The Palestinian women refusing to let their village be demolished

Khirbet Susiya, occupied West Bank - Heyam Nawajah never knows what to tell her daughter when she asks why they don't have a home.

“My daughter keeps asking: ‘Why don’t we have a house? Why can’t we build a house? Why can’t I have my own room?’” the Palestinian Bedouin mother of six said.

According to the 31-year-old Heyam, the Nawajahs have lived in Khirbet Susiya since the early 19th century.

4 Women Economists Reflect on What It’s Meant to Have a Woman Leader at the Fed

When Janet Yellen leaves her role as the chair of the Fed at the end of her term in February, she will have a pretty impressive record to tout. She has led the Fed during one of the longest market rallies in modern history and presided over one of the biggest declines in unemployment and most significant periods of job creation ever. Despite these successes, critics had hoped that Yellen, who inherited an economy that had stabilized since the recession, would be aggressive in rolling back recession-era policy. Instead she proceeded with a slow and cautious approach to raising interest rates in the face of a strengthening economy.

'Hundreds of us will die in Raqqa’: the women fighting Isis

She had heard the stories about how Islamic State fighters could glide like ghosts into Kurdish militia bases during the dead of night, but nothing prepared her for the bedlam when it happened. It was 3.40am on 12 February when Isis attackers scrambled over the perimeter defences of the base north of Raqqa. Kimberley Taylor was convinced it would be overrun. Grabbing her Kalashnikov, she began firing at the shapes. Beyond the corner of the nearest building cowered an enemy fighter. Suddenly he rushed towards her. As their eyes met, he yanked the cord on his suicide belt.

Women Hate Donald Trump Even More Than Men Hate Hillary ClintonU

If Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the 2016 presidential candidates, gender will be part of the campaign in an unprecedented way. It goes beyond the fact that Clinton would be the first woman nominated by one of the two major parties as its presidential candidate: Polls consistently show that women really, really don’t like Trump, and men — to a lesser but still significant degree — really don’t like Clinton.

VEILED PREJUDICES: MUSLIM-CANADIAN WOMEN SPEAK OUT ON NIQAB DEBATE

While other party leaders accuse the Conservatives of dividing Canadians over a minor issue, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is adamant to unveil the truth beyond the niqab and set things straight. He has promised to “look at” extending Quebec’s Bill 62 across the federal bureaucracy – supposedly in the name of fostering neutrality – and forbid civil servants and those accessing government services from wearing face-covering veils.

Is Harper trying to scare new Canadians into not voting by publicly attacking minority faiths and traditions? If you’re worried about how you look or how you dress, will the desire to mark your 'x' on the ballot be stronger? Is Harper's reference to new/old stock Canadians only one more Conservative strategy to split voters?

Thank you, Stephen Harper. Sincerely, Indigenous women

Indigenous women have a message for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Under his watch, nearly 300 of their own have been found missing, murdered or dead under suspicious circumstances, but a national inquiry “isn’t really high” on the PM's radar. Their children make up nearly half of the country’s foster care population, and one in four Indigenous children currently lives in poverty.

Under his watch, more than 90 First Nations communities lack access to safe drinking water, and over $60 million has been slashed from Indigenous organizational budgets.

After Over a Decade of Occupation and $1.5 Billion in US Aid, the Reality Facing Women in Afghanistan Has Barely Changed

The reality is light years from pledges and public statements made by high-ranking Afghan and American officials.

The fate of women in Afghanistan has been the moral linchpin for the continued occupation by U.S. and NATO forces since the presidency of George W. Bush. But according to experts and women across the war-torn country, little has changed for women there despite upwards of $1.5 billion spent to empower women and girls.

Say Her Name: What It Means to Center Black Women's Experiences of Police Violence

Early one morning in July 2015, a new hashtag - #WhatHappenedtoSandraBland? - popped up on Twitter. The question pertained to the death in police custody of a 28-year-old Black woman from Naperville, Illinois, shortly after her arrest in Prairie View, Texas, on July 10, 2015. Police claimed she committed suicide; her family is certain she did no such thing. They had spoken to her just hours before she was alleged to have taken her own life, discussing arrangements to post her bail.

A few days later, a cop watcher's video was released by Al Jazeera. You can hear Sandra Bland's voice in the background crying, "You just slammed my head to the ground! Do you not even care about that?" "I can't hear!" and "I can't even fucking feel my arm!" The video ends with Bland thanking the cop watcher for recording the incident as she is placed in a police car. Three days later she was dead.

Ontario First Nations Chiefs Raise Funds To Pay For Inquiry Into Murdered, Missing Women

TORONTO — First Nations Chiefs in Ontario launched a fundraising campaign Wednesday to help pay for their own public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Ontario regional Chief Isadore Day said the chiefs don't want to wait any longer for the federal government to agree to a public inquiry, and noted the online campaign will help focus on the need for a national probe.

Secret Status Of Women Report Paints Grim Picture For Canada

Canada is falling behind the developed world in women's equality, as poverty rates climb for elderly single women and for single-parent families headed by women, says an internal report by Status of Women Canada.

According to the report, this country is in the bottom ranks in terms of the pay gap between men and women; support for child care and parental leave is well below average; the country registers 57th for gender equality in Parliament's elected members; and it lacks a national strategy to halt violence against women.

Number Of Women And Children Killed In Afghan War Soars, UN Reports

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations said on Wednesday that an increasing number of women and children were getting hurt or killed in Afghanistan's war against the Taliban and other insurgents.

The total number of casualties in the almost 14-year conflict was up one percent in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year, a new U.N. report said. However, the number of women casualties rose by 23 percent and children 13 percent.

Fighting for retirement equality: What women need to know

The second day of the Union Coalition for Free Negotiation's States-General took place in Montreal on April 27, 2015. We heard from distinguished guest speakers who introduced us to the reality of women's pensions vs. those of men. Several statistics emerged, showing realities that the majority of women may not know.

Demographics

Quebec statistics in 2014 show that as the aging population increases, the percentage of women relative to men also increases; at age 80 and over, the percentage of women versus men is 63.5 per cent.

Canadian woman faces 33 years in U.S. prison for protecting kids from abusive father

When Justice Minister Peter MacKay announced he was leaving politics to spend more time with his top priority -- a family he began with his spouse, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who advocates for an end to violence against women and children -- he missed the opportunity to protect a Canadian family of four who are all survivors of brutal violence inflicted by a U.S.-based father and ex-husband.

Now, that family -- all Canadian citizens -- lives in daily fear of being torn apart as a result of Canada's woefully unfair Extradition Act, under which the U.S. is seeking the mother for an alleged violation of a highly problematic custody order. She faces up to 33 years behind bars because she and her children had had enough of the violence they experienced while living stateside and chose, instead, to live, by coming to Canada.

Missing, Murdered Aboriginal Women: RCMP Release Updated Findings

OTTAWA - Aboriginal women continue to be most frequently killed by men they know, the RCMP said Friday as it released updated findings on missing and murdered indigenous women.

Another 32 aboriginal women have been murdered and 11 more have disappeared since the force last reported on the issue 13 months ago. Its initial report put the tally at 1,181 murdered and missing women, between 1980 and 2012.

The RCMP said Friday that female victims, regardless of their ethnicity, continue to be targeted most often by men within their own homes and communities.

This Black Feminist Classic Was a Precursor to #BlackLivesMatter

When I first picked up my mother’s well-worn copy of Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, I’d already been calling myself a feminist for about two years and had penned a scathing takedown of a commercial for boxed macaroni and cheese that implied mothers were somehow responsible for bringing home the pastaand boiling it in a pot.

I was thirteen.     

Number Of Aboriginal Women Behind Bars Spiking: Report

OTTAWA - Emily, an alcohol-addicted young Inuit woman racked by painful memories of sexual abuse, went to jail for manslaughter in 2009 — joining what a newly released report calls one of the fastest growing segments of Canada's prison population.

The number of aboriginal women who were locked behind bars in federal institutions grew a staggering 97 per cent between 2002 and 2012, the study by the federal Justice Department concluded.

Why Women Should Get the Rest of the Year Off

As of October 11, the average American woman who works full time, year-round started working for free.

That’s because she makes just 78 percent of what a man makes. If a man’s pay lasts the whole year long, hers doesn’t even make it to Halloween.

Women of color have been putting in even more time. Black women have been working for free since August 21. Hispanic women have been doing so since July 16.

Tanya Tagaq: Being An Aboriginal Woman Is Like Being Scared At A Horror Movie. All The Time

Part way into a discussion of environmental issues, Tanya Tagaq, fuelled by a mix of frustration at the current state of the Canadian government, passionate hope for the future and an endorphin high from the workout she completed right before our interview, calls Prime Minister Stephen Harper a "douchebag."

Tanya Tagaq Talks Missing And Murdered Aboriginal Woman, PETA In CBC National Interview

When Tanya Tagaq won the 2014 Polaris Prize a week ago, Tagaq made international headlines with two words she uttered during her acceptance speech: F--- PETA."

Unfortunately, the ensuing uproar — including PETA's response that the Inuk throat-singer should "read more" — meant that too little attention was paid to the list of 1,200 names of missing and murdered aboriginal women which scrolled past throughout her mesmerizing Sept. 22 performance in Toronto .

Human trafficking research reveals Canada's role in violence against Aboriginal women

Canada's response to the safety concerns of Indigenous women and girls has garnered significant attention in recent months. Alongside high-profile debates about Canadian sex work laws and the experiences of Aboriginal women and girls in sex industries, significant attention has focused on Canada's response, or lack of response, to the nearly 1,200 murdered and missing Aboriginal women and girls.

Similarly, recent discussions of human trafficking have foregrounded the vulnerability of Indigenous girls and women. In 2012, both an RCMP report and the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking specifically label Aboriginal women and girls as having heightened risk of becoming victims of human trafficking.