Author: Feminist Majority Foundation Blog

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report last week detailing the risks people will face around the world as climate change worsens.

“Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability” from Working Group II of the IPCC summarizes scientific literature from hundreds of authors to identify vulnerable populations, ecosystems, and industries. It warns of coming problems linked to climate change, including a reduction in food security, an increase in the risk of violent conflicts, and the worsening of poverty. IPCC Chairperson Rajendra K. Pachauri also discussed a rise in vector-borne diseases and an increase in extreme climate events during a press conference.

According to the report, “People who are socially, economically, culturally, politically, institutionally, or otherwise marginalized are especially vulnerable to climate change and also to some adaptation and mitigation responses.”

Women are especially vulnerable. According to an earlier UN report released in 2009, women’s traditional role as homemaker along with their greater participation in the agricultural work force directly relates to increased vulnerability. Caring for family members can limit women’s mobility, and drought and erratic rainfall force women to work harder to secure food, water and energy for their homes.

“To reduce these risks, substantial reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions must be made, along with smart strategies and actions to improve disaster preparedness and reduce exposure to events caused by climate change,” said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in a statement.

To learn more, check out Feminist Majority Foundation’s toolkit on women and the environment.

House Democrats asked the Obama administration yesterday to support the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) efforts to combat global gender-based violence in the workplace.

Ahead of the ILO’s 320th Session of the Governing Board, Representatives George Miller (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 34 other leading Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez seeking their support for an ILO Convention on gender-based violence in the workplace, as well as a standard-setting discussion about violence against all people in the workplace.

“Gender-based violence is among the most rampant human rights violations in the world–and it most acutely affects women,” said Rep. Miller, the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee. “Worldwide, working women are ruthlessly exploited. They face daily sexual harassment, intimidation, and verbal and physical abuse. This is unacceptable. We must establish international norms that address violence against women at work, and hold companies and industries accountable for protecting the most fundamental labor human rights of their workers, up and down they supply chain.”

Rep. Miller also called on the apparel industry to improve working conditions in February. It has garnered international attention in recent years for its exploitation of workers – roughly 88 percent of whom are women – through low wages, dangerous workplace conditions, and other forms of violence. 1,100 garment workers died and 2,500 were injured in the horrific Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh last April.

The 58th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) session began in New York City yesterday and will convene through March 21. Over 6,000 registered representatives of the 193 member states, the UN, and non-governmental organizations are in attendance, including representatives from Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) and Girls Learn International, a special program of the FMF dedicated to girls’ global education.

CSW is the “principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.” This year, the annual event will focus on development, particularly women and girls’ equal access to education, and their access to sexual and reproductive education, health, and rights.

“We can and must do better because equality for women is progress for all!” said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Participants will also discuss the challenges and achievements in the implementation of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), women and poverty, women’s access to decent employment, and violence against women, among other topics.

Dr. Nasrin Oryakhil, president of the Afghan Family Health Association, was among 10 women honored this week by the US State Department with an International Women of Courage award.

Dr. Nasrin, a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology, operated an underground women’s health clinic in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, providing urgently needed maternal health services, including emergency obstetric care. “Sometimes in the evening, Taliban members would barge into her clinic and beat her, demanding her to stop working and start praying,” relayed Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom, presenting the award. “But she continued working, praying only that God would bring change to her country. One night, after the Taliban assaulted her, Dr. Nasrin went on to perform 17 surgeries.”

Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Nasrin, directs the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul and founded the first clinic for obstetric fistula repair in Afghanistan there. Dr. Nasrin is a member of the Afghan Women’s Network and also leads the Afghan Family Health Association, which provides a variety of services to women and girls, including reproductive health programs, a youth hotline, and shelters for women.

Accepting the award, Dr. Nasrin expressed that “the hope of women around the world one day will be materialized when they find themselves in an environment that truly recognizes and appreciates the real essence of being a woman and a mother.”

Since 2007, the US State Department has honored 70 women from 49 countries with the International Women of Courage award in recognition of their work advocating for women’s rights, human rights, and peace.

Ten Saudi women are petitioning the Saudi Arabia consultative Shura Council to demand an end to absolute male authority over women.

Activist Aziza Yousef told AFP news agency over the weekend that the activists are demanding “measures to protect women’s rights,” as well as the right for women to drive, ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8. They argue that the restrictions women face in Saudi Arabia, which imposes a strict interpretation of Islamic law, are not based in religious teachings.

Saudi women received the right to vote in 2011, but they are prohibited from driving and from working, travelling, and even performing certain medical procedures without a male guardian. In October, over 60 women drove in an ongoing campaign to obtain the right to drive, the lack of which limits their mobility and economic opportunities.

The Shura Council, appointed by the King, advises the monarch but cannot legislate on its own.

Libya’s cabinet introduced a decree last week that will recognize women raped during the 2011 uprising as war victims and provide them with compensation. Compensation could come in the form of financial assistance, a safe place to stay, and physical and psychological health care.

While there are no confirmed figures, it is estimated that hundreds of women were raped during the 8-month conflict that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The International Criminal Court collected evidence that Colonel Gaddafi ordered the rape of women as a weapon against rebel forces.

Rape victims often face stigma in the conservative country, so it is likely that many victims will not come forward. Libya’s justice minister Salah al-Marghani said money could be provided to “elevate the status of victims, so they are not looked at as a burden,” by sending victim’s parents to Hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

The BBC says the decree awaits congressional approval, but the justice ministry will not wait for passage in order to avoid further delays in compensation.

For many victims of war, resources provided by US humanitarian aid ease their suffering; but for victims of war rape care is limited. Survivors of war rape are often denied access to comprehensive medical care that includes the option of abortion, largely because of US policy that is wrongly interpreted to place anti-abortion restrictions on humanitarian aid in conflict zones – in direct violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions. Girls and women systematically raped during conflict face increased rates of maternal mortality, permanent reproductive damage, and obstetric fistula, in addition to isolation and trauma. Without access to the option of abortion care, victims are forced to risk their health – either by carrying unwanted pregnancies to term, seeking dangerous methods of abortion or, in many tragic cases, taking their own lives.

TAKE ACTION: Urge President Obama to issue an executive order lifting the ban on abortion restrictions in conflict zones, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice (MOJ) amended a controversial provision of the draft Afghan Criminal Procedure Code – Article 26 – that would have barred relatives from testifying against each other in criminal proceedings, including in cases of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. President Hamid Karzai had earlier responded to concerns from Afghan women’s organizations about this provision by refusing to sign the Code into law unless MOJ made changes to Article 26.

The Afghan Women’s Network, with over one hundred women-led organizations, came out strongly against the provision, holding a press conference to broadcast their opposition to the bill, and then leading a public protest through the streets of downtown Kabul. Members of the Network highlighted how the law would effectively prevent the government from prosecuting cases of violence against women, embolden perpetrators of that violence, and essentially validate discrimination against women.

This is a victory for Afghan women who have been fighting for better enforcement of laws that make violence against women a crime – including rape, domestic assault, honor killings, child marriage, and baad, the practice of resolving disputes by giving away one’s daughters.

Women’s rights and freedom from violence will be even better protected if President Karzai signs the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States. The Obama Administration has indicated that failure to finalize the agreement could lead to a complete pullout of US forces and the loss of billions of dollar in international aid. Afghanistan would be left vulnerable to greater influence by the Taliban, who had previously stripped women of all human rights and forced them into a state of virtual house arrest.

TAKE ACTION: Pledge with us to support Afghan women and Afghan women’s organizations. Let them know that we are proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them in the fight for women’s and girls’ equality. And you can urge President Karzai to sign the BSA agreement. Without this agreement, the tremendous gains made by Afghan women since the fall of the Taliban will be in jeopardy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a controversial anti-gay bill into law yesterday.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, passed by parliament in December, could put people in prison for life if they engage in “aggravated homosexuality,” which means engaging in acts where someone is infected with HIV, having sex with minors, or being “serial offenders.” People who offer services to LGBTQ people, such as human rights groups, could also face criminal charges and years in prison.

In response, Norway and Denmark have already cut off aid to the Ugandan government, and Sweden and the US are considering a similar response. Homosexuality had already been illegal in Uganda, but this law was the first to prevent NGOs from reaching out to LGBTQ populations, and was the first to include lesbians.

To make matters worse for the LGBTQ community in the country, a Ugandan magazine, Red Pepper, today published a list of the :top 200 homosexuals” in the country. Several prominent activists were included on the list, but the tabloid also named a number of individuals who have not yet publicly identified themselves as gay. Those named may now face a greater risk of violence or criminal charges.

Bolivia’s highest court issued a decision last week to remove the requirement that women must obtain judicial authorization in order to have a legal abortion.

Bolivia’s constitution guarantees equal treatment to all citizens, including women and indigenous peoples. In 2012, Legislator Patricia Mancilla filed a challenge to the constitutionality of several penal code articles that she found discriminatory against women, leading to the court’s decision.

“Once again a Latin American court has ruled that governments should not stand in the way of women seeking legal health services,” said Gillian Kane, senior policy advisor at Ipas, a global nonprofit that works to increase women’s ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights and to reduce maternal mortality. “This opinion follows earlier favorable court rulings from Mexico City and Colombia, and adds to a growing body of national and international jurisprudence that affirms women’s rights to legal abortion.”

Ipas reported that the Plurinational Constitutional Court’s ruling included several important points: the court ruled that the decision to keep or terminate a pregnancy should rest only with the woman and not be affected by the beliefs of judges or attorneys and also said that the removal of the judicial authorization requirement will improve fast access to safe abortion services, among other points. “While this decision is a positive change in Bolivia’s punitive abortion laws, it is only a first step,” Kane added. “There are still significant legal barriers that many women will not be able to overcome, and we know they will turn to unsafe abortion.”

According to Ipas, 95 percent of abortions in Latin America – a region with some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world – are done secretly and unsafely, which significantly increases the potential for injury and death for women.

The government of Nigeria’s Delta State commissioned a 100-bed maternal and childcare center at the Warri Central Hospital last week. The center will provide free treatment and medication for pregnant women from conception to delivery and for children from ages 0 to 5, as part of the Free Maternal Healthcare Programme of 2007 and Free Under-Five Healthcare program of 2010.

“These programmes have helped to ensure that all pregnant women in Delta State can access free healthcare throughout the period of pregnancy, delivery and afterwards while our children, below the age of five years, are guaranteed free medical treatment in all public health facilities,” said State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Dr. Kingsley Agholor, the Medical Director of Warri Central Hospital, reported that the government has reduced the maternal mortality rate in Delta State from 456/100,000 births in 2008 to 221/100,000 births in 2011 with the help of these free programs. “The Delta State government has recorded a lot of successes in the reduction of mortality, morbidity and HIV/Aids prevalence in the state through the provision of quality, accessible and affordable health care services across the state,” he said.

In his remarks announcing the new maternal and childcare center, Governor Uduaghan also promoted the use of family planning as a means of increasing maternal and child heath.

The second televised presidential debate in Afghanistan took place Tuesday night. Four of 11 candidates participated in the debate, touching on issues like security, domestic politics, the Taliban, bureaucratic corruption, the economy, and even women’s rights.

“The people of Afghanistan have given sacrifices for democracy,” said Daoud Sultanzoy, a former member of Parliament. “Every person will have equal rights under the law.” Several other candidates have expressed strong, positive attitudes towards protecting women’s rights: Zalmai Rasul claims he will require at least 20 percent of the country’s central cabinet to be women and Ashraf Ghani claims he will involve religious scholars in defending women’s rights and eliminating violence against women.

With the help and support of the U.S. and the international community, Afghan women and girls have made steady progress in every sector of society. Previously stripped of all human rights and forced into a state of virtual house arrest, women are now 27 percent of Afghan Parliament, about 35 percent of all primary and secondary school students, and nearly 19 percent of students attending university. Since US troops will pull out in 2014, the future president and all government leaders must work hard to strengthen women’s rights and to ensure that their progress is not once again stripped away by the Taliban.

The April 5 election is the first independent election organized by Afghanistan.

In a major victory for Afghan women, President Hamid Karzai yesterday refused to sign Afghanistan’s controversial draft Criminal Procedure Code into law. According to a presidential spokesperson, the President has indicated that he will not sign the bill until the Ministry of Justice amends Article 26.

Article 26 would prohibit relatives from testifying against each other in all criminal proceedings, including in cases of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. After the law passed the Afghan Parliament, Afghan women’s rights groups launched a strong campaign to stop its enactment, including a public protest in Kabul on Friday.

Our tireless advocacy for the last few weeks paid off,” said Manizha Naderi, Executive Director of Women for Afghan Women. “This is what we wanted – for the bill to go back to the Ministry of Justice for revision.” Her sentiments were echoed by Samira Hamidi of the Afghan Women’s Network, comprised of over 100 women-led organizations: “Who says advocacy and lobbying does not work? It does and we have seen results!”

The president of Uganda, Yoweni Museveni, released a statement Saturday saying he planned to sign the sweeping Anti-Homosexuality Bill that passed the nation’s parliament in December.

The bill was originally introduced in 2009 with a death penalty provision for some “homosexual acts,” but it was delayed because of international uproar and the threat of a loss of aid from several nations. The current bill does not include a death penalty provision, but it could put people in prison for life if they engage in “aggravated homosexuality,” which means engaging in acts where someone is infected with HIV, having sex with minors, or being “serial offenders.” People who offer services to LGBTQ people, such as human rights groups, could also face criminal charges and years in prison.

President Obama came out against the bill in a statement over the weekend. “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda,” he said. “It will be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda’s commitment to protecting the human rights of its people. It also will mark a serious setback for all those around the world who share a commitment to freedom, justice and equal rights.”

Since the bill was proposed, there has already been an increase in discrimination and violence against gay people. As reported by Jeanne Clark in “Unholy Alliance” in the Fall 2013 issue of Ms. magazine, David Kato, a leader of the gay rights movement in Uganda, was beaten to death shortly after the introduction of the bill. In addition, “The attacks against gays in the country have further demonized condom usage,” Clark writes. In a country with frequent condom shortages and discouragement of the use of condoms – in part because the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding continues to be held hostage to abstinence programs – millions of Ugandans are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and having unsafe abortions.

Around 100 Afghan women marched in Kabul yesterday to speak out against violence against women as part of One Billion Rising, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.

Calling for “no more violence” and “justice, justice,” Afghan women also demanded continued gains for women’s equality in the country. “As half of the Afghan population of young adults, Afghan women must have an active role in important historic developments, in the peaceful transfer of political power, for ensuring peace and security and progress in Afghanistan,” said the Afghan Women’s Network in a statement.

The Network also called for “sustained public campaigning” for women’s rights and advancement in Afghanistan. Afghan women leaders have already been organizing to stop the enactment of an article within the Afghan Criminal Procedure Code that would prevent relatives from testifying as witnesses in all criminal trials, including in domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault cases.

Afghan women leaders also expressed solidarity with women internationally in the worldwide fight to end violence against women. “Afghan women, in support of women around the world, say that violence against women must decrease,” said Dr. Gulalai Safi, a member of the Afghan Parliament. “We want justice and respect for women.”

Millions of people will rise for justice tomorrow for One Billion Rising’s global V-Day events, including a rally in Washington, DC.

One Billion Rising “is a global call to women survivors of violence and those who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are entitled to justice – courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not. It is a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories – politically, spiritually, outrageously – through art, dance, marches, ritual, song, spoken word, testimonies and whatever way feels right.” Last year, one billion people in 207 countries joined the action.

This year, participants in DC are rising specifically for justice for military sexual assault survivors, for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and for the passage of the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). Participants will also rise against human trafficking, campus sexual violence, internet bullying, street harassment, impunity for perpetrators of violence against women, and a variety of other issues.

Eve Ensler, the creator of One Billion Rising and author of The Vagina Monologues, kicked off the DC events with Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) at a reception on Tuesday.

The rally will take place at 12 pm tomorrow in front of the Supreme Court and will turn into a march to the Capitol. Weather permitting, Upsetting Rape Culture will display The Monument Quilt – a quilt with thousands of stories of survivors of violence – on the Capitol’s lawn.