Gender Violence

Debunking Stereotypes: Which Women Matter in the Fight Against Extremism?

By Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Violent extremism is the topic du jour, as government officials are busy developing plans of action on “preventing or countering violent extremism” (P/CVE). In these plans there is dutiful reference to engaging “women”. The more progressive mention gender sensitivity.

Violence at Home

By Asma Humayun
Amidst robust campaigning by liberal sections to activate the feminist lobby and strong criticism by clerics defending Islam’s endowment of women’s rights, there is a risk of overlooking the essence of what is a major human rights and public health issue — domestic violence.

Are Indigenous Women Key to Sustainable Development?

By Valentina Ieri
"We, indigenous women want to be considered as part of the solution for sustainable development, because we have capabilities and knowledge, " said Tarcila Rivera, a Quechua journalist and activist for the rights of indigenous people in Peru, at a press conference on the Empowerment of Indigenous Women.

It’s Not Just Poverty

By Laila Khondkar
You give dowry and I receive it, why are you bringing government into this?”said a woman in a village in Rangpur district during a discussion on women's status. I had the opportunity to facilitate the session, and have thought of this many times since hearing several years ago. The comment reminds me that it is extremely challenging to get rid of a harmful practice if it is socially accepted, even when it is prohibited legally. Law is important, but not enough to bring social change.

Not Enough Women At the Peace Table, Say Arab Activists

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
“When it comes to peace talks, women have a special stake,” said Gloria Steinem while discussing current peace talks in the Middle East. Steinem, a prominent activist, joined the 60th annual session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as part of Donor Direct Action, an NGO connecting women’s rights activists to donors.

Tribute to a Slain Environment Activist

By Amantha Perera
Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores, was in her early 20s when she co-founded the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (Cophin), a group that campaigned for the rights of indigenous communities in the Central American nation.

UN Says it Shattered Glass Ceilings Creating a Carpet of Shards

By Thalif Deen
In the 1960s, when gender discrimination was widespread at the United Nations, there was a story doing the rounds of a woman candidate who had applied for a mid-level professional job in the UN Secretariat.

Alcohol Harm a Gender Empowerment Issue

By Kristina Sperkova
International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world – often against great odds and all too often remaining invisible. But women and girls worldwide are change makers and leaders for a better world. Role models are many.

Time Out of Joint

By Nazish Brohi
The obsession with women is evident in Friday sermons across the country, in the Council of Islamic Ideology’s fixation on regulating women’s bodies, in society’s vigilance of women and in the preoccupation with women’s dressing, holding it responsible for earthquakes and expediting the Day of Judgement.

A Different Honour

By Bina Shah
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy`s record second win at the Oscars for her short document ary A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness is proof that lightning can actually strike twice. Hardly four years ago, Chinoy was standing at the same stage in Los Angeles, accepting an Oscar for her documentary Saving Face, about Pakistani victims of acid attacks. Chinoy`s current Oscar winner examines a no less painful subject, honour killings in Pakistan.

Of the Same Ilk

By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
IT has been almost two weeks since the beginning of a protest movement of students, teachers and the wider democratic community in and around Delhi`s famed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) that represents arguably the biggest challenge that Narendra Modi`s BJP government has faced since coming to power. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we in this country have scarcely paid attention to the whole af fair, even though it tells us much about India, its politics, and, indeed, just how similar our two countries are.

Dealing with Security Threats

By I.A. Rehman
The Lahore Literary Festival has ended in a blaze of success. The uncertainty about its being held at all and the doubts about the people`s capacity to defy fear and much else made the event all the more enjoyable. But the issues regarding the ways of dealing with security threats that it gave rise to still need to be seriously addressed.

The Law of Forgiveness

By Zahid Hussain
More than 1,000 women are killed in the name of honourin this country every year, according to official figures. But the actual numbers are believed to be much higher. Saba Qaiser, 19, would have been one of them had she not miraculously survived drowning in a river after having been shot in the head. Unsurprisingly, those who tried to finish her off were none other than her own relatives her father and uncle as happens in most such cases of `honour`crime.

Hopes and `Honour` Killings

By Rafia Zakaria
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently watched A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Sharmeen Obald Chinoy`s Oscar-nominated documentary about `honour` killings. In a statement following the screening, he told Ms Chinoy and his audience that there is no `honour` in murder.

Gang-Raped and Nowhere to Turn

By Agnes Odhiambo
Owuor P.’s 16-year-old sister Nekesa tried and tried to get an abortion after she was gang-raped and found herself pregnant during Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007-8. “We are not sure how many raped her,” Owuor told me. “She told us that she saw three men rape her and then she lost consciousness. She was quiet most of the time after the rape.” In desperation after the birth of the child, she killed herself. The baby survived, and today Owuor is raising the child, who has a serious mental health condition, and is still grieving for his sister.

The State We’re In: Ending Sexism in Nationality Laws

By Antonia Kirkland
Everyone has the right to be born with a nationality – safe, fearless and free – and secure in their human right to equally transfer, acquire, change or retain it. There is no reason why over 50 countries should still have sexist nationality and citizenship laws, which largely discriminate against women, potentially putting them and their families in danger and denying them the rights, benefits and services that everyone should enjoy.

2015 – A Giant Leap for Womankind (Part 2)

By Lakshmi Puri
Against the backdrop of escalating extremism and conflict globally, 2015 also marked the 15th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security (WPS ) with a Global Study and Review on its effective implementation strongly addressing the impact of conflict on women and their essential role in conflict prevention, peacemaking and peace building. The landmark UNSC resolution 2242 (October 2015) calls for effective and accelerated implementation of the WPS Agenda by all actors.

2015 – A Giant Leap for Womankind (Part 1)

By Lakshmi Puri
2015, the final year of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), heralds the beginning of the most critical fifteen years for the realization of the new Sustainable Development Agenda that the international community launched along with renewed Climate Change and Financing for Development (FfD) compacts.

Cuba Needs a Law Against Gender Violence

By Patricia Grogg
Activists and researchers dedicated to the study of gender violence in Cuba insist on the need for a comprehensive law to protect the victims and prevent the problem, which was publicly ignored until only a few years ago in this socialist Caribbean island nation.

UN Sees Key Role for Women in Post-2015 Development Agenda

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations, which has launched an intense world-wide campaign to ensure the full implementation of its post-2015 development agenda, is unequivocal in asserting that gender equality and women’s empowerment are indispensable to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders last September.

Opinion: Ending Child Marriage – What Difference Can a Summit Make?

By Samuel Musyoki
The long-awaited African Girls’ Summit on Ending Child Marriage is here.
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