This No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) news digest rounds up some of the week’s top FGM & Women’s Rights stories for the week ending 22 January:
European Parliament to hold hearing on the current human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen
Brussels, Belgium and Rome, Italy, 22 Jan 2019
The Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Development of the European Parliament is holding an exchange of views on the current human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen, which will take place on Thursday 24 January at 9.45 – 11.15 am.
This hearing will provide a unique opportunity to hear from leaders and advocates in the field of Justice and Human Rights as we press for an acknowledgement of the alarming deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen and explore how the European Union can contribute to a resolution aimed at ending the fighting in Yemen, easing the suffering of its population and providing accountability for the crimes and atrocities committed.
Panellists will include Kamel Jendoubi, Chairperson of the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen; Lise Grande (videomessage), UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen; Rula Jebreal, award winning journalist, author and foreign policy analyst; arian Sabahi, Ph.D., award winning journalist and lecturer in Politics and Religion at John Cabot University in Rome; Radhya Al-Mutawakel, Yemeni human rights defender, co-founder and chairperson of Mwatana Organization for Human Rights; Regina Egle Liotta Catrambone, Co-founder and Director of Migrants Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).
More sensitisation needed on FGM
Daily Monitor, 22 Jan 2019
Pictures and stories from Sebei sub-region at the weekend indicated some women, reportedly in hundreds, were being prepared to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kween District. The daring incident is a rare one and its occurrence during a non-circumcision season raises eyebrows even more.
Circumcision among the Sabiny in eastern and a section of Karimojong in northeastern Uganda, usually happens after every two years, which elapsed on December 31, 2018. The ritual, which involves partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora, is held as a passage to womanhood.
Forgotten Women: How one Kenyan woman escaped FGM and saved thousands more girls from the cut
The Independent, 21 Jan 2019
When she was eight, Nice Nailantei Leng’ete ran away to avoid being cut. Along with her elder sister, she left her home in the early hours of the morning and hid. When her uncles found the girls, they beat them.
“When I was hiding in the tree I was thinking: will they find me and force me to go through FGM? I saw death because of circumcision and I was worried that I might die, or if I did not die I would not be able to go back to school and I would be married.”
Portugal and violence against women: Significant progress but under-reporting and low rate of convictions
Council of Europe , 21 Jan 2019
In its first report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (“Istanbul Convention”) by Portugal, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) acknowledges the significant commitment of the Portuguese authorities and the progress achieved. However, the report also points out a number of shortcomings and recommends measures to improve the protection of victims, the prosecution of offenders, as well as prevention measures.
Spain’s far right hates not only immigrants, but also women
Aljazeera, 20 Jan 2019
The regional elections in Andalusia last December put an end to 36 years of uninterrupted socialist rule in the most populous region of Spain and laid the foundation for a new right-wing coalition that includes a racist, homophobic and anti-immigration party: Vox (“voice,” Latin).
Founded in 2013 by Santiago Abascal – a 42-year-old Basque who prides himself on traditions such as bullfighting, hunting and carrying a Smith and Wesson gun – Vox is now part of the country’s political establishment after winning nearly 11 percent of the vote and 12 seats in the regional election. Its plan for the region is called the “reconquest” of Spain, alluding to the Reconquista period, when Christian kingdoms reclaimed Muslim-held territory across the Iberian peninsula in the middle ages.
Australians protest violence against women after murder of Israeli student
Times of Israel, 20 Jan 2019
Thousands of protesters in Australia called for an end to violence against women during a march on Sunday, days after the brutal murder of an Israeli student in Melbourne that shocked the country.
Demonstrators called for streets to be made safe for women, after the body of 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe was found in bushes near a tram stop last Wednesday. She was on her way home from a Melbourne comedy club and was speaking to her younger sister in Israel on FaceTime with her cellphone, when she was savagely attacked, shortly after stepping off from a tram in the suburb of Bundoora.
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