JASS & Nobel Laureates Lead Rights Delegation to Mesoamerica	Women Have Had Enough:16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
JASS Mesoamerica and regional allies have partnered with the Nobel Women’s Initiative to organize a twelve-day fact-finding mission to some of the most violent countries in the world. 15 delegates from Canada and the U.S. will travel to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to meet with women human rights defenders on the frontlines to gain first-hand accounts of the violence women face. Led by Nobel Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú Tum, the delegation will also meet with high-level government officials and media to put a spotlight on the unique threats women experience throughout the region with no protection. Follow the delegation on Facebook and Twitter!	All over the world, young women are taking to the streets to protest gender-based violence. According to the United Nations, up to 70% of all women experience gender-specific violence in their lifetime. In countries like Zimbabwe and Honduras where governments routinely crack down on democratic expression, women are taking a stand, often risking their lives to demand a halt to militarization, corruption, impunity and economic injustice that fuel violence against women. This year, to celebrate 16 Days of Activism – themed “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!” – JASS mobilized to feature the voices and action of young women. Read more.
Report Highlights Violence against Women Activists in Mexico	Young Women Confront Fundamentalisms in Zambia
“Approximately 75% of women human rights defenders in Mexico are victims of gender violence,” says a newly released report put out by Consorcio Oaxaca, la Red Mesa de Mujeres Cuidad Juárez and JASS. The investigative report highlights the violence – including threats, murders and rape - faced by Mexican women activists in exercising their work and is based on research conducted for the Regional Baseline report on Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) in Mesoamerica. The first of its kind in the country, the report’s findings were released during a press conference on January 19th in Mexico City. Read more.	What does it mean to be a feminist within a culture or religion that may be at odds with women’s freedoms? How has NGOization sculpted the way we think of feminist work? What does it mean to be a “good, young Zambian woman”? How can young women mobilize as feminists for positive change? These were just some of the provocative and challenging questions posed during a Zambian Young Women’s Leadership Academy (YWLA) facilitated jointly by JASS Southern Africa and Youth Vision Zambia in August. 31 feminists grappled with issues of sex and sexuality, conservatism and cultural beliefs from a feminist perspective.
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