You know the story… August 7, 2008

 A young person in graduate school hears a very inspiring lecture about saving the world.  And then drops out of school and goes off to help severely disadvantaged people.  Well, now that young person can keep a multi-media record and it’s pretty cool too.  There’s even a psychic dog who warns of floods.

If you look at the project photos on the right hand side of the opening page, you’ll see a picture  of our friend Kathy Ward.

Shawn, the young person, is a wonderful model, but any graduate students who decide to follow him will PLEASE not mention us as the origin of your information!  We’re considered subversive enough already.

UN recognises rape as weapon of war July 31, 2008

The UN has finally acknowledged that rape is used as a weapon of war by voting unanimously in favour of a resolution to classify it as such. Rape has long been used as a means of terrorising and humiliating one’s enemies. It affects not just the people who are raped (most often women and girls), but also the communities to which they belong. Hurting someone is always a means of hurting their family and the wider community of which they are a member. But rape is particularly effective due at least partly to the way in which women and their sexuality are viewed. The norms governing women’s sexual behaviour are typically more stringent or more strictly enforced than those governing the sexual behaviour of heterosexual men. More significantly, deviance from these norms is often held to bring dishonour upon the entire community of which the woman is a part. This Amnesty article has more information about the use of rape as a war tactic. Here also is an article analysing the Rape of Berlin in 1945 and its connection with constructed gender identities. And here is the BBC news report on the UN resolution.

It’s also worth remembering that women in war zones are not just at risk of rape from the warring factions, but also the peacekeepers sent to protect them. Here is an old Guardian report on the issue.

Abortion and the Web July 11, 2008

Women in countries where abortion is restricted are using the web to obtain abortifacient medications. There are some significant safety concerns, and it also looks like there’s considerable variation between various services. But Women on the Web sounds like a very responsible organisation. It looks like it is generally legal to use this service, even if abortion is illegal where one is located. A very interesting and important use of the web to help women who really need help. (Thanks, Mr J!)

Buy goats! July 5, 2008

According to Nicholas Kristoff in the NY Times, Beatrice Biira graduated this year  from Connecticut College because of a goat.

Here’s part of the story:

… in Niantic, Conn., the children of the Niantic Community Church wanted to donate money for a good cause. They decided to buy goats for African villagers through Heifer International, a venerable aid group based in Arkansas that helps impoverished farming families.

A dairy goat in Heifer’s online gift catalog costs $120; a flock of chicks or ducklings costs just $20.

One of the goats bought by the Niantic church went to Beatrice’s parents and soon produced twins. When the kid goats were weaned, the children drank the goat’s milk for a nutritional boost and sold the surplus milk for extra money.

The cash from the milk accumulated, and Beatrice’s parents decided that they could now afford to send their daughter to school. She was much older than the other first graders, but she was so overjoyed that she studied diligently and rose to be the best student in the school.

Beaytrice was an excellent student and started to win scholarships that took her finally to Conn College. Kristoff says:

When people ask how they can help in the fight against poverty, there are a thousand good answers, from sponsoring a child to supporting a grass-roots organization through globalgiving.com. (I’ve listed specific suggestions on my blog, nytimes.com/ontheground, and on facebook.com/kristof).

Load-Shedding in Bangladesh June 23, 2008

We received the news of electricity shortages in Bangladesh from our friend, KW.  A visit to her blog is highly recommended! 

Here’s a picture of her students from the Nari Jibon project that we featured here.

As  you can see, the picture was taken during a load-shedding period..

Deadly crush continued… June 7, 2008

Readers may remember the Iraqi teenager who was beaten to death by her father for having a crush on a British soldier (- see this post). It has now emerged that her mother - Leila Hussein - has been shot dead after denouncing and divorcing her husband for their daughter’s murder. Leila Hussein received support from a small NGO in Basra who campaign for women’s rights. They were trying to smuggle her to safety in Jordan when she was shot. People involved in the organisation regularly receive death threats, and some have been killed. Here is the Guardian report.

“It’s despicable” May 27, 2008

This was posted a few hours ago with the associated press:

Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday that it has uncovered evidence of widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of peacekeepers and international aid workers in war zones and disaster areas.
The report said more than half the children interviewed knew of cases of coerced sex and improper sexual touching, and that in many instances children knew of 10 or more such incidents carried out by aid workers or peacekeepers.

In some cases, children as young as 6 years old were abused, the report said.

The study is based on research, confidential interviews and focus groups conducted last year in three places with a substantial international aid presence: southern Sudan, Haiti, and Ivory Coast. The group said it did not produce comprehensive statistics about the scale of abuse but did gather enough information to prove that the problem is severe.

“The report shows sexual abuse has been widely underreported because children are afraid to come forward,” Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK, told Associated Press Television News. “A tiny proportion of peacekeepers and aid workers are abusing the children they were sent to protect. It ranges from sex for food to coerced sex. It’s despicable.”

…

The threat of retaliation and the stigma attached to sex abuse were powerful deterrents to coming forward, the report said.

Ann Buchanan, an Oxford University expert in statistical attempts to quantify rates of child abuse, said the report does not produce comprehensive, statistical data about sexual abuse.

She said the topic is so taboo that it is virtually impossible to come up with reliable numbers, but she said the new report provides a useful starting point.

“Sexual abuse is a hugely difficult, sensitive area and it’s not something that you can usually do surveys about because kids feel terrible shame and are afraid to say what’s happened to them,” she said. “Given what we know about underreporting of sex abuse, I would say this report is probably true. They’ve gone about it as sensitively as you can.”

…

U.N. officials in New York said the study shows the effort to combat sexual abuse is falling short.

…

Tom Cargill, Africa program manager at London’s Chatham House, said there is no “magic bullet” that can solve the problem quickly.

He said the United Nations is beset by a number of bureaucratic and legal problems when it comes to investigating abuses committed by peacekeepers.

“The governance of U.N. missions has always been a problem because soldiers from individual states are only beholden to those states,” he said…

The felt shame is such a common reaction to abuse, and it is something seemingly nearly incomprehensible to too many people making decisions in legal and  related contexts.

Food is a Feminist Issue* May 9, 2008

And there’s a world-wide famine. Go read Diary of an Anxious Black Woman. And Feminocracy. And Feministe. This is desperately important stuff. (*Title from DABW.)

Beauty pageant with a twist April 23, 2008

 

Many feminists may view beauty pageants with a critical eye. But the BBC here reports on a pageant, in Angola, for survivors of exploding landmines left after decades of civil war (see here for more information). 

The project is aims both to raise awareness of the problem of landimes, and to promote a wider range of bodies as beautiful (see here):

THE MISS LANDMINE MANIFESTO
(in no particular order)

* Female pride and empowerment.

* Disabled pride and empowerment.

* Global and local landmine awareness and information.

* Challenge inferiority and/or guilt complexes that hinder creativity-
historical, cultural, social, personal, African, European.

* Question established concepts of physical perfection.

* Challenge old and ingrown concepts of cultural cooperation.

* Celebrate true beauty.

* Replace the passive term ‘Victim’ with the active term ‘Survivor’

Looks like an interesting subversion of the traditional beauty pageant, and there are further plans for a similar project in Cambodia.

Though for an alternative take, see here.

CFP: ‘Transformation and the Dynamics of (Radical) Change’ April 7, 2008

 

Dear colleagues,the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy at Queen’s
University Belfast is seeking paper proposals for a two-day conference
(28th-29th November 2008) on the subject of ‘Transformation and the
Dynamics of (Radical) Change Insights from Political Theory and
Philosophy’.

Transformation is a seemingly ubiquitous concept within the field of
political theory and philosophy. Whilst some idealize transformation as a
source for progress and the improvement of the human condition, others
frame it as a disruptive and unsettling process which can damage the
social, political and natural elements of our world.

Paper proposals should include a tentative title, an abstract (200-300
words) and details of the author’s institutional affiliation and contact
information.

Proposals should address any of the following issues/topics: Factors and
actors in transformation: Pluralism, nationalism, individualism,
collectivism, recognition, complexity.

Forces of transformation: Globalization, economic change, social change,
processes, transformation of conflict.

Objects and subjects of transformation: ideas; norms; values; ideology; the
concept of transformation itself; state and sovereignty; government;
governance; social structures and processes; environment and nature; human
beings, including the self.

Evaluations of transformation: theories, approaches, critiques and the
possibility of a broader discourse on transformation.

All papers should make an explicit contribution to the establishment of a
broader discourse on transformation and the dynamics of (radical) change.
The organizing committee welcomes papers from scholars in all fields and
also encourages submission from early-stage academics, as well as from
postgraduate students.

The deadline for submissions is JUNE 15th 2008. Please send your submission
to: transformations(at)qub.ac.uk

For further information, please visit:
www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofPoliticsInternationalStudiesandPhilosophy/Events/Transformations/#d.en.94863

Fabian Schuppert
School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy
Queen’s University Belfast
transformations@qub.ac.uk

 

Rape in the Congo April 5, 2008

Lisa Brice, Online Marketing and Outreach Coordinator of WOMEN MAKE MOVIES, writes  us:

I am writing from Women Make Movies, a non-profit distributor of independent film, to let you know about the upcoming national HBO broadcast premiere of THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, a groundbreaking documentary that exposes the systematic rape and torture of thousands of women and girls happening in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), being used as a weapon of war.

A survivor of gang rape herself, Emmy-Award® winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why. This award-winning documentary features interviews with activists, physicians, even the indifferent rapists who are soldiers of the Congolese Army. But the most moving moments of this film come as dozens of survivors recount their stories with pulverizing honesty and detail, providing inspiring examples of resistance, courage and grace.

===============================================================
National Broadcast Premiere | THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO ===============================================================

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* NATIONAL BROADCAST PREMIERE *
* HBO | APRIL 8 | 10 PM *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“[A] documentary of the highest calling.”
- The Hollywood Reporter

“Breaks open the terrorizing story of rape and atrocity…Bravely documents what happens to women in war.”
- Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues

Women Make Movies is proud to announce the highly anticipated premiere of Sundance Special Jury Prize in Documentary winner THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO by Emmy® Award-winning director Lisa F. Jackson. The acclaimed documentary premieres on HBO at 10pm on April 8.

Watch the Trailer here:
http://thegreatestsilence.org/trailer.html

====================
AWARDS & SCREENINGS
====================

*Sundance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize: Documentary *London Human Rights Watch Int’l Film Festival, Best of Fest *One World Int’l Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Prague *San Francisco Human Rights Watch Int’l Film Festival *Full Frame Documentary Film Festival *Seattle Human Rights Watch Film Festival *Addis Int’l Film Festival on Rights and Justice, Addis Ababa

====================
ABOUT THE FILM
====================

Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this extraordinary film shatters the silence that surrounds the shocking plight of women and girls who, caught in this country’s intractable conflict, are being systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army.
Learn more about the film here: http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c709.shtml

***********************
HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
***********************

» Tune in to the broadcast premiere on HBO on April 8 at 10PM.

» Forward this email on to your organization’s members, friends and colleagues.

» Post an announcement about the film and broadcast to your listserv.

» Include information about the film and broadcast in your newsletter.

» Link your website here: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/view_newsletter.php?newsletter_id 1409660503

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Women Make Movies is the world’s leading distributor of independent films by and about women, with a focus on documentaries that give depth to today’s headlines, as well as artistically and intellectually challenging works of all genres. Our collection of more than 500 films is also used by thousands of educational, community and cultural organizations annually.
For more information, visit http://www.wmm.com.

….

Women Make Movies - 462 Broadway #500 - New York - NY – 10013

On letting implicatures do the dirty work March 12, 2008

Geraldine Ferraro has been widely and rightly criticised for saying the following:

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” she continued. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” 

But now let’s look closely. “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position”. True. In the very, very basic sense that one’s racial identity has a huge effect on one’s life, no mater what sort of life that is. And in politics, where one’s personal narrative is part of what one is selling, that is especially obvious. “And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position.” Again, true, because one’s gender identity also has a huge effect, etc. “He happens to be very lucky to be who he is.” Sure, he’s lucky to be who he is– an immensely successful, immensely talented individual. “And the country is caught up in the concept.” Certainly true for a lot of the country.So nothing false was said.

But– what she conveyed (via implicatures, if one wants to get technical) was that Obama was undeserving of his successes. That his successes were solely a result of his race. And that being non-white is a huge and undeserved stroke of luck in America. All false. And all so offensive and obviously false that nobody would explicitly say them. But all very clearly what she wanted to convey, and what she does convey (to at least many people). And when she is called on her offensive utterance, she can insist that she said nothing false. She let her implicatures do that dirty work.

Take Back the Tech March 9, 2008

This site is about reclaiming ICT (information and communication technologies) to end violence against women.    TBTT has  an international audience, and on March 8,  International Women’s Day, the site invited its visitors to tell their stories.  The result adds to the rich amount of information already on the site.

You can see some of the narratives collected here.

 (Despite the efforts  of Kathy,** our notice about International Women’s Day is coming to you a day late.  “Philosophers don’t do efficiency,” I say probably too frequently; I’m going to add “or dates.”  Apologies and thanks to you, Kathy, for the wonderful link.)

From TBTT you can go to genderIT.org, which promotes the use of ICT  to “contribute to the economic, political and social empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality.”  This is another important site that rewards visits.

————————————————————-

**To see Kathy’s blog, go to our blogroll and click “bideshi blue”.  The link “Bangladesh from our view” takes you to an important project Kathy is administering.

Stanley Fish says Identity Politics can be rational (+ addition) February 18, 2008

and his supporting point is important enough that I’m not going to argue about details (unlike here and here and here), though we’ll see that his conclusion leaves us with some questions. 

Fish distinguishes between a thin and a thick invocation of race or gender to support one’s vote.  The thin reason says you will vote for someone because they are like you.  But a thick reason appeals to interests, ones that - to judge from his examples - have a place in the political sphere.  His example of an African-American’s thick reason for voting for an African-American:

Yet every African American – conservative or liberal, rich or poor, barely educated or highly educated – meets with obstacles to his or success and mobility that are all the more frustrating because they are structural (built into the culture’s ways of perceiving) rather than official. To the non- African American these obstacles will be more or less invisible, especially in a country where access to opportunity is guaranteed by law. It makes sense, therefore, that an African American voter could come to the conclusion that an African American candidate would be likely to fight for changes that could remove barriers a white candidate might not even see. A vote given for that reason would be a vote based on identity, but it would be more than a mere affirmation of fellowship (he’s one of mine and I have to support him); it would be a considered political judgment as to which candidate will move the country in a preferred direction.

In addition to the relief to see someone in such a visible arena actually describe one of the problems keeping racism in place - that the inequities are not even always visible to others - he provides a contrast that has seemed to me to be lacking in the discussion. And that is the contrast between voting for someone just because they are of one’s group, race or gender, and voting because they will represent one’s interests in a way the others seem less likely to.

But should we vote on interests that are the product of one’s ‘identity’? Women are now over 50% of the US population, but still you might feel that if you are voting in a US primary, you should have more impersonal interests at heart. (And of course I hope that elections in other countries will simlarly reflect their population’s diversity, as some definitely have led the way in doing.) Fish’s response is that there is no alternative to voting on interests:

What this means is that the ritual deprecation of “special interests” makes no sense. All interests are special interests – proceed from some contestable point of view – and none is “generally human.” And that is why identity interests, as long as they are ideological [thick]and not merely tribal [thin], constitute a perfectly respectable reason for awarding your vote.

Fish’s claim is not obviously true. The 18th century philosophy Hume argued that we need to have a more general point of view toward humanity in order to act morally, and it seems true that we might want a candidate who will take action to stop the murders in Darfur even though that is perhaps not in our special interests in any intuitive sense. At the same time, his point that all interests proceed from some contestable point of view appears plausible, despite the efforts of some philosophers to find a point of view that isn’t contestable.

So Fish leaves us with some questions. My own view of Fish’s arguments is that voting on identity might be imperfect, but it might well be the best one can do. Certainly, feminist thought has made me (and surely many others) wary of assuming one has found an impersonal point of view. At least in many people’s hands, the impersonal point of view is what leaves the inequities invisible.

Addition:  Since writing this, I’ve wished I had paid more attention to the word “interests.”  I’m very inclined to the Humean (and others’) view that we are interested in others’ welfare and that it is a basic interest, not to be explained in terms of other interests.  The interest might be limited; we may need to work on expanding it to all human beings, but it is not a self-regarding interest.  Fish’s idea of interest might be quite different; he might really think that all reasons are really self-regarding.  That puts a quite different take on his arguments.

There’s recent research that suggests even young infants care about others’ welfare; have a look at: “Social evaluation by pre-verbal infants” by Kiley Hamlin et al in Nature, 2007, p. 557.

Cool Cat Cab and a more serious note in Black History Month February 16, 2008

Cab Calloway, featured earlier, was an exciting performer who epitomized what “cool cat” means.  As I searched for videos of him and others who performed during the earlier stages of film history, I was also aware that February is Black History Month in the US, and that, because of Barak Obama’s campaign, the US is having some hopefully beneficial discussions of prejudice, both racism and sexism.

Because of this perhaps, I was especially worried about putting up clips of  Calloway and other Black performers because I was also aware that part of understanding what was going on in the scenes involves at least some awareness of what is borrowed from, and what is imposed by, White values.  And one wants to be able to consider how much the Blacks in some movie are presented as seen by the White gaze.  I’m not sure that my reading of women in 1930’s and 40’s films is all that accurate, but I became aware of the fact that I was pretty clueless about how to understand early films involving Black people.

 Not entirely clueless, however.  There are some very obvious features, such as the restrictions in social status that Black roles signify.  The Blacks are portrayed as a doorman or butler not just because the plot needs one, but because that’s the highest status to which Blacks more generally are confined, one suspects.**  One consequence is that magnificant performances are painful or sad to watch.  That shouldn’t mean, I hope, that we want to lose track of them.  So here are two of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who may have been the inspiration for the song “Mr Bojangles.”  He’s often said to have been the greatest tap dancer.  He did die penniless, and Ed Sullivan is rumored to have paid for his funeral, but New York turned out for a final tribute to him; he was given “a hero’s farewell“.

 

The last clip is of the very remarkable Ethel Waters.  A comment on YOUTUBE says

this was a racial protest song… Look at Waters’ expressions as she says “Darkies never cry, who would ever hear our sad lament, live to laugh, to die, that’s the way we’ve learned to be content…” Turns the whole “contented black folk” stereotype on its head, while ostensibly stating its case. Wonderful early film performance by Ethel Waters.

** Readers may notice that in the first clip, Robinson is portraying a performer portraying a doorman, and not himself portraying a doorman. But clearly in a culture that represses an under-group, having a member of the group perform the role of an actor performing an exalted would is as unacceptable as having them portray the exalted person directly. There are interesting questions here about the logic of the situation.

Mao offered US 10 Million Women February 16, 2008

Apparently, during a trade negotiation in 1973, Mao offered the US 10 million women.

“You know, China is a very poor country,” Mao said, according to a document released by the State Department’s historian office.”We don’t have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands.” A few minutes later, Mao circled back to the offer. “Do you want our Chinese women?” he asked. “We can give you 10 million.”

Kissinger, characteristically, gave a clear rejection of the appalling offer:

“It is such a novel proposition,” Kissinger replied in his discussion with Mao in Beijing. “We will have to study it.”

Now, it’s not like Mao treated Chinese men well either, but this is a particularly stark example of the commodification of women. (Thanks, Jender-parents!)

 

A Valentine’s gift February 14, 2008

Received today from the remarkable artist, Susan Plum.  Don’t miss the links below the image:

Susan Plum’s website has unforgettable images from an exhibition for the women of Juarez:

This exhibition honors the families, particularly the mothers of the 430 young women and children who have been murdered and the 600 who have disappeared in Juarez during the past 13 years. The practice continues. www.mujeresdejuarez.org

The families have found little justice in these tragedies.

Not the usual Sunday Cat Break February 9, 2008

With thanks to profbigk for the important reminder:

The song was composed by Yusuf Islam when he was still known as Cat Stevens.  Though it was written in the seventies in his earlier persona, Yusuf Islam sang it for the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony in 2006.  That performance can also be seen on youtube, but this one seem to me to be better musically.

It is recorded by Jamal Records , for which YI has done several albums.  Jamal Records links to Small Kindness, which aims

To help the most vulnerable victims of war and conflict, such as orphans, widows, and young girls, by providing direct relief and support with minimum administrational costs, by employing and utilising local staff and infrastructure, being continuously sensitive to the cultural needs of the communities we are serving.

Among its programs are scholarship programs in a number of war-torn countries that seek to give young women job skills.

Yusuf Islam is the chairman of Small Kindness.  Although associated with the UNDP,  it is based in the UK. I’d be grateful for any observations about it that UK readers might have.

Looking up and outward February 6, 2008

On more than one occasion, Roger Gottlieb (”the rabbi of environmental philosophy”) has argued that when self-absorption and ignorance is a widespread moral problem, “sometimes pointing and saying, ‘Look!’ constitutes an argument.”  I’ve often been struck by the truth of this, especially when sitting in the U.S. during an election which is so obsessively covered by the media that the electorate concludes the rest of the world must be doing fine.  As Pew Research center reports attest, interest in the Iraq war has dwindled concurrent with news coverage: “Last week the national media devoted only 2% of its overall coverage to the war.”

 Hopefully, the next U.S. president will take up the issues that citizens have allowed the last president to neglect, such as the direct relationship between genocide in Darfur and the recent violence in Chad; this from the New York Times:

John Prendergast, a former Clinton Administration official and anti-genocide advocate who has worked in Chad and Sudan for 20 years, said that Sudan has been actively trying to overthrow Mr. Deby because of his support for Darfur rebel groups and his willingness to allow a European peacekeeping force to deploy in Chad to protect Darfur refugees living on the country’s eastern border with Sudan.

“This has been an undeclared proxy war between Chad and Sudan for nearly four years now,” he said. “The international community has largely turned a blind eye.”

 Let’s remember Claudia Card’s injunction to priorities evils over unjust inequalities; this doesn’t mean not caring about women or non-whites winning elections, but it does mean remembering why it matters.  Feminists, let’s urge attention to true suffering.  As American feminists go to the polls, no matter whom you vote for, work to direct the attention of your fellow citizens and your leaders back to the world.

Global Voices January 27, 2008

Bideshi blue makes me aware that yesterday was the Global Day of Action, and the entry for Jan 26th is full of links to important information and events.   The post also has links to dsicussions about the World Social Forum, a significant event to many women in other countries, though its covereage in the US and UK seems slight to non-existent.  (I would love to be wrong about this!)

Bideshi Blue is connected to the Nari Jibon website , an initiative of Rising Voices, which seeks to redress the representative inbalance in the online world:

“..certain regions of the world and certain demographics within those regions have benefited from the boom in citizen media more than others. Most bloggers and podcasters still tend to be middle or upper-middle class. Most have a college-level education. Most live in large cities. And of the 70 million weblogs now tracked by Technorati, 95% of them are written in just 10 languages. The truth is, what we often call the ‘global conversation,’ is a privileged discussion among global elites.”

Rising Voices in turn is an initiative of Global Voices Online, which is currently linking to the www.youtube.com project to provide input to the World Economic Forum from ordinary people.

These online voices are an enriching source for Western feminists. And after Jender mentioned Nari Jibon in her edition of the Carnival, we have had several vaued communications with its Executive Director, Kathy Ward. Thanks, Kathy!

Addition:  The Nari Jibon project is much bigger than its website; to quote from the  calendar Kathy so kindly sent:

Nari Jibon Project provides alternative skills and training for women workers in a safe space and then connecting them with employers. Nari Jibon has established a blog in English, titled “Bangladesh from Our View” http://narijibon.blogspot.com and Bangla “Amader Galpa (Our Stories)” http://banglablog-narijibon.blogspot.com to increase students’ & staffs’ creativity on different areas.