Discussion on the Impact of the Arab Spring on Women's Rights at the 2012 AWID Forum in Istanbul

Over 2,000 women’s rights activists from around the world gathered in Istanbul, Turkey last week for the 2012 Association for Women’s Rights in Development – AWID Forum. From April 18-22, the AWID Forum brought delegates form various grassroots, national, regional, and international organizations together to strategize, network, and learn skills in the effort to advance women’s rights. This year’s Forum was titled “Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women’s Rights and Justice” to focus on the overlap of economic power and women’s rights:

“Economic power impacts on and intersects with all women’s rights issues and agendas – from reproductive and sexual rights to violence against women, education, political participation and health. Without economic systems that take account of women’s needs and realities and value their contributions, rights and justice are not possible.” – AWID 2012 Forum.

One of the areas of focus during the Forum was the Arab Spring and what it means for women's rights in the region. At the opening of the Forum Lydia Alpízar Durán, executive director for AWID said that one of the reasons AWID chose Istanbul as the 2012 location was creating solidarity with women's movements in the MENA region. During the forum, activists from Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Libya, and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) spoke about their ongoing battles to enshrine women’s rights into new constitutions and increase female participation in new political systems – while often facing renewed challenges to their personal freedoms. 

Durán also said:
"In the post-Arab-Spring phase, we need to be clear that what happens in this region has major implications for women around the world. Cultural relativism is growing and we cannot allow respect for cultural traditions to justify the violation of women’s rights." 

For more information about the 2012 AWID Forum click here: http://www.awid.org/

(Photo: AWID)

The 2012 AWID Forum in Pictures

(Pictures: AWID)

Don't Miss an Evening with Egyptian Activist and Author Nawal El Saadawi Hosted by UN Women Sweden

If you are in Stockholm, Sweden, on the 14th of May do not miss an evening with Egyptian activist, feminist, author, and doctor Nawal El Saadawi, organized by UN Women Sweden.

Nawal El Saadawi have spent her life fighting for women's rights in Egypt. Her struggle for equality and an end to gender-based violence is rooted in the experiences she had as a young girl growing up in Egypt. In an interview for the Independent, El Saadawi talks about how she at the age of six, in 1937, was pinned down by four women in her home, whereby a midwife with a razor blade cut of her clitoris. In her first autobiography, A Daughter of Isis, she later wrote about the ordeal and how it changed her life: "Since I was a child that deep wound left in my body has never healed."

El Saadawi has written 47 books about the problems facing women in Egypt, including Women and Sex in 1972, for which she lost her job as director of public health for the Egyptian Ministry of Health. In the 1980s she spent three months in jail for "crimes against the state". While behind bars she wrote her memoir of life in a female prison with eyeliner on toilet paper.

In 2011 she took part in the protests on Tahrir Square in Cairo against Hosni Mubarak and have since been a front figure in the Arab Spring. Her activism and books have led the way for a new generation of Egyptian women who are not afraid to challenge the chains of patriarchalism. Today El Saadawi is in her eighties and have no intention on

scaling down her activism. She recently stated passionately:"I'm fighting against the patriarchal, military, capitalist, racist post-modern slave system. I am going to fight for this for ever." (The Independent)

On the 14th of May (19.00-21.00) Nawal El Saadawi will speak at Södra Teatern in Stockholm. Whereby there will be an open dialouge led by Margareta Winberg (Chairman of UN Women Sweden). The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about the event visit UN Women Sweden's website http://unwomen.se/event/nawal-el-saadawi-pa-sverigebesok/

(Photo: The Guardian)

Amnesty Report: "Old Crimes, Same Suffering: No Justice for Suvivors of Wartime Rape in North-Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina

Amnesty International recently launched a report on the failure to bring justice to survivors of sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina titled: "Old crimes, same suffering: No justice for survivors of wartime rape in North-East Bosnia and Herzegovina."

In the report Amnesty states: "Successive governments have failed to acknowledge the rights of civilian victims of wartime sexual violence and provide them with access to justice, truth and reparation. Consequently, those local authorities responsible for providing services, even to a limited extent, are woefully under-resourced and ill-equipped to address these women’s needs. Almost two decades after the end of the conflict, the state and entity authorities must fulfil their international legal obligations to address the survivors’ suffering."

Click here to read the report:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR63/002/2012/en/f688b1c8-1fa2-46ba-ae26-0b6ec344401f/eur630022012en.pdf

(Picture: Amnesty International)

Video: Congolese Soldiers on Why They Rape

In this video Congolese soldiers explain why they rape women. Their reasoning and justifications for raping illustrates an attitude based on norms and values where women are barely viewed as human beings. To these men women are objects to be used with no rights of their own.

As long as these attitudes prevail we will never end sexual violence in conflict. These attitudes about women are not "just" a consequence of war, they are ingrained in societies even before war breaks out. If we are to prevent sexual violence in conflict and other forms of gender-based violence we must change how men view women, we must change men's attitudes.

For a more in-depth look at the reasons Congolese soldiers give for why they rape watch "Weapon of War" by Ilse van Velzen and Femke van Velzen. It can be ordered from Women Make Movies at www.wmm.com and IF Productions at http://www.ifproductions.nl/eng/

Time to Register for "Run for Congo Women - New York City 2012"

It is now possible to register for the 2012 Run for Congo Women event in New York City. Join Run for Congo Women and Women for Women International on the 6th of October for this amazing event, raising awareness about the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raising funds to sponsor Congolese women.

This is a timed 5K run/walk around the perimeter of Roosevelt Island. Dogs and strollers are welcome, and the event is on, rain or shine. There will be a finish line celebration with food, drinks, gift bags, and music. There will also be booths where you can learn how to get more involved or purchase items made by Congolese artisans.

For more information click here:http://www.runforcongowomen.org/