***
1
- Korea / Corée : URGENT !
Support survivors' action !
Dear
friends,
Greetings from Tokyo! I am writing this on behalf of vaww-net
japan. I am sorry I am quite behind in keeping you up to date with what we have
been up to. But now I have to report to you a very recent development
which is in need of YOUR
SUPPORT!
Twelve South Korean and two Taiwanese survivors are coming to
Japan next week in order to directly protest to the Japanese government.
They
are angry and tired of having the lawsuits rejected one after another by the
Japanese courts; they are of course angry with the Japanese government to keep
ignoring their demands; they are tired also of their own government not to take
firm enough approach to the Japanese government. South Korean survivors have
been doing their protest in front of the japanese Embassy in Seoul for the last
several years without even one failure and next week it will be the 700th
protest, and they want to do it in japan, and directly facing the jp govt, which
may well be the last chance for them to do. They have called the survivors
from other countries to join them and the ones from Taiwan will be able to. This
was proposed only two weeks ago via the Korean Council, and the jp network of
groups supporting the women's lawsuits as well as vawwJ have been running around
ever since then. There will be a press conference, meetings with MPs, a visit to
the Prime Minister's official residence and a protest get-together for the
general public are being scheduled for the four days they will be in Japan. They
will arrive on the 6th of August.
Would you be able to send to us a few
lines in support of the women and their demands, to be given to the women as
well as to be disclosed for the general public and the press? Needless to say,
the more
victimised countries are represented the better because it will show
the solidarity of the survivors and their supporters. The more of you from
third-party countries joining the better, too, of course, as it will show that
the wider international community is watching (and that will be very encouraging
to the survivors, I am sure, as well as inviting the jp govt to stop and think).
Your message does not have to be long, but your presence will be extremely
important! (Please, do not make it too long, because there are only a few of us
to translate...)
I will make sure that your message is translated and
delivered to the women and others if you will send it quite soon. (The end of the 4th of August your local time
will be the very latest deadline I will be able to handle.) I am sorry this is
very short notice, but we have been given very little time, too.
As
for up-dating...
- Earlier this month another case including "comfort
women"'s demands was rejected by the Tokyo High Court (The plaintiffs of the
case includes late Ms KIM Hak-Soon, the brave first woman to break the
silence.)
- Three of us from vawwJ went to New York, joined by members of
NGOs from other countries particularly Indonesia and US, to lobby at the UN
Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women. It was exmaining jp
govt repoort (which said the Convention had nothing to do with the issue of
"wartime comfort women"). The International Criminal Justice Institute (a
US-based NGO) and vawwJ wrote a joint shadow-report against jp govt.
-
Presently, one of us is in Geneva to lobby at the UN Human Rights
Sub-Commission.
- And the MPs, cabinet members and high-ranking government
officials of this country are making even more overtly sexist comments, very
generous to violence against women, these days (not about the past but about
recent cases of sexual assaults).
But please wait a little more for these
details.
I am sorry this is rather abrupt. We are very much looking
forward to your messages to the survivors and/or the jp govt.
Always with
best wishes and in solidarity,
SEKI Noriko / vaww-net japan
international campaign team
*
I beg each and everyone of you
to write a letter of support for the efforts of the "comfort women" from
Korea. Please read below and send your support letter to vaww-net-japan@jca.apc.orgThey count on us and they are fewer of them every year, please
think of them and their struggle which is the struggle of every women concern
with the end of impunity for violations of women's human rights in conflict
situation... an end to impunity for sexual violence...
PASS THE WORD ON TO AS
MANY OTHER WOMEN AS POSSIBLE
merci,
Ariane
From: <abrunet@ichrdd.ca>
***
2 -
Japan : (History) The right to vote
The women's
suffrage movement in Japan emerged during pre-war days, centering on the Women's
Suffrage League, and voices were heard to build a "women's center" as a homebase
for the movement.
It was not until in 1946, however, that the plan was
realized. The right to vote and be elected was conferred upon Japanese women in
1945, when the war ended. To commemorate this historic event, a modest wooden
"women's center" was built in the following year, 1946, where the Fusen Kaikan
(Women's Suffrage Center) now stands, thanks to the appeal of Fusae lchikawa, a
leader of the women's suffrage movement.
Since then, the Women's Suffrage Center
has acted as a locus for liberated Japanese women to engage in various
activities and movements so as to make full use of their voting rights. Taking a
politically neutral stand, these activities become instrumental in proposing and
developing many projects on various scales.
From : http://www.ichikawa-fusae.or.jp/110/index.htm
***
3 - France : Violence Against Women in the Community
In France, rape is defined as “any act of sexual
penetration, of whatever nature, committed against another person using
violence, restraint, threats, or surprise.” Rape is punishable by a maximum
prison sentence of 15 years, unless there are aggravating circumstances, in
which case it is punishable by 20 years in
prison.
The national investigation on violence against women
deduced that between 50,000 and 90,000 rapes were committed in France in 1999.
It is also estimated that 11.4% of women are victims of sexual aggression during
the course of their lives, and 8% of women are victims of rape or the threat of
rape. The culture of silence surrounding rape is evident when this estimate is
compared to the fact that only 7828 complaints of rape were filed in
1998. About 1 complaint in 6 leads to an actual conviction of the
perpetrator. Additionally, a study realized in 1995 concerning complaints of rape or
sexual aggression showed that although the law foresees up to 20 years in prison
for rape, the average punishment for persons convicted of rape in this study was
6 years in prison.
The statistics of one NGO running a hotline and other
services for victims of rape and other sexual crimes reveal that a majority of
the calls they receive concern victims who are minors (58.7% in 1999 and 57.2%
in 2000). Another study on sexual violence conducted in 1999 concerning women
seeking abortions revealed that 20% of the respondents had been subjected to
sexual abuse or maltreatment during childhood. Statistics also indicate that 72% of girls who are raped before the age
of 15 never report the crime.
The police response to women who have been raped is not
consistently sensitive to the particularities of the crime. In particular,
reports indicate that some police continue to blame the victim (for being out at
the wrong time of night or trying to cover up an affair) or further insult the
victim through their questioning techniques.
In February 2003, women from all over France organized a
march, entitled “Ni Putes, Ni Soumises” (neither slags/whores nor submissives)
to protest to widespread sexual violence that occurs on a daily basis in the
suburbs of Paris, where many of the poorest people and immigrants live. In many of these communities, gang rapes of teenage
girls and young women are commonplace. These horrific crimes are called
“tournantes” (pass-arounds) or basement plans, as that is often where the crime
occurs.
Elodie, 14, who, on August 1, 2000, answered the
door when her parents were out, and found herself a minute later facing five
boys in her dining room, and a minute after that with the first of five penises
in her mouth. When she tells her story, on a video deposition, her hands never
leave her face.
Solange, 17, whose boyfriend held her down while his
friend raped her in a stairwell, and who between December 1997 and July 1998 was
raped five times by 11 teenagers. (When she dumped her boyfriend and got a new
one, he let his friends rape her, too.)
Nora, 14, who three years ago went to a station to
meet her friend Pierre, who passed her on to two of his friends, who raped her
in a dingy apartment and sent her home on a train bleeding. In her statement to
police, she says, "He took his trousers off. He had nothing on underneath. And
he asked me to touch his . . . " But she can't say the word.
Annabelle, a 21-year-old student, was raped by four young
men on a train near Lille. There were 200 people in the carriage. Another girl
was raped 86 times.
Statistics regarding the occurrence of gang rapes are
difficult to obtain as most victims of this crime do not report it. A hotline
for rape victims reported receiving 73 calls about gang rapes in the period from
January to October 2001. However, one worker at a shelter for juveniles claimed
that every girl who has come to the shelter has known at least one girl who has
been gang raped. Another NGO reported that between 1998 and 2000, 12% of all reports of
rape where the victims were minors were gang rapes.
Reports indicate that this is a problem in the suburbs and
is not limited to any one ethnicity or nationality. A culture has arisen in the
suburbs that combines traditional notions of women’s inferiority with a “street
code based on survival of the strongest.” Such a combination leaves girls vulnerable to rape and other forms of
violence every time they leave their home, and sometimes even within their home.
Girls are targeted for gang rapes because they have slept with their “boyfriend”
(sometimes organized by the boyfriend himself), because they have gone to a
nightclub, or even because they have worn a miniskirt—any step outside of their socially prescribed role as submissive,
obedient virgins. When these cases reach the courts, the defense of the rapists
is often that it was consensual group sex, or justifications invoking the
victim’s clothing, her previous sexual history, or any of the reasons listed
above for why she may have been targeted for the rape in the first place,
arguments that are reportedly accepted by many inhabitants of the suburbs, as
well as some judges.
Most complaints concerning gang rapes are not followed up
out of fear on the part of the victim or pressure from the police, lawyers or
family not to pursue the complaint. Specifically, one NGO reports that police
are sometimes not sensitive to reports of gang rape, even asserting that the
victim had provoked the perpetrators. Suspected perpetrators of these gang rapes frequently continue to attend
the same school as the victim, increasing the element of fear experienced by the
victim in reporting the crime to the police.
The government has set up a National Committee to Combat
Violence in Schools and has issued a report on sexual violence in
schools.
From : a report prepared by OMCT
(CEDAW 2003)
***
4 - Spanish : Spanish mayor bans
men from bars
A girls' night out has become
official policy in a small southern Spanish town after the mayor announced
yesterday he would ban men from going out on a Thursday night.
The radical move by Javier Checa
will see any men who go to bars in Torredonjimeno between 9pm and 2am on a
Thursday evening fined by the local police.
Mr Checa has explained that
he expects the town's men to stay at home on Thursdays to look after the
children and do the washing up.
The women, on the other
hand, are to be given a free run of the town's bars and night-clubs which,
presumably, will be free of the opposite sex.
The mayor did not say whether men
from other towns would be welcome.
Money from the fines will go towards
groups that deal with domestic violence and equality between the sexes.
Mr Checa said he wanted to turn
Torredonjimeno, which is near the city of Jaen, into "an international reference
point" for sex equality.
"We have to make men aware of the
responsibilities they have in the home. They don't just have a right to go out
and drink beer with their friends, they also have to be a house-husband," he
said.
News of the fines was met with
dismay by men in the town, many of whom are used to whiling away the time before
and after supper in the local bars.
"I don't see that the mayor can tell
us when we should be able to go out for a beer," Jose Luis Jimenez complained to
the state television TVE. (...).
Giles Tremlett, Tuesday July
22, 2003, The
Guardian
From :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1003144,00.html
***
5 -
Israel : Gender Discrimination and Stereotyping in
Schools
A committee appointed by Education
Minister Limor Livnat and chaired by Ella Gera, IWN Executive Director, examined
gender stereotyping in Israeli textbooks. The committee presented the results to
the Education Minister Limor Livnat at a press conference on March 24.
According to the report, 96.4% of Israeli
textbooks do not meet suggested committee standards in at least one aspect of
gender stereotyping and discrimination against females. The report also noted
that textbooks designed for adolescent pupils, an age in which individual
identity is being formed, contained the greatest amount of gender stereotypes.
Is There Gender Bias in Israeli Schools?
Some people think that gender differences in
education are no longer an issue.
As early as 1983, the Dvoretzky Committee reported
on gender differences in the study of mathematics in Israel: in the 12th grade,
only 15% of the female students sat for matriculation examinations in high-level
mathematics, while 30% of the male students did so. (See ORT Young Women Prepare
for the 21st Century, 1997-2001; A Revolution in Expectations and Achievements,
Y. Rom, p. 1).
Yet now, more Israeli girls than boys reach the
12th grade of high school. More girls than boys complete their matriculation
exams. So, is there really still a problem??
Yes -- significant gender differences in
educational achievements continue to exist.
The educational system in Israel ascribes to
equality between the sexes. But in practice, the educational system is trapped
in stereotypical gender concepts that strengthen the gaps in achievements
between boys and girls, especially in science studies. (see Women in Israel: A
Data And Information Compilation, 1999-2000, The Israel Women’s Network Resource
and Policy Research Center, p. 94).
Gender bias in the schools hinders the ability of
the school system to enable students to develop their personalities and talents
to their fullest potential. The achievements of girls in science and math do not
reflect their abilities and talents and negatively affect their advancement in
these fields in the workplace.
Government Report Shows Significant Gender
Differences in Education
In 2000, the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of
Education issued a detailed research report about certain significant gender
differences that continue to exist between high school boys and girls in their
educational achievements in mathematics and sciences versus the humanities. (See
Prof. Z. Mevarech, Chief Scientist, Ministry of Education, Gender Gaps in
Educational Achievements, Sept. 10, 2000, Office of the Chief Scientist,
Ministry of Education, Israel).
This new research shows that despite the fact that
more girls than boys complete high school and receive matriculation
certificates, significant gender differences in educational achievements
continue to exist in certain selected subjects.
For example, in 1999, 60% of the high school girls
and 52% of the high school boys took 3 units of mathematics matriculation exams
-- but only 14% of the girls took the more advanced level of 5 units of
mathematics matriculation exams, whereas 22% of the boys did so.
These differences occurred also in physics,
computer science, electronics and computers.
In physics, twice as many boys as girls took 5
units of physics matriculation exams. Conversely, 5 times more girls than boys
took 5 units of literature matriculation exams. (Gender Gaps, pp. 1-3).
An international study in 1995 compared
differences between the achievements of boys and girls in 8th grade in 41
countries -- the gap between boys and girls' achievements in mathematics was the
widest in Israel as compared to all of the other countries. Similar differences
existed in the sciences. Yet in mother-tongue language skills, the results were
reversed; Israeli girls significantly outperformed the boys.
The report by the Education Ministry's Chief
Scientist discusses many studies that examine why such great gender differences
continue to exist. For example, some studies examine how: (i) teachers and
advisers encourage boys to select math, science and technology, and encourage
girls to select the humanities, and (ii) personality and psychological
differences between boys and girls result in their selecting certain subjects
because of how they are taught, rather than because of the content.
The Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Education
reports that there are programs that have been successful in other countries to
reduce or even eliminate these gender gaps in specific educational fields. The
report emphasizes that the Ministry of Education must undertake concrete
measures to create an educational environment in which all pupils can develop to
their full potentials. (Gender Gaps, pp. 3-5).
Recent Ministry of Education Initiatives
The Ministry of Education recognized that
initiatives are required in order to advance gender equality. The Ministry of
Education stated in a recent report that the educational system must address the
gaps and inequities between girls and boys, the phenomenon of violence stemming
from this inequality, and the explicit and implicit sexism in the educational
system. (See Equality Between the Sexes: Gender, Education and the Relationship
Between Them; Policies, Strategy and Implementation in the Educational System,
Ministry of Education, 2002 (in Hebrew).
Minister of Education Limor Livnat, upon her
appointment to the ministry, expressed her commitment to a policy of instilling
equality between the sexes in the school system. Towards that end, she tripled
the budget for gender equity programs. All schools are required to prepare plans
to improve gender equity. (See T. Lazaroff, Sexes To Be Separated In Math and
Science Classes, The Jerusalem Post, March 8, 2002.)
Appointment of Committee to Examine Books &
Teaching Materials
Minister Livnat established a Committee to
evaluate school textbooks and teaching materials with respect to the content and
messages concerning equality between the sexes. Minister Livnat appointed IWN
Executive Director Ella Gera to chair this Commitee.
Interim Report About Biased Textbooks
The Committee submitted an intermediate report to
the Minister of Education in October 2001. The interim report states that
numerous studies and reports since 1978 show that Israeli textbooks and schools
promote gender stereotypes that hinder the goal of achieving gender equality in
society. The interim report also states that the recommendations of a previous
Ministry of Education report intended to address these problem were never
implemented. (See Gender Stereotypes in Textbooks in the Education System in
Israel, Intermediate Report of the Committee for the Examination of Gender
Stereotypes in Textbooks, submitted to Minister of Education Limor Livnat,
October 2001, p. 4 & annex, p. 10 (in Hebrew).
In its interim report, the Committee recommends:
-
Using a logo to indicate textbooks approved
for use on the basis that they do not contain gender stereotypes.
-
Undertaking efforts to increase the awareness
and sensitivity of everyone involved in the entire education system to both
explicit and implicit gender stereotyping in educational materials.
-
Requiring principals and teachers to ensure
that all materials used in the classroom are approved.
Final Report on Gender Stereotypes in Textbooks
In March 2002, the Committee issued its findings
that 96.4% of Israeli textbooks do not meet the suggested Committee standards in
at least one aspect of gender stereotyping and discrimination against females.
The report also noted that textbooks designed for adolescent pupils, an age in
which individual identity is being formed, contained the greatest amount of
gender stereotypes.
IWN commends the recent initiatives of the
Ministry of Education to address the problem of gender discrimination in the
school system. IWN urges the Government to devote sufficient financial resources
to implement those policy initiatives, recommendations and new programs that
will address the problem of discrimination on the basis of gender in education.
From : Israel Women's Network / http://www.iwn.org.il/iwn.asp?subject=education.mdb&topic=Main%20Issues&cName=Education
