International
UNRISD Policy Brief: Religion, Politics and Gender Equality
Contrary to modernist predictions that religion would retreat into a private zone of worship and practice, recent decades have seen religion become increasingly salient on the political stage worldwide. Does this matter? From the point of view of women’s rights and gender equality, much is at stake. UNRISD research shows that politicized religion impinges on women’s rights in problematic ways.
Women from Around the World Condemn Attack on Peaceful Protesters in Iraq and Call for an End to Sexual Assault of Women Protesters
The global campaign Violence is Not our Culture (VNC) joins our sisters at MADRE and feminist activists around the world in calling for full security of our sisters and brothers in Bagdhad's Tahrir Square, protesting peacefully for basic rights.
We, feminist activists from around the world, stand in support of our sisters and brothers peacefully demonstrating for basic rights in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square.
This morning, June 10, demonstrators were brutally targeted with sexual violence and beatings by men who were reportedly bussed in by the thousands to disrupt the weekly protest. Protesters suffered broken bones, knife wounds and beatings. Several women were severely beaten and violently groped; armed attackers attempted to forcibly strip off the women’s clothing. The activists, who work with the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, report that their attackers were organized and paid by government security forces who used the un-uniformed men to avoid accountability for the violence.
“Son Preference” Perpetuates Discrimination and Violations of Women’s Rights
14 June 2011 - GENEVA – Gender-biased sex selection reflects and fuels a culture of discrimination and violence, and must be addressed urgently by all segments of government and society as a matter of women’s human rights, five UN agencies have stressed.
A statement issued today by OHCHR, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and the WHO* reviews the evidence behind the causes, consequences and lessons learned regarding “son preference” or sex selection favouring boys in many parts of South, East and Central Asia, where ratios as high as 130 boys for every 100 girls have been observed.
Intimate Partner Violence: High costs to Households and Communities
ICRW and its partners, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) in Uganda and Hassan II University in Morocco, with support from UNFPA, undertook a three-country study in Bangladesh, Morocco and Uganda to estimate the economic costs of intimate partner violence at the household and community levels, where its impact is most direct and immediate. The focus on intimate partner violence was motivated by the fact that this is the most common form of violence against women. A household and community level analysis helps to shed light on intimate partner violence's relationship to both household economic vulnerability and the extent to which scarce public resources for essential health, security and infrastructure services are diverted due to such violence.
Indigenous women shape women’s rights
The voices of indigenous women have repeatedly reminded national governments, human rights bodies and other national and international fora that their human rights as women need to be addressed as the rights of indigenous women. Accordingly, indigenous women have called on the United Nations bodies and processes related to women to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples “as a minimum standard in the fulfilment and enjoyment of rights by indigenous women”.
UK - Multi-Agency Practice Guidelines: Female Genital Mutilation
The United Kingdom Government released its of Multi-Agency Practice Guidelines: Female Genital Mutilation. Though female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK is illegal, 24,000 British girls under the age of 15 still are in grave danger of FGM in its harshest form.
These guidelines seek to address this gap by providing recommendations, strategies, and support to professionals working with people affected by FGM.
UN: Special Rapporteur Juan E. Méndez reiterates FGM as a form of torture
Female Genital Mutilation: Progress-Realities-Challenges
Statement by Juan E. Méndez, Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Side Event sponsored by Women’s UN Report Network, Inter-African Committee, Worldwide Organization for Women and NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva. 1 June 2011
Special Rapporteur Violence Against Women Report to UN 2011 - Structural Analysis on VAW
Summary: Over the past three decades, gender-based violence as a form of discrimination against women has become increasingly visible and acknowledged internationally. Despite normative standards having been set, the reality is that violence against women remains a global epidemic, which is further complicated when considering multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. This thematic report examines such discrimination in the context of violence against women and provides a conceptual framework for further discussion.
Interview: Amina Wadud - "The Koran Cannot Be Usurped"
Islam, gender equality and human rights are compatible – this is a basic conviction of Amina Wadud, author of several books about Islam and women. Martina Sabra interviewed the Islamic feminist at a recent conference about "Women power in Islam" in Germany.
Professor Wadud, in 2005 you produced a world-wide media hype because you publicly lead a gender-inclusive prayer for Muslim men and women in New York. You received hate-mails from all over the world, there were even bomb threats. Looking back, what do you think about the events today, and what are your conclusions from what happened?
Jessica Horn: Every act of violence is a choice
“Sometimes we need to name the abnormal as abnormal, and take action to defend what is normal!” - Shereen Essof. Jessica Horn reports at the close of the Nobel Women's Initiative conference, 'Women Forging a New Security: ending sexual violence in conflict'.
In a caucus to gather input for the global campaign to End Violence Against Women, one of its founders Charlotte Bunch reiterates the basic feminist point, now underlying human rights-based laws and policies on sexual violence- that “rape is about power, not sex”.