This article seeks to outline the impact of a separation/divorce of a woman from her husband on refugee status determination (RSD) in cases where women have experienced violence by their husband in their country of origin and/or after arriving in the receiving country. An overview of case law of the Austrian Federal Administrative Court will be provided and in the second part main gaps in practice are summarized.
Inspiring Thursday: Olympe De Gouges
During the French Revolution of 1789, almost 400 women were executed by the guillotine. The most famous among them is, of course, Marie Antoinette; however, aside from the queen, another relevant female figure who died for her ideals is Olympe de Gouges. Playwright and political activist, she advocated for the emancipation of women and against slavery in a moment of great social transformation and uncertainty. She is mostly known for having written The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, in response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, where she criticized the French revolutionaries for not having considered women in their fight for equality. Her progressive ideas and stances in favor of women´s rights make her one of the very first feminists in the modern era.
Inspiring Thursday: Pauli Murray
To be called “influential” to someone as famous as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one would have to already be well known, no? This is not the case for Reverend Dr Pauli Murray, an American civil rights advocate, feminist, lawyer and ordained priest, who also was named as co-author to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s brief in the Reed case, which helped her win the breakthrough case regarding same sex discrimination. Though Murray did not actually co-author the brief, she was given the honour due to her being a leading pioneer in creating the legal strategy for fighting sex discrimination.
Implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Finland: What is working well and what still needs to be fixed?
Finland signed the Istanbul Convention (IC) in 2011 and the ratification entered into force in 2015. The first country report to GREVIO was due in spring this year. Alongside Finland’s official report submitted by the state, 13 NGOs formed a coalition to produce a parallel report.(1) The report was coordinated by the two Finnish WAVE members: Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters together with Women’s Line. In this article I will introduce some of the main points of the report, divided here into three core parts: structures for implementation, support measures and legislative problems.
Inspiring Thursday: Emmeline Pankhurst
“We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers. I would rather be a rebel than a slave! “
Inspiring Thursday: Trịnh Thị Minh Hà
Trịnh Thị Minh Hà is a Vietnamese filmmaker, feminist, writer, composer and professor of Gender and Women Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Inspiring Thursday: Elyn Saks
“I am a woman with chronic schizophrenia. I have spent hundreds of days in psychiatric hospitals. I could have ended up living most of my life on a back ward, but things turned out quite differently”
Ending FGM in Europe: Why is it #OurIssueToo?
„FGM is not a cultural traditional practice, but actually it is child abuse. […] Fundamentally, FGM is there to control women and girls’ bodies, and especially their sexuality.” – Leyla Hussein
Child, early and forced marriage as a worldwide practice
“If there is someone hearing what I’m saying now, I would suggest to them to study rather than getting married”, Yelina
“I suffered by being married as a child and I don’t want this to happen to any other girl of my age. When I was younger I had no idea how to stop my marriage but now I’ve learnt how to help other girls to stop theirs”
Inspiring Thursday: Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin
Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin was a pioneer in the field of astronomy and one of the most eminent female astronomers of the twentieth century. She was the first to apply the laws of atomic physics to the study of the temperature and density of stellar bodies and to discover that stars are made mainly of hydrogen and helium and that could be classified according to their temperatures. She was one of the first women to advance to the rank of professor at Harvard University and the first woman to head a department there.
