16 May 2023 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights

Articles

Men challenged to join in war against FGM
KBC, 16 May 2023

Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization has challenged men to play an active role in eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other harmful cultural practices such as child marriage. The organization National Chairperson, Rahab Mwikali, said it was imperative to actively involve men in challenging social norms and stereotypes that continue to perpetuate FGM. Speaking in Embu on Monday during a meeting with the organization grass root leaders from seven counties within Eastern and North Eastern Region, the chair said inclusion of men in the fight was one way of moving towards a society free from FGM. She said for FGM to be completely stamped out, it cannot be solely be considered a woman issue, but a universal problem that must engage all communities.

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North Carolina Governor Vetoes Abortion Ban but Faces Override
The New York Times, 13 May 2023

The governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, vetoed a ban on abortion that was passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature. The bill prohibited abortion past 12 weeks, with some exceptions for rape, incest or to preserve the life and health of the mother. The veto by Mr. Cooper, a Democrat, sets him up for a showdown with the legislature, which now has a slim Republican supermajority. That means it has the power to override his veto and enact the ban, if the party can muster enough votes. Hundreds of people gathered Saturday morning in Raleigh for Mr. Cooper’s “veto rally” to watch him sign as a way to call attention to his fight with Republicans.

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‘This is the culture’: The Indian wrestlers fighting sexual abuse
Al Jazeera, 13 May 2023

New Delhi, India – Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat joins her palms together and mimics holding her niece as a newborn as she recounts the “trigger point” that made her decide to protest about the sexual harassment of female wresters in India. “I started thinking about my brother’s [now 9-year-old] daughter who has started wrestling,”. “Somehow we managed to struggle, we fought and reached certain heights in this game. But to push her and other girls into this when we know how bad it is … I just couldn’t.” It has been nearly three weeks since some of India’s top wrestlers – Olympians and world champions – resumed living on a footpath in central Delhi to demand the removal and arrest of the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, for allegedly sexually harassing female athletes for more than a decade.

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Turkey’s opposition opens up to the hijab
Al Jazeera, 12 May 2023

For Turkish women wearing the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, life in the public sphere was once impossible. Beginning in the 1980s, after decades of state-sanctioned efforts to discourage women from wearing hijabs, a ban on wearing them in state institutions was implemented, affecting university staff, students, lawyers, politicians and others in the public sector. In 1997, after a military coup toppled an Islamist-led government, the ban was fully enforced, a longstanding prohibition that was only removed in 2013 by the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then prime minister.

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Nigerians Urged To End Female Genital Mutilation
Voice of Nigeria, 11 May 2023

Nigerians have been urged to continue to advocate for the end of Female Genital Mutilation in the country. The wife of the former governor of Ondo State, Mrs Olukemi Mimiko gave the urge at the lauching of the Book title OGORIRE: Our Blood, their Blood ” in Abuja the nation’s capital. She said that a better life and the improvement of the life of the girl child should also be prioritized. “I am particularly happy to be in the midst of gentlemen and ladies to celebrate the success of this book. Like the director said it is not easy to write a book, even giving a speech. You know the number of sheets that you decide before you get the ultimate notes and have been privileged to have read the demo of this. And it is open books that I want to specially congratulate you for being the voice of us women particularly the ones yet on female genital mutilation,” she said. 

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Combating violence against women: MEPs back EU accession to Istanbul Convention
EU News, 10 May 2023

 MEPs have voted to approve the European Union’s accession to the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, concluding Parliament’s role in the process. Six years after the EU signed the Istanbul Convention - the first legally binding international instrument on preventing and combating violence against women and girls - it has still not been ratified because of the refusal of a few member states, despite Parliament’s multiple calls to this end. However, the EU Court of Justice’s opinion of 6 October 2021 confirmed that the European Union can ratify the Istanbul Convention without having the agreement of all member states.

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UNFPA Launches Reproductive Health Programme For Six Counties
Kenya News, 09 May 2023

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has partnered with four non-governmental organizations to strengthen the provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services in six drought affected counties in Northern Kenya. Partners supporting the programme include the Kenya Red Cross, Peace Winds Japan International Rescue Committee, FilmAid Kenya, and the Collaborative Center for Gender and Development. The project, which is themed Building resilient health and protecting systems, targets populations in Garissa, Turkana, Marsabit, Isiolo, Samburu, and Mandera counties, focusing on prevention and response to gender-based violence and harmful practices such as FGM and child marriage for at-risk and vulnerable populations.

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