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Liisa Emilia Sorainen

The Monster Was Never Under the Bed: Gender-Based Violence as a Structure of Power

1 in 3 women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.(World Health Organisation, 2021) 1 in 8 women has experienced rape or sexual assault in childhood. (UNICEF, 2024) 6 in 10 female homicide victims are killed by intimate partners or relatives, whereas for men, only about 1 in 10 homicides occur within the private sphere. (UN Women, 2025) These are not rare tragedies. They are patterns. For generations, we have taught children to fear monsters under the bed, imagining creatures that hide in darkness, wait in closets, ready to emerge at night. But the statistics tell a different story. The danger is not imaginary nor confined to shadows, and it is rarely a stranger. The monster was never under the bed. It exists in homes, workplaces, schools, courtrooms, and digital platforms. It is normalised through everyday jokes, excused by culture, shielded by institutions, and minimised as “isolated incidents.” Gender-based violence is not an anomaly in otherwise healthy systems. It is embedded in structures of power that shape how societies define masculinity, authority, credibility, and control. Treating gender-based violence as deviant behaviour, the action of a few disturbed individuals, is to obscure both its scale and its persistence.

Liisa Emilia Sorainen May 11, 2026
Jesamine Rikisahedew

Why Estonia’s Progress on the Pay Gap Still Falls Short

When I first read the piece on ERR news about Estonia’s stance on pay transparency, my reaction was basically: here we go again. Not because the topic is boring, but because it feels very familiar. The country knows it has one of the biggest gender pay gaps in the EU, and yet every time there is a chance to tackle it more seriously, the conversation turns into whether it’s “too complicated” or “too much work” for employers. The article focuses on criticism from Gender Equality Commissioner, Christian Veske, who argues that the government’s current plan won’t actually fix the problem. His point is pretty straightforward: if you only make small tweaks, you get small results. If the issue is structural, then surface level fixes aren’t going to cut it.  Estonia’s pay gap has been hanging around for years. Depending on the method of measuring it, women earn somewhere between 13 to 18 percent less than men. That’s not a tiny difference you can brush off as coincidence. It adds up over time, affecting savings, pensions, and overall financial independence. It’s not because women are less educated or less active in the workforce. If anything, Estonian women are highly educated and

Jesamine Rikisahedew April 28, 2026
Paula Palmet

Supporting Rural Women and Promoting Integration in Haiti and Mexico

The Haitian-Mexican Union of Small Farmers, Ranchers and Sustainable Development (UNHAMEXPAGRI) works to support women, girls, and vulnerable communities in Haiti and Mexico. Through its Rural Women’s Unit, the organisation promotes gender equality, integration, and access to essential services, particularly for those affected by violence, displacement, and poverty. Supporting Women and Girls in Difficulty Haitian women and girls are currently facing extremely difficult conditions. Many have been forced from their homes due to armed groups and are living in temporary shelters, effectively becoming refugees within their own county. In addition, women and girls with disabilities are often excluded from society, with limited access to opportunities and support. UNHAMEXPAGRI also supports children and girls who have not been able to attend school, helping provide access to education and essential resources.   Gender Equality and Inclusion For UNHAMEXPAGRI, gender equality is essential to eradicating hunger and poverty. Through its Global Gender Equality Policy 2025–2040 and its Regional Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean, the organisation promotes: Equal access to resources and opportunities Representation in decision-making processes Fair and equitable distribution of work This work focuses particularly on rural, Indigenous, youth, and Afro-descendant women in both Mexico and Haiti with activities carried

Paula Palmet April 14, 2026
Ieva Zariņa

Wild Boar Encounters and Human Values: Sus humanissima and the Art of Running a Country

Several years ago, I sought refuge on countryside roads as my dog was terrified of traffic, and there are still more cars in this town than, it sometimes seems, functional brains (apologies). We set off on pre-dawn walks to return home before ‘the cars woke up’. That was when our encounters with the wild boar began. I had never met wild boar before. I had, however, heard tales of horrors.  According to these urban myths, wild boars came across as vicious but reliable instruments for producing evenly-flattened and uniformly unlumpy human pancakes. All one had to do was position the minceable individual between a sow and her piglets.  In many stories, wild boar were portrayed as rampaging, indiscriminate (I choose the word deliberately) devastators. I mistrusted these fables because wild boar used to be worshipped by the Prussians, a group of ancient Baltic tribes, who were described by nobody other than the highly judgmental Christians, as homines humanissimi. I doubted that the Prussians, exceedingly charitable towards everyone (except towards Christians) and as agriculturally-crazed as the rest of the Balts, would have pinned to their chests, as representation of their gods, imagery of beasts of destruction. Further, I equipped myself with a couple of curious scientific facts, such as

Ieva Zariņa March 23, 2026
Jesamine Rikisahedew

Hidden Hormone Disruptors in Menstrual Products: A Wake-Up Call for Women

Recent reporting in my home country of South Africa has drawn attention to a peer-reviewed study from the University of the Free State (UFS), published in Science of the Total Environment, which found endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in commonly sold sanitary pads and panty liners (Blignaut et al., 2026). Although the research was conducted in South Africa, its relevance extends well beyond one country. Many menstrual product brands are manufactured and distributed internationally, including across the European Union. For all women, the findings are worth understanding. What are endocrine disruptors? Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are substances that interfere with the body’s hormonal system. Hormones regulate reproduction, metabolism, thyroid function, mood and development. Some EDCs can mimic oestrogen or block natural hormonal signals. The study examined three main groups of chemicals: Phthalates (plasticisers used in adhesives and flexible plastics) Bisphenols, including bisphenol A (BPA) Parabens (preservatives with weak oestrogen-like activity) These chemicals are common in consumer products and can migrate out of materials over time. What did the study find? Researchers analysed 16 sanitary pads and 8 panty liners and detected endocrine disruptors in every product tested. Key findings included: Phthalates in 100% of panty liners and 50% of pads Bisphenols in 100% of

Jesamine Rikisahedew March 9, 2026
Liisa Emilia Sorainen

From A Grade to Ethical Showdown: Abortion and Who Really Decides

When an Essay Became Personal After receiving feedback on an exam essay, my professor decided to continue one part of my argument privately. I had briefly addressed abortion in my paper. He congratulated me on my work — and then told me he disagreed with my position. What followed was not a classroom debate but a direct exchange between a young woman and a middle-aged academic man about who gets to decide over a woman’s body, and on what grounds. This blog post is not about tone-policing or politeness. It is about substance. It is about why I support access to abortion, and why reproductive autonomy cannot be separated from gender equality. “That Embryo Was Once You”: The Argument That Stops the Room My professor’s position was clear and, in his view, morally grounded. For him, abortion is not primarily a matter of convenience or even autonomy; it is about the protection of human life at its earliest stage. His reasoning rests on continuity: every one of us once existed as a foetus. If we value our own existence, how can we dismiss that early stage of development as disposable? He did not necessarily advocate a total legal ban. He

Liisa Emilia Sorainen February 25, 2026
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Paula Palmet

Supporting Rural Women and Promoting Integration in Haiti and Mexico

The Haitian-Mexican Union of Small Farmers, Ranchers and Sustainable Development (UNHAMEXPAGRI) works to support women, girls, and vulnerable communities in Haiti and Mexico. Through its Rural Women’s Unit, the organisation promotes gender equality, integration, and access to essential services, particularly for those affected by violence, displacement, and poverty. Supporting Women and Girls in Difficulty Haitian women and girls are currently facing extremely difficult conditions. Many have been forced from their homes due to armed groups and are living in temporary shelters, effectively becoming refugees within their own county. In addition, women and girls with disabilities are often excluded from society, with limited access to opportunities and support. UNHAMEXPAGRI also supports children and girls who have not been able to attend school, helping provide access to education and essential resources.   Gender Equality and Inclusion For UNHAMEXPAGRI, gender equality is essential to eradicating hunger and poverty. Through its Global Gender Equality Policy 2025–2040 and its Regional Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean, the organisation promotes: Equal access to resources and opportunities Representation in decision-making processes Fair and equitable distribution of work This work focuses particularly on rural, Indigenous, youth, and Afro-descendant women in both Mexico and Haiti with activities carried

Paula Palmet April 14, 2026
Blog Cover. Design by Sümeyye Temirov, IWNE
Maria

Conditioning Through Education: Gender Bias and the Hidden Curriculum in Textbooks

Education is often recognized as a tool for creating equal opportunities for everyone to succeed despite their background. However, gender bias within the educational system, frequently perpetuated through textbooks and curricula, significantly shapes the experiences of students, particularly women, by creating gender stereotypes. This article explores the many ways gender bias finds itself a place in the curricula and the vulnerabilities it creates for students, particularly women. In this article, I argue that it is essential to recognise that gender bias is not a single, static problem. Instead, it can manifest in multiple ways, including the representation of gender roles, language used, segregation of occupations along gender lines, and reinforcement of stereotypes. It makes gender bias a complex assortment of problems, requiring attention to each of the facets of gender bias, whereby textbooks and curriculum being one. Why Textbooks? Textbooks play an essential role in shaping not only the classroom discourses but also the upbringing of the students. Sadker and Zittleman (2007) cite that ‘‘students spend as much as 80 to 95% of classroom time using textbooks, and teachers make a majority of their instructional decisions based on these texts’’ (p. 144). The considerable amount of time that students spend

Maria March 17, 2025
Sümeyye Temirov​

Amplifying Palestinian Voices: An Interview with Loor from the GENARRATION Project

As part of the GENARRATION project, we had the privilege of conducting a face-to-face interview in Tallinn with Loor, a young Palestinian from Jerusalem. In this conversation, Loor shares her personal story, the challenges faced by Palestinian youth, and the importance of reshaping narratives surrounding Palestinian identity. The interview was conducted by our member Fatya, with questions prepared and editorial work by our member Sümeyye.

Sümeyye Temirov​ March 10, 2025
Liisa Emilia Sorainen

The Monster Was Never Under the Bed: Gender-Based Violence as a Structure of Power

1 in 3 women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.(World Health Organisation, 2021) 1 in 8 women has experienced rape or sexual assault in childhood. (UNICEF, 2024) 6 in 10 female homicide victims are killed by intimate partners or relatives, whereas for men, only about 1 in 10 homicides occur within the private sphere. (UN Women, 2025) These are not rare tragedies. They are patterns. For generations, we have taught children to fear monsters under the bed, imagining creatures that hide in darkness, wait in closets, ready to emerge at night. But the statistics tell a different story. The danger is not imaginary nor confined to shadows, and it is rarely a stranger. The monster was never under the bed. It exists in homes, workplaces, schools, courtrooms, and digital platforms. It is normalised through everyday jokes, excused by culture, shielded by institutions, and minimised as “isolated incidents.” Gender-based violence is not an anomaly in otherwise healthy systems. It is embedded in structures of power that shape how societies define masculinity, authority, credibility, and control. Treating gender-based violence as deviant behaviour, the action of a few disturbed individuals, is to obscure both its scale and its persistence.

Liisa Emilia Sorainen May 11, 2026
Jesamine Rikisahedew

Why Estonia’s Progress on the Pay Gap Still Falls Short

When I first read the piece on ERR news about Estonia’s stance on pay transparency, my reaction was basically: here we go again. Not because the topic is boring, but because it feels very familiar. The country knows it has one of the biggest gender pay gaps in the EU, and yet every time there is a chance to tackle it more seriously, the conversation turns into whether it’s “too complicated” or “too much work” for employers. The article focuses on criticism from Gender Equality Commissioner, Christian Veske, who argues that the government’s current plan won’t actually fix the problem. His point is pretty straightforward: if you only make small tweaks, you get small results. If the issue is structural, then surface level fixes aren’t going to cut it.  Estonia’s pay gap has been hanging around for years. Depending on the method of measuring it, women earn somewhere between 13 to 18 percent less than men. That’s not a tiny difference you can brush off as coincidence. It adds up over time, affecting savings, pensions, and overall financial independence. It’s not because women are less educated or less active in the workforce. If anything, Estonian women are highly educated and

Jesamine Rikisahedew April 28, 2026
Ieva Zariņa

Wild Boar Encounters and Human Values: Sus humanissima and the Art of Running a Country

Several years ago, I sought refuge on countryside roads as my dog was terrified of traffic, and there are still more cars in this town than, it sometimes seems, functional brains (apologies). We set off on pre-dawn walks to return home before ‘the cars woke up’. That was when our encounters with the wild boar began. I had never met wild boar before. I had, however, heard tales of horrors.  According to these urban myths, wild boars came across as vicious but reliable instruments for producing evenly-flattened and uniformly unlumpy human pancakes. All one had to do was position the minceable individual between a sow and her piglets.  In many stories, wild boar were portrayed as rampaging, indiscriminate (I choose the word deliberately) devastators. I mistrusted these fables because wild boar used to be worshipped by the Prussians, a group of ancient Baltic tribes, who were described by nobody other than the highly judgmental Christians, as homines humanissimi. I doubted that the Prussians, exceedingly charitable towards everyone (except towards Christians) and as agriculturally-crazed as the rest of the Balts, would have pinned to their chests, as representation of their gods, imagery of beasts of destruction. Further, I equipped myself with a couple of curious scientific facts, such as

Ieva Zariņa March 23, 2026
Liisa Emilia Sorainen

The Monster Was Never Under the Bed: Gender-Based Violence as a Structure of Power

1 in 3 women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.(World Health Organisation, 2021) 1 in 8 women has experienced rape or sexual assault in childhood. (UNICEF, 2024) 6 in 10 female homicide victims are killed by intimate partners or relatives, whereas for men, only about 1 in 10 homicides occur within the private sphere. (UN Women, 2025) These are not rare tragedies. They are patterns. For generations, we have taught children to fear monsters under the bed, imagining creatures that hide in darkness, wait in closets, ready to emerge at night. But the statistics tell a different story. The danger is not imaginary nor confined to shadows, and it is rarely a stranger. The monster was never under the bed. It exists in homes, workplaces, schools, courtrooms, and digital platforms. It is normalised through everyday jokes, excused by culture, shielded by institutions, and minimised as “isolated incidents.” Gender-based violence is not an anomaly in otherwise healthy systems. It is embedded in structures of power that shape how societies define masculinity, authority, credibility, and control. Treating gender-based violence as deviant behaviour, the action of a few disturbed individuals, is to obscure both its scale and its persistence.

Liisa Emilia Sorainen May 11, 2026
Paula Palmet

Supporting Rural Women and Promoting Integration in Haiti and Mexico

The Haitian-Mexican Union of Small Farmers, Ranchers and Sustainable Development (UNHAMEXPAGRI) works to support women, girls, and vulnerable communities in Haiti and Mexico. Through its Rural Women’s Unit, the organisation promotes gender equality, integration, and access to essential services, particularly for those affected by violence, displacement, and poverty. Supporting Women and Girls in Difficulty Haitian women and girls are currently facing extremely difficult conditions. Many have been forced from their homes due to armed groups and are living in temporary shelters, effectively becoming refugees within their own county. In addition, women and girls with disabilities are often excluded from society, with limited access to opportunities and support. UNHAMEXPAGRI also supports children and girls who have not been able to attend school, helping provide access to education and essential resources.   Gender Equality and Inclusion For UNHAMEXPAGRI, gender equality is essential to eradicating hunger and poverty. Through its Global Gender Equality Policy 2025–2040 and its Regional Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean, the organisation promotes: Equal access to resources and opportunities Representation in decision-making processes Fair and equitable distribution of work This work focuses particularly on rural, Indigenous, youth, and Afro-descendant women in both Mexico and Haiti with activities carried

Paula Palmet April 14, 2026
Ieva Zariņa

Wild Boar Encounters and Human Values: Sus humanissima and the Art of Running a Country

Several years ago, I sought refuge on countryside roads as my dog was terrified of traffic, and there are still more cars in this town than, it sometimes seems, functional brains (apologies). We set off on pre-dawn walks to return home before ‘the cars woke up’. That was when our encounters with the wild boar began. I had never met wild boar before. I had, however, heard tales of horrors.  According to these urban myths, wild boars came across as vicious but reliable instruments for producing evenly-flattened and uniformly unlumpy human pancakes. All one had to do was position the minceable individual between a sow and her piglets.  In many stories, wild boar were portrayed as rampaging, indiscriminate (I choose the word deliberately) devastators. I mistrusted these fables because wild boar used to be worshipped by the Prussians, a group of ancient Baltic tribes, who were described by nobody other than the highly judgmental Christians, as homines humanissimi. I doubted that the Prussians, exceedingly charitable towards everyone (except towards Christians) and as agriculturally-crazed as the rest of the Balts, would have pinned to their chests, as representation of their gods, imagery of beasts of destruction. Further, I equipped myself with a couple of curious scientific facts, such as

Ieva Zariņa March 23, 2026

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The Monster Was Never Under the Bed: Gender-Based Violence as a Structure of Power

Why Estonia’s Progress on the Pay Gap Still Falls Short

Supporting Rural Women and Promoting Integration in Haiti and Mexico

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Latest Articles

The Monster Was Never Under the Bed: Gender-Based Violence as a Structure of Power

Why Estonia’s Progress on the Pay Gap Still Falls Short

Supporting Rural Women and Promoting Integration in Haiti and Mexico

Empower Change, support Our Community's Vision!

DONATE