* Enseigner le fait athée !
Oui, je sais, je professe un antichristianisme primaire... Mais je suis preneur d'informations sur l'antichristianisme secondaire ! Chaque fois que j'ai souhaité m'entretenir avec un vendeur d'arrière-monde juif, chrétien ou musulman - ils vendent les mêmes tapis -, je n'ai rencontré que des gens doués d'une bonne mémoire, mais qui la plupart du temps mettent leur intelligence sous le boisseau... Mémoire des lieux communs enseignés et écrits dans la chair de leur enfance ; et refus de penser pour mieux entretenir leurs illusions.
Les temps sont durs pour les athées radicaux. Ainsi faudrait-il prendre position pour ou contre l'enseignement du fait religieux à l'école. Admirez d'abord l'euphémisme : le fait religieux ! On ne dit pas le catéchisme ou l'histoire sainte, qui sentent trop l'encens et la fumée des cierges, mais le fait religieux, car la formule rappelle le fait sociologique de Durkheim, donc le parfum de craie et de tableau noir des hussards de la République !
Dans cette école où l'on n'apprend plus à lire, à écrire et à compter - ne rêvons pas qu'on y apprenne à penser... -, où l'illettrisme ne concerne plus seulement les élèves, mais aussi une partie des enseignants, dans cette école, donc, il manquerait un enseignement, notamment celui de la religion judéo-chrétienne ! Je rêve...
Et pour y enseigner quoi, et comment ? Un fils de Dieu qui marche sur les eaux, puis ressucite le troisième jour après crucifixon ? Qui raconterait les bobards pour les enfants que sont les interdictions d'utiliser un interrupteur électrique les jours de shabbat ? Ou qu'au paradis on boit du vin à flots, mais pas sur terre ? Un Dieu qui ouvre la mer en deux pour permettre le passage de son peuple, un autre qui réserve des vierges en quantité pour le lit du fidèle qui prend place près du Prophète après avoir trucidé un maximum d'innocents - pourvu qu'ils ne croient pas à ses balivernes ?
Que ces histoires pour les enfants soient racontées par les familles, soit. Elles transmettent déjà assez de sottises, elles peuvent continuer sans qu'on les inquiète ! Mais que l'école s'y substitue sous prétexte de fabriquer du lien social, de rendre possible l'accès à la culture universelle ou de mettre au jour les fondations de notre civilisation, voilà autant de cache-sexes pour dissimuler le retour du prêtre à l'école.
Au bout du compte, derrière ces fabulations apparemment inoffensives, il s'agit toujours de promouvoir la morale judéo-chrétienne ou celle des musulmans qui, sous d'apparentes divergences, enseignent une même haine de la femme, de la vie, de l'ici et maintenant, de l'infidèle, de l'incroyant ou de l'athée. Toutes justifient le passage sur terre comme une punition, une vallée de larmes, une occasion d'expier. Les trois comptabilisent chaque jour des morts infligés au nom de leurs livres saints. Au vu de l'état du monde, l'urgence me semble plutôt l'enseignement du fait athée !
http://athee.free.fr/onfray.html
2 - Royaume Uni / U.K. : Loi sur les crimes sexuels / Sex Crime Law
MODERNISATION DE LA LOI VICTORIENNE SUR LES CRIMES SEXUELS AU RU– Le gouvernement britannique a actualisé sa législation en matière de crimes sexuels: il a renforcé les mesures contre les abus sexuels d’enfants et le « nettoyage » d’Internet, mais supprimé une loi datant de l’ère victorienne et interdisant les relations sexuelles entre hommes. Qualifiée par le gouvernement de réforme la plus radicale des délits sexuels depuis un siècle, la loi sur les délits sexuels (Sexual Offences Act) simplifiera également les poursuites en cas de viol, afin d’aider à augmenter le taux de condamnation pour viol, qui n’atteint actuellement que 7 %.
Info : http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=502808§ion=news
Y:\EWL
info\Newsflash\Nf2004\NF05_FR.doc
For more info: http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=502808§ion=news
Y:\EWL
info\Newsflash\Nf2004\NF05_EN.doc
From : "Malin Bjork" <bjork@womenlobby.org>
***
3 - Turkey 'fails to protect women'
The human rights group's latest report claims up to a half of all women in Turkey have been victims of violence.
Amnesty says changes have been made to the legal system but shocking failures to uphold the law continue.
Turkey is waiting for the European Union to decide to set a date for talks about its possible entry into the EU.
There has been no direct response so far from the Turkish government about the report.
But a member of the parliamentary human rights committee, Ahmet Farouk Umshal, denied the problem was widespread - and said it was by no means confined to Turkey.
Honour killings
(...) "Violence against women by family members spans the spectrum from depriving women of economic necessities through verbal and psychological violence, to beatings, sexual violence and killings," the reports says.
"Violence against women is widely tolerated and even endorsed by community leaders and at the highest levels of the government and judiciary."
Examples include a man strangling his own daughter because she has been raped and a judge reducing a rapist's sentence when he promises to marry his victim.
The report is filled with accounts of young women forced into marriage, or everyday violence, of an environment of intimidation and, at its worst, of so-called "honour killings," where family members kill women who have had extra-marital relationships or who have been raped.
Fear
A women's rights activist from Diyarbakir told Amnesty: "Excuses for beating women at home include 'staring out of a window for a long period', 'saying hello to male friends on the street', 'if the telephone rings and there's no one on the other end', and 'spending too long talking to shopkeepers'." (...)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3768847.stm
***
4 - Kuwait : Granting political rights to women
"ICM rejected the earlier Amiri decree on giving political rights to women because of Kuwait's social structure and not due to any religious reasons," Al-Nashi said. "At that time the Kuwaiti society was not prepared for this issue." Personally, I feel women should be given only the right to vote, he continued. Al-Nashi went on to say the movement is negotiating with some political parties for the establishment of a national conference to discuss political reforms, stressing "this conference should include all political parties in the country."
On the relations between the government and ICM, Al-Nashi said, "our movement is a political body which has some obligations while the government is an executive authority. We agree with the government on some issues and don't agree on some others which depend on the issues which are under discussion." Al-Nashi stressed ICM was with the government on amending the number of constituencies, whether it was five, eight or ten, saying "the present number of constituencies is not correct."
Pointing out the recent testimony of the Defense Secretary of the United States was completed in less than two hours, he said, "our people have started to feel grilling is a boring affair. It appears they are not interested such issues which sometimes take even two months to be solved."
He denied ICM was the reason why the grilling of Information Minister Mohammed Abulhassan fell through, adding "arrangements were made for a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and the problem was solved without grilling."
http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/archives/04_0525_kw_wip.htm
***
5 - Iran : Women's Rights
Rise in young women suicides
Peik-e Iran Website
May 1, 2004
The number of suicides in 2003 had a 46% increase compared to
2002, and 74% of the successful suicides (that led to death), were those of
women. The director general of social affairs of the governorate of Kohkiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad said this and added: "90% of
these women were between 17 and 35 years old. The real number of suicides is
much higher than what we have."
A
Killer With No Remorse, and Little Respect for Women
New York Times
- By Virginia Heffernan
May 24, 2004
I strangled
her," an ordinary-looking man says evenly, his eyes fixed on an interviewer to
the left of the camera. The confession is not extracted but volunteered. The
man, Saeed Hanaei, is a serial killer, and pleased. This is going to be bleak.
"And Along Came a Spider," a documentary tells the disjointed story of an
Iranian man who killed 16 "street women," 15 of whom had done time for
prostitution, in the name of ridding his country of vice. As if the crime
weren't grim enough, various people, including Hanaei's wife and son, hail the
murderer as a hero. One man says, laughing happily: "He did the right thing.
He should have continued. "One of the most disturbing people in the film is
Hanaei's mother. Smiling over her son's youthful mischief, she also reflects
on how restricted she feels in Iran. Could this be a feminist
statement?...”
Human Auction
in United Arab Emirates
Shargh
(Iran-based daily)
May 26, 2004
A group of
Iranian boys and girls will be sold in an auction today in Fojeyreh, United
Arab Emirates. At a round table discussion on human trafficking held yesterday
(at the office of) the Young Iranian Society news agency, it was announced
that the preparations for this auction were made two weeks before by hunters
of Iranian women and girls in the course of an international
exhibition.
The human hunters were able to choose 54 Iranian girls out of
the 286 that were put on show in an Arab country's booth. They were then sent
to a Persian Gulf country on May 17 to get ready for the Fojeyreh auction on
May 26.
Mostafa Ben Yahya, a pilot of Iranian descent who works for the
United Arab Emirates airline, announced in the meeting yesterday, "An average
of between 10 to 15 girls are sent to the United Arab Emirates everyday on
nine ordinary flights and 20 irregular flights from Iran to Dubai,.
Moreover, corpses of three to five Iranian girls are taken from these
countries to Iran every month."
The pilot of Iranian descent said: "Some of
these girls are so young that they have to work as house maid for some time
before starting work at the night clubs."
Iran's Sex Slaves
Suffer Hideously Under Mullahs
Frontpage
Magazine, By Dr. Donna Hughes
June
8, 2004
Aaccording to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635
percent increase in the number of teen-age girls in prostitution. The
magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown.
In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many
of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly
operate in the city. The trade is also international: Thousands of Iranian
women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery
abroad.
The head of
Iran's Interpol bureau believes that the sex-slave trade is one of the most
profitable activities in Iran today.
Popular
destinations for victims of the slave trade are the Arab countries in the
Persian Gulf. According to the head of the Tehran province judiciary,
traffickers target girls between 13 and 17, although there are reports of some
girls as young as 8 and 10, to send to Arab countries. One ring was discovered
after an 18-year-old girl escaped from a basement where a group of girls were
held before being sent to Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The
number of Iranian women and girls who are deported from Persian Gulf countries
indicates the magnitude of the trade. Upon their return to Iran, the Islamic
fundamentalists blame the victims, and often physically punish and imprison
them. The women are examined to determine if they have engaged in "immoral
activity." Based on the findings, officials can ban them from leaving the
country again.
Police have
uncovered a number of prostitution and slavery rings operating from Tehran
that have sold girls to France, Britain and Turkey as well. One network based
in Turkey bought smuggled Iranian women and girls, gave them fake passports,
and transported them to European and Persian Gulf countries. In one case, a
16-year-old girl was smuggled to Turkey, and then sold to a 58-year-old
European national for $20,000.
In the
northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan, local police report that girls are
being sold to Pakistani men as sex slaves. The Pakistani men marry the girls,
ranging in age from 12 to 20, and then sell them to brothels called "Kharabat"
in Pakistan. One network was caught contacting poor families around Mashad and
offering to marry girls. The girls were then taken through Afghanistan to
Pakistan where they were sold to brothels.
In the
southeastern border province of Sistan Baluchestan, thousands of Iranian girls
reportedly have been sold to Afghan men. Their final destinations are
unknown.
Iranian Suicide Brigade Gains
Ground, 15,000
RECRUITS REPORTEDLY WAITING TO RID MIDEAST OF U.S. INFLUENCE
Knight Ridder,
June 11, 2004
TEHRAN,
Iran
- Twenty-five
years ago, Forooz Rejaeifar was a university student trying to force America
out of the Middle East by taking hostages at the U.S. Embassy here. Now, the
47-year-old mother of three is organizing an Iranian suicide brigade to
achieve that same goal. For now, her group is mostly a paper exercise with as
many as 15,000 volunteers but no money and weapons, said Rejaeifar, a former
newspaper publisher who heads the group. Citing privacy issues, she declined
to provide any recruits to be interviewed. She said those deemed fit would be
trained for one of three missions: killing members of the U.S.-led coalition
in Iraq, slaughtering Israelis (all are deemed ``occupiers of Palestine,''
according to official Iranian policy) or assassinating author Salman Rushdie.
The late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sentenced Rushdie to death in
absentia in 1989 on charges that he blasphemed in his novel ``The Satanic
Verses.''No training or missions are planned for the foreseeable future,
Rejaeifar said, adding that she hopes the shock value of her brigade will be
enough to send the Bush administration and its allies packing.
From : E-Zan: Voice of Women Against
Fundamentalism in Iran <newsletter@wfafi.org>
***
6 - Iraq : Pattern Emerges of Sexual Assault
Against Women Held by U.S. Forces
Amal Kadham Swadi, an Iraqi attorney representing women detainees, told The Guardian she believes that sexualized violence and abuse committed by US soldiers against female prisoners goes far beyond a few isolated cases. It's "happening all across Iraq," she said.
Women make up a small minority of the total number of Iraqis held by Coalition forces. The US military says 78 women are currently detained by occupation militaries throughout Iraq.
It is not clear, however, exactly how many women the US and its allies have detained since the invasion last year. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 30 Iraqi women were housed in Abu Ghraib last October. That number was reduced to five last month, and finally to zero as of May 29, according to the military.
Like the majority of male prisoners, many of the women detained by Coalition forces have not been charged with any crime. Iraqi human rights groups say they are likely being used as "bargaining chips" against family members wanted by Coalition forces, Newsday reports.
Swadi and six other female Iraqi lawyers began investigating claims of sexual assault late last year after a note reportedly written by a prisoner named Noor was smuggled out of Abu Ghraib. The note claimed that US soldiers were raping female detainees, and in some cases, such as that of Noor herself, getting them pregnant. Swadi then began interviewing detainees who said they too had been assaulted or had witnessed assaults, The Guardian reports. (...)
, , June 6th, 2004
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=5222
***
7 - India : Vote for parties endorsing women's rights'
The economic policies had hit women the hardest. "The budget allocations on schemes for women in the total public expenditure had declined successively from 1999 — from 1.02 per cent to 0.94 per cent to 0.87 per cent in 2002,'' they said. According to them, successive budgets had seen a hike in the price of essential commodities, including wheat, rice, sugar, edible oil and kerosene, gas cylinders, medicines. The lowering of interest rates on small savings had hit the lower income groups, widows, pensioners and senior citizens as also the reduction in real terms of expenditure on health, education and other social services.
"Women's jobs in the organised sector have been cut with the continuation of the ban on recruitment in the government sector and abolition of posts has led to a loss of at least 45,000 jobs held by women in the banking sector alone, and an estimated one lakh jobs in the Central Government services. The employment growth rate for women is at an all-time low — of less than two per cent, while women labour in rural areas have faced the worst period of unemployment with hardly 45 days of work in agriculture,'' they said.
The women's organisations alleged that the
agricultural policy being "implemented as part of the World Trade
Organisation" had led to a crisis for the peasantry, driving 9,000 farmers,
among whom at least one-third were women, to commit suicide. They alleged that
the BJP's top leaders continued their affiliation and allegiance to the RSS
and its agenda of a "Hindu Rashtra" and as long as that continued it would
remain the "hallmark of the party" despite claims to the contrary. This agenda
acts as a springboard for the forces of fundamentalism in the minority
communities, eroding women's rights there, as was evident in the
"unprecedented" assault on women of the minority community during the riots in
Gujarat. Attributing the collapse of the Women's Reservation Bill in
Parliament to (lack of) government will, the women's groups said a ruling
alliance that refused to put the Bill to vote even though it had the numbers
to get the Bill adopted, "forfeits its right to ask for women's votes." The
women's organisations which have made the appeal, include the All-India
Democratic Women's Association, the Guild of Services, the Joint Women's
Programme, the Mahila Dakshata Samity, the Muslim Women's Forum, the National
Federation of Indian Women, the National Alliance of Women's
Organisations/SAMA, the YWCA of India, and the Forum Against Oppression of
Women, besides Narayan Banerjee and Veena Mazumdar.
NEW DELHI, APRIL
19 . http://www.hindu.com/2004/04/20/stories/2004042008301100.htm
***
8 -
Argentina : Tres jueces contra una madre "excepcional"
Pese a que las pericias psicológicas determinaron que tanto la madre como el padre estaban en condiciones aceptables para el ejercicio de sus roles, el factor que decidió a los jueces José Luis Pérez, Urbano Marín y Jorge Medina, fue la asunción pública de su lesbianismo por parte de Atala y el hecho de convivir ella con su compañera.
Para los jueces, Karen Atala cometió el imperdonable (en una madre) error de anteponer “sus propios intereses, postergando los de sus hijas ... al iniciar una convivencia con su pareja homosexual”. Esa convivencia, de nuevo según los tres jueces, ha creado “un entorno familiar excepcional” que expone a las niñas a ser objeto de aislamiento y discriminación”.
El otro elemento que decidió a los tres jueces fue el afán por proteger a las niñas de “la eventual confusión de roles sexuales que puede producírseles por la carencia en el hogar de un padre de sexo masculino”. Dicha confusión resulta verdaderamente eventual, ya que de todas las pericias psicológicas que se le practicaron a las niñas, la única que confirmó ese dato fue la encargada por el demandante, don Jaime López. (...)
- Crecer en un hogar “diferente” no siempre conspira contra el “desarrollo social” de las criaturas, como sostienen los tres jueces. Al contrario: muchas veces prepara de manera muy eficaz para entender el mundo en que vivimos, que es diverso, complejo, con jerarquías injustas contra las que es bueno aprender a luchar desde muy temprano. Crecer sin los privilegios de quienes se autoproclaman representantes de lo que “debería ser” forma una mirada más humana, más compasiva, más flexible del mundo. (...)
- En 1999, la Corte Europea de Derechos Humanos revirtió un fallo similar de la Corte Suprema de Portugal que había privado a un padre gay de la tenencia de su hija, con argumentos muy similares a los de los jueces chilenos. Para la Corte, el hecho de que la homosexualidad del padre hubiera sido el factor determinante para negarle la custodia consistía violaba el derecho a la no-discriminación y el derecho al respeto a la privacidad y a la vida familiar, ambos consagrados por la Convención Europea para la Protección de los Derechos Humanos y las Libertades Fundamentales (artículos 14 y 8, respectivamente) .
- Hace ya 25 años, la Corte Suprema de New Jersey, EEUU, en un fallo que permitió a una madre lesbiana conservar la tenencia de sus hijas, se refirió al tema del “entorno familiar excepcional”, en los siguientes términos: “Es razonable pensar que (las niñas) saldrán de la situación mejor equipadas para ...percibir que la mayoría no tiene tiene razón en sus juicios morales y mejor preparadas para ... no verse limitadas por el sentimiento o prejuicio más popular en ese momento en su ambiente social” .
- En un caso referido a otra clase de “entorno excepcional” –esta vez por tratarse de una pareja interracial- la Corte Suprema de los EEUU dijo en 1994 que “puede ser que los prejuicios privados estén fuera del alcance de la ley, pero ella no puede, ni directa ni indirectamente, traducirlos en actos”.
- En un caso en el que se otorgó la tenencia de un niño a su madre lesbiana, que convivía con su compañera, el Tribunal Superior de Sudáfrica afirmó en 1998 que “la intolerancia existente en la actualidad y sus consecuencias no es una razón válida para limitar los derechos de una madre lesbiana” ..
- En abril de 2004, el Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar se pronunció a favor de que la mujer transgénero G.R. siguiera manteniendo el contacto con sus hijos, contra el pedido de su ex-esposa y madre de los niños, alegando que “los niños no corren ningún peligro en su integridad moral y física”.
- En los últimos años ha habido varios casos de revalidación por parte de los tribunales de adopciones informales realizadas por lesbianas, gays y transgénero en América Latina. Los jueces y juezas que fallaron en estos casos no expresaron preocupación alguna acerca de las posibles “confusiones de roles sexuales” y, por el contrario, dieron prioridad a los vínculos de amor y cuidado establecidos entre los niños, las niñas y sus madres/padres. Por ejemplo, la mujer transgénero Mairena y su hijo de nueve años (San José, Costa Rica, marzo de 2003) o la pareja gay formada por Jarbas Santarelli Porto y José Geraldo Dias y su niña de 3 años (Minas Gerais, Brasil, octubre 2001). (...)
'Por el Programa para América Latina y el Caribe, IGLHRC - Buenos Aires, 1 de junio de 2004'
From : Adriana Gómez <agomez@reddesalud.org>
9 -
Mexico : Latin American Women have left for the Workplace
The report, prepared the 10th anniversary of the landmark 1995 Beijing women´s conference, says laws covering women´s rights have changed for the better in Latin America.
But economic liberalization, free trade and the breakdown of old social patterns have led to a backlash in some countries.
Sonia Montaño, the report´s coordinator, heads the Women and Development unit at the U.N. Economic Council on Latin America and the Caribbean.
She said many government ministers are complaining that women need to return home, in part because their absence from the house means children aren´t being looked after.
"The Caribbean women told us [...] that this is turning into a backlash against women", Montaño said, noting that "it´s easy to say that because women are out of the house, the children get into the street and (into) drugs."
Abot half the women in the region are now in the paid labor market - often through economic necessity. Economic liberalization has opened more factory jobs to women, but many of them have seen little benefit.
"Many of the region´s women have entered this unprotected (labor) market and have directly helped to increase the prosperity of globalized production chains, without seeing any appreciable change in terms of gender equity", the report states.
Still, women have made great strides in education. For the region as a whole, females have practically the same enrollment rates as males in primary education, and a higher rate of enrollment in secondary and higher education.
"However, these successes have not necessarily improved women´s position in the labor market or narrowed the wage gap", which is currently about 68 cents for each dollar a man earns. Additionally, women still have higher unemployment rates than men, the report states.
Gender independence also has brought
risks.
"Border areas in the region are truly danger zones for
women," because of crime and violence, Montaño said. Part of that is
attributed to the increasing number of women crossing the border illegally,
and to border cities with high crime rates, especially against
women.
Uridia Estrada, a 21-year-old student in Mexico
City, said things have changed for the better for her generation. But she
complained about the general lack of respect for women.
"There are
rapes, and comments and insults when you walk down the street", she said.
"It isn´t like England or Canada."
The report
recommends more government programs such as free child care and urges formal
recognition of the work women do as unpaid caregivers and community
volunteers.
Noting that the percentage of households headed by women has
increased in almost all of the countries in the region, the report also
stresses the need for increased access by women to financial systems and
property titles.
Despite signs of backlash, Montaño said, many
governments in the region have come to see women´s groups as allies rather
than opponents.
"In view of the region´s heterogeneity and
equity-adverse conditions," the report concludes, "the net outcome of the past decade´s efforts has been positive for the
women of Latin America and the Caribbean."
(14.6.2004) http://www.frauen-ohne-grenzen.org/frauen-ohne-grenzen.asp?loc=news&pg=news&id=745&lang=eng
10 - USA : US women lag in elected office
Under apparent pressure from the United
States and local women, the constitutions of Iraq and Afghanistan include a
provision that aims for 25 percent representation of women in their
parliaments.
Here at home, we have some catching up to do. The
percentage of women in the US Congress is a mere 14 percent. The United States
ranks 57th among 119 countries surveyed for the percentage of women in their
lower houses of parliament. How long will it take us to reach the top 10,
which include the Scandinavian countries and Spain, Belgium, and Costa Rica?
At the present pace of women elected to office the answer is forever. After a
spurt of women elected to office in the late '70s and early '80s, when women
moved from the single digits to the double digits, the growth of the number of
women in public life has become stagnant, with a few bright
exceptions.
There are 14 women senators, a record. Put in
the context of history, the figure looks less optimistic. Only 33 women have
served in the US Senate, and all the early ones were appointed upon the death
of their husbands. The House of Representatives claims 73 women, the same
number as in the last election.
At the state level, there is cause for
optimism for governors. A record number of eight women governors will have
their portraits painted when their terms are up. One reason for the increase
in women governors is that many states have term limits, enabling women to run
for open seats. The power of incumbency appears to be the biggest barrier to
women -- and other newcomers -- getting elected to the Congress. Only a
handful of incumbents in the House got defeated in the last election.
(...)
***
Tracy, boursière de l’Etat camerounais, vient de terminer sa maîtrise en LEA en France (langues et civilisations étrangères) quand son frère, « grand homme d’affaires », lui demande de le rejoindre en Suisse pour y faire un stage dans son entreprise. C’est le début de son cauchemar. Tracy a 36 ans lorsqu’elle se confie à Amely-James Koh Bela.
La prostitution chez les femmes africaines prend de plus en plus d’ampleur en Europe et plus particulièrement en France. Alertée sur le sujet par Amely-James Koh Bela [1], Afrik a décidé à sa manière de tirer la sonnette d’alarme. Ainsi nous vous proposerons dans les semaines à venir des témoignages récoltés par la Camerounaise entre 1995 et 2000 ainsi qu’une série d’articles de la rédaction sur la prostitution des femmes, des enfants mais aussi celle des hommes africains. (...)
http://www.camerounlink.net/fr/news.php?nid=7634&vx=1&kat2=4
***
12 - South Africa : Bid to involve men in debate on gender equality
|
After 10 years of
democracy, organisations campaigning for gender equality have concluded
that men still do not participate positively in the struggle for gender
equality.
The Commission on Gender Equality, in partnership with the South African Men's Forum, the South African Council of Churches and the Moral Regeneration Movement, have come up with a project that is intended to include men in the gender transformation equality debate. At a press briefing held in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, yesterday, Desmond Lesejane of the Moral Regeneration Movement said they had proposed that a three-day national conference be held in November to discuss how men could be involved in the debate. The national summit would be preceded by nine one-day provincial summits that would feed into the national summit, he explained. "The summit would provide men with an opportunity to reflect on a positive role they can play in seeking creative ways of broadening their participation in the gender and transformation discourse," Lesejane added. Gender equality commissioner Bafana Khumalo said men were playing a minimal role in the gender transformation struggle. He said there was a dire need to involve men in the process. By Moloantoa Mosia ( May 25, 2004) http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=2087936 |
***
13 - International : No Women, No Peace: The Importance of Women's Participation to Achieve Peace and Security
Historical context: “…war begins in the minds of men…”
(constitution of
UNESCO)
The differing effects of violent conflict on men and women are under-acknowledged.
Violent conflict is gendered. Different roles are assigned to men and women in the making of war and peace, and in turn men and women are differently affected by war. Women rarely have the same resources, political rights, or control over their environment that men do. These differing experiences—of girls, boys, men and women—are still vastly under-acknowledged by those making decisions on security policy.
Violence against women as a weapon of war is met with impunity.
Increasingly, violence against women has become a weapon of war. During mass violence, women endure forced pregnancy and sexual abuse and are deliberately infected with HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. As they become tools of war, women are humiliated. Violence against women is viewed as a regrettable but inevitable act of war, and impunity continues. Where women’s experiences in war are left unaddressed, post-conflict reconstruction is impossible.
Men and women have unequal status.
All over the world, women face discrimination, violence and marginalization because of their gender. A fundamental power differential exists across sectors; women’s exclusion from decisions related to peace and security is only one manifestation of a fundamental inequality. During times of violence, however, women are rendered further vulnerable and especially marginalized. A culture of violence perpetuates itself, accentuating women’s unequal status.
Security is defined in military rather than human terms.
Historically, global security has been defined in
military terms. States amass
weapons and organize and train armies for possible wars. But as life for civilians everywhere
becomes increasingly less secure and new conflicts continue to flare up, this
concept of security is obsolete.
Weapons-based security perpetuates a continuum of violence. War tears
the social fabric, devastates economic infrastructure, and breeds new levels
of violence—in particular against women.
When there are no women in the peace process, we cannot expect peace. We hope as the High Level Panel continues its work, it will …
The UN has produced substantive analysis and documentation on women in peace and security. The following are recommended for further reading:
v
UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace
and security, S/RES/1325 (2000),
http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf.
v
Women, Peace and Security: At a
Glance, an overview of the Secretary-General's
Study on Women, Peace and Security, Office of
the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI),
2002.
v
Women War
Peace: The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on
Women and the Women’s Role in Peace-building, by Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM),
2002.
v
PeaceWomen.org, a portal by Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) on resolution 1325,
http://www.peacewomen.org.
v
WomenWarPeace.org, a portal by UNIFEM on Women, Peace and Security,
http://www.womenwarpeace.org.
v Peace agreements as a means for promoting gender equality and ensuring participation of women: A framework of model provisions, Report of the Expert Group Meeting, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Department of Political Affairs, EGM/PEACE/2003/ REPORT.
v
Enhancing Women’s
Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-conflict
Countries, Report of the Expert Group Meeting,
Office of the Special Adviser on
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Department of Political Affairs, EGM/ELEC/2004/
REPORT.
v
Action Plan for
Gender Mainstreaming, Department for Disarmament Affairs, 2003,
http://disarmament2.un.org/gender/gmap.pdf.
France :
Les valeurs féminines : la chance du troisième
millénaire
En septembre 2004, auront lieu les 4èmes Rencontres Internationales Science et Conscience.
Ces journées grand public
donneront une large place à la complémentarité des valeurs féminines et
masculines. En quoi les valeurs féminines seraient-elles la chance du
troisième millénaire ? Un
changement sans précédent a été
déjà amorcé. Comment se manifeste-t-il aujourd’hui ? Comment les sociétés
fondées sur les modèles masculins peuvent-elles être enfin fécondées par
d’authentiques valeurs féminines ?
Strasbourg, 24 au 26 septembre 2004, PAVILLON JOSEPHINE, Parc de
l’Orangerie. Cette manifestation aura lieu en traduction simultanée en
allemand.
Contact : nicole.bertaud@free.fr/ www.scienceetconscience.com
Greetings!
Remedios AIDS Foundation Inc. (RAF), Manila, Philippines, in coordination with AIDS Educational Program of Chiang Mai University, Thailand and International Council on Management of Population Programmes of Malaysia is conducting a workshop entitled: “HIV/AIDS Programme Management: Delivering Results” from September 6 to 17, 2004 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
(...) This intensive learning opportunity offers conceptual understanding as well as exposure to actual promising practices in the implementation of HIV/AIDS programs including administration, prevention, care and support issues. It aims to provide participants with latest global developments and trends on HIV/AIDS situation, enhance their competencies through new knowledge, user-friendly management approaches and tools and translate these to promising practices in HIV/AIDS management. (...)
For more information, please contact Ms.Bernadette Lesaca : reme1066@skyinet.net
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Jay Satia
National Agencies of all participants involved will be strongly stimulated to fund these project.
NIZW International
Centre
NL - 3501 DD Utrecht : europa@nizw.nl
* International