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30 Aug 2016 - NPWJ News Digest on Gender & Human Rights
Articles
Zimbabwe: Sexual Abuse - The Untold Story of the Liberation War
by All Africa, 29 Aug 2016
It is night in the late 1970s. Some senior comrades fighting the Rhodesian army during the war of independence arrive at one of the liberation camps in Mozambique sparking joy and jubilation among the fighters in the camp. Everyone rises to greet them after which a conversation starts on the state of the liberation struggle. The senior comrades announce that the guerillas will soon receive new weapons, increasing the excitement in the camp. Beer and whisky brought by visitors from Maputo is passed around and the soldiers take a swig as laughter erupts. For others this becomes a cue to take to the dance floor. They gyrate to fast-paced rhythms that betray a heavy influence of the kanindo music then popular in Tanzania where most of the combatants received military training.
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South Africa: Alleged Genital Mutilator's Bail Application Postponed Again
by All Africa, 29 Aug 2016
The bail application of alleged genital mutilator, Danish national Peter Frederiksen, was postponed yet again in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Monday. Magistrate Marlene Marais postponed the application without giving a date. She said the defence failed to submit Frederiksen's financial papers, indicating he had enough money to pay bail. The papers were expected to be submitted to the State on August 12. "The reason why the court asked for these documents is that there were no independent documents to prove that there were funds. If these were provided, I would be giving judgment today," she said. Trial. Frederiksen is expected to appear again in the High Court in Bloemfontein for his pre-trial conference on September 23. The State said its investigations were complete and the trial was expected to take eight weeks. He is facing 59 charges, including assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, possessing unregistered medicine, possessing unlicensed firearms, distributing and possessing child pornography, conspiracy to murder, and bigamy.
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Egypt's Cabinet Approves Amendments to Law Against FGM
by All Africa, 28 Aug 2016
Cairo — Egypt's cabinet approved a draft amendment to the law against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), imposing harsher punishments on the practice and considering it a felony, the health minister said on Sunday. The draft law classifies FGM as a felony instead of a misdemeanour, punishable with imprisonment between five-seven years and up to 15 years in case the operation led to a permanent disability or death, Minister Ahmed Emad told a press conference. The bill also punishes whoever accompanies a female to have the operation with imprisonment between one-three years. The current law sets a punishment between three months to two years or a fine between EGP 1,000 - 5,000 on anyone who causes an injury due to FGM.
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I decided to be a Ugandan woman for a week – it was the wig that broke me
by The Guardian, 22 Aug 2016
Inequality and gender have rightfully become subjects of study at many schools and institutions in Uganda. But, despite the years that have passed, we have not really succeeded in creating gender equality here or in most other countries across the globe. Due to the way we have grown up, many people still hold the old attitudes: women are the ones supposed to cook, wash, take care of the children, and kneel down when greeting others. While women are in the kitchens cooking, men should go and work to provide for the family. Men give the instructions at home because they are seen as the controllers in the relationship. We teach these ideas to our children without even realising it, as they watch and copy the older generation.
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Repport on female genital mutilation in dagestan sparks controversy in Russia
by Europe Newsweek, 17 Aug 2016
A new report on the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Russia’s Dagestan Republic has caused controversy in the country, with one Muslim cleric saying “all women” should undergo the practice. The report, published Monday by the Russian Justice Initiative (RJI), a Moscow-based nongovernmental organization that monitors human rights abuses in the North and South Caucasus in Russia, says that tens of thousands of women and girls have undergone FGM in Dagestan since the 1970s. It’s the first time a quantitative report has been published about the existence of FGM in the country. “FGM can no longer be seen as a supposedly ‘African’ issue. It is a human rights violation which affects hundreds of millions of women and girls on all continents,” Mary Wandia, FGM program manager at Equality Now, an international human rights organization, said in a statement emailed toNewsweek. The United Nations estimates that more than 200 million women and girls around the world have undergone FGM in their lifetime, and Equality Now says there has been an increase in awareness of FGM’s prevalence in India, Singapore, Colombia, Yemen and Indonesia over the past few years.