Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Comparative Approach On The Relevance Of National Gender Equality Legal Frameworks In Israel, Portugal, And Slovakia To Improve Equality At The Institutional Level, Sara Diogo, Carina Jordão, Teresa Carvalho, Hana Himi, Maya Ashkenazi, Veronika Mešková, Zélia Breda

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the last decades, women’s participation in Higher Education has increased in most Western countries, even if the well-known phenomena of horizontal and vertical segregation still persist (O’Connor, 2017). The reasons for the persistence of these phenomena have been widely studied (Ridgeway, 2011; Pearce, Wald, & Ballakrishnen, 2014; Rhode, 2016), highlighting the importance of defining and implementing affirmative actions to improve women’s situation in Higher Education. In this context, the European Union (EU) has placed the topic of gender equality (GE) in Higher Education with high relevance in the political agenda. As a result, several research projects have been approved …

Female Sexual Autonomy, Virginity, And Honour-Based Violence With Special Focus On The Uk, Mukaddes Gorar

Journal of International Women's Studies

In honour-based patriarchal societies, young girls and women are expected to remain virgins until marriage. If this expectation is not met, the consequences can be very harmful and may even lead to honour killing. Honour killing occurs when a victim (mainly female) is murdered by a relative, due to the perpetrator’s assumption that the victim has brought shame or dishonour upon the family. Having sexual freedom before marriage is considered to be shameful, and it attracts honour related punishment. Chastity of the female members of a family until the wedding night is perceived as a means of safeguarding the family’s …

Intrahousehold Relationships And Decision-Making In Extended Households Of The Luguru Community, Kamille De Backer, Nathalie Holvoet, Mursali Milanzi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article analyses intrahousehold decision-making in extended households of the matrilinear Luguru community in the Morogoro Region of Tanzania. Our research focuses on the participation of adult “extended” household members, mainly relatives such as in-laws, grandparents, and cousins, in household decision-making. It complements studies that conceptualise household decision-making as a bargaining process between two decision-makers. We explore whether factors such as age, education, life cycle and gender play a role in this process. As decision-making processes often vary depending on the decision-making area, we differentiate between seven broad decision-making fields which are relevant in their respective settings. Our study adopts …

Representing Motherhood And Political Violence In Mexico: A Transnational Feminist Analysis Of Más Allá De La Vanguardia: La Transmaternidad (Beyond The Avant-Garde: Transmaternity), Alberto Mckelligan Hernández

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article analyzes the artistic production of Polvo de Gallina Negra (Black Hen Powder, PGN), a feminist art collective established by Mexican artists Maris Bustamante (b. 1949) and Mónica Mayer (b. 1954) in 1983. Even though scholars have examined the ways in which PGN contributed to the development of feminist art in Mexico, the existing studies have not emphasized how the collective explored political violence. To highlight this aspect of PGN’s artistic practice, this article focuses on a mail art missive produced by Bustamante and Mayer as part of the extensive ¡MADRES! (Mothers!) (1983-1987) project. Mothers! served as a complex …

The Communication Flow In The Protection Of Indonesian Female Migrant Workers Through The Migrant Worker Family Community (Kkbm), Moh Faidol Juddi, Susie Perbawasari, Feliza Zubair

Journal of International Women's Studies

The purpose of this study aimed to explain the flow of communication in Indonesian female migrant workers’ protection by the government through the Migrant Worker Family Community (KKBM). The method used in this study was qualitative with a case study approach. The existence of Indonesian female migrant workers has contributed to state revenues of up to US$ 10.97 billion in 2018. This income is higher than the state income of the mining sector. The amount of income provided by female migrant workers to the country is not proportional to the protection services they receive. Most female migrant workers and families …

Crime Against Women In India: A State Level Analysis, Chandrima Chakraborty, Anam Afreen, Dipyaman Pal

Journal of International Women's Studies

Violence against Indian women is in reality much more than it may appear as there are some violence which are not considered as crime or go unreported or undocumented. The present paper is an attempt to understand Crime against women in the 28 major Indian states on the basis of the data published by National Crime Record Bureau in India over the period 2001-02 to 2014-15. The relative position of the states is determined based on both Year to Year as well as Compound Annual Growth Rate. Along with enforcement and punishment, there can other effective policy mechanisms for controlling …

Shattering Or Supporting Stereotypes? Examining Gender In/Equality In English Language Textbooks In Brunei, Rommel Curaming, Sharifah N. H. Alkaff

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the representation of gender relations in textbooks used to teach the English language in public secondary schools in Brunei. The country is currently ranked 95th in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Index among 153 countries analysed. This fact seems to suggest that there is a significant gender gap existing in the country. As textbooks used in schools are considered among the most potent tools for promoting gender in/equality, they deserve to be examined in detail. Using Content Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as methods of analysis, this paper seeks to address the …

Intersectional Alliances To Overcome Gender Subordination: The Case Of Roma-Gypsy Traveller Women, Laura Corradi

Journal of International Women's Studies

By linking the oppression of women with other axes of oppression, the intersectional theories and methodologies employed in the last few decades have proved to be strategic in building awareness, forming alliances, and influencing transversal politics. In this paper, the case of Roma/Gypsy/Traveller (RGT) women is discussed through the multiple discriminations they suffer from, the birth of feminism and gender activism in the communities, intersectional alliances with non-Gypsy feminists, and the anti-racist and LGBTIA-Queer movements. In the second part of the paper, I offer a focus on shared political ‘emotions’, ‘fluid identities’, ‘travelling activism’, and the need for decolonization of …

Protection Of Women Against Sexual Harassment-Social Barricades And Implementation Of Laws In Pakistan, Malieka F. Deeba

Journal of International Women's Studies

Sexual harassment infringes the fundamental human rights of women. It restricts the most important segment of society from demonstrating their full potential and their right to work and attain equal opportunity. The quantum of this behaviour in a society can only be evaluated when women in general are fully aware of the nature of this behaviour and the legal protection available. Sexual harassment is an ambiguous term for many; when hearing of an incident of sexual harassment, many might not understand exactly what crime has been committed. Under which category does it fall? What if the complainant is lying? Pakistan …

Interrogating The Male-Female Gender Dichotomy In Nawal El Saadawi’S Woman At Point Zero, Benon Tugume

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the male-female gender dichotomy in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. Firdaus, the woman protagonist in the novel, after a careful observation of her own life and the status of women in her patriarchal society, postulates that men are criminals and women are prostitutes. Firdaus’ dichotomy of the male and female gender into criminals and prostitutes respectively is the focus of the discussion in this article. This paper analyzes Firdaus’ life of captivity by the forces of oppression right from childhood to womanhood and eventually to prison awaiting execution for committing murder. It applies Nawal El …

Building An Inclusive Talent Pipeline: A Study On Women Of The Indian Informational Technology Sector, Swati Alok, Sudatta Banerjee, Mohammed A. R. Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

Of the many women that are a part of the Informational Technology (IT) workforce, very few make it to senior roles. Occupational commitment measured as affective (AC), normative (NC), and continuance (CC) as well as career satisfaction (CS) are considered to be crucial in understanding this pattern of women not making it to senior roles. AC explains one's emotional attachment to their career, NC is the obligation to stay the course in a career, and CC explains the opportunity cost to transfer from one career to the next. This study aims to understand the role of individual determinants (career identity, …

Entrenched Fissures: Caste And Social Differences Among The Devadasis, K. A. Geetha

Journal of International Women's Studies

The religiously sanctioned Devadasi system in India exemplifies intersectional oppression of gender, caste, and sexuality. Historically, Devadasis, or “servants of God,” were women wedded to God who performed temple duties and were considered sacral women with ritual powers. As part of her duties, the Devadasis offer sexual services to her patrons, invariably the economically and socially powerful patriarch/s in society. The Devadasis were not a monolithic community; there were caste-based segregations within the Devadasi community which delineated their social positions. Devadasis were drawn from castes lower in the hierarchy (non-Brahmins) and the Scheduled castes (Dalits). To distinguish the two categories, …

The Liberation War Of Bangladesh: Women And The Alternative Narratives Of The War, Steffi S. Deb

Journal of International Women's Studies

The year 1971 symbolizes an episode of a bloodbath in the history of South Asia. Popularly known as the ‘muktijuddho’, the liberation war of 1971 resulted in the creation of the independent nation of Bangladesh. The history of the liberation war has been extensively documented, and the nation's collective memory is filled with tales of heroism displayed by hundreds of thousands of ‘muktijoddhas’ (freedom fighters). However, such a masculine, selective memorialization of the war escapes women's memories from across communities in Bangladesh, who were significant partakers in the liberation struggle. The lived experiences of the women, who not only suffered …

Improving Candidate-Quality Preference-Specification Mechanisms: Incorporating (Gender-Empowering) Voter-Chosen Quotas, Vishal Wilde

Journal of International Women's Studies

I conceptualize the informal outlines of a new voting system/mechanism that is more holistic and democratically just; the proposed alternative would incorporate (gender) quotas amongst other fundamental, important aspects. This conceptual outline seeks to resolve the primary (intellectual) obstacles for the adoption of quotas in their current form which, I contend, is their discordance with mainstream conceptions of democratic justice. More precisely, the conceptualized voting system/mechanism seeks to increase the sophistication of preference-specification in voting procedures (thereby presenting an alternative to the prevailing, privileged paradigm of geospatial-constituency representation). I do not present results in the conventional sense; no data was …

Changes In Values: Evaluating Opportunities For Women’S Chances Of Female Empowerment In Software Development, Stefan Sauer

Journal of International Women's Studies

The discrimination of women within the labor market has a vertical as well as a horizontal dimension. These dimensions culminate in the problem of highly skilled jobs within the technical sector. The proportion of women amongst employees and students in this area is very limited, the reasons for this often being old-fashioned bureaucratic structures and a hierarchical corporate culture. Despite these forms of organization, agile frameworks, which are becoming increasingly popular and important, especially within software development, are setting the benchmark for team-based structures as well as a corporate culture based on communication and cooperation. The research questions posed are …

Narratives Of Dalit Women And ‘The Outsider Within’: Toward A Literary Practice Of Dalit Feminist Standpoint, Bhushan Sharma

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper establishes an experimental methodology for developing a Dalit Feminist Standpoint Theory through the analysis of Baby Kamble’s The Prisons We Broke and Urmila Pawar’s The Weave of My Life. Exploration suggests an outline method to attain a standpoint and represents the more significant issues of marginalization of Dalit women, their subjectivity, their lack of voice as reflected in the Dalit Movement, Dalit Literature, Indian feminism, and in their everyday lives. This study claims that Dalit women writers have a potent standpoint as an 'outsider within,' and argues that their triply oppressed caste, class, and gender identity allows for …

Confronting Discrimination And Structural Inequalities: Professional Nigerian Women’S Experiences Of Negotiating The Uk Labour Market, Joy Ogbemudia

Journal of International Women's Studies

The line between hypervisibility and invisibility appears to be blurred for Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women in the workplace due to their race and gendered status (Lander and Santoro 2017). The intersection of race and gender exposes many BAME women to discrimination, structural inequalities, and the dynamics of tokenism, which can be a cause of intense job dissatisfaction (Stroshine and Brandl 2011).

It is often the case that discussions on the economic integration of immigrants focus mainly on how the socio-economic dynamics of the host country can limit them to certain labour market sectors. While this is a key …

Introduction To The Special Issue: Overcoming Women’S Subordination: Socialisation, Law And Structural Inequalities. The 6th World Conference On Women’S Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 29-31 May 2020, Aleisha Ebrahimi

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

The Development And Validation Of Covid-19 Prevention Behaviour Scale On Female Hungarian Population, Kinga Kalcza-Janosi, Susana Jancso-Farcas, Kinga Szabo, Ibolya Kotta, Eszter E. Marschalkó

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the emergency situation of an ongoing global pandemic, disease prevention behaviour is essential. The majority of studies assess preventive behaviour through relevant unidimensional questions, but this approach is not necessarily the best way to conceptualize prevention, as health maintenance guidelines cover several different areas of possible individual precautionary and preventive practices. The aim of the study is the development and validation of a multidimensional COVID-19 prevention behaviour scale for the Hungarian speaking population (Covid-19-PBS). The items address major aspects related to preventive behaviour towards COVID-19 inspired by preliminary pandemic studies and the WHO prevention recommendations. 612 eligible female individuals …

The Moderation Effect Of Generation On The Relationship Between Psychological Flexibility And Covid-19 Preventive Behaviour Among Females, Ibolya Kotta, Kinga Szabo, Eszter E. Marschalkó, Susana Jancso-Farcas, Kinga Kalcza-Janosi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Disease prevention behaviour is essential during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. How people respond to information and regulations to control this infectious disease can be influenced by their age and generational identity. An individual with an optimal level of psychological flexibility can adapt to challenging situations more efficiently. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the moderating effect of generation on the relationship between psychological flexibility and COVID-19 preventive behaviour among different generational cohorts of women (baby boomers, X, Y, and Z). This relationship was rarely addressed in the literature, which is what inspired this study. Data were …

Psychological Resilience And Perceived Social Support Among Women Exposed To Traumatic Events Of Saptari District, (Kanchanrup Municipality), Rakshya Karki, Sharad Rayamajhi, Kabita Khati

Journal of International Women's Studies

Saptari is the smallest district in Nepal; it lies in the country’s eastern development region. There have been limited studies conducted about Maithali women's status and domestic violence they face, however, no studies were conducted about the psychological resilience and social support they receive to overcome these adversities specifically in the Saptari district. The position of Madhesi women is worse because of analphabetism, and political, religious, and superstitious beliefs. The study's primary objective is to examine the relationship between resilience and social support among women facing traumatic events in life. A descriptive cross-sectional study consisted of 200 respondents from the …

Sex Disaggregated Gender-Based Labor Differentiation Among The Elected Barangay Officials In The First District Of Cavite, Victoriano N. Rodil, Maria Ciella S. Buena, Frinze Al A. Bernal, Annabee G. Pedregosa, Seuz Rey R. Cantela, Sharmaine "K.C." B. Dela Cruz

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study was conducted from July 2018 to December 2019 to determine gender role differentiation among elected Barangay (smallest administrative division in the Philippines) officials in the 1st district of Cavite in the Philippines. We used a purposive incidental technique, focusing on 137 samples of male and female Barangay officials. The first district of Cavite Province, consisting of the city of Cavite and municipalities of Noveleta, Kawit, and Rosario, has 134 Barangays with 1,072 elected Barangay seats; of these seats, women occupied 298 (27.8%). In reproductive, productive, community managing, and leisure-related activities, both the female and male elected officials were …

Anxiety As A Source Of Motivation: A Critical Study Of The Select Novels Of Bapsi Sidhwa, Shraddha Dhal

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Parsi community in India is currently threatened by extinction due to diverse factors including low birth rate, fecundity, strict laws against religious conversion, and extreme urbanization. This small ethno minority forms a well-defined community by following an inveterate way of living; they only breed among community members, which is an outcome of their long-established allegiance. This closed way of living directs the collateral emergence of ethnic anxiety in its members about the prospect of their survival in the next century. This dwindling community has survived through adapting to centuries of social and cultural cataclysms in pre- and post-partition India. …

Exploring Female Identity In And Through Art In Pakistan: Experiencing De-Colonial Feminism, Sadia P. Kamran

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study looks into the identity of brown female artists living in the post-colonial society of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan today. It examines the role, status, and ideals of a handful of women artists and educators from the '80s, mostly members of the Women Action Forum, who have helped define the current identity of Pakistani women by initiating feminist debates. The concept of feminism in post-colonial society is multidimensional and needs to be explored to combat the misconstrued and imposed identity of Pakistani women as miserable, second-grade citizens of the third world. Dominant religions and cultural practices in this …

Feminist Activism Through The Arts In Late 19th Century And Early 20th Century. A Diachronic Comparative Study Between Portugal And Brazil, Isabel C. Carvalho, Heemann Christiane, Oliveira Teresa

Journal of International Women's Studies

Brazil and Portugal are two countries that, although geographically located on different continents, share a history (from 1500 to 1822 when Brazil was a Portuguese colony) and the same language (Portuguese), and both have very high rates of domestic violence and situations of gender inequality. Growing fundamentalist and ultraconservative parties around the world are threatening gender equality and women’s conquest for rights. In Portugal and Brazil, new parties with extremist discourses and ideologies that perpetuate patriarchal societies are also growing. It is crucial to continue breaking paradigms and remembering history, particularly the moments marked by the struggle for human rights. …

Settling In A Foreign Land: Women’S Experiences In Exile In Latvian Writer Irma Grebzde’S Prose Fiction, Ingrīda Kupšāne, Sandra Meškova

Journal of International Women's Studies

Exile is a central motif of 20th century European culture, and literature was often tied to historical events throughout this century, especially during World War II. In Latvian literature, this motif was partially the result of the emigration of a great part of the population in 1944; many were fleeing direct warfare and the return of the Soviet army, escaping from Latvia. This paper examines the peculiarities of women’s experiences in exile in the prose fiction of Latvian émigré writer Irma Grebzde (1912–2000). Grebzde was among those 250,000 Latvians who fled as fugitives in 1944 for Sweden and Germany and …

How “Offensive” Is Offensive? A Closer Look At Controversial Advertisements, Iwona Desouza, Suparna Naresh

Journal of International Women's Studies

We live in a world inundated with messages that seek to promote products varied and eclectic in their feel and purpose. Capitalism has rooted itself in many societies; corporate enterprises enthusiastically advertise their products around the world. Over the years we have had countless advertisements bombard us through our TV sets, newspapers, billboards and now through our smartphones. While attention-grabbing, these advertisements are unfortunately often considered questionable. Rising competition among advertisers for consumer attention has led to the production of advertisements that are increasingly risqué and frequently downright offensive. There have been growing concerns about the increasingly low standards of …

National Identity Attachment And Its Variables, Tri Windari

Journal of International Women's Studies

National identity and nationalism have continued to influence economic, social, and political behavior despite their fluidity in a globalized and modernized world. Drawing on Benedict Anderson’s concept of “imagined communities” and the Social Identity Theory by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, national identity as a part of social identity is dynamic and plastic. It is relatively influenced by external and internal factors of individuals, including time and space. This fluid trait makes national identity difficult to explain and measure. This study utilizes a qualitative method based on secondary sources to analyze national identity attachment variables that affect it by focusing …

Societal Security Of Iranian Women: A Challenge Of Subjectivity Vs. Objectivity, Hamid Sajadi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Critical theories in the field of security have revealed the incompatibility of government-based approaches to security studies and the nature of domination and repression structures in society. The Copenhagen and Welsh Schools of security studies have made many attempts to reconceive the concept of security and security studies by criticizing the neglect of domestic security issues and the ignorance of the community and individuals. The formation of the concept of societal security, and in particular women's security, is one of the achievements of these theoretical developments. Assuming that the acceptance of new approaches in developing societies is strongly influenced by …

Quest For Selfhood: Women Artists In The South Asian Visual Arts, Prachi Priyanka

Journal of International Women's Studies

There has been a recent increase in country-focused publications on women artists in Southeast Asia that highlight the newfound interest in feminist-inspired discourses and histories of women artists. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have shared a common history and culture for millennia. The socio-economic cultural patterns in these three countries are very similar, particularly when it comes to the status of women. Notwithstanding the difference in religions followed and practiced in these countries, the women here more-or-less experience similar challenges in their advancement. These three countries have traditionally suffered from poverty, illiteracy, health and infrastructure issues, and are bracketed as third …