women's empowerment

Those who described Lady Thatcher after her death as "not really a woman" or "inhuman" were "really wide of the mark", according to the late prime minister's biographer, Charles Moore.

The former editor of the Daily Telegraph, who was given access to Thatcher's papers and hitherto unseen early correspondence with her "much more formidable" sister, Muriel, said that far from being a "weird machine" Thatcher was a human, at times vulnerable, figure for whom her sex was central.

“There’s something sexist about saying that the candidates are two women. Has anyone ever remarked on it when the candidates are two men?” former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet complained about comparisons between herself and her main rival in the presidential elections, rightwing candidate Evelyn Matthei.

The Nov. 17 elections are the first electoral race in Latin America in which the two main presidential candidates are women.

Women aren't running for office because barriers to entry too high

Since the 1980s, more women have registered to vote than men. In the 2012 election, 7.8 million more women cast ballots than men. Women are more engaged in politics than their male counterparts in a lot of ways. But when it comes to actually making the laws, women are sitting on the sidelines, making up just 18 percent of Congress.

Quotas should be introduced to increase the numbers of women in parliament and public life to address the "dire" gender balance in Westminster, authors have told the Edinburgh international book festival.

Kamila Shamsie, the novelist, and Kate Mosse, the author and founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction, argued that quotas for women in parliament, though according to Mosse "a blunt tool", could "effect real change".

The study, A View of Bahraini Women's Political Stance, was made by Bahraini Nooh Khalifa, who is a renowned author and media expert. A total of 300 Bahraini women from different political backgrounds and age groups were surveyed. It was completed in around a year and revealed that a majority of voters have a positive opinion of women in power.

We invite our users to read the complete article published August 18 2013

Thousands of Saudi women have been using social media, especially Twitter, to air their views and campaign for their rights, a senior Saudi journalist said, adding that their tweets were instrumental in mobilizing public and official support for their causes.
“Saudi women, especially university graduates, are using Twitter and other social media outlets to mobilize support for their rights. Many of them have been waiting for years to get employed. They have formed a group now on Twitter to make their voice heard by officials,” Khaled Aburas told Arab News.

While al-Shabaab loses ground and progress and development spread throughout Somalia, women are seeking a larger role in re-constructing the country.

They are helping rebuild Somalia in many fields, such as education, health, politics and even security. Out of the many Somali women leaders across the country, Sabahi profiled three women -- Asli Ismail Duale, Sadiya Abdisamad Abdullahi and Dunia Mohamed Ali -- who are using their knowledge to educate and heal the public, and promote gender equality.

Sameera Rajab is everything in person that you wouldn’t expect from an official government spokesperson in a Gulf country: she’s a woman, a mother of three girls, a Shiite, and the first cousin of Nabeel Rajab, one of the main opposition leaders against the system that she represents.

"He is my cousin from my mother’s and father’s side; that is very close," she says.