Heidi Holt Zachariassen is a sociologist and researcher at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Communication (SIK) in Stavanger. This autumn she travelled around in the Adamaoua district in Cameroon, and interviewed girls about HIV and AIDS. - The age for the sexual debut is young there, she says. Girls down to 10-12 years of age are sexually active.

The Centre for Women and Gender Research at the University of Bergen is unique, in at least one way. As the only ones in the Nordic countries, they offer the possibility to take a master degree in Gender and Development. Two years ago they admitted the first group of students from all over the world. This fall they submitted their theses. The themes are widespread; from family planning in Zanzibar, to old age in Malagasy and local female fish-dealers in Lake Victoria in Uganda. The first woman working on a PhD in this subject is Gaudencia Mutema. She is studying refugees from Rwanda - and has done interviews and field work in both a refugee camp in Zimbabwe and among refugees in Bergen.

Does Norse mythology and queer theory share any common ground? Brit Solli, archaeologist at the University of Tromsø, argues that Odin, one of the most important Viking gods, was queer – and that it is about time to reclaim the diversity that the Viking era represented both in culture and in opinion of gender. Solli writes about this and a lot more, in her interdisciplinary book in about the Viking era.

A so far untold part of Norwegian history is now presented in three companion volumes. Norwegian Immigration History was released by Pax Publishing Company earlier this fall. Seven professors aim to describe history with immigrants’ perspective from year 900 and to present time. How was the life of a slave? Where did the priests, the carpenters and the tradesmen come from? Who were the noblemen and kings – and where did they find their brides? Family negotiations, alliance building and forced marriages were the rule rather than the exception in earlier times.

Iran does not utilize the resources of women. Women are not promoted to managerial positions, many educated women are unemployed and few women are elected to parliament. Although there are few limitations to women leadership in the laws and religion, there are only a few women appointed to the high managerial positions in Iran. – This is an important hindrance to the development of Iran, says professor Shamsosadat Zahedi.

The solution for the Iranian women’s movement is that traditional and modern women’s organisations meet for dialogue. The traditional ones have their strength in their contact with women in the local communities, while the modern women’s groups have new ideas and closer contact with politicians, says Iranian researcher on women’s issues, Nahid Motie.

Female-headed households are usually looked upon as a social problem in Iran. Now the increasing number of female-headed households has caught the attention of both researchers and politicians. Iranian researcher on women’s issues, Nahid Motie, thinks it is important to avoid simple generalizations about these families’ difficult situation. – Many women have managed to create good lives for themselves and their children, she says.

Men who kill their wives in Iran state jealousy as cause, while women who kill their husband want to get out of the marriage. If the killer has any children he or she remains in jail; until the children reach legal age when they then decide whether mother or father will be executed. Criminologist Shahla Moazami has done research on spouse killing in Iran.