[Onthebarricades] Feminist, women's and gender-based protests, Apr-Aug 2008

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/


*  IRAN:  Thousands protest sexual harassment of student

*  PHILIPPINES:  Protest for reproductive health

*  CAMBODIA:  Protest against crackdown on sex workers

*  CHILE:  Mass marches, strike for contraceptive pill

*  UKRAINE:  Students protest against sex tourism

*  INDIA:  Punjab police lock up rape survivor for semi-nude protest

*  NEW ZEALAND:  Tourist strips to protest wolf-whistling

*  AUSTRALIA:  Protesters demand mayor resign after insulting women

*  INDIA:  Women rally against BJP local government

*  SOUTH AFRICA:  March highlights gender violence

*  US:  Supporters outnumber protesters over underclad performers

*  CANADA:  Abortion bill draws protests

*  ITALY:  Public mass breastfeeding action

*  UK:  McDonald's branch "breastfeeding ban" sparks feed-in

*  INDIA:  Protest over attack on girl by stalker

*  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:  Sex workers attempt naked protest over park ban, 
suppressed by police

*  CANADA:  Vancouver retailer targeted for breastfeeding demo

*  INDIA:  Uttar Pradesh rape survivor strips in protest

http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=74494

Students protest after sexual harassment
Last Updated : Tuesday 17 Jun, 2008 -

Thousands of university students in an Iranian city have held a protest 
against the attempted sexual harassment of a female colleague by a top 
university official. About 3,000 students at the university in the 
northwestern city of Zanjan staged the sit-in protest over the weekend at a 
sports hall on campus.

They demanded that the board of directors resign and an apology from the 
higher education minister following the alleged offence committed by the 
vice chancellor. The vice chancellor is alleged to have sexually harassed 
the girl while she was in his office to resolve a problem with the committee 
of conduct - a disciplinary body which monitors students' activities, 
reports said.
"Students broke into the vice president's office and handed him over to 
security after finding out that he had sought to (sexually) harass a 
student," reports said. The unnamed official had on several occasions tried 
to shut down the students' Islamic association "under the pretext that its 
members have moral problems and do not have an Islamic behaviour".
The official in question had been suspended until investigations were 
completed. "We have asked the students to present relevant evidence because 
this issue needs further examination," Zanjan university director Ali Reza 
Naddaf said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view/20080724-150447/Population-bill-campaign-intensifies-ahead-of-Church-protest

Population bill campaign intensifies ahead of Church protest
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:58:00 07/24/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Supporters of the proposed population management bill 
have intensified their campaign ahead of the Catholic Church's simultaneous 
"bell ringing" slated this Friday to protest the measure.
Various non-government organizations led by the Reproductive Health Advocacy 
Network (RHAN) held a small rally in Quezon City on Thursday to push for the 
passage of the bill pending at the House of Representatives.
The advocates, one dressed as a bishop, paraded a coffin to symbolize 
"maternal death" with 10 women supposedly dying everyday due to unintended 
pregnancies and lack of access to reproductive health methods.
At a press conference after the rally, RHAN secretary-general Elizabeth 
Angsioco said the group was also planning a big protest action to counter 
the anti-reproductive health campaign by the Church.
She said they also started a signature campaign to further boost the support 
in Congress.
"We want a million signatures to really strengthen the support for the bill. 
We will present the signatures to the House and the Senate to show that 
there's real support from the grass roots," Angsioco said.
Some of them, she said, have also been talking to some Cabinet members to 
get their support for the bill.
Aside from Quezon City, Angsioco said three others -- Antipolo City, Angeles 
City and the province of Lanao del Sur -- have also passed a reproductive 
health code in their respective areas.
Despite the strong lobbying of the Church against the bill, Professor Danton 
Remoto, chairperson of "Ang Ladlad," remained confident that the proposed 
legislation would pass "under the good the guidance of God."
Addressing the Catholic bishops, Remoto said, "Wala kaming balak maging [We 
have no intention of becoming] celibate. Gusto naming tikman ang luto ng 
Diyos."
"And we're cocksure that this bill, if not today, in the days to come will 
pass under the good guidance of God," he said.
In defending the measure, Remoto pointed out that the use of condoms was 
important to stop population growth.
UP Professor Ernesto Pernia, who has two priest brothers, criticized the 
Catholic Church for being "so conceited."
"The problem, I think, is that the Catholic bishops, the Catholic hierarchy, 
has been developing hubris. They have become so conceited because the 
government is courting them," Pernia said in the same forum.
He then cautioned the Church from issuing "dogmatic" statements about the 
issue of contraceptives.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/other/2008/06/17/161366/Sex%2Dworkers.htm


Sex workers protest crackdown
AP
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodian sex workers gathered at a Buddhist temple 
Monday in the latest protest against a police crackdown on prostitution.
Dressed in white, about two dozen sex workers kneeled inside a Phnom Penh 
pagoda and prayed for the government to halt a crackdown that started in 
March after a new anti trafficking law was introduced. "Please Lord Buddha 
help make our leaders listen when we say that the new law does not protect 
us," said 68-year-old Su Sotheavy, a transvestite sex worker. "Our families 
depend on our profession. Please Buddha give (the government) the strength 
to change the law and develop policies that really protect our lives."
Police began rounding up male and female sex workers from brothels, bars and 
parks in March. The law does not specifically target sex workers but 
activists say it prompted authorities to take a tougher stand against 
prostitution.
Earlier this month, some 200 Cambodian sex workers protested against the 
crackdown and alleged that some of them had been physically and sexually 
abused in custody.
Cambodian law does not explicitly define prostitution as illegal, but 
commercial sex is frowned upon by authorities who routinely launch sweeps to 
clean up the streets.
Some sex workers at the protest said they were married with children and 
their families relied on their job.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080604-0632-cambodia-prostitutes.html

Cambodian prostitutes protest police crackdown, allege physical and sexual 
abuse
By Sopheng Cheang
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:32 a.m. June 4, 2008
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - About 200 Cambodian prostitutes protested peacefully 
Wednesday against a police crackdown and claimed to have been physically and 
sexually abused in custody.
The prostitutes staged a protest in the capital, Phnom Penh, to complain 
that they had been unlawfully detained and to highlight the behavior of 
guards at the rehabilitation center where they were held.
"Some of them (the sex workers) were beaten and gang raped by the center 
guards, and most of the time they did not use condoms," said Chan Dina, a 
31-year-old prostitute and member of the Cambodian Prostitute Union, a sex 
workers' advocacy group.
Police began rounding up male and female sex workers from brothels, bars and 
parks in March, detaining them for a week to 10 days at the Prey Speu 
rehabilitation center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
Cambodian law does not explicitly define prostitution as illegal, but 
commercial sex is frowned upon by authorities who routinely launch sweeps to 
clean up the streets.
"Sex workers are human beings and we have equal rights" and deserve 
protection from abuse, Chan Dina said.
"We do not think that sex work is wrong. It is just a means to an end," said 
Pich Sokchea, a 42-year-old transvestite sex worker with the Women's Network 
for Unity, another prostitutes' advocacy group.
Pich Sokchea urged the government to end the crackdown because it was 
affecting the livelihood of sex workers, many of whom were forced into the 
profession by poverty and debts. "We are people who sacrifice everything for 
the sake of our families and for our livelihood."
It was unclear what prompted the latest crackdown but some activists said an 
anti-trafficking law approved in March may have caused authorities to take a 
tougher stand against prostitution.
Police Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, the Interior Ministry's spokesman, dismissed 
claims that police committed violence against sex workers and said none was 
mistreated in the crackdown.
He defended the crackdown, calling sex work unacceptable in Cambodia.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/748/38671

Chile: Protests for contraceptive pill

Gonzala Villanueva, Santiago
25 April 2008

More than 20,000 people marched on April 22 through the streets of Santiago 
to demonstrate their rejection of the Constitutional Court's ruling, which 
last week banned the distribution of the morning-after pill through the 
public health care system.
Earlier in the day, La Nacion reported: "The chairman of the Confederation 
of Workers of Health Municipalizada (Confusam), Esteban Maturana, said that 
the guild had accepted the call to paralyse its activities." Subsequently, 
80% of medical clinics went on a one-day strike.

The Constitutional Court declared on April 4, by five votes in favour and 
four against, that the free distribution of the contraceptive, morning-after 
pill in public health services was illegal. In Chile, abortion is completely 
illegal.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declared: "I deeply regret the 
judgement, in a country that aspires to be in the major leagues, where 
people have equal opportunities in health, education, and development . this 
is an injury to the construction of a more equitable society."

The objection was submitted in early 2007 by 31 right-wing legislators 
against the decree of the health ministry, which provided for the free 
distribution of the emergency pill to teenagers older than 14 years without 
the consent of their parents.

The Catholic church lead an ideological battle against the decision, based 
on the "the right to life", with all forms of contraception considered as 
"immoral" as an abortion.

While this decision does not prevent the contraceptive pill being sold 
commercially in pharmacies - another indication that the privatisation of 
the health care system continues - the poor will suffer the most. Wealthy 
women will have the luxury of being able to pay for the pill.

In the lead up to the protest, the media reported that a 21 year-old woman 
was hospitalised after her boyfriend attempted to administer a backyard 
abortion. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

In an April 10 Clase Contra Clase article, Maria Caceres argued: "Today in 
the country there is between 160,000 and 200,000 abortions a year, even 
though abortion is illegal; tomorrow, with the recent [court] judgement, 
there will be double the abortions and we will see double the deaths due to 
clandestine abortions."

Caceres argued that "when speaking about reproductive rights, it's about 
rights that have been conquered by women years ago, through struggle, with 
the rise of the masses, through social and cultural change."

She concluded that "it's not about only defending the pills and other 
methods of contraception . we should fight for [the proper] conditions and 
right to reproduction that are quality, and free."

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080426072231188

Chile: Unions strike work for a day in protest against abortion ruling
Saturday, April 26 2008 @ 07:22 AM CDT
Contributed by: WorkerFreedom
Views: 161
Chilean judges, siding with the Vatican, have dealt a major blow to the 
Bachelet government by ending free emergency contraception in public 
clinics. A women's rights group is organizing a mass renunciation of 
Catholicism to express their outrage.
Unions strike work for a day in protest against abortion ruling
By Matt Malinowski
WeNews correspondent
SANTIAGO, Chile (WOMENSENEWS)--Hundreds of Chileans are planning to renounce 
their membership in the Roman Catholic Church on April 29 as an outcry 
against a major blow to the government's push for expanded access to 
contraception.
On April 18 Chile's Constitutional Court outlawed distribution of emergency 
contraception in public health clinics to women 14 and older, a policy 
implemented in September 2006 by the government of President Michelle 
Bachelet to lower teen pregnancy rates in a country where 15 percent of 
births are to women 18 or younger. Emergency contraception remains available 
in the nation's private pharmacies.
Over 10,000 people also marched in evening demonstrations to protest the 
court's decision Tuesday.
Mujeres Publicas, or Public Women, a women's rights group in Santiago, has 
used e-mail to organize the "massive apostasy," that is, an active rejection 
of the Catholic faith. Group members say that roughly 500 people have signed 
up to participate so far and they expect the figure to reach 1,000.
Participants are being asked to sign a letter requesting the Catholic Church 
remove their names from all records and then deliver the document to their 
nearest archdiocese. Women from each of Chile's 15 regions have committed to 
the abandonment of their faith.

http://wham1180.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104673&article=4032792

Students Protest Ukraine's Sex Tourism Industry

Students from several universities dressed as prostitutes to draw attention 
to a problem many Ukrainians say is tarnishing their country.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
VIDEO: Students dress like prostitutes to protest
"We are not for sale:" a group of Ukrainian women gathered in central Kiev 
to protest against the country's burgeoning sex tourism industry.
The women - students from several universities - dressed as prostitutes to 
draw attention to a problem many Ukrainians say is tarnishing their country.
"Lots of foreigners come here for sex, and to put it bluntly sex tours are 
now being sold. We don't want our country to become a big brothel. It's a 
shame and it's shameful," says one of the protestors.
Prostitution is illegal but widespread and largely ignored by the 
government.
Ukrainian police estimate there are approximately 12,000 prostitutes in 
Ukraine, with 4,000 working in Kiev alone.
The former Soviet republic may lag far behind Thailand on the list of sex 
tourists' favourite destinations, but it's moving up - thanks in part to the 
easing of visa restrictions on American and European Union citizens.
Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of women to the international sex 
industry - a damning statistic.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, almost half a 
million Ukrainian women have been trafficked into sexual slavery abroad - 
and now increasingly at home as well.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=361130

Police lock up rape victim for semi-nude protest

IANS     Tuesday 20th May, 2008
A semi-nude protest here by a woman against Punjab police inaction in 
registering a case against some men who allegedly raped her has landed her 
in a lock-up.

The victim took off her clothes on a busy crossing on the 
Ferozepore-Ludhiana highway here Monday and shouted that her pleas to the 
police for getting a rape case registered had fallen on deaf ears.
The protest shocked people moving along the highway.
The protest took place just a few hundred metres from a police station. 
After passers-by informed the police, a few officials rushed to the spot and 
caught the woman. No woman police personnel came to arrest her.
She was later booked for obscenity at a public place and sent to a police 
lock-up.
Embarrassed by the incident, police announced that they had already 
registered a case against two men for having allegedly raped the woman.
District police chief Ashok Baath said the case had been registered well 
before the woman staged the protest.
Police officials said there had been delay in registering the case since the 
woman's complaint was being investigated.
Last week, another woman in neighbouring Haryana's Yamunanagar town had 
stripped down to her undergarments inside a police station complex after the 
Haryana police did not register a case on her complaint that she was raped. 
She was also booked by the police for obscenity.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/tourist-strips-in-wolf-whistle-protest/2008/05/22/1211182953590.html

Tourist strips in wolf whistle protest
May 22, 2008

An Israeli tourist tired of wolf whistles from road workers in New Zealand 
stripped off her clothes in a show of defiance, police say.
The woman was about to use an ATM in the main street of Kerikeri, in the far 
north of the country, when the men whistled, the New Zealand Press 
Association reported.
She calmly stripped off, then used the cash machine, before getting dressed 
and walking away.
The woman told police she did not take too kindly to the whistling from the 
men repairing the road.
"She said she had thought: 'Bugger them, I'll show them what I've got,' " 
Police Sergeant Peter Masters told NZPA.
"She gave the explanation that she had been ... pestered by New Zealand men. 
She's not an unattractive looking lady," Sergeant Masters said.
"She was taken back to the police station and spoken to and told that was 
inappropriate in New Zealand."
Reuters

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/4935768

Protesters demand Mt Isa Mayor resign over 'degrading' comments
ABC - August 20, 2008, 1:12 pm
ABC News © [Enlarge photo]
A protest was staged in Mount Isa, in north-west Queensland, last night with 
calls for the resignation of the Mayor over his comments this week about 
women.
Around 150 protesters gathered outside the Mount Isa Council Chambers last 
night to protest against what was described as "disgusting and degrading 
comments" towards women.
Earlier this week, Mayor John Molony appealed for "beauty disadvantaged 
women" to move to Mount Isa to help even up the male-to-female population, 
despite figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics proving little 
difference.
Councillor Molony was not at the protest but earlier said he stood by his 
words.
Protester Shirley Slann says she does not agree with the comments and says 
Councillor Molony has to apologise or go.
"If he declines, then we must call on him to resign as mayor of our great 
city," she said.
"How do you measure a person? Are we going into a hierarchy where we're 
saying that there's higher class, low class- all these levels - it's not.
"We're all people. We're all men, women, children. We live in this 
community. Mount Isa is a good community."
Protester Matt Cain says Councillor Molony's comments are offensive.
"He is disgusting and he needs to go," he said.
"Forget the apology - he needs to resign.
"I think he's shown his ineptness as a politician quoting statistics that 
are factually incorrect."

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/22/stories/2008052253730700.htm

Madhya Pradesh Women's Congress holds protest rally
Staff Correspondent
To express public outrage against the BJP-led State Govt
' Women cheated and exploited in the State'

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Women's Congress organised a huge "Jan Aakrosh" 
(Public Anger) rally in Indore on Tuesday to express public outrage against 
the Bharatiya Janata Party-led State Government.
The rally was attended by the Union Minister in charge of the party's Madhya 
Pradesh affairs, V. Narayanaswamy, Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria, Member of 
Parliament and All-India Mahila Congress president Prabha Thakur, and PCC 
president Suresh Pachouri.
The Madhya Pradesh Women's Congress president, Shobha Oza, told The Hindu on 
Wednesday that the huge turnout at the rally reflected public anger over 
"wrong policies, poor implementation of State-sponsored programmes and 
large-scale corruption at the Government level".
Through the rally, the Women's Congress tried to draw women's attention to 
the core issue of corruption even when it came to serving those living below 
the poverty line, said Ms. Oza, adding that women had been cheated and 
exploited in Madhya Pradesh for the past four and a half years of BJP rule.
"The State also has the dubious distinction of registering the largest 
number of crimes against women," she added.
She alleged that there had been massive bungling in distribution of BPL 
(Below Poverty Line) cards and a large number of those eligible had been 
deprived of this facility.
"Similarly, the State Government was not implementing the pension scheme for 
the poor and the destitute by contributing its full share as per Government 
of India guidelines ," she added.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_General&set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=nw20080523144755222C188097

Protest march highlights gender violence
    May 23 2008 at 02:56PM

Thousands people marched to parliament on Friday to present a memorandum to 
the safety and security ministry on gender-based violence.

The march was led by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and supported by, 
among others, the Sonke Gender Justice Network and Aids Law Project.

According to the TAC, the Women's Health and Rights Campaign highlights the 
scourge of violence against women and the spread of HIV in the communities 
in which it worked, how the justice system is failing women, and how the 
laws targeted at women's empowerment are not taken seriously.

The TAC and its allies called for, among other things, an end to 
victimisation of rape survivors by police and court officials, more rape 
crisis centres along the Simelela and Thuthuzela model, the roll-out of 
Sexual Offences Courts to be speeded up, and improved access to 
antiretroviral treatment (ARV) post-exposure prophylaxis for rape survivors.

'We want to work in partnership with the SAPS'
Other demands included scaling up programs empowering rape survivors and 
improving community awareness, sensitising police to barriers faced by women 
reporting cases, and improving investigations, especially forensic evidence 
collection, of rape cases.

More resources had to be given to the court system so that prosecutions 
could be speeded up and carried out more efficiently, and more human and 
financial resources had to be given to the police, including victim 
empowerment centres.

The TAC further demanded that long sentences for rape and murder offenders 
be ensured, resources for criminal rehabilitation services be increased, 
criminals be identified and arrested more speedily, and sex work be 
decriminalised and police stop harassing sex workers.

"We call on all stakeholders, including government, to work together to 
achieve these objectives.

"We want to work in partnership with the SAPS and other elements of the law 
enforcement and criminal justice systems to achieve these objectives," the 
TAC said. - Sapa

http://www.kirotv.com/news/16385809/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=mostpopular

Supporters Outnumber Protestors For Baristas In Bikinis
POSTED: 4:33 pm PDT May 24, 2008
UPDATED: 11:21 am PDT May 25, 2008
BONNEY LAKE, Wash. -- What was supposed to be a protest against some 
scantily clad baristas Saturday in Bonney Lake ended up to be more of a pep 
rally.
A protest was planned this holiday weekend against a couple of coffee stands 
in Bonney Lake because neighbors are upset over how little the baristas 
wear.
The coffee stand told KIRO 7 that on most days the baristas wear bathing 
suits, but twice a week they are allowed to wear just pasties.
"That's what our stand is about half naked women," said Taylor Butterfield, 
a barista.
"I think the exploitation of women and the sexualization of that is bad and 
damaging," said Ron Easley, a protestor.
By Saturday afternoon, the number of supporters for the coffee stand 
outnumbered the protestors.
As for the pasties, the owner said the baristas will keep wearing them twice 
a week until the law says they can't.
Both sides are planning to continue the protest Sunday.

http://politicom.moldova.org/stiri/eng/123939/

Canadian abortion bill draws protests
Nearly 1,000 people marched in Montreal to protest a Canadian Conservative 
government bill they say threatens abortion rights.
Bill C-484, which has passed two readings in Parliament, would make it an 
crime to injure, cause the death of, or attempt to cause the death of a 
child before or during its birth while committing, or attempting to commit, 
an offense against the mother, The Gazette (Montreal) reported.
However, protester Anais Bertrand said at the rally Sunday the bill opens 
the door to prosecuting legal abortionists.
It refers to a fetus as a child -- and that's dangerous, she said.
Conservatives have countered criticisms by saying the bill is only meant to 
bring harsher punishments to people who commit crimes against pregnant 
women, and quotes the bill's wording as saying the law does not apply to 
conduct relating in the lawful termination of the pregnancy.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Publication date: 02 June 2008

http://www.postchronicle.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=75&num=154562

Italian Mothers Bare Breasts In Protest
by Staff


A group of Italian mothers bared their bosoms and breastfed their babies in 
a public square Wednesday as part of their I'll Suckle Where I Want 
campaign.
More than 100 of the lactating ladies gathered in Rome's EUR district for 
the protest, aimed at eliminating laws prohibiting public breastfeeding they 
say are hypocritical in an era when bare breasts are readily available on 
Italy's prime time television programming, the Italian news agency ANSA 
reported.
People still give a start when they see a woman breastfeeding, but they have 
to learn that a breast is not just a sexy object, Grazia Passeri, president 
of the Salvamamme breastfeeding group said. It's ridiculous that showgirls 
can show theirs but mothers can't.
They also protested the high cost of powdered baby formula. European 
Parliament Member Roberta Angelilli, who attended the rally, told ANSA Italy 
has already asked the EU for permission to get rid of a sales tax on baby 
products, with powdered milk first on the list. (c) UPI

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2307169/Breastfeeding-mothers-stage-protest-over-ban-at-McDonald%27s.html

Breastfeeding mothers stage protest over ban at McDonald's
A group of mothers staged a protest at a branch of McDonald's after one of 
them was asked to leave for breastfeeding her baby.

By Richard Savill
Last Updated: 10:37PM BST 18 Jul 2008
The fast food chain has apologized to Maddie Reynolds, 27, a nursery nurse, 
after a junior manager asked her to stop feeding her 10-week-old daughter 
Sophie in public.
When she refused the request, Miss Reynolds said the manager asked her to 
leave the branch in Bournemouth, Dorset.
She said: "I was breastfeeding when I was asked to stop doing it by a member 
of staff. I said 'no' and he then said 'will you please leave?'. I refused 
and carried on.
"He stood and watched me for a few minutes and went away. I was quite upset 
but I was not prepared to leave."
Miss Reynolds, who had been on a shopping trip, returned home, and told six 
of her friends about her experience.
They went as a group to the restaurant and breastfed their babies as a 
protest.
"We just wanted to prove a point to them," Miss Reynolds said.
Another protestor, Catherine Davis, 19, who was accompanied by her 
seven-week-old daughter, Amelia, criticised the treatment of her friend.
She said: "It is the most natural thing to feed your baby. There is nothing 
wrong with it.
"I have breastfed in public and no-one has ever said anything to me. It is 
fine as long as you are discreet."
A third mother, Nicky Clark added: "My son is five-months-old and I am still 
feeding him. Luckily no-one has ever said anything to me. There is no reason 
why people should not be able to breastfeed."
A spokesman for McDonald's said breastfeeding mothers were welcome in its 
restaurants.
She said: "This manager was working unilaterally and not following company 
policy at all.
"We are disappointed and shocked by his actions and we would like to 
apologise to the customer.
"If another customer ever expressed their discomfort about breastfeeding we 
would encourage them to move, rather than the mum.
"What we do not want to do is to make mums feel as if they have to hide 
away."
The spokesman said the manager's actions "have been discussed with him and 
he is now fully in touch with company policy."

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/20/stories/2008072059220700.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Protest over attack on girl
Staff Reporter
KHAMMAM: Students organisations staged protest demonstrations in the town 
condemning the attempt on the life of a college girl, Sunera by a 
photographer said to be an obsessed lover and wanted stringent action 
against him. Even after 24 hours of the incident the girl was in the 
intensive care unit of a local hospital and her condition continued to be 
serious.
The activists of the PDSU, PYL and POW, Ch. Aruna, C.Y. Pullaiah and Ashok 
voiced concern over the increasing attacks on the girl students.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2008/7/25/28801/Dominican-Police-disperse-hookers-who-threatened-naked-protest

Dominican Police disperse hookers who threatened naked protest
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Santiago .- The Police today dispersed dozens of Haitian and Dominican 
prostitutes who threatened to march naked through the streets of Santiago to 
protest alleged harassment and indiscriminate arrests by the authorities.
The Police however, asked the women to leave the area of the park where they 
planned to protest and arrested and later released those who resisted, 
according to North Region police spokesman Jesus Cordero Paredes. He denied 
that the prostitutes are beaten by the officers who patrol the area as some 
of the sex workers alleged.
The Haitian prostitutes in the area, all undocumented, were handed over to 
the Immigration authorities for subsequent repatriation, newspaper Diario 
Libre said.
Yahaira Jimenez, spokesman of prostitutes, said all her colleagues were 
ready to strip naked to protest the eviction.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080807/BC_protest_breast_080807/20080808?hub=Canada

Vancouver H&M target of breastfeeding protest
Updated Fri. Aug. 8 2008 5:34 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Dozens of Vancouver moms packed into a popular fashion clothing store 
Thursday, and they weren't there to shop. They came to H&M's downtown 
location to breastfeed.
The nursing moms were to support Manuella Valle.
On a recent visit to H&M, she began to breastfeed her two-month-old child, 
Ramona, but was interrupted when a store employee asked her to use a fitting 
room.
"[This was] because I was offending other customers, and also she told me to 
mind that there were children around,'' she said.
Valle says she was told it was store policy, one that has clearly touched a 
nerve.
"I would love for them to explain to me like a two year old, what is so 
offensive about me feeding my child," said one mom, who joined the protest.
The store manager wasn't talking, but H&M spokesperson Laura Shankland says 
the company is sorry.
"To set the record straight, we do have a breastfeeding policy that allows 
women to feed their children in all our stores," she said
H&M is a Swedish retailer with 1,400 stores in 28 countries.
Shankland says part of that policy is to offer moms the use of a fitting 
room or a chair, if they want.
"It wasn't handled in the best possible way. That is clear."
Meanwhile, a protest is also brewing in London, Ont., where a woman says 
staff at a La Senza store chastised her for breastfeeding.
"I felt violated... you would eat your big mac in public, why can't my baby 
eat his big mac in public," the woman said.
Rights advocates say breastfeeding women are protected by the provincal 
human rights code, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex.
For more information, check the Infant Feeding Action Coalition website
With reports by CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber and the Canadian 
Press.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/10/stories/2008081058920300.htm

Other States - Uttar Pradesh

Rape victim protests police inaction
Bulandshahr: Accusing police of shielding her rapists, a 20-year-old 
housewife tore off her clothes in Khurja Dehat Kotwali here on Saturday. The 
housewife belonging to Wajidpur village under Khurja Dehat was allegedly 
raped by four persons of the same village on August 3. A case was lodged 
with the Khurja police and one of the alleged rapists was arrested but 
released after reportedly bribing the police, claimed the husband of the 
victim.