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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
Read all about the Zan, zendagi, azadi!> (Women,
life, freedom) women revolution in Iran by clicking here
The Guardian
20 Feb 2023
Supported by Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation
By Caroline Kimeu in Nairobi
<<Kenyan senator targeted by online threats after period poverty protest
A Kenyan politician has become the subject of a vicious online hate
campaign after she protested against period poverty by sitting through a
senate meeting in clothing stained with fake menstrual blood. Senator
Gloria Orwoba was asked to leave halfway through the session after her
fellow parliamentarians requested the speaker eject her for supposedly
violating the house's <dress code>.
Orwoba, the nominated senate leader, is campaigning for free sanitary
towel provision and is planning to introduce a bill in the coming
months. She says well-intentioned female colleagues rushed to help her
<cover up> when she arrived at the parliament buildings in Nairobi in a
stained white trouser suit. <I think for all of them, it was in good
faith,> she said. <But I also think it's because the first thing that we
have been taught is that periods are dirty and shouldn't be seen.> The
incident, which she says she didn't expect to reach beyond the Senate,
prompted debate about period stigma and access to menstrual products. A
number of women, as well as rights and menstrual health organisations,
rallied behind Orwoba for her <bold> and <powerful advocacy> for girls
from disadvantaged backgrounds. One user tweeted: <If this makes you
uncomfortable, it's a mission accomplished. It's supposed to sting like
that until we have free sanitary towels for girls.> The advocacy group
Global Citizen Africa also tweeted support, saying: <Breaking the period
stigma is crucial to ending period poverty.> But some labeled her
actions <shameful> or dismissed them as <theatrics>. As well as online
messages questioning her credentials as a leader, Orwoba was targeted by
severe cyberbullying and threats of sexual violence, and said she is
thinking about taking a social media break <until temperatures come
down>. Kenya has seen extreme incidents of period shaming. In 2019, a
14-year-old girl killed herself after a teacher reportedly shamed her
when she stained her uniform on her first period. Stigma pushes many
girls to skip school when menstruating. Kenya scrapped taxes on period
products in 2004 and in 2017 introduced a law requiring the government
to provide them free to schoolgirls. However, due to an insufficient
budget and corruption in distribution channels, only a small percentage
of girls were assisted through the programme. Orwoba says that while the
law exists, budgets and procurement need to be revised to increase local
production and meet girls' needs. Ministry of Health figures from 2020
suggest that only about 65% of women and girls in urban areas, and 46%
in rural areas have access to disposable menstrual pads. More than half
of women and girls in Kenya cannot afford monthly menstrual products,
with almost 20% turning to homemade options such as toilet paper or
cloth. Inflation has seen the cost of pads nearly double this year,
putting feminine hygiene products further out of reach. A petition
calling for lowered prices - launched by Dial a pad, an NGO promoting
access to feminine hygiene products in Africa - has more than 4,000
signatures.>>
Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/feb/20/kenyan-senator-gloria-orwoba-online-threats-period-poverty-protest
The Guardian
16 Feb 2023
By Helen Davidson in Taipei
<<Journalist held without trial in China said to need urgent medical
attention
Advocates for a Chinese journalist and activist who has been held in
detention without trial for almost 18 months have said she needs urgent
medical attention. Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing, a labour rights
activist, were detained in September 2021 and formally arrested a month
later. They have been accused of inciting subversion of state power, and
held in Guangzhou without access to family or law-yers. Advocates and
human rights groups have said the pair should never have been arrested.
This week they said information had been brought to them that raised
concerns about Huang’s health in parti-cular. They said they were told
she has lost a lot of weight, stopped menstruating, and is suffering
from untreated long-term conditions and deficiencies. <It is of great
concern that these conditions, if not treated promptly and
appropriately, have the potential to gradually cause permanent damage to
the body,> they said. The advocates also accused authorities of <trying
to exert mental pressure and physical torture> of Huang, through
repeatedly waking her at night for interrogation and depriving her of
sleep. <These circumstances are only the tip of the iceberg of what we
can learn about Huang Xueqin's detention situation,> the advocates said.
<Due to the inability to learn more about Xueqin's current appointment
of official lawyers, it is difficult for us to obtain information on her
physical and mental health and the progress of the case.> The Guardian
contacted the Guangzhou No 2 detention centre, but an employee said he
was not aware of the case and declined to comment. Huang is an
independent journalist and was a prominent voice of the #MeToo movement
in China. She and Wang were detained at Wang's house shortly before
Huang was scheduled to leave China for the UK to begin a master's at the
University of Sussex. Dozens of their friends and contacts were
questioned by public security officials in subse-quent weeks, in a
manner the US-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders organisation
described as harassment and interrogation.
<Those interrogated shared afterward that authorities downloaded the
contents of their smartphones for investigation and pressured them to
sign fabricated testimonies asserting that Huang and Wang had organised
gatherings at Wang's apartment to discuss politically sensitive topics,>
the organisation said. William Nee, a researcher at the organisation,
said the latest news of Huang's health was <alarming>. <She should never
have been detained in the first place, but this now adds extra urgency
for the Chinese government to release her,> Nee said. He said Huang was
a <victim of incommunicado detention, which is a gross human rights
violation>.>>
Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/16/journalist-held-without-trial-china-urgent-medical-attention-huang-xueqin
France 24
14 Feb 2023
<<In Nigerian elections, women battle against the odds
Abuja (AFP) - When Tolulope Akande-Sadipe decided to run for a second
term to represent her constituency in Nigeria's parliament, she knew her
life could be in danger. During the last elections in 2019, when former
army general Muhammadu Buhari won the presidency for a second and last
term allowed by the constitution, her campaign bus was destroyed and her
media aides attacked. This year, she said, she narrowly escaped an
assault while campaigning at a primary event for her party -- the same
as Buhari's -- where she was competing against five men. <Electoral
violence is very real. And it's more so targeted at me because I am a
woman, and those responsible feel they can intimidate me,> said the
56-year-old from southwest Oyo state. Africa's most populous democracy
has among the lowest number of women in office in the world, and the
number of those seeking to succeed Buhari or aiming for local and
national offices has fallen since 2019. Women are running for just 10
percent of State Assembly seats, nine percent of House seats, eight
percent of Senate seats and six percent of governor roles. And only one
woman, Princess Chichi Ojei, is vying for the presidency, although her
score against 17 male rivals is expected to be minor compared to those
of the three leading the February 25 race in opinion polls. They are
Bola Tinubu, 70, of the governing All Progressives Congress; Atiku
Abubakar, 76, of the Peoples Democratic Party, the main opposition
group; and Peter Obi, the 61-year-old outsider candidate from the Labour
Party.
'Patriarchy'
Women played a determining role in building Nigeria's modern state,
mobilising against the British colonial administration and later against
military rule, said Chiedo Nwankwor, a professor at Johns Hopkins
University. <Once those movements succeeded, women were put aside...
(and) structures were put in place to privilege nation-building,> she
said. This legacy lingers in Nigeria, where religious conservatism holds
sway in the mostly Christian south and in the predominantly Muslim
north, said Mercy Ette, a Nigerian researcher at the University of
Leeds. <If you're a good Christian woman, or if you're a good Muslim
woman, you should submit... and politics is about 'stepping out', she
said, referring to putting oneself on display. <So you can imagine that
a woman who is really committed to her faith would not want to go
against those norms.> Ingrained cultural and religious beliefs also mean
many women in Nigeria are not fully supportive of female candidates,
whom they struggle to see as potential leaders. <Even among the very
educated, patriarchy is very strong in Nigeria,> said Akande-Sadipe.
<It's unbelievable.> But while the percentage of women running in
elections -- let alone winning -- is still low, some say acceptance of
female candidates is growing. In Niger state, an area wracked by gang
violence, Khadijah Abdullahi Iya is running for governor, a posi-tion
that has never been held by a woman anywhere in the country.
<The mindset is changing, more so because of the deplorable state in
which people find themselves in... People are at a breaking point (and)
they feel that women have the compassion (needed) to heal their pain,>
the 48-year-old told AFP.>>
Read more here:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230214-in-nigerian-elections-women-battle-against-the-odds
BBC
By Zoya Mateen BBC News, Delhi
9 Feb 2023
<<Assam: India child brides desperate after mass arrests
Momina Khatun is convinced she is cursed.
She's one of hundreds of women in the north-eastern Indian state of
Assam who married under the age of 18 - and are now stuck in limbo after
their husbands were arrested in a crackdown on child marriage.
The state government claims it wants to eradicate the illegal prac-tice,
but Ms Khatun and other women whose husbands are in custody say they
have been left helpless. Ms Khatun, who is expecting a baby, didn't have
an easy start in life, but marriage turned out better than she expected.
Her father remarried when she was eight. A few months later her mother
abandoned her too, leaving her to live with her paternal aunt in a tiny
village in the state. <Life was difficult there. I was treated like I
was a burden to her family,> Ms Khatun said. Last year, when her aunt's
family decided to get her married at the age of 17, she was delirious
with fear. <We were always told that the man we marry will determine the
quality of our life. I was young and worried what would happen if my
husband was a bad person.> But Yakub Ali, the farmer she married, turned
out to be a kind man who took away the <loneliness and replaced it with
genuine love and affection>, Ms Khatun said. <There wasn't much, we were
poor. At least there was peace.> But their happiness was short-lived. On
4 February, Mr Ali was arrested from their home and charged with
marrying Ms Khatun when she was a minor. A week on, the 22-year-old
remains in custody. Ms Khatun, who is seven months pregnant, has not
been able to meet her husband since his arrest.
<Where do I go? I have no one. My child and I will die hungry and
lonely,> she said. Ms Khatun and hundreds of other women in Assam have
been protesting after their male relatives were arrested in con-nection
with cases of child marriage. More than 8,100 people have been named in
police complaints so far, including the parents of grooms and priests
who performed the marriage ceremonies. It was not immediately clear how
the police arrived at the figures - the BBC has contacted officials for
comment - but at least 2,500 people have been arrested since last week.
Women like Ms Khatun see the action as a <cruel interference in their
lives>.>>
Read more here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64564861
The Guardian
9 Feb 2023
Global development is supported by
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
By Haroon Janjuan in Islamabad
<<Protests and fury at Pakistan's 'rape epidemic' after woman attacked
in city park
The gang-rape of a woman in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, has sparked
furious protests at the country’s “rape epidemic” and the culture of
impunity that surrounds violence against women. The 24-year-old was
walking with a male colleague through Fatima Jinnah park - known locally
as F-9 park, the city's largest - at about 8pm last Thursday when they
were attacked by two armed men. The man was chased away and the woman
raped. The attackers told the woman that she should not have been in the
park at that time of night, and threatened to call their friends to
assault her again if she spoke about the incident. Sources from the
medical team involved with the case said the woman had clear marks of
torture on her legs and face. Hundreds of people protested in the park
this week over the police handling of the assault and demanded the
arrest of the attackers. The crime also triggered widespread anger on
social media. <Horrified to hear of rape at gunpoint in F9 park which is
full of families and kids esp on weekends. Why our public spaces are not
safe for all citizens? Why is there no security at Islamabad's biggest
park?> journalist Sana Jamal wrote on Twitter. The victim is now in a
secure location, but is said to be concerned about her safety after
activists claimed police leaked her name, profession and contact number
to reporters. <The negligence from police is evident - [they are] not
taking the case seriously and have failed to arrest the culprits, even
a week after the incident,> said Farzana Bari, a women's rights
activist. <This is not the first incident in this park and police should
take it seriously,> she added, referring to an occasion in 2018 when a
woman was raped by a park worker. <It is their responsibility to make
public places safer for women.> Bari, also the civil society member of
the police investigation committee, said: <Local media is insensitive
and ratings driven; they should have not revealed the personal details
of the victim.> On Tuesday the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (Pemra), an independent regulatory body, prohibited
television channels from airing news or reports on the case to protect
the woman's identity.>>
Read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/feb/09/pakistan-rape-epidemic-woman-attacked-park-islamabad
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