Iceland has kick-started 2018 by introducing a law making it illegal to pay men more than women in a bid to close a pay gap that exists in almost every country around the world.

Under these brand new rules, companies and agencies that employ over 25 people will need to obtain a Government certification of their equal-pay policies or face excessive fines.

Champions of equal pay at the UN Women Global Equal Pay Coalition in New York, an event co-sponsored by the Missions of Iceland, South Africa and Switzerland (Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown via Flickr CC)

The bill, which came into effect on January 1, makes the Nordic island nation the first country in the entire world to outright ban pay discrimination on the basis of gender.

It forms part of government plans to completely eradicate the gender wage gap by 2020.

BBC 100 Women

✔@BBC100women

Iceland has become the first country to make it illegal to pay women less than men

The government has introduced the Equal Pay Standard – if two people are doing jobs with the same score but not the same pay then the employer has got to fix this http://bbc.in/2qkXLxO 

3:49 PM – Jan 3, 2018

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Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, a board member of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, describes it as a “mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally.”

“We have had legislation saying that pay should be equal for men and women for decades now – but we still have a pay gap,” she told Al Jazeera news.

“I think that now people are starting to realise that this is a systematic problem that we have to tackle with new methods,” Pind explains.

“Women have been talking about this for decades and I really feel that we have managed to raise awareness,” she adds:

“We have managed to get to the point that people realise that the legislation we have had in place is not working, and we need to do something more.”

Billie Jean King

✔@BillieJeanKing

Iceland again leading in the equality movement. A new female Prime Minister, and a Parliament where nearly half of its members are women. Equal representation benefits everyone! #EqualPay #equality #WednesdayWisdom https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/iceland-makes-it-illegal-for-companies-to-pay-men-more-than-women_us_5a4bbd53e4b025f99e1df7e3 …

3:15 PM – Jan 3, 2018

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For the last nine years, Iceland has been ranked by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as the most gender-equal country in the world – followed by Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden.

Yemen is the lowest-ranked of the 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report, which uses economic opportunity, political empowerment, health and survival to measure inequality.

World Economic Forum

✔@wef

Equal pay for equal work. Read more: http://wef.ch/2CFpprM 

2:27 PM – Jan 2, 2018

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Source: konbini.com

In the wake of the increased rate of human trafficking being experienced by Nigerians trying to migrate to Europe via Libya, Actress and Producer Stephanie Linus has recently arrived in Italy to give support to rescued people and raise her voice against such human rights violations.

This timely intervention is in partnership with the world-renowned international medical humanitarian organisation “Doctors Without Borders” (MSF).
Over the next few days, Mrs Linus will visit the rescue ship “Aquarius” to witness their activities and operations. Later she will have meetings with some of these vulnerable women; participate in rehabilitation exercises for the rescued women, media parleys and stakeholder meetings with the aim of alleviating their sufferings and preventing more girls and women from falling prey.

Doctors Without Borders is one of the most impactful humanitarian organisation that rescues thousands of people who faced hazardous conditions trying to enter Europe through the sea yearly. In 2017, the Aquarius (a rescue ship) has rescued 15,078 people.

Mrs Linus has been at the forefront of advocacy over sensitive issues that affect the rights of women and girls. She has done this through several channels such as her advocacy movie – DRY, her role as UNFPA Ambassador; her charity organisation Extended Hands Foundation and many more.

See photos below;

Source: stargist.com

Talking about a high drive for outstanding entrepreneurial endeavour, a British-Nigerian woman, Sade Agboola has set up a women-only drivers taxi company in London.

The single mother of one from South London started the innovative means of daily commuting to offer women a safe and reliable alternative to minicab services and public transport in London.

The 35-year-old said: ‘The idea came from mine and the experiences of my friends and family. When travelling on London transport a lot of women feel uncomfortable.

Agboola’s company, Annisa car, which will only be accepting women and children as passengers, will commence operations within the South of London with plans to extend its services across other parts of the city of London in due course.

The entreprenuer’s idea of public commuting is coming at a time when Uber, the popular ride-hailing mobile-technology-enabled cab service, faces serious challenges in London.

Agboola was expectedly ecstatic as she shared her thoughts on the birth of the enterprise and the value that is on offer.

“It is quite entrepreneurial but I never thought about it like that, I had the idea a couple of years ago and since December 2016 I’ve been doing a lot of research and work to put it together.

“I have been amazed that no one else has thought of this idea before. Also a lot of mums have children and struggle to get back into work or find a job that gives them that flexibility and hopefully by having women-only drivers and guardians we can provide a flexible and supportive environment for them.

“Whether people choose to work with us full or part-time is up to them, but we will be offering holiday pay for people working on a freelance basis so they know we support them.”

Meanwhile the business has already been attracting considerable patronage with some of the passengers already leaving positive reviews on the new taxi company’s website for excellent service delivery.

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Tennis star Serena Williams and daughter Alexis Olympia are the cover stars for the February 2018 issue of Vogue magazine. They were photographed by Mario Testino for the new issue.

In the magazine, Serena talks about motherhood, marriage, and making her comeback.

Talking about life after her pregnancy, the magazine revealed that Serena has been having a tough couple of months.

Though she had an enviably easy pregnancy, what followed was the greatest medical ordeal of a life that has been punctuated by them. Olympia was born by emergency C-section after her heart rate dove dangerously low during contractions. The surgery went off without a hitch; Alexis cut the cord, and the wailing newborn fell silent the moment she was laid on her mother’s chest. “That was an amazing feeling,” Serena remembers. “And then everything went bad.”

The next day, while recovering in the hospital, Serena suddenly felt short of breath. Because of her history of blood clots, and because she was off her daily anticoagulant regimen due to the recent surgery, she immediately assumed she was having another pulmonary embolism. (Serena lives in fear of blood clots.) She walked out of the hospital room so her mother wouldn’t worry and told the nearest nurse, between gasps, that she needed a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin (a blood thinner) right away. The nurse thought her pain medicine might be making her confused. But Serena insisted, and soon enough a doctor was performing an ultrasound of her legs. “I was like, a Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,” she remembers telling the team. The ultrasound revealed nothing, so they sent her for the CT, and sure enough, several small blood clots had settled in her lungs. Minutes later she was on the drip. “I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!”

But this was just the first chapter of a six-day drama. Her fresh C-section wound popped open from the intense coughing spells caused by the pulmonary embolism, and when she returned to surgery, they found that a large hematoma had flooded her abdomen, the result of a medical catch-22 in which the potentially lifesaving blood thinner caused hemorrhaging at the site of her C-section. She returned yet again to the OR to have a filter inserted into a major vein, in order to prevent more clots from dislodging and traveling into her lungs. Serena came home a week later only to find that the night nurse had fallen through, and she spent the first six weeks of motherhood unable to get out of bed.

Read excerpts below.

On her daughter: We’re not spending a day apart until she’s eighteen. Now that I’m 36 and I look at my baby, I remember that this was also one of my goals when I was little, before tennis took over, when I was still kind of a normal girl who played with dolls. Oh, my God, I loved my dolls. Women are sometimes taught not to dream as big as men. I’m so glad I had a daughter. I want to teach her that there are no limits.

On making a comeback: To be honest, there’s something really attractive about the idea of moving to San Francisco [where husband Alexis is based] and just being a mom. But not yet. Maybe this goes without saying, but it needs to be said in a powerful way: I absolutely want more Grand Slams. I’m well aware of the record books, unfortunately. It’s not a secret that I have my sights on 25. And actually, I think having a baby might help. When I’m too anxious I lose matches, and I feel like a lot of that anxiety disappeared when Olympia was born. Knowing I’ve got this beautiful baby to go home to makes me feel like I don’t have to play another match. I don’t need the money or the titles or the prestige. I want them, but I don’t need them. That’s a different feeling for me.

On motherhood: Sometimes I get really down and feel like, Man, I can’t do this. It’s that same negative attitude I have on the court sometimes. I guess that’s just who I am. No one talks about the low moments—the pressure you feel, the incredible letdown every time you hear the baby cry. I’ve broken down I don’t know how many times. Or I’ll get angry about the crying, then sad about being angry, and then guilty, like, Why do I feel so sad when I have a beautiful baby? The emotions are insane. Obedience brings protection; that’s what my mom told me. That’s straight from the Bible, and she wrote it down on paper and gave it to me. I was always obedient: Whatever my parents told me to do, I did. There was no discussion. Maybe I had a little rebellious phase in my 20s, when I tried liquor for the first time. Maybe having a baby on the tennis tour is the most rebellious thing I could ever do.

Nollywood actress and producer, Funke Akindele-Bello has been cast in the upcoming Marvel movie “Avengers: Infinity War.”

As seen on the movies full cast list, the actress will play a member of the Black Panther’s guards, the Dora Milaje.

The Dora Milaje are superior women recruited from every tribe of the fictional Wakanda who serve as the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther.

She play a member of the Black Panther’s guards, the ‘Dora Milaje’ – who are a team of women who serve as the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther.

It’s Africa to the world and we can’t wait to see Funke on the big screen when the movie premieres in May.

Here’s the photo:

It is well known that Iran is a Muslim country in which Islamic law is strictly enforced. … Islamic codes of behaviour and dress are strictly enforced. In any public place women must cover their heads with a headscarf, wear trousers (or a floor length skirt), and a long-sleeved tunic or coat that reaches to mid-thigh or knee.

Now, the latest development is that, Iran’s morality police are no longer able to detain violators of the country’s longtime strict dress code, saving not-so-modest women from hang ups and legal annoyances.

The Islamic dress code has been in place since 1979 and has been practiced  aggressively since. The country’s morality police, as they’ve been dubbed, typically detain violators and escort them to a police van where they’re made to wait until family members are able to bring them a change of clothes.

While this is not only disrespectful and somewhat embarrassing, it’s also a true example of the country’s police entities being quite politically extra.

The liberal youth in modern Iran have, however, consistently pushed the boundaries of the country’s official dress code– donning loose headscarves that don’t fully cover their hair and painting their nails, both technically against the law and at the very least, a nuisance to conservatives within the country.

This week marked a palpable change in the country, however, with the police’s official announcement that they will ease up on reprimanding those that violate the arguably outdated code of conduct.

Mark Vallen@mark_vallen

#IranProtests: Hundreds of thousands across #Iran chant “We don’t want Islamic Republic!” & “Clerics shame on you, let go of our country!” Woman in video took off her #Hijab to protest Islamic dress code imposed on Iranian women since 1979. #IStandWithHer

8:36 PM – Dec 29, 2017

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“Those who do not observe the Islamic dress code will no longer be taken to detention centers, nor will judicial cases be filed against them,” Tehran police chief Gen. Hossein Rahimi was quoted as saying.

While lack of arrest for donning a pair of capri pants or shorts is a win, news agencies within the country report that violators will now instead be made to attend classes given by police, and repeat offenders could still be subject to legal action.

Last year, police in Tehran announced plans to monitor ‘public morality’ and police the public dress code by deploying 7,000 male and female undercover, plain clothes cops.

If only we could get this kind of man power behind protecting women from unwanted advances and training men on how not to attack women because they have their neck or knees exposed. Sigh, hopefully in due time.

Credit: konbini.com

Source: konbini.com