Blog - Page 66 of 92 - Maureen F. Fitzgerald

Hungry families sell their girls for food

According to World Vision, parents in Niger are so hungry they are selling their daughters for food. Men will buy girls as wives for a few goats or livestock. Although the parents did not like to do it, they said they had no alternative. I wonder whether they considered selling the boys or fathers? I wonder how well the girls do.

Mark McEwan is a brave and brilliant judge

Justice Mark McEwan just did what governments are too afraid to do. He struck down the court hearing fees as being unconstitutional. He said, as all of us lawyers know, if people can not access justice (because they have no money or ability) then justice in denied. Obviously. So for now the government can no longer charge $500

Must listen to Delusions of Gender podcast

You must listen to this great mini-doc on CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2012/06/05/delusions-of-gender/ Cordelia Fine is the author of the book Delusions of Gender. I will have to go buy it now.

Women show up every day and are more loyal

According to the Census, woemn between the ages of 20 and 34 are taking on trade jobs like never before. Although the news suggests they are shattering stereotypes, the truth is that skilled labour is currently in such short supply that the male-based trades are forced to hire women. Curiously the employers are pleasantly surprised

SAP wins award for creating workplaces that support women

Each May the YWCA honours women (Women of Distinction) but did you know they also have an award for the most Innovative Workplace? This award is given to an organisation that helps their employees manage work-life balance, offers affordable child care and provides flexible work hours. These are the very things that women need to be be able to both work

Wife abuse highest in Kelowna and Abbotsford

We should be ashamed that about 13,000 people in BC were victims of family violence last year. About 99,000 people across Canada! How can we say we live in a civilized society when almost half of those incidents involve men assualting their wives – to the degree that the police are called in. Domestic violence is

Sexual abuse of female farm workers is due to power imbalance

Recent research shows that female farm workers are so often sexually harassed that they see it as an unavoidable condition of agricultural work. As stated by Grace Meng, of Human Rights Watch, “It’s easiest for abusers to get away with sexual harassment where there is an imbalance of power, and the of power is particularly stark on farms.

What men and women do in the kitchen is very different

Katrina Onstad of the Globe wrote a great article in response to Time Magazines’ headline, “Men Spend More Time in the Kitchen” Here are a few of her insights (merged with mine). When men do show up in the kitchen, they tend to do the high visibility work, like meals for guests and barbeque – not the grocery

We need workplaces that don’t make parents lie about being sick

It no surprise that recent research shows that on school PD days, many people call in sick and cancel work. In fact 700 people from an 18,000 person organisation (Vancouver Island Health Authority) called in on November 21 – a non-instruction day in BC. This apparently costs billions in terms of lost work and replacements. If

First lady of France attacked by media

Three attacks on a women leader in one article. I just read that the incoming first lady of France is single and although Ms Trierweiler is the President’s life partner the fact that she is not married to him is wreaking havoc. Why? Because certain people do not want her to sleep with her