Women Living Under Muslim Laws is partnering with the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign (Iran), the Research Institute for Women Peace & Security (Afghanistan), the Women's Intercultural Network, and the Women's UN Report Network to host a panel on stoning as an act of violence against women at the 57th Commission at the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York.
Violence is Not our Culture has joined numerous rights groups, including Amnesty International, the Center for Reproductive Rights, DAWN, the International Women's Health Coalition and RESURJ in supporting the following statement "Rights must be at the centre of the Family Planning Summit", to be presented to the organizers of the DFID/Gates Family Planning Summit which will be held in London on 11 July 2012.
Join VNC for two events on 21 April 2012, at the AWID Forum in Istanbul, Turkey. We'll be hosting a talk show on "The Nexus between Culture, Gender and Other Identities: Resisting Discrimination and Reclaiming Space", as well as a workshop on "Visioning Cultures Free from Violence: Transnational Advocacy and Communications using Visual Arts and Digital Media". Full details below.
In collaboration with Gender Across Borders, we welcome you to a blogging series exploring the relationship between culture and violence against women.
The 6th UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held in Nairobi between 27-30 September 2011, and was attended by a representative of the VNC Campaign / WLUML. This year, the VNC represenative joined the Dynamic Coalition on Gender and contributed to the statement issued on the last day of the Forum.
The VNC Campaign was privileged to be part of this meeting on women human rights defenders organised by the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition. The Campaign was represented by AIsha Shaheed and Edna Aquino who took part in the Working Group on Families, Communities and Culture.
Twenty four (24) VNC partners, activists and allies gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 5-8 May 2011 to review the first three (3) years of the Campaign and to map out its future.
During the 16th session of the Human Rights Council, we organized a panel on Cultures, Traditions and VAW: Human Rights Challenges in collaboration with the International Women’s Rights Action Watch- Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP), the Partners for Law in Development –India and the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID). We also launched our publication "Control and Sexuality" on zina laws to draw attention to how zina has become part of the legal system in some Muslim contexts to 'justify' human rights violations against women and sexual minorities.
Panel discussion and book launch of “Control and Sexuality: The Revival of Zina Laws in Muslim Contexts “
Friday, 11 March 2011, 12-2:00 p.m. Room XXV, Building E, Palais des Nations
Presentations
• The nexus between freedom of religion and religious beliefs and women’s rights. Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
16 Days of Activism 2010: The Violence is Not our Culture campaign marks its third year with a series of global actions
On the eve of this year’s commemoration of the 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence, the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women launched its new name:
Violence is not our Culture: A Global Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women in the name of ‘Culture” (VNC Campaign)
In 2010, the Violence is Not our Culture (VNC) Campaign hosted two Strategic E-Campaigning workshops, based on the expressed needs and desires of our partners in the Asia and Africa regions, with the intention of enhancing the effectiveness of our advocacy and communication strategies for our networked campaigns in their local contexts.
Culture plays a large part in perpetuating violence against women. Sometimes cultural attitudes are hidden in everyday assumptions about how we should behave and interact with each other. For example, sexist jokes or remarks in the workplace get brushed aside because it is part of the office's "work culture". Other times, “culture” is used explicitly as a way to perpetuate and defend certain acts of violence against women. For example, laws that violently deny the rights of lesbians through forced counselling, imprisonment or corporal punishment are justified as being part of a country's culture or tradition; or excusing the murder of a woman deemed to have engaged in "immoral behaviour" because she breached her community's "honour code".
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women
On March 10, the Global Campaign To Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW Campaign) hosted a forum to introduce the Women Re-claiming and Redefining Cultures (WRRC) programme and a screening of two video documentaries on violence against women and girls justified in the name of ‘culture'.
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women
On March 3rd, a panel discussion on violence against women and girls justified in the name of culture was held by the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning women (SKSW Campaign) during the 54th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Yakin Ertürk, former Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences
On 25 November 1960, Mirabel sisters were assassinated under the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. The incident gave impetus to the anti-regime movement, resulting in the fall of the dictatorship the following year. The lives of the Mirabel sisters, now known as the 'unforgettable butterflies', became a symbol for women in Latin America and the Caribbean in their struggle to combat violence against women. They declared Nov. 25 as the day for no violence in 1981, the observance of which soon spread to other parts of the world.
From November 14-17, the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW), will present at the AWID Forum 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. If you will be at the Forum, please stop by our Campaign Corner to learn more about our campaign and how you can get involved.
About the Forum: From November 14-17, 2008, at the Cape Town International Convention Center, up to 1,500 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world will converge on Cape Town, South Africa at the 11th AWID International Forum to discuss the power of movements.
Human Rights for Women ‹–› Human Rights For All: Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Church Center at the UN, 777 UN Plaza, 2nd floor, New York (entrance at 44th Street near 1st Ave) 5:30-8:30pm
Human Rights for Women Human Rights For All: Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
