External Publications and Resources
The following is a list of publications and resources that have been created by other groups that we find relevant to the VNC Campaign. If you have a publications you would like to share with us, please write to:
Increasing Access to Justice for Women, the Poor, and Those Living in Remote Areas: An Indonesian Case Study
"In 2010 the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics estimated that there are 65 million households in Indonesia, and almost 10 million of these - 14% - are headed by women.....Obtaining new identity or family cards that show a woman is the head of her household, requires the formalization of marriages and the issuance of legal divorce certificates.
Research conducted by PEKKA (an Indonesian civil society organization supporting women-headed households) has shown that over 50% of the marriages and 86% of the divorces of its members are not legally registered, as they are not brought before the Indonesian courts. It is for this reason that access to the religious courts for the poor, particularly for women, is critical to their ability to access broader public services."
A Woman's Place: Perspectives on Afghanistan's Evolving Legal Framework
Over the past three years, Rights & Democracy has been directly involved in the reform of family law in Afghanistan. Through fieldwork and research work, a number of questions, reflections and lines of analysis were raised that needed further discussion. To this end, four authors have reflected on a series of questions that are central themes of this book: the evolution of reforms in 20th century Afghanistan; the participation of civil society in the legislative process in the post-Taliban era; the marriage contract and registration of marriages; and the gap between the theoretical discourse and practice with regards to protecting the rights of women.
Land, Proptery and Housing Rights in the Muslim World
During its work in a range of Muslim countries from Afghanistan to Indonesia, UN-HABITAT has been increasingly aware of the importance of Islamic land tenure conceptions and land rights. Over 20 percent of the world’s population is Muslim but there has been little research on the complex and distinctive forms of land tenure and land rights. The Land Tenure and Property Administration Section of UN-HABITAT therefore commissioned a year long in depth study of the Islamic and other dimensions of land and property rights in the Muslim world which is reproduced in Sait S and Lim H (2006) Land Law and Islam: Property and Human Rights in the Muslim World (London: Zed Press/UN-HABITAT).
The World's Women and Girls 2011 Datasheet
This datasheet includes statistics from research in diverse countries that aims to explore barriers to gender equality. This includes: attitudes about men and women's roles within the household, early marriage, and data on healthcare and birth rates.
Mutilations génitales féminines et droits humains en Afrique
Introduction
Les armes se sont à peine tues après plusieurs années de lutte entre groupes fratricides, que la Sierra Leone est revenue à la une de l’actualité africaine, pour un fait classé divers. En effet, le quotidien sénégalais, Le Soleil, rapportant une dépêche de l’Agence France-Presse, titrait : « Arrêt des excisions pendant le Ramadan » (20 janvier 1977). Quelques semaines plus tôt, la même agence s’était fait l’écho d’un événement survenu dans un camp de réfugiés de Grafton, à une centaine de Km de Freetown, la capitale. 
Il s’agissait d’une cérémonie collective durant laquelle près de 600 jeunes filles avaient été excisées.
Ethical concerns in female genital cutting
This article by Rebecca J. Cook examines the practice of female genital mutilation; the contexts in which it has been and is currently practiced, its forms and extent, social and health consequences, and professional responses.
A Blueprint for UN Women
A Blueprint for UN Women outlines the views of 100 civil society organisations – working in 75 countries on women's human rights, gender equality and social justice – on the role UN Women should play.
Combatting Acid Violence in Bangladesh, India and Cambodia
Acid violence involves intentional acts of violence in which perpetrators throw, spray, or pour acid onto victims’ faces and bodies. This Report examines acid violence in Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia from an international human rights
perspective. Using this framework, it identifies the causes of acid violence and suggests practical solutions to address them. Acid violence is prevalent in these countries because of three related factors: gender inequality and discrimination, the easy availability of acid, and impunity for acid attack perpetrators.
A Measure of Equality for Afghan Women: Rights in Practice
In April 2007, Rights & Democracy launched a project entitled A Measure of Equality for Afghan Women: Rights in Practice. The aim of this project is to support the process of family law reform to bring it in line with the Constitution of Afghanistan and the obligations under international human rights treaties.
CEDAW and Muslim Family Laws: In Search of Common Ground
This report is based on a Musawah research project on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (‘CEDAW’ or ‘the Convention’) that examined States parties’ justifications for their failure to implement CEDAW with regard to family laws and practices that discriminate against Muslim women. The research project reviewed documents for 44 countries with Muslim majority or significant Muslim minority populations that reported to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (‘CEDAW Committee’ or ‘the Committee’) from 2005 to 200.