Thursday, August 30, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Femicide rates increasing at an alarming rate in Argentina

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Alice Rodgers
WVoN co-editor

Femicide has increased by 22 percent in Argentina over the past three years and it is now one of the country's major social problems.

According to a survey carried out by the Observatory of Femicide in Argentina and the NGO La Casa Del Encuentro, 119 women were killed by male violence in the first half of this year.

Sixteen of those women murdered had previously reported domestic violence to the authorities and in seven out of ten cases the alleged perpetrator was the partner or ex-partner of the victim.

A day of action was held across the country last Friday, promoted by Frente Amplio Progresista (FAP) deputies Virginia Linares and Victoria Donda to call for a state of national emergency due to the increase in cases of domestic violence.

Social and political organisations also demanded that Law 26.485 to protect, prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women be properly implemented.

"We can't allow these things to keep happening," Ms Linares said. "We must push the bill to declare a social public emergency due to gender violence, which we have already introduced in Congress."

"It is important that the issue of gender violence is part of the urgent agenda of the state" said Fabiana Tuñez, coordinator of La Casa del Encuentro, who attended a rally outside the National Congress in Buenos Aires last week.

"Many laws are being discussed in Congress, but without budgetary support and a national plan for the elimination of violence they are ineffective" she added.

Tuñez was also joined by Patricia Fuño, sister of Lilian Fuño Rodríguez, who was murdered by her partner in 2009 after having sought help from the police for domestic violence.

He also brutally murdered the couple's three children.

The man was sentenced to life imprisonment in March, but it was decided that he wouldn’t be imprisoned until his conviction becomes final.

"My sister, like many other women, endured years of verbal and physical abuse until one day she couldn't take it any longer and reported it to the police" commented Patricia Fuño. "I think my sister is a clear example that reporting domestic violence to the police once is enough. Unfortunately she did not receive help and now she is dead, along with my nephews".

Lilian Fuño's case is typical of the many others found in the study.

It is likely that the real figure is even higher than that found in the survey which only reflects cases of femicide reported by the media.

Tuñez explained, "It is crucial to consider gender-based violence as a political, social, cultural and human rights issue. This way we can truly see the grave situation that many women and children face in Argentina".

Australia announces aid for female victims of violence

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Michelle Wright
WVoN co-editor

The Australian government is to spend $6.7 million to help tackle violence against women in developing countries.

The funds will support programmes which assist female victims in the Asia-Pacific region.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said: "Australian aid will help deliver shelter and counselling for women disfigured by acid attacks in Cambodia and Uganda.

It will also support women raped during civil wars such as the conflict in Liberia and those seeking their legal rights after suffering physical violence in some central and southern Asian communities."

The contribution will form part of the UN's Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women which provides grants to programmes that aim to protect women and girls from abuse.

The announcement came during a recent visit to Australia by Executive Director of UN Women and former Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet.

She praised the country for leading the way in working to secure women's empowerment and equality:

"In Australia, one in three women experiences violence in her lifetime and in some countries in the Pacific, two in three women are subject to abuse.

"Australia's support goes a long way in advancing women's rights here in the Pacific and worldwide."

Sex strike in Togo in Presidential protest

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

Women in Togo have been urged to stage a week long sex strike to persuade their husbands and partners to support their fight for political reform.

Women from the 'Let's Save Togo' coalition group have called upon all females in the country to join the strike to raise awareness of their political agenda.

Central to their campaign is their call for Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe, whose family has been in power for decades, to stand down.

The opposition coalition, 'Let's Save Togo' is made up of sixteen separate civil rights and political groups and movements.   They support the sex strike, which was proposed by Isabelle Ameganvi, leader of the women's division of the coalition.

She said that the sex strike could be a 'weapon of the battle' to achieve political change, and that its purpose was '…… to oblige men to understand what women want in Togo.’

But she also warned 'If men refuse to hear our cries we will hold another demonstration that will be more powerful than a sex strike'.

Women who participate in the strike hope to motivate men who are not politically active to take up their cause, and to draw attention to their protest against electoral reforms.  They also want to see an end to unlimited presidential terms.

A statement on the Let’s Save Togo website said 'The Togolese people have finally decided to smash the vicious circle of contested elections, repressions and negotiations.'

The strike was announced at a political rally in Togo's capital, Lome, on Saturday, and was attended by thousands.

The rally was relatively peaceful compared to others in recent weeks, where hundreds of anti-Gnassingbe protesters were injured, subjected to tear gas and arrested in clashes with security forces.

One of the women participating in the strike, Abla Tamekloe, believes that the sex stoppage will also raise awareness of those who have been imprisoned in Togo.

She said ‘It’s a good thing for us women to observe this sex strike as long as our children are in jail now. I believe that by observing this, we will get them released.

‘For me, it’s like fasting, and unless you fast, you will not get what you want from God.’

When asked if her husband would agree, Tamekloe said: ‘It is easy for me to observe it. I am used to it, but I am not sure my husband will accept, but I have to explain to him.’

Others are more sceptical.  Referring to her husband, Judith Agbetoglo said she doubted that he would agree to a sex ban for seven days.

'He may agree at first, but as far as I know him, he will change overnight.  So I don’t believe I can do the one-week sex strike. Otherwise, I will have serious issues with him. He likes that too much.'

Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the National Alliance for Change was also sceptical.  Provoking laughter from the protesters, he called for a shorter strike, saying 'One week sex strike is too much.  Let’s go for only two days.'

However, despite the scepticism, this is not the first time a sex strike has been used as a political tool.

In 2009, Kenyan women called for the wives of political figures to impose a sex ban to stop political infighting.

In 2003, Liberian women used a sex ban in their peace campaign to bring an end to the 14 year civil war.

Referring to this, Ms Ameganvi said 'We want to fight as women of Liberia because when they started to do the sex strike, the men obliged to end the war and peace came back again in Liberia. That's why we want to do the same thing in Togo to oblige the Togolese opposition to fight and end the system of oppression which has directed Togo for 16 years.

'When the first strike was started yesterday, the men of "Let's Save Togo" came and they begged the women to lessen this idea because the idea was very difficult for them. But all the women who were at the manifestation said no.'

She added that the women of Togo were prepared to go much further in their political protests, as Togolese women had had enough of carrying the burden of Togo's economic and political problems.

‘The opposition wants the government, which has ruled Togo for 15 years, must go and democracy must come in Togo because we are in a system of dictatorship, and human rights are not respected, economic problems are so many, and the women are the victims of all these problems. And we say enough is enough,’ Ameganvi said.

Neither President Gnassingbe nor his wife have commented on the sex strike.

Women in Iran banned from studying over 70 degree courses

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:30 AM PDT

Natasha Wilson
WVoN Co-editor

Universities in Iran have announced that women will be banned from studying certain degree courses and offered to men only.

Under the new policy, 36 universities will exclude women from 77 courses including English literature, English translation, nuclear physics, computer science, electrical engineering, business management, archaeology and hotel management.

The country’s Oil Industry University, which has several campuses across the country, announced it will no longer accept female students at all.

Female students have outperformed men in education in recent years, with more women passing the university entrance and outnumbering men three to two.

A trend that has caused senior clerics in Iran concern about how social changes brought by the rising educational standards among women are affecting the declining birth and marriage rates.

In resopnse to the country’s declining population, leaders recently announced a number of policy changes and a budget of 190 billion rials (about $15 billion) to help increase the birthrate.

Iran’s most celebrated human rights campaigner, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, has urged the United Nations to investigate the education reform.

She claims that the real agenda behind this decision is to reduce the proportion of female students from around 65 per cent to below 50%  which will weaken the Iranian feminist movement in its campaign against the discriminatory Islamic laws.

In an open letter to the United Nations Ms Ebadi said the move "demonstrates that the Iranian authorities cannot tolerate women’s presence in the public arena."

Ms Ebadi, a human rights lawyer living in exile in Britain, added that the Iran leaders are trying to get women “back into the house in the hope that they abandon their demands and leave the government alone to pursue its wrong policies”.

The ban, which comes into force from the beginning of the new academic year, is officially in response to high unemployment figures for women graduating from science-based degree programmes.

Kamran Daneshjoo, Iran’s minister of science and higher education said that some single- gender courses are now needed to create a “balance” between the sexes but 90 per cent of degrees still remain open to both sexes.

Join the club? Not if you’re a woman say Muirfield golfers

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Deborah Cowan
WVoN co-editor

Golfing news this week (be still your beating hearts).

Muirfield, one of Scotland's most elite men-only golf clubs have said they will continue to exclude women from becoming members.

If you are familiar with Monty Python's Life of Brian, you may well be thinking about the 'are there any women here?' scene, where large groups of women turn up to a public stoning – strictly a men only event – in fake beards in order to take part.

And why does one behest the other?  Because they are both practices that are outdated, sexist and unfathomably ridiculous.

Even Augusta National Golf Club, home of the US Masters tournament, has woken, Kraken-like, from its 80 year sexist slumber and has condescended to allow women to become members (all two of them).

It would seem, however, that Scotland, (the home of golf I might add) is reluctant to follow suit.

For 'tis not only Muirfield living in the past by barring women from joining – the great clubs of Royal and Ancient of Saint Andrews and Royal Troon are also floating around in cloud caddyland circa 1845.

Despite the fact that the Scottish Government has made it clear that male-only membership is outdated and should be changed, and although Harriet Harman has labeled the club 'out of touch',  Muirfield secretary Alastair Brown is carrying on regardless, insisting that there is no real pressure on the club and that nothing would be changing.

He said: 'The state of the membership of Muirfield is a private matter for the members to decide – it is not an issue for the outside world.'

By 'a private matter for the members to decide', he does of course mean its male members.   So quite a balanced review going on there then.

He went on to say 'It is simply the freedom of people to keep their own company – men or women.'

Ah Alastair, Alastair.

Just what is it that you are doing in there that you don't want us to know about?  Are you and your men secretly watching 'Beaches', downing troughs of milk tray and wailing into box after box of paper hankies to the sound of the wind beneath Bette Midlers wings?

Or are you sitting around talking about…erm…golf?

So entrenched is his belief that Muirfield membership should continue to be distinctly male, Alastair Brown has said that he would even be willing to sacrifice the clubs status as a host venue for the golf Open rota – Muirfield are in fact supposed to be hosting the British Open this very year.

He said, somewhat dismissively, 'The Open is not a huge money-spinner for Muirfield. We happily host the event because we happen to have one of the world's great golf courses here and the R&A want us on their Open rota.

'But it is not a big ticket item for the club. Yes, we receive a fee for staging the Open, but our members have to do lots of work in preparation."

Members?  You mean the men?  Do the poor lambs have to actually mow a lawn or two?

Although the underlying issues here are serious – that sexist and exclusively male organisations are allowed to flourish, that men are allowed to dictate where women can go and when, that women are treated as second class citizens (they can visit the golf clubs as 'guests'), a hearty belly laugh at a practice which is surely on its way out is probably the best recourse.

So over to Scottish comedienne Elaine C Smith, who said, 'I'm appalled by Muirfield on so many levels but I suppose, outside a gay disco or circus, this is the only place men can wear a lavender V-neck and tartan trews* without being laughed at by women.'

*For those of you reading in anything other than tartan, 'trews' are, in fact, trousers.

However……. if, as William Wordsworth once said, golf is just a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness, perhaps it is a pursuit best suited to the male form after all.

 

Protests over young girls blasphemy case

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT

Aisha Farooq
WVoN co-editor

Last Saturday saw protests from the Pakistani Christian community in Karachi over the detainment of Rimsha Masih on blasphemy charges.

The nonpartisan organsiation, Alpha Human Rights Care Association organised the rally, with 50 men and women gathering together to demand the release of the girl.

Rimsha, who is thought to be between 10 and 13 years old and suffering from Down’s Syndrome, was handed over to the police on Thursday and remanded in prison for 14 days.

Protestors claim that police had no proof of her burning or defiling pages of the Qu’ran and that she was suffering a great ordeal in prison.

Activist Xavier William who visited her in prison last week said the young girl was too ‘frightened and traumatised’ to speak.

“She was assaulted and in very bad shape”, he said. “She had bruises on her face and hands.”

Village Imam, Hafiz Khalid Chishti also reported on Friday that he turned the young girl in to protect her from the violent and growing mob outside her house.

‘Some women were beating her and other people were trying to break her arms when I rescued her,” Chishti insisted.

“People were demanding to burn their house, but I went to police and called them to avoid a major incident,” he said.

Chishti also said that the girl had openly confessed of what she had done.

“She did it knowingly, this is a conspiracy and not a mistake,” he said.

Amid growing concerns of the girls well-being, Amnesty International has urged Pakistan to reassess their anti-blasphemy laws to offer greater protection to non-Muslim minorities in the country.

The vague yet severe laws for blasphemy has meant that many accused of petty or trivial crimes have in the past received extreme punishments, including the death penalty.

Polly Truscott, Amnesty’s South Asia Director said, “Amnesty International is extremely concerned for Rimsha's safety.”

“In the recent past, individuals accused of blasphemy have been killed by members of the public," she said.

"The continued failure to reform these laws has effectively sent the message that anyone can commit outrageous abuses and attempt to excuse them as defence of religious sentiments," she said.

International support for Rimsha has been growing rapidly. A spokesperson for the US State Department, Victoria Nuland said, "We urge the government of Pakistan to protect not just its religious minority citizens but also women and girls.”

A leading Pakistani women’s rights organisation, the Women’s Action Forum, also showed outrage over the arrest. Spokeswomen Tahira Abdullah accused the men who handed Rimsha over to the police of ‘total inhumanity’.

She said that police were forbidding the girl visits from any lawyers and it was a matter for the Juvenile Justice System to deal with.

The issue of blasphemy, however, is a delicate subject, and one unlikely to be resolved any time soon. Many critics have commented that law reforms will not be made by the Pakistan government, especially during an election year.

A Karachi political columnist, Cyril Almeida insisted, that the question of reform was ‘politically too toxic’.

“It’s the ultimate vulnerability,” he claimed. “If you have a rabid core determined to get their way, there won’t be much of a pushback from society because it’s not something they’ll actively get involved with, whether they approve or not.”

Rimsha is yet to await sentencing by Pakistan’s blasphemy courts, where she is expected to stand trial in the next 10 days.