21 Jun 2016 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights

Articles

UN campaign highlights unsung work of women in Middle East peace-building
by The Guardian , 21 Jun 2016

Seeking to help a region plagued by war and violence, the UN has unveiled a campaign to highlight the role of women in peace-building and conflict resolution– hoping that their largely unsung work in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya and Palestine will inspire others. A series of five films commissioned by UN Women is entitled in Arabic and English simply #WeAreHere, a statement of defiance and a message of future commitment. “Every time I meet a woman I feel there is hope in Syria,” says Mona Ghanem, a Damascus lawyer who was forced to leave the country after the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad morphed into vicious armed conflict. “Women have such potential, such possibilities, but they need a ray of light to walk the right path.”

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Sudan: 'Laws, Impunity Foster Sexual Violence' - International Organisations
by allAfrica, 20 Jun 2016

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, 24 international and Sudanese civil society organisations called on the Sudanese government to reverse the atmosphere of impunity that fosters sexual violence committed by its security forces. "The scale of sexual violence is likely much greater than any reports indicate." Human Rights Watch, Sudan Democracy First Group, Waging Peace, El Khatim Adlan Center for Enlightenment & Human Development (Kace), African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies and Sudan Consortium, among others, signed a joint statement on Sunday that demands from Sudan to hold perpetrators of sexual violence accountable, and review its laws and policies. The public discussion about it in Sudan is impeded by severe restrictions on freedom of the press. 'In Darfur, as the report of the UN Secretary General noted in April 2016, Sudanese government forces have continued to use sexual violence during attacks on villages and displaced persons over the last 12 years. This was reflected in President Bashir's indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2009, which includes charges of rape committed by Sudanese forces as a crime against humanity.

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Liberia: Sen. Taylor Gets Behind Anti-FGM Campaigners
by the Daily Observer - Liberia, 20 Jun 2016

Bong County Senator Jewel Howard Taylor has added her voice to the many that condemn the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) across the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injuries to the female genital organ for non-medical reasons. It is also sometimes referred to as female genital cutting or female circumcision. There are no health benefits to FGM and it is recognized internationally as a human rights violation. Senator Taylor's support to the campaign was contained in an extemporaneous remark she made shortly after receiving a petition from students, who on Thursday, June 16, joined their colleagues worldwide in celebrating the Day of the African Child in Monrovia.
 

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We Need A Zero Tolerance Approach To Violence Against Women And Girls In Pakistan
by The Huffington Post, 14 Jun 2016

We are seeing an alarming rise in the number of reports of attacks against women by their families. What is so saddening is that it is perpetuated by their own fathers, mothers and brothers, the very people who should be protecting them. Gender based violence is a systematic form of abuse and a violation of human rights; it cannot be tolerated in any society and must be challenged at every level in Pakistan. Marriage should be a time of joy, when both individuals give their consent for a future together. But the stories of girls and women in Pakistan being raped, tortured, burned and attacked with acid for daring to say “no” to a forced marriage are bleak and terrible. Zeenat Rafiq and Maria Sadaqat are two of the latest causalities, killed for wanting nothing more than to make their own decisions about their lives. No one should be murdered for wanting to control their own future.

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