Migration Category: Feminist Newswire

Stories from the Feminist News Wire.

UN Report Finds Majority of Female Homicide Victims are Killed by Partners or Family

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released a report this week that found that more than half of all female homicides were caused by intimate partners or relatives, depicting the home as one of the most dangerous places for women. The report also found that legal efforts to decrease these homicides and protect women have not made tangible progress since the UN’s 2012 study.

While men make up the largest proportion of homicide victims, women are more likely to be killed by their intimate partners or relatives. About 34% of all female victims of homicide were killed by an intimate partner while 24% were killed by a relative.

The rate of women killed at the hands of intimate partners or relatives is the highest in countries in Africa and the Americas. The report links gender-based violence and killing to factors that include accusations of witchcraft, sex-work, dowry disputes, and sexual orientation or gender identity as well as male jealousy, drinking, and fears of abandonment. Domestic violence and abuse as a whole is rooted in patriarchal power structures and social norms about the subordination of women and the right of men to exert control over women.

It is not possible to accurately measure all gender-related deaths in areas experiencing armed conflict, limiting the report’s data. The report also does not consider unsolved homicides and notes that gender based violence is often underreported. This means that the reported numbers may actually be much higher than stated.

In the past year, many countries have sought to highlight and combat violence against women. The president of Mexico argued that the “deeply rooted machista culture” is what “ultimately and truly generates violence against women.” In Brazil, people urged each other to intervene against domestic violence and in Peru beauty pageant contestants spoke against gendered violence and stated statistics on femicide. The European Union and the UN launched a program to fight against gender-based violence in Latin America.

However, while public awareness about gender-based violence and homicide has risen, the number of deaths has not decreased since 2012. Dr. Roure, who extensively studies violence against women at John Jay College, said that “a law alone is not enough. You need to have a comprehensive, holistic approach.”

 

Media Resources: NYT 11/27/18

Democratic Women’s Working Group and Representatives Condemn New Title IX Rules

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Yesterday, the Democratic Women’s Working Group (DWWG), along with Representatives Jackie Speier, Lois Frankel, Brenda Lawrence, and Annie Kuster and 77 House members, sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, urging her to retract her recently proposed rules for Title IX. In the letter, the representatives denounce the proposed rules, calling the rules a “blatant attempt to silence survivors of sexual harassment and violence and will force them back into the shadow.”

Secretary DeVos’ proposed rules would narrow the definition of sexual harassment; allow schools to ignore assaults and harassment that occur off-campus; limit the ability of survivors to get help; and force survivors to submit to cross-examination. Further, the proposed rules would deny survivors a fair process, allow schools to indefinitely delay investigations, and invite schools to abuse religious exemptions to Title IX.

The letter specifically expresses strong objections to removing protections for students who face sexual harassment and violence off-campus and allowing institutions to use “clear and convincing” standard of evidence, which perpetuates the myth that survivors, specifically women and girls, “cry rape.”

The letter also emphasizes that DeVos’ decision to rescind the Obama Administration’s 2011 and 2014 Title IX guidance documents and the new proposed Title IX rules that protect perpetrators and institutions conveys that “the Department is no longer committed to ensuring vital protections for victims of sexual harassment and violence” in schools.

The letter recognizes the impact of the #MeToo movement and the sexual assault epidemic, and states the importance of taking greater steps forward to ensure the safety of all students. As a result, the DWWG and the 81 representatives urge Secretary DeVos to arrange meetings with survivors and survivor advocacy organizations to create meaningful guidance on Title IX that ensures the protection of all students.

The letter requests that Secretary DeVos responds within two weeks.

Currently, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men will be sexually assaulted in college, and around 1 in 4 transgender, genderqueer, gender non-conforming or questioning students experience sexual violence as an undergraduate. Further, 41 percent of all campus sexual assault occur off-campus.

The proposed rules are currently open for comments. For more information on the proposed Title IX rules and submitting formal comments, click here.

 

Newswire Sources: Feminist Newswire 11/18/18; Congresswoman Jackie Speier Press Release 11/29/18

Trump Administration Urging States to Undermine Key ACA Rule

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

The Trump administration advised states today to disregard the Affordable Care Act rule that states that federal insurance subsidies can only apply to people purchasing insurance in marketplaces created through the ACA. These subsidies are the only form of government assistance for monthly insurance premiums.

This new advice is called “waiver concepts” because they target how states can work around the ACA, encouraging states to use the subsidies to purchase health plans outside of the ACA marketplace. These health plans are less expensive because they provide less benefits, coverage, and protections than health plans authorized under the ACA. This could potentially lead to states allowing subsidies to be used in combination with health care funds from employer health care plans or tax deferred savings funds to pay for premiums and medical expenses. If states follow the new advice, then it would seriously undermine the structure of ACA marketplaces, especially the nationwide standards for health insurance.

Currently, ACA market place health plans are the only health plans that people can use federal subsidies to pay for. This was designed to help low income and middle class families afford health insurance coverage. However, under the new advice from the Trump administration, states can change the income limits for subsidies.

The Brookings Institute released an analysis, questioning the legality of the new concepts released from the Department of Health and Human Services. Christen Linke Young from the Brooking Institute said that “there are serious questions” as to whether the advice and changes are legal and “at the very least, it is likely invalid.”

Previously, the Trump administration has focused on changing the types of health insurance plans offered by introducing inexpensive plans with less coverage that do not fit initial ACA requirements. Republicans in Congress have also consistently worked to repeal and weaken the Affordable Care Act and their most recent attempt would have allowed states to eliminate the ACA’s requirement that insurers provide Essential Health Benefits, including maternity and newborn care, mental health treatment, prescription drug coverage, access to birth control without co-pays, preventive and wellness visits, chronic disease management, emergency services, and pediatric care, among other critical healthcare services. Women disproportionately rely on these services, meaning that their attacks disproportionately threaten women’s access to care.

Media Resources: Washington Post 11/29/18; Feminist Newswire 4/27/17

Former Police Chief is Among 14 Charged of Organizing Baby Trafficking Ring in Peru

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

On Saturday, the a court in Peru sentenced former Peruvian Police Chief General Raul Becerra, his wife Cinthia Tello, and two others to 18 months in preventative prison on charges of organizing a baby trafficking ring. Fourteen people are accused of targeting poor pregnant women seeking abortions, and then urging the women to carry their babies to term so the group could sell the babies for profit.

On the day of their arrest, the authorities rescued a five-month-old baby who would have been sold for $1,200. According to current Police General Walter Ortiz, it is suspected that Cinthia Tello coordinated the ring, which has since been nicknamed “The Soulless Human Traffickers.” Her husband, Becerra, retired from the police force in 2011 after accusations of sexually harassing a subordinate.

The five-month-old baby’s parents, their gynecologist, their pediatrician, and the women who recruited the pregnant women were all arrested as a result of the investigation, which began in May 2018. The police believe everyone who was involved has been arrested. The police are continuing to investigate where the children were sold, and if foreign adopters or organ traffickers are involved.

Peru has strict abortion laws; the procedure is only allowed if there is an immediate danger to the mother. Peru has a history of mass forced sterilizations. Former President Alberto Fujimori and his health ministers ordered the sterilization of hundreds of thousands of people in the late 1990s. Fujimori, who is currently serving 25 years in prison for violations of human rights and corruption, claimed he had created a “family planning” campaign that would help reduce poverty. Yet it soon became clear that this program targeted vulnerable women with forced sterilization, a violation of basic human rights. The number of victims remains unknown but estimates range from 260,000 to 350,000 people, comprised mostly of poor indigenous women from rural regions of Peru. Traveling from village to village, health professionals would transport groups of women, sometimes over 100 at a time, in trucks to the hospitals.

 

Media Resources: El Comercio 11/25/18; News 24 11/10/18; NPR 11/7/18; Aljazeera 11/7/18; Feminsit Newswire 8/4/16

Nancy Pelosi Closer to Being the Next Speaker of the House

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

The first round of voting for House Democratic Leadership was completed on Wednesday, putting Nancy Pelosi one vote closer to being the next Speaker of the House. Following a fight to ensure she would have enough votes to regain speakership in the upcoming Congress, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, unopposed, handily won her election.

Throughout the 2018 election cycle, various Democratic candidates promised to oppose Pelosi during the Democratic leadership elections, the majority of whom are to her right. In order to regain speakership, Minority Leader Pelosi can only lose 17 Democratic votes during the House floor vote. However, Pelosi has repeatedly voiced her confidence that by the official House floor vote, she will easily win reelection.

In a close-door party vote, Pelosi won reelection 203-32, which means that she still needs 15 more votes. Pelosi and her staff are confident they will whip these votes by the official floor vote.

Congressional Democrats also re-elected Representatives Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn to their positions of majority leader and whip, respectively. Additionally, Representative Hakeem Jeffries beat Representative Barbara Lee to chair the Democratic Congress, 123-113.

Pelosi is expected to whip votes throughout December prior to the final House floor vote.

 

NBC 11/28/2018, Politico 11/28/2018, Politico 11/28/2018, CNN 11/28/2018

Transwoman who Died in ICE Custody was Physically Abused, Autopsy Reports

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

An autopsy report released this week states that the body of Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez, a transgender migrant in ICE custody, shows signs of “physical assault and abuse.” Hernandez Rodriguez died in ICE custody in May and the autopsy shows she had “deep bruises” and “contusions” from “blows and/or kicks and possible strikes with a blunt object” while in custody.

The report also shows that Hernandez Rodriguez was HIV positive and died from dehydration that was exacerbated by her HIV status. Lynly Egyes, the director of litigation at the Transgender Law Center, stated that “people need to know she died of dehydration. People need to know that her death was preventable.” The Transgender Law Center, as well as other allied groups, is planning to file a wrongful death suit against ICE on behalf of Hernandez Rodriguez’s family.

When Hernandez Rodriguez was placed into ICE custody, they placed her in “iceboxes,” or cold cells, with lights on 24 hours a day. She was not provided with adequate food or medical care before being transferred to a transgender unit at the Cibola County Correctional Center. She was immediately admitted to the hospital after her first day because of severe vomiting and diarrhea. She was then transferred to a different hospital where she died in intensive care.

Forensic pathologist Kris Sperry, who performed the autopsy, wrote in the report  that, “according to observations of other detainees who were with Ms. Hernandez Rodriquez, the diarrhea and vomiting episodes persisted over multiple days with no medical evaluation or treatment, until she was gravely ill.” However, ICE posted in a news release that cardiac arrest, not dehydration and physical abuse, was the cause of death.

ICE has not released a detainee death report for Hernandez yet even though legally the agency must finalize death reports within 60 days. It has been over 180 days since her death.

Hernandez Rodriguez was a migrant from Honduras seeking asylum in the United States and died in custody weeks after reaching the border at San Ysidro. She was fleeing violence and discrimination in Honduras. Hernandez Rodriguez previously said that “trans people in my neighborhood are killed and chopped into pieces, then dumped inside potato bags. I didn’t want to come to Mexico – I wanted to stay Honduras but I couldn’t. They kill trans people in Honduras. I’m scared of that.”

 

Media Resources: HuffPost 11/27/18; Feminist Newswire 11/27/18

Stacey Abrams’ Lawsuit Challenges Georgia’s Voting System

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is leading a lawsuit that aims to reform Georgia’s voting system as a whole. The lawsuit argues that the overall effect of the various voting regulations and policies is that voters, especially voters of color, are prevented from casting their ballot. The issues the lawsuit targets specifically are: strict voter purges; strict yet flawed “exact match” policies; outdated voter database; outdated machinery; inaccurate voter registration rolls; lack of oversight regarding provisional ballots; and improper dissemination, processing, and counting of absentee ballots.

Unlike previous voting lawsuits, this lawsuit targets not a single voting issue, but instead identifies a large group of problems in an attempt to fix Georgia’s broken voting system as a whole.  The suit argues that the culmination of these issues violates the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the due process and equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. This gives the courts the discretion to put Georgia’s voting system under federal supervision again.

Previous voting cases that target parts of Georgia’s voting system have been successful, including lawsuits that targeted Georgia’s “exact match” policy and issues involving absentee voting. A federal court has also implied that Georgia’s voting system raises security concerns that may cause the system to be unconstitutional.

This lawsuit puts pressure not only on the courts to ameliorate the effects of Georgia’s broken voting system before the 2020 election, but also on local officials to rectify the system. The lawsuit seeks to document and highlight how Georgia’s system disenfranchises voters and places unnecessary obstacles in the way of voting, especially for voters of color. If successful, the lawsuit aims to place Georgia’s voting system under federal supervision for up to 10 years.

 

Media Resources: Slate 11/27/18

Hyde-Smith Wins Mississippi Senate Special Election

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Last night, Cindy Hyde-Smith won the special runoff in Mississippi for U.S. Senator against Mike Epsy. The election follows a month-long fight between Hyde-Smith and Epsy, which led to numerous allegations of racism against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Following Senator Thad Cochran’s resignation from the Senate in April due to health reasons, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, with a special election scheduled for election day on November 6th. However, in Mississippi, a candidate must win a majority of the vote, not a plurality. Often, the top two vote-getters will go to a runoff.

Four candidates ran for the Senate seat this November: incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican Chris McDaniel, Democrat Mike Espy, and Democrat Tobey Bartee. Hyde-Smith and Espy received the most votes and moved onto a runoff election.

During the campaign, Hyde-Smith made a “joke” about lynching, leading to heavy media scrutiny of her campaign and history. A Mississippi newspaper reported that Hyde-Smith attended a segregated private school when she was younger and her daughter now attends that school today. Hyde-Smith also suggested while campaigning that college students should have their votes suppressed. Additionally, Hyde-Smith spent much of her career praising Confederate soldiers.

Mississippi’s Rhodes Scholar called Hyde-Smith a “white supremacist” and the NAACP condemned Hyde-Smith’s comments throughout the campaign as “hurtful and harmful.”

Hyde-Smith won the election with 54% of the vote to Epsy’s 46%, closer than previous Mississippi Senate elections, and only about 70,000 votes separate the two candidates. President Trump, who remains popular in Mississippi, campaigned for Hyde-Smith this week after she received a backlash in the media for her comments. Senator Hyde-Smith will serve the final two years of Cochran’s Senate term and will be up for re-election in 2020.

 

Washington Post 03/06/2018, CNN 11/06/2018, CNN 11/26/2018, CNN 11/26/2018, HuffPost 11/28/18; NYT 11/28/18

Students Across Australia Strike for Climate Change Action

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Australian students are dedicating the month of November to a series of protests for climate change action. Students ranging from age five to 18 in all of Australia’s capital cities are participating in the School Strike 4 Climate Change movement. The students are also demanding for the cancellation of a new coal mine that will be built in Central Queensland, the rejection of new coal or gas projects, and movement towards 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

The movement has sparked criticism from the Australian government. In response to the protests, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told students to do “more learning and less activism in schools. We don’t support the idea of kids not going to school to participate in things that can be dealt with outside of school.”

Milou Albrecth, a 14-year-old student from Bendigo, Southeastern Australia, was inspired to start the movement after a similar student protest earlier this year in Sweden. In early November, Albrecth, along with 30 students, protested against the building of a coal mine in northeastern Australia in Bendigo. The students skipped school and marched outside local Labor MP Lisa Chesters’ office for three days. On the last day, the group grew to 50 students and they were successful in gaining a meeting with the MP.

After the Bendigo protest, the movement gained momentum with kids across Australia striking for climate action. Some students are striking for a week, some are striking one day per week throughout November, and some are striking for half a day. The length of the strikes depends on what is most suitable for the students.

In response to the Prime Minister’s disapproval, School Strike 4 Climate Change told CNN, “maybe if the people in power like Scott Morrison listened to the climate scientists and took action to stop dangerous climate change then we wouldn’t have to resort to all become climate activists.”

Australia is currently dependent on burning coal for energy; coal is the energy source that releases the most greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Despite the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in October which highlighted the dangerous warming of the atmosphere and the dire need to reduce greenhouse pollution by 100 percent in 2050, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said Australia should absolutely continue to back its coal industry.

Further, despite the majority of Australians accepting that human-induced climate change is real, global warming and climate change action is still a highly controversial subject in Australian politics.

 

Newswire Sources: CNN 11/26/18; Bustle 11/26/18; Buzzfeed News 11/25/18; The New York Times 10/7/18

Teen Suspended After Reporting Sexual Assault in Georgia

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

A lawsuit against Gwinnet County Public School Officials was filed in federal court in Atlanta on behalf of a teen who was suspended after reporting a sexual assault in 2015. The teen, who the lawsuit identifies as “Jane Doe,” accuses school officials of violating her rights under Title IX.

According to Jane Doe’s lawyers, a complaint was filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in 2015. After the complaint was received, an investigation was conducted but was never solved.

The lawsuit asks for monetary damages as well as policy and training changes in public schools. Further, the lawsuit states that school officials retaliated against Jane Doe, failed to properly investigate the incident, and failed to mitigate a hostile educational environment that was caused by a lack of proper training and policies dealing with sexual assault.

According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe was a sophomore when she was sexually assaulted by a male student who groped her, forcibly kissed her, and forced her to perform oral sex, despite Doe saying “no, stop!” and “what are you doing?” When the male student let Doe go, she fled and went to meet her mother who was picking her up from school.

Doe talked to two teachers the next day. One of the teachers took her to meet with the school resource officer, who asked her to re-enact and repeat the details of the assault multiple times. According to the lawsuit, the officer also asked questions about Doe’s clothing, whether she screamed, if she was sure she did not want oral sex, and why “she didn’t bite the male student’s penis.”

Doe was suspended while waiting for a disciplinary hearing and was suspended again after the hearing. During the hearing, the school’s attorney stated the encounter was consensual and questioned Doe’s credibility because she did not scream louder and had no physical injuries.

When Doe went back to school after her suspension, she was constantly bullied and withdrew from the school. Her family moved out of Gwinnett County to avoid hostility from the community.

 

Newswire Sources: AP News 11/19/18

Migrants Tear Gassed at US-Mexico Border

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

On Sunday, a migrant protest at the border against the slow and backlogged U.S. asylum process turned into a chaotic incident as Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) launched dozens of canisters of tear gas at migrants who had begun running towards the border, many of whom were women and children. The U.S. government then closed the San Ysidro border crossing outside of San Diego, shutting down the largest border crossing cite in the entire world for six hours.

Mexico’s Interior Ministry claims that hundreds of migrants acted on the opportunity to cross the border to seek asylum. Migrants attempted to cross over a small dried creek bed, over train tracks, and through a fence opening to the U.S. while others attempted to climb the fence. CBP officers say they fired dozens of canisters of tear gas after some migrants threw rocks.

The tear gas impacted peaceful protesters as well as people attempting to cross the border. The San Ysidro border crossing, which over 100,000 people use daily for travel and commerce, was closed for six hours.

Leon Rodriguez, the past head of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency from 2014-2016 said that Sunday’s altercation was a “foreseeable result of the US policy of placing every conceivable obstacle in the way of orderly legal migration and of not having a policy [recognizing] the desperate circumstance driving migration.”

Unnamed U.S. government officials blame the Trump administrations immigration and border policies for exacerbating the violence and unrest at the borders. One official stated that they think it is “illegal that they closed the border. We cannot decide when we can close the border if there’s no state of emergency. For a couple dozen asylum seekers? That was not an emergency that should justify closing the border. I’m just relieved it wasn’t worse.”

Another official said that “Trump has broken the law by not having people at the border processed for months and months and creating a bottleneck there. Teargassing children because maybe they’ll get into the US? Heaven forbid.”

This incident follows President Trump’s increasingly harsh immigration policies, from family separations to the removal of asylum for survivors of domestic violence or gang violence. President Trump was targeting the Central American caravan as a political ploy ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. Members of the Central American caravan started reaching the border two weeks ago. LGBTQ asylum seekers were the first of the caravan to reach the U.S. border in Tijuana.

Currently, the LGBTQ migrants, and many in the caravan, are seeking asylum in the United States. However, the current wait list for asylum seekers in Tijuana is about a six week waiting time. The large influx of migrants from the caravan has many immigration attorneys worried that the already long wait times will double. If migrants are able to turn themselves in to the US, they will face weeks in detention.

 

Media Resources: Washington Post 11/26/18; Buzzfeed News 11/26/18; Feminist Newswire 11/15/18

Puerto Rican Police Pepper Spray Puerto Ricans Protesting Violence Against Women

Posted on by Alexis Miller

On Friday,  Colectiva Feminista en Construcción, in collaboration with other Puerto Rican Feminist groups, organized a sit-in (un plantón) in front of La Fortaleza, Governor Ricardo Rosselló’s residence, to protest the killing of a woman by her husband, a police officer. During the protests, the Puerto Rican police peppered sprayed the protestors and videos surfaced of the police pushing against the crowd at the gates of La Fortaleza.

Friday began with a march in Plaza Colón and continued until the protestors reached the governor’s residence. The protest organizers created itineraries for participants, facilitating events such as a conversation about the causes and prevention of violence against women, artistic activities, concerts and drag shows. The protestors refuse to leave until the governor meets with them to discuss their demands.

An Executive Order created by the feminist organizations demands that Governor Rossello creates a National Emergency Plan against Gender Violence; more than 600 people have signed a petition for its creation. The demands also include the establishment of a specific protocol for when crimes against women occur; the implementation of an inter-agency committee to assist assault survivors; and a call to process the 2,554 untested rape kits.

In 2018 alone, 40 Puerto Rican women have been murdered, at least 22 were killed by their husbands, and police officers were the abusers in 180 reported domestic violence cases. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) “Femicide Report 2018,” close to 87,000 women were killed worldwide this year; 58% of these women were murdered by an intimate partner or a family member, which is about 6 women every hour.

Sunday marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and people around the globe marched to bring attention to and protest gender-based violence. The marches were the beginning of the 16-day activism campaign titled “Orange the World: #HearMeToo” that will last until Human Rights Day on December 10th. The campaign calls on people around the world to speak up and take a stand against violence against women. It offers ways to get involved such as listening to survivors, buying products from women entrepenuers and using your platform to advocate for others. The UN-Women campaign draws from movements such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #NiUnaMenos. Countries such as Afghanistan have previously participated in the yearly UN campaign to end violence against women, and this year Afghans are organizing street theaters to allow survivors of gender-based violence to share their stories.

 

Media Resources: El Volcero 11/25/18; Latino Rebels 11/25/18; Bustle 11/26/18; New York Times 11/25/18;  UN Women 11/21/18; Feminist Newswire 11/25/15; Twitter 11/25/18, 11/26/18; Facebook posts by Colectiva Feminista en Construcción 11/23/18, 11/24/18 (multiple)

 

 

 

 

Bermuda’s Top Court of Appeals Ruled Bans on Same Sex Marriage Unconstitutional

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

The Top Court of Appeals in Bermuda ruled that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional on Friday. The decision follows a long battle for marriage and LGBTQ+ equality in Bermuda and is expected to be challenged by the Bermuda government.

Same-sex marriage was first addressed seriously by the Bermuda government in June 2016, when the territory held a non-binding referendum regarding its legalization. Less than 50% of the population showed up, but 70% of voters voted against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Soon after the referendum, in May 2017, a same-sex marriage case made its way to the Supreme Court of Bermuda.

The Bermuda Supreme Court found that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional; thereby legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the territory. In December 2017, the Bermuda governor and local government reversed the decision and reinstated the ban. While the repeal still allowed for same-sex couples to have a domestic partnership, it banned all same-sex marriages. The United Kingdom government strongly condemned the repeal, but had no jurisdiction on the matter and could not overturn the Bermuda government’s actions.

However, the Bermuda Supreme Court overturned the new ban on same-sex marriage in June 2018. Following a challenge from the Bermuda government, the top Bermuda Court of Appeals ruled with the Supreme Court. Unless the Bermuda government successfully challenges same-sex marriage in the UK’s Privy Council, same-sex marriage will remain legal in Bermuda. However, as Reuters found, it is incredibly rare that the Privy Council will hear a case from Bermuda and the possibility that it would overturn same-sex marriage is even more unlikely.

LGBTQ+ Bermudans are rejoicing at their new step towards equality. The Bermuda government must decide if they will appeal to the Privy Council within 21 days.

Media Resources: HuffPost 11/24/18

Federal Judge Ruled Mississippi 15-Week Abortion Ban Unconstitutional

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Mississippi permanently blocked the state’s 15-week abortion ban, calling it unconstitutional. The Mississippi Gestational Age Act, or HB 1510, bans abortion procedures after 15 weeks of gestation. Further, doctors who violate the ban would have their licenses revoked or suspended.

The law was signed in March by Republican Governor Phil Bryant who claimed to commit to making Mississippi the “safest place in America for an unborn child.” A court quickly placed temporary blocks on the ban after it was signed. Mississippi argued that the law was a regulation because it included exceptions in the case of medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality and did not place “undue burden” on a woman’s right to choose.

In his ruling on Tuesday, District Judge Carlton W. Reeves wrote “this act is a ban, not a regulation.” Judge Reeves also emphasized that the state’s courts will follow the commands of the Supreme Court, which does not allow states to ban abortions prior to viability. The 15-week mark falls before the medical consensus over when a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, which often begins after 23 or 24 weeks, making a 15-week abortion ban unconstitutional. Moreover, Judge Reeves wrote about the “sad irony” of putting men in charge of deciding women’s reproductive health decisions. Judge Reeves wrote, “as a man, who cannot get pregnant or seek an abortion, I can only imagine the anxiety and turmoil a woman might experience when she decides whether to terminate her pregnancy through an abortion. Respecting her autonomy demands that this statute be enjoined.”

In response to the judge’s ruling, Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights said that “today’s decision should be a wake-up call for state lawmakers who are continuously trying to chip away at abortion access. Such bans will not stand in a court of law.”

The Supreme Court has rejected various restrictive abortion laws across the country, including North Dakota’s aim to ban abortion at six weeks and Arkansas’s law that banned abortion at 12 weeks.

 

Media Resources: NPR 11/21/18; Buzzfeed News 11/20/18; Feminist Newswire 3/23/18

Judge Rules US Ban on Female Genital Mutilation Unconstitutional

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

This week a judge ruled that the U.S. federal female genital mutilation law is unconstitutional, dismissing charges against a Michigan doctor accused of performing female genital mutilation on at least nine young girls between the ages of 8 and 13.

Dr. Jumana Nagarwala was charged with performing female genital mutilation at least nine times from 2005 to April 2017. According to the prosecutors, Dr. Attar, an internal medicine physician, allowed Nagarwala, an emergency room physician, to perform the illegal procedures at his clinic with the help of his wife. However, the judge did not drop the charges of conspiring to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. Dr. Attar, his wife, and five others were charged as well.

Judge Bernard Friedman ruled in his decision that “Congress overstepped its bounds by legislating to prohibit [female genital mutilation.” He instead called female genital mutilation “local criminal activity” and argued it must be regulated by the states, not Congress. He dismissed Nagarwala’s charges of conspiring to commit and committing female genital mutilation, and aiding and abetting others in doing so.

The United Nations Population Fund defines female genital mutilation as “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for cultural or other non-medical reasons.” Forty-four countries, including the United States, currently ban the practice by law. The World Health Organization views female genital mutilation as a human rights violation.

It is expected that the US government will appeal the judges’ decision.

 

Media resources: CNN 11/20/18

Virginia could be the Historic Vote to Guarantee Equal Rights Nationwide

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

For the past ten days Virginia lawmakers have been travelling the state on a bus tour advocating for Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. This is significant because Virginia could become the 38th state to ratify the ERA; 38 states are needed for ratification and a bipartisan group of Virginia legislators want Virginia to be the historic vote.

Democrat Jennifer Carroll Foy and Republican Glen Sturtevant are co-sponsoring legislation to ratify the ERA in Virginia’s state legislature. Sturtevant argued during the ten day bus tour that Virginia is “the birth place of the bill of rights, but we need to continue to make sure that we include this fundamental American value, which is equality of everyone before the law, in the US constitution.” Foy added that “when we talk about things such as equal pay for equal work, ending sex discrimination, what we are talking about is giving those things teeth,” which is what the Equal Rights Amendment would guarantee.

The ERA passed both houses of the U.S. Congress in 1972, and like every proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution, was sent to the states for ratification. The amendment lost momentum after the arbitrary ten year ratification deadline set by Congress came in 1982. The amendment was three states short of the 38 needed for ratification. But the push for the ERA has received renewed attention in recent years since Nevada, the first state since 1982, voted to ratify the ERA last year and Illinois, the 37th state, ratified the ERA earlier this year.

Many Constitutional scholars believe that because the time limit is in the pre-amble of the amendment, and therefore not part of the wording voted on by the states, it is subject to an extension by a vote in Congress. Thousands demonstrated in Washington in 1978—the original ERA deadline—and Congress granted an extension until June 30, 1982.

The ERA’s passage would be far from symbolic; it will help women in cases of discrimination in education, employment, wages, insurance benefits, scholarship, military service, social security, violence against women, and more. Without the passage of the ERA, women have been forced to gain equality law by law. If the ERA is ratified by 38 states and becomes the law of the land, there would be a Constitutional provision against the Supreme Court, Congress or state legislatures gutting equality on the basis of sex.

 

Media Resources: NPR 11/18/18; Feminist Newswire 4/12/18; Feminist Newswire 3/3/17; Feminist Newswire 5/13/16

Facebook under Scrutiny for Allowing Child Bride Auction

Posted on by Feminist Newswire

Facebook is currently under scrutiny for allowing a child bride auction of a 16-year- old South Sudanese child girl on its platform. The online auction held on Facebook asked people to bid on the minor’s dowry for her hand in marriage. According to Plan International, five men bid on the 16-year-old girl, including high-ranking South Sudanese government officials. From the online auction, the girl’s father received 500 cows, three cars, and $10,000, which is the highest dowry that has been reported in the region.

According to a statement by a Facebook spokesperson, Facebook “removed the post and permanently disabled the account belonging to the person who posted this to Facebook.” However, Facebook’s actions continue to enrage activists and women’s rights organizations including Plan International, the National Alliance for Women Lawyers (NAWL), and Equality Now. According to Plan International, Facebook did not take action until 15 days after the auction. Equality Now’s regional coordinator for Africa calls on Facebook to increase resources that monitor its platforms in order to ensure full protection of women’s rights and the rights of all people.

Plan International also called on the Sudanese government to investigate the officials involved in the auction. Child marriage is a serious violation of human rights, a form of violence against girls, and a violation of the Sudanese constitution, which states that “the best interest of the child will be protected in all matters related to his or her life, and that they should not be subjected to exploitative practices or abuse.”

Child marriage is a common issue in South Sudan and has serious impacts on girls. Girls who are married at a very early age are at a higher risk of early childbearing, maternal mortality, and are often isolated from family and other social support. According to a UNICEF 2017 report, 52 percent of girls in South Sudan are married before 18.

 

Newswire Sources: CNN 11/20/18; Plan International News 11/12/18

Canadian Government Pressured to End Forced Sterilization of Indigenous Women

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Monday, Amnesty International announced it will lobby the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) to compel the Canadian government to investigate the allegations of forced sterilization of indigenous women. So far 60 women have come forward with a pending lawsuit against health professionals in Saskatchewan, a Canadian province with a large Native population.

The lawsuit challenges the doctors who allegedly tied, burned, or cut Native women’s fallopian tubes without their permission. Some women in the lawsuit recount that they were threatened with not seeing their newborn children unless they complied with the surgery. Amnesty International is also calling on the Canadian government to hire an outside representative to speak with the women affected to determine what reparations they are hoping to receive. Indigenous leader Perry Bellegarde called for an investigation by the federal government. “It is wrong, it is immoral, it is a gross violation of human rights, and this dehumanizing practice must stop.”

In 2015 the first allegations arose concerning the sterilization of 4 indigenous women in the province. Although there was an investigation, a subsequent apology and new rules surrounding tubal litigation procedures, there have been new allegations as recently as 2017. Canadian indigenous lawyer and Senator Yvonne Boyer called for a national investigation, adamant that if these sterilizations are happening in one province they are happening in more provinces. Senator Boyer stated that she is calling for the practice of coerced sterilization to be criminalized and for health professionals to receive more comprehensive training surrounding ethical sterilization practices.

The forced sterilization of women of color has occurred around the globe, including within US borders. Eugenics practices have been used to control certain populations, namely immigrants, the disabled, the poor, and women of color. In California, a state where over 20,000 people have been sterilized against their will, laws banning the practice were formed and passed following the investigation into the sterilization of around 150 female prison inmates from 2006-2010.

 

Media Resources: The Guardian 11/18/18; Britannica 9/24/18; Jezebel 11/19/18; PBS 1/29/16; Feminist Newswire 8/27/14

Safe Online Abortion Access Now Available in the US

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Women in the United States can now order safe abortion pills online through the organization Women on the Web, allowing women to medically induce their own abortions at home. The organization performs online consultations, fills prescriptions, and ships the pills to women in countries that legally allow abortions, and studies have determined that the service is safe for women.

Women on the Web is an international organization that has been serving women throughout the world where abortion is legal but previously did not service women in the United States because of fears that the U.S. anti-abortion movement would shut down access for women globally. The organization still has this fear but launched “Aid Access” specifically for women in the United States because of the high demand from American women and the inaccessibility of abortion in many states.

Since the organization launched its services in the U.S. six months ago, it is estimated that 600 pills have been sent to American women. The organization is currently the only abortion doctor providing these services online for the United States. Some worry that the organization will start to receive a flood of requests from American women once the service becomes better known, but the organization is unsure if it can handle all of those requests. Women on the Web’s founder, Rebecca Gomperts, hopes to be the “first of many others, so [she] won’t be in a situation where [she] can’t deal with the amount of requests.”

The World Health Organization recognizes Women on the Web’s services as a viable abortion option according to a Guttmacher Institute report on self-managed abortions.

 

Media Resources: The Atlantic 10/18/18

International Health Organization Banned from Providing Abortion Care in Kenya

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Kenya’s Medical Practitioners Board banned Marie Stopes, an international health organization, from offering all forms of abortion care in all its facilities within Kenya. Further, the Board requires Marie Stopes to file a weekly report on all services rendered in their facilities for 60 days. The decision to ban abortion came after the Medical Practitioners Board investigated complaints about Marie Stope’s advertisements promoting abortion.

 CitizenGo Africa, a pro-life campaign group, and the Kenya Film Classification Board were among the groups that filed complaints. Ezekiel Mutua, the chief executive officer at the Kenya Film Classification Board, accused Marie Stopes of promoting abortion, saying that the organization’s advertisements were “making it look cool to have an abortion.” 

 Kenya’s Marie Stopes branch has been offering reproductive services since 1985. There are currently 22 clinics and 15 mobile outreach clinics in Kenya. The organization argues that they are operating within the Kenyan constitution and offer counseling services, including post-abortion care “with the aim of saving the woman and promoting positive health outcomes.”

Abortion is illegal in Kenya unless a mother’s health is in danger. Banning Marie Stopes’ abortion services could potentially endanger the lives of many women. Many Kenyans fear that the ban will lead to an increase of unsafe back-street abortions.

 

Newswire Sources: BBC 11/18/18

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