"I know why it is called grassroots... since I began to garden, I know that when you pull up the roots, if a small piece remains, more grass will grow."

- b!wilder, spoken word artist

Nearly 2,000 international delegates, grassroots activists, academics, and policymakers congregated for the 30th anniversary of the Women's World Congress in Ottawa from July 4 to 7. With plenaries translated simultaneously into English, French, Spanish and American Sign Language, each day's sessions were based upon the themes Breaking Cycles, Breaking Ceilings, Breaking Barriers and Breaking Ground, under the broader theme: "Inclusions, exclusions and seclusions: Living in a globalized world."

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For immediate release: March 28, 2011

Toronto, Canada and El Estor, Guatemala:

Rosa Elbira Coc Ich and ten other indigenous Mayan Q'eqchi' women filed a lawsuit Monday against Canadian mining companies HMI Nickel, and its corporate owner, HudBay Minerals, regarding mining-related gang-rapes suffered by them near a Canadian-owned mining site in Guatemala.

On January 17, 2007, the eleven women were gang-raped by mining company security personnel, police and military during the forceful expulsion of Mayan Q'eqchi' families from their farms and homes in the community of "Lote Ocho". These armed evictions were sought by HMI Nickel in relation to its Fenix mining project, located on the north shores of Lake Izabal, Guatemala.

Polygamy is a very complicated. Or is it? For many people it is very simple and those simple responses fall in these three categories:

1. Polygamy is bad for women and an example of extreme patriarchy;

2. There is nothing wrong with polygamy that isn't wrong with all relationships; and/or

3. Polygamy is a perfectly valid choice.

So why is it a criminal offence in Canada and why is there a very unusual Constitutional Reference case underway in Vancouver?

International Women's Week is celebrating its 100th anniversary, but the gender gap persists . The president of Times Change in Toronto describes how her women's employment service is bridging the divide.

This year's International Women's Day (IWD) theme of equal access to education, training and technology is particularly meaningful for Arshia Raafat, President of the Board of Directors of Times Change Employment Service. The theme emphasizes the tenets of her Toronto-based, not-for-profit agency.