Human Rights of Women
Equality Now, an international human rights organisation that works to protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world, on Wednesday released its 2011 Annual Report, calling on the global community to “remain vigilant in the face of backlash on women’s rights emanating from escalating fundamentalism.” According to the organisation’s Global Director, Yasmeen Hassan, the backlash on women’s rights often manifests as calls for cultural relativism.
“We must persevere and expand gains on women’s rights, and we are counting on you to help us continue the momentum,” she said in the foreword to the report, a copy of which was made available to PANA here.
Founded in 1992, Equality Now works to promote the rights of women and girls through the areas of discrimination in law, sexual violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and trafficking.
By combining grassroots activism with international, regional and national legal advocacy, it ensures that governments enact and enforce laws and policies that uphold the rights of women and girls.
On FGM, Equality Now supports the work of grassroots groups to end FGM with a particular focus on the enactment and effective implementation of legislation against FGM in relevant countries.
'Additionally, we work to ensure that the international community addresses the practice as a human rights violation,' said Equality Now.
In order to make rights a reality for African women, Equality Now said in the report that it had continued to promote the ratification and implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa -- a ground breaking regional legal instrument of the African Union.
Through 2011, 31 out of 54 African countries had ratified the Protocol and the report mentioned Mali as the country which Equality Now continues to urge to ban FGM.
In October 2011, the organisation used the complaint procedure under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to conduct an inquiry into Mali’s failure to protect girls and women from FGM.
“If accepted, the petition will be the first inquiry related to FGM under CEDAW’s Optional Protocol,” the report said.
Taking on “secret societies” to end FGM practices in Liberia, it said in March 2011, Equality Now launched a campaign calling for justice in the case of Ruth Berry Peal, who was abducted and forcibly subjected to FGM by women belonging to a Sande secret society in 2010.
The organisation also called on the Liberian government to ban FGM and cease issuing
permits to FGM practitioners.
As a result, government carried out an investigation into Ruth’s case and on 8 July, the court found the women guilty and sentenced them to three years in prison.
In November, the government banned Sande activities and gave notice to all counties, including the announcement of a fine for violations.
Funded by a three-year UN Trust Fund grant, Equality Now reported that it has commenced its second year managing a coalition working to end sexual violence against school girls in Zambia.
“The targeting of youth has been particularly successful, resulting in lively inter-school co-ed debates and plays addressing sexual violence; five ‘Safe Spaces’ clubs reaching between 1,500 and 2,000 girls who are breaking their silence and being educated on their rights; five boys’ network clubs reaching 600 to 1,000 boys challenging stereotypes that condone sexual violence; and the participation of girls and boys in radio programmes on the issue.
“We also trained more than 25 legal professionals on the usage of laws to defend girls’ rights and approximately 25 journalists to better report on violence against girls. New leadership in Zambia is showing an interest in the coalition’s work and Equality Now is hopeful that there will be increased opportunities for enactment and implementation of guidelines targeting violence against girls in schools,” the report said.
According to the report, the organisation’s actions and alerts in 2011 encompassed Liberia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, the United States and Pakistan, ensuring that government officials felt the combined voices of its 160 country-strong Women’s Action Network on issues of critical importance to women.
“We are employing the highest levels of legal advocacy to address sex discrimination in law; working strategically to ensure that legal systems provide access to justice for survivors of sexual violence; continuing our leadership role in the fight to end FGM worldwide and stepping up efforts against sex trafficking and sex tourism,” said Yasmeen.
Equality Now believes that the most effective way to end sex trafficking is to address the demand for commercial sex -- criminalizing traffickers and buyers of sex, while decriminalizing and protecting victims and providing them with rehabilitative services and support.