Links
Wanting to prosecute?
Have a look at this useful website from The Women's Justice Center in Santa Rosa California.
http://www.justicewomen.com/help_special_rape.html
Whilst I appreciate you may not live in California or the USA even, this site contains some useful and none technical information for tackling the Criminal Justice System, information that transcends not all national boundaries, but definitely some.
Feel free to photocopy and distribute this information as long as you keep the credit and text intact.
Copyright © Marie De Santis,
Women's Justice Center,
www.justicewomen.com
rdjustice@monitor.net
'The Advocates for Human Rights'group has extensive information about violence against women around the world on their website:
http://www.stopvaw.org/Global_Gender_Issues.html
Look up Global Gender Issues on their menu.
"Violence against women is a worldwide problem that affects women of all ages, ethnicities, races, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds. Some forms of violence are gender-based and impact women more disproportionately, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment and human trafficking, and this website describes each of these forms of violence against women in detail. Around the world, various social, economic, political and religious forces impact women's human rights in different ways. Women may experience human rights violations that do not fall within the commonly understood definitions of these four types of violence. These violations may include; forced and early marriages, female genital mutilation, honour killings, dowry-related violence, rape as a weapon of war, female infanticide, and enforced sterilization. Some forms of violence may be in response to governmental policies or laws, such as the one-child only policy in China, which has led to an increase in female infanticide. Social traditions and religious beliefs play a role in female genital mutilation and honour killings. The effects of forced and early marriages include reproductive health costs, a greater risk of domestic violence, and limited educational and employment opportunities. In cultures that perceive women's purity as embodying a community's honour, rape has been increasingly used as a warfare tactic in conflict areas.
To address these and other issues, The Advocates for Human Rights has created a Global Gender Issues section. The purpose of this section is to recognize that these abuses are violations of women's human rights and to provide information on these forms of violence against women".
Stop Violence Against Women, 2012, The Advocates for Human Rights
"The Advocates applies international human rights standards to advocate for women's rights in the United States and around the world. The Advocates works with local organizations to document human rights abuses against women, including domestic violence, rape, employment discrimination, sexual harassment in the workplace, and trafficking in women and girls. The Advocates has partnered with organizations in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Morocco, Nepal, Mexico, and Haiti, as well as in Minnesota. Staff and volunteers conduct in-country research through close collaboration with local women's non-governmental organizations, using traditional human rights fact-finding methods to document violations of women's human rights.
The Advocates also provides training on legal reform related to violence against women and consultation on new laws to legal professionals and women's organizations in the United States and overseas".
http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/Women_s_Human_Rights.html
"Carolyn Gage is a lesbian feminist playwright, performer, director, and activist. The author of seven books on lesbian theatre and sixty-three plays, musicals, and one-woman shows, she specializes in non-traditional roles for women, especially those reclaiming famous lesbians whose stories have been distorted or erased from history." (Carolyn Gage, 2011)
She writes in her blog pages a four part scholarly discourse about incest. Within this she reviews several books and makes points that will be of interest to the Nourishment for Difficult Times readers.
To view her work visit her website:
http://carolyngage.weebly.com/2/category/incest%20denial%20part%20one/1.html
Diane Hinson is an artist and healer. She kindly agreed to allow Nourishment for Difficult Times to use some of her wonderful art work to illustrate the meditations.
"I have been creating portraits and mythical images for most of my life using various mediums including pencil, pastels, charcoal and pen and ink on paper as well as acrylic paints on canvas.
These images are often based in the ideology of empowerment of women and the female form as well as the wildness of nature. I am deeply inspired by the Natural world where the creatures and Goddesses and Gods I have created have evolved over the years from my imagination into quite a pantheon. Some of them are easily recognizable, some are based on stories I have read others have appeared in dreams or during meditation.
I am influenced by too may artists to mention but especially the mystical artwork of Freida Harris, the bold sensuality of Tamara de Lempicka and Pablo Picasso, to name a few. Graphic Novels such as Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' and Grant Morrison's 'The Invisibles' have also greatly influenced my work.
I have been working on designs for cards and giclee prints which I sell in the UK and internationally from my website: http://www.dianehinson.co.uk/. I am also available for commissions".Diane Hinson Nov 2011
'Clinically voluptuous', Diane Hinson, 2009 ©
If you would like to see more of Diane's work visit her website:"Passion as Big as a Planet" is a book about the importance of connecting with others, with the world we inhabit, and ourselves. Most of all, this book shows how we can take responsibility for what we care about above all else. Simply put: "In our spirituality, we discover what is worth showing up for. In our activism, we show up." This book spans bigger than environmental issues, politics, or belief systems, although new perspectives are given on each. Through this thoughtful book, anyone with a passion can explore how to take action more effectively and with more joy. Every reader can relate to the author's personal and insightful examples. Ma'ikwe offers a new paradigm for interacting with the planet around us in a purposeful and respectful way that will provide optimism and hope and directly contribute to positive change in our realm."
"Mai'kwe is an engaged author who is in-tune with the people and the world around her. Her passion is contagious and her wisdom is down-to-earth and practical. Determined that everyone can make a difference, she is setting a prime example by living in a hand-made natural earthen home inside an intentional community deeply rooted in the values of sustainability and cooperation. Her enthusiastic spirit comes through in her honest, enlightening work that extends in many directions."
Order book here: http://store.ic.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=366
"Communities Directory: A Comprehensive Guide to Intentional Communities and Cooperative Living" (2010) published by the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC). http://directory.ic.org
"The Communities Directory is the essential reference tool for those interested in finding or creating community. It is compiled by the non-profit Fellowship for Intentional Community from its online Communities Directory. As well as listings for over 1250 communities, it includes a set of useful articles about finding, joining, and starting communities, and an overview of the history and tools of shared living."
The FIC is a comprehensive resource for people interested in intentional community www.ic.org. Their website hosts an online Communities Directory in addition to the print version. They also host and co-sponsor events (such as the International Communities Conference hosted at Twin Oaks Community), publish 'Communities' magazine and have a small online bokseller carrying titles on community, sustainability and group process.
http://store.ic.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=34
"International Refugee Trust (IRT) is a medium sized international development non-governmental organisation currently supporting projects in Uganda, Sudan, Eritrea, Thailand, Jordan and Colombia.
IRT's mission is to support well-defined projects, which tackle real problems with practical solutions, helping particularly the most vulnerable and often forgotten refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and returnees; such as women and children in fragile and conflict-affected countries. These projects address their immediate needs, such as health care, but also help them build for the future for long-term elimination of poverty with education programmes and income generation schemes.
While we do support emergency programmes in the areas where we have projects, our main emphasis is with projects that build the long term capacity of communities to address their own problems with sustainable solutions."
Website: http://www.irt.org.uk/
Telephone: +44(0)20 8994 9120
Tony Morris has just created a new website designed for the bereaved and grieving, where they can go to sit, contemplate and meditate if they wish without pages of advice.
It contains a gentle slide show of scenery and flowers, poems to read, poems with music to listen to and guided meditations from Nourishment for Difficult Times.
Please pass this information on to anyone you think might find it helpful.
http://www.farewelltofriends.co.uk/index.html
GENTLE TOUCH
The touch of your hand,
I shall remember,
Forever more;
The brush of your lips,
Soft on my cheek,
As you said, "Goodbye."
I shall not forget
Always, your tenderness,
Even in pain,
I shall remember,
Never forget
Your gentle touch.