External Publications

Culture, Religion and Gender

Publication Date: 
December, 2003

"This article explores the intersection of culture, religion, and gender in the context of international and constitutional human rights law.

Violence Against Women - Alternative Reports for UN Committees

OMCT publishes Alternative Reports and other publications for the United Nations committees, particularly for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Female Circumcision - Female Genital Mutilation

Publication Date: 
May, 2007

Egyptian villagers explain why they circumcise their daughters. This is an excerpt from a television program about female circumcision in Egypt, which aired on Egyptian TV on May 10, 2007.

UNHCR Handbook for the Protection of Women & Girls

Publication Date: 
June, 2006

As this Handbook illustrates, in every country and community in which UNHCR works, women and girls are less likely than men and boys to have access to even the most fundamental of their rights, such as food, health care, shelter or documentation. Girls are less likely than boys to attend school; instead they spend their time burdened with domestic chores.

Universal Human Rights Index of United Nations Documents

The Universal Human Rights Index (Index) is designed primarily to facilitate access to human rights documents issued by the UN human rights treaty bodies and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council.

Stop Stoning Forever Campaign - A Report

Publication Date: 
September, 2007

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign was formed by various women’s rights activists after two individuals were stoned to death in Mashhad Iran in May of 2006.

Gender, Sexuality and the Criminal Laws in the Middle East and North Africa: A Comparative Study

Publication Date: 
February, 2005

This study outlines key beliefs and principles that defined the course of legal approaches to issues affecting women in the Middle East and North Africa. Such topics include rape, adultery, honor killings, battery and wife-beating, murder, abortion, infanticide (where abortion is unavailable), sex trafficking, sex work, sexual abuse, incest, homosexuality, transsexuality, and FGM.

The Dynamics of Honor Killings in Turkey: Prospects for Action

Publication Date: 
November, 2005

Through this report, the UNDP and UNFPA seek to further contribute to the discussion and debate in Turkey about honor killings through perspectives from a cross-section of society: women and men of varying ages, educational levels, and social backgrounds; public officials; religious leaders; non-governmental organizations and the media. The report synthesis comprehensive and well-researched data to illuminate such topics as perceptions of honor ,cases of ‘dishonorable conduct’: causes and consequences and recommendations to stop honor killings.

Imprisonment to Protect Women against "Crimes of Honor", A Dual Violation of Civil Rights

Publication Date: 
January, 2010

Some Jordanian women commit a crime, serve their sentence and then walk free. Others – some of them guilty only in the eyes of their family and the society – end up in prison and never leave.