more closely.

In 1989, she started a grass-roots movement to collect 150,000 signatures, the minimum number required by the Jordanian law to propose a change in law. Her aim was to increase the minimum prison sentence penalty for perpetrators of honor killing. Thanks to her dedication, the grass-roots movement was able to collect the required number of signatures by reaching out remote areas of Jordan. Thus, she presented to the government her proposed change in law regarding honor killing. Despite the fact that the law was not changed due to a strong resistance from religious leaders, Rana is proud to say today that her initiative broke the taboo of speaking about honor killing in Jordanian society and brought awareness to the general public. As of 2008, there were 8 reported victims of honor killings in Jordan, which is a clear victory of Rana’s awareness campaign.

In addition, Rana’s work has been and is still supported by the Royal Family of Jordan, who never stood on her way while conducted her research and work.

Jordan is currently examining the option of a special court dealing only with honor killings, as studies show that different courts in different parts of the country were interpreting the law in a non coherent manner.

According to Rana, changing the law is a first step to decrease the number of honor killings in a given country. She also highlighted the need to improve the educational system and the image of women. In addition, she is advocating for religious leaders to speak out on the issue of honor killings and to condemn such crimes which are against any religion. Furthermore, she indicated that awareness campaigns should be broader to include domestic violence against women and should be conducted in every country regardless of religion.

Finally, Rana pointed out the necessity to tackle difficulties faced by gays and lesbians in the Muslim world, which is a taboo in the Muslim religion.

Rana’s book Murder in the name of Honor is today available worldwide in English and Arabic.

A recent report by Yemeni human rights organizations presented to the United Nations Committee Against Torture reveals serious human rights violations by the Yemeni National Security Agency against Yemeni jurists and human rights activists. Moreover, Amnesty International recently reported police brutality and torture of detainees held in connection with politically motivated acts or protests. Reported methods of torture included beating with sticks, punching, kicking, prolonged suspension by the wrists or ankles, burning with cigarettes, being stripped naked, denial of food and prompt access to medical help, and threats of sexual abuse. The same report also indicates sentences of flogging being frequently carried out after being handed down by the courts for sexual abuses and alcohol offences. In addition, several protesters were reported to be killed as a result of excessive use of force by the security forces during peaceful protests. However, no independent investigations have been carried out.

Furthermore, a recent Human Rights Watch report includes allegations of serious violations of the laws of war by governmental and Huthis forces, including the use of children under 18 in combat, use of anti-personal landmines in civilian areas, and taking civilians hostage. Additionally, the same report reveals allegation of aerial bombing and artillery shelling on populated villages by governmental forces.

Gender-specific issues:

Women in Yemen face violence and discrimination on a regular basis. For instance, women are not free to marry who they want and some children as young as eight are forced to marry. Furthermore, once married, women must obey their husbands and even obtain permission to leave the house. In regards to the law, women’s testimony in court is valued only as half as that of men. Women are also denied equal treatment in terms of inheritance, if not completely denied. Moreover, the courts treat men leniently with regards to honor killings.

Amnesty International reports that violence against women is common in Yemen, perpetrated by the state, the community and the family, and no specific law protects women from domestic violence. Meanwhile, social norms allow men to hit their wives, daughters and sisters. Moreover, visible proof of domestic violence usually needs to be shown before the authorities, but women are often blamed for causing it.

The Refugee Situation:

As of mid-November 2009, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that 175,000 people have been displaced by the five-year conflict between the authorities and the Huthis tribe that escalated in August 2009. Elderly people, single mothers and children represent the majority of the new arrivals in refugee camps. The latest sudden influx of refugees due to the intensification of the combat is adding more pressure on an already dire situation, and causing overcrowding in camps.

Meanwhile, as of mid-November 2009, the UNCHR is anticipating a continuous influx of internally displaced persons in Yemen.

Additionally, Yemen hosts over 40,000 Somali refugees who survived the hazardous crossing of the Gulf of Aden, where many have drowned or been killed by human traffickers. Moreover, according to a recent report of Amnesty International, some 1,300 asylum-seekers were returned involuntarily to their countries.

Personally speaking, it’s a disappointing result – particularly given that San Francisco, arguably the most gay-friendly city in the country, is the place I call home. But it’s a reminder that there is still much fighting to be done not just for marriage equality, but for the protection and human rights of the LGBT community worldwide.

Reports of gay men being systematically killed and tortured by militia groups in Iraq began surfacing earlier this year – gritty, gruesome accounts of murders and kidnappings without so much as a flinch from authorities. The Ugandan parliament received a bill two weeks ago that would criminalize any acts of homosexuality with life imprisonment or the death penalty. Global Voices Online has documented a scamming trend in Ghana where groups set up fake dating websites targeted towards gays and then extort their unsuspecting victims for money under threat of arrest.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s true that LGBT rights have come a phenomenally long way in recent years. India decriminalized homosexuality by overturning a 148-year-old ban; President Obama recently signed a bill declaring violence against gays a hate crime; South Africa has passed landmark legislation allowing gay marriage (although it has not been without loud opposition). Yet still, the mere existence of homosexuality, let alone the thought of legalizing gay marriage, has wrought so much deeply-rooted fear in so many societies that the thought of achieving full equality seems both a Herculean task and a distant ideal.

But attitudes are undeniably shifting, and perhaps as is the case with America, global tolerance will rise as the younger generation takes over. Perhaps LGBT rights will even be enshrined in international law. But how long can we afford to wait? How much more violence and denial of equal treatment will the LGBT community have to withstand until their rights are finally recognized?