women

Channel 4 News journalist Samira Ahmed has won a Stonewall award for broadcast of the year for a report on “corrective rape” in South Africa following the murder of female football star Eudy Simelane.

“I know a million men and not one of them would hit a lesbian or a gay man,” said the articulate young man eyeing me cynically. “What are you trying to say? Africa the dark continent? Everyone must be evil? Finding out all the men who rape lesbians?” I could see his point. I’d approached…

Trawling through the Chinese blogosphere, I come across this gem on www.danwei.org about how the Chinese celebrated International Women’s Day: “Yesterday, at the Liberation Monument (解放碑), 300 nurses were dancing the “breast protection exercise”. The nurses were dancing to music in formation on Monument Square.

More thoughts on female journalists on the frontline, this time from the activist and writer Gloria Steinem. This is from a recent interview in Russia Today: Q: Now, the conference that you’re going to be key speaker of here in Russia is called “Building bridges across conflicts: the role of women journalists”. How can women build bridges differently…

Last night I chaired a panel discussion hosted by Amnesty International called “Women on the Frontline“. The idea was to get together women journalists who cover conflict to talk about their experiences and thoughts. My three colleagues – Marie Colvin, Ramita Navai and Christine Toomey – all thought that being a woman could only be advantage.…

TEHRAN, IRAN – Our team in Iran this week is all-female – the producer is Sarah, the camera operator is Philippa and then there’s me. Which has raised no eyebrows at all with interviewees or policemen but is causing a little consternation at our hotel. The problem is our translator, Nasser. When he’s in the…