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| 13 Jul 2008 - 09:42 | admin
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Suffer Little Children: In Pakistan girls still being used to settle disputes
Caring for siblings and their own children is a part of life for girls across Pakistan
The sight of children caring for other children, sometimes just a few years younger than themselves, is not uncommon across Pakistan. Most often, the toddlers or babies lugged around by pre-teen or teenage girls as they go about their chores are younger siblings.
With average family size about five children per household, according to the Lahore-based Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), and often more, this is not unexpected.
But, in some cases, the babies are the offspring of the girls themselves. Even though child marriage, defined as under the age of 16 for girls and 18 for boys, has been legally limited through the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, and Pakistan in 1990 ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which bars the marriage of under-age girls, such unions between children take place regularly.
Marriages between children aged no more that 12 or 13 - sometimes even younger – are reported from time to time, whereas in other instances girls as young as seven have been "given away" to much older men, often to "settle" a conflict.
Statistics compiled by the Islamabad office of the International Population Council, headquartered in the US, reveal that 58 percent of rural females in Pakistan are married before the age of 20, a large number before reaching the legal age of 16. Exact numbers are not available, due to a lack of research and the tendency among families to lie about age when registering marriages. Indeed, many are not registered at all. In urban areas the ratio is 27 percent. Overall, the council reports, 32 percent of married women in Pakistan aged 20-24 were married before reaching 18.
Of the provinces, Sindh, in the south, has the highest percentage of early marriages among females, while the Punjab, the most developed, has the lowest.
Tradition is by far the biggest factor behind this trend.
"The doctor was angry with me when I took my pregnant daughter to her, because she was aged only 16, but it is the custom in our family for girls to be wed by the time they are 15 or 16, and I plan to ensure my younger daughters are also married early," said Tasneem Bibi, 40, from the Khairpur area of Sindh, about 350km north of the port city of Karachi.
She is unconvinced by warnings from medical experts about the risks to health posed by pregnancies at a young age, saying: "I was married at 13 and had my first child at 14."
Settling disputes
Sometimes child marriages are not the result of an agreement between families, but the result of a ruling by a tribal council, most often to settle a feud or decide a dispute. Such a ruling was delivered late in May by a "jirga" (gathering of tribal elders) in the village of Chach, along Sindh's western border with the province of Balochistan.
The gathering decided that 15 girls, aged between three and 10 years, from the Chakrani tribe, would be married to men from the rival Qalandari tribe to settle an eight-year-old feud.
The feud arose allegedly over a dog owned by the Chakrani tribe biting a donkey that belonged to a Qalandari. So far, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which has conducted an inquiry into the matter, at least 20 lives have been lost in the killings and counter-killings ignited by the incident. The Chakrani tribe has not yet handed over the girls.
"It is terrible that such things happen even now in our society and it is worse still that the marriage of small girls is used to settle these matters. This is barbaric," said Iqbal Haider, a former senator and now co-chairperson of HRCP.
He also warned that "the girls need to be rescued as they are at risk" and demanded that "those involved should be jailed, including the parents of the girls".
The Sindh and federal governments have been approached to intervene in the matter but have not yet announced action.
HRCP has demanded the provincial government do so without further delay.
The holding of jirgas and handing-over of girls by them as "compensation" has been declared illegal by courts in Sindh and other provinces. Yet, such gatherings continue to be held and make decisions that determine the future of many girls.
Outside the realm of jirgas, however, child marriages remain a fact of life in Pakistan. Cases of poverty-stricken parents selling pre-teen or teenage daughters have been reported in the local media and other instances of girls given away as compensation have also occurred
.
Disclaimer:This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
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| 13 Jul 2008 - 09:22 | admin
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Providence RI - State Supreme Court upholds Review Board
High court upholds role of police watchdog agency
By Gregory Smith
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — A semiautonomous agency that the city created as a watchdog of police misconduct has fended off the last legal challenge to its existence.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court yesterday issued a decision upholding the legality of the watchdog agency, which is called the Providence External Review Authority. The court rejected a challenge to the legitimacy of PERA, which is the agency's acronym, by the police labor union.
PERA is a civilian review board empowered by the mayor and City
Council to investigate complaints of misconduct by police officers and
recommend disciplinary action against them by the police chief. It was stymied in conducting its first adversarial probe in 2006 when the
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 3, sued in an effort to have its
power curtailed.
The FOP had contended that, among other technical legal flaws, PERA trampled on a statute called the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights.
The so-called bill of rights spells out a disciplinary procedure for
police officers that empowers only a police chief to initiate action
against an officer and provides that an ad hoc tribunal decide each
contested case. The tribunals consist of three members, one of whom is appointed by the accused officer.
Since PERA only makes recommendations, the high court declared, it does not interfere with the bill of rights. The justices said PERA may exist as a preliminary process to screen misconduct complaints by interviewing complainants, holding hearings and summoning police officers to testify — as long as it is the chief who initiates any punishment of an officer.
"… Preliminary proceedings that do not directly result in the
imposition of discipline are not precluded" by the bill of rights, the
Supreme Court said in its written decision.
In effect, the court upheld a decision by Superior Court Judge Stephen
Fortunato that PERA may stand as it is. The FOP had appealed
Fortunato's ruling.
Artin H. Coloian, a criminal-defense lawyer and restaurateur, is
chairman of the PERA board.
"I'm obviously pleased" by the decision, he said. "PERA serves a vital role and I'm glad this ends a controversy."
FOP lawyer Joseph Rodio could not be reached for comment.
The Supreme Court's ruling also mentions a 35-year-old federal court
consent decree governing the handling of civilian civil-rights
complaints against Providence police officers. PERA does not conflict with the consent decree, which was amended to mesh with the bill of rights, the justices said.
While PERA has withstood the legal challenge, it still faces a political challenge.
Mayor David N. Cicilline has proposed that the agency be abolished and its duties transferred to the Providence Human Relations Commission, and his proposed 2008-2009 municipal budget provides no money for PERA
to operate.
The budget proposal is before the City Council, which has not voted on
PERA's fate.
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| 11 Jul 2008 - 08:34 | Randy McCall
info@vaonline.org
URL: vaonlinefusion.blogspot.com/
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The following new articles have been posted to the VAOnline.org Fusion blog: http://vaonlinefusion.blogspot.com/
* Words Banned from Courtrooms: Are victim rights rolling backwards?
(USA)
* Victim Advocates and Services in the News (South Africa)
* Honour Killings Arrive in the US (including resource links for victim
assistance professionals)
Randy McCall
-------------------------------------
Victim Assistance Online
info@vaonline.org
http://www.vaonline.org/
http://vaonlinefusion.blogspot.com/
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| 11 Jul 2008 - 08:12 | CIMAC
URL: www.cimacnoticias.com/site/
| Señalan periodistas que trabajan
en la isla
Medios cubanos abordan violencia de género limitadamente
De la redacción
México DF, 10 julio 08 (CIMAC/SEMlac).- Aunque el tema de la violencia de género ha empezado a ser tratado por los medios de comunicación en Cuba, el acercamiento es aún muy limitado, insuficiente y asistemático.
Cualquier monitoreo muestra esta tendencia y así piensan también personas vinculadas a este universo y entrevistadas por SEMlac, con fines periodísticos.
¿Qué tratamiento dan los medios de comunicación cubanos al tema de la violencia de género? ¿Con qué frecuencia y profundidad se abordan esos temas? ¿Podría asegurarse que los medios de comunicación en Cuba no son sistemáticos a la hora de tratar el tema de la violencia?
En aras de encontrar respuestas a estas interrogantes, SEMlac conversó con 31 periodistas: 11 de medios de comunicación impresos, 10 de la radio y 10 de la televisión. Del total, 17 eran mujeres y 14 hombres y procedían de una amplia variedad de medios.
Por sexo, las mujeres han escrito más sobre los temas de referencia que los hombres. Por tipo de medio de comunicación, las y los comunicadores de los medios impresos han trabajado más el tema que quienes laboran en la radio o la televisión.
Indagando las razones de este comportamiento, apareció una evidencia que pudiera aportar claridad: muchos de los programas donde se han abordado temas de violencia en la radio y la televisión no son precisamente espacios informativos puros, sino revistas de variedades donde no suelen ser periodistas los encargados de presentar el asunto. Generalmente son conductores que entrevistan a especialistas en el tema.
Resulta muy interesante el balance de las respuestas acerca de la calidad del tratamiento de los temas de violencia en el medio de comunicación propio de los entrevistados, en comparación con la atribuida a los otros medios.
Las y los comunicadores de la prensa escrita fueron más ponderados al evaluar el ejercicio propio, calificándolo mayoritariamente entre regular y malo. En la radio y la televisión, calificaron fundamentalmente de bueno el ejercicio propio.
Las razones esbozadas por los periodistas de la prensa escrita para ser tan críticos con su trabajo fueron: poca profundidad y sobre todo, sistematicidad, a la hora de abordar estos temas. Además, citaron la presencia de análisis parciales sobre las causas de la violencia; aunque reconocieron que en determinado momento, en los periódicos se ha abordado el tema de manera bastante integral, pero aislada.
Otro dato de interés fue la diferencia en la apreciación de la calidad del tratamiento de los temas de violencia en el medio de comunicación, propio de los entrevistados, en comparación con la atribuida a los otros medios. A la hora de juzgar la calidad del tratamiento de los temas de violencia en los medios ajenos al de procedencia, ninguna de las personas entrevistadas evaluó de bueno el trabajo de los restantes medios y hubo un mayor abstencionismo, mostrado en el alto número que marcó la opción “No se”.
Las y los comunicadores de la prensa escrita fueron más ponderados al evaluar el ejercicio propio, calificándolo mayoritariamente entre regular y malo. En la radio y la televisión, calificaron fundamentalmente de bueno el ejercicio propio.
Las razones esbozadas por las y los periodistas de la prensa escrita para tener una posición tan crítica sobre su trabajo fueron poca profundidad y sobre todo, sistematicidad, a la hora de abordar estos temas. Además, citaron la presencia de análisis parciales sobre las causas de la violencia; aunque reconocieron que en determinado momento en periódicos se ha abordado el tema de manera bastante integral, pero aislada.
RADIO Y TELEVISIÓN
En tanto, la actitud dentro de la televisión y sobre este medio fue distinta. A pesar de que la mayoría de las personas consultadas declaró no haber elaborado nunca materiales sobre violencia, se aprecia una sobrestimación de la calidad del tratamiento que la televisión da al tema: seis, de 10 personas entrevistadas, consideraron que era bueno y dos, regular. Sólo una persona consideró que esa labor era mala y otra persona decidió no emitir un juicio.
Sin embargo, cuando intentamos profundizar las causas de esa sobrevaloración, no pudimos encontrar elementos de juicio sólidos para justificarla.
La respuesta más recurrente fue que la televisión, en tanto tenía la posibilidad de la imagen, era más efectiva en su tratamiento, criterio insostenible pues los espacios que más han abordado los temas de violencia en este medio lo han hecho a partir de entrevistas a expertos y no de reportajes periodísticos con imágenes. Periodistas de la TV también mencionaron la alusión al tema de la violencia en las telenovelas, como vía efectiva para sensibilizar a las y los televidentes.
La radio resultó ser el medio seleccionado como más sistemático en el tratamiento a los temas de violencia, con poco más de un 45 por ciento de las opiniones recogidas. En segundo lugar quedó la televisión, y en tercero, la prensa escrita.
La razón fundamental tenida en cuenta para la elección fue que la radio, con muchas emisoras territoriales y nacionales transmitiendo a la vez, durante muchas horas a la semana, tenía más espacios para brindar tratamiento diferenciado al tema de la violencia, y podía hacerlo con mayor inmediatez y de manera más reiterada.
La razón de evaluar como “menos sistemática” a la prensa escrita está justificada por el espacio que revistas y periódicos, de escasas tiradas y paginados, pueden dedicarle al asunto: “suelen ser más profundos, pero quizás publican apenas un trabajo en el año”, describió una de las encuestadas.
¿Cuáles son los principales obstáculos a que se enfrenta el o la periodista o un medio de prensa para publicar trabajos sobre violencia? Las respuestas más repetidas y su porcentaje de frecuencia fueron:
Desinformación y falta de especialización de periodistas en asuntos sociales y de género (78 por ciento); diseño de objetivos editoriales que no tienen en cuenta el tema (72.2); desconocimiento de la dirección de la prensa de que la violencia de género es un hecho también en Cuba (67.3); resistencia en el país a reconocer la existencia de la violencia en todas sus variantes (66.5); falta de sensibilidad con el tema (57.1); machismo: la mayoría de los directivos de la prensa son hombres (48 por ciento).
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| 09 Jul 2008 - 12:33 | Silvia Loli Espinoza, Amnistia Internacional Perù
derechos.mujeres@iidh.ed.cr
URL: www.amnistia.org.pe
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IIDH presenta nueva publicación: Colección Derechos Humanos, Población y Desarrollo
El IIDH y el Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas (UNFPA) han desarrollado acciones conjuntas desde el año 2002, en el marco de una fructífera alianza estratégica basada en la plena coincidencia de que el goce y ejercicio de los derechos humanos, constituyen la piedra angular de la democracia y del desarrollo.
En el trabajo de promoción y educación en derechos humanos de las mujeres que ambas entidades realizan, han identificado temas de especial preocupación en la región en la esfera de los derechos reproductivos. Es por ello que han propiciado procesos de investigación académica, que dan continuidad al estudio realizado y publicado hace algunos años "Promoción y defensa de los derechos reproductivos: nuevo reto para las instituciones nacionales de derechos humanos" (IIDH, UNFPA: 2003). Disponible en línea en la sección especializada DerechosMujer-web IIDH)
Mediante la presente publicación, se pone a disposición un compendio de cuatro investigaciones, con el fin de propiciar conocimientos que faciliten el debate, la argumentación y la toma de decisiones:
Tomo 1: Los derechos reproductivos son derechos humanos. Aborda los derechos reproductivos desde una perspectiva de género y de derechos humanos. Analiza la evolución, alcance y contenido de los derechos reproductivos como parte de los derechos humanos universales y por ende, de las obligaciones de los Estados en esa materia.
Tomo 2: Protección constitucional de los derechos sexuales y reproductivos. Presenta, desde una perspectiva jurídica, cómo la justicia constitucional ha resuelto en América Latina los casos en los que se han discutido demandas argumentadas como derechos sexuales y reproductivos.
Tomo 3: La anticoncepción oral de emergencia. El debate legal en América Latina. Sistematiza quince procesos judiciales constitucionales sobre la anticoncepción oral de emergencia, el cual constituye el método anticonceptivo que más controversias judiciales ha originado en América Latina, planteadas en Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, México y Perú.
Tomo 4: Reproducción asistida, género y derechos humanos en América Latina. Analiza la reproducción asistida desde una perspectiva de género y derechos humanos en el contexto latinoamericano.
El IIDH y el Fondo de Población de Naciones Unidas (UNFPA), esperan continuar contribuyendo a ampliar los conocimientos en dichas temáticas y sobre todo, que la apropiación de los mismos se convierta en una herramienta de trabajo en pro de los derechos humanos, por parte de las instituciones de Estado y de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil.
Los textos completos se encuentran en línea en la sección especializada DerechosMujer-web IIDH. Para acceder a ellos haga click en Biblioteca Digital/Publicaciones IIDH. Si desea comprar el texto impreso, comuníquese con la Unidad de Información y Servicio Editorial del IIDH: uinformacion@iidh.ed.cr
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| 09 Jul 2008 - 12:22 | admin
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Native American Judge Finds It Difficult to Curb Domestic Violence
Indian Country Today, Commentary, Steve Russell, Posted: Jun 30, 2008
CANASTOTA, NY – Texas elects judges, and at an election-year barbecue a man I did not know walked up to me and said, ''You're Judge Russell, aren't you?''
Not letting on I didn't recognize him, I stuck out my hand.
''You fined me for popping my old lady. I don't think I want to shake your hand.''
Things got quiet and everybody was watching us, or so it felt. ''Well,'' I ventured, ''obviously I didn't fine you enough.''
Looking back on the incident, I admit that I felt badly, even though I had no guilt about fining him for ''popping his old lady.'' Judges in those days were hampered by legal requirements that we promise nothing beyond showing up. So campaigns were a beauty contest, and I was not beautiful.
The U.S. Supreme Court has loosened the rules. We can now promise to show up sober, dressed and on time, and it's legal to say our opponent got his law license in a Cracker Jack box. But old habits die hard and most judge races remain beauty contests. I'm even less beautiful, so it's a good thing I don't run for office anymore. But one issue did mark my issueless judicial career.
Having grown up in rural Oklahoma, I knew family violence was a problem, but I have to admit I was ignorant of the size of the problem. It first hit me when I was the administrative judge on the municipal court and I noticed that more than half of the assault cases were dismissed - a waste of limited resources that set me to an investigation.
It turned out that stranger assaults were likely to go to trial. The statistics were caused by wholesale dismissal of wife-beating cases. I use this language, ''wife-beating,'' to avoid the error of gender neutrality in discussing family violence. Yes, women are just as likely as men to resort to force in an argument. However, the bodies in the morgues and emergency rooms are more than 90 percent female.
Men bite dogs, but that does not make dog bites a species-neutral problem.
Women hit men, but that does not make family violence a sex-neutral problem.
Speaking rationally, men are the perpetrators and women are the victims; and then there are a few special cases, like the fellow who took off his shirt in the courtroom and showed me the perfect outline of a steam iron branded into his chest and the guy who showed me a photo of the bite marks on his testicles so I would understand why he punched her.
I stack those two cases among the thousands I heard in my career. Then there was the guy who smashed his wife's fish tank, the guy who tossed her kitten out a fifth-floor window, the guy who shot her dog, or the guy who did something unspeakable to her horse. The family violence docket is plenty ugly, and you never know how close you are to homicide. It happened, in fact, that I once signed a protective order for a woman who was already dead; and I am acutely aware that paper cannot stop bullets.
My first family violence docket started when some of the folks from the battered women's shelter wrote a grant to fund a counselor. We put all the family violence cases on one night and reset the standard assault fine, $50, to $200 when the victim was a wife or girlfriend. If they did not wish to pay the fine and take the conviction, they could pay $50 for six weeks of group therapy and not hit her for six months in return for a dismissal of the criminal case. This largely solved the problem of victims asking for dismissal.
The hitch was that two of the judges did not think it fair to fine somebody more for wife-beating than for fighting a stranger. One of those judges was a woman (!) and the other later got arrested for threatening his wife with a gun. I was able to get around them because I was the administrative judge. I always assigned the family violence cases to myself or to the other judge who agreed with me. Anybody who pleaded not guilty and asked for a trial would get a judge at random, since this was about sentencing rather than guilt.
My gender resulted in a lot of defendants on that docket explaining proudly why it was necessary to punish ''the little woman.'' For them, keeping order in the family by violence was a masculinity enhancer, and their assumption was that since I appeared masculine I would agree. A week seldom passed when I did not shock somebody by failing to join the keep-'em-in-line-with-a-belt club.
When I ran for a higher court, I pushed the campaign envelope by promising to set up another family violence docket to hear protective orders and, more important, to hear alleged violations of those orders within hours.
More hitches?
To even get the cases filed in the county courts, I had to threaten to put the county clerk in jail. This woman had held office since I was in grade school and she was determined to keep the wife-beating cases in the district courts, where it took forever to get a hearing but she did not have to shuffle the paper.
When I got past her, I found that I had more family violence cases than one judge could handle. I asked the other judges to help me make good on my campaign promise, and the only woman refused, saying she would not put up with an abusive spouse and she had no sympathy for any woman who did. She thought the cases were a waste of time and that these women just needed to get a divorce.
I take away from this experience that attitudes toward family violence don't have a lot to do with sex and the most important factor is not anything that happens in court. Lots of men think that every time they hit a woman, they become manlier. Cherokee women have a robust history of social equality, and I never have gotten used to the attitude that ''a real man'' beats his wife. It makes no sense to me.
On the subject of Indian women and family violence, I cite Melissa Tatum, who teaches law at the University of Tulsa. In the latest Cherokee Phoenix, she pointed out [what was then] a pending U.S. Supreme Court case, Plains Commerce Bank v. Long, challenging the rule that a non-Indian who enters into a relationship with an Indian can be sued in tribal court in a case arising out of the relationship. The case involved a bank and the relationship is a contract. Could it cover a situation where the relationship is marriage or shacking up and the case involves battering?
If so, a woman who is battered by a non-Indian on Indian land would have no recourse to a protective order in tribal court and the state courts have no jurisdiction.
As Tatum pointed out: ''U.S. government statistics show that Indian women are two and a half times more likely to be the victim of violent crime, one in three American Indian women will be raped in their lifetime; three of four will be physically assaulted; and Indian women are stalked at a rate more than double that of any other population. Well over 75 percent of the perpetrators of these crimes are non-Indian.''
At press time, the case went against the Cheyenne River Sioux, but it was - thank goodness -not as broad as Tatum feared, although it is another serious blow to the authority of tribal courts.
My life experience tells me that public opinion matters more than law anyway, and the most important thing we can do is teach our boys that they become less masculine - not more - when they hit women.
However, it's not true that courts can do nothing. It remains to be seen whether tribal courts will retain their authority over non-Indian men who batter Indian women on Indian land.
Steve Russell, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a Texas trial court judge by assignment and an associate professor of criminal justice at Indiana University - Bloomington. He is a columnist for Indian Country Today.
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| 07 Jul 2008 - 13:06 | Equality Now
lanant@equalitynow.org
URL: www.equalitynow.org
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Equality Now
For Immediate Release
ZAMBIAN COURT REACHES LANDMARK DECISION IN TEACHER RAPE CASE
GIRL PREVAILS IN SUIT AGAINST TEACHER WINNING K45 MILLION ($14,000)
JUDGE ALSO CALLS FOR ACTION BY MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND REFERS CASE TO PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
On 30 June 2008, the High Court of Zambia reached a groundbreaking
decision in favor of a girl known as R.M. who was raped by her teacher
at age 13. International human rights organization Equality Now has been actively involved in advocacy on behalf of R.M. The organization commends Judge Phillip Musonda for his landmark decision, which will have far-reaching implications in ensuring protection for girls from teacher rape and justice for girls who are raped by their teachers, a
phenomenon not uncommon in Zambia and other countries.
In February 2006, R.M., aged 13, had requested her school papers from her teacher Edward Hakasenke. Hakasenke did not bring the papers to school despite reminders on three separate occasions, then inviting R.M. to collect the papers in his home where he raped her. R.M. was
afraid to talk about the incident with anyone at first. She later developed a sexually transmitted infection as a result of the rape and needed help. She confided in two teachers who informed her aunt, who then brought the matter to the attention of the Headmaster.
Hakasenke told the Headmaster that R.M. was his “girlfriend.” He later went into hiding and was subsequently detained by the police but only briefly and has not been charged with a criminal offense. At the meeting, the Headmaster told Hakasenke that he had been warned before, referring to a prior relationship with another girl in the school.
In March 2006, through her guardian (aunt), Petronella Mwamba and represented by _pro bono_ counsel Kelvin Bwalya, R.M. filed a historic civil suit in Zambia. She called for accountability not just from the rapist but also from her school and from the Ministry of Education. R.M. claimed damages from Hakasenke for personal injury and emotional distress.
She also demanded that the school be held accountable for negligence noting that the Headmaster knew that Hakasenke had a history of sexually abusing his students in the school yet had not taken steps to prevent further incidents and effectively protect the girls. R.M. had wanted her case to set a legal precedent so that girls in Zambia will have protection and girls raped by their teachers will have meaningful recourse. To this end her lawsuit called on the
Ministry of Education to issue preventive guidelines.
On 30 June 2008, Judge Philip Musonda of the High Court in Lusaka issued his decision awarding R.M. damages worth K45,000,000. Calling the failure of the police to prosecute Hakasenke “a dereliction of
duty,” the judge also referred the case to the Director of Public
Prosecutions for a possible criminal prosecution. He further urged the Ministry of Education to set “regulations, which may stem such acts.”
Expanding on the national significance of this case Faiza Jama Mohamed, Equality Now’s Africa Regional Director explained, “Although
student rape by teachers is common not only in Zambia but regionally, it is still not acknowledged as an issue of wide public concern. We hope this remarkable decision will raise much needed awareness and
generate action. We urge the Director of Public Prosecutions to
advance a criminal case against Hakasenke. These steps would prove that the Zambian government will no longer tolerate the rape of
students by their teachers.” Another noteworthy element in this
decision is that it cites and incorporates the standards set in the African Union’s Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which
Zambia ratified on 2 May 2006.
Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works to protect and promote the civil, political, economic and social
rights of girls and women. In 2007 Equality Now launched the
Adolescent Girls’ Legal Defense Fund (AGLDF) in order to address the unique human rights abuses that adolescent girls in Africa face. The Fund supports and publicizes strategically selected legal cases
(including R.M.’s) that represent critical efforts to keep girls safe
at home, safe in the school and safe in the community. For more
information please visit www.equalitynow.org.
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| 07 Jul 2008 - 08:45 | Women's Justice Center
URL: www.justicewomen.com/DAfiresMiriam.pdf
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DA Fires Veteran Victim Advocate Miriam Gaon
** A Wake Up Call for All Who Seek to End Violence Against Women and Children
** It's Time to Re-Invent Independent Victim Advocacy
see www.justicewomen.com/DAfiresMiriam.pdf
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| 07 Jul 2008 - 08:40 | Carolina Ruiz Torres
carolina@flora.org.pe
URL: www.flora.org.pe
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Pronunciamiento sobre Ley de Violencia Familiar , aprobada por el Comisión
Permanente del Congreso,
NOTA DE PRENSA
Una reforma que nos hace retroceder
Respeto al dictamen de violencia familiar aprobado por la Comisión
Permanente del Congreso, el Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristán manifiesta su preocupación por dos aspectos centrales:
· La anunciada penalización de la violencia familiar como delito no
se ha producido.
Se sigue considerando como faltas las lesiones de hasta 10 días de
incapacidad causadas en un marco de violencia familiar; además, la sanción prevista sigue siendo “trabajo comunitario”.
En este campo, el único cambio establecido con la norma es que la violencia familiar constituirá un agravante en el caso de lesiones que superen los 10 días de incapacidad.
· Se ha regresado a la posibilidad de conciliar en materia de
violencia familiar.
La norma aprobada faculta a la Policía Nacional a propiciar la conciliación en los casos de violencia familiar que sean tramitados como faltas. Esta
modalidad deja en la impunidad a quien ha cometido el acto de agresión. Lo que sucederá si se promulga esta norma es que se reconducirá a la conciliación casos que ya, de hecho, no reciben sanciones penales; es una
ratificación de la falta de voluntad para brindar una efectiva sanción.
El Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristán insta al Presidente de la
República a observar esta norma en el marco de sus facultades, pues no cumple su propósito de sancionar los actos de violencia familiar y porque constituye un retroceso al reinstalar la posibilidad de conciliación en esta materia.
Lima, 4 de julio de 2008
Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristán
Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora Tristán
Parque Hernán Velarde 42, Lima
Tlf. 4332765, fax 4339500
E-mail: postmast@flora.org.pe
www.flora.org.pe
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| 07 Jul 2008 - 08:30 | Boletin e-leusis
URL: www.e-leusis.net/
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Espana
Datos del informe "La justicia dato a dato 2007"
El análisis llevado a cabo por el Consejo General del Poder Judicial puso de manifiesto que se dictaron 37.794 órdenes de protección de las cuáles, 24.113 eran víctimas mujeres españolas y 12.913 eran extranjeras.
Según los datos del informe "La justicia dato a dato 2007" del Consejo General del Poder Judicial (CGPJ), Andalucía es la comunidad española donde se producen más denuncias seguida de Madrid, con 18.975; Cataluña, 18.424; Comunidad Valenciana, 15.614; Canarias, 8.894; Castilla y León, 5.265; Galicia, 5.181; Murcia, 4.872; Baleares, 3.910; Castilla La Mancha, 3.885; País Vasco, 3.444; Aragón, 2.853; Asturias, 1.926; Extremadura, 1.536; Navarra, 1.377; Cantabria, 1.122 y La Rioja, 749. Por cada 10.000 habitantes, el mayor número se registró en Canarias con 43,9 y el menor en Extremadura con 14,1. En todo el año 2007 se produjeron una media de 27,9 denuncias por cada 10.000 habitantes según refleja el estudio.
El Consejo también pone de relieve que el 95,7 por ciento de las órdenes de protección incoadas según su procedencia se realizaron a instancia de la víctima; un 2,9 por ciento a instancias del ministerio fiscal; un 0,9 por ciento de oficio; un 0,5 por ciento a instancia de otras personas y un 0,1 por ciento al de la Administración.
También destaca el hecho de que eran españoles un 79,5 por ciento de los absueltos; un 69,4 por ciento de los enjuiciados y un 66,7 por ciento de los condenados. Sin embargo eran extranjeros, un 33,3 por ciento de los condenados; un 30,6 por ciento de los enjuiciados y un 20,5 por ciento de los absueltos.
Por sexo, eran varones un 98,5 por ciento de los condenados; un 98,4 por ciento de los enjuiciados y un 98,3 por ciento de los absueltos, mientras que eran mujeres un 1,7 por ciento de las absueltas; un 1,6 por ciento de las enjuiciadas y un 1,5 por ciento de las condenadas.
El informe "La justicia dato a dato 2007" de CGPJ refleja que se resolvieron 85.968 diligencias previas; 51.332 diligencias urgentes y 21.694 juicios de faltas. También se reabrieron 393 diligencias previas; 170 procedimientos abreviados y 58 diligencias urgentes.
Por último, el análisis destaca que al finalizar 2007 quedaban pendientes 34.494 diligencias previas por violencia contra la mujer; 13.604 procedimientos abreviados y 1.555 juicios de faltas.
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