Welcome to the 121th edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest!
October marks National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the United States. It is also the month leading up to the US elections on 8 November this year. Presidential nominee Donald Trump faces accusations of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault, simultaneously drawing focus on rape culture and exposing regressive public attitudes towards violence against women.
Rape culture and the way it is used to control or threaten women is prevalent worldwide. In Australia a female politician speaks of rape threats and in Canada a woman has been put on the media spotlight for accusing a politician of sexual assault. In Argentina thousands of women are protesting against rampant gender violence after the horrific rape and murder of a teenage girl.
There are some silver linings: the Chibok girls who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram have been released, though two years of captivity have changed them and their community. We can also be inspired by the ways the world has honoured campaigners eliminating violence against women, such as Maria de Penha, Sonita, Rita Marque-Mbatha and Lydia Cacho.
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
- ARGENTINA: Argentinians protest violence against women on ‘Black Wednesday’
- BRAZIL: Tired of being beaten and abused, Brazil’s womnen are fighting back online
- CHINA: Over 30% of college students in China have experienced sexual violence or harassment
- EL SALVADOR: El Salvador’s female victims of violence rarely see justice. That’s about to change.
- GAMBIA: Violence against women most prevalent form of violence worldwide, Gambia no exception
- HUNGARY: Hungary’s poor economy is one reason women have become convenient scapegoats
- JAPAN: Police in Kyoto clamping down on ‘upskirt’ photos
- LIBERIA: Women secretariat commissions study on violence against women
- MORROCO: The Morrocan women fighting daily sexual harassment
- SRI LANKA: Violence against women – Sri Lanka’s next human rights challenge
Domestic Violence
- AUSTRALIA: Australian state launches male privilege classes to tackle domestic violence
- CANADA: Canada’s top doctor shines light on family violence, calls statistics ‘staggering’
- EGYPT: The public health impact of domestic violence
- FIJI: Ministry of Women pays out $85K for setup of Domestic Violence helpline
- IRELAND: Failure to deal with domestic violence costs 2.2 billion Euros
- MALAYSIA: Violence involving lovers among issues in proposed amendment to Act
- MEXICO: Sexual and domestic violence – the hidden reasons why Mexican women flee their homes
- PAKISTAN: Domestic violence on the rise
- ROMANIA: Violence against women costs Romania 10 billion Euro annually, namely 6% of GDP
- UNITED KINGDOM: Student debt made the domestic violence against me worse
- UNITED STATES: Domestic violence shelters are turning away LGBTQ victims
Rape & Sexual Assault
- WORLD: UN to sanction sex violence perpetrators
- ARGENTINA: Lucia Perez murder: mother’s plea to end Argentina gender violence
- AUSTRALIA: Julie Gillard warns of almost ‘daily’ rape threats for women in public life
- CANADA: Woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Liberal MNA speaks out
- MALAYSIA: UNICEF praises Malaysia’s proposed child sexual crimes bill, offers expertise
- NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand Rugby investigating sexual assault allegations
- NIGERIA: How did Nigeria secure the 21 Chibok girls’ release from Boko Haram?
- SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa announces withdrawal from International Criminal Court (has repercussions on rape in conflict)
- UNITED KINGDOM: Men’s silent consent of rape culture
- UNITED STATES: Donald Trump’s cynical exploitation of rape culture
Sex Trafficking
- WORLD: Prosecutors want worldwide crackdown on online sex trafficking
- AFRICA and EUROPE: Sex trafficking of African migrants to Europe is a ‘modern plague’
- HAITI: Fear of rise in child sex abuse after Hurricane Matthew in Haiti
- LEBANON: Lebanon launches hotline for women domestic workers to report abuse
- THE PHILIPPINES: Government launches anti-human trafficking hotline
- ROMANIA and the UNITED KINGDOM: “I was trafficked from Romania.”
- SPAIN : Spain busts sex trafficking ring based on victim hotline tip
- SOUTH AFRICA: The road to a sex and slavery hell passes through Tzaneen
- THAILAND and the UNITED STATES: US busts Thai sex trafficking operation
- UNITED STATES: Organization pairs with taxi, Uber drivers to stop sex trafficking
- VIETNAM and MALAYSIA: Malaysia rescues 26 Vietnamese women from alleged human trafficking ring
Female Genital Mutilation
- WORLD: Cinema may turn tide against female genital mutilation
- COLOMBIA: Indigenous groups discuss FGM
- EGYPT: Egypt court releases mother of Suez FGM victim, postpones trial to November
- GAMBIA: West Coast youth sensitized on female genital mutilation
- INDIA: Opinion – Jain fasting or Bohra circumcision, why should children bear the brunt of religious fervour?
- INDONESIA: Indonesia launches campaign to end female genital mutilation practices
- NIGERIA: 20 million women and girls have undergone FGM
- MALAYSIA: Muslim doctors against female circumcision
- SINGAPORE: Singapore under pressure over female genital cutting of babies
- UGANDA: Sabiny women blame FGM for frigidity in bed
Forced Marriage & Honour Killing
- WORLD: Every seven seconds, a girl under 15 is forced into marriage, Save the Child report finds
- BELGIUM: Belgium goes on the offensive against forced marriages
- CAMBODIA: Survivors of rape and forced marriage seek justice in Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge trials
- CAMEROON: New rules to help end child marriage in Cameroon
- IRELAND: The government is finally outlawing forced marriage
- NIGERIA: How alleged forced marriage is causing ripples in Katsina
- PAKISTAN: Pakistan closes loophole allowing killers to go free
- SRI LANKA: Eliminate harmful practices of early and forced marriages – UN to Sri Lanka
- SYRIA and LEBANON: Syrian girls pushed into child marriage in Lebanese camps
- UNITED STATES: Unchained at Last founded by ex-Orthodox Jewish bride aids women and girls to flee forced marriages
Activism
- AFGHANISTAN: Sonita, the Afghan teen who raps to end child marriage
- BRAZIL: Maria da Penha: the woman who changed Brazil’s domestic violence laws
- CANADA: Man up, P.E.I.! Campaign launches to end violence against women
- MEXICO: Mexican journalist who braved death threats and torture will speak at OLLU for Domestic Violence Awareness Month
- NIGERIA: Lagos State Government to tackle violence against women through the arts
- SPAIN: Using festive events to tackle violence against women
- SPAIN: Domestic abuse charity provides women with dogs to protect them from abusive partners
- UNITED KINGDOM: LSE helps UN in tackling violence against women
- UNITED STATES: National Domestic Violence Awareness Month – around 4000 women have died from domestic violence in the past year
- ZIMBABWE: Zim woman tackles violence against women, nominated to IAW Global Board