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17 July 2018 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights
Articles
Somali mother first to be sentenced under new law in Switzerland for genital mutilation of daughters
by The Local, 16 Jul 2018
A court in Neuchâtel last week found a Somali mother guilty of submitting her two daughters to female genital mutilation in a landmark case in the Alpine nation.
It was the first ever such sentence in Switzerland, where female genital mutilation was made a crime in 2011 under Article 124.
The young Somali girls were genitally mutilated while living with their mother in Somalia and Ethiopia between 2013 and 2015, a fact the mother did not deny in the Neuchâtel regional court.
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Sex workers failed by state seek safety in online networks
by Al-Jazeera, 12 Jul 2018
Sex workers in Ukraine are increasingly using online networks to protect each other. Some allege that they are not only unprotected by the state's police but abused and exploited by them.
The Russian-speaking forum has a blacklist of clients, agencies, hotels and other locations around the world, which Ana said is useful as women often travel for temporary work. Users write anonymously about experiences with abusive clients or police and share tips on the warning signs to look out for.
Sri Lankan Islamic center condemns ban on female circumcision as 'affront'
by Reuters, 11 Jul 2018
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim communities on Wednesday condemned a government decision to ban female genital cutting as an “affront” that infringed upon their religious rights.
The Centre for Islamic Studies in Sri Lanka criticized the government after the health ministry denounced female genital mutilation (FGM) and prohibited doctors from any involvement in the tradition, known as “khatna”.
“The (ban) ... not only infringes on our religious rights, but also threatens to drive the procedure underground,” Asiff Hussein, a senior official with the Centre for Islamic Studies, said in a statement.
UNICEF signs workplans with Ethiopia for child focused development interventions
by Devdiscourse, 10 Jul 2018
UNICEF signed annual work plans with the Government of Ethiopia for the Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2011. The workplace was signed by Mr. Admasu Nebebe, State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC), Ms. Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF Representative to Ethiopia and heads of Regional Bureaus of Finance and Economic Cooperation.
UNFPA also attended the signing ceremony, as one of the UN agencies signing annual work plans with the Government of Ethiopia under the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2016-2020). UNFPA was represented by Mrs. Bettina Maas, UNFPA Country Representative to Ethiopia.
India's Top Court Backs Advocates Pushing for Ban on FGM
by Telesur, 10 Jul 2018
The Indian top court called the filing against the horrific practice "extremely important and sensitive."
In a major win for women's rights in India, the country's Supreme court has agreed with the federal government to push for ending the Female Genital Mutilation, FGM.
Attorney General K K Venugopal informed the Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the government wants to ban the practice where a girl child is forced to undergo genital mutilation or circumcision. The attorney general also pointed out that the practice violates fundamental human rights and has severe repercussions on women's health.