Violence against women

UN: SKSW Statement to the 54th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

The Beijing Conference on Women was an extraordinary moment in the history of transnational women’s movements, and its outcome document, the Platform for Action, has become a watershed in the lives of countless women and girls the world over for the past 15 years. Women’s rights advocates all over the world including us in the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women, continue to draw part of the legitimacy for our cause from the Beijing Platform for Action which states that … “

Pakistan: Swat women fear Taliban return

Girls in Swat District, northwestern Pakistan, have gone back to school, and most women who had been prevented from working have returned to work, but people are still fearful. "We worry the Taliban will return and the persecution will start again. In every neighbourhood there are people who are linked to the militants and who keep an eye on the activities of us women," Sumira Bibi, 20, who works at a cosmetics factory, told IRIN in Mingora, Swat's main town. According to the government's National Commission on the Status of Women, there were 1,000-1,200 women factory workers in Mingora before the Taliban takeover in 2009. It is unknown how many have returned to work. Tens of thousands of civilians were displaced from Swat in the spring and summer of 2009 due to intense fighting between government forces and Taliban militants. Most returned after the army regained control in July. (See Swat timeline)

Yemen: No law protecting children against early marriages

It was every little girl’s dream - she was to get a new dress, jewellery, sweets and a party for all her friends. What 10-year-old Aisha* did not know was that after the wedding party she would have to leave school, move to a village far from her parents’ home, cook and clean all day, and have sex with her older husband. “He took out a special sheet and laid me down on it,” Aisha told IRIN, wringing her small plump hands. “After it, I started bleeding. It was so painful that I was crying and shouting, and since then I have seen him as death.”

فلسطين: زيادة جرائم الشرف منذ بداية العام

قال نشطون فلسطينيون في مجال الدفاع عن حقوق المرأة ان ارتفاع عدد حالات قتل النساء في الضفة الغربية الذي وصل الى سبع حالات منذ بداية العام الجاري مُقارنة مع تسع حالات طيلة العام الماضي يجب ان يدق ناقوس الخطر ويخلق تحركا شعبيا ورسميا لوضع حد لذلك. وقالت حنان ابو غوش منسقة توثيق قتل النساء تعليقا على ما يسمى قضايا الدفاع عن الشرف في مركز المرأة للارشاد القانوني "شهدت بداية عام 2010 زيادة كبيرة في عدد النساء القتلى نحن نتحدث عن سبع حالات قتل في الضفة الغربية تشير تحقيقاتنا الى ان خمسا منها على الاقل تمت على خلفية ما يسمى الدفاع عن شرف العائلة."

Malaysia: Sisters in Islam condemns caning of 3 Muslim women under Sharia law

Sisters in Islam (SIS) is shocked that the Prisons Department has caned three Muslim women for shariah offences. Given that several issues on shariah and constitutional grounds, sentencing guidelines and Malaysia’s commitments to international human rights instruments that were raised on the Kartika case remain unresolved, we question the government's motive in proceeding with the caning of Muslim women.

L'Afrique: Journée de la « Tolérance Zéro Excision ou Mutilations Génitales Féminines »

Le 6 février le monde entier a célébré la journée de la « Tolérance Zéro Excision ou Mutilations Génitales Féminines » avec l’ultime conviction que cette pratique nuisible pour la santé des femmes prendra fin. Pourquoi avoir choisi cette date ? Le 6 février 1984 le Comité Inter-Africain (CI-AF) était porté sur les fonds baptismaux à Dakar, à la suite d’une conférence internationale qui avait pour but de lutter contre les pratiques traditionnelles néfastes à la santé de la femme. Dans 28 pays d’Afrique des millions de fillettes subissent encore cette opération, mais aussi en Europe, en Australie, au Moyen-Orient et aux Etats-Unis.

Iraq: Female Circumcision Ban Urged

New survey reveals that majority of women in Kurdistan have undergone genital mutilation. Mariam Nadr, 77, has a fine home in an upscale neighbourhood of Erbil and is a prominent member of the community. She has a bright smile, a calm demeanour and wears the white shawl of a respected Kurdish matron. Part of Nadr’s social standing stems from her past: for many years mothers came to her to perform genital mutilations on their daughters. For these women, the act was a cultural and religious rite.

Fiji: Girl beaten for wearing pants

A 16-YEAR-OLD girl is in shock after she was punched and beaten with a stick by her village headman for wearing a singlet and three-quarter pants. But police in the Northern Division yesterday backed the girl's right not be assaulted over the clothes she wore. The incident happened at midday yesterday at Naqai Village, about four kilometres outside Labasa. The police confirmed Asenaca Vunibola was leaving the village for town with her mother when the headman, Naisa Tagiwavoli, confronted her.

Yemen: New FGM/C law possible "within four years" - minister

Nearly a decade after a ban on health workers performing female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Yemen, the harmful practice continues unabated, with the government saying more research is needed before an outright ban can be imposed. “Nine years after the ban we see that it works the opposite of what was intended,” said Wafa Ahmad Ali, a leader of the Sanaa-based Yemen Women’s Union (YWU). “Now instead of going to the hospital where the tools are at least clean, FGM is carried out at home.” The Ministry of Human Rights supports a new study on the practice. “If the study proves that the practice is still being carried out, we will push for a new law,” Huda Ali Abdullatef Alban, minister of human rights, told IRIN. “We hope this new law can be in place within the next four years,” he said .

L'ONU s'inquiète de la médicalisation des mutilations génitales

A l'occasion de la Journée internationale contre les mutilations génitales, célébrée le 6 février, l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a souligné la nécessité de développer une stratégie mondiale contre la médicalisation de ces pratiques. « 18% des femmes et des filles qui ont souffert de mutilation génitale ont été opérées par des professionnels de la santé », a indiqué Elise Johansen, de l'OMS, ajoutant que cette tendance semblait en augmentation.