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Women's RightsStop the Mistreatment of Women
UNICEF-USA launched a special Web feature to provide the latest news and updates on its humanitarian Relief efforts in Kosovo, and in neighboring countries where tens of thousands of refugees continue to flee toward safety. This Kosovo site features official UNICEF press releases and status reports, information on UNICEF's relief efforts in the region, an Alert! mailing list to join to keep up to date on critical issues affecting children around the world, and a secure online donation form where visitors can help provide urgently needed assistance. The site launches in conjunction with the first UNICEF airlifts of needed medical supplies to the tens of thousands of Kosovars seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Included are emergency health kits to meet the needs of 40,000 persons over three months; 2,000 children's blankets; large quantities of oral rehydration salts to treat diarrhea; water purification tablets; water testing kits; and syringes.
The Red Cross is also accepting monetary donations for Kosovo Relief. Call 1-800-564-1234 x 381 for details.
Under Taliban rule,
women who used to be free to go where they pleased, participate in school and
government, and work in their desired profession are now forced to stay in their
homes unless escorted by a close male relative. When they do go out they must
wear a head-to-toe covering garment. They are barred from working, attending school,
and even wearing shoes that make noise - and anything else that may attract attention
to them. They cannot teach their daughters to read. They cannot be attended by
a male doctor, and since female doctors are no longer allowed to practice, there
is virtually no health care for women. Update! 11/24/01 Since the ousting of the Taliban in Kabul and other major cities in Afghanistan, women are slowly getting their rights back! Still suspicious and frightened, they are generally still wearing the burqa garments. However, little by little, people are talking about starting to wear the clothes that they choose, educating girls again, and getting medical attention. Even the men have regained their right to wear western clothing again instead of the baggy garments they were forced to wear. Original Recommendation Call (888) 93-WOMEN to receive a free "Take-Action" kit from the Feminist Majority Foundation. Economic and social pressures from the U.S. have already helped to keep the U.S and UN from recognizing Afghanistan's official government and may be enough to force the Taliban to stop its criminal policies against women. The "Take Action" kit includes: a fact sheet on gender apartheid, a guide including who to write and what to do, a petition to circulate, and information on how to contribute to support the campaign to fight gender apartheid. (Source: Mavis Leno, board member of Feminist Majority Foundation)
Families are only allowed
to have one child. The government made this law with the intent of lessening the
terrible over-population that has been threatening their economy. However, male
children are highly favored over female children since males will eventually support
their parents and won't require the hight cost of a dowry as daughters would.
This has caused several problems including female infantacide and abandonment.
Recently, several orphanages have been opened specifically to care for abandoned
female children.  China:
Free Rebiya Kadeer ACT NOW! FREE REBIYA KADEER OF CHINA! from "Amnesty International USA -- Raise the Roof!" Ms. Rebiya Kadeer is in a Chinese prison after attempting to attend a meeting requested by U.S. Government employees. Urge the President to demand her release when he is working on normal trade relations with China! ==Please use the talking points below to write a short (it can even be two to three sentences) letter to the President. Talking Points:
BACKGROUND: ==THE CHARGE ==TRIAL & IMPRISONMENT
==TORTURE USED IN THE
REGION ==ABOUT REBIYA ==WRITE The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington DC 20500 ==CALL The White House Comment Line (202) 456-1111 ==FAX (202) 456-2461
It is still common practice especially in rural areas, for brides to be burned or otherwise abused and tortured because the groom or his family are unsatisfied with the dowry they received from the bride's family. And when a woman is
widowed, she is generally brought out to the country and left to fend for herself.
Usually her only means of subsistence is to beg at local monasteries. Professor Wangari Maathai,
and other members of the Greenbelt Movement were beaten with clubs, sticks, whips,
stones and pangas by private security forces when they went to plant trees at
the entrance to the Karura Forest - which has been closed off to the public. The
forest is public land, which has been illegally handed over to private developers.
Prof. Maathai was taken to hospital for stitches and kept under observation -
but was later allowed home. The incident on January 8 was reported in the Sunday
Nation paper, where she was quoted as saying: 'For how long must we keep quiet
as our national heritage is destroyed by self-seekers?' In a further incident
on January 12, rice farmers on the Mwea Irrigation Settlement Scheme were attacked
by police who opened fire in them. Prof. Maathai was part of a delegation who
met with Chief Justice Chesone and Police Commissioner Chesoni - with no result.
The ancient laws of
garbhabat (destruction of life) call for mothers who abandon their children or
who have abortions to be put in jail. These may or may not be just causes. However,
they also put a woman in jail if she has a stillborn child or a miscarriage -
things she has no control over. Authorities take these women and their
living children to jail to serve lengthy jail terms in flea-infested prisons. To help feed and educate the imprisoned children of these persecuted women, write or send donations to Director, PAM Nestling Home, PO Box 1649, Katmandu, Nepal. (Source: Good Housekeeping Magazine)
Update The practice of "honor killing" continues in Pakistan despite the efforts of many to end the practice. Once again, the practice of "honor killings" has made it into the headlines. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has released its annual report on the state of human rights in their country. According to the group, over 1,000 women were victims of honor killings in 1999. "Honor killings" is an extreme form of familial violence against women in which female relatives are killed because there is proof or a suspicion that they have engaged in illicit sexual activity. The practice is widely accepted through the Middle East and Pakistan. According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, the perpetrators of these crimes in Pakistan "continue to find vindication in the eyes of both the law and society." Hina Jilani, Pakistani women's rights activist Hina Jilani, a woman lawyer from Pakistan, is no stranger to the practice of honor killings. She has dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of women in Pakistan. She assists women who need help and protection from their husband and/or family. In recognition of her work, she was recently awarded Amnesty International USA's Ginetta Sagan Fund award. This year, Amnesty International USA's Annual Meeting focuses on international women defenders. Ms. Jilani and her sister founded the first all-female law firm in Pakistan. Among her clients was Samia Sarwar, a woman who was seeking a divorce from her abusive husband. On April 5, 1999, while meeting with Jilani, Sarwar was shot and killed by gunmen who stormed into her law office. Sarwar's parents instigated the attack. They believed that their daughter's divorce would bring shame to the family. Religious groups have repeatedly threatened Ms. Jilani. They accuse her of convincing women to rebel against their families. She is now under the constant protection of police. For the full article and additional links about Honor Killing in Pakistan,go to About.com's Pakistan page. Original report "Purdah" is the practice of keeping women away from men and covered completely while in their presence. Purdah is supposed to protect women by keeping them away from harm, but also succeeds in keeping women home, out of schools, away from employement, and excluded from other types of life-enriching activities. A man will beat his sister for going outside so she won't do it again. Men consider women simple-minded and easily persuaded. In the rural areas,
Purdah is extended into the practice of "honor killing" in which women are killed
if they are even suspected of immoral activities. No proof is necessary. "Immoral
activities" is a broad term that includes, among other things, forbidden love,
marrying without permission, and being alone in public. Honor is only restored
to the family if the offending woman is killed whether she is the killer's wife,
daughter, or sister. If a girl falls in love with someone not approved of by her
father, she is not allowed to see him. If she runs away with her love, they will
both be killed by the girl's family to uphold the family honor. Update 141 members of the House of Representatives signed the letter to the Peruvian government sponsered by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) urging Lori's release. Lori Berenson is a U.S. citizen, human rights activist, and free-lance journalist who was until recently serving a life sentence in Peru following her conviction by a secret, hooded military tribunal, in violation of international law. She has recently been found innocent of charges that she was a member of the MRTA, but has been convicted of collarboration. She had been sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Polygamous communities are still existent in compounds located in Utah. In polygamous communities, men take multiple wives and see their wives and children as their property with no rights, earning power, support, or recourse for abuse. These compunds are breeding grounds for poverty, sexual abuse, and incest forced on women. "There's just no intervention.
And if it reaches the leaders [of the community], they never report it. It's never
reported." admits Utah's Attorney General Jan Graham, "We don't know the full
extent of domestic violence or sexual abuse in any [polygamous] community because
it exists in a climate of secrecy." Organization for
Transitional Intervention from Polygamy (Source: ABC's Dateline and Tapestry of Polygamy) |
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