In most of today’s wars, civilian casualties far outnumber those of armed combatants. Women and men both suffer human rights violations in conflicts, such as unlawful killings and torture. However, the particular ways in which women are targeted for violence, or are otherwise affected by armed conflict, are usually overlooked.

Women and girls are more likely to be the target of sexual violence, especially rape. Women face extra, sometimes insurmountable, obstacles to obtaining justice, because of the stigma attached to survivors of sexual violence, and women’s disadvantaged position in society. Whether civilians or combatants, refugees or displaced people, the impact of war weighs particularly heavily on women.

In this report, Amnesty International shows some of the ways in which conflict affects women and the many different roles which women play in conflict. Women are not only victims and survivors, but also activists, negotiators, peace-builders and human rights defenders. Attempts to address the human rights consequences of conflict, including its particular effects on women, can only be comprehensive and long-lasting if women play an active part in rebuilding society at all levels.

Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys
Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education
Author: Nancy Lopez
ISBN No.: 0415930758
Language: English
Publisher: Routledge

Hopeful Girls,Troubled Boys focuses on the life histories of the largest immigrant group in New York City, young people from the Dominican Republic, the West Indies, and Haiti, to explain why girls of colour are succeeding at higher rates than their male counterparts. Nancy Lopez brings to life the attitudes, feelings, and expectations of these teens, and shows that girls maintain optimistic outlooks on their lives, while boys are ambivalent about the promises of education. This fascinating account explains how and why our schools and cities are failing boys of colour.

Safe Haven
The Story of a Shelter for Homeless Women
Author: Rae Bridgman
ISBN No.: 0802042406
Publisher: University of Toronto Press © 2003.

In this groundbreaking work, urban anthropologist Rae Bridgman, in careful and intimate detail, explores the perspectives of the women who work and live at Savard’s, a unique shelter for homeless women. Bridgman uses the design and development of Savard’s – a housing model developed by women for women – as an opportunity to document the project’s original vision and what happened once it opened. There are few rules at Savard’s. Women may come and go as they wish, and referrals to other services are made only when a woman has indicated interest in taking action on her own behalf. It is a model that aims to provide a safe haven for the chronically homeless.

The study traces the evolution of this type of shelter, providing qualitative research and useful analysis for academics, policy-makers, service providers, and activists. Based on many hours of participant observation as well as interviews and staff records, Safe Haven presents a distinct picture of the chronically homeless and those on the frontlines of this lifesaving service. Rae Bridgman is associate dean (Research) and an associate professor in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba.

Cities, Chaos and Creativity

Authors: Kalinga Seneviratne and Sivananthi Thanenthiran
ISBN: 983-40995-1-7
Language: English
Publisher: UNDP

A cornerstone of UNDP’s working programme with journalists to promote good urban governance in the Asia-Pacific region, this report is an output of UNDP’s Urban Governance Initiative.

“We needed to communicate the necessity for better urban governance in the region advocating poverty alleviation and the need for more participatory governance and with special regard to the area of the informal sector social service delivery,” says Dr. Anwar Fazal in a foreword to the report. “In the process of communication, journalists are a vital link in communicating this message to the people.

The 173-page report is packed with insights, advice and conclusions on how to make the world’s media more interested and more aware of urban problems and their solutions.