What happened in September 2020?

Hello everyone,

We will post every month a recap of the news related to gender and feminist issues around the world!

The Covid-19 crisis has increased the number of girls forced to get married due to economic problems. In many countries, the girls often get married to sustain their family financially using the dowry, bringing an abrupt end to their education. Thus, as the Covid-19 pandemic increases poverty, more girls are at risk of child marriages and thus of not completing their schooling .

Access to abortion has become more difficult because of the Covid-19 pandemic as it is still not seen as an essential medical service in many countries.

Japanese airlines will use gender-free formulations instead of “ladies and gentlemen” when welcoming the passengers on board. Air Canada and Easyjet already established these policies in 2019.

After telling a pupil that her clothing would be a cause for being raped, a high school teacher in South Africa was dismissed.

To help the women’s team in their quest for equal wages, the Swedish male footballers have decided to renounce their salaries. On average, the women are paid 24% less than male footballers in Sweden.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced at the beginning of September that male and female footballers will receive the same pay for the national team

David Maraga, Kenya’s chief of justice, asked the president to dissolve the parliament because it did not comply with the gender law established to guarantee that no more than two-thirds of the parliament is composed of the same gender.

The statue of Rosalie, a very important figure of the slave resistance in Guadeloupe, was inaugurated in Paris on the 26th of September. This is the first black woman to have a statue in Paris. Rosalie, who was engaged with the black resistance in Guadeloupe during the 18th century, is still not widely known. She was born in 1772 and died by suicide in 1802 after she was captured and condemned to death.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the Supreme court of the United States, died on the 18th of September aged 87. She was an icon of feminist fights and anti-Trump resistance. She was nominated by Bill Clinton in 1993 and was the second woman to enter the U.S Supreme Court.

Florence Howe, the feminist studies pioneer, died on the 12th of September 2020 aged 91. She was engaged in civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s. She started to teach English at colleges and universities at a time when women studies were not known yet. She founded the Feminist Press (https://www.feministpress.org ) in 1970 to diversify the materials used in the U.S education. The Feminist Press got supported by many and succeeded in reaching an international impact.

Sources:

www.egyptdailynews.com

guardian.ng/news/

simonemediafr