Stories
A brave crusader, opening many doors
08 July 2014
A true force of nature: this is how she is popularly known. Braving criticism and challenging discrimination and stereotypes, Georgina Beyer paved a new path when she became the world’s first openly transsexual mayor in 1995, as well as the first openly transsexual Member of Parliament (MP) in 2000. More
Major global event for Beijing+20 campaign in Sweden
12 June 2014
On Saturday 14 June 2014, UN Women will host the first in a series of global events as part of the Beijing+20 Campaign, which commemorates the 20-year anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the visionary Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Focused on ensuring the human rights of women, the event will be held in collaboration with the Government of Sweden and the Nordic Forum in Malmö, Sweden. More
The unstoppable police officer of Timor-Leste
21 May 2014
Winner of the prestigious 2014 Gender Equality Advocate Award of the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality, in November 2013 Amelia a police officer with the Vulnerable Person’s Unit of the National Police of Timor-Leste is a powerful voice and a role model. In a country where women make up less than 20 per cent of the national police force, Amelia, who is a mother of two young children, is one of the longest-serving members of the Vulnerable Persons Unit, which has a particularly challenging mandate, dealing with crimes that are often accepted culturally within society and where survivors face various barriers in accessing justice. More
17 May 2014
When Marcelina Bautista Bautista left her indigenous Mixtec community in Nochtixtlan, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, at the age of 14 with only a primary school education and no knowledge of Spanish, she didn’t dream that one day she would end up contributing to the development of an international treaty for domestic workers’ rights. More