Senegal
GREFELS
About
GREFELS, or the Research Group on Women and Laws in Senegal, was founded in 1994. A feminist, non-political, non-religious and non-profit organization, the focus of GREFELS is to research women’s rights, advocate and support the expansion of human rights. It stemmed from the work of women engaged in Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), an international solidarity network. GREFELS works with local and national organizations to promote the rights for women. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, including research, training, and activism, GREFELS is committed to changing the behavior of institutions and rural communities in order to prevent violence against women.
Widow "Cleansing" Tradition - Rights Violation
Widow cleansing dates back centuries and is practiced for example in countries like Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast, Congo and Nigeria. It gives a nod to a man from the widow’s village or her husband’s family, usually a brother or close male relative of her late husband, to force her to have sex with him – ostensibly to allow her husband’s spirit to roam free in afterlife.
Senegal: Boys in many Quranic schools suffer severe abuse
(Dakar) April 15, 2010 -- Tens of thousands of children at residential Quranic schools in Senegal are subjected to slavery-like conditions and severely abused, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch urged the Senegalese authorities to regulate all Quranic schools and take immediate and concerted action to hold accountable teachers who violate Senegalese laws against forced begging and child abuse.
The 114-page report, "," documents the system of exploitation and abuse in which at least 50,000 boys known as talibés - the vast majority under age 12 and many as young as four - are forced to beg on Senegal's streets for long hours, seven days a week, by often brutally abusive teachers, known as marabouts.
Proceedings of the CSW panel discussion on violence against women and girls justified in the name of culture
On March 3rd, a panel discussion on violence against women and girls justified in the name of culture was held by the Violence is Not our Culture (VNC) campaign during the 54th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).