(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . This Week in the War on Women - 'Tis the Season [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-23 I admit that I’m not feeling very festive this holiday season. I volunteered for this week’s WoW diary because Jews always work on Christmas in hospitals and such places. When my son was young (he’s adopted and not Jewish by birth or former foster placements) I did celebrate it with a tree and gifts and Santa Claus, but I never felt entirely comfortable with it then or other times I have lived with people who “do” Christmas. And with the war in Israel/Palestine, Bethlehem has cancelled their usual Christmas celebrations in solidarity with Gaza, and I will be attending a Christmas Eve vigil for a cease-fire. But I wish those of you who are celebrating a happy holiday spent with people you love. It’s also the season for end-of-year giving, and in case some of you are looking for places to donate, here are some suggestions that deal with women’s and children’s needs. (If you are interested in humanitarian aid to Gaza, check here.) Girls’ Education: The Malala Fund; UNICEF’s Kids in Need of Desks. For a list of 10 organizations working for girls’ education, check here. Violence Against Women: National Domestic Violence Hotline; also organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and Oxfam have sections that focus on violence against women. And check for local resources like hotlines and shelters. Abortion Rights: NARAL (now Reproductive Freedom for All); Planned Parenthood; also check your local or regional Planned Parenthood; Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP); National Network of Abortion Funds, a network of 100 local abortion funds. Women’s Health: Society for Women’s Health Research; also, groups like the American Heart Assn. and others focused on specific health issues have sections that focus on women’s needs, as do international groups like WHO (World Health Organization) and Doctors Without Borders. In The News RIP Sandra Day O’Connor *** I have shared the NYT newsletter series India’s Daughters in this space before. This week one of the authors writes about the difficulties of doing the series in the cultural/patriarchal and political climate in India. In doing this it looks at the difficulties faced by Indian women journalists as well. messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/… *** Iranian authorities have executed Samira Sabzian-Fard, a victim of child marriage who was convicted of murdering her husband. Sabzian-Fard, married at the age of 15, faced the implementation of her death sentence for killing her husband four years after their marriage in 2013, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR). Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the Director of IHR, branded her execution as a “stark reflection of an inefficient and corrupt government resorting to violence and intimidation to sustain itself.” The IHR has called on the international community to hold Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other officials of the Islamic Republic accountable for such actions. www.iranintl.com/… *** Sewa Lamsal has become the first woman Foreign Secretary of Nepal. kathmandupost.com/… *** Can they get justice now? Two years earlier, the body of 25-year-old Jennifer Kirk lay curled at the foot of a bed, a rifle on the floor, strangulation marks on her neck and a bullet hole beneath her chin. City police swiftly closed the case, declaring it a suicide. Now police were back at the property, where the lifeless body of Susanna “Sue Sue” Norton, 30, was discovered in an adjacent house, beaten and strangled. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be homicide. Kirk and Norton, both Inupiaq, had each dated sons of the former borough mayor, and the sons had previously been convicted of beating each of them. One of the sons had admitted to strangling Kirk twice before. Another pleaded guilty to kicking Norton in the stomach when she was six months pregnant. www.propublica.org/… *** An eight-year-old British Indian schoolgirl has made chess history after being named the “super talented” best female player at a European championship. Bodhana Sivanandan, from Harrow in north-west London, won the European Blitz Chess Championship in Zagreb, Croatia, over the weekend after a winning streak since she took up chess during the COVID pandemic lockdown. In the European championship, she went head-to-head with some of the best players in the world and defeated an international master to win her crown. www.ndtv.com/... *** What’s wrong with the headline? The Guardian, telling about a lawsuit filed by a former assistant against actor Vin Diesel, accusing him of sexual battery in an incident that happened in 2010, ran the headline “Vin Diesel denies accusation of sexual battery in lawsuit by former assistant.” How about something along the lines of “Actor Vin Diesel accused of sexual battery in lawsuit filed by former assistant” instead? www.theguardian.com/… Women of the Year I googled “Woman of the Year 2023” and found lists from magazines, athletic and professional organizations, and the government (of all things). Strangely (or maybe not) I have never heard of many of the recipients since I’m way out of date with pop culture. I found these two lists interesting, from the State Dept. and the White House. iInternational Women of Courage www.state.gov/… There was controversy about this because one of the recipients is a transgender woman. wpde.com/... Girls Leading Change www.whitehouse.gov/… And this science award: Women in Science International Awards www.nobelprize.org/... Who are your choices? On Joy Reid’s Who Won the Year feature, it was suggested that Black women did — ranging from Beyonce to Simone Biles to Judge Tanya Chutkan, Fulton County DA Fani Willis, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. A good case could be made for all of these. Who else? Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi? Special RIP mention for Sandra Day O’Connor? Please give your choices in the comments. ******* As always, thanks to the WoW crew for links and discussion — this week that includes mettle fatigue, elenacarlene, Angmar, and SandraLLAP. 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