gender

A brand-new grain subsidy ration card that requires women be listed as head of the household is one boon. One beleaguered woman said the food security it brings her could be a means of escaping an abusive husband.

Use of the terms “gender” and “gender equality” in Armenia’s new law equal rights stirred major discontent among those believing that the ambiguity of the words set a legal ground for gradual destruction of Armenian families. Pressured by public criticism and the concerns expressed by the Armenian Apostolic Church, the government has replaced “gender” by “equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women”. 

“It’s true that as a woman leader you attract probably a disproportionate amount of influence because there are so few of us,” says Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Violent attacks on girls and women are nothing new. But two particularly shocking attacks on young women in 2012 have not only sparked widespread condemnation, they are also shaping the discussion on what follows the Millennium Development Goals.