Welcome to The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest!
This fortnight, several incidents related to violence against women have captured our attention, including a recent coup d’etat in Egypt, the arrest of rapper 50 Cent on charges of domestic violence, and a survey on Jordanian youth revealing prevalent support for honour killings.
We also wish to highlight several advances made in the global effort at eliminating violence against women, such as:
– Malta making its first moves to criminalize FGM
– Increasing numbers of people across Africa who are rejecting FGM
– The introduction of Clare’s Law in the UK that will allow women to check domestic violence history of their partners.
– Reports and statistics released by the WHO to provide activists stronger data to work on eliminating violence against women.
We are also encouraged by news of efforts of individuals to eliminate violence against women, including news of men who formed barricades to protect women protesters in Tahrir Square and a cyclist who is making a 12,000-mile journey to raise awareness on sex trafficking.
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 – WHO describes violence against women as a health epidemic
- WORLD – Key data on the WHO report on violence against women
- AFRICA – Statistics show that Africa is highest in violence against women, with 45.6% women having experienced a form of violence
- CANADA – The government of Canada supports project in London to end violence against women and girls
- ITALY – Italy ratifies treaty combating violence against women to redress increasing acid attack crimes
- THE PHILIPPINES – Controversial bill discussed in The Philippines concerning electronic violence against women – does it hinder Internet freedom?
- THE PHILIPPINES – Breaking the silence of abuse through social media: an editorial
- NAMIBIA – Sense of entitlement leads to violence against women
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Domestic Violence
- WORLD – One in three women experience domestic violence, Asia ranks worst
- EUROPE – 27% of women experience intimate partner and non-partner violence
- AUSTRALIA – Decision to cut domestic violence funds reversed
- INDIA – Former Miss World winner lodges domestic violence complaint against husband
- PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Video from The Guardian about domestic violence survivors in Papua New Guinea
- NIGERIA- Cultural beliefs fuel domestic violence
- UNITED KINGDOM – Clare’s Law allows women to check if partners have a history of domestic violence
- UNITED KINGDOM – Keira Knightley to star in ad for raising awareness on domestic abuse
- UNITED STATES – Rapper 50 Cent faces domestic violence charges
- UNITED STATES – Evelyn Lazada lands on the cover of Latina magazine and speaks about domestic violence
- UNITED STATES – Women in Houston, Texas celebrate their independence from domestic violence
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Rape & Sexual Assault
- EGYPT – Rape and sexual assault — the hidden side of Egypt’s protests
- EGYPT – Recorded cases of rape in Tahrir Square has reached 100 cases
- FIJI – Students educated on drug usage, link to rape
- INDIA – First Delhi gang-rape verdict due
- INDIA – India’s Supreme Court rules ‘finger tests’ as inherently violating the rights of rape survivors
- INDIA – Those accused under new anti-rape law can only be produced before special court set up for the Act, and not before the court of magistrates
- LIBYA- Libya aims to make rape a war crime
- LIBYA – Sex crimes perpetrated by the Gadaffi regime in focus
- PAKISTAN – Bills calling to make DNA tests mandatory in rape cases to be discussed
- SOUTH AFRICA – Verdict of rape and murder trial stirs fury in South Africa
- UKRAINE – About 1000 Ukrainian villagers storm the local police department, demanding justice
- UNITED KINGDOM – British MP calls for a standardized EU-wide definition and strategy to rape, in the light of British citizens more likely to be raped in holidays at the Mediteranean
- UNITED STATES – Around 200 people participate in Walk a Mile in Her Shoes campaign in Wisconsin
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Sex Trafficking
- WORLD – United Nations strengthens bonds with Council of Europe to deal with human trafficking in general (including trafficking for sexual slavery)
- ASIA – Asia home to worst perpetrators of illegal human trafficking, with China joining the ranks of Russia, North Korea and Iran for worst human trafficking violations
- ASIA – Audio: Women from Malaysia, Thailand, China and The Philippines frequently trafficked into the Pacific sex trade
- CAMBODIA – Cambodia says that cultural barriers are impeding fight against human trafficking
- INDIA – Women and children at risk of trafficking after the Uttarakhand floods
- MEXICO – 46 women rescued in sex trafficking bust in Mexico City
- NEPAL – Push to end human trafficking in Nepal, where strong laws against human trafficking have been passed but not implemented
- SINGAPORE – Singapore intensifies efforts at combating human trafficking
- UNITED KINGDOM – Debate over NHS: changes could affect victims of sex trafficking
- UNITED STATES – Discussion series on sex trafficking to be held in Milwaukee, to include actress Brooke Bello
- UNITED STATES – Attorney-General of Ohio releases its first Human Trafficking Statistics Report
- UNITED STATES – Oregon makes it a felony to pay for sex with a minor
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Female Genital Mutilation
- GAMBIA – 21 Sarahuleh communities abandon female genital mutilation in the Upper River Region
- KENYA – Article on women who are abandoning female genital mutilation in Kenya
- MALTA – Labour MP to table draft law to ban FGM
- PAKISTAN – Pakistani former federal minister for human rights plans to address female circumcision (khatna) in certain communities and tribes of India and Pakistan
- SOMALIA – Somalia’s ‘cultural shift’ means less severe form of FGM
- UNITED KINGDOM – More accurate statistics on the prevalence of female genital mutilation in the UK
- UNITED KINGDOM – Minister Lynne Featherstone urges government to go after the ‘cutters’, who are performing FGM illegally
- UNITED KINGDOM – Doctors in Scotland failing FGM victims when victims are treated as ‘objects of curiosity’
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Forced Marriage & Honour Killing
- AUSTRALIA – Life in a forced marriage for an Australian Lebanese woman
- INDIA – Half-a-dozen members of an organization called Love Commandos arrive at a village to protect the wife and daughter of a caste-based honour killing victim.
- IRELAND – Judge says that new laws may be needed to protect young people from forced marriages
- IRELAND – Concerns over clandestine forced marriages happening emerges in Ireland
- JORDAN – Strong support for honour killing among Jordanian teens
- NEPAL – Muslim leaders say gender-based violence behind honour killings
- PAKISTAN – Honour killing not a part of Sindh culture
- PAKISTAN – Theatrical play ‘Kari’ highlights honour killing, has been staged in interior regions of the country and aims to educate women about their rights
- PAKISTAN- Two sisters and their mother killed after making a video of them dancing in the rain
- SOMALIA – Somalis recall forced marriage with Al-Shabaab fighters
- SYRIA – Syrians resort to early and forced marriage to escape political violence
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Activism
- AUSTRALIA – ABC television journalist Alexandra Fisher wins Walkley Award for her news report on sex trafficking in Mexico
- CANADA – Michael Laxer at Rabble.ca calls for sexual harassment on the street to be taken seriously
- EGYPT – Men, as well as women, work diligently to reduce women-protester rape in Egypt
- EGYPT – Video: Egypt’s women protest despite threats of sexual harassment
- EGYPT – Street harassment: lessons from Egypt
- ETHIOPIA – Excerpt from an interview with Bogaletch Gebre, who works to end FGM in Ethiopia
- INDIA – Hollaback! Chennai established to deal with street harassment
- IRELAND – Colette Brown writes an article urging women to fight back against sexual harassment
- UNITED KINGDOM – Student journalist wins prestigious prize from Amnesty International’s Media Awards for an article on forced marriage
- UNITED KINGDOM – Left Foot Forward organizes poll to gather how often people experience street harassment
- UNITED STATES – Garrett Zambrows to cycle for 12,000 miles to raise awareness on human trafficking
- UNITED STATES – I am not your mama: editorial on street harassment