Psychology - Abuse and Recovery

Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/26/2006 | Loving the underdogs - up to a point: "Yo, Rock.

We ate up the story of a nobody from Philly, pounding sides of beef in a meat locker. And now we're paying to see the retired champ pull himself together for one more fight.

So, yeah, we love the whole underdog thing.

But not as much as you might think.

New psychology research suggests that while people like to root for the little guy, they'll drop him like a two-day-old soft pretzel if they have a stake in the outcome. And if the guy is perceived as not giving 100 percent, or if, God forbid, he should start to lose, then we'll turn against him in a hurry.

Sound like sports fans in a certain East Coast city you know?"

From BBC News (UK): Five years ago, after the fall of the Taleban (Taliban), Afghanistan's new government pledged swift action to improve the lives of women.

But a recent report* by the international women's organisation Womankind Worldwide** said millions of Afghan women and girls continue to face discrimination and violence in their day-to-day lives.

The BBC's Afghan service has been talking to Afghan women about their lives:

Afghan women's rights groups acknowledge that women now have a variety of rights which they didn't have under Taleban rule.

But in practice, they say, many of those rights are ignored.

And activists face intimidation, or worse.

In September, the head of the Women's Affairs Ministry in the southern city of Kandahar, Safia Amajan, who'd criticised the Taleban's treatment of women, was shot dead.

One of her former colleagues, who was too afraid to give her name, says since then activists have been staying home.

There are many opportunities to work here, she says.

There's a lot to do, but there's no security so women don't want to leave their homes.

They think about what happened to Safia Amajan and they're afraid the same thing will happen to them.

Continued at "Afghan women suffer daily violence"

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*The report ("Taking Stock: Afghan women and girls five years on") is available in English, Pashtu, and Dari via this page

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**About Womankind Worldwide

"WOMANKIND Worldwide believes women in developing countries are a powerful force for change.

Women have an abundance of practical ideas for improving their own lives and lifting their families and communities out of poverty. But this can only happen if they have the confidence and opportunities to articulate their needs and ideas - and be listened to.

WOMANKIND Worldwide is the only UK charity devoted to enabling women to achieve this.

We work closely with 55 partner community groups in 15 developing countries. This means that the projects we fund and support tackle the specific issues in a particular area, rather than trying to import a 'one size fits all' solution from the UK.

All our projects are connected to enabling women to understand their legal rights. And to use these rights to benefit their daily lives. Where new legislation is needed to protect women or improve their status, we help our partners secure this too.

WOMANKIND also runs a programme of work in the UK"

Technorati: bbc, news, uk, afghanistan, women, taleban, taliban, afghan, girls, discrimination, violence, report, pashtu, dari, womankind, worldwide, charity, status