Category: Gender-based discrimination

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

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.

But scratch the surface, and it is clear there is widespread misunderstanding of what this means or how to do it. So they tend to slide back into an age-old axiom: women are victims, perpetrators, or mothers.

But this perception misses some of the most important women involved in P/CVE: women human rights defenders and peace activists working in Iraq, Pakistan, Syria not only countering extremism but providing positive alternatives and challenging state actions.

The simplification of women to victims and perpetrators is akin to the virgin/prostitute dichotomy that has littered history for centuries. The Yazidi girls epitomize the horrendous victimhood of women, while the teenagers in the UK joining ISIS, and the girls implicated as Boko Haram ‘suicide’ bombers, personify the perpetrator. It seems that, in the male-dominated world of security experts, men determine which women matter.

Their real fascination is with the women fighters especially ‘jihadis’. They are either evil because they have transgressed unsaid but deeply riven norms of femininity and joined ISIS. Or they are the ultimate symbols of self-empowerment, brave enough to fight, and heroic, like the women in the Kurdish militias. Yet women becoming fighters is neither news nor shocking.

Throughout history, a minority of women have joined armed liberation movements (and national armies). Like many men, they are attracted by the larger cause or vision, or for revenge and justice (as with some Kurds and now Yazidis), to feel the sense of belonging and protection. Daesh promises respect, agency and responsibility for women feeling stifled in traditional homes.

There is little discussion of the complexity of women’s experiences who may be simultaneously victims and perpetrators. For example, research on young women (many under 18) traveling to Syria, reveals a strong dose of online sexual grooming in the communications between them and their recruiters.

Read the full article on the IPS News Agency now. 

Iraq: Women Suffer Under ISIS

The extremist armed group Islamic State should urgently release Yezidi women and girls they abducted in 2014, Human Rights Watch said today, following new research with recent escapees who were raped and traded between members before they fled. Islamic State (also known as ISIS) also routinely imposes abusive restrictions on other Iraqi women and girls and severely limits their freedom of movement and access to health care and education in areas under its control.

In January and February 2016, Human Rights Watch interviewed 21 Sunni Muslim Arab women from the Hawija area of Iraq and 15 women and girls from the Yezidi minority ethnic group, all of whom had fled ISIS-controlled areas, most in late 2015. Several of the Yezidis,abducted by ISIS in mid-2014, had spent more than a year in captivity. They described being forcibly converted to Islam, kept in sexual slavery, bought and sold in slave markets, and passed among as many as four ISIS members. Human Rights Watch first documented systematic rape of Yezidi women and girls in early 2015.

“The longer they are held by ISIS, the more horrific life becomes for Yezidi women, bought and sold, brutally raped, their children torn from them,” said Skye Wheeler, women’s rights emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Meanwhile, ISIS’s restrictions on Sunni women cut them off from normal life and services almost entirely.”

The Sunni women Human Rights Watch interviewed had fled areas under ISIS control since June 2014 in western Kirkuk governorate and had arrived in areas controlled by forces of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). All of the Sunni women and girls reported severe restrictions on their clothing and freedom of movement in ISIS-controlled areas. They said they were only allowed to leave their houses dressed in full face veil (niqab) and accompanied by a close male relative. These rules, enforced by beating or fines on male family members or both, isolated women from family, friends, and public life.

Read the full article from Human Rights Watch now. 

Nigerian lawmakers voted down a women equality bill citing the Bible and Sharia law

Nigerian lawmakers on Tuesday, voted against a gender and equal opportunities bill. The bill, which did not pass a second reading, was aimed at bridging the gap between the rights of men and women in Nigeria. It also sought to end questionable and unpleasant stereotypical practices that drive discrimination based on gender.

While the bill garnered support from some lawmakers, male and female, it ultimately failed to progress on the senate floor as a majority voted against it. Before voting, various senators who opposed the bill, spoke about the incompatibility of the bill with religious laws and beliefs.

As a whole, the bill focuses on eliminating discrimination based on gender in the fields of politics, education and employment. It also prohibits violence—domestic and sexual—against women.

Read the full article at Quartz Africa.

OURs - News piece

Top Pakistani religious body rules women’s protection law ‘un-Islamic’

A powerful Pakistani religious body that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam on Thursday declared a new law that criminalizes violence against women to be “un-Islamic.”

The Women’s Protection Act, passed by Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab last week, gives unprecedented legal protection to women from domestic, psychological and sexual violence. It also calls for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line and the establishment of women’s shelters.

But since its passage in the Punjab assembly, many conservative clerics and religious leaders have denounced the new law as being in conflict with the Muslim holy book, the Koran, as well as Pakistan’s constitution.

“The whole law is wrong,” Muhammad Khan Sherani, the head of the Council of Islamic Ideology said at a news conference, citing verses from the Koran to point out that the law was “un-Islamic.”

The 54-year-old council is known for its controversial decisions. In the past it has ruled that DNA cannot be used as primary evidence in rape cases, and it supported a law that requires women alleging rape to get four male witnesses to testify in court before a case is heard.

The council’s decision this January to block a bill to impose harsher penalties for marrying off girls as young as eight or nine has angered human rights activists.

Read the full article on Reuters.

Historic meeting of gender and sexual rights activists from across Africa

Human rights defenders from nearly twenty countries across Africa have gathered in Johannesburg ahead of this week’s Africa Regional Seminar on “Finding Practical Solutions to Address Violence and Discrimination against Persons Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression”.

This unique meeting is one of the largest gatherings of African activists working on issues relating to sexualorientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE). It aims to generate learning among civil society organisations on the lived realities of sexual and gender minorities in different parts of the continent, and to use this knowledge to identify key advocacy priorities in ending violence and discrimination based on SOGIE in Africa.

“As human rights defenders working on gender and sexuality, it’s very important that we work together,” noted Fadzai Muparutsa of the Coalition of African Lesbians. “Before we engage with governments and other state actors, we need to have time and space to consider our diverse lived experiences. We need to understand better how different forms of oppression interact and intersect, particularly in women’s lives,” she added.

Sexual and gender minorities continue to be targets of violence, discrimination and abuse. This violence is often state-sanctioned, in many cases being carried out by police and other state agencies. Discriminatory beliefs are often endorsed by religious and traditional leaders, and given further currency through sensationalist media coverage. Such practices further stigmatise vulnerable communities, and result in people being denied access to medical, legal and other essential services because of their real or presumed sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

Read on at the Coalition of African Lesbians’ site. 

Central Asia: Backlash against women’s rights

Last week, Global Fund for Women brought together 85 activists from sister organizations and women’s funds in Europe & Central Asia for a meeting in Batumi, Georgia. 

“The Europe and Central Asia Activist Convening brought together activists and women’s funds from very diverse backgrounds,” explains Mariam Gagoshashvili, Global Fund for Women’s Program Officer for Europe and Central Asia. “Yet it was very important to realize that the external and internal challenges these movements are facing are common ones and that we need to unite to counter them.”

One of the key challenges discussed at the meeting is the growing backlash against women and trans* human rights defenders and social change activists in the region. In countries including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, just to name a few, organizations working on human rights—especially around gender, sexual orientation, or reproductive rights—are being increasingly targeted and threatened.

For many of the women in Batumi, the very act of traveling to the convening posed severe security threats. Some shared stories of the harassment and interrogation they would face when they traveled back to their home countries—still emphasizing that the opportunity to be there and exchange strategies and stories with other activists throughout the region was worth it.

“When I return to my home, I will be invited to the police office, I will be fingerprinted, and I will be sent to the HIV office,” shared one activist. “I will be interrogated to find out where I went and why I went and how I went.”

Shrinking space for activism

In Europe and Central Asia, in recent years, grass-roots women-led organizations have worked hard to organize movements, make their voices heard in public conversations around gender equality, and to drive positive shifts in culture.

But, as the activists convened in Batumi highlighted, for every positive shift, there have been strong resistant reactions.

Read the full article from the Global Fund for Women now. 

European Parliament gravely concerned over situation LGBTI people in Crimea

Last Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Crimea and the severe restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

The resolution starts out by strongly condemning “the unprecedented levels of human rights abuses perpetrated against Crimean residents” (paragraph 2) following the Russian annexation.

Zooming in on LGBTI rights, the resolution “[e]xpresses its grave concern regarding the situation of LGBTI people in Crimea” and adds that this has “substantially worsened” following the occupation.

It highlights furthermore, that the Parliament is alarmed about “repressive action and threats by the de facto authorities and paramilitary groups” (paragraph 17).

All LGBTI organisations and facilities in Crimea have had to cease their activities, due to the Russian federal law banning ‘homosexual propaganda’ as well as repression and threats from occupation authorities and paramilitary groups.

Tanja Fajon MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, reacted: “I am deeply concerned about the situation for LGBTI people in Crimea. With homophobic rhetoric coming from the highest levels, and violence going completely unpunished, it is no wonder that many see no other option than leaving the peninsula.”

“As an occupying power, Russia has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the whole population, including LGBTI people. I call on the EU Member States, the European Commission and the Council of Europe to maintain pressure on Russian authorities.”

Fabio-Massimo Castaldo MEP, also Vice-President of the LGBTI Intergroup, added: “The Parliament has emphasized the importance of ensuring the human rights of the whole population, including LGBTI people.”

 

Article originally published by the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights

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Protesters march with signs carrying various messages in support of immigration reform at the Washington Convention Center on the night it hosted the Hispanic Congressional Caucus annual gala. Washington, DC

European Parliament calls on Kosovo and Serbia to step up efforts on LGBTI rights

Today, the European Parliament adopted two of its annual progress reports for candidate and potential candidate EU countries. MEPs have assessed the rights of LGBTI people in Serbia and Kosovo, and recommended the countries to improve the situation.

Discrimination, hate speech and hate crime against LGBTI people, remain a strong concern for the Parliament in both countries. In this regard, the Parliament stresses its concern that the processing and investigation of such cases remains insufficient.

In its report on Serbia, the European Parliament “welcomes the successful Pride March of 20 September 2015.”

It expresses its concern, however, over shortcomings in implementation of the country’s anti-discrimination framework, particularly referring to LGBTI people.

In relation to Kosovo, the Parliament welcomes the adoption the Law on Protection from Discrimination, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity. If welcomes, furthermore, that the Ombudsperson has been mandated to act as an equality body.

Ulrike Lunacek MEP, Co-President of the Intergroup on LGBTI Rights and rapporteur on Kosovo, reacted: “Despite progress in laws and visibility in Serbia and Kosovo, discrimination and violence continue to make lives of LGBTI people difficult, and threaten access to basic freedoms.”

“Leading politicians should show more courage to condemn hatred and prevent abuse. Both countries have the necessary laws in place. Now it’s time to implement them!”

Tanja Fajon MEP, Vice-President of the Intergroup on LGBTI Rights and shadow rapporteur on Serbia, continued: “I am glad that the Parliament has again agreed that human rights, including for LGBTI people, are at the heart of the European integration project.”

“Hatred and prejudice have kept too many people in the Balkans from full participation in society for far too long. It’s time for equal rights for all.”

 

Article originally published by the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights

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Tunisia’s single mothers still struggle to overcome stigma

The situation of unmarried mothers, faced with a delicate dilemma and deprived of rights, makes a telling allegory for modern Tunisia — a country increasingly liberated but that still promotes conservative values.

On one side, the mere existence of unmarried mothers breaks the great taboo of premarital sex. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center from 2013, 89% of Tunisians say sex outside of marriage is “morally wrong.” On the other side, a growing number of individuals are emancipating themselves from traditional family values.

This trend is mainly reflected in delayed marriage. In 2012, the average age of marriage was 28 for women and 33 for men, leading to an increase in premarital sex. According to psychoanalyst Nedra Ben Smail, who authored the book “Vierges? La nouvelle sexualité des Tunisiennes” (“Virgins? The new sexuality of Tunisian women”), only 20% of Tunisian women remain virgins until marriage.

Despite the country’s rapidly changing ways, Tunisia struggles to adapt its legislation to its modernizing society. In November 2011, 10 months after Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country, Souad Abderrahim, a female representative of the Islamist party Ennahda, called single mothers a “disgrace.” Her statement caused significant outrage in the media and on social networks. Articles were published in response on the award-winning collective blog Nawaat, while Tunisian activist Lina Ben Mhenni, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, called Abderrahim’s declaration “outrageous.”

However, more than four years later, no real public debate has taken place on the issue. The country is ruled by President Beji Caid Essebsi, who was elected in December 2014 after a virulent anti-Islamist campaign against Ennahda, the governing party at the time. But Essebsi and his secular liberal party, Nidaa Tunis, allied with Ennahda just after the election. The two parties support conservative policies regarding moral issues, refusing to amend, for example, the law that criminalizes homosexuality.

Read the full article from Al Monitor

India’s Supreme Court To Revisit Homosexuality Ruling Next Week

India’s Supreme Court has scheduled a new hearing in the challenge to the country’s law criminalizing homosexuality, a member of the legal team challenging the law confirmed to BuzzFeed News on Thursday.

The lawyer, who declined to comment on the record for this story, said the team had been notified by the court’s registrar the hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 2.

This new hearing is on what is known as a “curative petition,” a motion to reconsider a Supreme Court judgment that has already been issued. A panel of judges will consider reversing the decision issued in December 2013 that reinstated the country’s colonial-era sodomy law — known as Section 377 — which had been suspended for four years following a 2009 lower court ruling. This curative petition is the final appeal available to have the 2013 ruling reversed.

Nearly 600 people were reportedly arrested under the provision in the year after it came back into effect, according to statistics from India’s Home Ministry, though LGBT activists have been concerned the law would primarily serve as a pretense for police harassment or extortion.

Though a previous motion to reverse the 2013 ruling was unsuccessful, LGBT activists were hopeful that a strong ruling supporting transgender rights issued the following year could provide a basis for revisiting the question.

The judges in that case did not comment directly on the 2013 ruling, but they wrote, “Discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation or gender identity, therefore, impairs equality before law and equal protection of law.”

By J. Lester Feder
Read the full article from Buzzfeed News