21 Mar 2023 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights

Articles

EU imposes fresh sanctions on Iran for women's rights abuses
The Brussels Time, 20 Mar 2023

EU member states decided on Monday to sanction an additional eight people and one entity in Iran for their support of, or involvement in, the crackdown on anti-regime protests and attacks on the freedom of girls and women. Among those banned from travelling to the EU, and whose assets there are reportedly frozen, are judges who have sentenced protesters to death, a state broadcaster who broadcasts the forced confessions of foreign hostages, and clerics who spread hatred against women, protesters and religious minorities.

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FGM rate in Egypt decreased to 14% among age group between 0 -14 yrs old: NCW president Maya Morsy
Egypt Today, 20 Mar 2023

Egypt’s president of the National Council for Women [NCW] Maya Morsy, said on Monday that Egypt has made tangible progress in 2030 Women's Strategy during the past period. During her speech at the Egyptian women celebration attended by president Abdel Fattah al Sisi and his spouse, Morsy noted that during the year 2022, the number of beneficiaries from the NCW reached 12 million in all of the country’s governorates. [...] President of NCW announced during her speech that the rate of Female genital mutilation in Egypt decreased from 21% to 14% among the age group of 0 -14 years old. “However, we still looking forward to a labor law that supports women and to increase penalties against violence towards women, we also look forward to a ‘personal status law’ that supports women and children's rights” Morsy said.

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Abortion on the ballot? Not if these Republican lawmakers can help it.
Politico, 19 Mar 2023

In a recent letter to legislators, Oklahomans for Life Chair Tony Lauinger argued that if they don’t amend the state’s anti-abortion law to add exceptions for rape and incest, there is a real chance a citizen-led ballot initiative to make all abortion legal will eventually succeed. His efforts, which other lawmakers and anti-abortion groups have slammed as immoral and politically naive, are the latest example of the national scramble to prevent voters from restoring abortion access by popular vote. 

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Sierra Leone: Death of Two-Year-Old Toddler - Human Rights Activist Calls Government to Action
All Africa, 17 Mar 2023

A Sierra Leonean human rights activist currently based in Sydney, Australia, Magdalene Sambo Konneh, who has been advocating against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM),has called on the police and other authorities concerned to take punitive against the culprits who allegedly killed a two-year-old toddler during initiation into the Bondo Secret society. On March 13th, Concord Times reported a case about a 2-year-old toddler, who was found dead in a female secret society bush (bondo bush) at Crossing Village, Waterloo, Western Rural District. The discovery was made by Police Constable, David Aiah Sorie, who intercepted a secret procession of a bunch of female authorities belonging to the 'Bondo Secret Society'. 

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Forced from Home for Protesting Indonesia’s Mandatory Hijab Rules
Human Rights Watch, 17 Mar 2023

When Elianu Hia shared a video on Facebook in January 2021, he never imagined that act would lead to him losing his home and small business in the Indonesian city of Padang, West Sumatra. Hia was upset that school regulations required his 17-year-old Christian daughter to wear a hijab to school. He recorded his meeting with his daughter’s teacher at State Technical High School No. 2, during which the teacher pressured him to comply, saying: “This is the school regulation. This is a mandatory hijab rule.” The teacher then told Hia to sign a letter confirming his daughter’s refusal to wear the hijab, which was apparently a step toward expelling her.

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