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16 Dec 2014 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights
NPWJ press release
FGM / No Peace Without Justice: the anti-FGM front at the United Nations grows bigger
By Npwj, 26 Nov 2014
No Peace without Justice and the Radical Party welcome the decision made by the UN Third Committee on Social, Cultural and Humanitarian affairs (SOCHUM), to unanimously adopt, with 125 co-sponsorships, a Resolution to universally ban female genital mutilations (FGM). The UN General Assembly had first expressed itself against this traditional practice on 20 December 2012, after the long BanFGM campaign led by a coalition of African and European NGOs, created thanks to the initiative of No Peace Without Justice. The encouraging data is that there is an increasing number of countries promoting the Resolution: 21 more than in 2012. This is not only an acknowledgement for female activists working on the field, but also the sign of a growing consensus coming from the States, willing to engage themselves at the global level to politically implement the content of the Resolution, which condemns FGM as a violation of the rights of women and young girls. Normative tools and effective implementation, together with correct training and prevention, are also pivotal factors. We wish that this further stance on the matter from the international community will be an incentive for both the states lacking legislation and for those already engaged in ad-hoc measures.
Articles
Women's Reproductive Rights in Croatia: Is the Clock Ticking?
By Global Voices, 15 Dec 2014
The status of women's reproductive rights have been a subject of concern recently in Croatia. A protest organised in Zagreb, Croatia declared “Illegal abortions – we won't go back” on 28 November, and on 11 December a joint meeting of The Committee for Gender Equality and CESI (Center for Education, Counseling and Research) was held regarding reproductive rights in Croatia. Those two events occurred after the mass media started asking questions around the topic, provoked by independent activist portals like Libela.org (which is the only portal in Croatia constantly writing about reproductive rights) and research done and published by CESI — “Grey area – question of abortions in Republic of Croatia”. In Croatia, women have been able to have abortions, with no questions asked until the tenth week of pregnancy since 1978, thanks to a law that was instated while Croatia was still a part of the former Yugoslavia and has been valid since. Over the last 23 years, since Croatia's independence, several religious and neo-conservative groups have tried to oppose such laws and forbid legally induced abortions. None of them have, for the time being, tried to put pressure on legislators in a way that would actually ban abortions altogether, although many have organized protests and anti-freedom-of-choice campaigns like “40 days for life”. None of the organizations rallying against women's rights have discussed contraception, education, and social-economic factors involved in abortion rates and practices.
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Clinton: Fixing gender gap requires all the 'facts and figures'
By CNN , 15 Dec 2014
(CNN) -- As she positions herself for a potential presidential run in 2016, Hillary Clinton sought to shine her spotlight Monday on one of her longtime goals: narrowing the gender gap around the world through the use of data. The former Secretary of State spoke briefly Monday at an event with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to give a progress report on their joint 2012 initiative known as "data2x" -- an effort intended to spark "a gender data revolution" -- which is a partnership of the Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the United Nations Foundation. Clinton noted that her quest to improve the data about the status of women around the world stemmed from her years as Secretary of State when she would try to broach those topics with other world leaders, who would "smile and nod" but often not take the topic seriously. "You can't understand what the problem is if you don't have a good grasp of what the facts and figures are," Clinton said. At the State Department, she learned, she said, that she could not rely solely on the moral argument that women's rights should be considered human rights.
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Kenya: Girl Commits Suicide After Forced FGM
By All Africa, 15 Dec 2014
A schoolgirl committed suicide after being forced to undergo female genital mutilation, according to a winning poster in an awareness campaign. The poster was drawn by Consolatah Lokiru from Ortum Girls School. She entered the competition to remember her friend who committed suicide last year when her parents forced her to undergo the cut. "My poster comprised of girls and parents who are against. A girl who was cut and later died and two girls reporting the incident to police officers who arrest the parents," Lokiru said. The poster competition took place recently at Ortum Girls Primary School in West Pokot. Ivy Lomeyan, who took the second position, said she participated in the competition after her friend bled to death last year. "My friend passed on at Kapenguria hospital after she over-bled. I felt sorry after losing my close friend and I vowed to be an ambassador against FGM," she said. The girls also held a peaceful demonstration on the streets of Ortum asking parents to let them further their education.
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Court to hear prosecution’s appeal on FGM death case
By Daily News Egypt, 13 Dec 2014
The Mansoura Misdemeanour Court has accepted the prosecution’s appeal on the acquittal of defendants in a female genital mutilation (FGM) case that caused the death of a 13-year-old girl last year. Soheir El-Batei died during an FGM operation, but her father and the doctor, who were accused for their part in her death, were acquitted on November 20. Accordingly, the prosecution filed an appeal against the court’s decision. The United Nations (UN) noted it was “deeply concerned” by the court’s dismissal of the case. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a November statement that Egyptian authorities should take serious steps to combat FGM. The rights group said these steps should include “implementation of the law and a national strategy to raise awareness of the harms FGM”. A law was issued in 2008 criminalising the practice, but a lack of enforcement means it is still practiced in rural areas in Egypt.
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Campaign to end violence against women human rights defenders across the Gulf region and its neighbouring countries
By Gulf Center for Human Rights, 12 Dec 2014
10 December 2014 - Today, International Human Rights Day, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) pays tribute to the courage of women human rights defenders across the Gulf region and its neighbouring countries. The region is not hospitable to human rights defenders in general and women are even more at risk in some of the most dangerous countries in the world to speak your mind, such as Iraq where a critical comment can get you killed, or Syria where being a human rights defender means risking your life and liberty, or Bahrain, where tearing a photo of the King could land you in jail for seven years, or Saudi Arabia where women have been arrested for trying to drive, or Iran, where protesting about acid attacks on women will incur punishment. We join the thousands of people worldwide marking 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence which began on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, marked International Women Human Rights Defenders Day on 29 November and ends 10 December, International Human Rights Day. The campaign symbolically links violence against women and human rights and emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights.
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