Thursday, December 2, 2021
News and Views from the Global South
Gender Violence
How to Tackle the Femicide Epidemic
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the increase in domestic violence rates has led the United Nations to declare a ‘shadow pandemic’ of gender-based violence. In the most brutal cases, the violence has led to murder – or ‘femicide’, as the World Health Organisation calls the killing of women specifically because of their gender.
Gender, Education and Drop Outs
While COVID 19 is keeping the world and news media in its constant grip and national politics often come to the forefront, it might be easy to forget urgent and nevertheless related matters. One is how global education has suffered and how children and youngsters have been forced to cope with a different reality. This aspect like so many other of human existence is gendered and while addressing education it is relevant to talk about changing gender roles as well.
Safety of Women Journalists
On International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November), UNESCO is raising awareness for the continued violence, threats and harassment that women journalists and female media workers face all around the world.
No Vaccine for the Pandemic of Violence Against Women in Latin America
Despite significant legal advances in Latin American countries to address gender-based violence, it continues to be a serious challenge, especially in a context of social crisis aggravated by the covid-19 pandemic, which hits women especially hard.
Yet Another Scourge: A Third of All Women are Subjected to Violence
Thirty percent of women and girls suffered physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner. And more than 70 percent of all sold, bought and enslaved victims of human smuggling and trafficking are women and girls -- three out of four of them are sexually exploited.
It’s Time to Find Solutions to the Gendered Consequences of the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects across the globe, but the data and evidence show that women have borne the brunt of the crisis. While inequalities in health, economic power, and other areas existed long before the pandemic began, the pandemic has widened these gaps.
Zimbabwe’s High-Risk Cross-Border Trade
Thirty-six-year-old Thandiwe Mtshali* watched helplessly as her informal cross-border trading (ICBT) enterprise came to a grinding halt when the Zimbabwean authorities closed the border with South Africa as part of global efforts to stem the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.
Egypt Must End State Oppression of Women and Girls
The fate of Egyptian women and girls delicately hangs in the balance as the country continues to have one of the worst records in the world for gender equality. With oppression often state-sanctioned, Egyptian women face a daily struggle against sexual harassment and other violations of their basic human rights, including institutionalised violence.
For Girls, the Biggest Danger of Sexual Violence Lurks at Home
"During the pandemic, sexual violence against girls has grown because they have been confined with their abusers. If the home is not a safe place for them, what is then, the streets?" Mía Calderón, a young activist for sexual and reproductive rights in the capital of Peru, remarks with indignation.
10 Days to Defeat 2547 Miles of Pain
They call it the Tlaxcala-New York Route. Between one end and the other, there are 2547 miles. An infamous road that today is one of the most important channel for human trafficking gangs. And a route seemingly impossible to destroy because of its million-dollar profits.
Why Pakistani Women Feel Unsafe in Public Spaces
The mauling, groping and tossing of a young woman by a crowd of between 300 and 400 men in a park in the eastern city of Lahore, in the Punjab province, may have caused a wave of country-wide disgust, but speaks volumes of how unsafe public spaces are for Pakistani women.
Day of the Girl Child: A Digital Generation Where Every Girl Counts
The theme of this year’s annual International Day of the Girl Child, on October 11, “Digital generation. Our generation.”, recognizes the digital transformation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. But while the pandemic accelerated the transition to online learning, working and networking, it also accelerated women and girl's risk of being left behind.
Afghan Women – The Emerging Narrative and Why it is Wrong
The USA and its allies have repeatedly stated that promoting women’s rights was one of the key reasons they were in Afghanistan. The US military top brass, in a letter to marines stated that they were in Afghanistan “for the liberty of young Afghan girls, women, boys, and men who want the same individual freedoms we enjoy as Americans”.
South Korea’s Women Fire Back
A strong movement of feminism is sweeping South Korea. While women feel empowered to stand their ground, the men are retaliating. When South Korean archer An San won two gold medals in just two days during the recent Tokyo Olympics, the response the 20-year-old received at home was a mixed. Some men were angered and said her medals should be taken away. Why? Because her short hair was a sign that she was a ‘man-hating’ feminist.
Tonga’s experience: Implementation of Domestic Violence Legislation
Fourteen Pacific Island Countries have enacted specific legislation to address domestic violence. While these laws have been developed to respond to domestic violence, implementation continues to be a challenge. It is affected by various factors that include practical social, cultural, religious, political, environmental and economic challenges.
Why Do Organizations Fail to Keep Workplace Harassments in Check
“Sexual harassment is not about sexual attraction, it is about power. If an individual uses power plays to subjugate other people, when we have such dynamics going on in the workplace, what we need is a system that fights back against it, which unfortunately a lot of workplaces, they allow it to persist,”, says Adrienne Lawrence, anchor and legal analyst in an interview given to me here.
“Don’t Call It Ethnic. Ituri Conflict Is a Mystery”
It is a metallic sound, harmless. It lasts just over a second, but it can become as sharp as a machete blade or as devastating as the burst from an assault rifle. It is a beep, just the beep of a phone notification. A woman is on the ground, her belly open, her intestines exposed and her severed head resting on her arm. A pagne of colorful fabric still girds her hips. Where? Why? Then, a video. Do you hear those voices? It happened there, in that village. It was them who did it, it was them.
Parliamentarians Determined to Reach ICPD 25 Goals
Politicians from Asia and Africa shared activism anecdotes demonstrating their determination to meet ICPD 25 commitments. They were speaking at a hybrid conference held simultaneously in Kampala, Uganda, and online.
Here Is How We Can Keep Women Safe From Sexual Violence
The past weeks have been quite traumatic for the women of Pakistan. Recently, a young woman named Noor Mukadam was murdered and beheaded by her alleged partner in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city. A few weeks ago, the prime minister’s statement on rape erroneously construed the crime as being the fault of the victim.
‘Proud of Being Able to Speak the Truth’: Journalist Nidhi Razdan on her Cyber Attack
Earlier in January, Indian journalist Nidhi Razdan found out she was a victim of one of the most sophisticated and elaborate cyber attacks. Razdan wrote in a piece that it was all an attempt to access her bank account details, personal data, emails, medical records, passport and access to all her devices, including computer and phone.
Between Horror and Hope in the Villages of Ituri
“We have buried twenty-eight people. I have seen them with my own eyes. We also found three bodies in the fields and buried them too. I can show them to you. It’s not far from here. We buried them there.” The man points to the hills. He doesn’t want to show his face or say his name, but he agrees that his voice can be recorded, so that his words don’t get lost. The camera can’t shoot him; it can only look at the tall grass or at the forest towards the countryside where it is no longer possible to cultivate food. The man talks while music from Lengabo’s catholic church marks the time of truce and hope.Next Page »
One in three women around the world have been subject to violence. Women face physical, sexual, and psychological violence in both public and private. Taking forms such as violence in the intimacy of a relationship, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation, gender violence is an issue that affects women in all countries. Only two-thirds of countries have outlawed domestic violence, leaving millions of women unprotected from abuse including from marital and de facto partners in many cases. Additionally, through human trafficking countless women are subjected to sexual exploitation and sexual violence, including horrific acts such as genital mutilation. Today many actors from individuals, to multinational organizations work to address these issues. These articles help to shed light on the violence that women experience every day and how its is being addressed.
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