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MEDIART

2023

PRAXIS HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - DAY 5

18/12/2020

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Movie 1

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5 Broken Cameras
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A documentary filmed by Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer with no previous experience in video production who bought a camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, Gibreel. That same year, the people from Emad's village Bill'in (in the West Bank) discover that the security barrier route will cut through their farmlands and that the neighboring Israeli settlement of Modi'in-Ilit plans to expand onto disputed land. This is when Emad decides to start filming every Friday the peaceful protests of the Bil'in villagers.

Emad tells us the story of the occupation and the life of his four sons who grew up in the same village but have extremely different life experiences even at a young age. His first child was able to go swimming in the sea in the summer, the eyes of his last son have only seen conflict.

At times the documentary can seem controversial as we see that Emad's kids are always by his side. They experience violence and are exposed to danger daily. But throughout the film, you realize that sadly the Palestinians will face this harsh reality even if they just stay at home.

Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here

Movie 2

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Isle of Flowers (Ilha das Flores)
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A film created by Jorge Furtado in 1989 in Brazil. The film visualizes a problem in society relating it to the life of a tomato from the moment it is harvested to the moment it is bought at a supermarket. The life of the tomato ends on the isle of flowers, an island full of trash. The pigs are fed with organic waste from this island and poor women and children take what is not suitable for pigs.

The film criticizes society in an ironic way. It shows how the tomato is traveling thru a chain where human beings with money grow and purchase the tomato. Then it is fed to pigs which are not human beings and only after the pigs ate, their leftovers are given to human beings without money. This implies that in our society people without money are less valued than pigs.

Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here

MIRZANA BEXHETI, MELISSA MUSSA AND LUCILA PIEDRA HARRIS

Mirzana, Melissa and Lucila are German and Spanish volunteers in Praxis organisation and are involved in the Human Rights campaign. ​

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PRAXIS HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - DAY 4

17/12/2020

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Movie 1

UPRISING
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​​Uprising depicts the growing unrests in Egypt that culminated in the Arab Spring. It focuses on events that preceded the protests and shows that the Arab Spring wasn’t spontaneous, but evolved during the oppressive rule of Hosni Mubarak, who kept the country under emergency law for thirty years.

Director Frederik Stanton blends his material with what the protestors filmed effortlessly.
What began as a peaceful protest ended in a brutal suppression by the police – after only 18 days more than 800 people were dead and 6.000 injured.

The turning point was the decision by the military to protect the protesters, which ultimately led to the resignation of Mubarak.
Egypt has since faced difficulties establishing a stable government and meeting the protestor’s requests. Mubarak was succeeded by Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who then again was forced to resign by the military coup that was led by Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Al-Sisi, in military-fashion reimposed authoritarian security structures. To make matters worse, he doesn’t flinch away from persecuting intellectuals, artists, human rights activists and basically everyone who openly criticizes him. People who question his authoritarian rule on Facebook are arrested, with no prospect of a fair trial, since the system of checks and balances has failed in Egypt.

This oppression has left many people tired and powerless and the trauma that has spread over the people overshadows the resistance and strength that surprised the rest of the world in 2011. When asked to describe how Egyptians feel 10 years after the revolution one journalist responded that today no one is safe in Egypt and security is pure chance.
Exhausted from the revolution, the people are so hopeless that they are suppressing the arising of hope.
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When Stanton saw in the news what was happening in Egypt in 2011 he started randomly calling and emailing protestors who had posted their contacts on Facebook to help with the organization of the revolution. The people he spoke to gave him the contacts to other people he could contact and that is how he gathered the diverse group of people you can see in his documentary.

Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here

Movie 2

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​WHEN YOU DON´T EXIST

“When you don‘t exist” is a short film by Amnesty International and it was created in 2012 for their campaign for the human rights of migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers in Europe and at its borders.

The film shows what it feels like to be a migrant or refugee coming from a war zone in the middle east or a poverty-stricken country in Africa.
Negative attitudes to asylum-seekers and migrants are widespread.

European countries are stepping up measures to control migration. This can cause serious human rights violations. People on the move have their rights violated, often out of the public eye.

Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here

MIRZANA BEXHETI, MELISSA MUSSA AND LUCILA PIEDRA HARRIS

Mirzana, Melissa and Lucila are German and Spanish volunteers in Praxis organisation and are involved in the Human Rights campaign. ​

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PRAXIS HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - DAY 3

16/12/2020

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Movie 1

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​Kony 2012

‘Kony 2012’ is a documentary made by the founders of the organisation ‘Invisible Children’. It focuses on Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony and how he abducted children, turned them into child soldiers or sex slaves and forever deprived them of their childhood.

The film was part of one of the fastest spreading online campaign to date, with more than 65 Mio views in 6 days. The film is not uncontroversial, with critics saying it simplifies the situation in Uganda, manipulates the viewer and had the purpose to win advocators for a US-American military operation. 

However, it drew massive attention to child kidnapping and the crimes of the Lord’s Resistance Army, which ultimately lead to Kony being indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes. But, to this day, nobody knows his whereabouts and authorities still hunt for him.

Just a few days ago it was reported, that 150 men stormed a school in Nigeria with machine-guns and kidnapped hundreds of students. Since then no one has heard from them.

​It’s a fact, that children are most vulnerable in times of crisis. Often, they are instrumentalised like in Uganda under the Lord’s Resistance Army. The kidnapping of these students is again an infuriating reminder that our fundamental Human Right to education is not as universal as we like to believe.
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You can vote for this movie here

Movie 2

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  Most Shocking Second a Day Video

'Most Shocking Second a Day Video' was created by 'Save the Children' in 2014. The alternative title of this short film is 'If London were Syria'.
The film tells the fictional story of a girl, who lives in London. It shows different videoclips of her throughout the year, starting from her birthday. During this year a political conflict in London escalates, which is why the girl and her family have to leave their home and flee from London.

The story of the film is based on the real experiences of Syrian children and was created to make the target group, which is mostly the European middle class, feel empathy towards the suffering of Syrian children by setting the civil war in an accustomed environment - London.

For children in Syria who were struggling before this COVID-19 pandemic, things have only gotten worse. After almost ten years of conflict, 4.6 million children in Syria are now malnourished. As the pandemic continues, Syrian refugee families will be pushed even further into poverty, and child labor will increase. Now, it's estimated that 2.1 million Syrian children are out of school.

There are currently 6.6 million people internally displaced in Syria and 5.6 million Syrian refugees with no place to call home.
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Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here

​MIRZANA BEXHETI, MELISSA MUSSA AND LUCILA PIEDRA HARRIS

Mirzana, Melissa and Lucila are German and Spanish volunteers in Praxis organisation and are involved in the Human Rights campaign. ​

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PRAXIS HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - DAY 2

15/12/2020

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                                                              Movie 1

On Her Shoulders
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‘On Her Shoulders’ is a documentary from 2018 and follows Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nadia Murad on her three-month tour of Berlin, New York and Canada speaking to politicians and world leaders raising awareness on the atrocities of ISIS.

In 2014, Murad was 19 years old, when ISIS stormed Kocho (Iraq) and killed 600 men and kidnapped young women and girls and held them as sex slaves. She managed to escape slavery three months later.
While using women’s bodies as a weapon of war is as old as humankind, systematic rape is contrary to popular belief an invention of the twentieth century. This weapon is especially used in conflicts involving ethnic ‘cleansing’.

In many cultures, a raped woman is expelled from society. If the rape victim is married, she has to fear being excluded from her family life. If she is single, she loses her status as a worthy spouse.
The aim of sexual violence is not only to satisfy sexual desires on a primitive level, but more than that, to destroy the enemy completely in the long-term, by attacking family structures and the chain of reproduction.
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Murad’s story became globally known, when she spoke to the UN Security Council in 2015 and urged the members to fight human trafficking and the weaponization of the female body. In 2017 the Security Council created an investigative team to collect evidence of ISIS’s crimes aiming at bringing them to the International Criminal Court and bring justice to the victims of the genocide against the Yezidi community.
Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here
                                                               Movie 2
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REWILD

REWILD is a short film created by Splash and Burn and the Spanish artist ESCIF in 2019. It was filmed in the rainforest on the Indonesian island Sumatra and it draws attention to the ecological devastation provoked by palm oil farming in Southeast Asia.
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Sumatra’s forest shrunk by 40% in the past two decades and has been replaced by palm oil, paper pulp, and rubber plantations. In 2015 a big part of the forest in Indonesia was burned to clear the land for oil palms. Air pollution from fires in Indonesia that year - some natural, some not - contributed to at least 12,000 premature deaths. Nearly half of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from cutting or burning forests.

In the short film the artist ESCIF and Splash and Burn carved a rewind symbol into a palm oil plantation in Sumatra to recover awareness and respect for the earth. It was made possible by the Sumatran Orangutan Society, on a new forest restoration site. After clearing the palms, diverse vegetation has been replanted.
Watch the movie
You can vote for this movie here

MIRZANA BEXHETI, MELISSA MUSSA AND LUCILA PIEDRA HARRIS

Mirzana, Melissa and Lucila are German and Spanish volunteers in Praxis organisation and are involved in the Human Rights campaign. 

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PRAXIS HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - DAY 1

14/12/2020

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​                                          Movie 1
​

HUMAN A documentary directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

What is it that makes us human? The filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years interviewing more than 2,000 women and men in 60 countries who share part of their life experiences.

​Emotions and feelings are common to all humans but our different life experiences determine how we interpret them. Through the stories of people from all around the world, we can see how concepts like love, hate, happiness, or fear are interpreted in so many different ways depending on our gender, social classes, and culture. Who and how can we love? We don’t all have the freedom to just love. Why do we hate? Is it innate to all humans? Some people have experienced hate their whole life and don’t know what is love. If you hate can you be happy? Many people find happiness in money, some lost their faith in happiness because of money. Some have found happiness from being alive and some can’t be happy because they're exhausted from life.

Do we all fear losing our lives? What is fear for someone who has struggled their whole life? We as humans are complex and driven by our emotions we can be our biggest threat. That is why we need Human Rights to protect us from each other. We need to remember what makes us human.
Watch the movie here
You can vote for this movie here

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                                                     Movie 2

REFUGE. Human Stories From The Refugee Crisis directed by Mathew K.Firpo.

​The UN defines a refugee as ‘someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion’.

Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights grants everyone who faces persecution the right to seek and enjoy asylum. Seeking refuge is a basic Human Right. While being granted refuge can save your life, but being labeled a refugee can dehumanize you. The flows of refugees haven’t stopped, since the crisis started in 2015.

​ They have been so omnipresent in the news since, that it has numbed us. What we forget is, that each one has their unique story to tell, has lived through their individual trauma, and has their own hopes for the future.
Watch the movie here
You can vote for this movie here

MIRZANA BEXHETI, MELISSA MUSSA AND LUCILA PIEDRA HARRIS

Mirzana, Melissa and Lucila are German and Spanish volunteers in Praxis organisation and are involved in the Human Rights campaign. ​

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Praxis Human Rights festival

14/12/2020

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The 10th of December marks the International Day of Human Rights.
Even though more than 70 years have passed since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we face violations of these rights daily.
From the 14th until the 18th of December, we will present two documentaries related to Human Rights each day – one feature film and one short film.
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We will decide the winner of this festival with your votes.
At the end of each post, you will find the link to rate the films.
The voting polls will close on the 31st of December, which gives you extra time to view the movies over the holidays. We will announce the winner of the Praxis Human Rights Film Festival at the beginning of January.
May the best win!
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​MIRZANA BEXHETI, MELISSA MUSSA AND LUCILA PIEDRA HARRIS

Mirzana, Melissa and Lucila are GERMAN and SPANISH volunteers in Praxis organisation and involved in the Human Rights campaign. ​​

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How developing countries are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic

8/12/2020

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone was in fear of how the outbreak would  impact developing countries. Because of bad health systems and unhygienic living conditions in  those countries, it seemed like the Corona Virus would spread fast and have no mercy for the  people living there. But now after almost 10 months since the big outbreak in march in Europe,  the developing countries are dealing with the virus much better than expected. How is it possible?
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First, we have to understand what a developing country is. A developing country is a country  where there is a lot of poverty, hunger, and a low level of education. These countries have a rather  young population and people living there don’t get as old as people in industrialized countries.  This is mostly due to bad health systems in developing countries. Most of the developing  countries are in Asia or Africa.
 

It seems like the developing countries have the best conditions for COVID-19 to spread but still  those countries have the least cases in the world. Africa has less than 4% of infections and  deaths of the global total even though 1,3 Billion people are living in Africa. One reason for the small number of cases and deaths is the young population in developing  countries. If young people get infected with the virus, they mostly suffer only mild symptoms or  the infection goes unnoticed. However, this is not the only reason why there are not as many  cases in developing countries as there are in industrialized countries.  

The main reason is that developing countries, in Africa, for example, have experience in dealing  with diseases and epidemics such as the Ebola outbreak in 2014. They are even handling other  diseases alongside COVID-19 such as yellow fever, cholera, measles, and many more. By responding earlier and more forcefully by closing borders and early testing for COVID-19 some  developing countries could combat the virus very quickly. Some countries, for example, Mauritius,  began screening airport arrivals and quarantining visitors from high-risk countries before their first  case was even detected.  

Another reason why developing countries are dealing so well with COVID-19 is because of their  good cooperation with other nations. In Africa, they have the so called African Medical Supplies  Platform, where they share medical supplies all over the continent. In Europe, there is a similar  platform but it did not work in Europe because of bureaucratic challenges. 

Even though the developing countries handled the virus very well so far, they are afraid of the  second wave that has already hit Europe and North America.  

Moreover are the people in developing countries still affected by COVID-19. Not of the virus  directly but of its consequences on the economy. 
Because of harsh lockdowns, people can’t go to work and children can’t go to school. Even if the  possibility of working from home or online classes are provided, people cannot take part because  of bad internet connections. Many people lose their job and therefore their homes and they can’t  fulfill basic needs such as providing food and water, medical supplies, or even medical care. 
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Even if people from developing countries are not dying because of COVID-19, they might die  because of its consequences.

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Melissa Mussa

German volunteer in Mediart Project in Praxis organization. 

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INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCES AGAINST WOMEN : A TABOO STILL EXISTS FOR THE VICTIMS

7/12/2020

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One of the most common and unadressed violation against human rights is violence against women and girls. Why is it still such a big problem in today’s modern world? Why do we have to teach women how to stay safe or deal with being a victim?
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  There are many reasons that stop us from solving this issue. For example victim blaming. When a woman experiences assault, why is it more acceptable to ask: what was she wearing, why did she drink so much, why does she live with that guy? Rather than asking: why does HE beat her, why do so many MEN abuse women that they claim to love, why do they rape, what is going on with these men?
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  In addition we have created this kind of culture of silence, which gives violence even more power. Most women do not report violence, because they are being degraded by their abuser and as mentioned earlier, they are blamed for getting abused.
  What is more, it seems that many men do not or do not want to understand what is consent. Using phrases such as: ,,boys will be boys’’ or ,,she was asking for it’’ is a way for perpetrators to excuse their crimes and in no way is this acceptable! Yes is yes and everything else is rape!
 
  Is there anything we can do to help the situation? -Yes, there is! Firstly, we have to listen to the victims - it can be extremely difficult to break the cycle of abuse and talk about it. Catcalling, sexist jokes etc are never okay, we should call it out when we witness it.

  In addition, we should encourage others to stop victim blaming and to stop normalizing that it is on women to avoid dangerous situations and not on men to create them in the first place.

  Furthermore, young boys do what they see men do and that is why we have to teach our younger generations about consent, respect and even challenging their abusive peers. Not by getting into a fight, but if for example in a group of guys, somebody makes an inappropriate  comment, instead of laughing or pretending not to hear it, we should encourage them to speak up and say that this kind of talk is unacceptable. If we create that kind of peer pressure, where abusive behaviour is being addressed by others and seen as a wrong thing to do, we would most likely see a great diminution of violence against women and girls.
 
In conclusion, violence against women and girls remains a problem, unless we stop being by-standers, call out victim blaming and start educating ourselves on this matter.

Margarita Keerd

Estonian volunteer in the Mediart Project in Praxis organization . 

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iNTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCES AGAINST WOMEN : Your thoughts about abuses against women

3/12/2020

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On the 25th November the United Nations had the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Volunteers from Praxis also took part in this and launched a questionnaire for this reason; to learn more about women’s experiences with abuse in their lives. 
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For reference, we had women from all over Europe answer these questions, for example from Estonia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, France and Spain. The ages also varied from 14 to 23 and also women over 50 years old. 

To gain a better insight, we asked women about how many types of abuses they were aware of. Fortunately almost every one of them knew all 3 types of abuse (psychological, physical, sexual), but there were also some who didn’t know any of them. 

Continuing, the questionnaire elaborated on women's personal experiences, starting off with a “yes or no” question, if the women had experienced any type of abuse in their lives previously. 81% of the women did answer yes to this question, which means, according to our survey, that 4 women out of 5 have experienced some type of abuse in their lifetime. 

From the women who answered “yes” to the previous question we also asked them about the age, when they first experienced abuse. The youngest answer we got was 11 and in general the ages ranged between 14-16, meaning during women’s minor years. 

Exactly 50% of the women, who answered, have previously experienced street harassment (including catcalling; catcall : a shrill whistle or shout of disapproval made at a public meeting or performance.). In addition 4 women had experienced physical harm, unwanted sexual advances and cyber-harassment. It turned out that 6 women had also experienced psychological abuse and there were some who had experienced stalking, marital rape, forced sexual acts, child sexual abuse and economical abuse. 

As we learned more about the campaign we realised that 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner, which is why we included the question “What was the relationship with the abuser?”. 56% of the answers revealed that most often the abuser is a stranger, but there were also cases where it was an intimate partner (boyfriend or husband) as well as a family member on two occasions and some of the women, who answered were colleagues with their abuser(s).

When it comes to women, who have experienced any type of abuse it is always vital to talk about it, but many of them don’t feel safe nor comfortable doing so. Fortunately 75% women, who answered to our questionnaire have spoken up about their experiences and usually they open up to their friends and family and feel comfortable talking/sharing their experiences with their female friends.

​ We also got answers of speaking about it to male friends/family to
raise awareness and to their significant others too. There are also specific forums and organisations for women, who have gone through abuse and some of the women did talk about their experiences in said places. 


As to the women, who had not spoken up about it, they said that the shame and feeling uncomfortable is holding them back. The reason other’s have not spoken up about it, was because of fear of the other person diminishing their experience and turning the situation against them - into victim blaming. 
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As a reminder, it is okay to talk about your experiences with other people, whether it is your close friend or family friend or if needed reaching out to the authorities to deal with the situation. If it is starting to feel too difficult to handle, especially mentally, it is important to seek help and talk about your experience(s) with professionals. The United Nations have provided helplines for all countries, for women in need. (link is at the end of the article)

Oftentimes women do not feel safe walking alone at night, which came up on our questionnaire as well, resulting in over half of the responses to say that they also do not feel safe walking alone at night. Therefore we asked them to tell us about what measures they have taken to feel safer in real life situations.

​We got answers of women carrying pepper
spray(or hair spray) or keys with them, taking self-defense classes, calling somebody whilst walking alone or fake-calling, avoid walking around late at night by themselves, avoiding people they do not know and dark alleys, taking thai boxing classes, speed up their pace or start running if they feel too unsafe.
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The abuse doesn’t only happen in person, it carries itself into social media too. When experiencing cyber-harassment the most common is to block the user, who is harassing them and also having their social media accounts on private nor accepting friend/follow requests from unknown people.

Some women also pretend to be a minor to be left alone or say that
they have a boyfriend, to be left alone by the harasser. Which is interesting how “I have a boyfriend” is the most effective argument when being harassed, because they will respect a man they do not know, before they respect the woman they are talking to.


To finish off the questionnaire we wanted to know how many women felt unsafe in the company of men (either strangers or people they know) versus in the company of women (either strangers or people they know). Almost 70% of responses said that they have felt unsafe in the company of men, whereas only 6% have felt unsafe in the company of women. 

I believe these numbers speak volumes and there is a lot to be done when it comes to eliminating violence against women and it is needed to be taken more seriously. I’m glad that the United Nations have an annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 
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If you have experienced abuse, feel threatened, unsafe or need assistance, please see the list of country help lines by clicking this link https://www.endvawnow.org/en/need-help . 

Information about violence against women during COVID-19 (most frequently asked questions for those who are in need of help and for those wanting to help) https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-violence-against-w omen 

An interactive webpage to learn more about violence against women, created by the United Nations: 
https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/infographic/violenceagainstwomen/en/index.html

Karolin Kasper

Volunteer in Praxis Organization

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Saved by a miraculous vaccine?

2/12/2020

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November started with bad news. The COVID-19 pandemic was out of control again and most countries in Europe decided to return to policies of lockdowns and restrictions. And now as we count the days for the “disastrous” year of 2020 to finally come to an end, we are starting to have some hope.

By the end of this year it is most likely that Europe and the US will authorize the use of a vaccine against coronavirus. 

In fact, the UK just announced, the authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use. 

This week the pharmaceutical company, Moderna, announced that it is applying for authorization for its 94,1 percent effective coronavirus vaccine. The drugmaker Pfizer also applied on November 20 for approval of their vaccine that has been proved to be 95 percent effective in preventing mild and serious cases of COVID-19 and 94 percent effective in adults over 65 years old with no serious safety concerns. And on November 23, Oxford and AstraZeneca announced interim results from two of its phase three trials. One conducted in the United Kingdom showed the vaccine was 90-percent effective in preventing COVID-19.​

Does this mean the end of coronavirus? ​

According to mathematical models, if wealthy countries buy up all of the first available vaccines, the pandemic will actually kill more people than if these vaccines were distributed evenly across the globe. The experts say that even if the pandemic is curbed in one part of the world, it will likely continue in other places, causing infections elsewhere.
And, even if there is no longer an immediate pandemic-level threat, the coronavirus will likely become endemic – meaning slow, sustained transmission will persist. The coronavirus will continue to cause smaller outbreaks, much like seasonal flu.

A vaccine is only effective to end a pandemic if a significant amount of the population is vaccinated and this seems far from reality. Although Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States have already pre-ordered enough vaccines to immunize over 100% of their populations, other countries do not have the resources to supply the vaccine to their populations.

Getting vaccinated or not? ​

Although wealthy countries will have access to the vaccine, many of their citizens will refuse vaccination because of mistrust, misinformation, or ethical and personal reasons. Even if the vaccine will not be mandatory, there will probably be consequences for those who won’t get vaccinated: travel and entrance restrictions as well as disqualification for employment opportunities.
In some countries, where the vaccine may not be available to most of the population, it will become another reason to control the borders, divide classes, and enlarging the wealth gap between economically powerful and developing countries.


Perhaps in a few years, we will be used to the new norm and these restrictions will be part of our new life. Just as you can’t enter certain countries unless you have the yellow fever vaccine. And, so then we might decide to get vaccinated. However, getting vaccinated won’t be an option for everyone. 

In any case, the vaccine is better news than the ongoing, out-of-control pandemic. Our healthcare systems have collapsed, the containment measures have plunged the global economy into deep contraction, and in general, the world is calling for a “normal life” again.
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Is a "normal life" an option? ​

Eventually things will start to seem “normal” again sometime. At least if normal means living like we were before, when some of us could plan our lives based on our priorities and our comfortable lives and not on the COVID restrictions that now run our life. 
Since the economy rules the world, it will be a priority to get us back on the cycle of consumerism. This was what happened during the summer when it seemed like the virus took a vacation. 
​The economy is threatened and the consequences of a World Crisis are indeed devastating. So probably, we will soon go back to our lives of working and spending.

But is this what we want for our planet? ​

Our consumer society is not sustainable. Some of the negative effects of consumerism include the depletion of natural resources and pollution of the Earth.

This pandemic wasn’t a random occurrence. It has been demonstrated that the spread of the coronavirus was caused in part because of the alteration of ecosystems and the pressure of humans in natural environments. We want to live our normal lives without any consequences and that is not a possibility.

​The Earth has had enough and we are suffering one of the many of the consequences. The experts say there will be more pandemics like COVID-19.

Maybe, we are still on time. What can we do? ​

The World Health Organization (WHO) has enlisted some measures that could make a difference at least on the health-care front. We must ensure universal health coverage (UHC), through well-resourced, equitable health systems. This is essential to protect the public from both short and long-term health threats. We must also guarantee access to the environmental determinants of health, such as clean air, water, and sanitation, safe and nutritious food, is an essential protection against all health risks.
Inequality
is a major barrier in ensuring health and wellbeing, especially for the most vulnerable in society. Social and economic inequality manifests in unequal health risks. When faced with public health threats of a global scale, such as COVID-19 or climate change, we are only as strong as our weakest health system.


These measures don’t seem to be unreachable as long as there is a real desire to change. Citizens of this world and our politicians must work on re-writing the social rules to establish a better and respectful relationship with the Earth to prevent other pandemics. It is time for them to start thinking of our near future, putting into action the lessons learned, implementing measures to contain the real virus of this century, called Global Warming. 

Lucila Piedra Harris

Volunteer in Praxis Organization. 

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Photo used under Creative Commons from Jorge Franganillo