Welcome to our 16 for 16 Special Edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest. In this edition, we bring you the top 16 news headlines in each category related to violence against women over the past year.
2014 can be seen as a banner year for progress in the global fight to end violence against women with the movement to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) continuing strong momentum in the UK and debuting in the USA, more people than ever (including ‘Harry Potter’ star Emma Watson) speaking out in support of feminism and stopping violence against women, more educational efforts ranging from schools teaching children about what forced marriage is (Australia) and what FGM is (UK), and what looks like an increasingly number of men getting on board the cause via efforts such as UN Women’s #HeForShe campaign and the White Ribbon campaign.
To kick things off, here are 16 of the biggest trending VAW headlines of 2014:
This year, two activists who work to grant girls access to education, Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, received the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala Yousafzai is herself a survivor of violence.
This year was also the year of Gamergate, a controversy related to gaming culture and social media that reveals how pervasive a culture of violence against women is on the Internet.
Several significant milestones have been made in the fight against domestic violence. The European Union has approved a referendum that grants the rights to asylum for women fleeing abusive relationships, a scenario that could also emerge for women in Latin America fleeing to the United States to escape domestic violence.
In the United States, several NFL players (including Ray Rice) were charged under domestic violence, raising issues of the relationship between violence against women and celebrity culture.
Two well-loved male celebrities – Canadian celebrity radio presenter Jian Ghomeshi and the comedian Bill Cosby – had their past as serial rapists and sexual assault perpetrators come to light and are now facing the consequences:
The allegations inspired the #beenrapedneverreported hashtag, with rape survivors sharing stories revealing why they never made reports despite having been raped.
Rape in conflict zones continue to be a scourge against women as minorities facing militant groups like ISIS are threatened with rape.
In Nigeria, the government has succeeded in securing the freedom of the girls who were abducted by Boko Haram, who report being sexually assaulted and forced into marriage.
Debate on whether the legalization of sex work can decrease sex trafficking continues to rage on as Europe opts for the Nordic model: to legalise the selling of sex but penalise its buyers.
In Africa criminalisation has not stopped female genital mutilation, although studies indicate that unorthodox solutions, like access to clean water, might be more effective.
This year Yemen outlawed child marriage and Saudi Arabia began work to outlaw it, while a video about bride kidnappings in Kazakhstan goes viral.
Viral videos were at the heart of street harassment news as videos of street harassment in the United States and Egypt spread on social media.
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Best regards,
The Pixel Project Team
Violence Against Women – General
WORLD: Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi receive the Nobel Peace Prize 2014
WORLD: Feature: The Unsafety Net – how social media turned against women
EUROPE: Europe signs pledge to stop violence against women
AFGHANISTAN: 6 women killed in single day as violence against women soars
AUSTRALIA: Australians still trivialize and excuse violence against women
BOLIVIA: New law to fight violence against women
CAMEROON: Breast ironing in Cameroon: empowering girls to speak out
CANADA: First Nations call to end violence after brutal assault on First Nations teenage girl
FRANCE: Council of Europe – Ratification by France of the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
GUATEMALA: Femicide Courts in Guatemala: A Beacon of Light in the Fight against Impunity
INDIA: One in two men believe that women must endure violence to keep the family together
LAOS: Laos to draft national plan to end violence against women, children
SOUTH AFRICA: Pistorious Trial Is a Referendum on Violence Against Women in South Africa
TUNISIA: Tunisia to criminalise violence against women
UNITED STATES: ‘Gamergate’, guns and threats collide in Utah
Domestic Violence
WORLD: Study shows domestic violence falls as women gain rights from land ownership
WORLD: Domestic violence kills more people than wars, study finds
ASIA: A quarter of women in Asia Pacific support gender and marital violence, World Bank report finds
EUROPE: The Istanbul Convention will grant refugee status to women fleeing domestic violence [Trigger warning: The accompanying illustration may be distressing to some survivors]
LATIN AMERICA / UNITED STATES: Domestic violence ruling may help thousands of immigrants get asylum in the US
AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan To Revise Domestic Abuse Law
GAMBIA: New Domestic Violence Bill – a Step in the Right Direction
LEBANON: Lebanon Makes Domestic Violence a Criminal Offense
MEXICO: More than 80% of women have suffered from family, labour, community or institutional violence
NIGERIA: Top Nollywood acts walk against domestic violence
RUSSIA: Aggression and hostility increasing in Russia, including domestic violence
SOUTH AFRICA: Oscar Pistorius sentenced to five years in killing of girlfriend
SWEDEN: Social experiment shows that the majority of people in a lift would not intervene while witnessing domestic violence
TURKEY: 207 dead in a 9-month period in 2014 under domestic violence or honour killings
UNITED KINGDOM: Scotland to pilot ‘Clare’s Law’ to tackle domestic violence
UNITED STATES: Four NFL players suspended for domestic violence, eleven more with previous charges still able to play
Sexual Assault / Rape
WORLD: The hashtag #beenrapedneverreported goes viral, as survivors tell stories of why they did not report
BOSNIA: Bosnia’s wartime rape survivors losing hope of justice
BRAZIL: How Smartphones Are Being Used to Combat Rape and Violence Against Women in Brazil
CAMBODIA: Masculinity and the Crisis in Cambodian Child Rape
CANADA: Defence lawyer offers advice pro-bono to help alleged rape victims of Jian Gomeshi
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: DRC soldiers convicted of rape and murder
INDIA: Parents lash out at Bangalore school for sexual assault on six-year old girl
INDONESIA: Indonesian gang-rape victim could be caned publicly for breaking religious law
IRAQ: Women abducted by ISIS feared trapped in sexual slavery
JAPAN: The comfort women and Japan’s war on truth
KENYA: Empowerment program greatly decreases incidence of rape, Stanford/Packard-led study finds
MEXICO: Is rape the price migrant women pay for chasing the American dream?
NIGERIA: Nigeria Prepares To Treat Rape, Sexual Trauma Of Kidnapped School Girls
RWANDA: Trauma still fresh for Rwanda’s survivors of genocidal rape
SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa’s “Corrective Rape” Problem
UNITED STATES: Bill Cosby rape accuser pens op-ed, claims no one paid attention until a man spoke out
Human / Sex Trafficking
WORLD: How to Spot a Sex Trafficking Victim at a Hotel
AFRICA: Women appeal to African gov’ts over Boko Haram girls
EUROPE: Europe Votes on Penalising Prostitute Clients in ‘Nordic Model’
BRAZIL: Child Prostitutes at the World Cup Are Selling Sex for 50 Cents
CAMBODIA: Cambodian Anti-sex Trafficking Activist Breaks Silence, Defends Story
CANADA: Canada signs bill legalizing the sale of sex, but not its purchase
CHINA: Sex trafficking and the link to China’s one-child policy
COLOMBIA: Star of ‘Walking Dead’and activist Laurie Holden recently brought down a Colombian sex trafficking ring
IRELAND: Sex-trafficking gangs smashed by gardai as part of Europe-wide crackdown
LEBANON: Syrian refugee girls exploited by prostitution networks
MYANMAR: Burma’s authorities involved in human trafficking, says human rights group
NIGERIA: Woman trafficking other women from under threat of ‘juju’ sentenced in the United Kingdom
THAILAND AND MALAYSIA: The United States has waived the call to sanction against Thailand and Malaysia for failing to meet the minimum in combating human trafficking
UNITED KINGDOM: Drugs and prostitution ‘worth £10bln to British economy’
UNITED STATES: Alleged child sex trafficking victims sue Backpage.com for allowing advertisements featuring trafficked minors
VIETNAM: Brides for sale: Vietnamese women trafficked to China
Female Genital Mutilation
WORLD: What kind of men support female genital mutilation? An illustrated guide.
WORLD: ‘International Clitoris Awareness Week’ Pays Homage To ‘A Magnificent Organ’
AFRICA: Criminalisation will not stop FGM in east Africa
AFRICA: Improved access to water may help end female genital mutilation
BURKINA FASO: Clitoral Repair Hospital Opens In Burkina Faso
EGYPT: Egyptian doctor to stand trial for female genital mutilation in landmark case
GAMBIA : Female circumcision soon to be outlawed in Gambia
GERMANY: Berlin Clinic Aims To Make Genital Cutting Survivors Feel Whole
GHANA: Obituary for Efua Dorkenoo, the ‘incredible female warrior’ who battled FGM
KENYA: Kenya issues a warning to parents about FGM
SIERRA LEONE – Survivor states that many do not realize that the practice is illegal
SOMALIA: Puntland bans Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
SWEDEN: 60 cases of FGM found in Swedish school
TANZANIA: Kilindi Community Leaders Say ‘No’ to FGM
UNITED KINGDOM: Britain’s first FGM clinic for girls to open in London in September
UNITED STATES: Washington D.C. to host its first walk to end FGM
Honour Killing and Forced/Child Marriage
WORLD: Child Marriage in 2013: Third of Women in Developing World Married Before 18
AFRICA: UNICEF, UNFPA stand behind Africa’s biggest anti child marriage push
CAMBODIA: Decades after the Khmer Rouge, spectre of forced marriage still haunts victims
GAMBIA-How one teenager stood up to child marriages
GHANA: WiLDAF sensitises Muslims against early marriages
IRAQ: Child marriage could become law in Iraq this week, but it’s a global scourge
KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan ‘stealing the bride’ video highlights barbaric kidnapping practice
NIGER: Big money for Niger’s child brides
NIGERIA: Boko Haram abductees tell of forced marriage, rape, torture and abuse
NORWAY: Campaign on child bride to raise awareness about forced marriages
PAKISTAN: Photos: These women were doused in acid for turning down marriage proposals
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia Drafts Law to Prevent Child Marriage
SYRIA: Forced marriages, conversions and beheadings await the stranded Yazidi
TURKEY: More than 500,000 child brides married in Turkey in the last decade
UNITED KINGDOM: Could UK ban on forced marriage backfire?
YEMEN: Yemen law on child brides and FGM offers hope of wider progress
Street Harassment
WORLD: Twitter teams up with advocacy group to reduce harassment against women on its platform
AFGHANISTAN: Women drivers in Afghanistan brave threats and harassment
AUSTRALIA: Pickup artist’s visa revoked after public reacts angrily to seminars teaching men to pick up women using physical or emotional abuse
BELGIUM: Two complaints of street harassment daily in Brussels
CANADA: Catcallers in Montreal are target of new campaign: ‘We don’t owe you anything’
CHILE: Three in four Chilean women regularly harassed in public, study finds
EGYPT: Hidden camera reveals what it is like for a woman to walk alone in Cairo [Trigger warning: The video may be distressing to some viewers.]
EGYPT: Egypt Finally Criminalizes Sexual Harassment
INDIA: Woman kicks harasser and posts video on Facebook
INDONESIA: Sexual harassment victims face hurdles in getting justice
JORDAN: Street art confronts street harassment
MEXICO: Mexico City has the highest recorded instances of street harassment in experiment
PERU: Peru makes street harassment a crime
SRI LANKA: Harassed woman slaps harasser, creating responses and prompting replies to public responses
UNITED KINGDOM: Street harassment victim-blaming poster by the police sparks protests
UNITED STATES: #YesAllWomen: NYC actress walks 10 hrs to study street harassment, gets over 100 catcalls
Activism
WORLD: End the Stigma: Why Menstruation Matters to Women’s Rights
AFRICA: Former child bride lobbies African governments for girls’ education
AFRICA: International African Woman Of The Year: Supt Naa Ashorkor Quaye
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan graffiti artist Shamsia Hassani shortlisted for Artraker Award
COLUMBIA: Artist and thespian Patricia Ariza granted LPTW International Award for her work that focuses on women’s rights, including violence against women
GAMBIA: Gambia’s Jainaba Faye Named Among Africa’s Most Outstanding Emerging Women Leaders
INDIA: Acid Attack Survivors Pose For Photo Shoot, Show Us What ‘Beautiful Really Means’
NORWAY and SOMALIA: Somalian-born activist Safia Abd Haase receives medal from Norway for her work against FGM
PALESTINE: Meet Lieutenant Colonel Wafa Khaled Ayyad Muammar, the highest-ranking woman in the Palestinian Civil Police whose personal motto is to end violence against women
PERU: Sr Mary Ann Neylon returns to her hometown in Peru to work against domestic violence through youth engagement
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Activist Manal Al-Sharif on Why She Removed the Veil
SOUTH AFRICA: Professor Rachel Jewkes interviews hundreds of rapists from around the world to learn why rapists rape
UGANDA: Bukirwa’s music rounds against gender violence
UNITED KINGDOM: Bristol detective Leanne Pook wins award for her fight against FGM
UNITED STATES: Interview with Kit Gruelle, survivor of domestic violence and advocate featured in HBO’s documentary ‘Private Violence’
UNITED STATES: Students carry Emma Sulkowicz’s mattress to support her call for the expelling of her alleged rapist