PETITION Algérie
: Code de la famille...20 ans Barakat !
Parce que je suis une femme,
Parce que je suis un
homme,
Parce que nos vies et nos libertés sont indissolublement
liées et qu’ensemble nous dessinons l’avenir;
Parce que je veux qu’en
Algérie, une fille et un garçon choisissent de vivre ensemble par amour, et
non par devoir ou contrainte;
Parce que je pense qu’une femme tout comme un
homme a le droit de demander de ne plus vivre avec son conjoint, quelle qu’en
soit la raison;
Parce que je suis convaincu-e que seule la reconnaissance
de la dignité des femmes permettra aux enfants et aux hommes de retrouver la
leur, car elle touche à l’équilibre profond de la société, à l’avenir des
enfants, à l’harmonie de la famille, à la liberté de l’individu-e;
Parce
qu’une société qui méprise les femmes -soit la moitié de la population- va à
sa perte, et qu’en Algérie, ce mépris est institutionnalisé dans le Code la
famille, loi en vigueur depuis 20 ans qui place les femmes dans un statut
d’êtres inférieurs;
Parce qu’une société où, au nom de la loi, femmes et
enfants sont jetés à la rue, est une société inhumaine;
Parce que cette
injustice légalisée – écho des mentalités les plus rétrogrades de ce pays- a
fragilisé l’ensemble de la société, légitimé les violences subies au
quotidien, et encouragé de fait les terribles violences physiques, dont les
femmes de tous âges sont les victimes depuis plus de dix ans;
La Tunisie et le
Maroc, pays musulmans, ont jugé fondamental d’introduire des réformes pour
plus d’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes, réformes incontournables pour
l’épanouissement de leurs sociétés;
Parce
que la question du statut égalitaire des femmes en Algérie, et au delà, celle
de leur reconnaissance pleine et entière en tant que citoyennes, est une
question essentielle et urgente de l’Algérie d’aujourd’hui et de
demain;
Je demande aux autorités politiques algériennes d’abroger le Code de
la famille et d’établir l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes devant
la loi comme la constitution algérienne le
stipule.
Signez la pétition :
http://20ansbarakat.free.fr/petition.htm
From : barakat20ans@aol.com
***
1 - France
* Le Sénat veut
inscrire la notion de mixité dans le code de
l'éducation
La Délégation du Sénat aux droits de la femme
recommande l'introduction par voie législative dans le code de l'éducation de
la notion de mixité, dans son rapport annuel
présenté mercredi au cours d'une conférence de presse.
"Le terme de +mixité+ n'apparaît que rarement dans les textes officiels
et est absent du code de l'éducation", a souligné la centriste Gisèle Gautier
(Loire-Atlantique), présidente de la Délégation, qui a intitulé son rapport:
"La mixité menacée?"
Tout en reconnaissant que
"la mixité fait aujourd'hui l'objet d'un large
consensus en France", la sénatrice a appelé à la "vigilance", faisant valoir
que cette notion est parfois contestée "de façon indirecte voire insidieuse
sur le terrain".
* Le rapport donne l'exemple de l'hôpital,
confronté à "des cas de refus d'être examiné par un médecin de sexe masculin".
* Il note que "le nombre de demandes de créneaux horaires réservés aux
femmes, dans les piscines mais aussi les gymnases, semble en progression".
* Il évoque aussi la tentation d'un retour à des classes séparées pour
"éviter les violences à l'encontre des filles",
97% des auteurs de violences sexuelles à l'école étant des garçons, et 85% des
victimes étant des filles.
Pour sauvegarder la mixité, la Délégation préconise notamment d'"inciter les
hommes à s'orienter davantage vers la profession enseignante, aujourd'hui
largement féminisée".
Elle recommande en revanche d'"organiser de
façon concertée et expérimentale des moments d'enseignement pendant lesquels
garçons et filles seraient séparés, notamment dans le cadre de l'éducation
sexuelle, de manière à faire +respirer+ la mixité à
l'école".
PARIS, 28 avr (AFP) jmt/db/Glk
From : Bernice DUBOIS
<clef.femmes@wanadoo.fr>
* Violence Against Women in
Detention
(...) As of December 1, 1999, there were 2,070 women in 63
detention centers in France, six of which are specifically women’s
prisons.84 There have been reports of ill-treatment of
women in detention. Specifically, Marielle Paquet, who was detained from April
1 to April 2, 1997, alleged that she was rudely treated, humiliated, and
stripped. Another woman was in a state of shock, had a sprained wrist, and was
unable to work after a period of detention in the police Commisariat of
Chalon-sur-Saône.
A woman named Fajra was interrogated on December
4, 1997 and when she refused to allow the police to search her, she was
injured and treated rudely by four police officers during the search. When she
was taken into detention, she was pushed down the stairs and kept in a cell
with men.
During the period of her detention, she saw the
doctor twice who attested to bruises and contusions on her body. The doctor
gave her medicine for these injuries but the medicine was consistently taken
away from her before she could take it.
An inspection of the jail at Beauvais in 1998
revealed that the director of the jail was sexually harassing the female
prisoners: having sexually explicit conversations with the women, calling the
women "whores" when talking to other employees of the jail, and inviting his
colleagues to get oral sex from the women inmates. While the director has been
fired and 6 guards have been suspended, there has been no case filed against
these men.
Immigrant detention centers also leave women
vulnerable to sexual violence. According to an inspection of the immigrant
detention center in Bobigny, the conditions inside the center are horrible.
The rooms have not been cleaned in months, some windows do not open and others
do not close, there are no fire exits, there is no privacy in the toilets or
in the showers, and there is no circulation in the air meaning that odors from
cigarettes and foods are always present. Additionally it was reported that
the hygiene was sub-standard
and that the food was poor.87 On September 13, in the immigrant detention center in Nanterre, four police
officers entered the room of a Moroccan woman and
sexually harassed her, while one masturbated in
front of her. The police officers were placed on probation. In another case, a Tunisian woman was sexually abused
by a police officer while in administrative
detention, and the police officer has been
sentenced to 2 years in prison. Another police officer is under investigation for raping a German immigrant in her detention
cell.88
The UN Standard Minimum
Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners provide in
Article 53 that women detainees shall be supervised by women officers
and that no male officers may enter the women’s
section of the detention center without the
accompaniment of a female officer. (...)
From : http://www.omct.org
* " Barbie " VOILEE ! ! !
La grande nouveauté pour les enfants, c’est la
Barbie voilée, pour que les jeunes filles choisissent, plus tard, de mettre le
voile de leur plein gré sans la moindre influence !!! On ne peut pas dire
que l’islam ne s’adapte pas au monde moderne, n’est-ce pas ? Cette petite
merveille, déjà horriblement laide et indigne de représenter la femme sous son
aspect, si on ose dire, classique, devient encore moins représentative si on
lui rajoute ce signe ostentatoire…Cette création des islamistes, afin de mieux
intégrer la République laïque française qui les accueille, dit-on, se
prénomme Razanne et se fabrique en Chine. Elle est disponible avec plusieurs
panoplies : Razanne fait sa prière (voile rose uni) ou Razanne va à
l’école (voile à fleurs pour mieux narguer les valeurs de la République)…mais
le modèle de base est vendu avec des accessoires de beauté miniature :
brosse à cheveux, vaporisateur et boîte de poudre pour évidemment se faire
belle pour son mari et laide pour les autres, y compris pour elle-même en
l’absence de son maître.
* Prostitution,
la nouvelle traite des Noir-e-s
Les quartiers chauds du XVIIIe arrondissement de Paris, de
la gare du Nord à la porte de Clignancourt, sont les sites privilégiés des
péripatéticiennes africaines, pour la plupart originaires de la région
subsaharienne. « À tel point que lorsque vous êtes noire et que vous
parcourez ces rues, vous êtes systématiquement prise pour une
prostituée », constate Amely James Koh Bela, présidente de la Commission
de l’information et de la formation à la Fédération des agences
internationales pour le développement, une organisation non gouvernementale
(ONG) d’action humanitaire et d’aide au développement. La France compte entre
15 000 prostitué(e)s dont près de 7 000 à Paris. « 80 % sont étrangers,
dont un peu plus de 40 % viennent des Balkans et 37 % sont d’origine
africaine », pouvait-on lire dans l’Humanité du 20 décembre 2003.
« Les filles d’Afrique »
Ces chiffres (des statistiques
récentes sont indisponibles au moment où nous écrivons cet article, ndlr) -
datent de 1999. Ils ne reflètent évidemment pas la réalité mais témoignent du
nouveau visage de la prostitution en Europe et en France, notamment en région
parisienne : la place croissante des étrangères. (...) Les femmes africaines seraient, en effet, de plus en plus nombreuses.
En 1999, en France, « elles venaient du Maghreb (Algérie et Maroc),
d’Afrique noire francophone (du Cameroun en majorité) ou anglophone (Ghana et
Nigeria), indiquaient les statistiques de l’Office central pour la répression
du trafic des êtres humains (OCRTEH). En région parisienne, elles sont
également ressortissantes de pays en guerre comme la Sierra Léone et le
Libéria. Par ailleurs, selon l’OCRTEH, plus de 50 % des prostituées africaines
en Europe sont originaires du Nigeria. La filière ghanéenne est aussi bien
connue par les polices européennes. La Suisse reste la chasse gardée des
Camerounaises et la Belgique, le fief des ressortissantes des deux Congo.
Pratiques lucratives et malsaines
(...) Les femmes victimes ne
sont pas kidnappées comme dans les pays de l’Est. Selon Amely James Koh Bela,
c’est souvent un frère, une tante, une cousine éloignée ou même un mari qui
amène ces jeunes femmes à la prostitution. Les moyens : le proxénète fait
miroiter un avenir meilleur, la possibilité de faire des études etc. Des
mensonges que la pauvreté rend vraisemblables. Mais il
dispose également de moyens de pression, outre la violence, pour maintenir son
emprise sur les victimes qui découvrent bien assez tôt la supercherie. La
sorcellerie, par exemple, est souvent utilisée dans le cas des
Nigérianes. La prégnance de l’argent est l’autre
caractéristique de la filière africaine. Pourquoi ? Les prostituées
africaines seraient impliquées dans les pratiques les plus abjectes et par
conséquent les plus lucratives : zoophilie, scatologie (l’excrément est
un accessoire sexuel, ndlr), fist-fuking (introduction des poings, pieds,
objets de tous types : fruits, légumes, bouteilles dans les orifices
génitaux, ndlr), ondinisme (l’urine est un objet de plaisir, ndlr),
sado-masochisme, dracula (amateurs de menstrues, ndlr) etc. Copuler pendant
une heure avec un chien rapporterait environ 4 500 euros.
(...)
Marginalisées et victimes du
sida
Autre mine d’or : les
cassettes pornographiques dont les instigateurs ne reculent devant rien pour
satisfaire une clientèle de plus en plus perverse. (...) Infections diverses, relâchement des muscles génitaux, mutilations
corporelles deviennent le lot quotidien des travailleuses du sexe qui se
réfugient dans la drogue et l’alcool pour subir l’intolérable. De plus, le
sida guette : « Les Africaines sont connues pour accepter des choses
que les autres n’accepteraient jamais », affirme Amely James Koh Bela.
Comme d’avoir des relations sans préservatif. Elles deviennent ainsi, outre
ces souffrances innommables, une proie facile pour le sida qui fait des
ravages dans la communauté sub-saharienne en France mais plus particulièrement
en région parisienne. De plus, les prostituées africaines sont souvent
agressées ou assassinées par les filles de l’Est qui les accusent de casser
les prix. Ce qui n’est pas faux. Le prix standard d’une passe est de 20 euros.
A Château-Rouge, les Ghanéennes offriraient leurs services pour 8 euros.
À qui profite le crime ?
Souvent à la famille
Selon l’OCRTEH, en 2001, le
commerce du sexe rapportait, en France, aux proxénètes 80% des revenus générés
par chacune de leurs prostituées, soit 1, 6 milliard d’euros et en 2002 ce
chiffre a doublé et a atteint 3, 5 milliards. Cependant les proxénètes ne sont
pas les seuls à profiter de cette manne financière surtout dans le cas des
Africaines. Car la « solidarité africaine » a aussi ses effets
pervers. Et la prostitution le démontre. Quand certains parents n’ont pas
eux-mêmes livré leurs enfants sur les célèbres plages sénégalaises bien
connues des pédophiles, d’autres continuent bien malgré eux à avilir leur
progéniture sans le savoir. Les gains issus de la prostitution sont souvent
rapatriés pour faire vivre une famille, investir dans l’immobilier ou dans des
petites affaires. Ni les familles, ni l’entourage ne connaîtront jamais
l’origine douteuse de ces fonds. La honte ou la mort ont souvent bien raison
des victimes qui elles-mêmes ou leurs souteneurs renvoient d’elles des images
de la réussite. (...)
Victimes innocentes et mâles
consentants (...)
Enfin
les hommes ne sont pas en reste : d’honorables pères de famille se
transformeraient ainsi en hardeurs auprès de vaches pour arrondir les fins du
mois. Les visages de la prostitution sont multiples et leurs caractéristiques
en font un véritable problème de société. Notamment en ce qui concerne les
Africains. La grande pauvreté qui sévit sur le continent porte ceux qui y
vivent à considérer, le plus souvent, l’Occident comme un nirvana. Et
l’Afrique est en train, encore une fois de se vider de ses femmes, son
essence, et de ses enfants, son avenir.
[1] in
Les trafics du sexe, femmes et enfants marchandises de Claudine Legardinier
aux Ed. Les Essentiels Milan
***
2 - Suisse : Halte à la
violence conjugale !
CINQ PRÉJUGÉS; CINQ RÉALITÉS
En réalité, la violence conjugale concerne
beaucoup de monde, on la trouve dans toutes les couches sociales et elle
provoque souvent des blessures sévères. Il est souvent très difficile pour les
femmes violentées de quitter leur agresseur.
1 IL EST FAUX
DE DIRE QUE la violence dans le couple ne concerne que peu
de personnes.
EN RÉALITÉ, une étude
récente *menée auprès d'un échantillon représentatif de 1500 femmes dans toute
la Suisse établit que
-
au cours de sa vie, plus d'une femme sur
cinq (21 %) a subi de la violence physique et/ou sexuelle dans le cadre
d'une relation de couple.
-
au cours des douze mois précédant l'enquête,
une femme sur 16 a vécu de la violence physique et/ou sexuelle dans son
couple. Chez les femmes qui se sont séparées de leur partenaire pendant
cette période, le pourcentage de femmes violentées s'élève à 20%.
-
deux femmes sur cinq ont subi de la violence
psychologique au cours de leur vie. Plus d'une sur quatre (26%) en a subi au
cours des douze derniers mois.
-
Ces chiffres reflètent des valeurs
minimales. Selon les chercheuses, le nombre d'actes violents commis par des
hommes contre leurs compagnes est vraisemblablement plus élevé.
L'étude évoquée établit aussi que
-
plus d'une femme sur deux connaît dans son
entourage au moins une femme qui a été frappée au cours de sa vie par son
mari ou ami
-
plus d'une femme sur cinq connaît au moins
une femme frappée actuellement par son mari ou ami.
* Gillioz Lucienne, De Puy jacqueline, Ducret
Véronique, Domination et violence envers la femme dans le couple, Payot
1997
2 IL FAUT
DIRE QUE la violence
n'a cours que dans les milieux sociaux défavorisés ou chez les étrangers et
étrangères. Il n'est pas vrai non plus qu'il y ait un lien direct entre
chômage et violence.
EN RÉALITÉ, la violence contre les femmes dans le couple
traverse les clivages sociaux.
-
Elle touche des femmes de tous les milieux,
de toutes les cultures, de tous les âges et niveaux de formation.
-
Elle se manifeste dans les villes comme à la
campagne. Exercée par leur époux, ami, amant, compagnon.
3 IL EST FAUX
DE DIRE QUE la
violence est due à une perte momentanée de contrôle de l'homme. Il n'est pas
exact non plus que l'alcool en soit la cause.
EN REALITÉ, le recours à la violence est un moyen pour
contrôler et soumettre la femme:
-
Environ 80% des femmes qui ont subi des
violence importantes de la part de leur conjoint vivent dans une relation où
l'homme est dominant.
-
Environ 40% des femmes qui, au cours des
douze mois précédant l'enquête, ont subi de la violence physique, disent en
avoir été victimes au moins trois fois. Dans environ 15% des cas, la
violence a été fréquente.
-
Contrairement à l'image répandue de l'homme
violent qui a perdu momentanément le contrôle de lui-même sous l'influence
de l'alcool, l'étude mentionnée signale clairement que l'alcool n'est pas la
cause de la violence mais l'accompagne dans un certain nombre de cas.
-
Pour établir son contrôle, l'homme use de
différentes formes de violence. Il n'a souvent même pas besoin de recourir à
la violence physique et peut se contenter d'intimider la femme par des
menaces incessantes. Si elle ne se soumet pas, l'homme recourt alors à la
violence physique.
4 IL EST FAUX
DE DIRE QUE la
violence dans le couple se résume à une gifle ou un coup. Il n'est pas vrai
non plus que la femme en ressort indemne.
EN REALITÉ, la violence physique de l'homme contre la
femme, telle qu'elle a été observée dans l'étude menée en Suisse, inclut les
actes suivants
-
pousser / empoigner / bousculer / gifler /
jeter un objet sur elle / donner un coup de pied / un coup de poing / mordre
/ battre / étrangler / menacer de mort / menacer ou blesser avec un couteau
ou une arme à feu.
-
Sur quatre femmes violentées physiquement,
une est blessée.
-
Un tiers des femmes blessées l'a été à
plusieurs reprises.
5 IL EST FAUX
DE DIRE QUE les
femmes violentées peuvent facilement quitter leur
agresseur.
EN REALITÉ,
de nombreuses difficultés empêchent les femmes de quitter un mari ou un
compagnon violent :
-
Elles ne savent pas où aller.
-
Elles n'ont pas d'argent ou ne voient pas
comment concilier leur travail avec la garde des enfants.
-
Elles ont peur pour leur vie ou pour celle
de leurs enfants.
-
Elles ont perdu toute confiance en elles et
ne trouvent donc pas la force nécessaire pour s'en aller.
-
Elles craignent de perdre leur permis de
séjour.
-
Elles aiment encore leur compagnon.
-
Selon une recommandation du Parlement
européen, chaque pays devrait disposer d'une place en foyer d'hébergement
pour femmes violentées pour 10'000 habitants. Concrètement, la Suisse
devrait donc disposer de 700 places alors qu'il n'en existe qu'une centaine
aujourd'hui. Et de nombreux cantons n'ont même pas de foyer pour femmes
violentées.
Les treize foyers
d'hébergement pour femmes violentées et leurs enfants, qui existent en suisse,
ont publié les chiffres suivants pour 1995 : 658 femmes et 712 enfants ont
trouvé refuge dans ces foyers, ce qui représente 20812 nuitées pour les femmes
et 22982 pour les enfants. Ces chiffres ne révèlent que la pointe de
l'iceberg. Un nombre équivalent de femmes et d'enfants a dû être refusé, faute
de place, au cours de la même année.
***
3 - Portugal : Le combat
pour la légalisation de l'avortement
Depuis plus de 30 ans, les
associations féminines et les partis de gauche réclamaient que soit reconnu le
droit des femmes de décider sur cette matière selon leur conscience et le
droit d’être assistées dans des établissements de santé
publique.
Deux
initiatives parallèles ont été promues : une pétition pour que soit
organisé un référendum, et des projets de loi pour la dépénalisation
ont été déposés à l’Assemblée de la République. En outre, une
manifestation a été organisée pour le 8 mars à
Lisbonne.
La
pétition a été présentée au Président de l’Assemblée de la République, signée
par 121 151 personnes appartenant à des associations, à des partis
politiques ou comme simples citoyens de toutes les catégories sociales, ainsi
que par le parti socialiste, le bloc de gauche et une organisation de
dissidents du PC, les réformateurs. Le parti communiste n’a pas signé la
pétition. Par contre, le premier projet de loi présenté à l’Assemblée
provenait du PC. Par la suite des projets de loi du PS et du bloc de gauche
ont été déposés.
Le 3
mars, ces projets ont été discutés et mis au vote à l’Assemblée ainsi que la
pétition pour un référendum. Toutes ces initiatives ont été rejetées par la
coalition de droite, majoritaire à l’Assemblée, qui comprend le PSD, parti
de centre droit qui a gagné les élections, et le PP, qui a eu les résultats
les plus bas.
Le
mouvement populaire pour la dépénalisation de l’IVG, promoteur de la pétition, a annoncé qu’il
continuera son activité jusqu’à la réalisation de son
objectif.
From : Association des Femmes de l'Europe Méridionale
<contact@afem-europa.org>
***
4 -
Germany : A fine will
also be applied to legal German brothels !...
The German government's plans to levy fines on
companies that fail to hire trainees will also be applied to legal German
brothels, Der Spiegel news magazine reported Sunday.
Brothels failing to employ a certain number of
apprentices will not be exempted from the financial penalties that Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder's government wants to introduce on all companies later this
year, the magazine said.
The legislation drafted by the Social
Democrats and their Greens coalition partners will fine companies that do not
have one apprentice for every 15 workers.
Several members of the Greens
party tried to allow an exemption for prostitutes but the Education Ministry
responsible for the legislation blocked that, arguing it "would cause
considerable difficulties," Der Spiegel said.
From : Reuters
***
***
11 -
Pakistan : Killing in
the name of honour of two girls in the Sindh
Province
The International Secretariat of OMCT
has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission, a member of the
OMCT network, that two girls have been killed in the name of honour after
visiting theirgrandparents without permission in Sindh Province of Pakistan.
(...)
According to the information received, on May
4, 2004, Ms Tahmeena (17) and Ms Aabida (18), who are cousins, were shot to
death after having been accused of having "loose morals" for having visited
their grandparents without permission. The decision to kill the girls was
taken in a tribal jirga, convened amongst the perpetrators and led by Mr.
Abdul Rasheed, the tribal chief and a powerful landlord in the
village. (...)
Abdul Rasheed reportedly told them to go
through the village and that he would arrive with the girls. The three men
could not find any public transportation and thus did not arrive at the
village until after midnight. Upon their arrival, the eight perpetrators also
arrived by car with the victims. The perpetrators told the girls to get out of
the car and allegedly told the relatives to kill the girls because they had
"loose morals," having visited their grandparents without first getting family
permission. Fazaluddin, Hidayatullah, and Dad Mohammad reportedly begged them
not to kill the girls. Nevertheless, the perpetrators shot the girls and then
took the bodies in order to cover up their crime. The perpetrators reportedly
threatened the witnesses with death if they were to complain to the police.
(...)
Crimes against women and girls
committed in the name of honour are gender-specific forms of violence that are
either approved or supported by States in many parts of the
world. OMCT is gravely concerned by the many reports it has
received in the past months about women in Pakistan who are killed by their
family members as they are suspected of "dishonourable" behavior (see also
OMCT's urgent appeals of this year: PAK 120204 VAW, 230304 VAW, 080404 VAW. CC
and 220404.VAW). According to the information received, male relatives who
commit such murders in Pakistan are rarely prosecuted in traditional
communities. It appears that behaviour of women which is seen as compromising
family or tribal "honour" is considered a valid reason to commit
murder.
The information also indicates that cases of crimes committed
in the name of honour are generally ruled by the landlords (Jirga-tribal
court) in the Sindh Province rather than by the courts of law. The victim's
families are generally not pursuing the cases at the courts of law due to the
costly and lengthy process of getting justice through the government's
judicial system, while the traditional justice system (Jirga-tribal court)
arrives at a settlement within a few days. This traditional system has been
practiced for a long time and it is commonly accepted. However, most of the
cases under the tribal court are disposed compoundable under the Ordinance of
Qisas and Dayat, whereby the offender can escape punishment by providing
compensation to the victim's family. In many cases of honour crimes, the
victim's family often compromises with the accused, after receiving pressure
from society. (...)
Please write to the authorities in Pakistan
urging them to:
i. order a thorough and
impartial investigation into the circumstances of these killings, in order to
identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or
administrative sanctions as provided by law;
ii. guarantee that adequate
reparation is provided to the family of the victims of these abuses, who have
lodged a complaint with the police;
iii. put an immediate end to the
persecution and harassment of the family members who lodged the
complaint;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental
freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and
international human rights standards.
CE@pak.gov.pk / governor@governorsindh.gov.pk / zaman@hrcp-web / mission.pakistan@ties.itu.int
From : omct@omct.org / http://www.omct.org
12 -
USA
* The Bush administration has stripped information from
government Web sites !
The Bush administration has
stripped information on
a range of women's issues from government Web sites, apparently in
pursuit of a political agenda, researchers reported on Wednesday.
"Vital information is being deleted, buried, distorted and has
otherwise gone missing from government Web sites and publications," Linda
Basch, president of the National Council for Research on Women, said in a
telephone interview. "Taken cumulatively, this has an enormously negative
effect on women and girls."
A council report said the missing
information fell into four categories: women's health; their economic
status; objective scientific data; and information aimed at protecting women
and girls and helping them advance. The deletions and alterations appear to
hew to a political agenda, rather than providing the nonpartisan, unbiased
data that has been the tradition of U.S. government reports, the council said.
Its report cited a fact sheet from the Centers of Disease Control that focused
on the advantages of using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted disease; it
was revised in December 2002 to say evidence on condoms' effectiveness in
curbing these diseases was inconclusive.
The National Cancer
Institute's Web site was changed in 2002 to say studies linking abortion and
breast cancer were inconsistent; after an outcry from scientists, the
institute later amended that to say abortion is not associated with increased
breast cancer risk.
25 PUBLICATIONS DELETED : At the
Labor Department's Women's Bureau Web site, the report said 25 key
publications on subjects ranging from pay equity to child care to issues
relating to black and Latina women and women business owners had been deleted
with no explanation. (...)
By Deborah Zabarenko - WASHINGTON
(Reuters)
From : Maggie A Range /magrange@juno.com
*
Elderly Women
Dear Mr. X.,
My Mom was taken
hostage through the PROBATE Court in San Mateo County California in November
2001. I have been trying to FREE her ever since. It is done by what
is called "conservatorship" The Judge appointed a "conservator" for her
person and her estate.
EIGHT ATTORNEYS got on her payroll along with
TWO CONSERVATORS--she still has at least 11 employees on the payroll AGAINST
her wishes.
The Conservators BANNED me from helping my Mother--so they
could hire help at $22,000.00 a month. THEY ARE AFTER HER HOME--in fact
Judge Rosemary Phifer has ALREADY ORDERED THE PARTITION OF MOM'S property--and
she is still living in the her house.
Ah, this is a court ordered
hostage taking and court ordered THEFT of a widow's home.
I have
submitted a complaint to local law enforcement--but the detective informs me
that they haven't the personnel to deal with it! So I sent my complaint for
fraud and conspiracy to the Crime Prevention Unit of the California State
Attorney General's Office--but have had no reply.
This is just what you
have written in your book, WHO IS LOOKING OUT FOR YOU?, the club only looks
out for its members, n'est-ce pas?
This group is really trying to
destroy my Mother--they won't let her take a bath, write a check, drive in the
car with me--two years ago I spent Christmas with my Mother supervised by her
attorney -he said he'd do it for free, then charged $295.00 and told us we
were not allowed to speak to each other in Italian.
The Conservator has
gone through 1.75 million in assets--though there has been no increase in my
Mom's standard of living. One year, Conservator Richard BLUM, didn't even
let her take a vacation!
Please help us to stop the SCAM, defend the elderly--let's
stop the attorneys and judges from providing DISSERVICES--I
WANT MY MOTHER'S EVERY WISH TO BE RESPECTED--the Judge and all are criminals
by law--fiduciary abuse--"providing services which are neither requested nor
necessary."
Please contact me.
Sincerely,
***
13 - Argentina : Pareja de lesbianas es acosada sin piedad
|
|
| |
|
Es para que
conozcan lo que nos está pasando en Salta, Argentina, donde vivimos. No
espero la adhesión de nadie, solo que sepan lo que se puede sufrir en un
lugar donde somos todo el pueblo lesbogay discriminado.
Sé quién soy
tengo un nombre, un apellido, fui concebida de padre y madre, bautizada
con todas las de la ley y anotada en el Registro Civil como niña nacida
viva un 01 de mayo de 1955, mi nombre y apellido: Dora Celia Marijanac.
Por circunstancias laborales, me mandaron a trabajar a Salta. una ciudad
bien al norte de la Argentina. Para los lugareños, el Paraíso. Luego de
dos relaciones a las que consideré muy importantes en mi vida con
Hombres (?), conocí a Rosario por chat. Me jugué el todo por el nada, a
pesar de los comentarios, advertencias, temores. Era la primera vez que
iba a estar con una mujer, encima extranjera y la hacía venir a la
Argentina, a lo que era mi casa.
Acá estamos
luego de 3 años. Yo Argentina, ella Peruana y en el medio de nosotras...
SER, Simplemente Ser. Escribo esto en vísperas a cumplir 49 años, en lo
me queda de lo que era nuestro hogar, sin casi nada. Porqué? Simplemente
por ser, por sentir, por amar.
Somos dos
lesbianas a las que nos han hecho denuncias en el edificio donde
vivimos, que en un lapso de 3 años nos hemos tenido que mudar peor que
gitanos. Degeneradas, mal nacidas, vaya Dios a saber qué amistades
tienen, etc, es lo menos que nos han dicho, gritado, escrito en paredes,
anónimos, llamadas telefónicas, amenazas, etc. Hoy escribo y no sé
cuándo lo podré volver a hacer, supongo que hay más gente a la que le
pasa o pasó algo similar por simplemente alquilar, rentar una vivienda y
tener que someterse a los vecinos que son propietarios y por el simple
hecho de tener un título de propiedad de sus viviendas creen que ello se
extiende hasta nuestras vidas. Hemos tenido que vender todo lo
imaginable para poder salir de este infierno, y así y todo, no sé si
alcanza. Para los nacidos en otros países, la palabra: Mexicanos,
chilenos, bolivianos, peruanos, etc, es sinónimo de narcotráfico,
pobrerío, submundo, trata de blancas, prostitución, etc.
(...)
La decisión
que hemos tomado es irnos a Buenos Aires y a vivir donde sea y como sea
pero tranquilas. La dueña nos ha pedido dejar el departamento porque no
quiere más problemas y hasta nos ha dicho su apoderado que le han hecho
una denuncia en el FONAVI por alquilar un departamento que aún no ha
terminado de pagar.
A mí como
peruana me amenazó una vecina con denunciarme a Migraciones
(inmigraciones segun ella), por ser lesbiana y vivir aquí. Necesitamos
ayuda, y esperamos que la Comunidad nos
apoye. |
Testimonio enviado por Maria
Fabregas
http://www.sentidog.com.ar/nsen/nacionales/91-137.htm
***
14 -
Afrique
*
Kenya : Debating
whether to legalise abortion or not
A report on
unsafe abortions in Kenya prepared by medical practitioners and the Ministry
of Health will be launched today in Nairobi. The report will be launched at a
time when Kenyan leaders are still debating whether to legalise abortion or
not, as maternal death rates continue rising.
Many women in Kenya have died as a result of
unsafe abortions carried out by quacks using crude methods and implements.
International Projects Assistance Services(IPAS) Vice-President, Ambassador
Eunice Brookman Amissah, said over 250,000 abortions occur annually with an
estimated 20,000 women being hospitalised with abortion-related complications.
"Despite the restrictive abortion law in Kenya, unsafe abortion will continue
to happen unless we take steps to address the problem, as has been done in
other countries," she added. She noted that this was a backdrop of a very low
budget for health care, adding that the money could have been used to cater
for other pressing issues like HIV/Aids.
The report on National
Assessment of the Magnitude of Unsafe Abortion in Kenya was prepared after a
research study carried out in 60 public health institutions in the country.
Amissah said the report is to disseminate the study findings for researchers,
policy makers, medical practitioners and NGOs to debate on how to deal with
the abortion issue at a conference scheduled to take place in Nairobi
today.
Posted to the web May 6,
2004 / http://allafrica.com/stories/200405060083.html
* DRC: Help victims of sexual violence among expelled
Congolese, OCHA says
Tens of thousands of Congolese expelled from
Angola may be in need of psychological support and health care following
reports of systematic sexual violence they underwent upon their expulsion, the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on
Tuesday. "OCHA calls for an increase in the capacity of health partners
already working on the ground and the financing of new partners with expertise
in sexual violence and the prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS," the
agency said in a report on the initial conclusions of a 23 April inter-agency
monitoring mission to Kahungula, in the southwestern province of
Bandundu.
Kahungula is one of the five border crossings into the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the diamond mine workers and their
families being expelled from Angola.
The OCHA report, based on
information provided by the OCHA team in the Congo, said new arrivals had
reported abuses at the hands of Angolan armed forces - including sexual
violence and theft. "Under the pretext of searching for hidden diamonds,
Angolan military agents have reportedly sexually abused women and girls," OCHA
reported. "In addition to the psychological trauma
caused, risk of HIV/AIDS infection and other sexually transmissible diseases
is high as military agents are reportedly using unsanitary methods for
internal body cavity searches of both men and
women."
At the same time, OCHA reported that emergency
aid for the expelled 67,000-plus Congolese, was still needed as soon as
possible, although the humanitarian situation for thousands expelled from
Angola over the past weeks may be stabilising in at least one affected zone.
(...)
*
Sierra
Leone: Forced Marriage -
'Crime Against Humanity' in Special
Court
Prosecutors at the Special Court for Sierra
Leone have asked the tribunal's trial chamber to amend all previously issued
indictments to include a new crime against humanity - forced marriage. (Aviva)
The chief prosecutor David Crane (Georgetown University law Centre)
said he expects to learn soon whether prosecutors will be able to add the
charge to the existing indictments against key players in the 1991-2002 civil
war that killed as many as 200,000 people and left thousands more mutilated by
the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
David Crane said that prosecutors decided to pursue
forced marriage as a crime against humanity, because of combatants' widespread
practice during the war of abducting women as 'wives,' forcing them to have
sex and bear children. They were threatened with death if they
tried to escape, some were scarred with the initials "RUF" cut into their
bodies, putting the women further at risk if they were captured by government
soldiers or allied militia, who would think they were rebels. He went on to
say that these crimes differ from rape or other war crimes because the women
were held for so long under the threat of harm or death, even now, an unknown
number of women remain with their rebel 'husbands.'
In another precedent-setting legal move, child abduction and
recruitment will be prosecuted as a war crime at the Special
Court. Crane said a common tactic for the RUF was to surround
a town and force all the children to kill their own parents, then take the
children away, making them dependent on the rebels and eventually desensitized
to killing. According to the UN more than 10,000 children were abducted and
forced into conscription during the war. Child protection experts have
expressed concern that children would be prosecuted, many committed horrific
crimes, but experts say they are victims as well as perpetrators of violence.
In response to the child protection experts Crane agreed that no child
should bear the burden of greater responsibility for the atrocities, he said:
"I decided no child could bear the greatest responsibility for the crimes that
have taken place, while their crimes cannot be condoned, they will not be
prosecuted."
Source: UN Wire, 16.4.04, via IPPF News
*
Liberia : Rebuilding
must involve full participation of women
Speaking today at the National Women's
Conference on Peace and Socio-Economic Recovery in Liberia, Noeleen Heyzer,
Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) emphasized
the centrality of women's participation and leadership in all phases of the
country's recovery, including processes of disarmament, demobilization, and
rehabilitation. She described the conference as a celebration of the courage
of Liberia's women, of their resilience and capacity for leadership amidst the
trauma and devastation of conflict over the past decade. "The women of Liberia
know the cost of conflict, of failed states and ruined economies ... Despite
these experiences they have taken responsibility for sustaining their families
and communities ... This conference is a statement by the women of this
country of their right to be partners in charting Liberia's transition
process," she said.
Ms Heyzer spoke of unique opportunities present
in the immediate post-conflict phase, particularly in the creation of new
institutions through a participatory process that ensures the rights and
involvement of both women and men. She listed four priorities that should be
acted on to institutionalize mechanisms of inclusion, and facilitate a
participatory environment for women.
The first was the provision of security. Reform
of the security sector should include law enforcement mechanisms that address
women's special security needs during all phases of the peace and
reconstruction process. Community-based policing and police stations for women
are alternative security models to explore. The second priority was the
re-establishment of the rule of law, and the promotion of gender justice. An
essential starting point here would be to ensure that gender perspectives are
an intrinsic part of new constitutional, legislative, and judicial frameworks.
"We also need to pay attention to voters' education and preparation for
electoral participation, drawing from experiences in Rwanda, Burundi, East
Timor, Afghanistan and other post-conflict countries," she added.
A third area of focus was governance. Ms Heyzer
pointed to the inclusion of three women in the National Transitional
Government and four women in the National Transitional Assembly as a good
sign, but urged even greater support for involving women as leaders in
national institutions. The fourth priority was ensuring economic security for
women, by securing their access to basic services and resources, and including
their needs in budget allocations for reconstruction and development.
In closing, Ms Heyzer called on multi-lateral
and donor agencies operating in Liberia and neighbouring countries to promote
recruitment of Liberian women at higher levels — "If the international
community takes Liberian women seriously in their recruitment policies, so too
will the local community."
From : UNIFEM (10 May 2004) / leigh.pasqual@undp.org
* Togo : Une femme
comme première Présidente du Parlement Panafricain
Le Women in Law and
Development in Africa/Femmes, Droit et Développement en Afrique, bureau
sous-régional d’Afrique de l’Ouest félicite Madame Gertrud Mongella pour sa nomination à titre de
Présidente du nouveau Parlement Panafricain. Son mandat durera cinq
ans.
Le Parlement Panafricain a été
inauguré jeudi passé le 18 mars. Dans un premier temps, il aura seulement des
pouvoirs consultatifs et de conseil. Les États signataires espèrent ensuite le
développer en lui octroyant éventuellement des pouvoirs législatifs. Quarante
et un États sur les 45 ayant signés le Protocole instituant le Parlement
Panafricain ont envoyé des représentant-e-s qui reflètent la diversité
culturelle et politique de tous les parlements. Madame Mongella aura pour
tâche de développer cette nouvelle institution qui rassemble des pays des cinq
grandes régions d’Afrique. Femme ayant une bonne expérience de la politique,
elle est actuellement députée dans son pays, la Tanzanie. Ancienne
ambassadrice de bonne volonté des Nations Unies, elle a également été ministre
dans son pays dans les années 90. Elle a œuvré au sein d’ONG (Advocacy for
Women in Africa) et elle s’est activée pour la libre expression à titre de
membre du Tanzania Media Council (MCT). Enfin, elle a été Secrétaire générale
de la quatrième Conférence mondiale sur les femmes à Beijing en
1995.
Bref, Madame Mongella apporte avec
elle au Parlement Panafricain une expérience impressionnante qui, nous
l’espérons, viendra consolider la place des femmes dans les institutions
africaines et dans leurs programmes d’action et d’intervention en condition
féminine.
Meilleures salutations !
(Lomé, Togo, 22 mars
2004)
From : Women in Law and Development in Africa/ Femmes, Droit et
Développement en Afrique (WiLDAF/FeDDAF) bureau sous-régional d’Afrique de
l’Ouest
Wildaf@cafe.tg / www.wildaf-ao.org
***
15 -
Developing World : Early motherhood is often a death sentence fora girl and
her baby
"Kadja was my older sister. She died two
years ago. She wasn’t even 20 years old…. She was only 14 years old when she
married but all the girls in our community marry very young. Four years after
she got married, she still didn’t have any children. In the beginning, people
spoke behind her back, but after a while, they made fun of her, saying that
she would never have any children and that her husband had better remarry. On
the advice of his mother, her husband became engaged to another girl from the
village. That’s when we started to notice that my sister was pregnant. As the
pregnancy advanced, my sister’s husband wanted her to rest but our aunt
refused, saying that Kadja was not the only woman who ever got pregnant. One
day her water broke while she was splitting wood. She carried on as if nothing
happened because she didn’t understand what this meant. A couple of days
later, Kadja had horrible pains. We did not take her to the hospital, which
was far from the village. She died two days later, without anyone trying
anything to save her. I think that the baby died inside her. My mother said
that this must have been meant to be, but deep down she has never accepted it
and she still suffers." – Amadou, Mali
Worldwide, more than 13 million adolescent girls give
birth each year – with more than 9 out of 10 births taking place in the
developing world. In the poorest countries, young motherhood often becomes a
death sentence.An estimated 70,000 girls aged 15 to 19 die each year during
pregnancy and childbirth
2 and more than 1
million infants born to adolescent girls die before their first
birthday.
Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are
the leading cause of death for adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 19
in poor countries.
4
Girls in this age group are twice as likely to die
from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes compared with older women.
And their babies face a risk of dying before age 1
that is 50 percent higher than children born to women in their twenties.
The youngest mothers – those aged 14 and under –
face the greatest risks. Research from Bangladesh suggests that very young
mothers (aged 10 to 14) may face five
times the risk of maternal
mortality compared to mothers aged 20 to 24.
Each year, 1 in every 10 births worldwide is to
a mother who is still herself a child.
8 Overall, 33 percent of women from
developing countries give birth before the age of 20 – varying from 8 percent
in East Asia to 55 percent in West Africa.9
In Africa and South Asia,
families tend to marry off their daughters at an early age, often to much
older men, and these girls are under great pressure to prove their fertility
by bearing children immediately. In Latin America, the Caribbean and the
United States, young mothers tend to be unmarried. But whether they are
married or unmarried, living in rural areas or in cities, child mothers tend
to be isolated.To a great extent their health and education needs are not met,
and they are poorly prepared to deal with the challenges facing them and their
children.
Besides having a negative impact on young girls,
early marriage and motherhood can have a profound impact on newborns. Children
born to children are more likely to be delivered prematurely and at low birth
weight; they are more likely to die in the first month of life; they are less
likely to receive adequate health care and nutritious food; they are less
likely to get a good education and they are more likely to be impoverished
throughout life.
If nothing is done to help young
mothers to change their lives for the better, they tend to follow a
predictable and tragic script that brings hardship and challenges in the areas
of education, health and economic survival.
Mothers Too
Young to Ignore : In many parts of the world,
motherhood begins before a girl is emotionally or physically ready. In
Guatemala, for example, nearly 1 in 16 girls is pregnant or has given birth by
the age of 15. In Bangladesh, more than 1 in 7 15-year-olds is a mother.
Unfortunately, reliable data do not exist to tell us precisely how many young
mothers in these countries die in childbirth, but one study in Bangladesh
found that the maternal mortality rate for girls aged 10 to 14 was
five times higher than for women aged 20 to
24.
Source:
Demographic and Health Surveys,
1998-2002, reported in Westoff,
DHS Comparative Reports No. 5. (2003) and Chen et al., cited in Asian
Population Studies Series, No. 156
From : STATE OF THE WORLD’S
MOTHERS 2004 10
***
16 -
Report / Rapport
* South
Asia : The
Creation of Modern Patriarchy in Agrarian South
Asia
The Creation of Modern Patriarchy in Agrarian
South Asia
David Ludden, University of Pennsylvania
Today, "patriarchy" refers to the power of men
over women, but older meanings of this term indicate other aspects of
patriarchal power that demand attention. Historically, patriarchies involve
the ranking of men within and across families and generations. This process of
social ranking involves the agency of both men and women; it also changes
patriarchal formations of power dramatically, if slowly, over time and space.
Patriarchies have thus come to differ significantly across regions and sites
in the contemporary world. In South Asia, patriarchal power is distinctive in
Rajasthan, Bangladesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, for instance; and urban
patriarchies work along rather different lines than their rural counterparts
in the subcontinent. In this paper, I focus on the creation of modern
patriarchies in agrarian regions of South Asia during the early modern period,
circa 1550-1850, when early modern states-from the Mughal to the
British-formed the institutional basis upon which modern entitlements to
family property would be built, and thus put patriarchy on a distinctive
footing in different regions of state power. In this period, urban and rural
differences also emerge that would evolve into the modern dichotomy between
"feudal" and "capitalist" forms of patriarchy.
http://www.aasianst.org/absts/1997abst/southasi/sa122.htm
*
China
: Chinese Feminism and Mainstream Ideologies in
Twentieth-Century
The
Feminist Utopia-The Cultural Revolution Model Theater Revisited
Di Bai, Ohio State University
This paper proposes a revisionist view of the
"model theater" produced during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). A
collection of eight Beijing operas and ballets revised and reformed under the
tutelage of Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing (1914-1992), the model theater
dominated the Chinese cultural world for a decade. As the core of Cultural
Revolution "propaganda," the model theater has been repudiated and thrown into
critical oblivion. This paper aims to be an "intervention" that attempts to
redefine model theater so as to reach a fresh understanding of its cultural
meaning. By looking closely into the textual differences between the original
versions of model theater and the later Cultural Revolution productions,
this study proposes that model theater is in its
essence feminist. The feminism embedded in model theater sets
it apart from canonical Chinese communist literature and accounts for its
often noted (and reviled) extremes. As the praxis of the strongest wave of
Chinese feminist reformation of culture, the texts of model theater are
distinguished from their original versions in their extraction of details in
plots, traces in characters, and gestures in choreography that are associated
with the domain of female sexuality. Romantic love, happy marriage, and sexual
confrontation were exclusively rooted out. This "barren" look may account for
model theater's "unrealness," but it could also be perceived as an ideal
situation for feminist challenge of the "sex-gender system"-women having
escaped from the division based on gender, from obligatory heterosexuality and
from the burden of mothering.
Feminist Disillusionment or Confucian
Comeback? From The Women Trilogy to Anticipation
Hongjin Kang, Dickinson College
Since the mid-1980s, diametrically different
voices were heard in the name of women in fiction, on the stage and in mass
media in China. It was no surprise when the ongoing economic reforms began to
challenge the status of the allegedly liberated women.
The Women Trilogy by Bai Fengxi, a woman
playwright, was among the initial feminist voices. It is made up of three
plays: "First Bathed in Moonlight," "Once Loved and in a Storm Returning" and
"Say, Who Like Me Is Prey to Fond Regret?" All are predominantly focused on
women's issues: career, marriage, family roles and female individuality. It
was a breakthrough. And it was well received especially among the
intellectuals.
However, it was not long-just a few years-before
a strident and loud voice was heard from Anticipation a TV serial,
shown nationwide. Liu Huifang, the heroine, became a household favorite
overnight. She was prized as an ideal wife among the male audience. Yet she
embodies everything in opposition to feminism: a weak, docile, submissive,
self-denying and self-sacrificing woman. In a word, Liu Huifang is a symbol of
Confucian traditional values: "a virtuous wife and a good mother."
This paper aims to
explore why feminism is short-lived, even in the 1990s when China claims to
have adopted an "open" policy. Is it a coincidence that a woman symbolizing
Confucian values has become an idol of modern China? And how are such
conflicting ideologies as Confucianism, Communism, and Commercialism affecting
women's image in Chinese society?
(Sponsored by the
Chinese Society for Women's Studies)
http://www.aasianst.org/absts/1997abst/china/c132.htm