Violence Against Women, Global

"Bangladesh was singled out from two neighboring countries for its strong measures to stop acid attacks on women in a Jan. 27 report.

In a study of the crime in Bangladesh, Cambodia and India, researchers found that Bangladesh had taken the most proactive approach to decreasing the attacks by enacting legislation, a no-bail policy for perpetrators and forming a national council to regulate corrosive solutions and enact a policy of treatment and rehabilitation for victims.

Whether the attacks follow a perceived wrongdoing or are simply the response of a spurned suitor, thousands of women in the South Asian region around Bangladesh have had sulphuric acid sprayed or poured onto their faces, eliminating facial features, causing blindness and fusing skin together, forcing them into a life of health problems and social isolation." 

 "Since President Calderon began to take on Mexico's crime cartels in 2006, the country's drug war has taken a total of 34,612 lives, nearly half of which were claimed solely in 2010. Unbeknown to many, the deaths resulting from organised crime have also coincided with the murder of over 4,000 women since 2006 from causes unrelated to the nation's drug war.

While violence toward women is not new to Mexico, the estimated number of female deaths suggests a callous disregard by Mexico's government of this growing phenomenon. According to human rights organisations, femicides rose by 130% between 2009 and 2010, resulting in a total of 446 murdered women only last year. This worsening epidemic has led local authorities throughout the country to downplay the mounting violence by misclassifying murders, attributing deaths to drug violence, or simply under-report the figures."

"Dozens of women were arrested in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday, at a protest sparked by graphic video that appeared to show a Sudanese woman being flogged by laughing police officers.

Sudan’s judiciary announced on Sunday that it would investigate the flogging recorded on video, but 52 women were arrested as they protested outside the country’s justice ministry.  The women, part of the “No to Subjugating Women Initiative,” were sitting down and holding banners when they were arrested, Reuters reported. They shouted, “Humiliating your women is humiliating all your people,” as the police dragged them away.

As the news agency explained, 'Floggings carried out under Islamic law are almost a daily punishment in Sudan for crimes ranging from drinking alcohol to adultery. But vague laws on women’s dress and behavior are implemented inconsistently.'"

"Congressional leaders should ensure passage this session of a bipartisan bill that sets out a new US strategy for ending violence against women worldwide, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill was approved on December 14, 2010, by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The draft International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) would require the State Department to adopt a five-year plan to reduce violence against women in up to 20 target countries. The approach calls for increased legal and judicial protection for women, strengthened health services to respond to violence, increased educational and economic opportunities for women, and efforts to change social norms that perpetuate violence against women. Special attention would be given to responding to violence against women during humanitarian disasters and armed conflict." 

"This bill seeks to eliminate child marriage - which is often unlawful and in violation of human rights - by expanding investments at the community level to empower girls, promoting community understanding about the harmful impact of child marriage, and requiring the U.S. government to develop a strategy to prevent child marriage.

The State Department will also be required to report on the issue of child marriage in its annual Human Rights Report. Child marriage undermines U.S. investments in foreign assistance to improve women's and girls' education, health, economic and legal status. The bill will provide such sums as necessary for five years to support child marriage prevention programs in high incident countries."