EDITORIAL: Women's Rights are Women Rights
by Luz Maria Martinez

WOMEN AND CHILDREN, MILITARISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A statement from the International Working Conference
on Okinawa p14

THE UNITED NATIONS: WORKING AT THE GRASSROOTS? p15

FOREGROUNDING WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS
by Kumudini Samuel
Sri Lankan women have creatively used local and international
forms of struggle to push for their rights. p20

NO, I DON'T
by Amtul Naheed of Shirkat Gah
Arranged mariages contradict the rights of women assured by the constitution of Pakistan. p24

DEBATE ON PROSTITUTION:

IS IT A HUMAN RIGHT TO PROSTITUTE?
by Cecilia Hofmann p28

IT IS STIGMATIZATION THAT VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS
by Nelia Sancho as told to Leti Boniol p29

OPPRESSION IN BURMA
by Alison Tate
Around .25 million have fled the
repression. p43

CHANGING THE MUSLIM WORLD
Dozens of ways that counter patriarchal norms are evolving p60

CENSORSHIP FIREWALLS
A short list of censorship acts in China. p62

ARTICLE 19: FOCUS ON ASIA
This advocate of freedom of expression broadens its scope. p63

WOMEN JOURNALISTS DOING INTERNATIONAL NEWS
by Ma. Ceres Doyo
Hail the women writers. p64

MEDIA BILLS THREATEN PAPUA JOURNALISTS
by John Millet
Stringent regulations can throw journalists in jail. p65

THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO WARS...
by Vesna Peric-Zimonjic
Serbian women are victims of past developments they had little influence over at the time. p66

WIA1997-2cover

AFRICAN FIRST LADIES' PEACE INITIATIVES
by Remi Oyo
Timely but some doubt whether it's just lip service. p68

CHILDREN OF WAR, LEADERS FOR PEACE
by Lyn Fine
A program builds a youth movement to act on local and international issues. p69

STILL A WOMAN'S WORK
by Margie Wylie
Even in the computer world, it still is.
 p72

Maria Rosa Henson, Woman of Courage: 1927-1997
by Luz Maria Martinez
An insider's account of CEDAW
p58

One on One: Aurora Javate-de Dios
by Leti Boniol
An academic and activist poses a challenge. p38

Country Report: Afghanistan
by Mae Buenaventura
The Taliban's reign of terror intensifies. p73

Health Updates
p77
Women In Action covers a broad range of issues affecting women globally, but focusing on the particular needs and concerns of women in the Global South, and forwarding a progressive perspective tempered by the experiences of the third world women's movements.
On the cover: Untitled by Carlito Dumalaon, 9 years old, a streetchild under the care of Tanglauj Kabataan.
 
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