Gender Violence

The Rape of India’s Dalit Women: It’s All about Gender & Class Subordination

By Stella Paul
Shabnam*, a young woman from Northern India’s Haryana state, is two years away from becoming a law graduate. She sees parallels between her own rape and that of the 19-year-old Maha Dalit woman whose brutal rape and torture by a group of men from a “dominant” or “higher” caste in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh triggered nationwide protests.

Rising above the Hate Online – Indian Muslim Women Speak Out

By Mariya Salim
When a minority woman with an opinion doesn’t comply with stereotypes, she is targeted with online hate, says award-winning journalist and senior editor at The Wire, Arfa Khanum Sherwani in an exclusive interview with Inter Press Service.

Human Trafficking Survivor Harold D’Souza: “The Perpetrators are More Aggressive Than Ever”

By Anna Shen
The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic continues: as more people around the world lose their livelihoods, human trafficking is on the rise. Support services for survivors have been shut, and past gains to combat it have been reversed. Funding has dried up.

Education: Act Now, Don’t Wait for the Bill

By Stefania Giannini
School reopening doesn’t mean that education is back on course. For a start, schools remain closed in over 50 countries, affecting more than 800 million students. The poorest ones may never make it back to school, driven by poverty into child labour or early marriage. Distance learning has been out of reach for one third of the 1.6 billion students affected worldwide by school closures. They may disengage altogether if school closures continue.

Building Back Better: Education Cannot Wait

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 declaring October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

Nepal Moves Against Acid Attacks on Women

By Simone Galimberti and Sanju G.C.
After a prolonged lobbying campaign, the Government of Nepal recently took some important actions against perpetrators of acid attacks while offering better provisions to support the process of rehabilitation of their victims.

Central Sahel – Shaping peace together with women and young people Statement for International Peace Day

By Mabingue Ngom and Shoko Arakaki
The countries of Central Sahel—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—face an unprecedented crisis, marked by violent extremism, forced displacement, and rising insecurity. The sharp increase in armed attacks on communities, health centres, schools and other public institutions and infrastructure has disrupted livelihoods and access to social services. The impact on affected people is devastating.

Impact of COVID-19 on Women and Children

By Mary Robinson
The impacts of crises are never gender-neutral and COVID-19 is no exception. The pandemic has resulted in increased rates of violence against women and has exacerbated challenges in accessing justice. Women are losing their livelihoods faster than men.

Acidic Masculinity

By Sanju G.C. and Simone Galimberti
The recent attack on 22 year old Pavitra Karki has yet again stoked the discourse on acid attacks and gender based violence in Nepal. Pavitra is one of the many young women in Nepal who were targeted by young males, a tragic but more and more common occurrence in the country and elsewhere in South Asia.

Report Shows Sri Lanka has Escalation of Violence During COVID-19 Lockdown

By Mantoe Phakathi
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the escalation of violence against women and children in Sri Lanka.

Sudan May Have Banned FGM, but the Harsh Practice Continues

By Rhona Scullion, PassBlue*
Just four months ago, Sudan took the monumental step to ban female genital mutilation, a painful, unnecessary and dangerous procedure that leaves lasting scars. Generally carried out on girls before they reach puberty, genital mutilation is now punishable in Sudan by up to three years in prison and subject to a fine.

Myanmar’s Protection Bill falls Short of Addressing Violence against Women

By Samira Sadeque
A legislation that aims to protect women against violence in Myanmar, while long overdue, is raising concern among human rights advocates about its inadequate definition of rape, vague definition for “consent”, and anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rhetoric.

Gender Inequality and Oppression of Women: A Survivor’s Story

By Fairuz Ahmed
“What do you think happens to kerosene when it is poured on your head?” Surya stumbles as she speaks to IPS. “It goes down, it goes trickling down.” When someone speaks to a burn victim, one naturally feels shocked, sad, and sympathetic. But in talking to Surya, who has the major part of her body burned, the feelings were of hope and inspiration. How is it possible to survive this trauma and still have so much love and joy to share?

It was Meant to Be a Ground-breaking Year for Gender Equality but COVID-19 Widened Inequalities

By Neena Bhandari
Sixteen-year-old Suhana Khan had just completed her grade 10 exams in March, when India imposed a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. Since then, she has been spending her mornings and evenings doing household chores, from cooking and cleaning to fetching drinking water from the tube well. 

Challenging Cultural Norms and Removing Stigma is Key to Confronting Lesotho’s Rape Culture

By Mamello Makhele
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and given rise to a new, deeply concerning wave of rape culture in Lesotho. Although the true extent is not known yet, we have noticed concerning reports that the onset of the pandemic has worsened sexual violence with more women and girls being confined to small living places whilst social tensions are exacerbated.

The World Needs You. Now.

By Yasmine Sherif
“We may all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now,” Martin Luther King Jr once said. His timeless wisdom rings truer than ever today for the many challenges the world is facing. COVID-19, continued armed conflicts and forced displacement, climate-change induced disasters, deep divides and widespread discrimination mark the human family in the 21st century.

IPS Webinar: Gender Equality Crucial in ‘Building Back Better’ Post-COVID-19

By Miriam Gathigah
While men are more likely to die from COVID-19, women are facing the full blow of the socio-economic fallout from the ongoing pandemic as well as seeing a reversal in equality gains made over the last two decades, says an all-women panel of international thought leaders, who met virtually during a discussion convened by IPS.

The Fuzia Story: Empowering Women Through the Fusion of Cultures and Ideas

By Fairuz Ahmed
A young and dynamic digital platform, named Fuzia, has attracted millions of women social media followers and 100,000 active global users with its eclectic mix of content. The platform showcases women’s talent and provides a support network.

The Quiet Survivors of a Global Pandemic

By Saima W. Hossain
The issue of women’s rights, feminism and gender is complex and ongoing in most countries including Bangladesh. When I was asked to write about impact of COVID-19 on women and girls, I found myself drawn towards writing about women’s situation in general as that automatically impacts COVID-19 response as well. Since I am a woman who has been a part of many different cultures, yet a Bangali at heart, I am not only a survivor within its ranks but also responsible for being a part of the solution to the problems we face.

When Women and Children Cannot Escape their Abusers

By Sabine Saliba
Reports of escalating violence against women and children made the news almost everyday in March and April following the announcement of lockdowns to control the spread of Covid-19. The main concern has been that victims cannot escape their abusers or seek help when they share a confined space and are under constant scrutiny and the threat of violence.

Safety of Children an Afterthought for Tech Companies

By Charlotte Munns
Global upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has left society’s most vulnerable exposed. Instances of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) found online have increased at an alarming rate over past months.
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