ncrw's blog

February 19, 2009 posted by Kyla Bender-Baird According to the U.S. State Department, 800,000 people were trafficked across national borders in 2006. This figure escalates into the millions when including victims trafficked within national borders.   A recently released report by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime delves deeper into this troubling phenomenon:

Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (data from 155 countries)

--Most common form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation (79%) followed by forced labor (18%)

February 17, 2009 posted by Kyla Bender-Baird Last week, I participated in a very interesting conference call with the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) Coalition. The Coalition is comprised of over 65 organizations, whose foci range from a human rights advocacy standpoint to a research-centered agenda.  Violence against women , both in the U.S.

February 13, 2009 posted by Linda Basch Last week we reached out to advocates and scholars working on issues affecting girls’ lives to submit their Girls Agenda 2009: More funding for teen dating violence prevention? More attention paid to the international trafficking of girls? New programs to promote the health, safety, and well-being of future women?  Effective, comprehensive sex education in our schools? The responses we received were dynamic, fresh, and exciting.  Deborah Tolman, Professor of Social Welfare, Hunter College School of Social Work, suggested that in order to enhance girls’ resiliency, we must do more than reduce risk—we must provide encouragement so that they may live their lives in the positive.  Lyn Mikel Brown, author of Girlfighting, offered an insightful critique of the “mean girl” phenomenon and recommended a strength-based approach: “We affirm girls’ relational and political strengths by giving them reason to believe they can count on one another and work together to solve social problems.”  Allison Kimmich, Executive Director of the National Women’s Study Association, drew on Obama’s role as both father and policymaker, nudging him to make policy decisions in the same manner he parents.

February 12, 2009 posted by Kyla Bender-Baird

In the first few days of February, 50,939 people working at America's 500 largest companies have been laid off.  Companies include Nike, US Airways, Wal-Mart, Macy's and General Motors. (via Forbes' Layoff Tracker)

February 11, 2009 posted by admin According to a recent report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United States ranks 69th in the world in female representation in our national legislature (just below Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which tied for 68th). And the situation isn’t improving quickly; it’s been estimated that if we continue adding women in Congress at the current rate, we will reach parity in about 500 years. Women are grossly underrepresented not only in politics but in business; while we make up 51.3% of the population, but we account for only 15.7% of Fortune 500 corporate officers and 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs. This is not only a flagrant waste of brainpower, it’s dangerous; a number of people have made the observation that a higher proportion of women on Wall Street might well have prevented the economic meltdown we’re all suffering from. In other words, we have a leadership problem in this country,

February 11, 2009 posted by Shyama Venkateswar

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="298" caption="Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury"][/caption]

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