Welcome to the 60th edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest!
This fortnight we have celebrated the 101st International Women’s Day and there’s plenty of good news. The United Nations passed the Violence Against Women convention, renewing commitments across the world on eradicating violence against women. In Europe, a Commission is proposing to establish an EU-wide law to protect victims of domestic violence. Pakistan has also passed a bill on domestic violence in its Sindh Assembly.
Most remarkably, members of the Maasai tribe in Kenya are replacing female genital mutilation as a rite of passage into womanhood. This grassroots change is what is necessary for the eradication of female genital mutilation.
Meanwhile The Pixel Project’s India partner Breakthrough/Bell Bajao have launched their “Ring The Bell” campaign on International Women’s Day. With the support of male celebrities such as Sir Patrick Stewart and Richard Branson, they call on 1 million men worldwide to take the “Ring the Bell” pledge to step up to stop violence against women in their communities and families.
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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General Violence Against Women News
- WORLD – UN welcomes international agreement to end violence against women
- WORLD – Arab women at odds with governments over violence against women
- EGYPT – Muslim Brotherhood slams UN women’s rights declaration
- FINLAND – Justice Minister: Violence Against Women a major problem
- INDIA – Sonia Gandhi: Laws alone do not prevent crimes against women
- IRAQ – Iraq War 10 years on: “There is phenomenal violence against women.”
- PAKISTAN – Malala Yousafzai becomes the youngest Nobel Peace Prize nominee
- PORTUGAL – Portugal reaffirms commitment to stop violence against women
- SOLOMON ISLANDS – Violence Against Women high in the Solomons
- UNITED STATES – Violence against women declined by 64% over the past 10 years but progress has stalled
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Domestic Violence
- EUROPE – Commission proposal to protect victims of domestic violence to become law EU-wide
- EUROPE – Why Europe isn’t the women’s rights paradise you think
- IRELAND – Victims of domestic violence to receive more protection under new European rules
- PAKISTAN – Sindh Assembly passes domestic violence bill
- TAJIKISTAN – Tajikistan fights domestic violence
- TURKEY – Domestic violence has killed 26 women and 3 children in Turkey in the first few months of 2013
- UGANDA – Many women believe domestic violence is justified
- UNITED KINGDOM – British imams speak up against domestic violence
- UNITED STATES – Latest domestic violence death shows that much work still needs to be done
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Rape and Sexual Assault
- CANADA – Toronto pastor charged with sex assaults on women and girls
- CAMBODIA – 5% of men reported to have participated in a gang rape in Cambodia, among the highest in the region
- CARIBBEAN – Rape, incest rampant in Central Trinidad
- CONGO -Rape in Democratic Republic of Congo – a weapon of war
- EGYPT – VOICES: The Politics of Egypt’s Rape, Sexual Assault Epidemic
- INDIA – Five have confessed to gang rape of a Swiss tourist
- SOMALIA – Somalia frees rape row journalist
- SWEDEN – 1 in 4 Swedish women will be raped as sexual assault increase by 500%
- UNITED STATES – Trial of two Ohio students charged with rape nears conclusion
- UNITED STATES – Veterans Testify on Rapes and Scant Hope of Justice
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Human/Sex Trafficking
- AFRICA – Migrants face persistent violence
- BRAZIL – Fighting sex trafficking in Brazil – in fiction and reality
- CANADA/CUBA – Canadians are major customers in Cuba’s child sex market
- CANADA – The sex trade is Canada’s dirty little secret
- CHINA -Letter to the editor on sex trafficking in Hong Kong
- IRAN – Iran busts two human trafficking rings
- SUDAN – Sudan will soon pass law to combat human trafficking
- UNITED KINGDOM – Scheme to tackle human trafficking in London launched
- UNITED STATES – Kimberly Ritter stands up to child sex trafficking in US hotels
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Female Genital Mutilation
- WORLD – The movement to end female genital mutilation – by a delegate to the 57th commission on the Status of Women.
- EUROPE – Amnesty International urges EU to end female genital mutilation
- KENYA – The Maasai tribe have replaced female genital mutilation with an alternative rite of passage
- LIBERIA – Campaigners urge Liberia to end female genital mutilation
- NIGER – Niger raises panel of female genital mutilation and other issues
- TUNISIA – Islamist political party reaffirms its stance that it is against female genital mutilation after one if its members expressed support for it
- SOMALIA – Towards eliminating female genital mutilation once and for all
- UNITED KINGDOM – The problem of female genital mutilation in Britain
- UNITED STATES – Female genital mutilation on the rise in the United States – report
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Forced Marriage & Honour Killing
- WORLD – Forced marriage of girls haunt International Women’s Day
- FRANCE – France moves to tackle forced marriage
- GHANA – Forced marriages and witchcraft accusations must end
- INDIA – Police negligence allows honour killing
- INDIA – Honour killing suspected in minor’s death
- PAKISTAN – Forced marriage of underaged Christian girl declared illegal by court
- SOUTH SUDAN -Nearly half of teenage girls in forced marriages in South Sudan
- SOUTH SUDAN -South Sudan urged to end early / forced marriage
- UNITED KINGDOM – Two-year old at risk of becoming victim of forced marriage
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Activism
- WORLD – Olympics Eliminating and preventing violence against women and girls through sport
- WORLD – Violence against women: what’s sport got to do with it?
- EGYPT – Egypt adopts strategy to fight violence against women
- INDIA – India’s “Ring the Bell” is global call to stop wife-beating
- INDONESIA – Activists, women unite to end violence against women
- NORWAY Thoughts for International Women’s Day from Norway: Leading Norwegian politicians talk about equal rights and rights for victims of sexual assault.
- UNITED STATES – It’s Time for Dallas Men to Stand UP – Dallas Men Against Abuse
- UNITED STATES – Hotel soaps are used to combat sex trafficking