© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

51% #1584: Cases Continue Unsolved Along The Highway Of Tears

Courtesy of Izithombe Flickr stream

On this week’s 51%, we hear from a journalist about the Highway of Tears and indigenous communities in Canada, plus we remember one of India’s most treasured writers.

The Highway of Tears is a 450-mile stretch of Canada’s Highway 16, which runs from Prince Rupert in the Northwest corner of British Colombia to Prince George in the central interior. Since 1969, dozens of women and girls, mainly indigenous, have gone missing or been murdered along this highway. In her debut book, “Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls,” Jessica McDiarmid takes an in-depth look into the lives of some of the victims. 51%’s Elizabeth Hill tell us the 35-year-old investigative journalist says it was her time reporting on human rights in Africa that prepared her to tell this story.  By the way, all the cases of missing/murdered women in the book are still unresolved.  

The College of Saint Rose, a private college in the capital city of New York, has opened its Women’s Leadership Institute. 51%’s Jesse King reports from the new hub in Albany.  

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United Nations has started a U.N. group to protect the rights Afghan women gained after the Taliban was ousted from power 18 years ago, amid fresh efforts to rekindle talks with the fundamentalist group to end the country’s long-running war.

Adela Raz told reporters November 12 that she is “not totally certain” women’s rights will be included in future talks with the Taliban, which is a key reason she spearheaded formation of the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan. The Taliban imposed a harsh form of Islamic law when they ruled Afghanistan in 1996-2001 that barred women from education and jobs and subjected them to stoning. Raz says about 20 countries with female ambassadors and deputy ambassadors have already joined the Group of Friends.

Sandip Roy remembers one of India’s most beloved writers. Nabaneeta dev Sen, who died November 7. 

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio

Related Content