12 September 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & Women's rights

Articles

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Last chance for justice for over 20,000 wartime sexual violence survivors
By Amnesty International, 12 Sep 2017

 A quarter of a century after the start of the conflict, more than 20,000 survivors of wartime sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still being denied justice, said Amnesty International in a new report.“We need support, not pity:” Last chance for justice for Bosnia’s wartime rape survivors reveals the devastating physical and psychological consequences of these crimes and the unjustifiable barriers preventing women from accessing the support they need and the legal redress to which they are entitled. “More than two decades after the war, tens of thousands of women in Bosnia are still piecing together their shattered lives with little access to the medical, psychological and financial assistance they desperately need,” said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s Deputy Europe Director. “As each year passes, so does the prospect of ever attaining justice or receiving the support to which they are entitled. These women can not forget what happened to them and neither should we.”

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Girls in Moldova hone their STEM skills and take a stand against domestic violence
By UN Women, 08 Sep 2017

 Sixty-five girls aged 16 to 20 from 13 regions of Moldova learned web development, robotics, and 3D printing at the third edition of GirlsGoIT summer camp that took place on 21-30 July in Chisinau, Moldova. The participants have also visited several technology companies, such as DAS Solutions, Moldcell, Matrix and Tekwill. Additionally, DAS Solutions offered internships for two summer camp participants. Most girls interacted for the first time with a 3D printer to print their designs, wrote code for a robot, and created their first web pages.“Technology is the future. I think every girl and every woman has huge potential. Why not learn about technology if they want to? In the end, we are all equal,” said Marița Ciorba, a participant in the 2017 GirlsGoIT summer camp, the first summer camp edition that includes other disciplines alongside information technology, such as robotics and 3D printing. Besides acquiring new technical skills, girls have also learned more about their rights. 

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South Korea: World's longest protest over comfort women
By Al Jazeera, 08 Sep 2017

 25-year-old demonstration in Seoul draws international attention to Japan's World War II sex slavery in occupied Asia. Seoul, South Korea - For the past 25 years, Koreans both young and old have gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in central Seoul every Wednesday - 1,300 times - making it the world's longest-running protest. South Koreans demand that the Japanese government apologise and compensate the estimated 200,000 female victims - known euphemistically as "comfort women" - forced into sexual slavery by imperial Japan. When leaders realised this would never happen, many decided to ask that these elderly women, known as "halmonies" or grandmothers in Korean, be honoured and remembered with a national memorial day in South Korea. President Moon Jae-in agrees.

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Indian girl allowed abortion amid claims doctors ‘afraid to help’ child rape victims
By The Guardian , 07 Sep 2017

 Supreme court approves termination for 13-year-old who fell pregnant after assault but case highlights concerns that medics do not understand relevant law. The Indian supreme court has ruled that a 13-year-old rape victim in Mumbai who was left pregnant after the attack can have a termination. It follows a landmark ruling last month that said doctors should make greater effort to support victims of sexual assault regardless of the country’s abortion laws. On 25 August, the court ruled that precious time was lost, and added distress caused, to girls and their families when they were forced to bring their individual cases to court. Doctors have been criticised as being far too fearful when dealing with the victims of child rape. The girl in Mumbai is eight months pregnant, but her condition was only discovered last month, when her parents took her to a doctor.

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