Category Archives: Women

A Line in the Sand: Are Environmental Issues Influencing Your Election Decisions?

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Keenan G., 20, Cellular Biology student, Santa Barbara, California: “I feel like in the beginning, it didn’t. But now, it is a bigger deal. Issues like global warming, ice caps melting and our diminishing resources; these must be difficult decisions for our next president. I feel like the candidates need to listen to the people more and be less concerned with the popularity that comes with being President. Maybe I ought to look into and invest more time in the green party. These are issues that the entire planet is facing, not just the United States.”

Trudy B., 63, Vocalist, Santa Barbara, California: “Yes. I’ve always been interested in environmental issues. I don’t like some of the things we are doing to mother earth. I feel very strongly about our precious mother Earth. In many ways we have been unconscious about how we treat her and her resources. We need to wake up.”

Julie C. 69, Retired Nurse, Shreveport, Louisiana: “To a certain extent. I don’t want us to be foolhardy. I’m from a red state, Louisiana. I want us to be energy independent whether, it’s oil, gas, or solar. I’m a conservative. I study both sides of the issues. There are a lot of resources that should be taken use of. This will provide jobs. We need to be smart about what we do. Take every opportunity, be careful and watchful about how we protect our environment.”

Gerald D. 80, Retired Electrical Engineer, Portland, Oregon: “Environmental issues are not going to convince me one way or another. Period. They are not going to end up doing anything about it anyway.”

Oscar M., 60, Musician, Santa Barbara, California: “The environment is important to me. If I was voting, it would be somebody who is not representing corporate interests. I think we are due for big changes, on all levels, including our environment and our voting system.”

Todd G., 34, Electrician, Sheridan, Oregon: “No, not really. But, I think nuclear is the cleanest energy. I think it has the smallest environmental impact per square foot.”

Kyle D., 22, Unemployed, New Mexico: “I will not base my decisions on political discussion. They are roundabouts and the issues in question are constantly changing. I will decide in my own way. I will do my research then. I will vote based on who they are as a person. Specifics don’t matter.”

All replies and photographs are published with the participants permission. Photographs taken using an iPod touch.

A Line in the Sand column copyright, Ana Elisa Fuentes.

This blog post powered by foot and public transportation.

My sincere thanks to the participants.

Are Environmental issues influencing your election 2012 decisions?

A Line in the Sand

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Welcome to A Line in the Sand – my new weekly column that will address pertinent questions about our environment in open public spaces.

Question: What does climate change mean to you?

Johnathan G. and Bridget M. both 19, students, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
” We were just talking about this. Climate change is caused by human activity. People need to pay attention. People need to be aware, about everything we consume and how we consume, and how we obtain what we consume, and our disposal. We need to be aware of our ecological footprint. All of this affects our biodiversity, especially when it starts killing things around us. It is so easy to ignore.”

Paolo M., 29, scientist, Lugano, Switzerland: ” I think it’s a measure of concern. It is underestimated. Our life is short, but the effects are long-term. We don’t do enough to prevent it. It’s important to try to make people aware of it, especially in the U.S.A. where people drive their car for an errand five minutes away. And plastic. I have been here two weeks and have a hundred bags. In Europe, the glaciers are disappearing.”

Oscar G., 32, window washer, Chula Vista, California: A variation of hot and cold weather. Stormy weather. Hot winds, cold fronts, dramatic and not normal weather patterns.”

Shao-Ya Hsu, 37, student, Scripps Ranch, California: Awareness of the environment. Before I was not so aware. Personally, I try to do more – recycling, not wasting our resources. Just to be here and observe the ocean. I just appreciate it. We have only one earth and we need to protect it.”

Ramona B. 49, housewife, Louisiana: I’ve heard about it on T.V. It’s all I can think of.”

All replies and photographs are published with the participants permission.

A Line in the Sand column copyright, Ana Elisa Fuentes.

My sincere thanks to the participants.

What does climate change mean to you?

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Women’s Empowerment Exhibition Media

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Recent press of my Women’s Empowerment: A Global Perspective exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, in honor of Women’s History Month.  Prints from the exhibit are available here. Thank you Soundcliffwritingspa, New York Newsday, PortableExhibit UK & CUNY

Freedom Summer: Remembering Carolyn Goodman

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In the summer of 1964 three young men, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner,  and Andrew Goodman campaigned in Neshoba County Mississippi to register, educate and inform African-American in their right to vote. Their volunteer efforts were part of the civl rights movement taking place that summer known as the Freedom Rides, and/or  Freedom Summer.

Chaney then a 21 year-old African American from Meridian, Mississippi, Andrew Goodman a 20 year-old Anthropology student from New York, and Michael Schwerner, also from New York, a 24 year-old social worker and CORE (Congress on Racial Equality) organizer.

It was during this summer that the three young Civil Rights workers were slain by members of the Ku Klux Klan with the assistance of the local police authorities.

Their disappearance and loss spread quickly throughout the country and an immediate investigation was called by the FBI. Their loss of life galvanized the country and was pivotal in the creation and passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Above is Carolyn Goodman, the mother of slain civil rights advocate Andrew Goodman, with an unidentified woman during a memorial to the Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer and the lives of the Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner.

In 1988 the film Mississippi Burning was released.

Photographs from this freelance assignment were recorded on color negative film, published in the Washington Post and will be featured in my upcoming exhibit, “Women’s Empowerment: A Global Perspective.” Photographs are copyright Ana Elisa Fuentes, and are maintained in my personal archive

International Women’s Day: Mache Lakay

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The focus of International Women’s Day 2012 is rural women. In honor of this day, I’ve posted one of my favorite photo essays on a women’s cooperative in rural Haiti.

The Mouvman Peyizan Papay or the Peasant Movement of Papay is the oldest and largest peasant movement in Haiti. The cooperative is nearly 40 years-old with over 60,000 plus members and an education facility located in the heart of  Haiti, the Central Plateau.  No individual may join MPP only collectives.The goal of MPP is to educate and empower.

The collective offers their members instruction in women’s health and advocacy and  gender equality while providing sound economic and work alternatives to the people of Haiti. The cooperatives  are trained by licensed Agronomists  in environmental and sustainable  farming methods.

Pictured here is KOPA  Mache Lakay or  home market cooperative. The cooperative owned and operated by three women is a roaring success. Their cooperative provides the employment alternative to the bateys in the Dominican Republic. Their secret double roasted butter is sold throughout Haiti. Their cooperative and MPP at-large provides the humanitarian means to financial independence in Haiti while contributing to a healthy and stable family environment.

The images above were recorded using a Canon 10-d camera while on assignment with Direct Relief International and the American Jewish World Service.

A selection from this set of photographs will be featured in my exhibit “Women’s Empowerment: A Global Perspective” at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.

This exhibit with support from the Holocaust Center, I am dedicating to my mother Eduvigen Fuentes, my friend, compañera and source of strength. She never let me give up.

Thank you for reading.

Electronic Lynching: A Memoir

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This is a something  I ought to have written years ago. But for various reasons, I have kept it under wraps. Reasons of  “deer in the headlights” syndrome come to mind, along with feelings of despair, numbness. Retaliation. Stigma.  Part of me wanted to see how long it would continue and to give the persons involved the opportunity to reveal themselves, because in crimes like this,  it’s always someone close.

Cybercrime is a contemporary phenomena. Five years ago when the cyber-stalking began  no one knew what it was.

It had no name.

All I knew was that I was the recipient of pages and pages of vitriol, slander, threats, defamation, and character assassination by persons unknown for reasons unknown.

The impact was felt emotionally, mentally, physically and decimating financially. The only core it could not touch was my spiritual center. I’ve been a practicing Tibetan Buddhist for a very long time.

I was happily married to a German citizen, living in Bavaria. Our morning ritual included a pre-dawn walk, candle light breakfast over tea and toast. As time went on this cozy ritual would be interrupted by the glow of a twelve-inch laptop monitor. Dream imagery, discussion and meaning  replaced by strings of turbulent keywords. And the only replies echoed via email to  the GOOGLE search address , asking, demanding, imploring them to remove the vitriol from their search engine that invaded our lives.

Imagine waking up in the morning, over tea and toast, querying your name via the GOOGLE search engine and finding something like this:

— HOMEMADE VIDEO SEX —- click here – alt.parenting.solutions …
– [ Diese Seite übersetzen ]
thong ana elisa fuentes brain pop living with schizophrenic codependency komatsu 830 fire essential health jane lee nd horses …
groups.google.lk/group/alt.parenting…/f909c61345dbf399 – Im Cache

We’ve received your spam report for
HYPERLINK “http://porn-youtube-8.com/freemovie/Video – ana+elisa+fuentes|Special Archive – ana+elisa+fuentes/725/6/”http://porn-youtube-8.com/freemovie/Video%20-%20ana+elisa+fuentes%7CSpecial%20Archive%20-%20ana+elisa+fuentes/725/6/

big game hunting north dakota, free painting estimating software setting up a non profit organization big game hunting north dakota,emily child model auschwitz concentration camp history, ana elisa fuentes
internet …

お名前：Deep Throat Cock 題名：Deep Throat Cock [2008年5月3日 6:30 … –
[ Diese Seite übersetzen ]
16 Beiträge – 13 Autoren – Letzter Eintrag: 3. Mai 2008
… phenylpropanolamine HYPERLINK “http://forfors.com/i/gold-nugget.html”http://forfors.com/i/gold-nugget.html gold
nugget /forfors.com/i/ana-elisa-fuentes.html ana elisa fuentes …

What is still infuriating and wounding is that these allegations, the defamation and character assassination of homemade sex videos, pornography etc … DO NOT exist. They are all lies.

These are just a few examples. I have nearly 100 pages in my archive.
Now, imagine your name and you characterized and/or described as such, and these variations cited  ten times per GOOGLE page, 3 or 4 pages deep into the GOOGLE search engine.
Ask yourself:

1. What are the chances of you landing the desired employment interview when all prospective employers conduct a google search?

2.  Do you think this would impact upon your current or future employment status?

3. Do you think it might impact upon your social relationships. Your standing in the community?

Absolutely.

This phenomena occurred solely via  the GOOGLE search engine.
I filed a complaint with the GOOGLE. They ignored it.
In fact, I came to find that GOOGLE does not honor their own abuse policy. What GOOGLE  did  however, was to issue a warning  highlighted in red of the citations that might harm your computer.

Then the stalking became more aggressive.

daniel pearl killing video, important historical figures …
Fastest rap in the world padagonia, blondie nude daniel pearl killing video=
, ski report scotland retarded burger king guy, ana elisa fuentes what does=
a …vmlfddc.angelfire.com/tcfexpresscom.html – 14k – Cached – Similar pages – Note

When I saw the citation above I began to worry. Not only was this cyber-stalking directed at me, but it in my same breath, it also mentioned the life of former Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.  The date this citation appeared coincided with the opening date of the film ” A Mighty Heart” in New York. I double and triple checked.This was deliberate. Someone knew what they were doing.

I went to the ICANN website.  Filed a complaint against GOOGLE. Informed GOOGLE ABUSE that I had filed this complaint.  It all disappeared in 20 minutes. Over breakfast.
Now, that is what I call responsive.

GOOGLE regarding your architecture & ADWORDS FOR ADVERTISING – which is a keyword based technology –  if this technology can be used to identify keywords to target advertising, why can’t this same technology and architecture apply in locating keywords that identify abuse, defamation, hate, violence human-trafficking/slavery ? There is a current petition circulating via Change.org requesting GOOGLE to stop GOOGLE ADWORDS that contribute to the trafficking of women and girls and sex tourism.
The petition is  here

Racism, sexism, misogyny, violence and hate are inherent and integral in your architecture. You provide the means and are thus complicit.

One of the most common questions asked of me is, “How do you know this is directed toward you?

Fair question.

My reply is, very few people knew that one of my best friends in Germany is from the Dakotas, or that I had been photo-documenting a denkmal or  art memorial based on the holocaust, and even fewer people knew of my emergency room hospital visit in Bavaria.

My German friend from the Dakotas, her Facebook avatar is of big game, native to the Dakotas. The bison.

big game hunting north dakota, free painting estimating software …
… setting up a non profit organization big game hunting north dakota, emi=
ly child model auschwitz concentration camp history, ana elisa fuentes inte=
rnet …
eqruqkg.angelfire.com/howdoesahydraulicpresswork.html – 16k – Cached –
Similar pages

Ana elisa fuentes emergency room case management copepoda leaf , pink floyde maury.com, bluebook value of vehicles shockinggaysites.com, transcona credit …
ukdbvqs.angelfire.com/mcmastercarrcom.html –
13k – Cached – Similar pages – Note this

The cyber-attacks continued.  During their zenith, my husband separated from me.  I lost my prospective employment. I nearly lost my life. All within ten days. I’m sure this fabricated ground contributed to my past and current legal tug of war with the German Ausländerbehörde over my legal right to work and reside in Germany.

In my anguish and despair, some of my colleagues advised me to, “Ah just ignore it.” “Ignore the cyberstalking.” Most of this advice came from men.

What they fail to recognize is this – the truth – which is when you are an independent freelance photojournalist and a woman, life is already challenging enough. With the plethora of garbage published about me on the most utilized search engine in the world, defamation like this is injurious to one’s reputation and thus pocketbook.  I’m sure editors thought twice or thrice before hiring me or using any of my photographs with my byline.  After all, as journalists, our bylines, our reputations are our currency – worth their weight in gold and more  important  than money.

Prolonged threats like this make one feel vulnerable and can contribute to isolation. Vulnerable in concern for one’s safety and livelihood. Isolation because of the toxicity.  I remember distinctly the cues dropped by some of my colleagues. The look of bewilderment on their faces. “Why would anyone do this?” “All those things said about you.” As if I were contagious or that  it might contaminate them, or rub off on them.  “Why would someone do this?”

Because they can. Because they are hiding behind a computer screen and it is very difficult to hold people like this accountable. Why did Rush Limbaugh publicly attack Georgetown university student Sandra Fluke? Because he can, he has, and no one would hold him accountable .. Until now. Listen to Sandra Fluke’s reply here 

In 2010 I returned to Germany for my divorce. This time a little wiser and smarter, only telling a handful of people of my return when I arrived. Literally, only five people knew where I was and that I was back in Germany. Within ten days of my return the cyber-stalking began. It looked like this:

C diff infection – [ Diese Seite übersetzen ]… the USs projection country in which Ana elisa fuentes insecurities onto Haiti from the nineteenth century contemporaneous legislation and suppression. …trewq14.no-ip.be/UoCcOq.html

Ana Elisa Gison Low rate small business credit– [ Diese Seite übersetzen ] 25 Ago 2010 … Mel Gibson Has Come Under Fire For Being Hard On Jews In His Film The Passion Of The Ana Elisa Fuentes Getty Images File …mycreditcardlist.co.cc/tagged/ana–elisa-gison.html – Im Cache

housingsecurity.com <a href= http://automotivetoolforsale.opaxxxl.info/ >automotive tool forsale</a > <a href= http://anaelisafuentes.opaxxxl.info/ >ana elisafuentes</a> … www.hosungsecurity.com/board/view.asp?db=boarddong&num…

Later I noticed my name starting to appear in guest books with “members only” requirements.

Careful not to  jeopardize my employment opportunities, I filed another complaint against GOOGLE with ICANN and INTERPOL. This time, the spam was gone in 24-hours. In a few days I was interviewed and hired.

Most police stations are ill equipped or trained to handle the sophistication of this type of crime. I have contacted and filed police reports on both sides of the Atlantic and more.

For clarity’s sake and for the record I do not have a criminal background nor do I participate in online dating sites nor in chat rooms. No one is deserving of this kind of violence. No one including me.

In 2011 due to the numerous unfortunate circumstances of teen suicide  in connection to cyber-spamming/hate and stalking, the media, the press, therapists, celebrities, talk-show hosts have started to take this a lot more seriously. Good thing.

To reemphasize, this is/was injurious to me on all levels – emotionally, physically, and mentally, it devastated me financially. The only part of me it did not decimate was my spiritual center. Just like any violence directed toward women the repetition of the crime is reliving the crime all over again. In my case speaking, reading, and in the beginning the need to convince and educate was reliving it constantly, and this consumed a lot of my creativity, resolve, and energy.

Please see this link -specific to

H.R. 3402 (109th): Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005

cyber-stalking sections 113 – 115

And finally,

“It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

Truthfully, if this happened to a friend, or another woman, I would encourage them to take action, stand up and speak up for themselves. So I’ve decided to be my best friend and to do the same for me.

My heartfelt love and gratitude to my friends  new and old, and my colleagues who have stood beside me, supported me, and encouraged me. Thank you.

If you wish to read an update to this post, please go to this link http://wp.me/s12Vav-untitled

Below is a chronology of the cyber-spamming reports filed vis-á-vis Google Webmaster tools. Page one of two.

Messages

 
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.1-800-fossils.com/Directory/index1.php?id=449 8/20/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.matchtrace.com/links/Drug-anti-infective.htm 8/17/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://dpnm.postech.ac.kr/spboard/board.cgi?id=cs499&action=for_print&number=19-3969-111.cgi&img=no 8/8/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://dpnm.postech.ac.kr/spboard/board.cgi?id=cs499&action=for_print&number=19-3969-111.cgi&img=no%20-%205k%20-%20Cached%20-%20Similar%20pages%20-%20Note%20this 8/2/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.matchtrace.com/links/Drug-anti-infective.htm%20- 8/2/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://dpnm.postech.ac.kr/spboard/board.cgi?id=cs499&action=for_print&number=19-3969-111.cgi&img=no%20- 8/2/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://leather.webindia.com/output.asp?mno=6043%20- 7/31/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://dpnm.postech.ac.kr/spboard/board.cgi?id=cs499&action=for_print&number=19-3969-111.cgi&img=no%20-%205k 7/31/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.matchtrace.com/links/Drug-anti-infective.htm 7/31/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.matchtrace.com/links/Drug-anti-infective.htm 7/27/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.matchtrace.com/links/Drug-anti-infective.htm 7/27/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://dpnm.postech.ac.kr/spboard/board.cgi?id=cs499&action=for_print&number=19-3969-111.cgi&img=no%20- 7/27/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.ajaxsms.nl/guestbook/default.asp?PagePosition=4137 7/22/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.ajaxsms.nl/guestbook/default.asp?PagePosition=4137 7/22/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.ajaxsms.nl/guestbook/default.asp?PagePosition=4137 7/22/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://dpnm.postech.ac.kr/…/board.cgi?id=cs499&page=554&action=view&number=19-3969-111.cgi&img=no 7/22/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2006/10/11/news/centralcoast/news09.txt%20- 7/22/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2006/10/11/news/centralcoast/news09.txt 6/26/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://leather.webindia.com/output.asp?mno=6043%20-%208k 6/26/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.gymueb.de/gaestebuch/gaestebuch.php?offset=4421%20-%20703k

We’ve received your spam report for http://www.partiojohtaja.fi/contentparser.asp?iPageSize=5&deptid=945&page=1774 6/26/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2006/10/11/news/centralcoast/news09.txt 5/19/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://fuentes.maxmusclevenice.com/ 5/19/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://fuentes.zunirockfetish.com/ 5/19/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://lavikasun.9skul.com/rellazarp.html 3/30/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://lavikasun.9skul.com/rellazarp.html%20- 3/30/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://efrw01.frascati.enea.it/~vicefus/Presentations/05year/050701-Samuelli/docs/basreracw.html 3/29/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://efrw01.frascati.enea.it/~vicefus/Presentations/05year/050701-Samuelli/docs/basreracw.html%20- 3/27/08
Unread message:We’ve received your spam report for http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2006/10/11/news/centralcoast/news09.txt%20-%2037k%20-%20Cached%20-%20Similar%20pages%20-%20Note%20this 3/25/08
Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://porn-youtube-8.com/freemovie/Video%20-Message:We’ve received your spam report for http://porn-youtube-8.com/freemovie/Video%20-%20ana+elisa+fuentes%7CSpecial%20Archive%20-%20ana+elisa+fuentes/725/6/

 

 6/26/08

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From the Mississippi Delta

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Portrait of Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland, scholar, playwright and novelist. Dr. Holland received literary accolades for her play and novel, “From the Mississippi Delta,” a memoir. Her life transformed and liberated by the civil rights movement; she later brought these same activist qualities into the classroom, where she became the first faculty professor at the University of Southern California to receive a joint appointment  in the School of Theater and Gender Studies.

The historical photograph of Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland, depicts her and others marching for civil rights in Greenwood, Mississippi. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Holland’s personal collection and archive.

These photographs will be featured in my exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.

Losar Year of the Water Dragon

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According to the Tibetan Calendar this is the New Year – Welcome to the Year of the Water Dragon. While traditionally a time for celebrating, many practitioners around the world are choosing to go into retreat to recite numerous prayers for the people of Tibet who are suffering relentlessly from the ongoing crackdown by the government officials.

Our precious human life, caring for the welfare of others, and the saving of lives are the core tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. Many monks and nuns are choosing to self-immolate as a voice of protest to the continuing oppression and violation of human rights. Please do what you can to be a voice for those who cannot voice due to media blackouts and violence against journalists. According to a current report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists, China is holding fast to information control with attacks and imprisonment of journalists on the rise.

The photographs above, Ani with dry and Woman with Prayerwheel  will be part of my solo photograph exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County.

Prints from the exhibit are available here  in addition to other images from my collection.

I am available for assignments, exhibits and or photography projects.  Please contact me here.

Thank you for reading.

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A woman carries her belongings from the higher elevations, to our base at 13,000 feet Plateau of Tibet.

On March18th I have a solo photography exhibit opening at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in honor of Women’s History Month.  

For those of you who continue to believe, or think that feminism is a throw back to another era or an outdated or surmounted issue, I encourage you to read  this account presented by the Women Under Siege Project on how violence, threats of violence and rape have been used against women. This article is a detailed account from witness testimony from women during the Holocaust to and accounts from present day Rwanda. Please read here

Last week a panel discussion convened at the International Programs Center, University of Montana on the growing accounts of Femicide  along the border region of Mexico and the United States.

The image above, Nomadic Woman, Plateau of Tibet is an image selected for the exhibit at Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center.

A selection of my images for print sales may be seen here