The Pixel Project

The Pixel Project Wall of Support:

CrystalSmith — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:07:27 +0000

Creating and Sharing a Global Chorus of Voices Calling forAn End to Violence Against Women

8 March 2010: The Pixel Project, a global Web 2.0-driven awareness and fund raising organisation working to end Violence Against Women (VAW), will launch The Pixel Project Wall of Support on 8 March 2010 to coincide with International Women’s Day. The Wall of Support will be a thought-provoking gallery of YouTube video endorsements from people from all walks of life who support The Pixel Project and its mission to inspire men and women to work together to prevent, stop and end VAW.

The Wall of Support is the latest innovation from The Pixel Project in a series of interactive and interconnected social media-based community initiatives intended to unite people from all walks of life to speak up against VAW. The video endorsements are uploaded to YouTube and displayed on the Wall of Support page in the Community Buzz section of The Pixel Project’s website (http://www.thepixelproject.net). Guidelines for making and submitting a video can be found on the website as well.

These endorsements will complement the Celebrity Male Role Model Public Service Announcement videos – including one from a renowned Nobel Laureate – that will be launched later in 2010 to accompany the unveiling of the mystery million-pixel online portrait collage of the Male Role Models. This portrait collage will be collectively revealed by a global audience at US$1 per pixel to raise US$1 million to be shared between Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation and the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

In addition, each video endorsement will be automatically counted as an “action” towards helping UNIFEM’s “Say NO – UNiTE” campaign’s bid to raise 1 million grassroots actions against VAW by November 2010 (http://www.saynotoviolence.org).

Regina Yau, Founder and President of the Pixel Project, said: “The Pixel Project has taken the unusual step of requesting YouTube video endorsements because they are more personal and authentic than the standard written endorsements generally favoured by most campaigns. By putting a human face and voice to every endorsement, we hope that this growing global chorus of voices against VAW will ignite conversation and focus public attention on the urgency of ending gender-based violence afflicting one in three women around the world.”

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For further information, please contact the Bright One account team for The Pixel Project:

Laura Vergani (Strategic Consultant) – laura.vergani@brightone.org.uk / 07870 60 7521
Group Email – pixelproject@brightone.org.uk

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Quick Facts about International Women’s Day

1909: The Socialist Party of America declared the first National Women’s Day in the United States, observed on February 28.
1910: The idea of an international day for women was put forth in 1910 at an International Conference for Working Women by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women’s Office of the Social Democratic Party in Germany.
1911: The first IWD was held March 19. Women and men attended rallies to end discrimination against women and campaign for women’s right to work, vote, be trained and hold public office.
1913: The date for IWD shifted to March 8 and has remained there ever since.
1975: The UN declared this International Women’s Year and gave official recognition to IWD.
2000 – present: IWD is an official holiday in several countries, including China, Russia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Events are held around the world each year throughout the month of March to “inspire women and celebrate achievements”.
2010: While there is no official global theme for IWD, the UN has declared “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All” as the theme for 2010.

(Facts courtesy of http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp )

Breaking News from El Karama, a comrade in ending VAW:

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:32:01 +0000

Women leaders from 12 Arab states to host CSW event on Beijing+15, CEDAW and MDGs on March 3rd

Karama is coming in force to the UN in March 2010 with a delegation of 32 women leaders and activists from 12 different Arab states to attend the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The scope reflects the collective analysis the delegates are presenting in the Regional NGO Shadow Report on Beijing+15, assessing the fulfillment of commitments made by Arab governments 15 years ago at the UN World Conference on Women in 1995. This is Karama’s largest delegation ever of Arab women to attend CSW, and it is led by the expertise of Dr. Hoda Badran of Egypt, who was the Arab Regional Coordinator for NGO Preparation for the NGO Forum on Women in 1995, and Dr. Haifa Abou Ghazaleh, who was the Arab Region Focal Point for the United Nations for the NGO Forum on Women in 1995 and is now a Senator to the Upper House in Jordan.

The centerpiece of our week at CSW 54 will be Karama’s daylong conference “Leveraging Arab Women’s Power” on Wednesday March 3 at the UN Plaza Millennium Hotel (Riverview Room). Between 9:00 – 5 pm, we will host four separate sessions featuring prominent Arab women leaders from the League of Arab States, ESCWA, UNDP, UNESCO, the Jordanian Senate, and some of the most effective NGO activists of the Arab women’s movement, addressing the following topics:

• Progress and Challenges Implementing Beijing in the Arab States

• Using CEDAW to Accelerate Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Arab Region

• Remaining Challenges to Meet MDG3 in the Arab States Today

• The Way Forward: Accelerating the MDGs, CEDAW, Resolution 1325, and Beijing PFA in the Arab States

We ask you to join us on March 3 to learn the results of our regional analysis with regards to fulfillment of CEDAW, Beijing+15 and the MDGs and to discuss recommendations for future advocacy in the region. With the diversity of our delegation and the milestones being reached in human rights commitments, this year represents a pivotal and historic opportunity to galvanize momentum toward realization of our goals in meeting international standards of equality, justice and dignity.

The Pixel Project VAW e-News Digest: Edition 7

Catalina — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:58:20 +0000

Welcome to the 7th edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest! As usual, we bring you the latest and most relevant news concerning violence against women around the world from the past two weeks.

In this edition we pay special attention to Shariah, or the system of Islamic law. Simply defined, Shariah is a legal system through which Muslims are guided in their walk of life and faith, so that a Muslim’s behaviour will remain exemplary and honourable.

However, the Shariah system in many countries has often worked to the detriment of women. As such, whenever Shariah laws are practised and applied, the world, especially women’s rights groups, take notice.

In Malaysia, the Shariah system has gained a stronger foothold with the first Shariah-compliant caning of three young women who were involved in either extramarital or premarital sex.

Advocates of the caning state that Islamic caning is benevolent — the person caned is fully clothed and the cane itself is thin and not meant to cause injury. Opponents of the punishment are uncomfortable with it on many levels, including the grounds for moral policing that it opens as well as its potential abuse. In a twist, the women who were caned publicly stated that it was an opportunity for them to repent of their sins and that they were deserving of their punishment.

There are many issues to be dealt with in this one matter. To what extent does religious freedom also translate to the right to discriminate, or in this case, to inflict violence upon another person – particularly a woman? If the women involved consent to the practices, should it be accepted? Are ‘benevolent’ forms of Shariah punishment acceptable, or would permitting their existence open a community to the slippery slope that leads to more controversial punishments such as stoning for adultery?

At the same time, we are happy to report that dialogue concerning violence against women related to religion is going on around the world – it’s important to recognize that things such as honour killings, female genital mutilation, and forced marriages which are frequently associated to Islam are in fact cultural and not Islamic practices.

We also report the good news that South Africa, a country that has long struggled with violence particularly against women, will be running a 5-year campaign to tackle violence against women.

Think of ways that you too can help to combat violence against women. Small gestures can mean a great deal. If you have any news concerning violence against women from the Internet or from your local community, we’d like to hear it. You can send any news related to violence against women that you’d like to see in forthcoming editions of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest to our archivist, Catalina Rembuyan, at catalina@thepixelproject.com.

In the meantime, enjoy our 7th edition of the e-News Digest and feel free to share it around! If you prefer to get breaking VAW news from us in real time, follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/PixelProject).

The Pixel Project – it’s time to stop violence against women, together.

With best regards,

The Pixel Project Team

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General Violence Against Women News

UNIFEM organizes discussion forum on philanthropy and women’s welfare

Canada: ‘Half the Sky’ gets cross-country screening

Malaysia: Malaysian women who were caned said the punishment was ‘good for them’

Malaysia: International conference on caning to be held

Malaysia: A more compassionate approach needed instead of caning, women likely to be first targeted by moral police

Kenya: Beaten, tortured, but undaunted – how violence is used to intimidate political dissenters

Pakistan: Films can help combat violence against women

South Africa: 5-year long campaign to combat violence against women to be launched soon

United Kingdom: Review into sexualisation of young people published by the government as part of strategy agains VAW

United Kingdom: Hundreds of people march in Bristol to combat violence against women

United Kingdom: Art or exploitation? Director Michael Winterbottom defends film’s graphic depiction of violence against women

Domestic Violence

Costa Rica: Statistical information giving an overview of domestic violence in Costa Rica

India: Delhi court rules that women can invoke the Domestic Violence Act against her brothers

United Kingdom: ‘A lot of people don’t see domestic violence as a crime’ – city domestic violence unit at the police force helps to look into cases of domestic violence

United States: Governor Paterson announces he would not seek full election due to his involvement in domestic violence against girlfriend

United States: In the state of Nevada, pets of domestic violence survivors may find shelter

United States: Charlie Sheen to get help in rehab after domestic violence incident

United States: Senator Reid makes a statement linking unemployment to the rise of domestic violence, invites controversy

Rape and Sexual Assault

United Nations warns that date rape drugs are on the rise

Germany: Rape as an instrument of war — German woman speaks up about rape under the Soviet army

Haiti: United Nations official clarifies rise of rape in Haitian camps

India: Bollywood director to tackle issue of marital rape

India: Goa to step up policing after rape of tourists

Malaysia: Man who raped minor given ten years’ off his sentence for ‘cooperation with the police’ and for being a ‘first-time offender’

United Kingdom: London rape cases up 500 in a year

United States: Rape on campus – many schools are not aware of repeat offenders

United States: University of Wisconsin offers incomplete data on sexual assault on campus grounds

Honour Killing

An overview of honour killing by Carol Duff

Israel and Palestine: An overview of honour killings in Palestinian society

Iraq: Honour killings in Northern Iraq – the IRC (International Rescue Committee) is working to end the culture of violence

Jordan: Man jailed for killing sister for ‘using her mobile too often’

Pakistan: Sikh groups seek to move UN bodies concerning the rights of non-Muslims in Afghanistan and the SWAT Valley, which will also affect the high level of violence against women there

Forced Marriages

Ghana: Forced marriages increasing in the Northern region

South Africa: Girls as young as 14 still forced to marry according to tribal culture

United Kingdom: Debate on forced marriage to be held in March

United Kingdom: More about the debate that will be held in March, which is said to be the ‘first conference of its kind’ concerning both forced marriage and honour killing

Sex Trafficking

Ireland: The happy hooker myth is a far cry from reality – what the Thomas Carroll case says about the reality of sex trafficking

United States: Sex trafficking is not just a problem abroad – “We’ve got to punish men who are buying sex from children”

United States: Ex-NBA star accused of sex trafficking

United States: Kansas children being sold as sex slaves

United States: Group sheds light on human trafficking

United States: Opinion – human trafficking affects youths in the community, author advises readers to get educated

The Pixel Project’s March 2010 “Call To Action”

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:20:18 +0000

Always wondered how you could get involved with ending Violence Against Women (VAW) wherever you are but hampered by the:

Lack of time?
Lack of opportunity?
Lack of resources?

Well, here are just some of the things you can do, wherever you are in the world. Some of the initiatives below just take 5 seconds, some take just 10 minutes, some are daily, some are for those who really want to get heavily involved.

In other words, we at The Pixel Project have something to suit everybody and we want to show that getting involved in ending VAW can be as easy as the push of the button!

It’s truly time to end Violence Against Women. Together.

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1. The Pixel Project’s “Wall of Support” campaign

We are launching The Pixel Project’s “Wall of Support” on International Women’s Day 2010 (8 March 2010) and are currently sending out a call for submissions of video endorsements from all supporters.

Here’s your chance to join a growing global chorus of voices calling for an end to Violence Against Women – All you need is 10 minutes and a webcam!

For FAQs, guidelines and a starter script, please go here.

You can also RSVP on our “Wall of Support” event page here.

2. A Call to Action: The Pixel Project’s “Plus One” Facebook Campaign

Our Facebook campaign has now amassed almost 3,000 supporters to end Violence Against Women.

We are aiming to double our number of supporters, so please join our page invite just one other person to join us too. Men are especially welcome as there are still too few good men out there willing to publicly stand up against Violence Against Women.

To join our Facebook page, go here.

N.B. Most of our supporters have joined our Facebook group but we are moving everyone over to our Facebook page and will be closing our Facebook group by the end of March 2010.

3. A Call to Action: Join The Pixel Project’s Finance Team

We are now recruiting for volunteer Finance professionals/MBAs to join The Pixel Project’s Finance Team.

It’s an exciting time to join as you will be helping shape our future!

For more details and/or to apply, please refer to our call to action here.

4. The Pixel Project’s Twitter Ambassador Network

Want to help us raise awareness about Violence Against Women but no time to do heavy duty volunteering?

Why not become a Twitter Ambassador for us if you are on Twitter anyway?

All you need to do is re-tweet 5 or more of our tweets per day which range from DV/VAW helplines in up to 20 countries across the world to links to the latest news and views on VAW.

For FAQs and to sign up, please visit here.

5. The Pixel Project Buttons and Banners

Our brand new buttons and banners are now ready! You can find them here.

Please download and feel free to use on your social media profiles and blogs to signify your support for The Pixel Project and our work to end Violence Against Women!

The Pixel Project VAW e-News Digest: Edition 6

Catalina — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:57:43 +0000

Welcome to the 6th edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest! As usual, we bring you the latest and most relevant news concerning the global project of eliminating Violence Against Women (VAW) in the past fortnight.

F0r many people, February 14^th marks Valentine’s Day. It’s also the date for V-Day, a date set by Eve Ensler of The Vagina Monologues fame to recall and remember the level of violence against women, in particular sexual violence against women.

Not everyone feels comfortable with Ensler, and the controversy surroundin her statements have been highlighted by many parties, including feminists. However, regardless of one’s feelings about Ensler’s brand of highly-charged, emotionally raw, and in-your-face form of feminism, what cannot be denied is that with plays such as The Vagina Monologues and the celebration of V-Day – the day during which violence against women is given a second look and is celebrated simultaneously on Valentine’s Day – is that it keeps people talking and keeps VAW in the spotlight.

This is something which is extremely necessary because news from around the world still reveals that there’s a high level of tolerance and justification for VAW. We shouldn’t be too surprised that many people in developing countries accept violence against women as a matter of norm, when an overwhelming number of schoolchildren in the United Kingdom feel that violence against women is sometimes justified, and that a majority of British women blame the victim for rape.

So this edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest is specially dedicated to The Vagina Monologues, V-Day, as well as the performance of and reaction to the play around the world — part of a global step around the world, across theatre halls and educational institutions, towards confronting and ending violence against women.

Think about the ways you can help to prevent, stop and end VAW. Small gestures can mean a great deal. You can send any news concerning violence against women that you wish to see in forthcoming editions of The Pixel Project VAW e-Newsletter to our archivist, Catalina Rembuyan, at catalina@thepixelproject.net.

In the meantime, do enjoy our 6th e-Newsletter and do feel free to share it around! If you prefer to get breaking VAW news from us in real time, please follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/PixelProject).

The Pixel Project – It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

With best regards,

The Pixel Project team

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Special Focus on V-Day and The Vagina Monologues

The monologues will make you uncomfortable in a good way – Connecticut College.

Vagina Monologues pledge to end abuse – Bloomington, Indiana.

Vagina Monologues is a thought-provoking comedy: Eastern Michigan University.

Bajingos, hoohas and more: Maine – ‘men laugh the hardest’.

Centre Against Sexual Assault hopes that Vagina Monologues to address female sexuality and sexual violence against women.

University of Toledo celebrates V-Week.

A cast member speaks about her experience acting in The Vagina Monologues.