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	UNICEF calls for urgent action to protect girls, women from sexual violence in India by UN News, Indian Human Rights Commission, agencies   May 2018   A series of gruesome child rape cases over recent months continues to leave India reeling. (SBS News, AFP)   In January, an eight-year-old girl was abducted in remote Jammu and Kashmir state, before she was drugged, starved, gang-raped and murdered.   During the fallout, it emerged that two teenagers were raped, doused in kerosene and set on fire in the eastern state of Jharkhand, one of them dying from her injuries.   New Delhi-based columnist Mitali Saran was unequivocal, writing in a dispatch to The New York Times that "India is sliding toward a collapse of humanity and ethics".   While in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 50 former police chiefs, ambassadors and senior civil servants wrote that "in post-Independence India, this is our darkest hour".   The crimes are some of the most high-profile since the 2012 rape and murder of a student on a New Delhi bus that triggered mass protests and international condemnation.   Indians have once again taken to the streets and the government has now decided to introduce the death penalty for certain instances of rape. But behind the headline cases, there lies a disturbing trend.   Figures from the National Crime Records Bureau show child rape is on the rise across India. There were 10,854 cases of child rape reported nationally in 2015, while this number rose to 19,765 in 2016. This means that child rape now makes up about 40 percent of the reported rape cases.   The Indian Express, joining a chorus of outrage, called it a "huge spike in the rape of children". "It is for the first time that such a sharp increase in sexual assaults on children has been registered," the newspaper said.   Prabhat Kumar from NGO Save the Children said the "upsurge" was the result of both an increase in child rape cases and an increase in reporting. But he said the latest numbers are just "the tip of an iceberg".   "There is a huge stigma when it comes to reporting sexual offences, due to fear of ostracisation in the family and society and also due to insensitive behaviour among the law enforcement agencies responsible for dealing with such cases," he told SBS News from New Delhi.   A 2017 report by Human Rights Watch found that rape victims "suffer humiliation" at police stations and hospitals across India.   The report said police "are frequently unwilling to register their complaints, victims and witnesses receive little protection" and medical professionals - often males - can subject victims to "degrading tests".   "These obstacles to justice and dignity are compounded by inadequate health care, counselling, and legal support for victims during criminal trials of the accused."   Material from UNICEF India suggests it could be the "consequence of discrimination against women and of persisting inequalities between men and women".   India is ranked 125 of 159 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, which examines the inequalities in reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market participation.   While the United Nations Resident Coordinator in India Yuri Afanasiev issued a statement citing the "everyday normalisation" of sexual violence in India.   "Such normalisation can only be prevented through strong engagement with schools, colleges, communities, state machineries and elected leaders, and a policy of zero tolerance of violence against women and girls," it said. "Addressing impunity at every level – family, community, institution – is crucial."   Police have also alleged that there could be a sectarian element to some of these crimes. The eight-year-old who was recently murdered and raped was Muslim while all the accused are Hindus, and it occurred in a deeply polarised Indian region. Local activists also blame various levels of government for not taking child rape seriously enough.   After the recent rape and murder of the eight-year-old, the Kashmir deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta controversially called it a "small incident". While some local leaders appeared to offer support to the men accused.   Responding to public pressure, the Indian government has introduced the death penalty for people convicted of raping girls aged under 12. The law has also been amended to include more drastic punishment for convicted rapists of girls below the age of 16.   But there has been some pushback on the possibility of using the death penalty.   Save the Children''s Mr Kumar told SBS News "there is no evidence that the death penalty for child rape acts as deterrence". "We believe that the focus should be on enforcing existing laws in a speedy manner."   He pointed to the fact that the Indian government brought in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2012 but there has been no reduction in cases.   UNICEF India similarly questioned the death penalty, saying in a tweet "we hope this will be backed up by real investments in protecting children, in making schools, public spaces but above all our own homes and communities safe for children".   Mr Kumar also expressed concern for the lack of support that victims currently receive in India. "If children are made to feel guilty for the abuse, then they will develop a deep sense of worthlessness," he said. "And abused or exploited children are sometimes re-victimised if they are rejected by the family, community and society.. If the process of healing does not take place, the trauma will last a lifetime." http://bit.ly/2KTcaYf   http://bit.ly/2IfH62X http://bit.ly/2KT8CVZ http://bit.ly/2KcfBId http://gendermatters.in/2018/04/gender-based-violence/ http://www.csrindia.org/ http://bit.ly/2IaAVgx http://bit.ly/2KdGBao http://bit.ly/2JEZgfX http://bit.ly/2IaFUhu   May 2017   Indian Women have the Right to Live without fearing Sexual Assault, writes Aruna Kashyap - Senior Counsel, Women''s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch.   On Friday, May 5, 2017, the Indian Supreme Court upheld the death sentences of four men convicted of rape in the brutal 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in Delhi that garnered outrage both in India and abroad. Women’s rights groups across India rallied for justice and found public support – no one wants men who committed such a heinous crime roaming free.   But comprehensive change beyond this one notorious case is urgently needed. To make public spaces and homes safer for Indian women and girls, the government should adopt a multi-sectoral national policy with clear budget lines on preventing and addressing sexual assault.   This policy should incorporate at least four distinct pillars: prevention, criminal justice and police accountability, health response, and sexuality education. All should be developed with the principle of nondiscrimination and inclusion at heart.   While handing down the death penalty might have emotional appeal, there is no evidence that it serves as a deterrent. Today, sexual assault remains a pervasive and underreported problem. Women’s right to equality means they not only deserve justice after being sexually assaulted, but have the right to live a life with dignity and freedom from violence.   However, the central and state governments have done little to take on the challenge of making public spaces safer for women and girls around the clock. For example, even the ambitious Smart Cities program, which seeks to create model cities across India, has yet to make women’s safety a core pillar of what make cities “smart.”   Short-sighted and counterproductive approaches like Anti-Romeo Squads have threatened women’s freedom and safety. These vigilante squads in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have morally policed and harassed women with the supposedly noble objective of protecting them from street harassment.   What could make a difference? Women’s rights groups have developed innovative ways of breaking into male spaces and pushing the agenda of public safety forward. Notably, a pan-India movement called Why Loiter?, named after a pathbreaking book, brings together young women who walk the streets during the day and at night, bike around, or sit in parks, asserting their equal right to move freely and without harassment. Safetipin, a mobile-based app, crowdsources information from women on which public spaces they deem to be safe.   Indian authorities should support such initiatives, help scale them up, and act on the information they provide. To date, there has been no systematic effort to proactively identify and fix public spaces that are unsafe, for example, those without street lights and toilets.   One of the least discussed strategies for combating sexual violence is the dissemination of accurate information to promote healthy and respectful relationships. The government should introduce mandatory sexuality education in schools and colleges.   Teaching boys and men about consent, power, gender equality, love, consensual sex, and sexual and reproductive choices and health is critical to building a society that understands and respects women’s bodies.   The court verdict on Friday was a response to a shocking and highly publicized act of sexual violence. But the verdict on society is still that far too many women and girls are subject to sexual violence that is not reported and that does not receive an appropriate response from authorities. The government should use this moment of public attention to galvanize a renewed and expanded effort to protect women and girls’ safety and rights. http://bit.ly/2pdUnUm   http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/11/violence-unending-woes-indian-women/   July 2016   UNICEF calls for urgent action to protect girls, women from sexual violence   A key adviser to the United Nations children’s agency today decried the culture of impunity surrounding sexual violence against women and girls around the world, following a recent case of gang rape in India.   “Outrage is not enough,” said Anju Malhotra, UNICEF’s Principal Gender Advisor.   “We need action now to end this brutality that has become routine and to give the victims of violence the justice and protection they deserve.”   The statement was issued in response to a reported gang rape of a young Dalit woman in India by the same five men who had raped her three years prior.   The case “underlines the heinous culture of impunity that surrounds violence against girls and women,” Ms. Malhotra said.   About one out of every 10 girls in the world will experience sexual violence, according to UN figures – the majority between the ages of 15 and 19.   In 2013, following nationwide outrage and protests sparked by the death of a 23-year-old woman who was gang-rape in New Delhi in 2012, India enacted new laws to prevent and prosecute rape and other sex crimes.   At that time, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, had said the reforms, though commendable, “did not go far enough” to address systemic gender inequalities in Indian society.   May 2013   New anti-rape laws in India fail to address root causes – UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo   Laws recently passed in India to prevent and prosecute rape and other sex crimes “do not go far enough,” a United Nations independent expert said today, lamenting that the legislation failed to address systemic gender inequalities in Indian society.   “The opportunity to establish a substantive and specific equality and non-discrimination rights legislative framework for women, to address de facto inequality and discrimination, and to protect and prevent against all forms of violence against women, was lost,” said Rashida Manjoo, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women.   Just back from a 10-say visit to India, she said that while the reforms were commendable, they did not fully reflect the recommendations in the report produced by the Verma Committee – named after former Chief Justice Jagdish Sharan Verma – which was set up in the wake of the death of a 23-year-old woman whose gang-rape in New Delhi sparked nationwide protests.   The report made a series of recommendations to tackle violence against women in India, and UN human rights officials urged the Government to follow through with them. Ms. Manjoo reiterated those calls, pressing authorities to address the multiple and intersecting inequalities and discrimination that women face.   “My mandate has consistently voiced the view that the failure in response and prevention measures stems from a Government’s inability and/or unwillingness to acknowledge and address the core structural causes of violence against women,” she said, adding: “The unfortunate reality is that the rights of many women in India continue to be violated, with impunity as the norm.”   Violence again against women and girls in India manifests itself in numerous ways, including domestic violence, caste-based discrimination, dowry-related deaths, witch-hunting, sexual violence, conflict-related sexual violence, and forced marriages.   20 July 2016   Indian men accused of raping woman for second time as payback for filing earlier charges, by James Bennett, (ABC News, wires)   Several men in India accused of gang-raping the same young woman for a second time are alleged to have done so as payback for their low-caste victim filing charges against them.   Indian police arrested three suspects, some of whom had been charged with a previous attack on the woman, an officer said. The men include two who were arrested for raping her in 2013 and were currently out on bail as the case edged its way through India''''s creaking legal system, while the third was also accused of the earlier attack.   India was again soul searching as the fresh details emerged in the horrifying case of sexual and caste violence combined.   Women''s rights campaigners in India said they wanted MPs to do more to change the country''s culture, instead of pursuing continually tougher punishments for attackers.   "Whenever a rape case grabs attention, including this latest one in Rohtak, the tendency is to concentrate on how you can introduce draconian measures against the accused, so death penalty for the accused," said Kavita Krishnan from the All-India Progressive Women''s Association.   "And now there''s a whole media campaign in certain sections of the media for how you should deny bail to every rape accused."   Ms Krishnan said that was taking the easy option. "Focus on the survivor, focus on empowering the survivor, and supporting her, so that cases can actually be followed through because after all she is the person on whom that entire case rests," she said.   In a hospital in the northern Indian state of Haryana, not far from New Delhi, the 20-year-old student recounted in a quavering voice how she was gang-raped.   "I was coming out of the college," she recalled. "I was scared seeing them. They took me in the car." In her faltering speech, the woman''''s torment was confrontingly apparent.   Her family said the attack was retribution — a vile statement of caste power by a group of men incensed that their victim, a member of India''s Dalit or so-called "untouchable" bottom-rung caste, would dare pursue justice.   "These five accused had raped her in 2013 also, they gang-raped and threatened her," the victim''s brother said. He said the family was driven out of their home village after resolving to press charges.   "We even went to the high court to issue summons to them. We left Bhiwani out of fear," he said. It is a sadly familiar story for Dalits.   But what was frustrating women''s rights campaigners like Ms Krishnan was the familiar way these stories often played out.   "Compromise documents are very common in rape cases in Indian courts, where even judges are willing to accept the idea that you know, a compromise document can be a basis to acquit someone of rape," she said.   She said a simple step towards changing culture would be banning settlements in rape cases, where for example the accused agreed to marry his victim.   After years of campaigning for increased support of rape victims, Ms Krishnan said she could not understand why people who protest their suffering did not follow through in demanding access to justice for India''s most socially and economically downtrodden.   * In the past three years, Kavumu, in eastern Congo, has been torn apart by a series of horrific rapes. Will the perpetrators ever answer for their crimes, asks Lauren Wolfe in this special feature for the Guardian News, see link below.   http://bit.ly/2llVFdB http://bit.ly/2k4ElcI http://thewire.in/52652/rohtak-dalit-gang-rape/ http://www.unicef.org/media/media_89711.html http://www.unicef.org/gender/gender_57440.html http://www.unicef.org/gender/ Visit the related web page
	Time to fight global avalanche of misogyny caused by fundamentalism and extremism by Karima Bennoune Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights   The world must fight back against a growing threat to women’s rights fuelled by rising fundamentalism and extremism, a UN human rights expert has told the UN General Assembly in New York.   “Fundamentalism and extremism are giving rise to widespread abuses of women’s cultural rights,” said Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, presenting a report on the global challenges being faced.   “Some of the most urgent threats that women’s human rights will face in coming years will include the diverse forms of fundamentalism and extremism that are on the rise across all regions of the world.”   The Special Rapporteur asked the audience: “What world will your daughters inherit? This is a wake-up call for our times. We face a multi-directional global avalanche of misogyny, motivated by diverse fundamentalist and extremist ideologies. For the sake of all the daughters around the world, let us come together and take an unequivocal stand for women’s equal cultural rights, to reverse this worrying trend.   Ms. Bennoune said protecting women’s rights was not optional in tackling fundamentalism and extremism, which have inequality and rejection of human rights at their core and have to be met with a vigorous international human rights-based challenge.   “These ideologies seek to roll back advances achieved in securing women’s equality, aim to block further advances, and try to penalize and stigmatize women human rights defenders promoting such critical efforts. They give rise to a backlash against women’s rights and those who defend them,” she said.   “Diverse religious fundamentalists have sought to punish cultural expression incompatible with their interpretations of religion through blasphemy laws, gender discriminatory family laws, campaigns of harassment, human rights abuses and outright violence.”   “Extremists often harass and target women who are members of minority groups, or who are immigrants or are LBT, as they seek to enjoy their equal cultural rights. They are often motivated by myths of a homogenous nation, claims of cultural or ethnic or racial superiority or purity, and populist ultra-nationalism.”   The Special Rapporteur called for an immediate end to discriminatory practices such as banning women’s artistic expression, extremist targeting of cultural events associated with women and girls, the imposition of “modest” dress codes, and curbs on women’s equal participation in social, economic, political and cultural affairs.   “Boosting the protection and promotion of women’s human rights is not only essential to tackling extremism, but there is no way to achieve gender equality by 2030 as committed to in the UN Sustainable Development Goals without addressing the human rights impacts of fundamentalism and extremism,” she added.   The Special Rapporteur said she had particular concerns that fundamentalists and extremists were targeting education in an effort to impose their worldviews.   “The promotion and defence of non-sexist education in accordance with international standards, and of non-discrimination and full equality for women and girls in education, are among the most important measures governments can take to defeat fundamentalism and extremism and defend women’s cultural rights,” Ms. Bennoune said.   “Arts, education, science and culture are among the best ways to fight fundamentalism and extremism and support women’s rights. These are not luxuries, but are critical to creating alternatives and protecting youth from any form of radicalization.”   She also paid tribute to female human rights defenders around the world who “recognized and responded to” extremism, sometimes at the cost of their own lives, and stressed they should be central to developing strategies to combat fundamentalism and extremism. “Empowering them disempowers extremists,” she added.   The Special Rapporteur said the answer lay partially in secular politics and governance.   “The separation of religion and state is a critical piece of the struggle against fundamentalist and extremist ideologies that target women, as it creates or preserves space for women and minorities to challenge those ideologies, and to enjoy their cultural rights without discrimination,” Ms. Bennoune said.   She also stressed that women’s rights should never be used as a bargaining chip in pursuit of peace with extremist and fundamentalist groups. “Giving in to the social demands of fundamentalists and extremists, especially about women, only exacerbates the human rights situation and leads to escalating claims,” she said. http://bit.ly/2yM7wFN Visit the related web page
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