CQ Global Researcher - Women's Rights

"The women's rights movement has made enormous strides globally in the last 15 years, with most countries signing treaties to end gender discrimination. But with conservative Muslim parties gaining power in some post-Arab Spring governments, feminists fear women's rights in the Middle East — already lagging by world standards — may be further threatened. Although women were at the forefront in last year's protests, female candidates have been scarce in recent elections.

One solution being considered: electoral gender quotas, already used in about 100 countries. In developed nations, women comprise the majority of recent university graduates, but females receive smaller paychecks than their male counterparts and rarely reach top management positions. Some experts attribute this to women's tendency to work part-time or take time off for parenting. Nordic countries are encouraging fathers to share parenting duties, while some countries are boosting the number of female business leaders through mandatory gender quotas for corporate boards."

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This Month in CQ Global Researcher

Gay Rights by Reed Karaim, March 1, 2011

Is the movement gaining acceptance?

By some measures, the last 10 years could be considered the “Gay Rights” decade, with countries around the world addressing concerns of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community. Beginning with the Netherlands in 2001, gay marriage metamorphosed almost overnight from a largely ridiculed notion to a legal reality in 10 countries. Sixteen other nations recognized same-sex civil unions.

Nevertheless, homosexual acts remain illegal in most of Africa and the Muslim world, with severe penalties for anyone found guilty of the crime. If Uganda approves a proposal to criminalize repeated homosexual activity, it will join the five other countries (and parts of Somalia and Nigeria) where homosexual activity is punishable by death. In Russia and other Eastern European countries, gay and lesbian “pride parades” have sometimes met with violent responses, leading some observers to believe a backlash against rapid gay and lesbian advances may be developing in parts of the world.

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This Month in Global CQ Researcher

Wildlife Smuggling by Rob Kiener, October 2010

Can disappearing species be saved from poachers?

Traffickers are slaughtering some of the world’s most beloved endangered or threatened animals for their body parts – including elephant tusks, tiger penises and bear gall bladders – to supply the booming black market in souvenirs, trophies and traditional Chinese medicine. Other animals are shot by African hunters to meet the burgeoning demand for “bushmeat,” both to feed the hungry in refugee camps and to satisfy the tastes of city dwellers. Thousands of other animals, including exotic birds and rare monkeys, are trapped to meet the growing demand for exotic pets. Using satellite phones, helicopters and the Internet, the increasingly sophisticated smugglers – often part of organized crime syndicates – generate up to $20 billion annually, making wildlife trafficking the world’s third-most-lucrative illegal trade.

Experts suggest two controversial solutions: banning all ivory trade and “farming” tigers and other exotic species to supply the seemingly insatiable demand for their body parts. While international conservation treaties have slowed the carnage, experts say tougher enforcement is needed before some of the Earth’s last wild creatures disappear forever.

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This Month's CQ Global Researcher

Crime in Latin America by Eliza Barclay,
September 2010

Can violent drug cartels be controlled?

Fed by the drug trade with the United States, crime and corruption threaten Latin America as never before, reaching from the highest levels of government to the most-impoverished slums. Once largely focused on illegal drugs, crime cartels have now expanded into a complex range of activities from money laundering to human trafficking. The crisis is prompting both U.S. and Latino experts and policy makers to ask how governments and citizens can fight criminal groups, reduce social inequality and create new opportunities for unemployed young people tempted by a life of crime.

At the same time, the United States, which has long been involved with Colombia's fight against crime and drug trafficking, is increasingly concerned about the lawlessness and horrific violence in Mexico, now threatening to spill over into the U.S. While experts say the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, there are some bright spots, including criminal justice reforms that have reduced crime and corruption in several Latin American countries.

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This Week in CQ Researcher

Women in the Military by Marcia Clemmitt,
November 13, 2009


Should combat roles be fully opened to women?

The number of women serving in the military has reached historic highs in the past decade, with women now representing more than 14 percent of the total force. In 2008, Ann E. Dunwoody, the Army’s top supply officer, became the first female four-star general. This fall the Army tapped Sgt. Maj. Teresa L. King to head its ultra-tough drill-sergeant training program, the first woman to hold the post.

At the same time, controversy swirls around the under-the-table recruitment of Army and Marine women into some ground-combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan — which is contrary to official military policy — as well as the Navy’s plans to add women to submarine crews. Advocates of continuing to bar women from those jobs argue that sexual tensions and mistrust harmful to the military mission inevitably accompany gender-integration of combat teams. Meanwhile, women vets are suffering high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder and homelessness.

• Are efforts to fully integrate women into the armed services harming military readiness?
  
• Should combat roles be fully opened to women?
  
• Is enough being done to reduce sexual violence in the military?

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This Month in CQ Global Researcher

Rescuing Children by Rob Kiener,
October 2009

Is the global community doing enough?

The numbers are grim: Every day more than 25,000 children under age 5 – the equivalent of 125 jetliners full of youngsters – die from hunger, poverty or easily preventable illnesses, such as diarrhea and malaria. Millions of others are abandoned, trafficked into prostitution, forced into armed conflict or used as child laborers – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

While governments and nongovernmental organizations struggle to help, aid cutbacks due to the world economic crisis could trigger 200,000-400,000 additional child deaths each year. Meanwhile, experts and policy makers disagree over how best to combat AIDS among children, and whether more foreign aid would do more harm than good. Others question whether the United States should ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States is the only nation besides Somalia that hasn’t adopted the treaty.

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This Month in CQ Global Researcher

The Troubled Horn of Africa by Jason McLure, June 2009


Can the war-torn region be stabilized?

Plagued by conflict, poverty and poor governance, the Horn of Africa is arguably the most troubled corner of the world’s poorest continent. In desperately poor Somalia, an 18-year civil war has forced more than a million people from their homes, leaving behind a safe haven for pirates and, possibly, Islamic terrorists.

In Ethiopia, an increasingly authoritarian, Western-backed government has jailed opposition leaders and clamped down on the press and human rights activists. In tiny Eritrea, a government that once won the admiration of legions of Western diplomats and journalists for its self-sufficiency and discipline has become an isolated dictatorship.

The recent withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia and the election of a moderate leader to the country’s transitional government have raised international hopes that the lawlessness there will be brought under control. But Somalia’s new government faces an insurgency from radical Islamists and worldwide pressure to stop the increasingly aggressive pirates who terrorize cargo ship crews off Somalia’s coast and find refuge in its seaside villages.

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This Month in CQ Global Researcher

This month in CQ Global Researcher the topic is the Future of NATO by Roland Flamini.

Is the transatlantic alliance obsolete?

During the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the West’s line of defense against possible Soviet aggression. But the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the disappearance of NATO’s communist equivalent – the Warsaw Pact – raised doubts about NATO’s relevance.

Some of the issues discussed and explored this month are

• Is NATO obsolete?
• Should energy security become a new NATO responsibility?
• Can NATO effectively address international terrorism?

To read this month's coverage in CQ Global Researcher and other informational resources visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on CQ Global Researcher. Select the Remote Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.