White Ribbon Campaign n World Aids Day 2008:-)

November 25th, besides being my Birthday, is also a very special day for me. It is the International Campaign by Men to End Men's Violence Against Women. (As a huge big-time feminist) I am very very VERY GLAD that on my birthday, there is such a significant commemorative day on an issue closest to my heart, that, of women.

I especially like how its about MEN taking responsibility in confronting so-called 'women's issues' which is something that the West is to be commended for. Such things like the breast cancer campaigns where in recent yrs i've noticed a marked increase in men's involvement and participation in is simply joyious. It annoys me to no end that whenever 'women's issues' come up, men used to take a backseat and not actively participate in them, thinking it only concerns women when the biggest perpetrators and cause of women's suffering and violence is, no surprise, men.

An instance and something which is a combination of both my passions, the WW2 and Japan issue, and Women's Rights Issue , is the Comfort Women issue. In Japan, at rallies and demonstrations, you can see a sea of women and hardly any Japanese men taking part in them. This, despite the fact that more than 60 years ago, it was Japanese men, well their forefathers, and NOT Japanese women whom raped and abused the countless numbers of Asian women in the Occupied Territories of Japan. It seems like as long as it doesn't affect them, some men, albeit, a decreasing minority, simply do not care about 'women's issues'.

Of course, until it affects them! This is why you see some guys are so homophobic cos the tables have been turned and all of a sudden its the men whom have to endure the occasional perverted gay guy perving up their trousers or the threat of being sexually assaulted by another man. Only THEN, do some guys care, but then again instead of saying its a MALE ISSUE they say its a GAY ISSUE...Stupid n Selfish Brats!..hehehe

anyways, there goes my annual feminist rant..hahaha..how could i end the year without a feminist post heh..hehehehehe...

Anyways, on to the other issue....this year marks the 20th Anniversary of World Aids Day which started in 1988 (Dec 1st every year)..i've been reading that the HIV infection rates have been increasing every year and its shocking..i read somewhere online, what-oh-what would i do without the internet, that the HIV population in Malaysia is something close to 10% of the population and i'm like WHAT?!! Its got to be wrong that statistic...(although if anyone rems, i did a very personal post on World Aids Day last yr on someone quite close to me dying of AIDS..yes AIDs finally had a face to me..) And the rise has been attributed to all the 'old' causes of drug needle sharing, unsafe sex amongst heterosexuals and unsafe sex amongst gay men. In fact, if the rates of infection continues to rise within the homosexual male community at the current rate, it'd not be long before 10-20% of the gay male population would all be HIV positive in less than 10 yrs time..

I heard in Thailand, this is ALREADY the case with something like 10% of all gay men being HIV positive.. a truly shocking figure if u think about it!!

Please please please protect urself people AND your partners...cos u simply don't wanna die for a fuck..it simply isn't worth it:)

World Aids Day: http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/
White Ribbon Campaign in Australia: http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au/
Office of Women, CW Government: http://www.ofw.facs.gov.au/about_us/index.htm