Welcome to the 40th edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest! As usual, we bring you the latest and most relevant news related to violence against women and efforts at eradicating it from around the world.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the United States. The monthly observance evolved from the Day of Unity, first held in October, 1981. According to the Domestic Violence Awareness Project, the day was intended to “connect advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children. The Day of Unity soon became an entire week devoted to a range of activities conducted at the local, state, and national levels. The activities conducted were as varied and diverse as the program sponsors but had common themes: mourning those who have died because of domestic violence, celebrating those who have survived, and connecting those who work to end violence.”

In recent days, people have worked to raise awareness of all forms of violence against women, with men marching in heels in Toronto, protestors taking part in a SlutWalk in New York City, and two governments making it illegal to practice female genital mutilation.

Every contribution matters. If you have any news you’d like to share concerning violence against women, contact Crystal at csmith.tlm@gmail.com. If you prefer to receive up-to-the-minute news concerning violence against women, follow The Pixel Project on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thepixelproject.
It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.
Regards, The Pixel Project Team

General Violence Against Women News

Pakistan: Suffering in silence

Verizon and National Domestic Violence Hotline Launch ‘Monsters,’ a Short Animated Video That Depicts Devastating View of Domestic Violence From a Child’s Perspective
South Sudan, others receive UN grant to end violence against women

New Delhi: Activists Give Voice to Women in Strife-Torn Regions

Fiji: Women’s centre records 298 cases of violence against women

San Francisco: Futures without violence

Protect women from threat of cyber-violence

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence Awareness Month Resources

Mary Kay Urges America to Take a Stand against Domestic Violence

Cherokee Nation: Purple is the colour for domestic violence

India: Don’t be willing to adjust

US: High-Tech Stalking on the Rise

Nunavut: Women fleeing violence

Ghana: Actress Kate Henshaw Nuttal recounts her experiences with her abusive ex-boyfriend

Toronto leader helps Project T.E.A.R. with donation for program to end domestic violence

Norway Donates for Gender Equality, Ending Domestic Violence

Rape

269 held guilty in Tamil Nadu mass rape case

Facebook refuses to take down rape joke pages

Rape Definition Too Narrow in Federal Statistics, Critics Say

How Carla’s Coronation Street Plot Has Helped Rape Victims

‘Slutwalk’ women march on New York after NYPD tell them to ‘cover up’ to avoid rape

Do men hold the key to fighting rape in South Africa?

Family of gang-raped Pakistani girl, 17, defies tradition of honour killing to fight for justice

Jon Hamm Talks About Rape And The Lack Of Positive Male Role Models

Man posing as Italian boy on Facebook rapes O.C. girl, police say

Female Genital Mutilation

Kenya: President Kibaki Signs Bill Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation

Iraqi Kurdistan: FGM Prohibited by Parliament As a Result of Progressive Campaigning

Swiss Outlaw Female Genital Mutilation

Uganda People News: Government Asked To Implement Anti-FGM Act

Female Genital Mutilation, not Europe’s problem. Or is it?

UN praises attempts to combat female genital mutilation in Tanzania

Egypt girls hospitalized after FGM operation

Forced Marriage

Australian court prevents girl leaving to forced marriage in Lebanon

Forcing the issue on marriage

New report urges Commonwealth leaders to end forced marriage

US: Study: Thousands Of Immigrant Women Forced Into Marriage

Activism

Trinidad: Artistes unite to end violence against women

Merits of ‘SlutWalk’ up for debate

Toronto: Men walk the walk—in pumps—to end violence against women

Acting out the Afghan outrage

Children’s charity calls for International Day of the Girl to recognise equality and girls’ rights