EqualityQuilt

Women of Tajikistan

Great visit this week from 10 women of Tajikistan (some fasting for Ramadan), where the government says  64% of the people live in poverty but the women say more like 80%.   Many thanks to our member groups who helped me pass on info/resources that might help these women working so hard for change:  Women's Human Rights Program of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, which is just now completing a report on the devastating levels of domestic violence in Tajikistan;  and Amy Brenengen, new director of the Office on the Economic Status of Women, who shared her deep background on economic issues at WomenVenture, JobsNOW, and elsewhere. The woman in the second photo is a Tajik TV producer taking some footage of the meeting.

Interesting to have translators in both Tajik & Russian, as the women had many comments & questions.  Click below to hear a bit of the conversation!  -Bonnie

Our Sister Building in Duluth

Coming soon!  Meanwhile, check out the women of Tajikistan post below, new Resource list on the left,  conference info on the right, & new blogs added to our favorites list (lower right)!

Feminist Movie Reviews

  Lorraine's reviews of last week's festival (with kibitzing from Bonnie):

Missed the first movie, but the last three were depressing.  Sexism, power, money were rampant throughout the three.  (From BPW:  Real Women Have Curves was very interesting, a bit lighter than the next three but similar themes of women keeping other women in their place - acting out of the pain inflicted on the older women, moms, etc.  I also recommend RWHC because like the next three, it also gave me that precious tiny bit of being able to better imagine what it must be like to be those characters - in this case, Latinas working in a "sweatshop" which to them is a struggling woman-owned business, and coping with body images imposed by others.)

North Country based in Minnesota's Iron Range is a must see for every woman.  If you don't know this