Transcript Women - Religion or Belief - Human Rights

WOMEN'S UN REPORT NETWORK - WUNRN
WOMEN - RELIGION OR BELIEF - HUMAN RIGHTS
United Nations Human Rights Council
March 12, 2010
Geneva, Switzerland
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COUNCIL OF EUROPE RESOLUTION - WOMEN AND RELIGION IN EUROPE
Resolution 1464 (2005)1Women and religion in Europe
1. In the lives of many European women, religion continues to play an
important role. Whether they are believers or not, most women are affected
in one way or another by the attitude of different faiths towards women,
directly or through their traditional influence on society or the State.
2. This influence is seldom benign: women’s rights are often curtailed or violated in the name of
religion. While most religions teach equality of women and men before God, they attribute
different roles to women and men on earth. Religiously motivated gender stereotypes have
conferred upon men a sense of superiority which has led to discriminatory treatment of women
by men and even violence at their hands.
3. At one end of the spectrum lie the extreme violations of women’s human rights such as socalled “honour” crimes, forced marriages and female genital mutilation, which – although still
rare in Europe – are on the rise in some communities.
4. At the other end are more subtle and less spectacular forms of intolerance and discrimination
which are much more widespread in Europe – and which can be just as effective in achieving
the subjection of women, such as the refusal to put into question a patriarchal culture which
holds up the role of wife, mother and housewife as the ideal, and the refusal to adopt positive
measures in favour of women (for example, in parliamentary elections).
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WOMEN - RELIGION OR BELIEF - HUMAN RIGHTS
The intersectionality of women, religion or belief, and human rights, is one of the most complex in
today's world, and pervades the full spectrum of women's existence, the public and private sectors,
in all belief systems, and levels - international, regional, national, and local.
Religion or Belief is often a sustaining force for women, and especially impacting them on the
"pulse points" of life.
*Birth
*Citizenship & Identity
*Puberty & Adolescence
*Education & Health
*Marriage
*Motherhood
*Adult Life Cycle
*Ceremonies & Rituals
*Legal Rights
*Holidays & Festivals
*Widowhood & Divorce
*Death
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WOMEN - RELIGION OR BELIEF - HUMAN RIGHTS
Women, whether they are religious believers or not, are usually affected in some way by attitudes of
different faiths towards women, directly or through their influence on society or the State.
Freedom of religion must not be accepted as a pretext for justifying violations of women's rights.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ms. Asma Jahanhir, has clearly documented:
"Many of the Special Rapporteur's communications and urgent appeals concern cases where women suffer
from aggravated discrimination with regard to their religious, ethnic, and sexual identities.
......Discrimination and practices that are harmful to the health of women and girls are also applied within
their religious communities for reasons of religious traditions, or those ascribed to religion."....."
The Special Rapporteur also notes with regret that "Women continue to be largely excluded from the
decision-making processes within most religious communities. The process is, indeed, usually a monopoly
for men. In order to exercise their full human rights, women therefore have to negotiate with religious
beliefs and traditional values."......
The sponsors of this Panel, feel the timing is right, is imminent, to have at the UN Human Rights Council, a
forum for considering the truths and realities, the myths and misinformation, the goals and potential areas
for progress, in the theme of WOMEN - RELIGION OR BELIEF - HUMAN RIGHTS.
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GETTING READY TO READ THE KORAN - Beirut, Lebanon
Photographer - Rania Matar
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ROMANIA - GIRLS IN PROCESSIONAL FOR THE VIRGIN MARY
Photographer - Kathleen Laraia McLaughlin
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UNFPA - UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND
SURVEY ON CULTURE & RELIGION
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GUATEMALA - YOUNG MOTHER & CHILD
Sarah Bones - International Photojournalist
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EGYPT - MUSLIM WOMAN PREACHER
My priority in life is my
calling to Islam. I can’t
compromise. Writing books,
defending Islam, answering
misconceptions. There is a
big difference between the
misapplication of religion
and the truth. If you want to
criticise someone, learn the
truth first.
Some questions cannot be
answered by men. I feel it is
my job. I hope that I’m a
role model for these
women.
Words and photos by Holly
Pelham
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RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF DIFFERENT FAITHS JOIN UNIFEM
AND ‘SAY NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN’
25 September 2008
United Nations, New York — Senior religious leaders of different faiths from Religions for Peace, the world’s
largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, today pledged to help stop violence against women. They
recognize this commitment as a moral imperative rooted in their respective religious traditions.
The religious leaders from Africa, Asia, and North America — representing such diverse faiths as Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam — stood together to address one of the most pervasive human rights
violations in the world today, violence against women. The religious leaders expressed support for the goals of the
“Say NO to Violence against Women” campaign (www.saynotoviolence.org) being advanced by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). This campaign is aligned with the UN Secretary-General’s multi-year,
system-wide global campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women.
Today marked the launch of a new partnership between Religions for Peace and UNIFEM that will work to engage
communities of faith around the world to lead efforts to end violence against women.
“People of faith around the world believe that it is a moral responsibility to end violence against women,” said Dr.
William F. Vendley, Religions for Peace Secretary General. “While religious traditions vary, it is clear that religious
men and women around the world are increasingly convinced that their respective traditions call them to work as
partners to end this violence.” Dr. Vendley also underlined the irreplaceable role of women as front-line agents in
efforts to end extreme poverty. “Ending violence against women is both a moral imperative and one of the single
most important ways to help end extreme poverty by achieving the Millennium Development Goals.”
“Violence against women and girls is a crime and an internationally recognized human rights violation — stopping
it is one of the great challenges of our time,” said UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi. “Engaging religious
leaders and communities of faith is essential to weaving a fabric of equality and respect for all persons, their
potential, and their right to live a life free from violence.”
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SAUDI ARABIA - SAUDI CLERICS URGE TV BAN ON WOMEN, MUSIC
Country's hardline religious group is skeptical of push toward moderation
The Associated Press
March 22, 2009
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A group of Saudi clerics urged the kingdom's new information minister on
Sunday to ban women from appearing on TV or in newspapers and magazines, making clear that
the country's hardline religious establishment is skeptical of a new push toward moderation.
In a statement, the 35 hardline clergymen also called on Abdel Aziz Khoja, who was appointed by
King Abdullah on Feb. 14, to prohibit the playing of music and music shows on television.
"We have great hope that this media reform will be accomplished by you," said the statement. "We
have noticed how well-rooted perversity is in the Ministry of Information and Culture, in television,
radio, press, culture clubs and the book fair."
Not expected to have much effect
Although it raises the pressure on the new minister, the recommendation is likely to have little
effect. Khoja's appointment was part of a government shake-up by Abdullah that removed a number
of hardline figures and is believed to be part of an effort to weaken the influence of conservatives in
this devout desert kingdom.
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INDIA - ORISSA STATE - RELIGIOUS CONFLICT & VIOLENCE
35 Christians killed and 50,000 forced from their homes by Hindu mobs enraged at Swami's murder
By Andrew Buncombe in Phulbani, Orissa
Thursday, 9 October 2008
A woman shows her grief at the
religious violence in Orissa during a
gospel hymn service.
As she recalled her awful story,
Puspanjali Panda made no attempt to
halt the tears flooding down her face.
Holding her daughter close, she told
how a baying Hindu mob dragged her
husband – a Christian pastor – from
his bed, beat him to death with stones
and iron rods and then threw him into
a river. She found his corpse two days
later, washed up on the bank. When
she went to the police, they told her to
go away....
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BOSNIA - WOMEN & WAR - PAIN & GRIEF
International Committee of the Red Cross - the ICRC
Women pray together at a memorial in honour of their missing relatives, Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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FRANCE MOVES CLOSER TO BANNING FULL MUSLIM VEIL
Critics Argue Proposed Move Would Be A Violation Of Basic Rights
Faiza Silmi, a 32-year-old Moroccan, walks in a Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis, France, on Tuesday. Silmi was refused
French citizenship for what authorities said was her failure to assimilate into French culture.
By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press
January 15, 2010
LA VERRIERE, France – The man she married is French, her
four children were born in France, and she speaks French with
only a trace of her native Arabic tongue. Faiza Silmi contends
her clothes — a head-to-toe robe and filmy tissue covering her
face — are the reason France has denied her citizenship in her
adopted land.
The 32-year-old Moroccan may soon be facing an even fiercer
blow. A top French lawmaker submitted a draft law this week
that would ban such Islamic dress anywhere in public, a
measure that would set a European precedent and trap
thousands of women between their religious convictions and
the law of the land.
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US NUNS FACING VATICAN STUDY
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
July 1, 2009
The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping
investigations of American nuns, a
development that has startled and dismayed
nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal
inquisition.
Nuns were the often-unsung workers who
helped build the Roman Catholic Church in this
country, planting schools and hospitals and
keeping parishes humming. But for the last
three decades, their numbers have been
declining — to 60,000 today from 180,000 in
1965. While some nuns say they are grateful
Mother Mary Clare Millea has been appointed by the Vatican to study the
that the Vatican is finally paying attention to
activities of some orders of nuns in the United States.
their dwindling communities, many fear that
the real motivation is to reel in American nuns who have reinterpreted their calling for the modern world.
In the last four decades since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, many American nuns stopped wearing
religious habits, left convents to live independently and went into new lines of work: academia and other
professions, social and political advocacy and grass-roots organizations that serve the poor or promote spirituality. A
few nuns have also been active in organizations that advocate changes in the church like ordaining women and
married men as priests.
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INDIA - CHILD MARRIAGE
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ISRAEL - WOMEN IN THE CROSSFIRE OF CONFLICT –
TENSIONS IN JERUSALEM
Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Israeli border officers in Silwan, a neighborhood adjacent to the Old City, during the demolition by
the Jerusalem municipality of a Palestinian house built without a permit.
By ISABEL KERSHNER
December 6, 2008
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CHIANG MAI DECLARATION
http://www.saiv.net/SourceBook/Storage/documents/doc_declaration.pdf
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YEMEN - TEMPORARY "TOURIST MARRIAGES"
DECEIVE WOMEN & GIRLS - VIOLATE RIGHTS
© IRIN
Yemeni girls preparing for marriage to wealthy Arabs - often the unions are short term and exist primarily
for the sexual gratification of the man
SANA, 7 Jul 2005 (IRIN) - Amal Mohammed is an 18-year-old Yemeni woman living in the city of Ibb, 150km
south of the Yemeni capital, Sana, who says she is suffering from psychological problems and a constant headache
following an unsuccessful marriage to an elderly Saudi man. She says she now sees marriage as a nightmare after
being married and divorced in the course of only a few weeks.
Amal was the victim of a so-called 'summer' or
'tourist' marriage, as Yemenis call the unwittingly
temporary unions which are having a negative
impact on religiously and culturally conservative
Yemen society.
Men from wealthy Gulf states flock to the country
where they 'marry' young Yemeni girls. The couples
spend their honeymoon in hotels and then the
grooms return to their own countries saying they
will make arrangements and send for their brides
soon. They say they need to arrange visas and make
promises of a better life when they are reunited with
their new young wives. Most of the girls never hear
from the men again.
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INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
Iran - Film of Woman Being Hanged in Public
Tue. 24 Jul 2007
Iran Focus
London, Jul. 24 – An Iranian opposition satellite
channel has broadcasted shocking footage of a
public execution of a woman and two men in Iran.
Simay-e Azadi aired the footage on Monday.
It is believed the woman and two men were hanged
as recently as this month.
The clip was captured by a bystander and smuggled
out of Iran. Simay-e Azadi said it obtained the video
from supporters of the People’s Mojahedin (MeK).
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NEPAL - NEW KUMARI LIVING GODDESS - AGE 3
REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
Matina Shakya is seen after she was appointed as the
new living goddess or Kumari in Kathmandu October
7, 2008. Authorities in Nepal enthroned a three-yearold girl as a new Kumari, or the main "living goddess",
on Tuesday, in a centuries-old ritual the country's new
Maoist-led coalition has allowed to continue.
NEPAL SUPREME COURT LANDMARK CASE SAYS
LIVING GODDESS HAS THE RIGHT TO GO TO SCHOOL
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TURKEY - 5 GIRLS DROWN - OMISSION OF HELP
DUE TO FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
A gruesome fact materialized in Turkey, a few miles fron Smirne, at the end of last week. Five
sixteen years old girls of a Coranic school, being on a school excursion together with 50 other
school-mates, were seduced by the innocent desire of taking a bath in the sea.
So, full dressed, they entered the sea waters, hand in hand, but unable to swim they were dragged to
the bottom. They screamed and cried aloud asking for help, but the men willing to rescue them
were stopped by their religious teachers on the grounds that it was forbidden to touch the girls. So,
they let them die.
No charge has been presented, so it will be difficult for the police to carry out investigations for
criminal liability due to omission in rescue. Furthermore, the families accepted this "sacrifice" as a
Will of God.
The only newspaper to give evidence to this horrific crime, was the daily paper "Hurriyet", even if
only three days late due to lack of an official report from where to grasp news.
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4th SYMPOSIUM FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS ENGAGED IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
ABIDJAN DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
We, Moslem and Christian religious leaders, representing countries where the Inter-African Committee on
Harmful Traditional Practices (IAC) has members, joined together in a symposium in Abidjan (Ivory Coast),
through the initiative of IAC, on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of October 2007,
Highly commending the Inter-African Committee on this important platform for exchanging and sharing between
different religious leaders of various faiths;
Considering the commitment of African states in the fight for the total elimination of Female Genital Mutilation,
through legal instruments;
Considering that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and a serious
infringement on the physical, psychological and moral integrity of women and children;
Convinced that FGM has adverse consequences for the health of women and children, in the short, medium and
long term;
Convinced that Female Genital Mutilation had no religious basis in the Holy Bible, or in the authentic Christian
traditions; nor in the Noble Quran, or in the authentic Islamic traditions;
Considering earlier statements by distinguished religious authorities, both Christian and Muslim, on the nonexistence of links between FGM and religion;
Conscious that the total elimination of FGM can only be achieved through an organized campaign involving all
actors in society
Determined to make every effort to put an end to this harmful practice;
Commit ourselves to participating actively in the struggle for the total elimination of FGM not only in our
respective countries but also wherever it exists;
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KENYA - FGM - 350 TEENAGE GIRLS TO FACE THE KNIFE
November 25, 2009
By PHILEMON SUTER
At least 350 teenage girls are to be circumcised in the next two weeks in Marakwet East and
Pokot Central districts.
A pre-initiation ceremony known as kitung'a will take place in Kapsiren village, Koibirir location,
on the Friday that schools are to close. A source from the provincial administration and several
primary school teachers told the Nation at Tot trading centre on Tuesday that according to cultural
beliefs, the stars, prevailing weather patterns, and other key elements had signalled that the
initiations should go on in the next two weeks.
About 120 girls aged between nine and 16 years are to undergo the rite in Endow, Kaben, and
Koibirir locations while 60 others are targeted in Cheptulel in Marakwet. In the neighbouring
Lomut and Arpolo sub-locations in Pokot Central, more than 150 girls will undergo the cut.
Koibirir chief Alfrick Lorem said the teenagers are to be initiated during the December holidays.
The initiations come amid stern warnings by the government that perpetrators would be prosecuted.
Human rights activists have also threatened to sue the perpetrators of the outlawed practice.
Separately, three married women were circumcised on tuesday in Chepkwawai village in
Chebororwa location, Marakwet West District.
According to anti-female genital mutilation crusaders, one of the women claimed that she was
forced to undergo the rite or face excommunication by the society and divorce by her husband. The
other two admitted that they had consented to be circumcised. Marakwet East district commissioner
Joseph Kisangau put FGM practitioners in the district on notice.
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INDIA - PLIGHT OF WIDOWS OF VRINDIVAN
India - Widows of Vrindavan - Photo Image ©Tewfic El-Sawy, “White Shadows”
White Shadows is a photographic essay of widows living in Vrindavan, India. These women are
destitute and reliant for their survival on charitable foundations and charities set up by wealthy
Indian families, and on daily alms from pilgrims visiting the holy town.
CNN Article: http://www.dalitnetwork.org:80/go?/dfn/news/shunned_from_society_widows_flock_to_city_to_die
VRINDAVAN, India (CNN)—Ostracized by society, India’s widows flock to the holy city of
Vrindavan waiting to die. They are found on side streets, hunched over with walking canes, their
heads shaved and their pain etched by hundreds of deep wrinkles in their faces.
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AFGHANISTAN - NEW SHIA FAMILY LAW - HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL SEEN AS SETBACK TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS - ISSUE OF MARITAL RAPE +
By Jerome Starkey in Kabul
31 March 2009
AFP/Getty Images - Afghan
women wearing burqas. Critics
say President Hamid Karzai
rushed through discriminatory
legislation to appease
fundamentalists. Afghanistan's
President, Hamid Karzai, has
signed a law which "legalises"
rape, women's groups and the
United Nations warn.
Critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic
fundamentalists ahead of elections in August.
In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual
consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right
to leave the home, according to UN papers seen by The Independent.....
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USA POLYGAMOUS SECT - CHILDREN REMOVED BY STATE
GIRLS TELL OF FORCED INTO MARRIAGE & SEX WITH OLDER MEN
Women cult members rescued from the Yearn for Zion ranch this week. Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP
April 10, 2008
The Guardian
· 416 youngsters in state custody after ranch raids
· Hunt goes on for teenager who alerted authorities
Interviews with hundreds of children removed from a polygamist sect in Texas have revealed that
several underage girls were forced into "spiritual marriage" with much older men as soon as they
reached puberty and were then made pregnant, according to investigators.
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Association for Women's Rights in Development - AWID
http://www.awid.org/eng/Issues-and-Analysis/Library/New-Insights-on-Religious-Fundamentalisms
NEW INSIGHTS ON GENDER & RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISMS
Drawing on the results of a global survey of over 1,600 women's rights activists, as well as in-depth
interviews with over 50 key experts, AWID launched a special series of publications on religious
fundamentalisms and women's rights in late 2008. This brief reports on the highlights of the
research, which sought to map the major trends, strategies and impacts of religious fundamentalist
movements across regions and religions.
According to 76% of women's rights activists surveyed by AWID, the strength of religious
fundamentalisms has increased globally over the past ten years. These movements are gaining the
power to shape social norms, influence international institutions and national decision makers, and
define laws and policies, especially in the areas of 'morality' and bodily autonomy. In the
experience of 8 out of 10 women's rights activists, religious fundamentalisms have a negative
impact on women's rights, and over two-thirds regard these movements as obstructing women's
rights more than other political forces.
In every region, women's rights activists are confronting fundamentalist tendencies within the
world's major and minor religions, and several key defining characteristics of these movements
appear to resonate across borders and religious divides.
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NIGERIA - CHILDREN STIGMATISED AS WITCHES
Mary is a pretty five-year-old girl with
big brown eyes and a father who kicked
her out onto the streets in one of the most
dangerous parts of the world. Her crime:
the local priest had denounced her as a
witch and blamed her "evil powers" for
causing her mother's death.
By David Harrison
09 Nov 2008
Photo: Mags Gavan, Redrebel Films
Children from Crarn accused of being witches and wizards, protesting outside the Governor's
headquarters. Ostracised, vulnerable and frightened, she wandered the streets in south-eastern
Nigeria, sleeping rough, struggling to stay alive.
Mary was found by a British charity worker and today lives at a refuge in Akwa Ibom province
with 150 other children who have been branded witches, blamed for all their family's woes, and
abandoned.
Yet Mary and the others at the shelter are the lucky ones for they, at least, are alive. Many of those
branded "child-witches" are murdered - hacked to death with machetes, poisoned, drowned, or
buried alive in an attempt to drive Satan out of their soul.
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INDONESIA - ACEH - ISLAMIC LAW - CRIMINAL CODE
IMPACTS ON WOMEN AS DRESS, CONDUCT, STONING
Members of the Shariah police,
standing, reprimanded women in
Banda Aceh for wearing clothing
they judged to be too tight.
Photo: Ed Wray for The New York Times
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Under Islamic law, or Shariah, the religious police have administered
public canings for such things as gambling, prostitution and illicit affairs. But under a new Islamic
criminal code that goes into effect this month, the Shariah police will be wielding a new and more
potent threat: death by stoning for adulterers.....
Aceh separatists and the central government forged a peace agreement in the last decade, Aceh won
semiautonomy and the right to Shariah. The authorities began putting Shariah into practice in 2001,
widening and reinforcing it every few years with legal revisions. The Shariah police, officially
known as “wilayatul hisbah,” or the vice and virtue patrol, began operating in 2005 with 13 officers
and now has 62, including 14 women.....
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Afghanistan poem about Bedi Begum who was murdered by flogging at the order of the Taliban in
July of 1999, one of 60 women to die as a result of flogging that year.
Poem Tribute to Young Afghanistan Woman Flogged to Death
Sue Silvermaria
I stand by your ear unseen.
Before the flogging they buried me to my waist in mud
One hundred times and one, they beat me with a cane
Because I was wearing a burqa
the mullah was spared the sight of my blood
When my family took me home I was unconscious
They were forbidden to seek treatment
When I died the next morning no one was surprised.
It was three days after my 18th birthday.....