Dear Working Group Members,
You have sent many suggestions for resources to the Working Group. We have
compiled them here for the period 15-21 July 2002. We hope these resources
will be useful in your efforts to end violence against women.
Thanks again for all your messages!
Warm regards,
the Moderators
******************
RESOURCES SUBMITTED TO
THE END-VIOLENCE WORKING GROUP
15 - 21 JULY 2002
Contents
A. ARTICLES/NEWS
1. Horrific "honor crimes" pervade Pakistan
2. Iran: Sharp Rise in Women's Depression, Suicide and Escape from Home
B. CAMPAIGNS
3. International Day of Peace Vigil (21 September 2002)
C. PUBLICATIONS
4. Call for Papers: "The Sixth International Conference on Dowry, Bride-
Burning and Son-Preference"
************************************************************
A. ARTICLES/NEWS
1.
DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK: Human rights and cyber-rights news
Horrific "honor crimes" pervade Pakistan
by Zahida Pirani, Digital Freedom Network
(July 16, 2002) On June 22, a tribal council in Meerwala, in the Punjab
province of Pakistan, ordered the gang-rape of an 18-year-old woman named
Mukhtar Bibi. The "punishment" was intended to cast shame upon the woman's
family after her 11-year-old brother insulted the affluent Mastoi tribe by
having an alleged affair with one of the tribe's divorced women.
The Mastoi elders who make up the council ordered that the woman be
gang-raped and immediately released back to her village, stripped of
clothing. The Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, reported that in addition to
destroying her family's honor, the council members planned the assault to
possibly cover-up their previous crime of sodomizing the brother which
would most likely result in harsher penalization.
Biased policies and customs
Although this is the first time that rape has been carried out under the
mandate of a tribal council, it is not the first time that such a council
has assumed unlawful powers. According to a press release by Amnesty
International, village councils are not part of the Pakistani judicial
system and, in the past, "have illegally tried and sentenced people to
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment."
The institution, which commonly consists of tribal elders, is rooted in
traditional forms of conflict resolution through mediation of local
disputes. A tribal council, or local "panchayat," has no legal standing or
uniform legislation governing it, thus accounting for its complete
inconsistency in the decree of punishment. In addition, village "panchayat"
often consist of land-owning clans made up of men who discriminate against
women and poorer tribes such as that of Bibi's family.
In response to the brutal rape of Bibi, various human rights organizations
have blamed Pakistani authorities for failing to prevent village councils
from taking the law into their own hands. Domestic and international groups
have also accused the Pakistani government and its criminal justice system
as complicit actors in honor crimes. Pakistani leader, General Pervez
Musharraf, has recognized the problem of human rights abuses against women
in the past and has fervently claimed that honor killings are viewed by the
government as murder, insisting that they "do not find any place in our
religion or law."
However, the state has done little to disassociate the commodification of
women and their "honor" in criminal practice. As a result, chauvinistic
policies and legal customs contribute to a broader cultural framework that
trivializes the crimes committed against women, including rape.
Deterrence from reporting violence
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report entitled "Crime or Custom: Violence
Against Women in Pakistan" documents the bias against female victims of
violence which "pervades all facets of the Pakistani criminal justice
system. From the initial lodging of complaints until the final resolution
of cases, women seeking redress for sexual and other assault regularly
confront law enforcement institutions and officials with hostile, or at
best indifferent, attitudes to their complaints."
Often, police, prosecutors, judges, and even doctors deny the occurrence of
rape and domestic violence in Pakistani culture, often dismissing crimes
against women as "family matters" which should not require the intervention
of a public justice system.
Several hundred local residents watched as a village council ordered an
18-year-old girl to be gang raped.
HRW has also reported that the compliance of police has been a major factor
in perpetuating the general attitude toward honor crimes. In the case of
Bibi, several hundred local residents watched as the village council passed
her "sentence." Amnesty International has confirmed that "given the wide
local participation, it must be assumed that local police was aware of the
event as it unfolded, if not directly present during the incident."
Local police did not accept the complaint filed by Bibi's father until a
week after the incident had passed and a delegation of lawyers complained
to local authorities. HRW states that constant rejection of women's
complaints "is the most common problem encountered by women victims of
violence at the police station. In fact, the reputation of police is so
uniformly bad in this respect that many women are deterred from reporting
violence and consider contacting the police to be a futile endeavor."
Other problems with law enforcement officials include harassment and abuse
of victims, inadequate and improper investigations, and lack of information
and access to the medicolegal system.
Perception of women in Pakistan
Pressure from domestic and international groups following Bibi's case has
forced the state government and Pakistani Supreme Court to denounce and
prosecute the village council members and local police. However, drastic
changes cannot occur until the perception of women in the country changes.
Honor killings and crimes occur under particular conceptions of women's
behavior and sexuality. Once a woman's prescribed behavior is violated
either intentionally (in the case of adultery or divorce) or
unintentionally (in the case of rape), her honor and the honor of her
family, particularly the men in the family, come into question.
A judge in Karachi interpreted the Koran to allow a husband to beat his wife.
The Amnesty International report entitled, "Pakistan: Insufficient
Protection of Women" points out that even Pakistani women have "to some
extent internalized norms of 'honor' and are known to have approved of or
assisted in killings of other women in the context of 'honor.'"
Misogynous interpretations of the Qur'an and Islamic law have also
contributed to a particularly demeaning perception of women. The HRW report
documents a particular case in which a Karachi judge incorrectly
interpreted a particular Qur'anic verse as permitting a husband to beat his
wife. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has stated that a lack of
women's education in Pakistan on basic civil and religious rights allows
such attitudes to prevail among both men and women.
Dr. Fouzia Saeed, a well-known human rights activist in Pakistan, points
out, that the empowerment of women lies in defeating conventional cultural
mentalities: "We must condemn institutional acceptance of women symbolizing
honor and the routine rape and killing of women being carried out to
dishonor or restore honor of families."
Copyright (c) 2002 Digital Freedom Network (http://dfn.org). All rights
reserved. This article may be reproduced or redistributed for online
not-for-profit use without prior written consent as long as DFN is
recognized with this credit.
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2. Iran: Sharp Rise in Women's Depression, Suicide and Escape from Home
Twenty years of illegitimate, repressive rule of the mullahs in Iran
is now delivering its evil offspring. Unable to resolve the problems
and respond to the need of a growing, young society like Iran, the
mullahs who usurped the leadership of the Iranian people's revolution
in February 1979, reported to widespread and brutal suppression of
all freedoms, for which the nation had revolted against and toppled
the shah.
Now the country, once boasting of one of the hospitable people in the
Middle East, is grappling with a new crisis of dreadful dimensions.
Prevalent depression, widespread addiction, world's highest rate of
suicide attempts, a growing sector of run-away children and girls,
human trafficking, etc. are among numerous social abnormalities. Here
are some of the figures revealed in a few seminars held recently on
these issues.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society announced on June 1:
"One in every four women in Iran suffers from mental depression."
(Ressalat daily, June 1).
According to the studies of the Research Institutions at Tehran
University, one third of Iranian women suffer violence during their
life. They do not file suits in courts because they are scared,
ashamed and know that the laws only benefit men. (Aftab daily, June 6)
At the same time, it was announced at a government-sponsored
conference in Tehran that "Approximately 20,000 people commit suicide
in Tehran every year, 650 of whom die." (Kayhan daily, June 3)
These figures confirm previous statistics from official sources which
said that Iran has the highest rate of suicide attempts in the world,
with 200 persons in every 100,000 heads of population.
State-run dailies have recently reported on "collection of 50 to 60
run-away girls in Tehran," "20,000 runaway girls wandering in Tehran"
and "an annual rise of 12 percent in the number of runaway girls in
Tehran." According to the same sources, the average age of women in
"200 to 250 houses of corruption [brothels] in Tehran is between 16
to 18" and their number "rises by 10 to 15 percent every year."
(Entekhab and Azad dailies, June 1)
One of the Iranian regime's welfare officials said: "There are
300,000 active prostitutes in Iran and there are no facilities for
rehabilitation. One million and 700,000 women are without shelter and
support." (Siasat-e Rouz daily, June 9)
Source: Monthly Bulletin of the Women's Committee of the National Council of
Resistance of Iran, June 2002
--------------
B. CAMPAIGNS
3. International Day of Peace Vigil (21 September 2002)
Dear Friend of Peace,
Last year, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a
resolution (55/282) designating 21 September of each year as an
International Day of Peace. The intention of the resolution is to have
all Member States observe a full day of global ceasefire and
nonviolence. All people and organizations are invited to commemorate the
day in an appropriate manner. (A copy of the full resolution is attached.)
Thus far, several departments and agencies of the United Nations are
planning official observances by taking practical steps to participate
in the day. To support the International Day of Peace on a spiritual
level, a group of lay persons and NGOs, representing a wide variety of
religious and spiritual traditions, have committed themselves to the
task of working with other like-minded individuals and groups for an
International Day of Peace Vigil with the following objective:
"To encourage the observation of a worldwide, 24-hour Vigil for peace
and non-violence on the International Day of Peace 21 September 2002 in
every house of worship and place of spiritual practice, by all religious
and spiritually based groups and individuals and by all men, women and
children who seek peace in the world."
This global 24-hour Vigil is meant to demonstrate the power of prayer
and other spiritual observations in promoting peace and preventing
violent conflict. These worldwide spiritual vigils will also help raise
public awareness of the International Day of Peace and directly support
the establishment of a global ceasefire. Individuals and groups are
invited to support this global initiative by committing to hold a
24-hour vigil on 21 September 2002.
You and your organization are invited to take part in the International
Day of Peace Vigil. Please take a look at the website: www.idpvigil.com
where you can also see a list of participating organizations. We invite
you to share news and awareness of the IDP Vigil with your constituency
in whatever way you see fit. You may join as an individual or as a
participating organization by registering your commitment on the
International Day of Peace Vigil website at: www.idpvigil.com, or mail
it to: International Day of Peace Vigil, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite
575, New York, NY 10017. Please indicate the name of the individual or
group, a contact person and the number of people participating in your
Vigil. All commitments will be posted on the website unless you indicate
otherwise.
We look forward to your participation in this global collaboration for
peace on 21 September 2002.
May Peace Prevail on Earth.
Sincerely,
George D'Angelo Nickolai Parker
UN Systems Coordinator NGO Coordinator
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
212-963-0665 212-963-0665
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C. PUBLICATIONS
4. Call for Papers: "The Sixth International Conference on Dowry, Bride-
Burning and Son-Preference"
Recent research on dowry-related deaths shows an alarming rate of increase.
Many women are being harassed, maimed and killed despite active campaigns
and legal reforms. This has led to a sense of urgency amongst both
academics and activists. As a result an ongoing series of conferences on
dowry and dowry-
related violence has been organized by the International Society against
Dowry and Bride Burning in India (ISADABBI) in collaboration with the
Universities of Harvard and London (School of Oriental and African Studies,
SOAS). All these conferences have proceeded on two fronts: as a venue for
academic papers and discussion, and as a basis from which to formulate
programs for practical action.
The First International Conference (Harvard Law School, October 1995)
established the primary contexts for dowry-related violence and drafted a six-
point program for action. The issues and implications of this first
conference were further explored at the second (Harvard, 1996), third (SOAS,
1997), fourth (Harvard, 1998) and fifth (Delhi, 1999) conferences.
The Sixth International Conference on Dowry, Bride-Burning and
Son-Preference, originally planned for January 2002, has now been rescheduled
for 3�6 January 2003. As the title indicates, the conference is extending its
brief to include the related topic of son-preference, thus recognising a key
issue in the broader context of violence against women.
Call for Papers
Papers are invited on any of the following approaches:
- Historical studies;
- Textual analysis;
- Legal issues;
- Ethnographies;
- Theoretical perspectives;
- Practical proposals.
Possible topics include:
- Patrilinear inheritance traditions;
- Domestic violence;
- Legal issues;
- Son-preference;
- Gender identity;
- Family structures;
- Dowry in the diaspora context;
- Cross-cultural comparisons.
Abstracts
Please send 100�300 word abstracts (electronic copy) to S�an Hawthorne at the
address below or by email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please indicate whether you
would like your paper to be considered for either the academic or activist
forum.
Deadline: 15 September 2002.
For further information contact:
Conference Organisers, GRR
Department of the Study of Religions
SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
(source: AWID RESOURCE NET)
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