Violence against women

Iman Al-Obeidi a été violée par 15 hommes de Kadhafi. Elle a eu le courage de dénoncer le tyran et ses milices qui utilisent le viol des femmes comme une arme de guerre. Libérez Iman Maintenant!

The Libyan woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell western reporters she had been raped by Muammar Gaddafi's militiamen is now facing criminal charges herself, a government spokesman said. Iman al-Obeidi was detained on Saturday after she entered the capital's Rixos al-Nasr hotel and told journalists she had been beaten and repeatedly raped by 15 troops at a checkpoint. With TV cameras rolling, she was tackled by waitresses, security men and government minders and dragged away struggling. At least two journalists were beaten or punched in the fracas.

Thank you Mr. President. I am delivering this statement on behalf of Shirkat Gah - Pakistan, Baobab for Women’s Human Rights –Nigeria, IWRAW Asia Pacific, Partners for Law in Development – India, and the Violence is Not our Culture campaign. The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action affirms that “the human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights”. It prioritises the full and equal participation of women in all dimensions of their lives. It calls for the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex as a priority objective of the international community.  It considers that acts of gender-based violence, including those resulting from cultural prejudice, are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person, and must be eliminated. Coupled with the fact that 186 members States of the UN have also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, States are legally obligated to ensure that the social causes of inequality and discrimination against women are eliminated, including those based on social and cultural patterns of conduct that are premised on the inferior or subordinate status of women in family and in public life.

Dear friends, the rally that took place on the occasion of 8 March, International Women’s Day, at Place de La Grande Poste, “Place Karima Belhadj” (in Algiers) was a great success according to the public – both young and less young, women and men. The list of women assassinated by Islamists gave rise to a very interesting debate between the women and passers-by in the square baptised ‘Karima Belhhadj” on the 8 March 13 years ago. Many citizens came up to us and said they didn’t find the names of women they knew on our lists. They were invited to supply us with the necessary information so that we could add it to our lists.