This month marks two major global campaigns aimed at raising awareness on violence against women. The first of these is One Billion Rising. Observed by numerous activists around the world, the campaign is the largest global event aimed at raising awareness on violence against women. 6 February also marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
Several countries have enacted laws to curb violence against women. Colombia has tightened laws on violence against women, a new law in Algeria criminalizes violence against women, and Portugal has outlawed street harassment. Meanwhile, controversial laws are getting challenged: in Northern Ireland in the UK, an escort is challenging laws that make the purchase of sex services illegal. The case highlights the difficulties in balancing protection of trafficked individuals and the rights of sex workers to safety.
Statistics of violence against women remain shockingly high in spite of these progresses. This year, the number of victims of female genital mutilation is estimated to be 70 million higher than previous estimates. Around 50% of Latin American women claim to have experienced sexual violence, and in Pakistan around half of its young female population believe that domestic violence is justifiable.
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
General Violence Against Women
- EUROPE: Fighting violence against women must become Europe’s priority
- LATIN AMERICA: Latin American nations intensify efforts to end violence against women
- ALGERIA: New law in Algeria punishers violence against women
- BANGLADESH: Women’s economic empowerment to reduce violence
- COLOMBIA: Colombia tightens law to curb acid attacks on women
- GERMANY: German residents outraged after mayor says young girls ‘provoke’ sexual harassment
- PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Failing to protect women and girls
- PORTUGAL: Portugal bans the verbal harassment of women
- SOUTH SUDAN: Policing the beaten – training South Sudan’s cops to help survivors of gender violence
- TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Outrage in Trinidad after mayor blames Carnival killing on dancer’s ‘lewd behaviour’
Domestic Violence
- AFGHANISTAN: Afghan domestic violence victim to get new nose in Turkey
- AUSTRALIA: (Editorial) Why ‘just saying no’ to violence against women is harder than we like to think
- CANADA: Almonte fatal shooting ‘story of violence against women’
- CHINA: Chengdu domestic violence shelter opens in March
- INDIA: A sex comedy about domestic violence in India
- PAKISTAN: The disturbing reason why half of all girls in Pakistan think domestic violence and sexual violence is OK
- MYANMAR: Campaigner lifts veil on Myanmar’s hidden problem of domestic violence
- NEW ZEALAND: Housing New Zealand to deliver 200 anti-violence packs to Nelson properties
- RUSSIA: Suffering in silence – lack of law keeps rate of domestic violence high (trigger warning: illustration)
- SOUTH SUDAN: ‘Before he beat us every day, but now it is less’ – domestic violence in South Sudan
Sexual Assault / Rape
- WORLD: From Cairo to Cologne – is public sexual harassment really endemic to Arab culture?
- LATIN AMERICA: Almost 50% of women in Latin America claim to have been victims of sexual assault
- WEST AFRICA: The Ebola rape epidemic no one’s talking about
- AUSTRALIA: ‘Still not asking for it’ – striking topless photographs call out rape culture
- FINLAND: Woman uses The Force to repel attacker in absurd Finnish anti-rape video
- GUATEMALA: Rape used as weapon of war in Guatemala
- PAKISTAN: Abduction, rape, conversion and forced marriage: the existential challenges for Pakistan’s minorities
- POLAND: Polish weekly’s ‘Rape of Europe’ cover sparks backlash (trigger warning: image)
- THE PHILIPPINES: Philippine ‘Comfort Women’ demand justice ahead of Japanese imperial visit
- SYRIA: Syrian women seek abortions and suffer rapes because of war
Sex Trafficking
- WORLD: Missing migrant children – 10k missing children for sex trafficking, slave trade
- ALBANIA: Albanian women trafficked into the EU – abused, rejected, abandoned
- MEXICO: The town where young boys are trained to become pimps
- NIGERIA: The world of Nigeria’s sex-trafficking ‘Air Lords’
- SINGAPORE: Man gets 75 months’ jail in first conviction under new human trafficking law
- SOUTH AFRICA: Human trafficking a reality for South Africans while sentencing delayed in human trafficking case
- SYRIA: How this 23-year old survived being an ISIS captive
- UKRAINE: Sex, lies and psychological scars: inside Ukraine’s human trafficking crisis
- UNITED KINGDOM: Irish escort to challenge Northern Ireland law outlawing paying for sex
- UNITED STATES: Miami’s sex, tourism industry attracts human trafficking, agents say
Female Genital Mutilation
- WORLD: 6 February is International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
- WORLD: Number of FGM victims to be 70 million higher than thought
- COLOMBIA: The silent epidemic – the fight to end female genital mutilation in Colombia
- ETHIOPIA: Early marriage and female genital cutting in Ethiopia: exploring the links
- INDONESIA: Female genital cutting common in Indonesia, offered as part of child delivery by birth clinics
- NIGERIA: Improved policies and trainings key to curtailing female genital mutilation
- PORTUGAL: Over 6,500 women in Portugal subject to female genital mutilation
- SENEGAL: Celebrating a public declaration for abandonment of FGC
- SIERRA LEONE: Sierra Leone group determined to raise awareness of FGM dangers
- SUDAN: FGM spreading to minority groups in Sudan, say campaigners
Forced Marriage and Honour Killing
- CHINA: Married Young – multimedia photo gallery on teenage marriages in rural China
- GHANA: Ghana launches national campaign to end child marriage
- MOZAMBIQUE: Child marriage in Mozambique – desperate to escape
- THE NETHERLANDS: 250 illegal child marriages every year in The Netherlands
- NIGER: Niger girl takes brave stand against forced marriage
- PAKISTAN: A powerful documentary about Pakistan’s honour killings
- SOMALIA: Walk the Talk – Somalian activist calls for end of child marriage
- SOUTH SUDAN: The deadly consequences of child marriage
- TANZANIA: Girls struggle to avoid forced marriage, yearn to learn
- UNITED STATES: Efforts intensify to curtail child marriage in the US
Activism
- WORLD: One Billion Rising highlights violence against women
- WORLD: Stop Street Harassment invites activists to join the 2016 Week of Awareness
- AUSTRALIA: Wollonggong boxer Holly Stratford fighting to stop domestic violence
- BANGLADESH: Sex trafficking victim now a famous poet
- BRAZIL: Viral campaign promotes Carnival without street harassment
- CANADA: Workshop aims to educate men on ending violence against women
- EGYPT: Can Egyptian women start a revolution against sexual violence?
- INDIA: Acid attack survivor steps into spotlight as fashion brand’s newest model
- NIGERIA: The subversive women who self-publish novels amid jihadist war
- PAKISTAN: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy: My films aim to ‘spark difficult conversations’