Necla Kelek – Turkey and Germany

Linked with Sie haben das Leid anderer zugelassen! Added on April 20, 2008: linked also with Seyran Ates – Turkey.

Necla Kelek … (born December 31, 1957 in Istanbul), is a German feminist and social scientist, holding a doctorate in this field, originally from Turkey. She gave lectures on migration sociology at the Evangelische Fachhochschule für Sozialpädagogik /Protestant Institute for Social Education in Hamburg from 1999 until 2004 … (full long text).

Necla Kelek … moved to Germany at the age of 10. She studied economics and sociology in Hamburg and and conferred a doctorate on the subject “Islam in Every Day Life”. Her books include Die fremde Braut (The Foreign Bride) about arranged and forced marriages of Turkish migrants, which won the Geschwister-Scholl-Preis in 2005, and Die verlorenen Söhne (Lost Sons) about the sozialization, violence, and the faith of Turkish-Muslim men. (PEN).

She says: « Es gibt einen Ring des Schweigens, der zum Machterhalt der Väter gehört / there is a cercle of silence to maintain the fathers’ domination ».

Her book in german/ ihr Buch: Necla Kelek, die verlorenen Söhne /the lost sons (über die Gewalt der Väter / about the power of fathers … Die „verlorenen Söhne“ werden gehätschelt und geschlagen, Nährboden für den Extremismus? / the lost sons are pampered and beaten / a fertilizer for extremism?), May 7, 2006.

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Necla Kelek – Turkey and Germany

Two articles: Imported Muslim brides isolated in Germany, May 15, 2007. / and: Zwangsehe & Ehrenmord in Deutschland – Muslimische Frauen fordern: Schluss mit Multikulti-Toleranz, Juni 2005.

French philosopher Pascal Bruckner accused Ian Buruma and Timothy Garton Ash of propagating a form of multiculturalism that amounts to legal apartheid. His fiery polemic unleashed an international debate (here). Below Necla Kelek stakes out her position … (full long text).

She found solace in school, but her life was bound by prohibitions: no swimming, no sports, no playing outdoors and no German friends because they were infidels. At age 17, Kelek could no longer bear it. She ran away the day her father threatened her with an ax. Years later, she investigated the forced marriages of thousands of Muslim girls in Germany, many of them « imported » for that purpose. Her book « The Foreign Bride » became an instant best seller this year and focused attention on a widely ignored issue. Up to 15,000 girls, many of them between 14 and 18 years old, are forced into marriage every year to Turkish boys living in Germany, Kelek said. The imported brides become the transmission belt for other relatives who join them in the name of « family reunion » … (full text).

Necla Kelek im deutschen Wikipedia.

Controversy: Kelek Against « 60 Migration Researchers » … Kelek’s Answer: Kelek was given the opportunity to reply in the same edition of the newspaper,[6: Sie haben das Leid anderer zugelassen! / You have allowed the misfortune of others!] (which was also reprinted by the daily paper taz on February 3). She refrained from going further into the accusations directed against her and on her part, accused those who signed the petition of arguing unscientifically. Despite the actual state of affairs, they represent the illusion of the successful integration of Moslem migrants. Despite daily events which contradict this view, the representatives of the academic majority opinion would rather criticize the bearer of bad news than their own views or their « ideological concept of multiculturalism » She intensified her reply, by accusing the « critics from the well-equipped world of the publicly financed migration research » of being « responsible for the failure of the integration policy for 30 years. » The true purpose of their objection is « anxiety about their research funds »… (full text).

Continuer la lecture de « Necla Kelek – Turkey and Germany »

Richard C. Cook – USA

Linked with Is an International Financial Conspiracy Driving World Events.

Richard Cook is a former federal government analyst who was one of the key figures in the investigation of the space shuttle Challenger disaster … One of his areas of interest has been the monetary system and he has written a series of articles about the current financial crisis including Financial Meltdown: U.S. Treasury Regulatory Reform Proposals: Hapless, Helpless, Hopeless, and: Is an International Financial Conspiracy Driving World Events? and An Emergency Program of Monetary Reform for the United States … (full text on indybay).

He says: « Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are, or should be, the fruits of democracy. But the political democracy defined by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution has not been achieved because economic democracy has not been achieved. The attainment of real economic democracy is the next task for the American people » … (full text, Nov. 25, 2007).

The Fed’s Bailout: Whose Money Is It? March 23, 2008.

The Basic Income Guarantee and Monetary Reform: A Tale of Two Ideas, April 2007.

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Richard C. Cook – USA

His Book: Challenger revealed, 2007.

He says also:  » … I was the NASA analyst who testified before the Presidential Commission on the dangers of the solid rocket booster O-ring seals after the Challenger disaster of January 28, 1986. My new book, Challenger Revealed: An Insider’s Account of How the Reagan Administration Caused the Greatest Tragedy of the Space Age, was published in January 2007 by Thunder’s Mouth Press. I wrote the book as a first-person narrative based on my experiences at NASA. I retired recently from the federal government and am now a writer, speaker, and consultant on public policy issues, organizational change, and conflict resolution … « , (on his homepage).

Perilous Times, by Richard C. Cook, October 8, 2007.

He writes: … In my book « Challenger Revealed » I point out that an underlying cause of the 1986 disaster was the takeover of the Shuttle program by the leadership of Star Wars in order to use the shuttle as a testing platform for space weapons. My book also makes it clear that Star Wars was always intended to facilitate offensive warfare. The only « good » thing about the Challenger disaster was that it brought space weapons testing to a halt, since the Air Force had no alternative testing system. Today they have corrected that flaw by shifting back to unmanned launchers for testing and deployment … (full text).

Economic Crisis: The U.S. Political Leadership Has Failed, September 12, 2007.

Continuer la lecture de « Richard C. Cook – USA »

Robert Louis Heilbroner – USA (1919 – 2005)

Linked with The Book of Doctorow.

Robert Heilbroner (March 24, 1919 – January 4, 2005) was an American economist and historian of economic thought. The author of some twenty books, Heilbroner was best known for The Worldly Philosophers (1953), a survey of the lives and contributions of famous economists, notably Adam Smith, and Karl Marx, and and John Maynard Keynes … (full long text).

His homepage at the New School for Social Research.

listen the video: Robert Heilbroner 1999, (he) dicusses Economics and his major book « The Worldly Philosophers », 59 min, added on the web on 29 Jan 2007.

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Robert Louis Heilbroner – USA

Robert Heilbroner, Writer and Economist, Dies at 85, January 21, 2005.

Robert Heilbroner, the bestselling writer of economics, died early this month at the age of 85. He and John Kenneth Galbraith may well have sold more economics books than all other economists combined. Alas, their talents lay more in the writing than the economics. Heilbroner was an outspoken socialist; if only a libertarian could write an introductory book on economics that could – like Heilbroner’s The Worldly Philosophers – sell 4 million copies … (full text, January 21, 2005).

He writes: Socialism—defined as a centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production—was the tragic failure of the twentieth century. Born of a commitment to remedy the economic and moral defects of capitalism, it has far surpassed capitalism in both economic malfunction and moral cruelty. Yet the idea and the ideal of socialism linger on. Whether socialism in some form will eventually return as a major organizing force in human affairs is unknown, but no one can accurately appraise its prospects who has not taken into account the dramatic story of its rise and fall … (full text in The Concise Encyclopedia of Ecnomics).

his biography: on wikipedia; on his homepage (scroll down); on The School of Cooperative Individualism.

Continuer la lecture de « Robert Louis Heilbroner – USA (1919 – 2005) »

Ishbel Maria Aberdeen – England

Ishbel Maria Aberdeen – England (1857 – 1939), from the Marjoribanks of Inverness-shire, Scotland.

Linked with ENCOURAGEMENT OF HOME INDUSTRIES … on 1893.

Ishbel Maria Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, GBE (15 March 1857 –18 April 1939), was a Scottish author, philanthropist and an advocate of woman’s interests … (full text).

life and work.

She was the daughter of Dudley Coutts Majoribanks, son of Edward Majoribanks of Greenland, son of John Marjoribanks (1763-1833) who was the eldest son of Edward Marjoribanks (from Bordeaux, Edinburgh and Lees in the Borders) and Grizel Stewart. Dudley later on became Lord Tweedmouth and married Isabel Hogg whose Father, James Weir Hogg, was a Speaker of the House of Commons. Ishbel spent a happy childhood alternating between Brook House in the fashionable West End of London and at the highland deer forest of Guisachan (« Place of the Firs ») in Inverness-shire, with it’s wild birds, dogs, ponies. She had first met her future husband, John, while out riding in a London Park when she was fourteen; at eighteen, after her « coming out » at a ball presided by Queen Victoria, he became a favourite escort. She married John Campbell Gordon, seventh Earl of Aberdeen, in St. George’s, Hanover Square, on November 7,1877 in a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. During her years in Canada, Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General, founded:

  • the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) in 1893,
  • the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) for Canada in 1897,
  • the May Courts of Canada, 1898.

… (full long text).

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Ishbel Marjoribanks, Marchioness of Aberdeen, First President NCWC, 1893-1899, a common aim and a common work, ALTIOR (« Ever Higher ») – Above one of the original Commemorative medaillons issued by Lady Aberdeen in Montreal in 1898 … (Danielle Duval LeMyre, published on geocities).

She worked for women’s rights and social reforms in Britain.

Find about her on Google Book-search, on National Portrait Gallery, on wikipedia, and Google scholar-search.

Recognition: In 1894 she received the Freedom of Limerick; she received the Freedom of Edinburgh in 1928 and was invested as a GBE in 1931. The Lady Aberdeen Bridge’, which is the first bridge upstream to cross the Gatineau river, in Gatineau, was named in her honour. After falling through the ice at the confluence of the Gatineau and Ottawa Rivers, Lady Aberdeen was rescued by Gatineau locals. Out of gratitude she funded the construction of a church near the site of the accident and the Lady Aberdeen Bridge. Aberdeen Avenue in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was named after Lord and Lady Aberdeen who lived on Bay Street South between 1890-1898. They also presided over the opening of the Hamilton Public Library on September 16, 1890. (full text).

She is named (some exemples): in the Canadian Encyclopedia; in the McCord Museum; on pikle.demon; on civilization.ca; on the National Register of Archives … (etc.).

Continuer la lecture de « Ishbel Maria Aberdeen – England »

Brian Moore – USA

Linked with The Peace and Freedom Party PFP.
Brian Moore – disambiguation on wikipedia.

Brian Patrick Moore (born June 8, 1943) is a democratic socialist politician and the Socialist Party USA and Liberty Union Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election. Formerly a member of the Democratic Party and later an independent, he is now a member of the Socialist Party. Moore, of Florida, and vice-presidential nominee Stewart Alexander of California, were nominated on 20 October 2007 at the party’s National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Brian Moore, was the only candidate to collect the 1,000 signatures required to participate in the Liberty Union Party’s presidential primary. The primary election is binding, so Moore will be the Liberty Union nominees in the November general election … (full text).

His website as Citizen Activist and Presidential Candidate. You have possibility for a contact through this website, (its homepage) – the same homepage in espanol/spanish.

See also STEWART A. ALEXANDER’s VIEWS AND NEWS: PROTECT THE WORKING CLASS.
He says: (why President?): Because the two party political system, and our capitalistic economic system, are not addressing nor are they resolving the problems domestically nor internationally. I believe we need candidates of courage and vision to address issues in a forthright and alternative way, and no one so far, does that through the systems and solutions that they offer. I also want to represent the working man and woman, the common man, and the poor, and bring equality and fairness and respect to them, which does not exist now under our systems and society … (full interview).

Video: debate on waterboarding, min, March 4, 2008, in Tampa, Florida, and audio: Peace and Freedom Party Debate, Jan. 18, 2008.

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Brian Moore – USA

He says also: « Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life » … (full text inteview).

Brian’s official campaign website.

BRIAN’S POSITIONS ON CRITICAL ISSUES:

… (full text).

Brian’s Professional, Political and Personal Background.

Previous Civic Involvement:

Continuer la lecture de « Brian Moore – USA »

Anthony Ravlich – New Zealand

Linked with International NGO Coalition for an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, with Human Rights Network AOTEAROA New Zealand; with Complaints Procedure At The UN, with Liberal Dream Turning Sour, with Social Justice is Gaining Momentum, and with Western Double Standards and the new United Nations.

Also linked with our many older posts about op-icescr on our NGO-Blog: during February 2005, and during March 2005, then with op-icescr: the Optional Protocol of the International Convent of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, op-icescr on August 31, 2005, op-icescr and Intellectual Property, with Again: op-icescr & NGOs … and on the Humanitarian blog: what’s about the endless op-icescr, and with Background Doc on op-icescr.

Anthony Ravlich, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation has some concerns about privacy and misuse. While the system is voluntary now, he sees no reason why that couldn’t change in the future:

  • « There seems to be little to stop a government from making such a scheme compulsory at some future date despite it involving people being forced to give information » Ravlich says …
  • « Privacy is only protected by ordinary law, the Privacy Act 1993, which government can change » …
  • « However if the right to privacy were included in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 which was then made supreme law this would provide some protection. However it is very unlikely for this Act to be made supreme law at a time when civil liberties are being curbed globally to address the problem of terrorists and other undesirables » …
  • « However the Department of internal Affairs is at pains to stress the voluntary nature of the IVS saying people ‘will always have an option to use or not use the IVS and GLS (Government Log-on Service) service » … .

Tony is Chairperson of the Human Rights Council who have been involved in the community educating people in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a covenant that is less well understood and perhaps less applied in New Zealand, than its sister covenant on civil and political rights. He is interested in eradicating poverty and feels that it often leads to conflict in UN forums and also weaken countries internal instability (human rights filmfest.net).

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Anthony Ravlich – New Zealand

His book: Freedom from Our Social Prisons, The Rise of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, to be published on May 2008, allBookstores.

He writes: … But putting this into perspective during the recent Open-Ended Working Groups discussions on whether to draft an Optional Protocol for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (a complaints procedure for those suffering social injustice) which could be of assistance the bulk of humanity who live in poverty countries such as the US, Australia, the UK, Canada and India have opposed the drafting of the Optional Protocol. These countries prioritize civil and political rights thereby marginalizing economic, social and cultural rights, and in the case of the US this is to the point of exclusion. The US is the only industrialized country not to have ratified the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights under international law.

Continuer la lecture de « Anthony Ravlich – New Zealand »

Pablo Ouziel – Spain

Linked with The Grim Reality of Economic Truths, and with Failed Fascist States.

Pablo Ouziel is an activist and a freelance writer based in Spain. His work has appeared in many progressive media including Znet, Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free Press. (full text).

And: He is a sociologist … located in Barcelona, Spain.
And: Pablo Ouziel has international experience in Business Development and Corporate Communications having worked from London and New York, developing communications strategies and dealing with investor relations for many world leading companies. He was also co-founder of Latinia Corporation and Appareo Corporation, and currently is CEO of Can Poeti SL, a branding communications company which he runs together with his wife, and focuses on supporting projects around the globe in the areas of sustainability, ecology and health. Pablo also sits on the Board of Directors of Mas Claperol, the oldest organic dairy farm in Catalunya, Spain, (on Atlantic Free Press, scroll down, down, down … ).

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He says: « If one believes that Auschwitz was a consequence of the rise of fascism, it’s certainly too late now to avoid Guantanamo » … (in failed fascist states).

Lame Duck citizens and the global economy.

But it has got to happen. “Fascism is here today because we allowed it to be here,” writes Pablo Ouziel in his excellent short piece, “Failed Fascist States.” Yes, we allowed it to be here. We have been wretchedly stupid. And now we’ve got to wake up, look straight at it, and get rid of it. Otherwise, as said, we are doomed. Paul Craig Roberts is capable of looking straight at it, or at its effects … (full text, March 23, 2008).

Geopolitical Rebirth, Feb. 18, 2008.

He writes also: « One cannot deny that corporate greed, political fraud and financial theft, are upon us with such catastrophic magnitudes that the average citizen has lost all hope in equality and fairness. Democracy has become the slogan of the powerful to justify their actions before the masses, Christ has been caricatured as the symbol of irrelevance, and our climate and ultimately us, are suffering this calamity. All this is within the grasp of anyone who watches CNN with a bit of intuition and reads between the lines » … (full text).

Forgetting Gandhi on International Nonviolence Day.

Continuer la lecture de « Pablo Ouziel – Spain »

Paul Wellstone – USA (1944 – 2002)

Linked with The Wellstone Action, and with The real threat.

Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was a two-term U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College. Wellstone was a progressive and a leading spokesman for the progressive wing of the national Democratic Party. He served in the Senate in the 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, and 107th congresses from 1991 until his death in a plane crash on 25 October 2002, 11 days before he was to stand in the midterm US senate election. His wife, Sheila, and daughter, Marcia, also died in the crash. They had two other grown children, David and Mark, who now co-chair the Wellstone Action nonprofit group … (full long text).

His Death.

excerpt chapter 3: … We know that in 2002 Vice President Lon Cheney told Senator Paul Wellstone that “If you vote against the war in Iraq, the Bush administration will do whatever is necessary to get you. There will be severe ramifications for you and the state of Minnesota.” We know that Wellstone did vote against the war in Iraq. And we know that soon afterward he was assassinated. This fact is terrifying. It is a matter not of politics clean or dirty, but it is a matter of terrorism … (full long text).

Wellstone Act will enable all to do well, March 14, 2008.

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Paul Wellstone – USA (1944 – 2002)

Watch him on the video: Charlie Rose with WELLSTONE (and SHORTZ and ANVERSA), Charlie Rose Inc., 57.03 min, 16 July 2001.

WASHINGTON – Five years after Paul Wellstone’s death, the U.S. House is poised to pass a mental health and addiction bill named for the late Minnesota senator who championed the cause in the last years of his life … (full text, March 4, 2008).

His other military votes.

Paul Wellstone was the only progressive in the U.S. Senate. Mother Jones magazine once described him as, « The first 1960s radical elected to the U.S. senate. » He was also the last. Since defeating incumbent Republican Rudy Boschowitz 12 years ago in a grassroots upset, Wellstone emerged as the strongest, most persistent, most articulate and most vocal Senate opponent of the Bush administration. In a senate that is one heartbeat away from Republican control, Wellstone was more than just another Democrat. He was often the lone voice standing firm against the status-quo policies of both the Democrats and the Republicans … (full text, and scroll down for more photos).

Wellstone and the Gulf War.

Continuer la lecture de « Paul Wellstone – USA (1944 – 2002) »

Nadine Gordimer – South Africa

Nadine Gordimer (born 20 November 1923) is a South African writer, political activist and Nobel Prize in literature laureate. Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned. She has recently been active in HIV/AIDS causes … (full long text).

Her 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech.

Dozens of prominent South Africans have signed a statement condemning a racist video which surfaced at the Free State University earlier this month. The list of 81 signatories includes renowned authors Nadine Gordimer and Andre Brink, journalists John Perlman and Max du Preez, retired judge Arthur Chaskalson, cartoonist Zapiro, and academic Phillip Tobias … (full text, March 7, 2008).

Her video: Nadine Gordimer on racism, 3.25 min, 3 Oct 2007;

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Nadine Gordimer – South Africa

The Salon Interview with Nadine Gordimer, not dated.

A team-work video: Superpower Priciples, U.S. Terrorism Against Cuba, by Bernie Fox, 55 min 51 sec – 28 Oct 2006, with the participation of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, William Blum, Leonard Weinglass, Nadine Gordimer, and others … edited by Salim Lamrani, and published by Common Courage Press.

She says: « Learning to write sent me falling, falling through the surface of the South African way of life » (The Guardian).

Cynics may note that this is otherwise pretty familiar territory: The appointment of Suzanne Vega to the judges in 2001 caused some minor consternation at the time, and Nadine Gordimer has also announced that she won’t allow her books to run for the prize. Indeed, today’s headline star AS Byatt first expressed her reservations about the prize back in 1996, its inaugural year … (full text, March 18, 2008).

Her Political and literary activism.

Recently I discovered another writer – novelist and short story writer – whose new works I will await with great excitement and anticipation. That means he joins a short list that includes Ward Just, Nadine Gordimer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Lorrie Moore and Ian McEwen. He is Jim Shepard, and he teaches writing and literature at Williams College … (full text, Feb. 28, 2008).

Writing And Being.

Continuer la lecture de « Nadine Gordimer – South Africa »

Judy Thongori – Kenya

Linked with Displaced women tell of misery in the chaos.

Judy Thongori is the Chairperson of CREAW and heads the board that comprises of eight (8) members. Her goal is to work in development and legal initiatives that gear towards achieving an equitable society in which there is zero tolerance to Gender-Based Violence and respect for human rights. She has the experience of seventeen years of practice as a lawyer with six of those years in implementing programmes on women’s rights issues. Part of her work has involved provision of legal services to the under-privileged and taking on public interest litigation. She has been in the forefront in spreading legal awareness through public awareness, seminars, workshops and the media. She has also been proactive in lobbying for laws that are responsive to the needs of women. Judy is married to John Thongori and they have two children. (CREAW).

She says: « Kenya lacks an automatic domestication clause, which provides ways for ratifying and implementing international covenants and charters. Thus, international agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the Beijing Platform for Action remained undomesticated ». (full long text).

Read: Gender and Economic Growth in Kenya, 161 pdf-pages.

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Sorry, no photo found for Judy Thongori, Kenya.

Prostitution is illegal under Tanzanian law, and there is also a prohibition against brothels and defilement of children below age 14. The law similarly forbids child pornography and prostitution and considers any sexual act with a girl below the age of 18 to be rape, which is punishable by life imprisonment. However, enforcing these provisions is very difficult, because, although the law considers sex below the age of 18 to be rape, other provisions set the legal age for marriage at 15. The penalties for raping an adult woman are also very strict, with imprisonment ranging from a minimum of 30 years to a maximum of life. (Judy Thongori, in “The Proposed Amendments to the Laws on Rape and Defilement: Do the Proposed Amendments Fill the Gaps?,” 3 December 2003). In addition, the offender must pay the victim compensation for damages suffered as a result of the rape (ECPAT International Online Database, 24 April 2003).

ECPAT International, a network of organisations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Judy has front line experience of providing legal services to poor women. She has acted in public interest litigation aimed at increasing their access to justice. A key aspect of her work has been to empower women and other marginalised sections of society through training and media campaigns. She trains to build capacity for self-representation through the justice systems, and on proactive advocacy for responsive laws and policies. She has worked with the judiciary and with Parliament on programmes to increase justice for women, and is currently a Visiting Justice for a women’s prison in Nairobi. (full text).

Matter: whether Sexual Harassment amounts to Sex Discrimination Under International Law and the Kenyan Constitution. Legal Expert Mr. Wachira Maina and National Lawyer Ms. Judy Thongori, September 2004.

Continuer la lecture de « Judy Thongori – Kenya »