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Blog Posts by Melanie Teff

The Loss of a Great Human Rights Activist
December 05, 2011 Melanie Teff Dominican Republic, Haiti, Americas, Statelessness, Women's Rights

Sonia Pierre was 13 years old when she was first arrested and threatened with deportation, for organizing a protest for the rights of sugar cane workers. She continued her struggle for the rights of marginalized people in the Dominican Republic (DR) right up until her sad and untimely death yesterday from a heart attack, at age 48.

Kuwait: “Daughters of this country, but not treated fairly”
September 22, 2011 Melanie Teff Kuwait, United Nations, Middle East, Statelessness, Women's Rights

“My son heard my husband knocking some nails into the wall and he actually thought this noise was me killing his father,” a Kuwaiti woman, whom I will call Mona, told me. I am currently in Kuwait with my Refugees International colleague, assessing the needs of this country’s stateless population.
DRC: Sexual Violence Facts and Fiction
June 13, 2011 Melanie Teff Africa, DR Congo, Humanitarian Response, Women's Rights

It seems like every day a new study on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) appears, each with a completely different picture of the situation and totally different statistics. Over the past two weeks my colleague, Peter Orr, and I have been in DRC interviewing people about protection of civilians and about sexual violence. The one thing that is totally clear is that no one has the full picture.
International Women’s Day: A Stateless Woman’s Story
March 08, 2011 Melanie Teff Bangladesh, Malaysia, Asia, Statelessness, Women's Rights
On International Women’s Day we celebrate women’s achievements and we push for further progress towards real equality. But a large group of women around the world are being shut out of enjoying any progress – women who have no citizenship of any country. Their statelessness means that no government protects their rights.

In Malaysia last week I met with Gultaz, who was 9 months pregnant and very scared. Her story illustrates the type of problems that many stateless women around the world face, forced to hide themselves away and unable to advance in their lives.
Thanking those who struggle to eliminate violence against women
November 29, 2010 Melanie Teff Women's Rights
As well as being Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., November 25 is also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It has been a day marked by women’s rights activists for decades to raise awareness about the terrible impacts of violence against women and about the work many are doing to eliminate this violence. This date was chosen to commemorate the brutal assassination ordered by the Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo, of three female political activists in the Dominican Republic on November 25, 1960.