Women's Views on News |
| Ending violence against women: Oxfam joins in Posted: 24 Nov 2016 02:35 PM PST
Gender inequality is both the cause and the consequence of violence against women and girls, said Oxfam – and the agency launched a new global campaign called "Enough: Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls" to stop one of the most prolific human rights violations. A third of women will experience violence at some point in their life. Violence against women and girls knows no boundaries of geography or culture – it is a global crisis. However, marginalised women, including poor women and girls, are the most vulnerable to violence. Women and girls face violence throughout their lives: more than 700 million women alive today were married as children; 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation – with the majority of girls being cut before the age of 5 – and 30 per cent of women will experience intimate partner violence. Studies have found higher rates of violence among women experiencing multiple discriminations, including indigenous women, lesbian and bisexual women, and women with disabilities. This violence is the most extreme form of gender discrimination, rooted in inequality and in a belief that it is acceptable to treat women and girls this way. To end these devastating practices against half the world's population, Oxfam is kick-starting campaigns in Morocco, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Guatemala, South Africa and Zambia to coincide with the UN designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – 25 November. More than 30 countries will join Oxfam's campaign over time, mobilising citizens and decision-makers to challenge the discrimination that drives this abuse against women and girls. "In Morocco, there are many types of violence against women: physical, psychological, economic and legal, especially in the context of divorce," said Saida (whose name has been changed for this article), speaking to Oxfam. "I got divorced because my husband obliged me to do so as I did not accept him getting married to a second wife. "I was forced to leave my home, which was officially owned by my husband, with my little girl. "Despite the laws, mentalities change very slowly. Neither the lawyer nor the judge helped me." With Oxfam's support, Saida then took part in life skills workshops to learn how to support herself and her daughter. She now advises other women on how to claim their rights. "Girls face struggles in all phases of their life. "Girls are not allowed to get an education like boys," said 12 year-old pupil Komal from Hamirpur in India's Uttar Pradesh. According to 2015 Indian government data, this region accounted for the highest number of violent incidents against women and girls nationally, and over 40 per cent of women and girls there are illiterate. Until a few years ago, girls here were usually pulled out of school to care for their siblings, support their parents in farming or to do household chores. Through Oxfam's work, local girls are now in school and many are doing combat sports, like wrestling. "With the support of my teacher, my parents let me compete and I won the silver medal in a state competition," Komal said. "I proved to my community that girls can succeed." In Indonesia, child marriage and domestic violence are common and tolerated. Cheper, who married a child bride, now campaigns to end child marriage and violence against women in his community. He told Oxfam: "Growing up, my mother was often beaten by my father. I wanted to take my father to the police because he bit my mother, but I did not do that. The local community considered it common." Women are usually excluded from village meetings, but through Cheper's work, this is changing, as well as his wife now having plans to work outside the home. "Women's rights organisations and movements have long been challenging the acceptance and prevalence of violence against women and girls, but as it is so unjustly ingrained in societies across the world, more of us need to take action. Oxfam's Byanyima, who is also a member of the UN High-Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment said: "Oxfam is committed to ending this crisis once and for all, for the benefit of everyone, as women's rights are human rights." "I'm calling for people to stand up and speak out against the violence. "Men need to stand up too and say that violence against women and girls is not acceptable – in institutions and in the whole of our country." With 17 per cent of women in Zambia experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime, 20 year-old university student, Nalishebo Kashina, is another of the many across the world taking action to stand up for women and girls. And in Guatemala, where indigenous women face violence and racism, women are tackling the root causes of violence. Maria Morales Jorge, who was part of setting up the Institute for the Defence of Indigenous Women, told Oxfam: "We all have the opportunity to change and reject any violence and oppression. We should all have the chance to be happy." Oxfam's campaign aims to challenge and replace the long-held misconception that men are superior to women and girls. To achieve this, Oxfam will support individuals and communities to understand the drivers of violence and build their capacity to say "Enough" to harmful attitudes and behaviours. Oxfam will also work to ensure women's rights organisations and movements are supported, and to increase and implement laws and policies aimed at ending violence against women and girls. Moroccan survivor of violence and women's rights advocate, Saida, said: "Before, I thought marriage was everything in life: the present and the future. Now, I believe that life is much more than a husband. Life is also to have a job, to travel and to study." And Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International's Executive Director, said: "At every minute of every day, violence is devastating the lives of millions of women and girls around the world. "Violence keeps women and girls living in poverty, and women and girls living in poverty are the most exposed to violence. "From child marriage to female genital mutilation to murder, violence against women and girls is deep rooted across the world. "It is a vicious circle, but it can be broken as what has been learned can be unlearned. "Enough is enough."  |
| Domestic violence: a trade union matter Posted: 24 Nov 2016 01:30 PM PST
Trade Unions are fully determined to eliminate violence against women through collective agreements, and their proper implementation with employers, at national, sectoral and company levels. In a ground-breaking study 'Safe at Home-Safe at work', being presented in Madrid on 24-25 November to mark the International Day against Violence against Women – on 25 November – the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) will reveal how trade unions in Europe have addressed violence against women at work and how support at the workplace can help eliminate violence against women at home. The ETUC is hosting the Madrid conference to share experience of negotiations and agreements at company and sectoral level to combat violence against women and sexual harassment at work. A survey carried out by the British TUC found that more than half of all women, and nearly two-thirds of women aged 18 to 24, experienced sexual harassment at work. A French survey, carried out in 2014, found that 1 in 5 women had been a victim of sexual harassment. Pioneering agreements have been signed in several countries including Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and the Netherlands: click here to see more details in a briefing on the ETUC project 'Safe at home, safe at work'. Such agreements will guide future European trade union actions to eliminate violence against women at work. The ETUC's Strategy and Action Plan states that "economic dependence and sexist stereotypes contribute to inequality and violence" and calls for "a new European legal instrument to combat violence against women". The ETUC gender equality work programme, adopted in 2012, set a goal to encourage trade unions to address the link between domestic violence and work-place violence. The 8 March Survey 2014 collected information from ETUC-affiliated unions on how they address the issue of violence against women, and identified trends and shared concerns. The findings confirmed that the ETUC should continue to work on this issue, which led to the project 'Safe at Home, Safe at Work'. "Sexual harassment at work is a serious problem which can have far-reaching repercussions for the victims and impacts on the whole workplace," Montserrat Mir, Confederal Secretary of the ETUC, said. "Together with the employers, we have the means to address it effectively through collective agreements, as our study shows. "A new negotiating issue for trade unions and employers is how victims of violence at home can be supported in the workplace. "Domestic violence often follows victims into the workplace, and obviously impacts on productivity and workplace morale. This makes domestic violence a trade union issue."  |
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