Welcome to the 115th edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In this month’s newsletter we highlight the troubled campaign on reducing sexual violence in conflict and the silence surrounding the sexual violence related to Bangladesh’s liberation wars. New reports of rape by UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic continue to shock us and raise questions about accountability among UN’s peacekeeper troops.
Child marriage has become an issue in various countries around the world. In Malaysia, activists are outraged as child marriage was described as an ‘antidote’ to lust for premarital sex. Nepal and Mozambique are taking steps to eradicate child marriage and Georgia is the latest country to outlaw marriage for those below the age of 18.
Be inspired by growing awareness and activist work happening around the world. Gloria Steinem is launching a new TV series on violence against women and girls and a 15-year old girl from Syria is fighting to end child marriage. In both Vietnam and Croatia, men and boys are engaged in efforts to reduce violence against women and girls.
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
- BANGLADESH: Colourful rickshaw paintings protest violence against women in Bangladesh
- BHUTAN: Bhutan tackles violence against women for ‘refusing sex’ and ‘burning dinner’
- BULGARIA: Bulgaria to sign Istanbul convention on preventing violence against women
- GUATEMALA and CANADA: Guatemalan womens’ claims put focus on Canadian firms’ conduct
- INDONESIA: Traditional and religious leaders urged to prevent violence against women and children
- LIBERIA: U.S. chides Liberia over corruption and violence against women
- NIGERIA: Missing Nigerian girls identified in new Boko Haram video as calls renew to find them
- PAKISTAN: ‘Rampant’ violence against women in Pakistan revealed as groups fight ‘un-Islamic’ law against domestic abuse
- UNITED STATES: Violence against women could cost USD 500 billion annually
- YEMEN: Fighting for justice amidst conflict in Yemen
Domestic Violence
- AUSTRALIA: Victoria is spending more money on domestic violence than the Federal Government
- CANADA: Yukon charity shelters pets when owners escape domestic violence
- CAMBODIA: Domestic violence in Cambodia – activists are turning to technology for help
- CHINA: Senior officials clarify domestic violence prevention in Northwest China
- FIJI: Plan for domestic violence helpline
- MALAYSIA: Poor justice for abused wives in the system (trigger warning: illustration)
- MALTA: Reported domestic violence cases on the increase, bodily harm on the decline
- PAKISTAN: ‘Laws don’t cause divorce, domestic violence does’
- THE SOLOMON ISLANDS: New domestic violence law in Solomons
- UNITED STATES: Nevada ranks fifth in domestic violence
Rape and Sexual Assault
- WORLD: April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
- WORLD: Plan to tackle sexual violence during wars ‘at risk without William Hague’
- BANGLADESH: Why is the mass sexualized violence of Bangladesh’s Liberation War being ignored?
- BOSNIA: Mass rape as a weapon of war – Bosnia verdict a warning to leaders who unbolt heart of darkness
- CAMBODIA: Stories of forced marriage go on display (related to the sexual violence of the Khmer Rouge)
- CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Shocking new reports of peacekeeper sexual abuse in the Central African Republic
- CHINA: For Chinese victims of sexual assault, ‘going viral’ is the best revenge
- DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Can justice come to Kavumu?
- NIGERIA: They were freed from Boko Haram’s rape camps. But their nightmare is far from over.
- UNITED STATES: Out here, no one can hear you scream – sexual hostility in America’s national parks and forests
Sex Trafficking
- ASIA: Progress in fight against human trafficking hard to measure
- EUROPE: Sex trade less visible, but alive and well in Europe
- BULGARIA and ITALY: Police in Italy and Bulgaria break sex-trafficking ring
- FRANCE: France follows Ulster and outlaws the purchase of sex
- INDIA: Human trafficking and tea – what’s the connection?
- INDONESIA and the UNITED STATES: My life as a sex trafficking victim
- LEBANON: Lebanon shocked over sex trafficking of young Syrian woman
- PAKISTAN: Government non-compliance with minimum standards against human trafficking
- ROMANIA and the UNITED KINGDOM: EU’s Europol help Scottish and Romanian police dismantle major sex trafficking gang
- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and INDA: India will sign accord with UAE to stop human trafficking
Female Genital Mutilation
- WORLD: FGM – a costly, organized crime against women and girls
- AUSTRALIA: Brisbane couple to stand trial over girls’ genital mutilation
- GAMBIA: President Yahya Jammeh wants murder charges to be pressed against FGM suspects after death of 5-month old
- INDIA: Bohras spam an anti-FGM campaign with obscenities
- KENYA: Alternative to genital mutilation emerges for Kenya’s Maasai girls
- NIGERIA: 19.9 million women have been mutilated – specialist
- SOMALIA: FGM survivor hopes her memoir will end ‘this barbaric abuse’
- TANZANIA: Tanzania’s girls flee their families and marriage
- UGANDA: 11,000 children drop out of school in Moroto, FGM a cause for the high dropout
- UNITED KINGDOM: From FGM victim to teacher
Forced Marriage and Honour Killing
- AFRICA: SADC model law: one step closer to ending child marriage in Southern Africa
- GEORGIA: Marriage under-18 banned in the Pankisi Gorge
- INDIA: Madras High Court calls for steps to protect inter-caste couples
- MALAWI: Malawi’s fearsonme chief, terminator of child marriages
- MALAYSIA: Child marriage is another form of modern-day slavery
- MOZAMBIQUE: Mozambique’s national strategy on child marriage – a ray of hope for girls
- NEPAL: Nepal holds Girl Summit on ending child marriage
- NIGERIA: Rights body offers hope to victims of forced marriages
- UNITED KINGDOM: Luton charity says true number of forced marriages masked by under-reporting
- UNITED STATES: Lawmakers ponder youth marriage ban
Activism
- WORLD: Gloria Steinem takes on violence against women in her new TV series
- BANGLADESH: Bangladeshi surfer girls go against the cultural tide
- CANADA: Fundraising event in Stratford raises awareness on violence against women
- CROATIA: The Croatian Rugby Union in a Campaign for no violence against women
- INDIA: A window into the future – involving boys to end child marriage
- JORDAN: How I got there – Rana Husseini
- SYRIA: Inspired by Malala, this 15-year old Syrian is fighting child marriages
- VIETNAM: Engaging men to prevent violence against women and girls
- UNITED STATES and INDIA: Breakthrough generation needed to end culture of violence against women
- UNITED STATES: Clothesline Project draws awareness to violence against women