MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Sunday, March 8 – International Women’s Day
April 12-18 – Meet Us On The Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Mukesh Singh, one of the men who gang-raped and murdered a 23 year-old woman in New Delhi in 2012, said: “A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. A decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night.” The murdered woman was with a male friend, who was badly beaten and unable to help her.
Singh said she should not have fought back, “She should just be silent and allow the rape.” Then they would have dropped her off after “doing her” and she would not have been killed. These men penetrated her with a rod which caused the severe internal injuries from which she died 13 days later. The woman and the man who was with her were dumped naked and unconscious at the side of the road after the assault.
The shocking brutality of the attack caused national outrage. The Indian government rushed through legislation criminalizing voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women. Penalties for rape were doubled. The new laws also made it a crime for police officers to refuse to open cases when complaints were made.
One of the rapists was later found dead in prison. Singh and three other attackers were sentenced to death, but their executions have been stayed while their appeals are being considered.
“India’s Daughter,” a documentary about the case made by British filmmaker Leslie Udwin, is scheduled to be aired on International Women’s Day, March 8, on TV channels around the world. However, some authorities in India are threatening legal action to block the airing of the documentary there because of controversy over the interviews Udwin conducted in October 2013 with the assailants at Tijar Jail.
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In eastern Syria, Islamic State “morality police” attacked a woman because her eyes were “too exposed,” and arrested two men who attempted to protect her. Last July, the jihadists passed extreme restrictions on women which require a full face veil, no clothing that “hugs the body,” and covering of women’s hands and feet.
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Thousands of women and girls in Iraq have reportedly been abducted and forced into marriage and sexual slavery by Islamic State fighters.
http://www.walkfree.org/... is a petition which calls on Members of the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Iraq to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
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You’ll never think of a cup of tea in quite the same way after you read this essay on consent from Britain: [http://rockstardinosaurpirateprincess.com/....]
Thanks to Ramara for the link.
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Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, creator of the “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project, has taken her show on the road. The campaign features piercing portraits and quotes from women who have shared their stories of street harassment with her. Originally Fazlalizadeh pasted the posters on walls around her Brooklyn neighborhood, but after a successful Kickstarter, she has been traveling across the United States and some of Mexico to hear stories about how harassment changes with geography.
[http://stoptellingwomentosmile.com]
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NATIONAL NEWS
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), the “dean” of women in the Senate, announced that she will not seek re-election in 2016. Mikulski served five terms in the House of Representatives before she was elected to the Senate in 1986. She is the first woman to chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee from 2012 until the Republicans took control of the Senate in 2014. She is now the ranking Democrat on the committee.
Senator Mikulski stated that she wanted to spend the remainder of her term campaigning for Maryland residents instead for campaigning for re-election. The Senator said: “I want to give 120% of my time focusing on my constituents.”
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U.S. District Judge James Boasberg blocked the Obama administration’s wholesale detention of Central Americans fleeing violence at home. Amidst an influx of asylum seekers from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the Obama administration has been jailing women and children at so-called family detention centers, where immigrants have reported prison-like conditions. Judge Boasberg placed the policy on hold pending a full hearing, saying it "causes irreparable harm," while the administration has presented "little empirical evidence" it deters further immigration. While officials have justified the policy by arguing an ongoing influx of immigrants could threaten national security, Judge Boasberg ruled the "incantation of the magic word 'national security' without further substantiation is simply not enough to justify significant deprivations of liberty." The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of mothers and children they say have fled from extreme violence, rape and death threats. – from Democracy Now
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Here's the updated link to #Not Your Squaw - thanks to elenacarlena
Thank you again to Ramara for this link: http://ajijaakwe.blogspot.com/...
Two clueless “hipster” designers demean Native American women at Fashion Week.
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“The War on Black Women and Children” by Margaret Kimberly (www.blackagendareport.com Freedom Rider Report) details the arresting of black women for enrolling their children in school districts they don’t live in, and other offenses where the punishment seems to far exceed the crime. In Connecticut for example, Tanya McDowell, who was homeless and living in her vehicle, was sentenced to five years in jail for using her babysitter’s address to register her son for school.
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Move On.org Political Action reports on busy Republican lawmakers:
A GOP proposed bill in South Dakota would make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care.
In the Georgia state legislature, a Republican proposal would change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking and domestic violence to “accuser,” while those who report crimes like burglary would remain “victims.”
AND a GOP bill in Congress would allow hospitals to let a woman die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.
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April 12-18 – Meet Us On The Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week
For information on events and resources:
http://www.facebook.com/...
http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/
http://www.ihollaback.org/