Women's Day marks crisis of poverty, violence

Women rallied worldwide Sunday to demand equal rights and protest against domestic violence and growing poverty in the global economic crisis as they marked International Women's Day.

Thousands gathered in public squares from Bangalore to Kinshasa to the capitals of Europe, drawing attention to discrimination and fears facing women in their respective countries.

For Europeans, deteriorating financial security in the face of recession has made life more precarious for women workers. "Masculine globalization equals female poverty" read a banner at a march in Madrid, while in Warsaw calls for equality were linked to paychecks: "Equal rights, equal pay."

The Vatican took a different spin on Women's Day, proclaiming what has liberated Western women the most is none other than the washing machine.

"The debate is still open. Some say it was the pill, others the liberalization of abortion, or being able to work outside the home. Others go even further: the washing machine," the official Vatican newspaper said.

Women in war zones

For women mainly outside the West, however, their very existence is in peril from violence and cultural attitudes that endanger their lives.

Indian activists in Bangalore, in India's south, met in parks and open areas Sunday to protest over a spate of violent attacks on women by religious extremists in the name of "moral policing."

In Africa, women called attention to the plight of their sex in war zones. Some 10,000 women marched in the streets of Kinshasa to protest massive and savage violence against women and children using them as a weapon of war.

Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur called for support for women and girls in the strife-torn region who are "victims of Islamic fundamentalism and ethnic cleansing."

"I call upon all women in the world to celebrate Women's Day by helping Darfur people and Darfur women and girls," Nur told AFP in Paris, where he has been living in exile for a year and a half.

In Iraq, despite post-war reconstruction, many women -- especially widows -- are too poor to provide for their families, according to a report by aid agency Oxfam, published to mark International Women's Day.

Women are still forced into marriages or subjected to domestic violence in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, activists say.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton honored International Women's Day, celebrating untapped potential but lamenting how "no nation in the world has yet achieved full equality for women."

The international community has little hope of combating the complex slew of challenges in the 21st century without the full participation of women, said Clinton.

"Like all people, women deserve to live free from violence and fear. To create peaceful, thriving communities, women must be equal partners," she said

I call upon all women in the world to celebrate Women's Day by helping Darfur people and Darfur women and girls

Darfur rebel leader Abdel Wahid Nur

Urging equal rights

More than 400 high-profile women, including two heads of state, pressed for equal rights for half the world's population as they gathered in Liberia on Saturday on the eve of International Women's Day.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female head of state, saluted the distinguished gathering of political and business leaders, saying: "You motivate us, you inspire us, you encourage us to continue."

Sirleaf took power in the west African nation ravaged by 14 years of back-to-back civil wars, and her Finnish counterpart Tarja Holonen was quick to point out that women played a leading role in healing war wounds.

She said experience showed that the role women play "in conflict resolution and reconciliation in post war is very vital. This country Liberia is a good example of that."

Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, originally a Haitian refugee, echoed the theme that women were the best guarantors of peace.

"I'm telling you: give women the means to react and you will see less violence, you will see the end of sickness and illiteracy because women never forget that life is the most precious thing."

"Exclude women and you will fail," Jean added at the Monrovia gathering.

Give women the means to react and you will see less violence, you will see the end of sickness and illiteracy

Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean

Feminist university

Sunday marks International Women's Day, dating back to 1910 and recognized by the United Nations in 1977.

A rights group in Tunisia announced Saturday the opening of a "feminist university" to promote women's causes in the north African country where at least one in five women have been beaten.

The non-academic university will be open to young people of both sexes to learn about universal human rights and the values of equality and non-discrimination towards women.

It will be "a place for getting involved in women's causes," said Sana Ben Achour, president of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD).

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced "measures to cut the terms of women prisoners," the presidency said. Those who have less than 12 months to serve will be freed and others have their terms cut substantially.

Although Western women are far ahead in terms of rights and political representation than their peers in the Arab world, Africa and parts of Asia, they are still under-represented in European governments.

"Still today in governments and parliaments, less than a quarter of members are women," said Margot Wallstrom, the Swedish vice-president of the European Commission.

"There is no lack of female candidates. The reality is men tend to choose men," she said. "One half of the population is seriously under-represented."

Still today in governments and parliaments, less than a quarter of members are women

Margot Wallstrom, the Swedish vice-president of the European Commission

Fighting violence against women

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to end violence against women in their countries, in the run-up to Sunday's event. The theme of this year's International Women's Day is "women and men united to end violence against women and girls."

"Violence against women cannot be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstances, by any political leader or by any government," said Ban.

He revealed that around the world, one woman in five has been a victim of rape or attempted rape, and that in some countries one woman in three has been beaten or subjected to some kind of violent act.

"Violence against women is an abomination. I'd like to call it a crime against humanity," he said.

Saudi Arabia recently appointed its first woman minister but women in the conservative Islamic kingdom do not have the right to drive, move around without permission of a male relative and have to sport a black face veil and cloak in public.

Segolene Royal, the defeated Socialist candidate in France's 2007 presidential election, said the global financial crisis could be a boon for women.

"I think that paradoxically the crisis could be an opportunity for women.... Men have taken insane risks," she said in an interview to appear in La Depeche du Midi newspaper on Sunday.

"Women's style of management is more careful, more concrete," she said.

Violence against women cannot be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstances, by any political leader or by any government

U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon