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THE BELOW (updated 12 MAR 2022)
When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi
figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da
qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so
called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali
Al Jazeera
02 May 2022
<<Al Jazeera wins record eight Drum Online Media Awards
AJ Contrast immersive scoops Grand Prix jury prize and two first places;
AJ Digital shares three top prizes with AJE’s 101 East for This is
Myanmar’s State of Fear.>>
Read more here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/2/al-jazeera-wins-record-eight-drum-online-media-awards
Comment by Gino d'Artali:
As the readers of Cryfreedom.net know Al Jazeera is one of my most
respected source from which I quote from almost daily. With winning
these awards I give them a standing ovation!
The Guardian
11 May 2022
By Angela Giuffrida in Rome
<<Italy’s elite mountain troops face inquiry over harassment claims
More than 100 women claim they were groped, catcalled and verbally
abused during annual Alpini parade.
Italy’s defence minister has called for an investigation after more than
100 women reported being sexually harassed during an annual parade held
by Italy’s elite mountain troops, the Alpini, last weekend.
The women, many of whom were working in bars and restaurants, claimed
they were groped, catcalled and verbally abused during the event in
Rimini, which was attended by about 75,000 Alpini veterans and serving
members.
Non Una di Meno, a feminist alliance, said it had so far heard
allegations of harassment from 150 women, some of whom have made formal
complaints to the police. <There are numerous reports of harassment and
catcalling by Alpine troops, mostly drunk, against women of all ages,>
Non Una di Meno said in a statement. <Even more severe is the harassment
suffered in the workplace by women who couldn’t respond in kind or
escape this violence.> The accusations of harassment have sparked a
political debate, with the defence minister, Lorenzo Guerini, describing
them as <very serious>. <These episodes will certainly have to be
investigated by the competent authorities. There must be zero tolerance.
Harass-ment and violence must never, under any circumstances, be
justified and must be condemned without hesitation,> he said.
Established in 1872 to protect Italy’s northern borders, the Alpini is
the oldest and most active mountain regiment in the world. Its troops
are recognised by their distinctive green hats with raven feathers.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League, said that while it
was correct to condemn harassment if it had occurred, the <glorious
Alpine corps> should not be singled out as a symbol of <violence and
vulgarity>. <The Alpini have always been an example of generosity,
sacrifice and respect,> he added. <If someone has made a mistake, then
it is right that he should pay. But hands off the history and future of
the Alpine troops.> >>
Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/11/italy-alpini-elite-mountain-troops-face-inquiry-harassment-claims
Al Jazeera
10 May 2022
<<Mexico: Women march to demand justice, answers for disappeared.
Thousands take to the streets of Mexico City amid a worsening wave of
violence and enforced disappearances nationwide.
Thousands of women in Mexico have spent Mother’s Day marching in the
nation’s sprawling capital, chanting and carrying pictures of their
missing relatives, to demand accountability amid a worsening surge in
violence. <Where are they, where are they? Our children, where are
they?> the women shouted on Tuesday as they demonstrated with supporters
along Mexico City’s main avenue under the banner, <March for National
Dignity>. Protesters blocked traffic while pumping their fists and
chanting, <What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!> According
to the United Nations, more than 95,000 people in Mexico were officially
registered as disappeared as of November 26, 2021, while the National
Register of Disappeared Persons says 8,000 new cases were reported
annually over the past five years. Relatives of Mexico’s disappeared
march every year, but this year, they were joined by a caravan of
Central American mothers searching for loved ones who went missing while
on their journey to the United States. Their protest began in the
southern Mexican city of Tapachula, often the first city migrants reach
on their way north.
Precise figures on the violence migrants face in Mexico are difficult to
come by, but rights groups monitoring towns along the US-Mexico border
say they are exposed to kidnapping, torture, rape and other violent
attacks. Araceli Hernandez, 50, from the Mexican city of Guadalajara,
has photos of her daughter Vanessa and son Manuel, in their 20s, on an
altar in her home. She has not heard from them since 2017, when first
Vanessa disappeared. Her brother disappeared while searching for her.
<They had been missing for about four months when I grabbed a backpack,
some bottles of water, a wooden stick and started walking in the hills,>
Hernandez told the AFP news agency. She joined the growing number of
mothers who have formed nationwide associations that comb the
countryside for clandestine graves that might hold their children’s
remains.
<It’s my mission as a mother,> she said.
Read more here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/10/mexico-women-march-to-demand-justice-answers-for-disappeared
Al Jazeera
9 May 2022
By Jaclynn Ashly
<<LONG READ
The Kenyan mothers fighting to end police brutality. Mothers whose sons
were killed by police have united to fight for justice and protect other
young men. Nairobi, Kenya – Victor was the first to be shot. The bullet
entered his stomach, exiting from his back; his intestines fell out. He
screamed his brother Bernard’s name. When Bernard raced over to save
him, he too was shot. His head exploded, killing him instantly. In just
seconds, the world of their mother Benna Buluma collapsed. It was August
9, 2017. The two youths, aged 24 and 22, were returning from work to
their home in Mathare, one of Nairobi’s largest slums. Victor worked in
construction and Bernard as a tailor. A massive protest had erupted at
the time, against alleged fraud in Kenya’s general elections and had
made its way to Mathare. Victor and Bernard struggled to make it home
amid the tensions. The brothers stopped to speak with other youths in
Mathare, when suddenly police opened fire with live bullets, sending
them frantically running. Victor and Bernard joined the dozens of
victims of police killings in the capital city during election violence
that season.
<My life was torn apart,> says 50-year-old Buluma, known locally as
“Mama Victor”. A photo of Victor hangs next to a worn stuffed bunny, on
the metal sheets that serve as walls in her tiny home in Mathare,
nestled within a narrow alleyway. <My sons’ lives were taken as if they
meant nothing,> she says, eyes glassy, as her leg shakes. For three
weeks, Buluma was unable to retrieve their bodies from the morgue,
lacking funds for the burials. Her sons left behind two small children,
who Buluma now cares for after their young wives, over-whelmed from the
stress, deserted them. Buluma’s traumatised daughter also disappeared,
while her son remains too distraught to work, years after the tragedy.
Buluma’s despair, however, gave way to anger. In July 2018, at an annual
pro-democracy rally in the city called Saba Saba, Buluma found the
strength to fight back. She attended the event with other mothers of
victims of police killings. An activist asked the mothers if one of them
would be willing to speak. <Many mothers have never spoken publicly
about what happened to their sons,> Buluma tells Al Jazeera, her hands
gently clasped together on her lap. <They have been threatened that if
they report it or publicly talk about it the same officers who killed
their sons will come for them or their other children.>
‘There was nothing left to fear’
At that moment, Buluma overcame her fears. Her voice boomed over the
hushed crowd, as she revisited each painful detail of her sons’ killings
and the anguish that continued to consume her.
<I knew that if I didn’t speak now then all these mothers who have lost
their children will never get justice,> Buluma recalls. <If I don’t
speak, my grandchildren could meet the same fate as Victor and Bernard …
They already killed my sons. There was nothing left to fear.> >>
Read more here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/5/9/the-kenyan-mothers-fighting-to-end-police-brutality
The Guardian
2 May 2022
<<Global development is supported by
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
By Fiona Kelliher
The Friday wives: how a quiet picket grew to push for change in
Cambodia. After years facing arrest and violence as they fought for
their loved ones, a group of women became a rare voice of defiance. The
night that six Cambodian police officers dragged Prum Chantha’s teenage
son out of their home for criticising the government in a group chat,
she was so distraught that her neighbours insisted on sleeping on her
floor to watch over her. Her husband was already one of more than 100
activists and politicians charged with alleged treason or incitement
against Cambodia’s ruling party. Now Kak Sovannchhay, a 16-year-old with
autism whose crime was defending his father on Telegram, would join him
in Prey Sar prison. But within a week, Chantha returned to the ritual
she had started a year earlier, walking the streets of Phnom Penh with
her petition. <I can’t be weak. I have to stand up for myself,> says
Chantha. For two years, she has led a group of women – sometimes just a
dozen – to picket Phnom Penh’s courts and international embassies,
facing arrest and violence as they demand the release of their family
members. Chantha’s son, who was arrested in June 2021, came home after
five months in prison but her husband is still awaiting his case, one of
four mass trials against opposition leaders and supporters that many see
as Prime Minister Hun Sen’s attempt to stamp out growing dissent to his
37 years of rule. Chantha’s group, a rare voice of defiance in Cambodia,
are known as the <Friday wives> for their weekly protests. <Physically,
they’re putting their lives and their bodies on the line,> says Theary
Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and activist who is facing her own
ongoing court proceedings.
<Here are 20 women with no weapons, holding signs, wearing T-shirts of
their loved ones, being assaulted left and right.> On a sweltering April
morning the women wore wide-brimmed hats and white T-shirts bearing
photos of their jailed family members as they marched down a busy road
to sit on the grass verge outside the Australian embassy in Phnom Penh.
On 3 May, the closing arguments are expected at a hearing for about 60
of 130 activists whom the state has been prosecuting since 2020.>>
Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/02/cambodia-friday-wives-pioneers-for-change
Al Jazeera
1 May 2022
By Ope Adetayo
<<LONG READ
Features
Women's Right
The radio show championing justice for abuse victims in Nigeria
With the help of pro-bono lawyers, the show Silent Voices exposes
perpetrators and helps support women and child victims of violence and
exploitation.
Plateau, Nigeria – In 2017, Precious’s* husband was killed in a road
accident. Four months later, his brother stopped by to visit Precious at
her home in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state. It was around 2pm and
Precious was doing laundry outside in the compound of the house she had
shared with her husband and their three children. At first, she thought
it was an ordinary visit to pay condolences. But her brother-in-law was
behaving strangely. He demanded food and sat in the living room watching
television. As evening approached, Precious asked him when he was
planning to leave. <Why should I leave?> he replied. <Don’t you know I
have come to sleep with you as is custom? I have come to claim [my]
inheritance.> Precious was shocked. <Inheritance of what?> she asked
him. <Table, chair, rug?> They argued and when he still refused to
leave, Precious sought the help of her neighbours. But as her
brother-in-law was forced to leave, he warned that he would make her
pay. Soon after, it became clear how. <I was summoned to the [in-law’s]
village and the judgement was that all the money they spent at my
husband’s burial, I should return it,> Precious says. They banished her
from her husband’s land and seized the property. Her staunch refusal to
be <inherited> by her brother-in-law – a custom in some communities in
northern Nigeria – set her on a collision course with her husband’s
family and an ingrained centuries-old tradition. Distrustful of the
police and unsure of how to navigate the justice system, Precious did
not know where to turn for help. But then, last year, she heard a radio
programme where women called in to report abuses against them. Silent
Voices
Silent Voices is a radio show on Jay FM, a station based in the business
district of Jos, the capital of Plateau state, that reaches tens of
thousands of listeners across Plateau, Bauchi and Kaduna states.
Since October 2020, the show’s host, Nanji Nandang, has used the weekly
programme to help women and minors who are victims of violence and abuse
seek justice. Before launching the show, 31-year-old Nandang helped
pioneer Pidgin News at Jay FM after encountering some local women
traders who said they could not listen to the news because they did not
understand what the newscasters were saying. So Nandang set about
incorporating Pidgin English – a medley of English syntax and local
linguistic varieties, which is more accessible to a wider variety of
listeners – into the station’s broadcasting. Silent Voices broadcasts in
both English and Pidgin English. And each month, between seven to 10
victims like Precious reach out to the station in search of Nandang’s
help. But exposing perpetrators and helping get justice for victims is
no small feat. When Nandang started the programme, the COVID-19 pandemic
was creating a <shadow pandemic> of sexual and gender-based violence. A
United Nations Women report revealed that at least 48 percent of
Nigerian women have been victims of violence since the pandemic began.
Nandang knew she needed to partner with someone who could help take up
the victims’ cases so she reached out to the Plateau chapter of the
International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), a non-profit women
lawyers’ association helping women access justice pro-bono.
Together with FIDA, Nandang has taken up several cases and helped get
justice for women and children who might otherwise have remained
unheard.
‘Success stories’
At Silent Voices, a case usually begins with someone reaching out to the
show. Nandang and FIDA then investigate the case and find a way to solve
it. At the end of the process – which can include legal mediation or
even court proceedings – the person who submitted the original report is
brought back onto the show to recount their journey for listeners.
Primarily, what Nandang airs are the <success stories> – where survivors
of violence have already been helped. The stories of these <solved>
cases are aired weekly, while lawyers, crime experts and psychologists
are brought in to discuss topics including preservation of evidence and
how to navigate trauma. Nandang’s aim in sharing their experiences is to
galvanise other women and child victims to seek her out, so they can get
help too.
But the challenges can be daunting.
While Nigeria’s constitution guarantees that <every citizen shall have
equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law>, in
practice it is not always the case, and women are often on the receiving
end of entrenched traditional practices that do not always protect their
rights.>>
Read more here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/5/1/the-radio-show-championing-justice-for-abuse-victims-in-nigeria
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