New Afghan Law Strips Women and Girls of Hard Won Rights

Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, in a bid to gain support for his faltering Presidential re-election campaign, has signed a law that is reminiscent of the days of Taliban rule. The new law prohibits women from leaving their homes, seeking work, education or visiting the doctor without their husbands’ permission, and forbids them from refusing their husband sex.  According to the UN, the law essentially legalizes rape. It also grants custody of children to fathers and grandfathers only and tacitly approves child marriage.

Female parliamentarians report that the law was passed with unprecedented speed and little debate. Through negotiation they were able to raise the minimum age for marriage from nine years old to sixteen and to outlaw temporary marriage.  They wanted other changes as well, but but little or no discussion was allowed.

So far, the international community has not questioned the new law out of fear of being accused of not respecting Afghan culture. However, women leaders in Afghanistan are hoping that foreign embassies and governments that support Karzai will intervene when the new law is published.

The Equal Sharing of Responsibilities between Women and Men

The annual Commission on the Status of Women took place during the first two weeks of March at the United Nations in New York. This commission was established in 1946 to promote, report on and monitor issues relating to the political, economic, civil, social and educational rights of women. The theme this year was “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS.”

Providing care for children, the sick, the elderly, and the disabled has always been considered women’s work, while men have been expected to be the primary breadwinners for their families.  Even though this traditional division of labor has long been the norm in most societies and cultures, there is a need for change today because there is evidence that this arrangement increases poverty, limits girls’ access to education, negatively impacts the health of women and girls, limits their participation in political decision making and reduces their ability to help their communities cope with climate change. The challenge of caring for those effected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic has compounded these problems.  All of this leaves families, communities and nations worse off.

While the outcome document from CSW 53 still needs to be extensively studied and analyzed, one important result of the commission is already being widely noted and discussed within UN circles. Many believe that CSW 53 has moved the issue of the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men from the private and family sphere into the public square in the same way that the issue of domestic violence was moved over a decade ago. Just as domestic violence was once regarded as a “family matter” and is now the subject of public policy in most countries, many believe that this commission brought to light how the unequal sharing of responsibilities circumscribes the full benefits of citizenship for women and girls and marks the beginning of a change in the way that families, communities and nations think about “women’s work.”

Visit the website of the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Today is International Free the Slaves Awareness Day

In November, in a post entitled, Saving Girls in New York from the Life, I wrote about domestically trafficked and commercially exploited girls in New York City. Since then, the United States Justice Department has released some shocking new statistics revealing the extent of human trafficking in this country. These statistics show that the typical slave in the United States today is an American girl, a female American citizen under the age of 17.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), and its reauthorizations in 2003, 2005, and 2008 define a human trafficking victim as a person induced to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion. Any person under age 18 who performs a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking, regardless of whether force, fraud, or coercion was present.

• 83% of the reported human trafficking incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking.
• Labor trafficking accounted for 12% of incidents, and other or unknown forms of human trafficking made up the remaining 5%.
• About a third 32% of the 1,229 alleged human trafficking incidents involved sex trafficking of children.
• Over 90% of victims in both alleged and confirmed human trafficking incidents were female.
• Hispanic victims comprised the largest share 37% of alleged sex trafficking victims and more than half 56% of alleged labor trafficking victims.
• Asians made up 10% of alleged sex trafficking victims, compared to 31% of labor trafficking victims.
• Approximately two-thirds of victims in alleged human trafficking incidents were age 17 or younger.
• Sex trafficking victims tended to be younger (71% were under age 25) and labor trafficking victims tended to be older (almost 70% were age 25 or older).
• Slightly more than half of all victims in alleged human trafficking incidents were U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens accounted for 63% of sex trafficking victims, compared to 4%  of labor trafficking victims.

View the whole report from the Justice Department at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cshti08.htm

To find out what you can do to combat modern day slavery in the United States visit: http://www.stophumantraffickingny.org/faq/

World Moves Closer towards Abolition of the Death Penalty

Amnesty International released its annual report on the death penalty today. According to the group, the world moved even closer towards abolition of the death penalty in 2008.

In December, the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) adopted by a large majority a second resolution calling for a moratorium with a view to abolish the death penalty. This resolution consolidates three decades of steady progress towards complete abolition of the death penalty. It was passed by a vote of 104 in favor and 54 against, with 29 abstentions.  The United States, along with countries such as China, Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia voted against.

See the vote of every country here: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10678.doc.htm

On a positive note, in its overview of the use of the death penalty worldwide, Amnesty International noted that :

Europe and Central Asia is now virtually a death penalty free zone following the abolition of the death penalty in Uzbekistan for all crimes. There is just one country left – Belarus – that still carries out executions.

In the Americas, only one state – the United States of America (USA) – consistently executes. However, even the USA moved away from the death penalty in 2008. This year, the smallest number of executions since 1995 was reported in the USA.

Two states, Argentina and Uzbekistan abolished the death penalty.

The majority of countries now refrain from using the death penalty. Furthermore, in 2008 Amnesty International recorded only 25 out of 59 countries that retain the death penalty actually carried out executions. The practice of states indicates that there is increasing consolidation of majority international consensus that the death penalty cannot be reconciled with respect for human rights.

However, tough challenges remain. Countries in Asia carried out more executions in 2008 than the rest of the world put together.

The five countries with the highest rate of executions were:

• China – at least 1,178 (the exact number is a state secret)
• Iran – at least 346
• Saudi Arabia – at least 102
• Pakistan – at least 36
• United States of America – 37

Some of the methods used to execute people in 2008 included beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection, shooting and stoning.

Read more and link to the full report here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty

Anticipatating Nuclear Disarmament

Knotted Gun - UN Headquarters, New York

This is a moment at United Nations Headquarters here in New York that is energizing and hopeful.  It rings of possibility that progress can be made in many areas of conflict in the world.  One of the primary areas of shifting politics is in Disarmament.

Negotiations will be long and arduous, but there is a strong move toward cooperation — something which has not been felt for years.  For us, as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) it is a time of putting our minds and hearts into full gear.  It is time to present our issues to governments, Commissions and the Secretariat so that our concern for safety, security and a peace that reverences the dignity of every human person as well as our Earth is not ignored.

Our work at the UN is international, but we realize that the United States is a major player on the long road toward negotiating the elimination of nuclear weapons in the world.  There are nine countries: US, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea, who already possess nuclear weapons and we know that other countries are in the process of developing them.  And so, our work is a movement toward entering into the conversation of deterrence.  How do we get there?

Our first move is an urgent request for the US and Russia to hold a new round of talks. These two countries hold 80% of the world’s nuclear arsenal.  The goal is to achieve significant reductions of nuclear weapons in these two countries.  This would be a major political leadership achievement and it is hoped that other countries would follow.

In anticipating a nuclear free world, we need to encourage our own governments to move beyond a fig leaf and/or a handshake.  We need to examine our current stance on all the treaties we have signed and ratified and examine what commitments we need to make.  Then, we need a serious commitment to be willing to disarm our arsenal.  As citizens of the world, as peacemakers, we need to utter our call for peace once again.  The time is now!

For more information and action steps go to:

• International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
• Nuclear Weapons Free
• Reaching Critical Will
• Nuclear Age for Peace

- from Partnership for Global Justice:  UN Update, March, 2009

The Experience of Women Human Rights Defenders in Latin America

Madres de Plaza de Mayo - Buenos Aries

During my visit with the Passionist Sisters in Argentina in 2002, they took me to the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aries to see the Madres take their symbolic Thursday walk around the plaza. This organization of mothers and grandmothers has fought for over three decades to find their missing sons and daughters, who were abducted by agents of the Argentine government during the years known as the Dirty War (1976–1983). The Madres de Plaza de Mayo have inspired women throughout Latin America to become human rights defenders in their own countries.

Today, many human rights defenders in Latin America, like the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, are survivors of the “disappeared.” In Mexico the practice of forced disappearances was commonplace in the 1970s. It is estimated that 1200 people were disappeared nationally.  Relatives of the disappeared, who are mostly women, have gotten together to find out what happened to their loved ones. The Mexican government has made it difficult for them to find out the truth by leading them on a legal goose chase. In 2000 the Fox administration set up a special prosecutor to look into the disappearances. 19 individuals were arrested in connection with 13 cases. No one was found guilty. Before this office was terminated it issued a detailed report regarding the disappearances, blaming them mostly on the army, even though it continued to investigate only civilian involvement.  After the special prosecutor was terminated, the cases were handed back to a non-specialist court, which is under-staffed and under-resourced and therefore unable to follow up.

Sadly, forced disappearances continue in Mexico. The army and para-military groups are taking on tasks usually undertaken by police, resulting in rape, murders, massacres and forced disappearances. The victims of forced disappearances are usually social and community activists that seek to change living conditions for the peasant population. Mexico has signed on to international human rights instruments, but always with reservations that reduce their effectiveness.

In Colombia, where 3-4 people continue to be disappeared every day, the mothers, daughters, sisters and wives of the disappeared have organized to support one another and to demand the return of their relatives alive. Gloria Gomez, a member of one of these groups says, ” Forced absences made us human rights defenders. Made us brave. Made us stand up for the rights of the disappeared. Made us demand that the truth be heard in Colombia.”

Ironically, Colombia has laws on the books that are a model for combating the practice of forced disappearance and for recovering victims alive, but they are hardly ever enforced. No one is ever punished. Instead prosecutors in Colombia pursue human rights defenders for imaginary crimes. Those who peacefully promote human rights are singled out for intimidation through baseless investigations and prosecutions. Unfounded charges are often widely publicized, stigmatizing the accused and marking them as targets for physical attack by paramilitary groups. The false charges often allege that the defendants are members of FARC.  Alvaro URIBE Velez the President of Colombia has accused human rights defenders of being terrorists.  Often, human rights defenders accused in this way and eventually acquitted by the courts have been murdered or disappeared.

Gloria Gomez – “It’s not easy to be a woman human rights defender. You have to leave behind your privacy, your family and your safety. We didn’t want to be human rights defenders, but like the mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Argentina we have to find out what happened to our loved ones.”

Visit these sites to learn more and find out what you can do to support these brave women.

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/index2.aspx

http://www.madres.org/

http://hub.witness.org/en/DualInjusticeExcerpts

Hibaaq Osman Campaigns to End Violence against Women

Al Jazeera English – Focus – Ending violence against women.

Hibaaq Osman campaigns to end violence against women in North Africa and the Middle East

Al Jazeera interviewed Hibaaq Osman on the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8. Hibaaq Osman, who is attending the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, is the  founder and chair of Karama, a regional movement of activists collaborating across eight civil society sectors to end violence against women in the Middle East and North Africa.

Without the full and active participation of girls and women and the incorporation of their needs and concerns, UN meetings will not have much substance.

Without their perspectives on all levels of decision-making, the UN’s goals of equality and development cannot be achieved – no matter how many conventions are ratified, no matter how many resolutions are signed. It’s a reaffirmation that without the participation of women, a commission on the status of women would not be here today.

Their needs and interests must be taken into account because it’s an integral ingredient for democracy to properly function. It’s their very pain and strife that can bring us together in solving global problems.

Back to School ~ Essay: What Works in Girls’ Education | Wide Angle

Back to School ~ Essay: What Works in Girls’ Education | Wide Angle.

This is a really excellent article about why 110 million children — 60 percent of them girls, are not in school, what we need to do to change that, and why we should.

Please read!

A Brave New World

Custom-made babies delivered: Fertility clinic doctor’s design-a-kid offer creates uproar.

In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, children are no longer produced through natural reproduction but in hatcheries where they are decanted from bottles. Society is divided into castes. Members of the highest caste, the Alphas are engineered to be intelligent, athletic and attractive. Naturally, they live privileged lives in this “perfect” society. The lower castes, the Deltas and the Epsilons are mass produced and effectively sub-human. They perform what might be considered all of the undesirable, monotonous and unpleasant work under the control of members of higher castes.

Back in 1997, Dr. Lee Silver, a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton wrote a book entitled Remaking Eden. Reacting to experiments that were, at that time, being performed on lab animals he predicted the emergence of genetic castes and human sub-species. “[T]he GenRich class and the Natural class will become . . . entirely separate species,” he writes, “with no ability to cross-breed, and with as much romantic interest in each other as a current human would have for a chimpanzee.”

Well, according to today’s article in the New York Daily News, the future is now.

Dr. Jeff Steinberg has already let thousands decide their kids’ gender. Now he says that within the next six months, the Manhattan and L.A. offices of his Fertility Institutes will let would-be moms and dads pick whether junior has blue or brown eyes or black or blond hair.

“In the process of doing gender selection … we’ve also uncovered the technology [to] characterize things like eye and hair color,” said Steinberg.

In parts of Africa and Asia more than 60 million women are demographically ‘missing’ from the world as a result of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide according to UNICEF. These societies  are now experiencing serious social problems as a result.  See Bride Shortage in India. How can we be critical of these practices when people in the global north are also using technology to determine not only the sex of their children but their appearance as well.

Brave New World is a cautionary tale and one we should heed. Pope Benedict, who grew up in Nazi Germany and witnessed the evil of eugenics first hand, spoke about this issue on February 21, 2009.

“The disapproval of eugenics used with violence by a regime, as the fruit of the hatred of a race or group, is so rooted in consciences that it found a formal expression in the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ Despite this, there are appearing in our days troubling manifestations of this hateful practice, which present themselves with different traits… a new mentality is insinuating itself that tends to justify a different consideration of life and personal dignity based on individual desire and individual rights. There is thus a tendency to privilege the capacities for work, efficiency, perfection and physical beauty to the detriment of other dimensions of existence that are not held to be valuable. In this way the respect that is due to every human being — even in the presence of a defect in his development or a genetic illness that could manifest itself in the course of his life — is weakened, and those children whose life is judged unworthy of being lived are punished from the moment of conception.”

If you want to read Brave New World,  The whole book is on line at: http://www.huxley.net/bnw/.

Human Trafficking at the Crossroads

United Nations General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto

Human trafficking has no place in the 21st century, the General Assembly President said today, calling for commitment and change exceeding political will to eradicate the scourge.

“The industry of trafficking in humans is the third most profitable crime worldwide, after drugs and arms dealing”, Miguel D’Escoto said at the end of a two-day conference in Manama, Bahrain.

“Although the General Assembly has pledged its commitment to fighting this crime in several important resolutions, change — real, credible and sustained change — takes more than simple political will,” he said.

It is time to tap into the reserves of moral courage that lay within each of us as individuals and of all of us as nations to carry out the changes needed to ensure freedom for all men and women.

Father D’Escoto called for stepped up efforts to implement last December’s Assembly resolution demanding enhanced coordination in combating trafficking and protecting its victims, noting that two out of every five countries have yet to convict a single offender. He fears that the deepening economic crisis will exacerbate  the problem by increasing  both the supply of vulnerable potential victims and the demand for cheap labor.

• 2 million people become enslaved annually
• 70% of these are women and girls
• 80% of trafficking comprises sexual exploitation
• Only one victim out of every 100 trafficking cases is rescued