<p>WION speaks with Major General Rajpal Punia, Deputy Parade Commander of this year's Republic Day parade:&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WION</strong>: What will be the focus this time?</p>

<p><strong>Major General Rajpal Punia</strong>: Well, this time for the first time Indian national army soldier will be participating in the parade. Besides this we have all women contingent where all the participants in the contingent will be women-- it is Assam Rifle contingent that will be participating. We have four contingent commanders who are lady officers. It will also happen for the first time. Because individually lady officers have commanded contingent but not in such large number. We have Make-in-India equipment K9 Vajra. It is going to be pride for the nation. Also, we will be using biofuel Jatropha fuel made in India and aircraft will be flying on it for the first time.</p>

<p><strong>WION</strong>: How much focus will be on <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/no-gender-bias-in-army-says-1st-woman-who-will-lead-all-male-contingent-at-republic-day-parade-192392">women power</a>?</p>

<p><strong>Major General Rajpal Punia:</strong> I agree. No doubt. Women power is very powerful. This time we have a very large number of women participating including in motorcycle display. There is a lady officer who is commanding motorcycle display. We have all women continent. Women power this time is maximum compared to previous years.</p>

<p><strong>WION</strong>: Use of biofuel-- Jatropha, can u explain more?</p>

<p><strong>Major General Rajpal Punia</strong>: Its a plant. We trying to extract oil for a number of years from it. We even think that it will be replacing oil in the coming years. Jatropha oil being used by AN-32 to fly. You can imagine, if an aircraft can fly, then for the country its a self-sufficiency.</p>

<p><strong>WION</strong>: Indian National Army (INA) veterans are also taking part this time?&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Major General Rajpal Punia</strong>: Four INA soldiers who are participating. These people are-- Lalti Ram, 98 years old living in Panchkula, Hira Singh, 97, living in Narnaul, Bhagmal, 100 years living in Manesar and Parmanand Yadav, 95 from Chandigarh. &nbsp;It is a matter of honour. Its a great honour for the country that we have veterans of INA participating.</p>


WION speaks with Major General Rajpal Punia, Deputy Parade Commander of this year's Republic Day parade: WION: What will be the focus this time? Major General Rajpal Punia: Well, this time for the first time Indian national army soldier will be participating in the parade.

WION speaks with Major General Rajpal Punia, Deputy Parade Commander of this year's Republic Day parade: WION: What will be the focus this time? Major General Rajpal Punia: Well, this time for the first time Indian national army soldier will be participating in the parade. Besides this we have all women contingent where all the participants in the contingent will be women-- it is Assam Rifle contingent that will be participating. We have four contingent commanders who are lady officers. It will also happen for the first time. Because individually lady officers have commanded contingent but not in such large number. We have Make-in-India equipment K9 Vajra. It is going to be pride for the nation. Also, we will be using biofuel Jatropha fuel made in India and aircraft will be flying on it for the first time. WION: How much focus will be on women power? Major General Rajpal Punia: I agree. No doubt. Women power is very powerful. This time we have a very large number of women participating including in motorcycle display. There is a lady officer who is commanding motorcycle display. We have all women continent. Women power this time is maximum compared to previous years. WION: Use of biofuel-- Jatropha, can u explain more? Major General Rajpal Punia: Its a plant. We trying to extract oil for a number of years from it. We even think that it will be replacing oil in the coming years. Jatropha oil being used by AN-32 to fly. You can imagine, if an aircraft can fly, then for the country its a self-sufficiency. WION: Indian National Army (INA) veterans are also taking part this time? Major General Rajpal Punia: Four INA soldiers who are participating. These people are-- Lalti Ram, 98 years old living in Panchkula, Hira Singh, 97, living in Narnaul, Bhagmal, 100 years living in Manesar and Parmanand Yadav, 95 from Chandigarh. It is a matter of honour. Its a great honour for the country that we have veterans of INA participating.

Woman power will be focus of Republic Day: Major General Rajpal Punia, Deputy Parade Commander

<p><strong>Raise your voice before it&rsquo;s too late&hellip;</strong></p>

<p>&ldquo;Blood had clotted in several organs due to the blood clotting in her brain&rdquo; said Maldives Police Service, about the woman who died&nbsp;in a suspected case of a domestic violence in 2015.</p>

<p>The death of Ziyadha Mohammed, the battered woman from Gaaf Dhaal Atoll Thinadhoo of southern part Maldives, is an indication of the worsening situation of violence against women in the country.</p>

<p>According to her friends and family, Ziyadha was physically and sexually abused by her husband. Her condition worsened because she kept the extent of abuse a secret.</p>

<p>Mother of three,&nbsp;she was treated at the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). Ziyadha was required&nbsp;to undergo an emergency surgery as she was bleeding from&nbsp;her brain, but doctors were unsuccessful in saving her due to her severe condition. While she was at the hospital, she never regained consciousness and passed away two weeks later, which was in late December 2015.</p>

<p>In recent times, this is a major&nbsp;fatality case&nbsp;from&nbsp;domestic violence. Though there are not many deaths recorded by domestic violence or violence against women, statistics shows that the culture of violence against women is an alarming issue in the Maldives.</p>

<p><strong>Violence against Women</strong></p>

<p>According to the study on women&rsquo;s health and life experiences&nbsp;conducted by Maldives&#39; ministry of gender and family in 2007,&nbsp;one in every three women aged between 15-49 years have experienced physical or sexual violence or both at some stage of their life.</p>

<p>Every one in five women of this age group have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse by an intimate partner. Approximately, every one in eight women in the same age group reported that they have been sexually abused before the age of 15, making them a victim of child abuse.</p>

<p>The statistics of Maldives Police Service also show&nbsp;that domestic violence has been increasing at an alarming rate. The number of domestic violence cases in 2015 has increased to 341 from 187 reported in&nbsp;2014.<strong> </strong>More than 300 cases have&nbsp;been reported in 2016 as well.</p>

<p>Police assume that the actual number of domestic violence cases, especially cases victimising women, will be higher than the police records as many go unreported in the country. &nbsp;Since police records cannot adequately shed light on the seriousness of this issue, the actual situation of the victims remains&nbsp;unknown.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Women&rsquo;s rights activists believe that female participation at policy-making level is critical to the cause of gender equality (Others)</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Challenging social norms</strong></p>

<p>This small island nation has a culture of hiding violence against women, because the society, by and large believes, that&nbsp;issues leading to violence should remain within the family to keep up their reputation in the community. The societal norms and beliefs make it difficult to combat the issue.</p>

<p>The belief that women are supposed to stay at home to look after the family while men work to provide the economic support, made educating girls less important than boys. However, over the decades, girl&rsquo;s education has improved rapidly in the country with the introduction of the&nbsp;universal primary education system that made education compulsory for all children. With this foundation, girls&#39; tertiary education has also increased over the years and is helping them to get jobs. But the ideology that women are supposed to stay at home post-marriage still exists in the society.</p>

<p>Yet, with the high living expenses in the country, especially in the capital city of Mal&eacute;&nbsp;where one-third of the country&#39;s population resides, it is very difficult to depend just on husband&rsquo;s income.&nbsp;Women are, therefore, allowed&nbsp;to work as well. However, there is only a small percentage&nbsp;of women at the management and decision-making levels, both in public and private sectors. The challenges in the areas of women&rsquo;s political, economic and social empowerment still remain.</p>

<p>A women&rsquo;s right activist said that the situation of women in the Maldives is far from good.</p>

<p>&ldquo;They say that in the Maldives, gender issue is at a level that is far better than anywhere else in Asia. But that is not the point. The point is that one in three women at some point in their life experience violence of some form: sexual, physical abuse and that is not good&rdquo; she said.</p>

<p>Women&rsquo;s rights activists believe that female participation at policy-making level is critical to the cause of gender equality. But that is not the case in the Maldives. The negligible number of female representatives in the cabinets of different administrations prove that Maldives still has a long way to go to achieve the ambitious goal of gender equality.</p>

<p>President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom&rsquo;s administration currently has only three women in the cabinet of 15 ministers. While President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik&rsquo;s administration had only 19 per cent&nbsp;women in the cabinet, President Mohamed Nasheed&rsquo;s administration had 21 per cent&nbsp;and President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom&rsquo;s last Cabinet had 22 per cent&nbsp;of female cabinet ministers. Currently, there are 85 members in the parliament and only 5 are women MPs.</p>

<p><strong>Stand against violence</strong></p>

<p>The present government says that political, economic and social empowerment of women and zero tolerance of violence against women are key pledges in their manifesto. Former Foreign Minister,&nbsp;Dhunya Maumoon said that the government is committed to addressing the root cause of violence against women by investing efforts in gender equality and empowerment.</p>

<p>According to her, Maldives has made significant progress through Sexual Abuse and Harassment Prevention Act, the Sexual Offences Act and the Domestic Violence Prevention Act which strengthen the country&#39;s&nbsp;legal framework to prevent further violence.</p>

<p>The Domestic Violence Prevention (DVP) Act was ratified in 2012, making it a turning point in the history of the nation, where any act of domestic violence is clearly and categorically identified as a criminal offense. The DVP Act identifies specific acts that are deemed acts of domestic violence and, for the first time, accords roles and responsibilities to various government and non-governmental bodies to address and combat domestic violence in the country.</p>

<p>Yet, to combat violence against women, it is necessary to stand against it and change the norms and beliefs that it is &lsquo;right&rsquo; to tolerate violence from family or husband.</p>

<p>Ministry of gender and family suggests that in order to&nbsp;combat this serious issue, everyone should make it their individual responsibility to save the victims of violence and report to the authorities before it is too late.</p>

<p>While awareness can help the victims come forward, better implementation of the legislations is also required for this fight.</p>

<p>Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) says more efforts are needed to implement anti-domestic violence acts and&nbsp;authorities need to do more work on it. HRCM also calls the authorities to provide with&nbsp;more efficient ways to help&nbsp;silent sufferers like Ziyadha, while there is still time to do so.</p>

<p>Family and friends&nbsp;want&nbsp;to bring justice to Ziyadha and they may succeed by punishing the person responsible for her death. But nothing could bring her back. If only Ziyadha spoke up and raised her voice for her rights before it was too late, she may not have&nbsp;ended her life prematurely.</p>

<p>If Maldivians retain the culture of hiding the actions of violence against women and continue the habit of tolerating these kinds of violence, this country may have to witness more tragic losses.</p>

<p>(WION)<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Government data in 2007 stated that one in three women aged between 15-49 years have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point

Raise your voice before it’s too late… “Blood had clotted in several organs due to the blood clotting in her brain” said Maldives Police Service, about the woman who died in a suspected case of a domestic violence in 2015. The death of Ziyadha Mohammed, the battered woman from Gaaf Dhaal Atoll Thinadhoo of southern part Maldives, is an indication of the worsening situation of violence against women in the country. According to her friends and family, Ziyadha was physically and sexually abused by her husband. Her condition worsened because she kept the extent of abuse a secret. Mother of three, she was treated at the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). Ziyadha was required to undergo an emergency surgery as she was bleeding from her brain, but doctors were unsuccessful in saving her due to her severe condition. While she was at the hospital, she never regained consciousness and passed away two weeks later, which was in late December 2015. In recent times, this is a major fatality case from domestic violence. Though there are not many deaths recorded by domestic violence or violence against women, statistics shows that the culture of violence against women is an alarming issue in the Maldives. Violence against Women According to the study on women’s health and life experiences conducted by Maldives' ministry of gender and family in 2007, one in every three women aged between 15-49 years have experienced physical or sexual violence or both at some stage of their life. Every one in five women of this age group have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse by an intimate partner. Approximately, every one in eight women in the same age group reported that they have been sexually abused before the age of 15, making them a victim of child abuse. The statistics of Maldives Police Service also show that domestic violence has been increasing at an alarming rate. The number of domestic violence cases in 2015 has increased to 341 from 187 reported in 2014. More than 300 cases have been reported in 2016 as well. Police assume that the actual number of domestic violence cases, especially cases victimising women, will be higher than the police records as many go unreported in the country. Since police records cannot adequately shed light on the seriousness of this issue, the actual situation of the victims remains unknown. Women’s rights activists believe that female participation at policy-making level is critical to the cause of gender equality (Others) × Challenging social norms This small island nation has a culture of hiding violence against women, because the society, by and large believes, that issues leading to violence should remain within the family to keep up their reputation in the community. The societal norms and beliefs make it difficult to combat the issue. The belief that women are supposed to stay at home to look after the family while men work to provide the economic support, made educating girls less important than boys. However, over the decades, girl’s education has improved rapidly in the country with the introduction of the universal primary education system that made education compulsory for all children. With this foundation, girls' tertiary education has also increased over the years and is helping them to get jobs. But the ideology that women are supposed to stay at home post-marriage still exists in the society. Yet, with the high living expenses in the country, especially in the capital city of Malé where one-third of the country's population resides, it is very difficult to depend just on husband’s income. Women are, therefore, allowed to work as well. However, there is only a small percentage of women at the management and decision-making levels, both in public and private sectors. The challenges in the areas of women’s political, economic and social empowerment still remain. A women’s right activist said that the situation of women in the Maldives is far from good. “They say that in the Maldives, gender issue is at a level that is far better than anywhere else in Asia. But that is not the point. The point is that one in three women at some point in their life experience violence of some form: sexual, physical abuse and that is not good” she said. Women’s rights activists believe that female participation at policy-making level is critical to the cause of gender equality. But that is not the case in the Maldives. The negligible number of female representatives in the cabinets of different administrations prove that Maldives still has a long way to go to achieve the ambitious goal of gender equality. President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration currently has only three women in the cabinet of 15 ministers. While President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s administration had only 19 per cent women in the cabinet, President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration had 21 per cent and President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s last Cabinet had 22 per cent of female cabinet ministers. Currently, there are 85 members in the parliament and only 5 are women MPs. Stand against violence The present government says that political, economic and social empowerment of women and zero tolerance of violence against women are key pledges in their manifesto. Former Foreign Minister, Dhunya Maumoon said that the government is committed to addressing the root cause of violence against women by investing efforts in gender equality and empowerment. According to her, Maldives has made significant progress through Sexual Abuse and Harassment Prevention Act, the Sexual Offences Act and the Domestic Violence Prevention Act which strengthen the country's legal framework to prevent further violence. The Domestic Violence Prevention (DVP) Act was ratified in 2012, making it a turning point in the history of the nation, where any act of domestic violence is clearly and categorically identified as a criminal offense. The DVP Act identifies specific acts that are deemed acts of domestic violence and, for the first time, accords roles and responsibilities to various government and non-governmental bodies to address and combat domestic violence in the country. Yet, to combat violence against women, it is necessary to stand against it and change the norms and beliefs that it is ‘right’ to tolerate violence from family or husband. Ministry of gender and family suggests that in order to combat this serious issue, everyone should make it their individual responsibility to save the victims of violence and report to the authorities before it is too late. While awareness can help the victims come forward, better implementation of the legislations is also required for this fight. Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) says more efforts are needed to implement anti-domestic violence acts and authorities need to do more work on it. HRCM also calls the authorities to provide with more efficient ways to help silent sufferers like Ziyadha, while there is still time to do so. Family and friends want to bring justice to Ziyadha and they may succeed by punishing the person responsible for her death. But nothing could bring her back. If only Ziyadha spoke up and raised her voice for her rights before it was too late, she may not have ended her life prematurely. If Maldivians retain the culture of hiding the actions of violence against women and continue the habit of tolerating these kinds of violence, this country may have to witness more tragic losses. (WION)

Women's Day: Silent sufferers of domestic violence in the Maldives

<p>Sara Manca is a 28-year-old designer from Naples in Italy, who loves to draw. She started drawing cartoons at an early age and believes that this creative line of work has chosen her. For her, &ldquo;drawing is life&rdquo; and after having studied at Naples Academy of Art, she knew for sure &ldquo;her future lies in imagining cartoons and drawing them&rdquo;. She designs under the username of Blatterbury on DeviantArt.</p>

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<p>Sara Manca, Italian artist (WION)</p>
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<p>How do you identify yourself, I ask?</p>

<p>&ldquo;I like to introduce myself with a Pirandello&nbsp;quote: I&#39;m&nbsp;one, nobody and a hundred thousand.&rdquo;</p>

<p>A budding designer, Manca became famous for what she calls &ldquo;Disney Princesses as Belly Dancers&rdquo;. Even though several artists have given their own rendition to Disney&rsquo;s most loved characters--Manca&rsquo;s belly dancers have something unique about them--a different instrument, outfit and a unique style of belly dancing, for each princess.</p>

<p>How did she come up with this idea--of drawing princesses as belly dancers?</p>

<p>&ldquo;Disney Girls have been redesigned in so many ways in the past--and I always wished to try a design of my own. I am a belly dancer; I studied this discipline for the past 7 years, so I decided to merge art, belly dance and costume design. I learned how to sew thanks to cosplay and I&#39;m the one who projects and makes all dresses for my belly dance friends and me.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Much before drawing belly dancer princesses, she drew a lot of other characters. &ldquo;As a kid, I had a collection of Barbies and I liked them, but I was more attached to her horses. I had a pretty big collection of Barbie&#39;s horses and I loved every kind of toy that represented an animal. Cat, dog, rabbit, horse--I was pretty obsessed by animals. But my favorite toy was my imagination. I loved role play--maybe that&#39;s why I started with cosplay&rdquo;, adds Manca. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Everybody is inspired from someone or something, what was it for her? &nbsp;</p>

<p>Manca says, &ldquo;I get inspired from anything--books, movies, past works of artists. Alphonse Mucha, Glen Kean, Adam Hughes, Barbara Canepa, are my absolute favourites but I also follow a number of young and&nbsp;talented web artists such as Fedini, Valeria Favoccia, Orpheeline, Phobs, Tracy Butler, Mirka Andolfo. Every time I see their art, it inspires me.&rdquo;</p>

<p>On gender equality in her line of work in Italy,&nbsp;Manca says, &ldquo;In my field of work, many things have changed through the years. When I was a child, I remember only male artists designed comic books. But now, more number of women are getting featured in comic book&rsquo; credits. I am happy that sex doesn&#39;t matter anymore--the important thing is your&nbsp;aesthetic sense, imagination, sensibility and&nbsp;versatility.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Towards the end of the interview, she says, &ldquo;I want to share with the world my passion and my little knowledge. In belly dancers series when I choose a design, a style and a dress of each princess--I also add a description to explain where the dance styles came from.&nbsp;It&#39;s very important for me to let people know about this&nbsp;ancient and underestimated discipline.&rdquo;</p>

<h3>How&nbsp;Disney Princesses would look as&nbsp;Belly Dancers:</h3>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Belle has a shamadan to dance with. Using it is considered advanced, and is used in the zeffeh, or wedding procession. (WION)</p>
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<p>Rapunzel according to Manca is fit for Khaliji: traditional folkloric dance from the Persian Gulf. The form uses hair as the main element used to dance. Women let their long hair &ldquo;dance&rdquo; moving it from side to side, back and forth, in circle etc. (WION)</p>
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<p>For Pocahontas, Manca gives a tribal look to do the aboriginal dance. (WION)</p>
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<p>Ariel has double veils, Raqs Sharqi style. The veils are an extension of the Little Mermaid&#39;s body, creating a beautiful ripple effect around her waist. (WION)</p>
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<p>Esmerelda, the gypsy from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, is not one of the official princesses. Manca gives her a gypsy style dance, which she calls the &quot;classic&quot;. (WION)</p>
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<p>Baladi style goes perfectly with Jasmine, as according to Manca, it is the dance of beauty, strength, and art. (WION)</p>
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<p>Elsa has &quot;Isis wings&quot; an instrument used in belly dance. Isis is the ancient Egyptian goddess, mother of Horus. It has nothing in common with the Islamic jihadist militant group. (WION)</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>A brave princess, Merida has a sword to dance. It was used by the Ghawazee dancers of Egypt (group of female travelling dancers of the Dom people) who would entertain the Napoleonic troops. (WION)</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Aurora has fan veils, one of designer&#39;s favorite instruments. They express elegance but also pathos and the effect of the silk veils wrapping Aurora&#39;s figure is a perfect image. (WION)</p>
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<p>Manca is passionate about drawing, dancing and sewing. In the&nbsp;future, she wants to assemble her drawings in an art book and sell--and also do web comics.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(WION)</p>

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Merging art, belly dance and costume design--the designer reimagines 'Disney Princesses as Belly Dancers'

Sara Manca is a 28-year-old designer from Naples in Italy, who loves to draw. She started drawing cartoons at an early age and believes that this creative line of work has chosen her. For her, “drawing is life” and after having studied at Naples Academy of Art, she knew for sure “her future lies in imagining cartoons and drawing them”. She designs under the username of Blatterbury on DeviantArt. Sara Manca, Italian artist (WION) × How do you identify yourself, I ask? “I like to introduce myself with a Pirandello quote: I'm one, nobody and a hundred thousand.” A budding designer, Manca became famous for what she calls “Disney Princesses as Belly Dancers”. Even though several artists have given their own rendition to Disney’s most loved characters--Manca’s belly dancers have something unique about them--a different instrument, outfit and a unique style of belly dancing, for each princess. How did she come up with this idea--of drawing princesses as belly dancers? “Disney Girls have been redesigned in so many ways in the past--and I always wished to try a design of my own. I am a belly dancer; I studied this discipline for the past 7 years, so I decided to merge art, belly dance and costume design. I learned how to sew thanks to cosplay and I'm the one who projects and makes all dresses for my belly dance friends and me.” Much before drawing belly dancer princesses, she drew a lot of other characters. “As a kid, I had a collection of Barbies and I liked them, but I was more attached to her horses. I had a pretty big collection of Barbie's horses and I loved every kind of toy that represented an animal. Cat, dog, rabbit, horse--I was pretty obsessed by animals. But my favorite toy was my imagination. I loved role play--maybe that's why I started with cosplay”, adds Manca. Everybody is inspired from someone or something, what was it for her? Manca says, “I get inspired from anything--books, movies, past works of artists. Alphonse Mucha, Glen Kean, Adam Hughes, Barbara Canepa, are my absolute favourites but I also follow a number of young and talented web artists such as Fedini, Valeria Favoccia, Orpheeline, Phobs, Tracy Butler, Mirka Andolfo. Every time I see their art, it inspires me.” On gender equality in her line of work in Italy, Manca says, “In my field of work, many things have changed through the years. When I was a child, I remember only male artists designed comic books. But now, more number of women are getting featured in comic book’ credits. I am happy that sex doesn't matter anymore--the important thing is your aesthetic sense, imagination, sensibility and versatility.” Towards the end of the interview, she says, “I want to share with the world my passion and my little knowledge. In belly dancers series when I choose a design, a style and a dress of each princess--I also add a description to explain where the dance styles came from. It's very important for me to let people know about this ancient and underestimated discipline.” How Disney Princesses would look as Belly Dancers: Belle has a shamadan to dance with. Using it is considered advanced, and is used in the zeffeh, or wedding procession. (WION) × Rapunzel according to Manca is fit for Khaliji: traditional folkloric dance from the Persian Gulf. The form uses hair as the main element used to dance. Women let their long hair “dance” moving it from side to side, back and forth, in circle etc. (WION) × For Pocahontas, Manca gives a tribal look to do the aboriginal dance. (WION) × Ariel has double veils, Raqs Sharqi style. The veils are an extension of the Little Mermaid's body, creating a beautiful ripple effect around her waist. (WION) × Esmerelda, the gypsy from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, is not one of the official princesses. Manca gives her a gypsy style dance, which she calls the "classic". (WION) × Baladi style goes perfectly with Jasmine, as according to Manca, it is the dance of beauty, strength, and art. (WION) × Elsa has "Isis wings" an instrument used in belly dance. Isis is the ancient Egyptian goddess, mother of Horus. It has nothing in common with the Islamic jihadist militant group. (WION) × A brave princess, Merida has a sword to dance. It was used by the Ghawazee dancers of Egypt (group of female travelling dancers of the Dom people) who would entertain the Napoleonic troops. (WION) × Aurora has fan veils, one of designer's favorite instruments. They express elegance but also pathos and the effect of the silk veils wrapping Aurora's figure is a perfect image. (WION) × Manca is passionate about drawing, dancing and sewing. In the future, she wants to assemble her drawings in an art book and sell--and also do web comics. (WION)

International Women's Day: In conversation with Sara Manca

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<p>When thousands marched through Chile&rsquo;s capital, Santiago to mark the anniversary of the country&rsquo;s 1973 military coup, this young woman stared down at a riot policeman. The protest marked 43 years since President Salvador Allende was overthrown, killed, and replaced with a military government. During the protests, police started randomly arresting people marching through the city. The photographer, Carlos Vera Mancilla, then captured the girl, who in his words &ldquo;stood before the policeman with a defiant look&rdquo;</p>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">a girl staring down a riot policeman today in Chile, during a protest marking the country&rsquo;s 1973 military coup. <a href="https://t.co/HsyiCvRSVF">pic.twitter.com/HsyiCvRSVF</a></p>
&mdash; 1-800-WOKE-AF (@gloed_up) <a href="https://twitter.com/gloed_up/status/775636216947544064">September 13, 2016</a></blockquote>
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When thousands marched through Chile’s capital, Santiago to mark the anniversary of the country’s 1973 military coup, this young woman stared down at a riot policeman. The protest marked 43 years since President Salvador Allende was overthrown, killed, and replaced with a military government. During the protests, police started randomly arresting people marching through the city. The photographer, Carlos Vera Mancilla, then captured the girl, who in his words “stood before the policeman with a defiant look” a girl staring down a riot policeman today in Chile, during a protest marking the country’s 1973 military coup. pic.twitter.com/HsyiCvRSVF — 1-800-WOKE-AF (@gloed_up) September 13, 2016 hjgjhxcghjx

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