5 Years Later, Santa Barbarans Reflect on Goals, Outcomes of Switch to District Elections

Joshua Molina

December 16, 2020 |

Noozhawk |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Barbara, California

In 2014, activists enlisted the help of attorneys and filed a lawsuit against the city of Santa Barbara for violating the California Voting Rights Act by diluting Latino votes. To avoid a costly legal battle, the city agreed to switch to district-based elections where local officials are selected by the actual neighborhoods they will represent rather than the city at-large. These elections ensure neighborhoods will be represented by officials that have intimate knowledge of the area’s needs and have led to dramatic increases in the diversity of elected officials in terms of ethnicity, age and gender.

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How a new approach to fighting domestic violence is changing lives in Burundi

Clarisse Shaka Naira Davlashyan

December 10, 2020 |

Euronews |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Burundi

A grassroots movement in Burundi has resulted in more familial bliss for households who suffered from domestic abuse. Through CARE International, a group of Burundian men are taking on toxic masculinity, entrenched cultural misogyny, and "destructive gender roles" through community meetings. Previously abusive men speak to their communities about how and why they were able to break the cycle and how their families have benefitted from a better home environment, better relationships, and even the benefit of being able to make and save more money as a result of helping their wives, instead of abusing them.

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Colorado's new family leave law could transform fatherhood

Andrew Wear

November 09, 2020 |

Struggles from Below Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Iceland

Icelandic parents each get three months leave, paid at 80% of their salary, to be used within 18 months of a child’s birth. Parents also get an additional three months leave that they can split up as they choose. The “use it or lose it” leave is used by about 80% of fathers. Shared caregiving responsibilities deepen fathers’ bonds with their children and, along with other generous family benefits, has helped Iceland achieve the world’s smallest gender gap by enabling mothers to remain and advance in the workforce. It also shapes children’s experience of gender norms. Colorado recently passed a similar law.

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How Tracking Can Improve Gender Representation in Sourcing from J-School to the Newsroom

Holly Cabrera Meriem Chiadmi Lucie Laumonier Martin Payette Amelie Daoust-Boisvert

October 30, 2020 |

J-Source |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada

Based on an approach that one participant termed “what gets measured gets done,” several Canadian media watchers and news organizations are prodding journalists to quote more women in news stories by auditing sources' genders in past stories. One Montreal Gazette reporter's tally of her newsroom's stories increased how many women were quoted in stories from 29% of stories to 42%. The Gender Gap Tracker tracked Canada's seven most influential news platforms, and saw an increase in the use of female sources in stories by 4% in less than two years, nearly as big a gain as in the previous 26 years.

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Joe Biden Should Stop Bragging About the Violence Against Women Act

Elizabeth Nolan Brown

October 29, 2020 |

Reason |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The Violence Against Women Act was billed as a way to make a patriarchal society, and policing profession in particular, take domestic violence more seriously. It encouraged policies making arrest of alleged abusers mandatory, even to the point of punishing victims who refused to cooperate in prosecutions. This has backfired on many victims, especially women of color who distrust police and their punitive approaches to solving family problems. The law also prioritizes punitive approaches in its awarding of federal grants, thus denying victim aid to women who do not wish to cooperate with arrests.

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Purple Keys, Part 2

Monica Pelliccia Elena Ledda

September 25, 2020 |

Are We Europe |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: France

A mobile app called App-Elles was used 5,400 times during the early months of the pandemic by either the survivors of gender-based violence or witnesses and helpers trying to connect the survivors to assistance. Created by French singer Diariata N'Diaye, the app lets users designate three "protectors" chosen in advance to receive alerts. Once alerted, they can summon help via text message or other discreet means of contacting women who are trapped at home with their abusers. The app is among other examples of digital survivor-aid services developed for women during the pandemic.

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Feminists Paper Paris With Stark Posters Decrying Domestic Abuse

Constant Méheut

September 13, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: France, Paris

The feminist group Les Colleuses (The Gluers) has attracted about 1,500 activists and spread from Paris to other French cities, plus Belgium and Italy, with a message of empowerment that counters weak government responses to domestic violence and femicide. They use posters in public places decrying the abuse. The simple, inexpensive, yet illegal protest – using such messages as "Dad Killed Mom" and "She leaves him, he kills her" – emboldens women to reclaim public spaces where they have felt threatened. In 2019, 146 French women were killed by their current or former partners, a 21% increase from 2018.

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Why most top Foreign Office posts are held by women

The Economist

August 13, 2020 |

The Economist |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

More women are serving in top positions of the United Kingdom’s diplomatic corps with a female ambassador to the United States for the first time since the position was created in 1791. Women now hold about a third of Britain’s ambassadorships and the increase can be traced to several changes, including a public pledge to increase women in leadership positions. A reliable pipeline of women to fill the top spots was also nurtured, with nearly 60% of new foreign service employees now female. Grouping interviews forces management to see the big picture and diplomatic life has become more flexible for families.

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Challenge of archiving the #MeToo movement

Colleen Walsh

August 11, 2020 |

The Harvard Gazette |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library’s digital services team gathered and archived all the virtual material they could find related to the #MeToo movement. The social media-driven movement is now represented in the library’s online archive that contains more than 32 million tweets, 1,100 webpages, and thousands of articles. The team created a largely automated system to capture the content, including 71 hashtags, and a steering committee of historians, lawyers, and data experts helped work through the challenges of capturing a digital footprint. The data has already been examined to study aspects of the movement.

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Can the LBJ Women's Campaign School build a pipeline for women candidates?

Barbara Rodriguez

August 07, 2020 |

The 19th |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The LBJ Women’s Campaign School at the University of Texas at Austin provides nonpartisan support for women running for political office and seeks to recruit more center-right women into the pipeline of political candidates. The inaugural class had 50 women - 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans, and 5 Independents/Other. The group was racially diverse, 58% identified as women of color, but there is room for improvement when it comes to recruiting Republican women. The LBJ program received a financial award from the Women’s Public Leadership Network, which helps center-right women get involved in politics.

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