Women's rights

Fighting for Women’s Rights in the Boys Club: Gender discrimination in the workplace

Natascia Lypny — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:48:49 +0000

Today, gender discrimination in the workplace is an issue that many in society associate with a bygone era: irrelevant and outdated.

As women gained rights in the workplace and made their way through the patriarchal society, opportunities for equality within many workplaces improved.

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Elizabeth Fry Workers Say Strike is Case of "Lead by Example"

bsichel — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:52:10 +0000

Advocates for women say they need to stand up for their own rights

Halifax - Despite the beautiful sunny day on the Halifax waterfront, Heather McKenzie says she’d much rather be at work than walking the picket line.

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“The Strength of the Heritage that I Carry”

Natascia Lypny — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:22:25 +0000

A conversation with Mi’kmaq educator and human rights defender Patricia Doyle-Bedwell

Patricia Doyle-Bedwell is a Mi’kmaq woman originally from Bangor, Maine. She is currently the director and an assistant professor for the Transition Year Program with the College of Continuing Education at Dalhousie University. Previously, she led the Program for Indigenous Blacks and Mi’kmaq as part of the Dalhousie Law School.

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Nova Scotia transition houses in peril

david parker — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:51:35 +0000

Pressure mounts on the NDP government

Bryony House is a shelter for abused women and their children. It has been operating in Halifax for 31 years, and is the largest transition house for women in Nova Scotia. Each year Bryony House offers safety and shelter to over 450 women and children and answers over 4000 distress calls.

Due to a funding freeze from the provincial government, Bryony House has not seen a funding increase since 1996. This summer Bryony House cut it’s outreach services and let go their outreach employee.

Pressure is now mounting for the NDP government to help with immediate funding. CKDU spoke with Lori Walton from the Friends of Transition Houses, and Darrell Dexter, the NDP Premier of Nova Scotia at the Halifax Labour Day celebrations.

Blaming the Victim of Sexual Assault

CKDU News Collective — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:57:59 +0000

Carleton University's comments elicit grassroots response

CKDU News Collective
August 19, 2009

HALIFAX - Carleton University's recent comments towards a court case from 2007 has campuses across the country in an uproar.

A woman known only as 'Jane Doe' was sexually assaulted while working after hours in a lab on Carlton University campus. Jane Doe believes the University did not take sufficient responsibility in ensuring the safety of it's female students, and sued the University.

In the midst of the recently settled case, the University stated, “the victims injuries were caused or contributed to by the plaintiff, through her own negligence. She was not keeping a proper look out for her own safety.”

The assault drew attention to rampant sexual violence on campuses. A group of students called The Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Center formed in response. They are calling for the university to establish a sexual assault centre, and to retract it's comments.

In this episode of Operation Wake Up, CKDU News Collective host Jane Kirby interviewed Julie Lalonde of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre.

Also in this feature:

Headlines: After recently celebrating her 100th birthday, revered activist and feminist Muriel Duckworth has recently fallen ill.

Music: London Bridge (song) by LAL, from the album Deportation

Valentine's Play

Maya — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:48:54 +0000

Reflections from a women’s bathhouse

As we step past frosted glass doors into a small, well-lit foyer my heart is pumping. The sound of excited voices through a second set of doors leaves me wondering what to expect. Feeling exhilarated by the space and slightly flushed by two glasses of wine, I notice my palms are clammy. This is my second time at Shedogs Bathhouse.

An older, very butch lady meets my friend and I at the front window. While taking IDs and tickets and offering towels, she relays the rules: respect, consent, confidentiality. Allowing our entry through the interior set of doors, she directs us to room four, where we can change and leave our belongings. All the lockers are taken as it is a full house tonight.

My only question, “Have we missed the fisting workshop?” is met with, “Starts in 10 minutes.”

The veneer of security is understandable. Bathhouses have long been targeted as hotbeds of homosexual activity. In 2000, Toronto police raided Pussy Palace, a women's bathhouse night at Club Toronto. Police, almost all of them male, entered the establishment and walked around, taking the names and addresses of some ten women and questioning volunteers.

Traditionally, gay bathhouses are places where men can go to have sex with other men, regardless of sexuality or social status. Bathhouses for women are much more rare. Twice a year the local Halifax men’s bathhouse, Seadogs, hosts a queer ladies night for woman-identified folk. Tonight is the ladies' Valentine's Day bathhouse.

Room four is one of many small rooms off a long, dimly-lit corridor. Each is equipped with a small bed, wall-to-wall mirrors and a handful of condoms and little lube packages scattered like candy on the clean white sheets. In one room there is an erotica-reading party, while others are occupied by lovers. We are told that the rooms on the main floor have a “doors open policy.” Private rooms are in the basement, ten dollars for a key.

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International Women's Day 2009 - Halifax, N.S.

Glen Canning — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:35:29 +0000

A rally marking International Women's Day 2009 was held the 7th of March at Victoria Park in downtown Halifax. Many issues were represented in the rally including pro-choice, child care, sex workers, Palestinian women, violence, AIDS, and solidarity.