by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Every woman I know has, at one time or another, been followed, leered at, or catcalled. For most of my life, I have been fair game - at the grocery store, walking down the street, on the subway. If sexual harassment is illegal in the workplace and domestic violence is illegal in the home, why does going to the mall suddenly make me a target?

While circumstances may vary by region and culture, street harassment affects women's ability to exist in public all around the world. Several groups - including JAGORI’s Safe Delhi in India, Bangalore's Blank Noise Project, the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, and the London Anti-Street Harassment Campaign – combat the problem locally and raise awareness that street harassment does not happen in a vacuum.

A few years ago, Holly Kearl wrote her Master’s thesis about street harassment. Conducting independent research, she realized very little had been published about gender-based harassment in public space and concluded that legal remedies might provide relief for women bombarded with lewd comments and unsolicited suggestive glances. Kearl founded the Stop Street Harassment website and blog. By the middle of 2009, she had conducted several independent studies with hundreds of women and had enough material for a book.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Copenhagen is an odd mix of frustrating inertia and vigilant protest as week two of the COP15 UN climate conference at the city’s Bella Center continues in tandem with Klimaforum09, the people’s summit, and the Climate Bottom meetings — the second set of alternative meetings in the hippie outpost of Christiania. The reports out of the Bella Center are consistently underwhelming as G77 countries and smaller island nations have felt ignored. Many were also insulted by documents leaked from Danish authorities earlier this week stating intentions by a powerful bloc including the UK, United States, and Denmark to lock out any agenda from the Global South. Recently, the Obama adminstration drew ire for making dismissive statements about the importance of the Kyoto Protocol, its relevance to the current discussions, and the United States’ intention to work cooperatively with other countries in an effort to retain Western power. This, in combination with rising hostilities, has further aggravated an already tense mood in the city.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Copenhagen has been buzzing with activity the last two months. After the Olympics committee met here in October with a slough of American cameos from Oprah and the Obamas, the city quickly switched gears to prepare for the upcoming climate conference. Despite its importance, for much of the rest of the world, the upcoming meeting of world leaders is barely a blip on the radar. Only when major media outlets like CNN and The Guardian pull in does the rest of the world realize what the UNFCCC Copenhagen meetings in December could mean.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Celebrations for the historic occasion have been planned for months, and next week, Angela Merkel – Germany’s first and now second-term female chancellor – will lead festivities at the historic Brandenburg Gate. The massive symbolic structure, which was previously located in East Berlin, was the site of Ronald Reagan’s famous speech to Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, in which he instructed the former Soviet leader to “Tear down this wall!”

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Migrant communities in Denmark are a subject fraught with debate. As South Asian women increasingly immigrate to Scandinavia, stricter laws have been enacted to discourage the practice of convenience marriages. Rumors about abuse in these communities are common. Yet in a remote western region of Denmark, nearly 600 Thai women currently live with their Danish husbands. The documentary films Love on Delivery and Ticket to Paradise follow a new couple through their wedding day and explore the possibilities for a young woman still living in Thailand. Avoiding the pitfalls of a judgmental outsider point of view, Danish filmmaker Janus Metz provides a sensitive portrayal of Thai women living in rural Denmark.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

For the past two years, the buzz has grown increasingly louder about emerging Danish documentary filmmaker Janus Metz. In his complementary, almost sequential films, Love on Delivery (From Thailand to Thy) and Ticket to Paradise (From Thy to Thailand), Metz and anthropological collaborator Sine Plambech adeptly examine relationships between Danish-Thai couples. Both films were shown on Danish public television with a record number of viewers and have since experienced wider distribution with screenings at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and South by Southwest.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Danes are often dubbed “the happiest people in the world” by the U.S. media, and this may be due in part to Denmark’s advanced state-managed, single-provider healthcare system. Every citizen – as well as every refugee, immigrant of temporary or permanent residence, temporary worker, and international student – has full state healthcare coverage. Everyone carries a sygesikringsbevis – a plastic yellow card imprinted with a personal identification CPR (centralized persons register) number.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

In Demark, despite strict immigration laws, it isn’t uncommon to see large groups of young Filipina women congregating on train station platforms or giggling together in public. In Copenhagen, state-sanctioned domestic workers are often employed as au pairs – a community that is largely comprised of young Filipina women.

Domestic workers perform all sorts of household duties, ranging from childcare and caring for the elderly to cleaning, laundry, cooking, and yard work. Many are immigrants – some documented, some not – and even among the most well paid, highly valued legal workers, domestic employment and au pair agreements can be complicated situations.

by Brittany Shoot
- Denmark -

Some people no doubt find it exciting to adjust to a new society or a new city. My time in Copenhagen – nearly nine months so far – has not been completely negative, but even as time passes and I meet more people, I don’t feel particularly at home or settled in my new country. I haven’t found a place to belong since I arrived.