Welcome to the 62nd edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest! This fortnight there have been several steps forward in activism against violence towards women in social media:
– A five-minute video of Patrick Stewart (most famous for acting the role of Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation) replying to a fan about domestic violence has moved thousands of people around the world.
– In response to the #FBrape campaign by a coalition of anti-Violence Against Women activists spearheaded by Women Action Media, The Everyday Sexism Project and Soraya Chemaly, Facebook decides to take down pages condoning violence against women when advertisers including Nissan UK pulled out of Facebook.
– Stop Street Harassment celebrates its fifth anniversary with the launch of new programmes
We also highlight the case of Jaswinder ‘Jassi’ Singh, a woman who was murdered in an honour killing case in 2000 and whose perpetrators have not been brought to justice until today. We hope that the renewed interest in this case will raise greater awareness about honour killing and improve responses by law enforcement in protecting those vulnerable to it.
Every contribution matters. If you have any news you’d like to share about violence against women, please email The Pixel Project at info@thepixelproject.net. If you prefer to receive up-to-the-minute news concerning violence against women, follow us on Twitter. It’s time to stop violence against women together.
Best regards
The Pixel Project Team
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Violence Against Women – General News
- WORLD – Facebook takes down pages condoning violence against women
- WORLD – Facebook gives way to campaign against violence towards women on its pages
- AFGHANISTAN – Afghan protestors rally to demand law banning violence against women
- CANADA – Violence against women condemned in ‘Women Transforming Cities’ conference
- ITALY – Violence against women on the rise
- MALAYSIA – Men’s role in ending violence against women discussed at the Women Deliver 2013 conference
- NIGERIA – Contextualizing gender-based violence on patriarchal culture in Nigeria
- UNITED STATES – Ending violence against women requires a bigger role from men (with focus on violence against women in the military)
- ZIMBABWE – What we can learn from women fighting violence in the upcoming elections
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Domestic Violence
- EUROPE – EU-wide protection for victims of domestic violence to become law
- INDIA – Domestic violence makes 1/3 of reported violence against women
- ITALY – Italy passes European treaty related to violence against women
- RUSSIA – Russian lawmakers to tackle domestic violence
- SCOTLAND: Judge blasts prosecutors after crazed bodybuilder who viciously beat partners is jailed for just five years
- SINGAPORE – 8 out of 10 Singaporeans will not intervene in a domestic violence case
- UNITED STATES – Wisconsin domestic violence bills receives approval from legislative committees
- SAUDI ARABIA – Social media campaign seeks to raise awareness on violence against women
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Rape and Sexual Assault
- CHINA – Mother of China Rape Victim Turns Rights Crusader
- DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – A hotline for women to report violence against them to be launched
- INDIA – Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation proposes ban on lingerie clad mannequins to reduce sexual violence against women
- PAKISTAN – Council of Islamic Ideology’s decree to reject DNA evidence as primary evidence is insensitive to rape victims
- THE PHILIPPINES – Government body censures entertainer Vice Ganda for tasteless rape jokes about a rival entertainer
- SYRIA – UN provides contraceptives to help counter sexual violence in Syria
- UNITED STATES – Survivor raises awareness of sexual assault in the military
- UNITED STATES – Darmouth students who protested rape are charged with violating school rules
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Human/Sex Trafficking
- AUSTRIA – With sex trafficking rising in Europe, missionaries target prostitutes (Christian angle)
- EUROPE – Infiltrating Europe’s shameful trade of human beings
- INDIA – Equality Now supports Apne Aap’s efforts to end sex trafficking
- NORWAY – Euto crisis force prostitutes to Norway
- THAILAND – The link between the garment industry in Southeast Asia with the sex trade
- SOUTHEAST ASIA – Focus on counter-trafficking expert Matt Friedman
- UNITED STATES – Florida governor signs law to help sex trafficking victims
- UNITED STATES – Survivor of sex trafficking speaks out as battle against the crime continues
- UNITED STATES / SOUTHEAST ASIA – Writer from South Dakota to travel to Asia to research human trafficking
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Female Genital Mutilation
- ETHIOPIA – Bogaletch Gebre, activist against FGM, is awarded the King Baudouin African Development Prize
- IRELAND – Fight against FGM in Ireland
- IRAQ – Fighting against female genital mutilation in Iraq
- SENEGAL – Hip hop artiste warns pupils about FGM
- SENEGAL – The woman who is inspiring Africans to turn against female genital mutilation
- SPAIN – A native of Gambia is given 12 years imprisonment for committing FGM on his two daughters
- UGANDA – FGM cases drop by 40% in various tribes
- UNITED KINGDOM – Barrister tells doctors to be ‘hyperalert’ for warning signs of FGM
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Honour Killing and Forced Marriages
- WORLD – Yes, forced marriage still exists, and yes, it is a form of slavery
- BELGIUM – A pre-emptive study into forced marriage is called
- EGYPT – Five arrested in Luxor for honour killing of three women
- CANADA and INDIA – Still no justice for Jassi with no charges laid, 10 years after her murder
- GHANA – Police pick up forced marriage suspects
- INDIA – Victim’s family fights for information in 2007 honour killing case
- LEBANON – Pregnant teenager, 18, stabbed to death by brother in so-called ‘honour killing’
- PAKISTAN – Woman’s suicide most likely honour killing
- SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia slow to put an end to child marriage
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VAW Activism
- WORLD – Viral campaign targets Facebook groups celebrating violence against women (interview with activists involved)
- WORLD – Companies pull Facebook ads over pages lauding violence against women
- CANADA – Let’s end street harassment: Hollaback! Montreal
- HONG KONG – Years of abuse beget gutsy campaigner against domestic violence (focus on Liu Ngan Fung)
- UNITED KINGDOM and UNITED STATES – Video of actor Patrick Stewart responding to a question about domestic violence goes viral
- UNITED KINGDOM and UNITED STATES – Blog post by the lady who asked Patrick Stewart the question that about his domestic violence
- UNITED KINGDOM – The NHS clinics helping victims of female genital mutilation
- UNITED STATES -Five-minute video created on how to avoid harassing Asian-American women
- UNITED STATES – Stop Street Harassment celebrates its five-year anniversary with four exciting new programs