February 2019 - Women's Network for Change

February 24, 2019

Women power against the rape culture in Sierra Leone

The rape culture A girl aged 5 was raped by a 26-year-old relative leaving the victim paralyzed by the waist in Sierra Leone last year. In a similar incident last year where a 6-year-old was raped by a 56-year-old, the rapist was sentenced with just a year of prison. These were just a couple of the 2 579 cases of sexual violence involving minors in 2018 in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has witnessed the rate of sexual violence doubled up […]

February 15, 2019

Revisited inspiration: Story of Joan of Arc

Revisited inspiration: Story of Joan of Arc History has often placed women at a subordinated level than men; however, there are many women figures who have dared to rise from their ascribed level and inspired millions until date. For this week’s dose of inspiration, we would like to share the historically miraculous story of France’s loved saint, Joan of Arc (Jeane d’Arc) who, through her ‘visions’ of three saints led France to victory during the hundred days of war. Her […]

February 9, 2019

Gender perspectives in world mental health policies

Gender perspectives in world mental health policies Mental health problems are increasingly taking tolls on people’s lives, with one out of every four individuals in America living with Serious Psychological Disorder(SPD) i.e. combination of feelings of sadness, worthlessness, and restlessness adversely impacting physical well-being. A study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Mental Health highlighted an increase of 18.1% for people living with some kind of mental illness.1From 2013-2017, there was an increase of 47% in depression diagnosis […]

February 2, 2019

Building the way for Feminist Foreign Policies

Building the way for Feminist Foreign Policies Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom pioneered the first feminist foreign policy in 2014, which expectedly followed mixed responses across the world, wide acclamations along with backlashes for the bold use of quite controversial word ‘feminist’. However, the policy which was formulated to stand against the systematic and global subordination of women has resulted impeccable impacts in the last four years. Whilst rest of the world is still reluctant to embrace the word ‘feminism’ […]