“Treated Worse than Animals”

Abuses against Women and Girls with Psychosocial or Intellectual Disabilities in Institutions in India

Vidya, a 45-year-old woman was alone at home in Mumbai one night a few years ago when three people knocked on her door. Posing as government health workers conducting vaccinations in the area, they ignored her attempts to resist them, sedated her, and took her away. The next morning, she awoke in a private mental hospital, where she was forced to stay against her will for over a month with virtually no contact with her family or friends and medicated against her will. Without her consent or knowledge, she was also forced to endure electricity passing through her brain in order to induce seizures, a process known as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). "I was like a vegetable,” she said. “It was only many years later that I found out that I was being given ECT.”

Vidya is perceived as having a psychosocial disability, or mental health condition. She later discovered that her husband had institutionalized her, which he was able to do under the terms of the Mental Health Act without the need for a court order. Even after she was discharged from the mental hospital, her husband continued to take her to a local private clinic where she received electroconvulsive therapy under anesthesia without her knowledge or consent. Vidya claims that her husband wanted to label her as “insane” to be able to get a divorce without paying alimony. Her mother finally managed to get her discharged from the hospital over a month later.

More information on : https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/12/03/treated-worse-animals/abuses-against-women-and-girls-psychosocial-or-intellectual

women's contribution to raise their status in society

- most of the women's work is considered household work without any moneytary
-violence against women continues 
-BBS study shows that 87% of married women experience some kind of violence and 65 % of these victims experienced physical violence.
-According to Mohila Parishad ,  from January 1 to June 30, 2028 women were victims of violence out of which 431 were raped, 38 were gang raped, 45 were killed after rape.
-Most recently, a UNICEF study revealed that Bangladesh tops the list in abuse of adolescent girls.
-Manusher Jonno Foundation along with its partners and the government have launched a campaign titled “Equality through Dignity”. The campaign  aims to show society the many contributions of women.
-Getting women and girls valued as much as men and boys by society on the basis of their acceptance to participate equally in the economy and the leadership role is of course a fundamental issue in human rights
-Many women who do not work outside  want to work and more than 50% women want to work for getting respect from family  apart from supporting the family

Middle East Suffrage Timeline

	Right to Vote	Right to Stand for Election
Afghanistan	1965*	1965*
Afghanistan Notes	*Revoked during Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.	*Revoked during Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.
Algeria	July 5th, 1962	July 5th, 1962
Armenia	February 2nd, 1921	February 2nd, 1921
Azerbaijan	May 19th, 1921	May 19th, 1921
Bahrain	October 24th, 2002	October 24th, 2002
Comoros	1956	1956
Cyprus	August 16th, 1960	August 16th, 1960
Djibouti	1946	1986
Egypt	June 23rd, 1956	June 23rd, 1956
Eritrea	November 4th, 1955	November 4th, 1955
Iran	September 1963	September 1963
Iraq	1958*/ February 1980	1958/ February 1980
Iraq Notes	*Government “overthrown during the summer of 1958, before any elections with female participation” (p. 188).
Israel	May 15th, 1948	May 15th, 1948
Georgia	November 22nd, 1918	November 22nd, 1918
Jordan	1974*	1974*
Jordan Notes	“Women actually exercised the right to vote and stand for election for the first time in 1989” (p. 206).
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan	June 1918	June 1918
Lebanon	1952	1952
Libya	1963	1963
Mauritania	May 20th, 1961	May 20th, 1961
Morocco	May 1963	May 1963
Oman	1997	1997
Pakistan	1947	1947
Qatar	1999	1999
Saudia Arabia	2015 Municipal Elections (expected)	2015 Municipal Elections (expected)
Somalia	1956	1956
Sudan	November 1964	November 1964
Syria	September 10th, 1949*	1953
Syria Notes	“women who had reached a sixth-grade educational level; it was then extended to all literate women, and in 1953 all educational restrictions on voting were lifted for women” (p. 371).
Tajikistan	1924	1924
Tunisia	1957 (“municipal elections”)/ June 1st, 1959	June 1st, 1959
Turkey	April 3rd, 1930	December 5th, 1934
Turkmenistan	1927	1927
United Arab Emirates	2006	2006
Uzbekistan	1938	1938
Yemen	1967 (People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen)/ 1970 (Arab Republic of Yemen)	1967 (People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen)/ 1970 (Arab Republic of Yemen)

- Women Involvement in Politics in Arab Countries since 1930

Women's Right in Malaysia

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-11-13/lets-tell-obama-whatobamashouldknow-about-women-malaysia

Malaysia's women's right based on an American public radio organization

Contribution women to society

http://www.thedailystar.net/highlighting-womens-contribution-to-raise-their-status-in-society-43

Successful women
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2013/02/20/8-strategies-successful-women-entrepreneurs-share-with-their-corporate-counterparts/amp/

Background

As we witness a pattern of sexual violence against women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially in Egypt, it is pivotal to assess whether the Arab Spring has brought real change for women in the region. Is the violence a symbol of the region's failure to advance women's rights? Women played a crucial role in uprisings across the region and hoped that their efforts would ultimately improve their social, political, and economic standing.

Tahrir Square, at the height of the 2011 protests, not only symbolized the struggle against autocracy in the MENA region but also a glimmer of hope for a more equitable society, as men and women protested together for weeks. Hundreds of women slept in the square during the Egyptian revolution to preempt a takeover by regime forces.

In Yemen, women were active participants in the protests against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Female Yemeni journalist and activist, Tawakkol Karman, became one of the faces of the Arab Spring and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.

At the start of the Syrian uprising, women actively organized protests, provided basic supplies to affected families, and spoke out against the regime. Women in Tunisia joined male protesters in efforts to oust long-standing ruler Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Equally, women were also victims of the former regime's crackdown.

Apart from the general demands for a more inclusive political society and enhanced socioeconomic justice, female protesters in many Arab countries, where gender inequality was a prevailing feature before the uprisings, hoped to enhance their status in society. Thus, in the words of Yemeni political activist Afrah Nasser: “I wanted it to be a double revolution; a political one to topple President Saleh and a feminist one to ensure that women have equal rights in what Yemenis hope will be a new Yemen.”

More information on https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/middle-east-fighting-for-womens-rights/

OPRESS & RESTRICT

What is gender inequality ?

~ Gender inequality is the unusual, one-sided and socially-constructed treatment of individuals based on their gender.

Why gender inequality ?

~ lack of power and control

~ social norms

~ physical appearance

~ economic dependency of women on men

Oppressing women around the world :

https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/middle-east-arab-world-women-rights-news-00210/

  1) Gender pay gap

https://egyptianstreets.com/2017/02/16/gender-pay-gap-belittling-arab-womens-efforts-because-they-are-not-the-breadwinners/

2) Virginity test & genital cutting

https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/01/un-who-condemns-virginity-tests

https://www.fairobserver.com/culture/female-genital-cutting-an-unknown-global-concern-42053/

3) Female foeticide

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/indian-police-find-19-female-fetuses/news-story/e16c0613bd068be29d4172c9a0d20b64

4) Honor killing

http://www.rferl.org/a/afhanistan-honor-killing-fateha-lynched/28314022.html

LAWS

1) Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) 

- by President Bill Clinton

- They have provided programs and services like :

· Federal rape shield law

· Community violence prevention programs

· Protections for victims who are evicted from their homes because of events related to domestic violence or stalking

· Funding for victim assistance services, like rape crisis centers and hotlines

· Programs to meet the needs of immigrant women and women of different races or ethnicities

· Programs and services for victims with disabilities

· Legal aid for survivors of domestic violence

2)  Lebanon rape law

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/critics-urge-repeal-lebanon-rape-law-170102095234955.html

3) Marital Rape (United States Law)

~ Also known as spousal rape is non-consensual rape in which the perpetrator is the victim’s spouse

~ Currently, marital rape is illegal in all 50 US states

 VIDEOS 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyCB-ULChV4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwegkC3Z3V8

Rights Women Didn't Used to Have

1. Most married at a very young age.
In 2010, the average age of for a woman to get married was 26. Back in 1920, the year the 19th Amendment was ratified, the average bride was just 21 years old.
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2. Women were having children at a much younger age, too.
Even in the 1950s, the average age for the birth of a woman's first child was just 22.
-
3. Oral contraception didn't exist.
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4. Plan B couldn't be a woman's "Plan B".
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5. She could get fired for being pregnant.
Working women could have their careers cut short if they became pregnant until the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which outlawed the practice.
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6. She couldn't sue for sexual harassment.
Courts didn't recognize sexual harassment in the workplace until 1977. That maybe because defining sexual harassment was still murky until 1980, when the term was officially defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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7. She would face difficulty getting a credit card.
Unmarried women faced serious blocks getting credit, with banks being allowed to deny their application solely for their marital state up to the 1970s. Married woman could typically only get a credit card if her husband was willing to co-sign. There weren't legal measures put in place to eliminate this practice until 1974, with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
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8. Marital rape wasn't criminalized.
Rape within the confines of marriage wasn't recognized as a crime in all 50 states until 1993. Meaning, a women basically couldn't refuse sex to her husband or legally fight back if he raped her.
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9. Women couldn't get an Ivy League education—with a few exceptions.
-
10. There were no women in the military.
In 1948, Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which allowed women to serve in the military and earn veterans benefits, that women became a significant military presence (in areas besides traditionally female roles, such as nursing, where they had been making a difference for many years prior).
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11. Legal abortions didn't exist.
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12. Serious discrimination ran rampant in the workplace.
Lack of pay, sexual harassment, and in some professions, restrictions on clothing and even her weight.
-
13. In many states, women couldn't serve on juries.
Women in many states couldn't serve on a jury until 1973, when female jurors were permitted in the courtroom throughout the country.
-
14. They didn't have the right to vote.Ironically, however, women could hold public office—the first female member of Congress was elected in 1917—but she couldn't even vote for herself to earn the position.
Saudi Arabia's women vote in election for first time (2016)-
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35075702

http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a10569/things-women-couldnt-do-1920/

Top 10 Moments for Women's Rights in 2016

1. 21 girls returned home in Nigeria, with call to #BringBackOurGirls
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/16/nigerian-families-celebrate-after-release-of-21-girls-kidnapped-by-boko-haram


2. Historic ruling for rape survivors in Guatemala
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35674893

3. Making strides for women leaders in Asia Pacific
4. Women prevent a total ban on abortions in Poland…again
5. Nothing can stop women activists in Egypt
6. Women on the front lines of resistance in Brazil
7. Haitian women lead recovery after Hurricane Matthew
8. Progress in Palestine to end violence against women
9. A small light of hope after deadly LGBTQI violence in Pakistan
10. U.S. Global Strategy on Adolescent Girls carries promise for girls’ rights

https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/10-best-moments-for-womens-rights-2016/#.WL4Qnzt97IV

Women's Right in The Middle East

NEW DATA SHOW BOTH IMPROVEMENT AND IMPASSE
(2015)

Graph 1



Graph 2



Graph 3




Graph 4



http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/culture/womens-rights-in-the-middle-east-new-data-show-both-improvement-and-impasse-iwd2015_30412

5 great female human rights activists in MENA

1. Tawakkol Karman

The first Yemeni and the first Arab woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize and the youngest Nobel Peace laureate to date, Tawakkol Karman tops our list.
A Yemeni journalist, human rights activist and politician (member of the Al-Islah political party), Karman is the leader of the renowned group "Women Journalists Without Chains," which she co-founded in 2005.
She became the international public face of the Yemeni “Arab Spring” uprising in 2011. The people of Yemen know her as the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution” due to her courage in sticking up for human rights injustices in Yemen.

2. Razan Ghazzawi

Razan Ghazzawi is an award winning Syrian blogger, campaigner and human rights activist. She has been actively involved in the events during the Syrian Civil War, and has been particularly outspoken on activists’ arrests and the violations of human rights committed by the Bashar al Assad regime.
Razan, who has been arrested by the Syrian regime several times and is forbidden to leave Syria, was named as an "iconic blogger and leading activist" by The Telegraph as well as awarded the 2012’s Human Rights Defenders at Risk award by the Dublin-based Front Line Defenders foundation.

3. Moushira Mahmoud Khattab

Moushira Mahmoud Khattab is an Egyptian human rights activist, former politician and diplomat. She has previously held the positions as Minister of Family & Population as well as ambassador to South Africa, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Khattab is a renowned human rights activist who speaks up for the rights of children and women in Egypt and the MENA region. Her efforts to advocate human rights have been recognized internationally through numerous awards, including the two highest honors that can be bestowed on any foreign national in South Africa and Italy.

4. Nawal El Saadawi

Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist writer, human rights activist, physician and psychiatrist. Saadawi has authored many books on the subject of women and Islam and advocates human rights issues involving women. The founder and president of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association and co-founder of the Arab Association for Human Rights, she has been awarded numerous honorary degrees on three continents.

5. Manal al-Sharif

Women's rights activist from Saudi Arabia who helped start a groundbreaking women's right to drive campaign in 2011. An outspoken voice on the rights of women in the Kingdom, she was detained and released on 21 May and rearrested the following day on the conditions of returning for questioning if she were to continue talking to the media about rights for women to drive in Saudi Arabia.

A Brave Activist Fighting For Women's Rights Despite Hostility & Threats

A Brave Activist Fighting For Women's Rights Despite Hostility & Threats

Tomorrow!

International Women's Day (8 March)

is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

International Women's Day (IWD) has been observed since in the early 1900's - a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. International Women's Day is a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender parity. No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women's network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women's Day. Many organizations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others.

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights," says world-renowned feminist, journalist and social and political activist Gloria Steinem. Thus International Women's Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action - whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women's Day has been occurring for well over a century - and continue's to grow from strength to strength.

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About