Women's Struggle Around the World

On International Women's Day, Rappler, publishes the video "In Contested Cybercrime Laws, Activists and Women Are in Danger" (6':49") about the repression of women's activism around the world.  Authoritarian regimes and dictatorships have passed cybercrime laws that punish feminist activists and other dissidents with imprisonment like Loujain-Al-Hathloul in Saudi Arabia, but also in other parts of Asia, like Myanmar, Thailand, Fiji, or the Philippines, where María Ressa, the CEO of Rappler and winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Peace, has been accused of "ciber libel" and has been jailed for writing critical articles against President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal anti-drug policies. At the end of the video, three women activists leave a final message: Momoko Nojo (Japan), Marine Maiorano Delmas (France) and Frida Guerrero (Mexico). 

This video with subtitles contains a lot of legal vocabulary, but the subtitles can allow even B2 students to follow it.  In the video you will find less frequent words to enrichen your vocabulary like: released [from prison], to be jailed, to fast-track, the lifting of prohibition, the male guardianship system, counter-terrorism law, [sexually] assaulted, a travel ban, vague [laws], dissent, a bill, a military takeover, [a law] to be in place, to stop [the state] from intervening, impinging on [public order], online abuse, a Trojan horse, uncanny [similar provisions], to engage in acts, cyber libel, a conviction, [an act] hotly contested, rendered, a tradeoff, chilling, most targeted groups [for harassment and attacks], [cases] recorded, perpetrated, intimidation, oftentimes, to defame, to rape, outspoken [women], submissive, domesticated, hate speech, sexist remarks, utilized, to assassinate their characters, divergent tactics, crackdowns.

If you are interested in the topic, you can read the article Women in South Asia: Hostile Encounters, published by Dawn (Pakistan), and International Women's Day: Plight and  Right of Nigeria Women, published by Vanguardngr.com (Nigeria). You can also listen to this 36 minute NPR radio interview where, María Resa talks to Terry Gross in Fresh Air about the crackdown on the press in the Philippines, a long interview with a script for C1 students and above.

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