History / Histoire

* South Africa - Women's Charter (1954)

(...) We declare the following aims:

This organisation is formed for the purpose of uniting women in common action for the removal of all political, legal, economic and social disabilities.

We shall strive for women to obtain:

The right to vote and to be elected to all State bodies, without restriction or discrimination.
The right to full opportunities for employment with equal pay and possibilities of promotion in all spheres of work.
Equal rights with men in relation to property, marriage and children, and for the removal of all laws and customs that deny women such equal rights.
For the development of every child through free compulsory education for all; for the protection of mother and child through maternity homes, welfare clinics, creches and nursery schools, in countryside and towns; through proper homes for all, and through the provision of water, light, transport, sanitation, and other amenities of modern civilisation.
For the removal of all laws that restrict free movement, that prevent or hinder the right of free association and activity in democratic organisations, and the right to participate in the work of these organisations.
To build and strengthen women's sections in the National Liberatory movements, the organisation of women in trade unions, and through the peoples' varied organisation.
To cooperate with all other organisations that have similar aims in South Africa as well as throughout the world.
To strive for permanent peace throughout the world.

http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/women/wcharter.html

* Egalité des sexes et développement

La loi doit être l’expression de la volonté générale ; toutes les citoyennes et tous les citoyens doivent concourir personnellement, ou par leurs représentants, à sa formation; elle doit être la même pour tous : toutes les citoyennes et tous les citoyens, étant égaux à ses yeux, doivent être également admissibles à toutes dignités, places et emplois publics, selon leurs capacités, et sans autres distinctions que celles de leurs vertus et de leurs talents.
Article VI de la Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne, Olympe de Gouges, 1791.

En thèse générale, les progrès sociaux et les changements de période s’opèrent en raison du progrès des femmes vers la liberté ; et les décadences d’ordre social s’opèrent en raison du décroissement de la liberté des femmes.
Théorie des quatre mouvements, Charles Fourier, 1808.

Instruments des uns, appas pour d’autres, respectées ou méprisées, souvent muselées, toutes les femmes ont presque le même destin que des religions ou des législations abusives ont cimenté.
Une si longue lettre, Mariama Bâ, 1987.

L’asservissement des femmes

Ce qui frappe, au premier abord, dans l’histoire telle qu’elle fut enseignée, c’est son caractère androcentré et la nature commune du sort réservé aux femmes. Partout et en tout temps, elles auraient été marquées du sceau de leur infériorité biologique. Leur rôle de reproductrices de l’humanité leur aurait interdit la civilisation et les aurait cantonnées dans le matériel. Incapables de chasser, elles auraient dépendu des hommes dont elles étaient la monnaie d’échange pour le gîte et le couvert, et ce dès les temps préhistoriques. C’est sur la base de ces présupposés qu’ont été construites la plupart des théories anthropologique (Lévi-Strauss), historique (Michelet), psychologique (Freud), sociale (Proudhon), sociogénétique (Wilson). Et si, aujourd’hui, ces théories sont battues en brèche par les études féministes ou de genres, elles perdurent encore sur le terrain, notamment dans l’université, auprès du grand public et dans l’inconscient collectif. Ce n’est d’ailleurs pas un hasard que ce soit l’académicien Claude Lévi-Strauss qui ait pris position en faveur du masculin grammatical comme genre neutre et universel.

On dit aussi que si les femmes furent quelque peu libres sous le paganisme, elles perdirent le reste de leur liberté avec l’avènement des grandes religions patriarcales. (...)

Ainsi, en France, on fit appel à une « loi salique » pour exclure les femmes du trône même si elles continuèrent à être régentes. Des évènements historiques tels que l’Inquisition et les innombrables femmes brûlées (dans toute l’Europe), les lois imposant aux enfants le nom du père, puis celui de l’époux, d’autres interdisant aux femmes les emplois civils, l’enseignement de la médecine, puis certains secteurs privés, accélérèrent la mise au pas de la société.

Dès le XVe siècle, le modèle bourgeois avec son éthique de domesticité contribue à l’enfermement des femmes. Cette contrainte atteignit son apogée au XVIIe, les filles de la noblesse et de la bourgeoisie passant alors de la maison paternelle au couvent qu’elles ne quittèrent que pour le mariage. Les femmes du peuple, quant à elles, durent faire face à la ségrégation par sexe des métiers, elles perdirent, entre autres, le droit de brasser la bière et de fabriquer des chandelles. Elles se virent ainsi cantonnées dans quelques secteurs, celui du textile par exemple, dont les hommes ne voulaient plus et où elles étaient sous-payées. (...)

La démocratie au masculin

Le modèle de l’État fondé sur l’individu, et non plus sur la famille comme l’était le système féodal, exclut les femmes de la conception des individus citoyens. La Constitution des États-Unis n’accorda pas le droit de vote aux femmes malgré leur rôle dans la lutte pour l’indépendance. Et si les femmes crurent pouvoir devenir des êtres humains et des citoyennes à part entière lors de la Révolution française, celle-ci s’avèrera le grand rendez-vous manqué. Alors que le gouvernement a été conçu et légitimé comme système représentatif, seule une minorité d’élite a pu voter et gouverner. Tous les êtres dépendants — et donc, dans ce système, toutes les femmes — ou dépourvus de raison sont exclus d’office.

La « condition féminine » devient un problème social et politique et les gouvernants se demandent comment faire pour que l’irruption des forces irrationnelles ne mette pas en péril la République. La famille se calque sur l’État, les femmes n’y ont que peu de droits, elles obéissent au chef de famille comme au chef d’État. Pensé comme modèle unique de la démocratie, ce modèle est resté inchangé lorsque les femmes ont accédé à la citoyenneté. L’entrée des femmes dans le monde politique et la citoyenneté n’a rien remis en question, comme si les femmes étaient et n’étaient que des hommes. En effet, l’idée que chaque être est, de par son essence, représentatif de l’humanité tout entière, a été prédominante dans le monde occidental. (...) Cette conception universaliste, celle des Lumières, fut aussi celle de la France de la Révolution de 1789, de la Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen, et de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme. (...)

http://cifdi.francophonie.org/genre/index.htm

ACTION ALERT / Alerte !

* Israel : Tali Fahima's trial

This week, Tali Fahima got a remarkable letter from Jenin while her lawyers asked to annul all charges against her - as they were based on evidence which earlier had been declared by the prosecution itself to be insufficient.

Read about it in: Zvi Harel, HA'ARETZ - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/525835.html

also Zvi Harel http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/525990.html
Yaakov Katz, JERUSALEM POST http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1105418783811

Shmuel Yerushalmi distributed his poem for Tali Fahima and was interrogated by the Shabak for it. As a poetic protest a contest was opened. Find the first politico-poetic submissions, and add your own https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/1507/index.php

From : TOI-Billboard <otherisr@actcom.co.il>

* South Asia : Displaced Women and Children Tsunami Survivors

The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children urges the international community to prioritize the protection of displaced women and children survivors of southeast Asia’s devastating tsunami. Children are in particular danger of trafficking, while women are at risk of abuse and exploitation as a result of their vulnerable situation.

“When children lose their traditional support systems, they become more susceptible to trafficking, which has long been a problem in Southeast Asia,” says Wendy Young, director of external relations. “Traffickers prey on people who are increasingly desperate to escape their situation, as many in the countries hardest hit by the tsunami are. Without adequate protection, the survivors are easy targets, especially the children.”

Displaced children must be registered as soon as possible and other protection measures taken, including deploying child protection advisors and establishing recreational and educational services, often the best way to protect children from traffickers and to help them deal with their trauma. The United Nations and international organizations should work closely with the many regional and local nongovernmental organizations to raise awareness of trafficking and to implement appropriate protection and assistance programs.

Displaced and refugee women are at particular risk of sexual abuse and exploitation with the loss of their families and communities. Security measures must be undertaken to ensure their safe access to shelter, food, water and health care, including for survivors of sexual violence.

Vital reproductive health services must be a priority. In any displaced population, approximately 25 percent of women of childbearing age will be pregnant, while some will be close to giving birth and need clean delivery materials. In addition, 15 percent of pregnant women will suffer from unforeseen complications of pregnancy and childbirth, necessitating their access to life-saving emergency obstetric care.

“Adequate assistance from the international community is vital to support the programs that would protect child survivors from trafficking and meet the lifesaving reproductive health needs of displaced women,” Young says. “We must do all we can to ensure that the children and women who survived the devastation do not fall prey to another kind of trauma.”

New York, NY, January 7, 2005 / http://www.womenscommission.org/newsroom/press_releases/010705.htm

* France : Pétition "Encore trop d'inégalités sur le sol français"

Les femmes immigrées se heurtent en France à des problèmes liés à une inégalité juridique en raison de l'application de certaines dispositions des conventions bilatérales existant entre la France, pays d'accueil, et leurs pays d'origine. Ces dispositions, qui concernent principalement le statut juridique personnel, familial, des lois de leur pays d'origine, entraînent de nombreuses discriminations. En effet, les statuts personnels dans un certain nombre de pays (Maghreb, Moyen-Orient, Afrique, Asie..) impliquent des règles qui peuvent être en contradiction avec le droit français, basé sur les valeurs d'égalité entre les hommes et les femmes. De plus, les traditions en vigueur dans certains pays renforcent les discriminations à l'égard des femmes et sont, lorsque appliquées en France, contraires aux valeurs fondamentales de la République.

Les femmes bénéficient au niveau international d'une protection juridictionnelle leur permettant de garantir au mieux le principe d'égalité, tel que stipulé dans la "Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme" (1948) :"Tous sont égaux devant la loi et ont droit sans distinction à une égale protection de la loi. Tous ont droit à une protection égale contre toute discrimination qui violerait la présente Déclaration et contre toute provocation à une telle discrimination"(Article7). Ces principes sont repris dans la Convention pour l'Elimination de toutes formes de violence à l'égard des Femmes (CEDAW): "Les Etats-parties prennent toutes les mesures appropriées pour éliminer la discrimination à l'égard des femmes dans toutes les questions découlant du mariage et dans les rapports familiaux et doivent assurer le même droit de contracter mariage, de choisir librement son conjoint et de ne contracter mariage que de son libre et plein consentement; les mêmes droits et les mêmes responsabilités au cours du mariage et lors de sa dissolution; les mêmes droits et les mêmes responsabilités en tant que parents, les mêmes droits de décider du nombre et de l'espacement des naissances, les mêmes droits en matière de propriété"(Article 16).

Dans son rapport sur "Les droits des femmes issues de l'immigration", le Haut Conseil à l'Intégration recommande de "dénoncer les conventions qui méconnaissent le principe constitutionnel d'égalité hommes/femmes et les engagements internationaux de la France". Il souligne la nécessité de "réaffirmer la garantie, en France, des droits civils de ces femmes et d'insister sur leur dimension individuelle". De plus, "pour que les femmes issues de l'immigration ne soient pas soumises à un statut inégalitaire, il paraît souhaitable que le législateur s'achemine vers l'application de la loi du domicile, à l'instar de nombreux pays européens". Nous partageons ce point de vue et nous estimons même qu'il est impératif d'appliquer la loi du domicile.

D'autres pays européens s'inscrivent également dans cette démarche et des lois ont été prises afin de mettre un terme à ce statut discriminatoire fait aux femmes migrantes.

La France, pays des Droits de l'Homme ne saurait être en reste. C'est pourquoi, partant :

des recommandations du "Congrès International des Femmes Marocaines d'ici et d'ailleurs" (Casablanca, 26-27 septembre 2003) sur la révision des conventions bilatérales et multilatérales et l'abolition de toute disposition contraire aux engagements internationaux dans les pays d'accueil, dans le respect de l'égalité des droits entre les hommes et les femmes (..) ;
de la Déclaration du Vème Congrès International des Femmes de la Méditerranée (Athènes, 23-26 octobre 2003) demandant l'inscription dans la Constitution européenne et dans les accords bilatéraux du principe de l'égalité en droits des hommes et des femmes, de la démocratie et des droits humains, et d'en faire une clause de conditionnalité de la coopération transméditerranéenne.

Nous demandons :

- L'abrogation de ces dispositions qui concernent principalement le statut juridique personnel, familial des lois de leur pays d'origine.

- L'application de la loi du domicile pour l'égalité entre hommes et femmes.

News

1 - France

* Egalité salariale ?...

Mme Gisèle Gautier (UC - Loire-Atlantique), présidente de la Délégation aux droits des femmes et à l'égalité des chances entre les hommes et les femmes, se réjouit de l'annonce faite par M. Jacques Chirac hier soir. Le chef de l'Etat a, en effet, demandé au gouvernement de présenter un projet de loi imposant aux entreprises de fixer, par accord, des objectifs chiffrés pour parvenir à l'égalité salariale entre les hommes et les femmes dans un délai maximal de cinq ans.

Cette annonce rejoint une préoccupation forte de la délégation du Sénat aux droits des femmes, qui y a consacré de nombreux travaux, le dernier en date portant sur le bilan de la loi Génisson. S'appuyant sur les résultats d'un sondage auprès des DRH de 2005 entreprises réalisé par l'IFOP à la demande de la délégation, Mme Gautier a souligné le mois dernier la persistance des inégalités salariales et déploré l'application médiocre de la « loi Génisson » adoptée en 2001.

From : b.lehnisch@senat.fr

* Faouzia Zebdi-Ghorab fait campagne voilée...

Elle est la candidate de l'Union française pour la cohésion nationale.

Sur ses affiches et sur ses tracts, elle pose avec le voile islamique. "En distribuant les tracts, je n'ai pas eu une seule réflexion sur mon voile, déclare-t-elle. Dans nos quartiers, on vit très bien entre nous et avec nos différences, mais cette mixité n'est pas représentée au niveau des institutions privées ou publiques, on se bat contre ce dysfonctionnement." Dans le tract qui la présente aux électeurs de la 8e circonscription des Yvelines, il est précisé : "Faouzia Zebdi-Ghorab est née à Nanterre, âgée de 43 ans, mariée, trois enfants, titulaire d'un DEUG de lettres modernes, d'un DEA en philosophie, on lui refuse le droit de travail car elle est musulmane et porte le foulard."

Stigmatisant la droite et la gauche, l'argumentaire tient sur deux lignes : "S'ils refusent l'entrée de la Turquie dans la communauté européenne uniquement parce que sa population est majoritairement de confession musulmane, croyez-vous qu'ils acceptent ou supportent leurs concitoyens de référence musulmane ?"

Dans sa campagne, comme durant l'interview, Mme Zebdi-Ghorab est accompagnée de Mustapha Lounès, président du parti. Ce dernier répond souvent à sa place, la corrige parfois, lui suggère des réponses souvent.

La candidate en hidjab n'a-t-elle vraiment eu aucune réflexion ? M. Lounès lui conseille de raconter le débat avec les autres candidats, organisé par Radio des cités."Bédier n'est pas venu car il se considère comme une star", dit-elle, soulignant que "seule" la candidate du Front national "m'a parlé humainement". La candidate socialiste ? "La plus méprisante, elle a fait comme si j'étais pas là !" La candidate des Verts ? "Elle qui a un nom de référence afro-maghrébine, Nabila Keramane, fut celle qui écorchait le plus mon nom. Elle a tenu à exprimer une désolidarisation totale."

En cas de ballottage entre le FN et l'un des deux "partis de l'alliance socialo-conservateurs", il n'y aura pas de consigne de vote : "On ne nous fera plus peur avec le Front national", dit M. Lounès. Mme Zebdi-Ghorab acquiesce.

Lors de l'élection présidentielle en 2002, au second tour, elle "n'a pas voté". "Je n'étais pas inscrite sur les listes électorales. La première fois que j'ai voté dans ma vie, c'était pour moi, lors des cantonales de mars", avoue-t-elle en riant.

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-388671,0.html

2 - Portugal : Les femmes toujours mobilisées sur la question de l'avortement

Le navire clinique de l’organisation Women on Waves, qui pratique des avortements, n’a pas pu entrer dans les eaux territoriales du Portugal en août 2004. Le navire est cependant resté dans la région jusqu’au 9 septembre. Quatre des associations portugaises de la Marche mondiale des femmes, impliquées dans cette association ont donc eu un été actif. Elles ont poursuivi les actions entamées depuis janvier 2004, quand un groupe pro-choix avait recueilli 120 000 signatures pour ouvrir un référendum pour autoriser l’avortement sur demande jusqu’à 10 semaines de grossesse. Le Premier ministre du Portugal a refusé la tenue de ce référendum, tout comme le ministre de la Défense a refusé au navire de mouiller dans un port portugais.

Rappelons que, au Portugal, l’avortement n’est autorisé que si la vie et la santé de la femme sont en danger et en cas de malformation du fœtus, ou quand la grossesse résulte d’un viol. Même dans ces cas-là, des hôpitaux et des médecins refusent de pratiquer des avortements. Résultat : le nombre d’avortements clandestins reste élevé (20 000 par an selon les estimations) avec des conséquences souvent dramatiques (100 femmes en sont décédées durant les derniers 20 ans)

Autre conséquence : le gouvernement portugais poursuit les docteurs, les infirmières ayant aidé des femmes à avorter, ainsi que les femmes ayant eu un avortement, en-dehors des limites de la loi. Elles et ils risquent trois ans de prison. Deux femmes et une infirmière sont actuellement en procès à Setubal. En 2001, 17 femmes ont été en procès pour avortement illégal. Une infirmière a écopé de 7 ans et demi de prison.

Les Portugaises, dont les femmes membres de la Marche, sont actives sur le terrain depuis plusieurs années. En 1998, un référendum sur la question de l’avortement a bien eu lieu mais seulement 31,8 % des électeurs avaient participé au référendum. L’avortement sur demande avait été rejeté par 50,5 % des votants. Selon la loi portugaise, il faut que 50 % des votants participent au référendum pour qu’il soit valide.

À partir d’informations fournies par Almerinda Bento, Marche mondiale des femmes au Portugal et du site Internet de Women on Waves (http://www.womenonwaves.org/set-1020.245-fr.html)

3 - Austria : Domestic Violence - a woman specific risk of poverty

Gender specific poverty of women is structurally caused, the reasons of poverty being various. Especially the social inequality between the sexes in many social areas has discriminating effects on women and endangers them to impoverish.

Women still earn considerably less than men, the professional opportunities of women are still narrow and small – in spite of improved possibilities of education and training. Frequently women do not dispose of any stabile basis of existence. To a high degree they do unpaid and part time work, or interrupt their gainful employments in order to care for their children and family members. Unlike men they get their financial safeguarding and their social rights not through formal employment contracts but rather via informal earnings. Typical forms of informal earnings of women are short-time employments, temporary work contracts, contracts for work and services, typical „Mac Jobs“ and homework. These employment conditions mostly belong to the sector of the lowest wages. Thus, being employed does not necessarily mean that women find a way out of the risks of poverty and of poverty itself. While today the number of working women is much higher than ten years ago, much less women are financially secure. The unemployment rates are rising all over Europe and women are – as has been proved – more threatened by unemployment. Re-enterers who have no job after their “baby-pause” are especially stricken with this. But also those women who have managed to re-enter into the labour market often have to accept atypical jobs and insufficient incomes. Lacking possibilities of child care and the small offer of fulltime jobs further aggravate the situation. Single mothers are particularly afflicted by the danger of impoverishment and therefore more often depend on public assistance.
Even more endangered to become poor are women in special life conditions, such as homeless and handicapped women, migrants, women addicted to drug abuse, and older women. Frequently they are not included in the social security system.
A further cause for a specifically female risk of poverty is male violence in the domestic and family area. Its victims are in the first place women and children.
Poverty can lead to addictions and violence. Violence and maltreatment lasting for years have a restrictive impact on women’s possibilities of decision making and their margin of action. Thus women often stay with their violent partners just because they cannot afford a separation.
Women daring the way or the escape to the women’s refuge free themselves from violence at first, but the fear to walk into the trap of poverty is constantly there.
Sandra Messner, long standing staff member of a Viennese women’s refuge, illustrates in her article the reasons why women afflicted by male violence, particularly migrants and single mothers are likely to drift into poverty.
Birgit Taller, who has long years of experience in the work in women’s refuges, also reports on the spiral of poverty in connection with domestic violence.
A major precondition to get out of violent relationships is an own financial safeguarding and independence. Uta Ender-Dragässer and Brigitte Sellach report in detail on the reasons and manifestations of poverty as well as on the situation in the German women’s refuges.
That „poverty is female“ and that a rise of female poverty has to be noted during the last 20 years, that there is a direct nexus between violence and poverty, all this is elucidated by an interview with women advisor Marion Breiter.

By Maria Rösslhumer - Manager of the Association of Autonomous Austrian Women’s Refuges

From : WAVE <office@wave-network.org> (FEMPOWER No. 9)

4 - Russia : The Transnational Shadow Market of Trafficking in Women

(...) Transnational trafficking of women is a new type of crime in the republics of the former Soviet Union. This activity first started in the Soviet Union during perestroika, when restrictions on international travel were eased. The disintegration of the Soviet Union opened borders for travel, migration and privatized trade, all of which facilitated the operations of criminal networks. Sex industries in receiving countries create a demand for women that transnational crime networks from the newly independent states organized to fill with relatively low risk and high profits for the networks. Trafficking exists to meet the demand for women, who are used in brothels, massage parlors, bars and stretches of streets and highways where women are sold to men in prostitution. Ukraine, especially, has become a major source of young women for the international sex markets.²³ Hundreds of victims of trafficking have recounted their experiences to non-governmental organizations, reporters and police. Although there are individual variations, there are similar themes of manipulation and violence from the traffickers and further persecution by the police.

(...) In the Soviet Union, a shadow economy, often controlled by government officials, existed for decades to meet the needs of the people for goods and services. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the shadow economy networks expanded to become transnational criminal networks that increasingly operate beyond the reach of law enforcement in any one state, and more ominously, operate in cooperation with law enforcement and government officials in some states. One of the commodities that is in great demand and Ukraine, and other republics of the Soviet Union, have in great supply, are women who were eager to travel and look for opportunities abroad. The trafficking of women for purposes of sexual exploitation has become a highly profitable shadow market for organized crime networks. The lucrative trade in women garners billions of dollars for criminals, who use the money to enrich themselves and buy influence to further their activities. Although organized crime networks have benefited, trafficking in women is not a shadow economy that has brought prosperity to local communities. The growth in number and size of organized crime networks has become a threat to the safety of citizens and to legitimate economic, social, and political institutions.

Trafficking in women is a modern day slave trade that is consuming increasing numbers of women, especially from Ukraine and other republics of the former Soviet Union. The existence of recruitment and enslavement of women for purposes of sexual exploitation threatens the status of women throughout the world. There can be no true democracy in any country if half the population can be viewed as potential commodities to be recruited, bought, sold and enslaved.

Most analyses of trafficking in women focus on the supply side in the sending countries, with economic factors assumed to be the primary cause of trafficking. A more complete understanding of trafficking in women is achieved by also examining the demand for trafficked women in sex industries in receiving countries and the essential role played by organized crime networks in committing serious crimes against women. In addition, the gendered nature of the dynamics of the supply and demand has to be examined. It cannot be ignored that women are the sole victims in trafficking in women for prostitution and men are the sole players in creating the demand for women in prostitution.

Legalization of prostitution is sometimes thought to be a solution to trafficking in women, but evidence seems to show that legalized sex industries actually result in increased trafficking to meet the demand for women to be used in the legal sex industries. Increased activity of organized crime networks also accompanies increases in trafficking.

Legal remedies that address the demand side of trafficking have been passed at the international level at the United Nations and the national level in Sweden. The older 1949 United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others has not been widely ratified and lacks a monitoring body, so it has had limited impact against the transnational trafficking of women. The newly defined type of violence against women and crime in Sweden "the purchase of sexual services" has only been in place for one year and its effectiveness is yet to be evaluated.

Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation has become such a large and severe crisis for the well being of women and the security and stability of some states that interventions are needed at all levels and points in the trafficking process. This modern slave trade is a shadow market that benefits only criminals.

http://www.owl.ru/eng/research/thenatasha.htm

5 - China : HK to Heighten Children's Awareness Against Sexual Abuse

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government (SAR) has taken measures to heighten children's awareness against sexual abuse, in light of a spate of abuse
cases on them by Roman Catholic priests in Hong Kong.

Responding to a question on the Roman Catholic priests' criminal behavior, raised by a Legislative Councilor Wednesday, SAR Secretary for Security Regina Ip said
various police stations have their specially trained policemen ready to deal with such cases.

"The Social Welfare Department has also had a child protection unit, which works hand in hand with the police's child abuse team," Ip said.

The Roman Catholic church in Hong Kong operates many schools here.

In order for both the primary and secondary schools to guard against further abuses and to identify early signs and symptoms of child abuse among their students
and to report such cases, the SAR's Education Department has delivered to all schools the Chinese version of the procedures to follow, should abuses occur again.

Meanwhile, a circular memorandum has also been issued to all schools, requesting schools heads to follow the procedure, Ip said.

She stressed that the police will investigate each and every such criminal cases thoroughly.

Xinhua News Agency (May 29, 2002)
http://www.china.org.cn/english/SO-e/33521.htm

6 - Pakistan

* Over 1,200 women killed in name of honour in 2004

As many as 1,250 women were killed in the name of honour in the year of 2004, Prime Minister's Adviser on Women Development Nilofar Bakhtiar said here on Thursday. She was speaking as chief guest at the investiture ceremony of the student council, Islamabad Model College for Girls, F-7/4. "This shows the sorry state of affairs womenfolk of the country are undergoing at present. To make matters worse, murderers are roaming free here and there, which reflects the gravity of the problem," the adviser said. However, she hoped that with the passage of the honour killing bill by the parliament, which has also been signed by the president, the condition of women would improve considerably.

Under the bill, honour killing has been declared a crime against the state with a maximum punishment of death penalty or life imprisonment. Similarly, Swara and Wani customs, under which disputes were settled by handing over women, have also been declared a punishable act with the maximum of 10 years imprisonment, she said.

About Hudood Ordinances, the adviser said the government was set to discuss these laws in detail to determine whether they should be repealed or amended. "I am not saying that the Hudood Ordinances will be repealed or amended. The decision to this effect will be taken with consensus," Ms Bakhtiar said.

Besides this, women are suffering from absolute poverty, mismatch and early marriages, acid throwing, stove burning and increasing maternal mortality rates. These are the issues which do not need legislation but awareness within women about their rights, the adviser added.

On the brighter side, the country has 33 per cent women representation in the local governments, reservation of women seats in the National Assembly and Senate, an initiative which had already delivered results in the form of women friendly legislation. "Above all, we have seven women in the federal cabinet which in itself is a great achievement for us (women)," she added. Talking to students, Ms Bakhtiar said: "You are the tomorrow of the country and have to play an active role for women rights (50 per cent of the population)." She congratulated the officer-bearers of the student council, and said since you have been given a responsibility, you should try your level best to shoulder your given duties. (...)

(January 6, 2005) http://www.dawn.com/2005/01/07/nat27.htm

* President Musharraf last week banned the killing of females accused of 'dishonoring' their families

In the eyes of their families and tribes, Shahid Mustafa and Imam Khatoon committed an unpardonable, heinous crime: They eloped. The young lovers fled at midnight from a remote village of Pakistan's southwestern Sindh Province and were married in a Karachi court two years ago. Back in the village, the girl's parents felt their daughter's actions had brought dishonor upon their family. They took their anger to a tribal jirga, or gathering, where the couple was placed under a death threat known as Karo Kari. "The armed men of the tribe are chasing us. They threatened me to send my wife back to her family, attacked our house, and shot twice at me and my wife to kill us," says Mr. Mustafa. Ten months ago, when Mustafa was away from home, the men of his wife's family kidnapped her and their infant son. Mustafa has not seen or heard from them since.

Though it may be too late for Mustafa's wife, and more than 1,200 other women in Pakistan killed last year in the name of "family honor," President Pervez Musharraf signed a bill last week making honor killing an explicit criminal act punishable by death. Rights activists say it is a small step forward and that more must be done to change tribal and feudal attitudes that treat women like property. "It is a landmark decision as the law protects the rights of women and eliminates such archaic rituals," says Wasi Zafar, the federal minister for law and parliamentary affairs. "But the problem is securing the rights of women, and it will be solved gradually and slowly by collective efforts of the society. Such inhumane crimes occur due to the tribal system, illiteracy, and poverty and we have to solve these issues."

Under the British penal code that Pakistan's judicial system inherited, there was a clause of "grave and sudden provocation" which was often used in cases of honor killings to skirt convictions for premeditated murder. The acquittal ratio has been more than 80 percent in recent cases of h onor killings. Social activists and opposition politicians say the government still needs to offset the Islamic law of qisas and diyat (retribution and blood money), which allows families of the deceased to either forgive the murderer or to ask for blood money in return. Since most honor killings are committed by brothers, fathers, or other kin, the perpetrators go unpunished after they are pardoned by other members of the family. "So a son could forgive his father for murdering his mother, a mother could forgive her husband for killing their daughter, a father could forgive his brother and so on," says Saba Gul Khattak, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and a women's rights activist. On suspicion of being a Kari, or "blackened girl," the female is killed usually by the men of her family, generally the brother or husband. (...)

The aggrieved family men can ask for compensation for the loss of their honor in exchange for allowing him to live. And if the murder is not "justified," then the killer is fined before being set free. Often jirgas ignore the court rulings. If the couple has eloped both are liable to be killed. Honor killings in Pakistan can be triggered by a wide range of activities, or even mere suspicions. Teenage girls and women of all ages can be issued death warrants for conversing with men, working with men in farm fields, or even speaking fondly of a man over the telephone, says Mashooq Udano, a well-known critic of the ritual. I(...).

Source : The Christian Science Monitor (Friday, January 21, 2005)
From: "Subidita Chatterjee" <subidita@bluewin.ch>

7 - India

* Sex ratio in India a concern

A disturbing and steady decline has occurred in the ratio between Indian girls to boys born in the past decade, according to a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report published on Tuesday. Several thousand girls and women are "missing", the UNFPA study said, referring to those who should have been part of the population but are not because they were killed for being female. In both rural and urban India, there is a strong preference for boys. One Indian saying goes: "Nurturing a girl is like watering someone else's garden. Girls are thought to be a burden on their parents, and are usually given less food and little or no education. Parents do not invest in their daughters' health and development, as they will eventually get married and leave home.

In 1991, there were 945 girls born for every thousand boys in India. By 2001, the national average dropped to 927 girls, the Indian Express newspaper reported. According to UNFPA, among the main causes for the adverse sex ratio are increasing rates of female foeticide. Indian states with alarmingly low sex ratios are Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in the north and Gujarat in the west - all with less than 800 girls on an average for every thousand boys.

Development experts and demographers acknowledge that given the same nurturing and opportunities as boys, girls would actually outlive and outnumber them. The desire for boys transcends caste, social, educational and economic status. "The ratio stands at a mere 770 in Kurukshetra district of Haryana, 814 in Ahmadabad (Gujarat) and 845 in southwest Delhi, which are among the most prosperous regions in the country," the study said. Federal Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sushma Swaraj said, "When girls go missing in a society, it shows that compassion is missing."

Her message to Indian men was: "You will remain unmarried if girl foetuses continue to be destroyed in the womb." - Sapa-dpa

New Delhi (October 21 2003)
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=qw1066720142802B253&set_id=1

* Abortion Assessment Project, India, uncovers important lessons about abortion services

Unlike many developing countries, India has a liberal abortion law that empowers women to seek safe, legal abortion services on request. However, “legal” often does not translate to “safe”: thirty percent of Asia’s maternal deaths occur in India, with approximately nine percent of all reported maternal deaths attributed to unsafe abortion.

In order to understand these statistics better and learn more about abortion care in India, a coalition of health and advocacy organizations launched the Abortion Assessment Project, India (AAP-I) in 2000. Funded by the Rockefeller, Ford and MacArthur Foundations, the AAP-I has undertaken a broad range of qualitative and quantitative research projects with an eye toward generating policy recommendations to improve abortion care. The project is a partnership among several Indian nongovernmental organizations, health-care professionals, researchers and advocates. The AAP-I is managed by the Centre for Equity into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) and a health-advocacy network, HealthWatch. Ipas has been a key partner in the AAP-I since its conceptualization in 1998.

The findings from the AAP-I were derived from a series of working papers and studies: a review of Indian abortion policy; a six-state survey of abortion facilities; eight community-based qualitative studies; a study on informal providers of abortion care; and a two-state household survey.

Key findings from the studies were disseminated at a national consultation in late December, 2004, and selectively published by the Indo-Asian News Service. Of particular note are data which indicate that the total number of abortions performed in India annually is at least six million, nearly 10 times the official estimate cited by government census data. Further, dilatation and curettage (D&C) remains the favored method for terminating pregnancies through the first trimester, rather than the less-invasive manual vacuum aspiration. Sociocultural stigmas attached to abortion remain a persistent problem inhibiting access to safe and legal services. This situation is compounded by the perceived difference in quality of care between public- and private-sector service provision.

A number of recommendations can be derived from the findings, among them the great need for strategic advocacy initiatives to increase awareness of the legality and availability of safe abortion care in India. Select recommendations from the report include:

expanding the cadre of providers eligible to provide abortion services;
integrating abortion services into routine service delivery through the government-administered Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) program;
expanding the range of postabortion contraception options available to Indian women to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Lastly, recommendations to further amend the country’s abortion law and its governing Rules and Regulations to allow unmarried women access to services and include the right to terminate pregnancies through the first trimester.

(January 7, 2005) http://www.ipas.org/english/press_room/2005/releases/01072005.asp

8 - Djibouti : FGM still a major challenge

(...) A harmful cultural practise that often results in pain, trauma, haemorrhage, infection, reduced sexual pleasure and later in life, difficulties with urination, menstruation, infertility and abscesses, FGM is common in Djibouti. Experts say it is a major contributor to maternal mortality in the country.

A survey carried out by the health ministry in 2002, involving 1,000 women who gave birth at the Peltier Hospital in Djibouti City, concluded that 98 percent of them had been circumcised. However, experts say nobody knows for sure whether the rates are lower for younger girls and women. Another survey is planned for the near future.

FGM takes different forms, but it is the most severe one, infibulation that is prevalent in Djibouti. It involves cutting away the inner labia and clitoris then tying the remaining lips together, leaving a tiny hole for urine and menstrual blood to pass. In rural areas a higher rate of infibulation is likely, says Miriam Martinelli, an experienced Italian nurse and research student.

Experts in the country worry that since FGM causes blood to be present in sexual encounters, it could also lead to a dramatic rise in the speed of HIV transmission. According to the 2002 study, Djibouti's estimated HIV prevalence is, by African standards, still low at 2.9 percent. (...)

The practise has remained prevalent despite repeated efforts by the government, United Nations agencies and various NGOs to eradicate it. Article 333 of Djibouti's Penal Code, for example, outlaws the practice, but few people have ever been arrested. (...)

Last August, an aid group supported a workshop in the town at which it thought beliefs by some Djiboutians that FGM was supported by their faith could be disproved. Two months later, confusion exists in Tadjourah: does Islam forbid, tolerate, recommend or even oblige the different forms of circumcision?

"As a Muslim, I prefer it when there is circumcision," says Ahmed Houmed, an authoritative religious figure with a thin and wispy beard.

Medical arguments fare little better. Mohmed, 32, an unemployed father of 10 who declined to give his second name, does not see the link between female circumcision and Djibouti's high rates of maternal mortality. Many circumcised women give birth without dying, he said.

"Death is decided by God," he told IRIN.

"If she is not excised [circumcised], she will become a prostitute," Aicha Youssouf, a midwife in Tadjourah's maternity ward told IRIN. "She cannot stay in the house. If she is not [circumcised], she has a complex because she believes herself to be different from others. She will think that the man will reject her."

According to Martinelli: "Quite a lot of well-educated and quite high-level people say, 'I don't want to mutilate my daughters', meaning, 'there is such a strong pressure on me, my women and my family that most probably I will'." She added: "Maybe the next generation will say, 'I don't want to and I won't'."

DJIBOUTI, 10 Nov 2004 (IRIN)

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44073&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=DJIBOUTI

9 - Turkey : Anti-discrimination committee takes up situation of women in Turkey

(...) The country ratified the Convention in 1985 and, following amendments to its Civil Code, withdrew its initial reservations to the Convention in 1999. In 2002, Turkey ratified the Optional Protocol, by which individuals or groups of individuals can petition the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Congratulating Turkey on the progress it had made in implementing the Convention’s provisions, experts welcomed the great potential for change made possible by recent revisions of the country’s Constitution, including the amendment to its Article 10, by which the State was obligated to ensuring the practical right to equality. Also praiseworthy was the enactment of new legislation, including the law on the protection of the family, by which domestic violence had been legally defined for the first time, and the anticipated entry into force this year of the new Penal Code, which, for the first time, criminalized marital rape and sexual harassment in the workplace. (...)

Experts expressed particular concern about the Government’s ban on the wearing of head scarves in educational institutions. Noting that the ban could provide a formidable barrier to women’s equal right to education due to religious practice, one expert urged the Government to consider repealing the ban. Several experts asked if the term “custom killings”, as contained in the new Penal Code, included the broader concept of “honour killings”. Experts also asked the Government to clarify the status of the discriminatory practice of virginity testing according to the provisions of the new Penal Code. The multiple forms of discrimination faced by the country’s national minorities, particularly Kurdish women, was also addressed.
Describing Turkey’s very rapid transformation, Guldal Aksit, Minister of State in Charge of Women, said that the country’s determination to meet international standards on women’s rights as enshrined in the Convention was reflected by the many revolutionary legal changes it had adopted. The Convention had been a powerful instrument in guiding Turkey’s efforts to eliminate discrimination against women. While the country had made considerable progress in achieving legal gender equality, the challenge now would be to reflect that progress in terms of implementation. Given the country’s determination and the powerful support of academic and civil society organizations, it was to be hoped that Turkey would make even greater strides in the years ahead.
Responding to the question of the ban on head scarves, another member of Turkey’s delegation stressed that as a secular and democratic State, Turkey’s laws were based on its secular Constitution. Civil servants and students in public schools were, therefore, required to abide by the general rules of proper attire, which also underlined the neutral character of the Government. Two cases had been brought to court and rejected. Even the European Court of Human rights had rejected those cases as religious symbols contradicted the principles of secularism and democracy. While the problem did exist, it should be solved also by independent universities and not only by the Government. (...)

From : wunrn-owner@yahoogroups.com

10 - Israël

Ayoung man of 19, Y., was injured in a car accident and filed a claim with his insurance company. Thousands of these sorts of claims are submitted each year and receive no publicity. However, Y.'s affair received wide publicity and struck a chord in the media in particular, and Israeli society in general. The special interest had to do with one of the sections of the subsequent court verdict: Aside from various types of monetary compensation, the court also ruled in favor of human compensation for Y. The Tel Aviv District Court ruled that the claimant would be entitled to receive medication against impotence once a week, and that "in addition, he will be entitled to visit a brothel once a week." (...)

This assertion leaves certain things concealed from the eyes of the court. One, that women are not a form of "compensation" that may be handed down in a verdict to a person, no matter what his condition; two, that brothels have been prohibited by the lawmaker, and only the blatant incompetence of law enforcement authorities caused this section to become a dead letter; and three, that according to police testimony presented December 22 to a session of a parliamentary committee of investigation chaired by MK Zahava Gal-On, 99 percent of all the women engaged in prostitution in Israel are victims of trafficking. (...) Israeli society, which has clear patriarchal characteristics, had over the years provided men nearly unlimited access to women: rape victims were raped a second time by the enforcement authorities; women who experienced sexual harassment and complained were systematically persecuted by colleagues and superiors; rape of women by their husbands was not considered a crime until the late 1970s; and victims of trafficking were defined here as prostitutes who came to Israel of their own volition, and not as women whose human rights were violated in every possible way. Now the court comes and takes it a step further - a more extreme step - by legitimizing this access. (...)

The court awarded Y. a sum of NIS 150,000 for the

"impotence treatment" section of the claim. The victim

of trafficking, purchased by a dealer in Israel's meat

market, is bought for between $4,000 and $6,000. (...)

(January 04, 2005)

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/522645.html

11 - Iran : European Parliament resolution censures Iran rights violations

The European Parliament adopted a resolution by majority vote today condemning human rights violations in Iran in the second such move over the past six months. The toughly-worded resolution denounced practices such as execution of juveniles and stoning carried out by the Iranian regime. Parts of the resolution read, "the European Parliament … strongly condemns death sentences against and/or the execution of juvenile offenders, pregnant women and mentally handicapped persons”. The EP resolution also expressed deep concern over "the worsening situation with regard to freedom of opinion and _expression and freedom of the media, especially the increased persecution for the peaceful _expression of political views, including arbitrary arrests and detention without charge or trial". The European Parliament censured “the campaign by the Judiciary against journalists, cyber journalists and webloggers leading to the closure of publications, imprisonment and according to reports widespread torture and forced false confessions.” The resolution also pointed to the fact that “Iran is still not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Parliament recently rejected draft legislation on gender equality,” and called on Iranian authorities to “give evidence that they do implement their declared moratorium on stoning” and demanded “the immediate implementation of the ban on torture.” The resolution also noted with concern the finding by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Ambeyi Ligabo that “the Iranian Press and Penal Code do not conform to the permissible restrictions listed in the Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Iran Focus (January 13, 2005)
From : Womens Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran <newsletter@wfafi.org>

12 - Iraq

* Iraqi Women Forced to Wear Headscarves to Avoid Attacks by Fundamentalists

Since the US-led invasion in Iraq, more and more Iraqi women, both Muslim and Christian, are wearing headscarves in order to protect themselves from attacks by Muslim fundamentalists.

A female student at Baghdad University recently stated that she chose to wear a headscarf so she could “walk in the street without fearing someone will kill me or kidnap me…I head rumors about killing women without a scarf. Why should I risk my life?” reports United Press International. One student fears that the fundamentalists “want another Kabul” where the Taliban inhumanely forced women to wear a burqa that covered their entire body from head to toe and denied women the right to education, health care, and employment. Another student asserted that “the scarf has nothing to do with faith” and when women can’t walk the streets without being covered from head to toe “will be the end of Iraq as a civilized country,” according to the Washington Post.

For several decades, even under the oppressive rule of Saddam Hussein, Baghdad was considered a very modern city where women could choose to wear clothes that ranged from skirts and blouses to more traditional outfits. However, today, seeing a woman uncovered in the streets of Iraq is a rare occurrence.

Feminist Daily News Wire
(January 3, 2005) http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8814

* Iraqi women divided about whether to vote conservative

On Baghdad's college campuses, the poster woman promoting the parliamentary elections Jan. 30 is a pretty student with a swinging ponytail and bare arms. She's transformed into a black-veiled grandmother on posters in southern holy cities. In conservative western towns, she's a young wife with a baby in one hand and a ballot in the other. Only the slogan is the same: "Your voice determines your future."

Women make up about 55 percent of Iraq's population and they're guaranteed a quarter of the 275-member national assembly after elections. Yet, as the posters reflect, they don't speak with a single voice, and they face many obstacles to transforming their impressive numbers into political power. Women who belong to powerful Shiite Muslim political factions echo their cleric-led parties' calls for a new Iraqi constitution based on Islamic law, which, strictly interpreted, could limit women's role in society. Secular female candidates, on the other hand, fear that a conservative new leadership could roll back hard-won rights and keep women on the sidelines.

"Educated, prominent men, the ones who describe themselves as liberals, talk proudly about how the new government is going to be 25 percent women," said Hanaa Edwar, a candidate who runs an umbrella organization for about 80 Iraqi women's groups. "But their words are like jelly when they talk about women's equality. They absolutely do not believe that women should have a leadership role in the political process."

Many of the favored candidates are clerics-turned-politicians who served on the interim U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, which has since disbanded. Last year, men on the council blocked a law that would have given women 40 percent of government posts. They also tried to inject religion into the relatively progressive Iraqi family laws, to decrease the amount of money women inherit, cap alimony and make divorce more difficult. Only demonstrations and a veto threat from L. Paul Bremer, the top American occupation administrator at the time, averted the amendment.

While Iraqi feminists foresee another nasty battle on the issue after Jan. 30, many Shiite female candidates said they supported a constitution whose primary source would be Sharia, Islamic law.

Dr. Junan al Ubaidi, a Shiite pediatrician and member of the interim national assembly, argued that a government that looks to Islam for guidance is still capable of protecting women's rights. She said critics of a religion-based constitution failed to recognize Iraq's rich Islamic history. Al Ubaidi, 43, said a Muslim woman was allowed to negotiate the terms of her marriage, seek work or education, take custody of her children after divorce and keep her own money. Islam views women as individuals, and, unlike many Western societies, most women keep their own names after marriage. "Equality? We don't believe in equality. We have more rights than men," said al Ubaidi, who's running for office on the leading ticket. "It's all in how you understand rights. If I believe my right is to wear this black robe and you ban it, then my right has been taken."

However, women's rights in Islam are open to interpretation. For example, conservative clerics - both Sunni Muslim and Shiite - use Quranic verses on modesty to justify cloaking women from head to toe. (...)

(January 10, 2005) http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=8747

13 - Saudi Arabia : Saudi Women Seek End to Home Abuse

A number of Saudi women have called for urgent state policies to protect victims of domestic violence in the country. "We want policy change so that courts and police can process cases of domestic violence and protect women," a woman said under condition of anonymity.

Statistics on the number of women who suffer domestic violence, either by their husbands or other male relatives, are unavailable in Saudi Arabia, but many Saudi women insisted that things must change. The UN's Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is observed around the world today.

"There is an abuse of women in our society just like any other society but it's not clear the size of this problem here," said Dr. Lubna Al-Ansari, associate professor of family and community medicine at King Saud University in Riyadh and a senior member of the National Society for Human Rights. "The society is collecting information on this issue and will discuss it from all perspectives and present its findings," she told Arab News.

"When a woman is beaten, she does not speak out because that brings shame to her family" even when she is admitted to hospital," the AFP news agency quoted psychiatrist Madeha Al-Ajroush as saying. She said she wants to see government policies introduced so that the court system and police can process cases of domestic violence and protect women.

Saudi women who are brave enough to file a complaint with police end up with no protection from their abusers unless their immediate families can step into the breach, she said. "We need at least an institution that would teach Saudi women how to utter the word: No," said one woman, who did not want to be named, with her own face bearing the physical scars of the abuse her husband meted out. "We are powerless. What are our rights? The man is always right," she added bitterly - anonymity her cloak of protection against the perceived shame to herself, her children and her extended family.

"Every time I was admitted to hospital, I refused to mention that I was beaten, because I do not want the police to know," not trusting them to keep her ordeal a secret.

Her ex-husband abused her frequently while drunk. In the end, her wealthy family helped her walk out of her 20-year marriage.

But the same private financial and emotional support is not open to all Saudi women. "I realized how much women suffer when I had to go to court (to settle divorce and custody matters)," she said. "I saw old fathers who have been dragged with their (married) daughters to courts, some for over 10 years, in order to obtain a pending divorce," while their husbands failed to show up and ignored the case completely, she added.

"Obtaining divorce (for a woman) is sadly very difficult," agreed Najwa Faraj, a social worker in a Riyadh hospital, who says courts order women to return to their husbands "in order to avoid divorce".

A major hurdle in combating domestic violence is a prevailing belief in Saudi Arabia that beating a woman is "not socially shameful", said Faraj. "As social workers, we face accusations of encouraging women to seek divorce."

But television presenter Rania Al-Baz, whose husband beat her face to a pulp in April, brought the issue to the forefront of national debate, at least temporarily.

"There was a chance then to capitalize on the outrage resulting from the incident, to call for establishing policies that would protect women. Nothing happened however," Faraj lamented. Rania's husband has refused to divorce her except through the court.

Sameera Al-Ghamdi, a psychologist and media coordinator at the Jeddah Psychiatric Hospital, agrees that domestic violence is a problem on the increase not only in Saudi Arabia but all over the world.

"There are different kinds of abuse - physical, verbal and psychological. What we have noticed in our clinics is that perhaps there is less physical abuse now. Although some of the cases we see are severe, there is more awareness and refusal by women to accept physical abuse unlike before," she said.

The problem is that most men still think that they have the right to treat women as they wish and because of that attitude they will verbally and psychologically abuse their wives, daughters and even mothers by controlling them, degrading them, pressurizing them. And Al-Ghamdi considers all that as a form of abuse including not giving women their equal chance as men to hold high positions at work as long as they are qualified.

"It is not only the husbands who abuse their wives but you will also find that the families by refusing to side with their daughters and defend them, contrite to the cycle of abuse. Unfortunately, we still live in a society where traditions and culture play a major role, and I'm not asking that we abandon our traditions and culture, but we should review them and hold on to only those that agree with religion because Islam place women at high esteem," she said.(...)

Additional input by P.K. Abdul Ghafour
From : Arab News

14 - Egypte/ Egypt

* Mutilations génitales féminines

Le principal quotidien égyptien, Al-Ahram, a publié un dossier de trente pages, intitulé "La circoncision des femmes du point de vue de l'Islam", réalisé par le docteur Salim Al Awaa, qui rapporte des citations exactes de cheikhs influents démontrant l'inexistence d'un lien quelconque entre le Coran et les mutilations génitales féminines. Cette pratique est condamnée parce qu'elle " se fonde uniquement sur des traditions populaires contraires à la santé physique et psychique de la femme, dont la sexualité est admise par le Coran ". Une véritable volte-face contre les mutilations génitales féminines, une bataille qui dure désormais depuis vingt ans. "Il y a cinq ans seulement il était tabou d'en parler, normal pour la population de la pratiquer, l'élite en sous-évaluait la diffusion et de nombreuses féministes l'ignoraient ; aujourd'hui quelque chose se produit, quelque chose que je croyais irréalisable " commente Moushira Khattab, Secrétaire général du National Council for Childhood and Motherhood égyptien. " Mais les nouveautés ne s'arrêtent pas là - ajoute Emma Bonino - la télévision et les autres médias égyptiens parlent de plus en plus souvent et ouvertement de ce thème, et la bataille menée en Egypte s'est élargie à toute la région ; depuis la Conférence du Caire en juin 2003, les choses ont bougé rapidement".

(Le Caire, le 9 janvier 2005)

* The Establishment of New Family Courts

(...) It will not be clear for some time whether divorce proceedings are actually accelerated by these specialized courts. In fact, new procedures were introduced by the law that could delay the process. Family Dispute Settlement Offices (makatib taswayat monazi`at al-usra) will be established within each family court.¹⁸⁴ This office will attempt to mediate between the couple in family matters. Again, in divorce cases, such mediation will be undertaken only when a woman initiates a divorce. Under the new family court law, a woman will not be able even to file an action concerning a personal status matter without first submitting a request for settlement at this office,¹⁸⁵ and judges will not hear cases unless social workers and psychiatrists attempt and fail to reconcile the couple within 15 days (unless the litigants mutually agree to extend the period for attempted reconciliation).¹⁸⁶ Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Justice Sari Siyyam explained this requirement:

We created a stage before going to the courts. This was among the changes introduced. The disputants need to go to the dispute settlement office [first]. All families pass through it. The door to the court is closed before going through mediation [at this office].¹⁸⁷

Under the new law, a social worker and psychiatrist will be assigned to each family dispute. They will offer counseling and mediation free of charge to families, potentially avoiding extensive legal procedures for some couples, especially those engaged in custody disputes. At least one of these employees must be a woman. According to the Undersecretary of Social Affairs Layla Farag: This is the first time that the law says that women have to be an essential and mandatory part of the court. Without the presence of a female in the court, it will not run.¹⁸⁸

The participation of a female social worker or psychiatrist is a positive step toward increasing the representation of women in Egypt’s courts. However, women will likely be denied the opportunity to be judges in these newly established courts.¹⁸⁹ Although some thought that the new family court would provide “a much awaited window of opportunity for women to become judges,”¹⁹⁰ this hope has not materialized. There are currently no plans for female judges to preside in these courts. Judges for the new courts will be selected from current sitting judges all of whom are male except for Tahany al-Gebali who, as noted above, sits on Egypt’s High Constitutional Court.¹⁹¹

http://hrw.org/reports/2004/egypt1204/7.htm#_Toc87857216

15 - R.D.C. : Réglementation scolaire...

Bonjour,

Nous venons de lire avec beaucoup d'intérêts ce plan d'action du programme sur l'EDH et vous en remercions.

Nous louons l'initiative, mais nous sommes au regret de constater que jusqu'aujourd'hui les filles sont sujettes de plusieurs formes de discriminations dans des écoles tant publiques que privées en R.D.C. Les responsables de certaines écoles les obligent à porter les foulards, cas des écoles musulmanes et kimbangustes et la prière à la Vierge Marie pour les écoles catholiques et autres prières pour les écoles protestantes. Cette situation risque d'engendrer un mécontentent grave de la part des élèves qui se trouvent dans la position dite discriminatoire, car n'appartenant pas à la religion de l'école qu'elles fréquentent. Nous pensons que nous devons déjà chercher une solution à cette situation afin d'uniformiser la réglementation scolaire au Congo et dans le monde. Chose grave son application dans nos milieux ruraux « territoire de Fizi et d'Uvira» où nous sommes opérationnelles connaîtra de nombreuses difficultés donc un mécanisme de suivi s'avère indispensable.

Recevez dans l'amitié et la paix, nos salutations les meilleures.

Madame Marie Bunyemu Kahoto, Présidente du conseil d'administration.
From: "Marie Emerite" <unefemmefesa@yahoo.fr>

16 - Botswana : Abortion in Botswana

Last week I posted a piece about the problem of illegal back street abortions in Africa. I also recently posted another piece on changes in marital law in Botswana that abolishes the law that gives husband power over their wives. However despite the changes in laws discriminating against women, a woman's right to choose to give birth are not for changing or at least only minimally. An amendment to the 1991 Penal Code Act allows abortion in "exceptional circumstances such as rape or when the health of the mother or baby are at risk" and only if the abortion takes place within the first 16 weeks. The maximum punishment for abortion is 7 years. As a result the number of women who have committed illegal abortions is on the increase as elsewhere in Africa. Illegal abortions are often carried out by traditional doctors or elderly women and often in unsanitary conditions. According to the report, teenage girls have been using their own methods of inducement taking substances like potassium in the hope of having an abortion.

The Botswana minister for residential affairs (not sure what that involves) does not support abortion and is quoted as saying "getting pregnant is a personal choice" and that the law should not be amended "just to encourage irresponsible behaviour" and "having sex is a choice as such if both parties choose not to take precautions, then they have made a choice". The minister is clearly out of touch with reality. We women all know that "having sex" is not always a choice - teenagers being pursued by older men offering them money, education etc, women in abusive relationships, women who are poor and have no other way of surviving, and how easy is it to prove rape? how easy is it to actually report being raped and what happens to many women who do so? - the list goes on. As usual the "moralisers" are out in force denouncing abortion as murder and asking why the rapist isn't put to death rather than the innocent child. That is not the point. The point is women should be able to choose and when they are unable to do so they put themselves at further risk by having back street abortions. No amount of preaching about the morality of abortions will prevent illegal abortions. That can only stop when abortions are legal and freely available to all that choose to have them.

"Something drastic has to be done because many women in our society carry a lot of baggage. Women who keep their children conceived out of rape live with the shame of voicing out their resentment towards their own flesh and blood. It is just too much to deal with, but yet these women go on everyday with life like everything is fine. Serious counselling is needed by many of these women and there is not enough of it,"

Director of Botshabelo Rehabilitation Crisis Centre (BORECC), Botho Ntswanengve
(January 07, 2005) http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/african_women/

17 - Gabon : Illegal abortions cause one in four pregnancy-related deaths

Illegal abortions accounted for more than one in four pregnancy-related deaths in Gabon in 2001, according to a Health Ministry survey which has just been released. Many of them were teenagers.

“Abortion was the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in 2001,” said Elisabeth Makaya, head of the Ministry’s infant and maternal health department.

The survey, released last week, showed back street abortions caused 28.8 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in 2001. They accounted for 110 of the 407 fatal complications that arose during registered pregnancies that year.

Separate statistics indicate that 15 percent of women of child-bearing age in Gabon - between 15 and 49 -undergo illegal abortions.

The figures mirror a stream of newspaper reports in recent years about foetuses found in rubbish bins, or dumped on back streets in poor neighbourhoods. Such reports illustrate the fact that young girls living at home in this Central African country of 1.3 million people will go to great lengths to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

A study of more than 14,000 pregnancies carried out in 2000 by the Gabonese Midwives Association showed that teenagers accounted for 27 percent of the total.

This was largely due to early and unprotected sex between teenagers, the study said. It noted that 23.8 percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 had sexual relations for the first time at the age of 15. The figure was even higher for boys in the same age group at 48.1 percent.

“Globally, teenage abortions are caused by ignorance and lack of information,” the study said.

Similarly, lack of information means women are generally unaware that abortions can kill, gynaecologist Helene Ona Ondo told IRIN.

“It’s deplorable that very few women or teenagers are aware of the physical risks they run when they abort,” she said. “You have to look out for complications even when curettage (removing the foetus with a sharp instrument) or aspiration are carried out by professional health workers, so imagine what can go wrong with unsafe methods.”

In Africa, where most countries have restrictive abortion laws, more than four million unsafe abortions occur each year, according to UN surveys published in 2003. More than 40 percent of the world’s deaths due to unsafe abortion occur in Africa.

Thousands of other women survive, but many are left with injuries and disabilities such as uterine perforation, chronic pelvic pain and secondary infertility, the surveys said.

In Gabon, abortion on demand remains illegal. However, under a 2000 law, it is allowed if a doctor certifies that the life of the woman is at risk, or that the foetus is perceived as abnormal.

Illegal abortionists face between one and 10 years in jail if caught.

LIBREVILLE, 27 Dec 2004 (IRIN) http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44819&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GABON

18 - USA : The foreign-born surviving spouses - An Injustice Worth Fixing

...if the American spouse dies within two years of the marriage, the foreign-born surviving spouse immediately loses resident status and can be deported.

(...) It’s common knowledge that when a non-citizen marries an American, he or she immediately becomes a legal U.S. resident. What is less known, however, is a provision that’s come to be called the "widow’s penalty." Specifically, if the American spouse dies within two years of the marriage, the foreign-born surviving spouse immediately loses resident status and can be deported.

Take the case of Carla Freeman. Carla was born in South Africa. She came to the U.S. for a limited period to serve as an au pair, according to the Washington Post. During her time in the States, she met and fell in love with Robert Freeman. Nevertheless, at the end of her au pair service, she returned home to South Africa. A short time later, Robert followed her and, after receiving her father’s blessing, the two were married. They returned to the United States and moved to Indiana, where Robert managed a Costco store. Eleven months later, Robert was killed when a truck rolled over and crushed the car he was driving. That would be a tragic enough story, but a few months later, Carla heard from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that she would be deported, forced to leave the family, friends and life that she had made with her husband here in America.

There are a handful of similar cases playing out across the country. But the story becomes much more complicated when there are children involved.

Children born in the United States are U.S. citizens. But in cases where a widow faces deportation after her husband has died, she must choose between taking her American child to a foreign land or leaving the child with her husband’s relatives in the U.S. That’s the kind of decision no parent should have to make. The problem is a provision in a 1990 immigration law designed to make it more difficult for foreigners to get green cards through sham marriages with American citizens, an intent that we support. Since then, however, Congress has passed exceptions for 9/11 widows and surviving spouses of military personnel killed in combat, eliminating the unintended consequences resulting from those tragic circumstances.

There’s likewise no reason that a more general exception couldn’t be put into place to eliminate the unfortunate widow’s penalty created by the two-year rule. (...)

* First, the rule isn’t working. Anyone who knows enough about immigration law to sell a marriage to a foreign national seeking a green card knows that he or she will have to wait out the two years before getting divorced.
* It should be equally obvious that nearly all foreign-born husbands and wives who have stayed in a marriage long enough to lose their spouse to death have demonstrated that their immigration motives were more than pure.
* Most important, our government, which is supposedly trying to be more friendly to families, needs a more considered approach to deporting a surviving parent of a U.S. citizen, forcing those children into a life of either parental or immigration limbo. (...)

These spouses are no threat to national security, and they obtained their "resident" status legally. (...) Fortunately, there is some good news: thanks to important immigration questions raised during the debate of the Intelligence Reform Bill, Congress will have to address the issue early next year. We hope that they will use that opportunity to address the widow’s penalty and provide some measure of comfort to the handful of men and women who now face deportation. The death of a spouse should be penalty enough.

[Posted December 15, 2004 ] http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/immigration-widows-penalty.htm

19 - Canada

* Provinding paid for home-based care of children ?!...

The recently announced national childcare program focuses on helping women enter paid employment and provides care of their children while they earn or study.

However it denies benefits to those who provide home-based care of children*. Many claims have been made by proponents of the new program that it is what the public wants and that there is a shortage of daycare.

Helen Ward, national president of Kids First Parent Association of Canada has provided us with some research background as we try to deal with government’s tilting of the balance in this regard.

- the BC Benefits- Child Care Act defines child care as ‘the care and supervision of a child other than by the child’s parents’. (Ward is concerned when care parents provide is not even considered to be ‘care’ –editor)

-Not many parents really choose daycare.

8% of children 0-5 and 9% of children 0-12 are in any form of government regulated care

http://www.vifamily.ca/library/profiling2/chart69s.html

-there are vacancies at many daycares. In BC 62.5% of daycares reported vacancies in 1998 and the overall vacancy rate at any one centre was 10.8% According to the YOU Bet I Care! 2000 study 53.7% of daycare had vacancies and their average vacancy rate was 16.3% of available spaces

-68% of Canadian children aged 0-11 are in parental care even when a parent is at paid work or studying

-65% of children have at least one parent who has part-time paid employment only, under 30 hours per week (Such part-time options made for a lifestyle preference in many cases – often deny the parent tax benefits or full employment benefits however. – editor)

-National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth has found that 33% of children in 2 parent families and 55% of children in one-parent families have a parent who does not participate in paid work.

-Parents’ Magazine in its 1996 poll of Women and Work found that of 18,00 mothers asked, 4% said they preferred fulltime paid jobs, 61% said they preferred part-time and 29% said they preferred to be home with their children full-time.

-In a 1997 Compass poll of 1000 Ontario adults 92% felt it is best for a preschool child to have parental care.

-Dr. Frances Woolley of the U of Carleton NLSCY found that daycare, if designed mostly for the poor, is not reaching this target group. Only 5.8% of two parent families with incomes under $40,000 use this care style while 16.5% of those with incomes over $80,000 use it.

-governments often do not publicly reveal all funding they provide to set up the daycare ‘space’. Child Care Canada says the claim is sometimes made of costs of $386 per child per space but the actual costs are $3185.00 if one includes operational costs. Ward says that regulation, inspection, research, promotion, advertising, training, lobbying, placement services, wages, equipment, administration, rent, facilities, toys, strollers are all costs subsidized by the state for daycare users but not for any other parenting styles.

-BC does provide some subsidies for parents to choose a care provider outside of daycare but this has to not be the parent. Ward is concerned that the subsidy rates also are clearly unequal. Care in the home of the child gets as little as $198 a month but care of the same baby at a licensed daycare gets $585 a month.

* Nous n'approuvons pas la mise en place d'un "salaire ménager" qui constituerait une nouvelle forme de discrimination entre les femmes et les hommes comme le fait, en France, le "congé (dit) parental" (pris à 99% par les mères), qui a renvoyé plus de 600.000 femmes au foyer en 3 ans, sans espoir pour elles de retrouver un emploi, malgré la législation sensé le leur garantir ! Michèle Dayras, SOS SEXISME.

* We do not approve of introducing a "housekeeping salary'" which would constitute a new form of discrimination between women and men as is the case with the so-called French "parental leave", (taken by 99 percent of mothers), which has sent more than 600,000 women home in 3 years without any hope of them finding work again, despite legislation supposed to guarantee this ! Michèle Dayras, SOS SEXISME.

From : bevgsmith@hotmail.com

* Victoire islamique !

« Au moment où les femmes marocaines après des années de combat ont réussi à faire abolir la KIOUAMA (entretien contre obéissance), le fondement sur lequel se basait l’ancien Code du Statut Personnel (CSP) inspiré d’une interprétation patriarcale de la Charia, comme c’est le cas dans la majorité des pays musulmans, légitimant les inégalités des droits entre les hommes et les femmes ;

« Au moment où les femmes Algériennes mènent un combat national et International sous le slogan « vingt ans barakat » (vingt ans ça suffit » pour l’abolition du CSP. ;

« Au moment où les femmes dans le monde musulman se battent pour le changement des CSP discriminatoires confinant les femmes dans une situation d’infériorité ;

« Au moment où certains pays européens sont en train de réviser les accords bilatéraux (qui autorisent l’application de la loi du pays d’origine même si cette loi est contraire au principe de l’égalité des droits entre hommes / femmes ) de façon à se conformer avec les conventions et traités internationaux et notamment la convention CEDAWE (convention pour l’élimination de toute forme de discrimination à l’égard des femmes) ;

« Une certaine ex-procureure générale de l’Ontario(Canada) présente un rapport réduisant les femmes musulmanes à des esclaves objets entretenues par les hommes, justifiant la polygamie et la discrimination envers les femmes au nom du relativisme culturel. Elle donne la légitimité à l’instauration de tribunaux d’arbitrage en matière familiale en se basant sur une interprétation patriarcale du moyen age de l’islam et recommande ainsi au gouvernement l’institutionnalisation des inégalités entre les hommes et les femmes ;

« Nous femmes musulmanes, nous femmes libres tout court :

· Nous dénonçons les propos de ce rapport . le complot intégriste sur les acquis et sur les projets en cours qui visent l’instauration de l’égalité des droits entre hommes et femmes dans les pays « musulmans ».

· Nous condamnons le prétexte du respect du relativisme culturel qui institutionnalise la discrimination et les inégalités entre hommes et femmes.

· Nous réitérons les recommandations du Congrès International des Femmes Marocaines- d’ici et d’ailleurs- pour l’Egalité (Casablanca 26-27 septembre 2003 ), sur la révision des conventions bilatérales et multilatérales et l’abolition de toute disposition contraire aux engagements internationaux dans les pays d’accueil , dans le respect de l’égalité des droits entre les hommes et les femmes.

· Nous appelons toutes les associations de femmes au niveau international à se mobiliser pour avorter ce complot qui va basculer le Canada terre du respect des droits humains vers un pays légitimant les inégalités des droits. »

Casablanca le 27 / 12 / 2004

20 - Argentina : la ratificació del Protocolo Facultativo de la CEDAW...

AMIGAS,
Tenemos en Argentina, una buena nueva- al fin !
Después de 4 años de pelea el poder Ejecutivo envío el mensaje al Congreso para la ratificació del Protocolo Facultativo de la CEDAW.
Albricias y felicidades para todas.
Un gran abrazo.

Cecilia Lipszyc : cecilial@arnet.com.ar
(Saturday, December 25, 2004)

21 - Chile : Destaca como acuerdo la promoción de políticas de género

La 37 reunión de la mesa directiva de la Conferencia Regional sobre la Mujer de la Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL) concluyó aquí con 28 acuerdos, entre los que destacan la negociación, a partir de 2005, de una agenda básica de género con los partidos políticos de los países en los que habrá próximamente elecciones presidenciales, para que la incorporen a sus plataformas, campañas y programas de trabajo.

Además, las representantes de los países latinoamericanos aceptaron la propuesta mexicana de fortalecer los mecanismos institucionales que defienden los derechos de las mujeres en el continente y su vinculación con la sociedad civil organizada en consejos sociales y consultivos.

La reunión de la mesa directiva estuvo encabezada por la mexicana Patricia Espinosa Torres, presidenta del Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (Inmujeres), quien manifestó que es necesario que la CEPAL estudie y evalúe el problema de la fragilidad y la vulnerabilidad de los institutos y consejos latinoamericanos de la mujer, a fin de fortalecerlos con más presupuesto y mayor autonomía jurídica.

A propuesta de la titular del Inmujeres y de la representante de México, Patricia Wohlers, el pleno de la mesa directiva aprobó el impulso de una agenda básica de género en las próximas contiendas electorales presidenciales, para sostener y asegurar los avances de las mujeres y su plena participación política.

De igual modo, se acordó promover ampliamente la importancia del Consenso de México, surgido de la pasada IX Conferencia Regional sobre la Mujer de América Latina y el Caribe, como contribución a la Comisión de la Condición Jurídica y Social de la Mujer, que sesionará en marzo de 2005 en Nueva York, como parte de los festejos por el décimo aniversario de la Conferencia de Beijing.

A petición de la representante de ACNUR se determinó incorporar a todas las mujeres y niñas refugiadas del continente a las políticas públicas con perspectiva de género que desarrollen los países de la región.

A propuesta de Argentina, las liderezas latinoamericanas expresaron su preocupación por la creciente feminización de la pobreza en América Latina y el Caribe, solicitando a los gobiernos elaborar políticas que mejoren las condiciones de vida de las mujeres y generen empleos dignos y salarios equitativos. (...)

Concluyó en Chile la reunión de la CEPAL
Santiago de Chile, 1 Dic (CIMAC)
http://www.feministasbeijing10.org.uy/05Even003.htm

22 - Europe : International Efforts to Include Gender

Dear Sexisme,
Lesley Abdela and I have sent the material below to a cross-party set of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as the suggested wording on gender in natural disaster recovery, in the hope the European Parliament will include some such phrasing in any Resolution it passes this week on reconstruction programmes after the terrible tsunami. It would be great if independently you could contact any Members of the European Parliament or Embassies of EU Member States to encourage them to pursue this.
With best wishes.
Tim Symonds : tim.symonds@shevolution.com

International Efforts to Include Gender in Reconstruction Programmes After Natural Disasters (such as the tsunami)

To ensure the full and authoritative inclusion of women’s voices and knowledge, both within the present tsunami-affected regions and at the international levels, this resolution calls on Member States and the European Commission to:

* nominate more women to international diplomatic assignments and senior positions with the UN and other International entities involved with Disaster recovery, and sharply increase the percentage of women in delegations to national, regional and international meetings concerned with post-Natural disaster reconstruction, both for South Asia and the East African littoral now and on all similar occasions in the future

* appoint and recruit more women for all diplomatic services involved in the tsunami region reconstruction processes ensure that an exemplary number of women should hold senior posts in Natural Disaster recovery, including involving women’s expertise in the necessary economic, social and political challenges which such disasters pose in every aspect of the Tsunami and future Natural Disaster efforts, a gender analysis must be automatic in the planning and practice of external and internal interventions

International Efforts to Prevent and Solve Armed Conflicts

The resolution stresses that current conflicts demand the increased use of non-military methods of crisis management and accordingly, calls on Member States and the European Commission to:

· recruit more women in diplomatic services
· nominate more women to international diplomatic assignments and senior positions with the UN and increase the percentage of women in delegations to the national, regional and international meetings concerned with peace and security
· ensure that at least 40 per cent of women should hold posts in reconciliation, peacekeeping , peace enforcement, peacebuilding and conflict prevention · in reconstruction efforts, a gender analysis must be automatic in the planning and practice of external interventions

23 - Africa : 2005 The year of "No more excisions"

For International Action Against Female Genital Mutilation, a German group active in Benin and other African countries, 2005 will be a year in which past successes in the fight against mutilation are celebrated – and efforts to eradicate it continue with renewed vigour.

A ‘No More Excisions’ festival is planned for Benin in April. President Mathieu Kerekou, who first suggested 2005 as a deadline for rooting out female genital mutilation (FGM) in the country, is expected to attend this event.

International Action Against Female Genital Mutilation (INTACT) operates with the assistance of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are also active in trying to eliminate FGM, sometimes referred to as female circumcision. In Benin, INTACT works with five NGOs: Dignite Feminine, Apem, Moritz, Potal Men and Ti-Winti.

As part of its strategy to eradicate FGM, INTACT tries to provide practitioners with alternative sources of income.

Between 2000 and 2005, 228 practitioners were persuaded to give up their FGM activities and take up other occupations. (...)

FGM involves the removal of part, or all of the female genitals: the clitoris, and folds of skin around the openings of the urethra and the vagina. The wounds created by these excisions are then stitched up, leaving an opening for the excretion of urine and menstrual blood.

The age group of girls and women on whom the practice is carried out differs widely, and the reasons for practicing FGM are varied. Some communities see it as an initiation into adulthood, while certain Muslim leaders believe it is a religious requirement.

There is a also a popular belief that FGM reduces a women’s desire for sex – and that a circumcised woman is thus more likely to remain faithful to her partner.

In addition to causing an assortment of physical complications – which can even lead to death – the practice may complicate sexual intercourse and childbirth. The use of the same instruments to circumcise different girls and women also puts FGM victims at risk of contracting HIV. (...)

In July 2003, an African Union summit held in Mozambique adopted a protocol which calls for the banning of FGM: the ‘Maputo Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa’. However, this protocol still needs to be endorsed by several states before it can enter into force.

A New York-based group, No Peace Without Justice, says about two million girls and women undergo FGM every year, and that most circumcisions are carried out in sub-Saharan Africa and countries in the Arab peninsula.

http://www.jamboweb.com//ctnt/index.cfm?icontent_id=1025&isection_id=30

24 - Worldwide / International

* Supporting Human Rights Watch

December 16, 2004
Dear Friends,
We confront today’s global human rights challenges in the face of intense adversity and government opposition. Only through persistence, tenacity, and the generosity of our friends are we able to advance principles of justice and decency worldwide. (...) As 2004 comes to an end, it is with pride and sincere gratitude to our friends that we reflect on some of our hard-fought accomplishments of the past year.

* We exposed and fought to reverse ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region of western Sudan. We demonstrated through on-the-ground interviews and leaked official documents that the Sudanese government has launched and supported the murderous Janjaweed militia. We then helped to persuade the U.N. Security Council to order the government to guarantee humanitarian access to displaced civilians, authorize the deployment of 3,500 troops to protect the people of Darfur, and launch an investigative team that may lead to prosecution of those behind the mass atrocities.
* We spoke out against abuses by the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, saying that they were the predictable result of government policy decisions taken since Sept. 11, 2001, to condone the torture and mistreatment of detainees. We contested the government’s claim that these events were an aberration involving a few low-level soldiers by highlighting its disregard for the Geneva Conventions and its authorization of abusive interrogation practices. We played an important role in the U.S. Congress’s recent adoption of legislation to halt the U.S. military’s use of coercive interrogation.
* Following our exposé of the crimes committed by brutal Afghan warlord Ismail Khan, President Hamid Karzai dismissed Khan from his post as governor of Heart in September. Khan had used politically motivated arrests, intimidation, extortion, and torture to cling to power, and had imposed severe restrictions on the rights of women.
* The state of California recently passed legislation expanding access to sterile syringes, which was the central advocacy goal of our report on how restricted access to needle-exchange programs in California fueled the AIDS crisis.

These important accomplishments demonstrate the important work we can do when we band together to defend basic human rights principles. Your generosity makes an enormous difference to our work and to the lives of countless people worldwide. I hope you will consider supporting, and expanding, your commitment to Human Rights Watch. We need you now more than ever.
Sincerely,

From : rainern@hrw.org

* Effective partnerships key to combating gender-based violence

(...) Despite substantial progress in the last two decades to raise awareness of gender-based violence as a serious human rights violation, today's world is no safer for women and girls. The scale of the problem has reached epidemic proportions — globally, one in three women will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Partnerships across sectors and at all levels of society are critical to build political will and secure the resources necessary to match the magnitude of the challenge.

The intersection of violence against women and the HIV/AIDS pandemic was the special theme of this year's observance, since violence against women is a key factor in women's greater vulnerability to HIV infection than men's. In a statement to mark the day, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the increased risk of HIV infection an added deadly dimension to the problem of violence against women. "Sexual violence increases women's vulnerability to the virus. All too frequently, the threat of violence forces women to have unprotected sex. Violence can also make it impossible for women to seek information, follow treatment or even raise the subject for discussion." (...)

Event speakers pointed to the essential role of women's rights activists around the world in ending violence against women. "They provide the beginning. The seeds, the push that gets the debate going at the inter-governmental level," said Kyung-wha Kang, Chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Marijke Velzeboer-Salcedo, chief of UNIFEM's Latin America and the Caribbean section, called the international day an annual opportunity to celebrate the activists "who have joined forces to take action, to not tolerate a minute more of violence." She lauded grantees of the UNIFEM Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, who work tirelessly at the grassroots, national and regional levels to remove violence from their communities.

"There are never enough resources — and there will never be. So, partnerships are essential," said Alexandra Arriaga, Director of Amnesty International USA's Washington DC office. She explained that Amnesty International is involved in a six-year campaign to end violence against women, and that working with other organizations, like the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Women's Edge, was essential to help raise much needed resources for UNIFEM's Trust Fund. "The real work is on the ground. The beauty of UNIFEM's Trust Fund is that every dollar that goes in is re-granted to grassroots organizations working on the front line." (...)

An innovative partnership with PeaceKeeper Cause-metics, a unique cosmetics company that gives all of its profits, after taxes, to women's human rights causes, was also announced. The company has launched a PeaceKeeper-UNIFEM lip gloss, which will be sold to raise funds for UNIFEM's Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. Jody Weiss, founder of the company, described the partnership as a creative way to educate women about gender-based violence while also raising much-needed funding to support efforts to deal with the problem. (...)

For more information on the Trust Fund, see http://www.unifem.org/index.php?f_page_pid=57

* Gathering Women"s Experiences

The women’s movement has made significant shifts from women in development issues to gender and development, to gender mainstreaming. These shifts have been reflected in the international agenda through the programmes and outcome documents of the four world conferences on women with their corresponding NGO forums.

The year 2005 marks the 30th anniversary of the first world conference on women held in Mexico in 1975, and the world will once again focus on women’s/gender issues. However, instead of a world conference, the United Nations will mark this occasion through the consideration and review of the Beijing Platform for Action by the Commission on the Status of Women at its 49th session (28 February – 11 March 2005).

As no world conference or special session of the General Assembly will take place in 2005, there will be no international forum at which the women’s movement and the international community may converge. On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2005, INSTRAW would like to focus on the experiences of women through the four world conferences on women in recognition of their crucial role in shaping the current international agenda for gender issues.

In this regard, we are looking for brief commentaries on your experience(s) at one or more of the conferences --Mexico 1975, Nairobi 1980, Copenhagen 1985, Beijing 1995, and the Beijing+5 special session, 2000-- and how this experience has affected your life or women’s/gender issues in your community. Experiences may be anecdotal accounts of the conferences themselves, discussions of the relevance of these conferences to the women’s rights agenda, or critical reviews of the implementation of the conference conclusions.

These experiences will be featured on the Beijing Review section of the INSTRAW website http://www.un-instraw.org/en/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=888&I temid=158. In addition, this worldwide collection of women’s experiences will also be included as bonus material on an interactive CD which will be produced on the Beijing Review process.

Commentaries may be submitted in English, French or Spanish and should be no more than 1,000 words. Please send your contribution to INSTRAW at instraw@un-instraw.org before 15 February 2005.

Jeannie Ash de Pou
UN INSTRAW

* Beijing and beyond / Pékin et au delà

SEMAINE MONDIALE D’ACTION «PEKIN ET AU-DELÀ » - La Semaine mondiale d’action « Pékin et au-delà » est une idée du Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL), de Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN) et de la Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). Cet événement doit marquer le 10^ème anniversaire de la Quatrième Conférence Mondiale sur les Femmes pendant la semaine du 1^er au 8 mars 2005. « Pékin et au-delà » se déroulera au niveau local, national, régional et mondial, le but étant de décentraliser cette semaine d’activités organisées partout dans le monde. Cet effort mondial permettra d’établir un lien entre les actions des ONG, pour démontrer que nous sommes unies dans l’effort de responsabilisation des gouvernements par rapport aux engagements de 1995 et de 2000. Le Lobby européen des femmes s’est inscrit comme co-sponsor de la Semaine mondiale d’action « Pékin et au-delà».

GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION-BEIJING AND BEYOND - The Global Week of Action-Beijing and Beyond has been initiated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL), Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN) and the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). The aim is to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women during the week of March 1-8, 2005. Beijing and Beyond would happen locally, nationally, regionally and globally. Beijing and Beyond is intended to be a decentralised week of activities that will take place around the world. This global effort would link NGO actions to show that we are united in the effort to hold governments accountable for commitments made in 1995 and 2000. The European Women’s Lobby has subscribed as a co-sponsor to the Global Week of Action Beijing and Beyond.

***

WORDS AND DEEDS : RESPONSABILISER LES GOUVERNEMENTS DANS LE CADRE DU PROCESSUS DE RÉVISION DE PÉKIN+10 – En mars 2004, Equality Now inaugurait sa campagne Pékin+10 lors de la Commission sur le statut des femmes des Nations unies et pressait les gouvernements d’abroger toutes les lois discriminant les femmes. Le rapport d’Equality Now, « Words and Deeds: Holding Governments Accountable in the Beijing + 10 Review Process », contient un échantillon représentatif des lois qui constituent explicitement une discrimination envers les femmes, et ce faisant, sont en contradiction totale avec les engagements pris par les gouvernements lors de la Quatrième Conférence mondiale de l’ONU sur les femmes en 1995. Voir : http://www.equalitynow.org/english/un/beijing10/beijing10_en.pdf

WORDS AND DEEDS: HOLDING GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE IN THE BEIJING+10 REVIEW PROCESS - In March 2004, Equality Now launched its Beijing + 10 campaign at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, urging governments to revoke all laws that discriminate against women. Equality Now's report, Words and Deeds: Holding Governments Accountable in the Beijing + 10 Review Process contains a representative sampling of laws that explicitly discriminate against women and in doing so fundamentally contradict the commitments made by governments at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.
See: http://www.equalitynow.org/english/un/beijing10/beijing10_en.pdf

From : Marie-Anne Leunis <ewl@womenlobby.org>

* World moves towards gender parity in basic education UN says

The target of reaching equality in basic education for girls and boys is being met in much of the world, but girls and women still faced inequality in the labour market, in domestic violence and in vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, the United Nations expert on gender issues said today.

The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Rachel Mayanja, <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/wom1474.doc.htm">told the 23-member Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that girls and women were being denied decision-making roles, were being left in abject poverty and were vulnerable to being trafficked.

Educational opportunities were being equalized in many countries and probably would be nearly met by 2005, except in sub-Saharan Africa and southern and western Asia, she said at the opening of the Committee's 32nd session.

Discriminatory laws remained on the books in some countries, as did laws whose outcome was anti-female discrimination. As parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 179 countries were obliged to translate the treaty into domestic law and find practical ways to achieve gender equality, Ms. Mayanja said.

Meanwhile, until 28 January eight Governments and some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were scheduled to report to the committee and receive feedback on official steps they had taken to provide equality of opportunity to women nationals.

The eight are Algeria, Croatia, Gabon, Italy, Laos, Paraguay, Samoa and Turkey.
(2005-01-10) http://www.un.org/news

Conference

***** Gulf Arab countries : Discrimination and violence against women is prevalent in conservative, patriarchal Gulf Arab countries which often turn a blind eye to these taboo issues, human rights activists said on Monday. Participants urged Gulf governments to enact laws that will protect women at a landmark conference on violence against women, sponsored by rights watchdog Amnesty International. "Governments must send a strong message to those practicing violence against women that this is a crime which will not be tolerated," Abdel Salam Sidahmed, director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme, told reporters at the end of the two-day conference in Bahrain.

Activists said there were no statistics on violence against women in the Gulf, but added that abuse was widely practiced in the region where relations between the sexes are governed by conservative, tribal norms and a strict interpretation of Islam. "Research in five Gulf Arab countries have found a big number of cases of violence or discrimination that leads to violence," said Amnesty's Dina El-Mamoun.

Oil wealth has brought modern infrastructure, Western customs and an army of Asian and European workers to the region. Women hold ministerial posts and run businesses in most Gulf countries, but that does not stop ordinary Gulf Arabs from discriminating against their female relatives.

In Saudi Arabia, the region's political kingpin, women are not allowed to drive or even hold bank accounts in their name. Women in the region are also discouraged from discussing abuse, even rape, for fear of being stigmatised by society. "Women refrain from reporting abuses by their husbands because they are taught by their families to be patient and keep family secrets," Rania al-Baz, a Saudi television presenter who was savagely beaten by her husband last year, told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.
Baz, who suffered 13 facial fractures after her husband repeatedly slammed her head against the floor, informed the media about her beating, hoping it would encourage other women to come out into the open about domestic abuse. The case, which made headlines throughout the region, led to a Saudi court granting her an unusual divorce.

The conference called on governments to provide housing facilities for abused women and to set up hotlines to report violent crimes. It also suggested setting up a regional research centre to collate statistics and conduct studies on the matter.

(10 Jan 2005) Source : Reuters / wunrn-owner@yahoogroups.com

* France : LA LAÏCITÉ : DES DÉBATS, UNE HISTOIRE, UN AVENIR (1789-2005)
Journée d’études organisée sous le haut patronage de M. Christian Poncelet, Président du Sénat, en partenariat avec le Comité d'Histoire Parlementaire et Politique
Palais du Luxembourg - Salle Clemenceau, Vendredi 4 février 2005, Paris.

* France : L'Association Française des Femmes Diplômées des Universités, AFFDU et l’Association Femmes et Sciences organisent samedi 5 février 2005 un colloque "Féminin/masculin : Mythes scientifiques et idéologie", à l’École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, 57, Boulevard St-Germain, 75005 Paris

- avec des exposés scientifiques de:Geneviève Fraisse (CNRS), Maurice Godelier (EHESS), Catherine Vidal (Institut Pasteur/CEA), Pascal Picq (Collège de France), Joëlle Wiels (Institut Gustave Roussy), Evelyne Peyre (CNRS, Museum), Sabine Prokhoris, Gaïd Le Maner-Idrissi (Université de Rennes II), Michèle Ferrand (CNRS, INED).
- et un débat sur "Le retour du déterminisme biologique, causes et conséquences", animé par Dorothée Benoit-Browaeys,
avec Bernard Andrieu (Université Nancy II), Yves Burnod (INSERM), Pierre Clément (Université Lyon I), Michel Imbert (CNRS), Catherine Labrusse (Université Paris I).

Ce colloque sera l'occasion d'échanges entre scientifiques des sciences "dures" et des sciences humaines, et nous avons souhaité rendre les exposés accessibles à tous, scientifiques ou non scientifiques. Les personnes intervenant dans le monde de l'éducation sont spécialement concernées par le thème du colloque; nous souhaitons en effet informer en vue de l'orientation des filles et des garçons vers les carrières scientifiques.

From : AFFDU AFFDU <affdu@club-internet.fr>

* USA : Feb 28-March 11 2005 – 49^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. The sessions will review the 10 year follow up to the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action in which all member nations, including Canada, vowed to tally and value unpaid caregiving work.

* Canada : March 6-8 - National Children’s Alliance Annual Spring Symposium in Kingston Ontario. The theme is “Towards a National Youth Agenda’,

* USA : The International Symposium on Women and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - June 12 - June 14, 2005 - s the premier international symposium developed to bring distinguished leaders from around the globe to address the under-representation of women in the field of ICT. Highly published authors Jo Sanders, Sue Rosser, and Sophia Huyer will be joined by international corporate leaders to address the global economy and the necessity for the full participation of women in technology endeavors. The goal of the symposium is to create an action agenda to increase significantly within 5 years, the international participation of girls and women in ICT, including leadership of women in technology businesses. Your participation is requested to help develop an action agenda.

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Commission for Women, Ellen Sauerbrey, serves as honorary Chair.

Organized by the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI), and the Women in Global Science and Technology (WIGSAT).

The conference is open to the first 300 registrants. It will be held in English.

http://www.wtci.org/CWIT/WomenandICT_CreatingGlobalTransformation.htm

Rapport / Report

A - Journey to Myself: Writings by Women from Prison in South Africa (Edited by Julia Landau. Rondebosch, South Africa: Footprints, 2004) is a product of a series of workshops with women prisoners in South Africa. The testimonies are accompanied by poems and photographs of objects dear to the women. (...).

A similar book was written by Wally Lamb and the women of York Correctional Institution entitled "Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies >From our Imprisoned Sisters". Again the book grew out of a series of writing workshops given by Lamp at York. The women then wrote their testimonies, short stories and poems. Writing was a difficult process for the women yet the stories are powerful describing journeys of life and self-awareness. Lamb says of the book "There are things says Lamb, that need to be known about prison and prisoners. There are misconceptions to be abandoned, biases to be dropped. Here is a step in the right direction."

If you are interested in prison and prison reform, Angela Davis has written extensively on the subject - "The Prison Industrial Complex" 2000 and most recently "Are Prisons Obsolete" 2003.

(January 06, 2005) http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2005/01/journey_to_myse.html

B - Louise Michel (1830-1905)

Ce livre retrace très précisément la chronologie des évènements de la Commune de Paris à laquelle la vie de Louise Michel est totalement liée. Il parcourt aussi son enfance, sa vie d'institutrice, son engagement politique, ses luttes, ses procès, comment elle a vécu la prison, la déportation, elle qui appartenait « tout entière à la révolution sociale ».
De nombreuses photos de Louise Michel, de sa famille, de ses compagnes et compagnons de lutte, des évènements de cette époque viennent illustrer l'ouvrage.
« Louise Michel » de Gérald Dittmar, éd. Dittmar.

C - Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-NY) criticized the Bush administration for putting too much emphasis on abstinence in the fight against HIV/AIDS and restricting women's access to reproductive health services in developing countries in a recent address to the International Women's Health Coalition. Clinton stated that although the Bush administration supports the "ABC" HIV prevention model, which stands for abstinence, be faithful and use condoms, they are emphasizing sexual abstinence rather than contraceptives and condom use, especially among single people. "ABC is a good strategy,” Clinton said, “but it has three parts to it and we need to remind the administration of that” reports Reuters. Clinton was also critical of the Global Gag Rule, instituted by Bush, which cuts funding to international organizations that even discuss abortion with their patients, according to Kaisernet.org. The Global Gag Rule helps to contribute to a deplorable situation of some 80,000 women and girls dying of botched unsafe abortions in third world countries.

Domestic spending on abstinence only programs has also increased to record levels under the Bush administration. (...). A recent report released by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) found that 11 of 13 most popular abstinence-only programs are providing medically inaccurate information. A study of Advocates for Youth found ten state programs demonstrated no long-term success in influencing sexual behavior.

http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=8836

D - Le rapport "Recensement des enseignements et recherches sur le genre en France" réalisé par l'ANEF en 2003 est maintenant disponible et téléchargeable via lesite de l'ANEF à l'adresse suivante :
http://www.anef.org/publications.php#3

Muriel Andriocci <muriel.andriocci@univ-tlse2.fr> Doctorante et A.T.E.R en sociologie

E - Gender statistics is a relatively new field that cuts across all traditional areas of statistical production and pertains to the statistical system as a whole. Gender statistics are statistics that adequately reflect the situation of women and men in all policy areas - they allow for a systematic study of gender differentials and gender issues. Why do we need gender statistics provides you with more information on the functions of gender statistics.

A gender issue is any issue or concern determined by gender-based and/or sex-based differences between women and men. Gender issues are all aspects and concerns of how women and men interrelate, their differences in access to and use of resources, their activities, and how they react to changes, interventions, and policies.

Gender issues exist in all spheres of society and are therefore relevant to the production of statistics in all fields and intervene at every step of the production process. Gender statistics are not necessarily and not only statistics disaggregated by sex.

Producing statistics that adequately reflect gender issues implies that all statistics are produced taking into consideration the different socio-economic realities women and men face in society. This means that all data - both those on individuals as well as those not directly related to individuals - are collected, compiled, and analysed, taking into consideration that gender-based factors influence women and men differently - this can be called the gender mainstreaming of statistics.

The impact on women and men needs to be considered in every step of statistical production and in all statistical fields. Concepts and methods used in data collection need to be adequately formulated to ensure that they reflect existing gender concerns and differentials. Additionally, social and cultural factors must be taken into consideration as they can result in gender-based biases in data collection, analysis, and presentation.

For more information on the stages of development of gender statistics, please see our brief history of gender statistics

http://www.unece.org/stats/gender/web/genstats/genstats-1.htm

F - The European Women's Lobby Beijing+10 report
Dear friends,

Please find enclosed the final version of the European Women's Lobby Beijing+10 report in English and friends. It would be great if you could announce it!
Wishing you a good reading!
With kind regards,

Cécile / greboval@womenlobby.org

G - National AIDS programmes : A guide to indicators for monitoring and evaluating national HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for young people

ISBN 92 4 159257 5

"A guide to indicators for monitoring and evaluating national HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for young people" has been developed in collaboration with UNAIDS cosponsors and a wide range of other partners to provide an overview of core indicators that should be used at national level to monitor and evaluate programmes directed to HIV prevention among young people.

The indicators have been classified in line with the CAH Mapping Adolescent Programme and Measurement (MAPM) framework, and the Guide includes indicators focusing on health outcomes, underlying behaviours, determinants that give rise to these behaviours, and interventions directed to changing these determinants. Although some of the indicators included in the Guide are still being refined and field tested, for each of the indicators included in the Guide there are details of what they are, why they should be used, how they can be measured, and their strengths and limitations.

http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/publications/ADH/ISBN_92_4_159257_5.htm

Website / Site Internet

A - Website: www.volcanopress.com publie des ouvrages (en langue anglaise) sur les violences faites aux femmes de l'enfance à la vieillesse.
Cette section du site est à consulter régulièrement, on y trouve des résumés assez complet de livres sur ce sujet.
Bonne lecture !

From: "Maryse Rivard" <rivard@cdeacf.ca>

B - Website ; Musée / Museum
Je vous signale le site musea http://musea.univ-angers.fr qui a été mis en place à l'Université d'Angers en liaison avec les Archives du féminisme. C'est un musée sur les femmes.
Visitez-le et faites le connaître autour de vous.

From : Evelyne <evelyne.rochedereux@noos.fr>

Forum

* CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE ONLINE WOMEN'S FORUM seeks to create an online community of women activists to support networking and facilitate an exchange of ideas in an informal and friendly environment. Please come and share your views, ideas and opinions on women’s activism in Central Eastern Europe at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/research/ceeforum/

Best wishes,

Inga Aleksandraviciene <I.Aleksandraviciene@warwick.ac.uk>

* Forum de discussion contre le sexisme : http://www.sos-sexisme.org/forum/BulletinBoard.asp

* Forum de discussion sur l'éducation et la formation des femmes et des petites filles

Comme vous le savez peut-être, l'UNESCO et l'UNICEF sont responsables d'un Forum de discussion sur l'éducation et la formation des femmes et des petites filles dans le cadre du processus d'évaluation de Beijing+10. Ce Forum de discussion se déroulera sur 4 semaines du 10 janvier au 4 février 2005 et sera hébergé par le site Internet de Women watch (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/forums/review/).

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Michèle Dayras
SOS SEXISME