Lisa was haemorrhaging when she was rushed to the Gat
Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Centre hospital, a week
after suffering high fever, severe pain and bleeding as a
result of her attempt to induce abortion by drinking brandy
and vino de quina, a rice wine believed to induce post-
partum bleeding.

Lisa was one of the Filipino women cited in ‘Forsaken
Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal
Abortion Ban’ published in August by the New York-based
Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR), the first
comprehensive report on the impact of the ban on abortion in
this mainly Catholic country in South-east Asia.

According to the 126-page report that was the result of
two years’ research, Lisa experienced a range of abuses when
she sought medical care, including being physically bound,
having her privacy violated, and verbally abused by doctors
and nurses who threatened to report her to the police
because she had aborted her baby.

Every year, the report added, 560,000 Filipino women turn
to abortion. It said 90,000 of them suffer from
complications, and 1,000 die from crude and extremely
painful methods such as intense abdominal massages by
traditional midwives, the insertion of catheters into the
uterus and the medically unsupervised consumption of
Cytotec, the local brand name of a drug containing
misoprostol to induce uterine contractions, and the
ingestion of herbs and other concoctions sold by street
vendors.

These situations happen because women with unwanted
pregnancies are driven to go underground to seek abortions,
which are illegal under Philippine law.

Abortion-related complications are among the top 10
reasons for the hospitalisation of Filipino women in this
country of 94 million people, making it a public health
concern. The country’s population is growing by 1.96 percent
annually and its total fertility rate is 3.23, or an average
of three children per woman of child-bearing age. Some two
million births are added every year.

Health advocates say that the criminal ban on abortion –
in a Catholic culture that attaches heavy stigma to it and
where modern contraception is cause for controversy – leaves
Filipino women with unwanted pregnancies little choice but
to go for unsafe abortions despite their deadly risks.

The public discussion of abortion gets caught in moral
arguments, mainly by the powerful Catholic Church, which
objects to reproductive health initiatives.

"Abortions are going on and here we are," said Florence
Tadiar, president of the Institute for Social Studies and
Action, which advocates for women’s health and rights.

She says that dialogues have been held between Catholic
bishops and the government on sexuality education and
responsible parenthood to help curb unwanted pregnancies,
but they avoid sensitive matters such as a bill on
reproductive health. "We in the civil society organisations
also wanted to talk to them because we wanted to explain
that the bill prevents (women from seeking) abortion, but
they don’t want to level with us," she explained.

A few days after the CRR report’s release, Archbishop
Oscar Cruz said "contraception prevents life".

"There is no specific law in the country to address this
public health problem (maternal deaths from abortion)," said
Clara Rita Padilla, executive director of the advocacy group
EnGendeRights.

The CRR says that the Philippines is among only a few
countries that prohibit and criminally punish abortion
without recognising clear legal exceptions, such as if a
woman’s pregnancy poses a threat to her life or health, if
she is a victim of rape or incest, or in cases of fetal
impairment.

"The Philippine government has created a dire human
rights crisis in the country," CRR president Nancy Northup
in a statement released with the report. "Thousands of women
resort to abortion to protect their health, families, and
livelihood. Yet, the government sits idly by refusing to
tackle the issue or reform the policies that exacerbate it."

Melissa Upreti, CRR legal adviser for Asia, says while
most Catholic countries such as Nicaragua, Chile and El
Salvador criminalise abortion, the Philippines stands out
due to its extreme law and blanket prohibition. "The law has
created an environment of judgment and stigma – women who
seek medical treatment for abortion-related complications
are often harassed and abused by health providers or given
substandard quality of care," she said.

The situation is worsened by an "antiquated" law that
Spain, the Philippines’ former coloniser, passed in 1887,
and is reflected in the 1972 Revised Penal Code that makes
abortion a punishable offence with no clear exceptions, adds
Alfredo Tadiar, a former judge who heads the International
Development Law Organisation.

The hostile environment is such that service providers of
maternal and child health care, such as nurses, doctors and
midwives, are also arrested, Tadiar explains. "This is
enough to chill the situation," he said. "No service
provider is safe."

Tadiar adds that health care providers of hospitals
supervised by local governments are required to report to
police the abortion cases they handle. Mayors have also
ordered bans on local clinics’ provision of modern
contraception, including the birth control pill.

These issues are so politically risky for those seeking
public office that the reproductive health bill has not
gotten anywhere in Congress. The Church says the bill is
"anti-family and anti-life", and Cruz says it is only "for
population-reduction purposes, not the improvement of life".

Abortion is an even trickier issue. "If it faces unending
opposition particularly from the Catholic church that uses
abortion to defeat measures proposing access to safe family
planning services, including abortion-related complications,
then a separate bill on legal abortion under special
circumstances faces an even more difficult future," Padilla
pointed out.

Following the Jul. 30 to Aug. 3 raid, rebels are now believed to have
continued
pillaging in and around neighbouring areas of Mubi and Pinga: In addition
to
those previously reported, an additional 75 rape victims have been
identified.

As a result of the observed increase in violence and in an effort to
reassure
and protect the population, the U.N. peacekeeping force in the DRC
(MONUSCO) and the 121st brigade of the Congolese military are boosting
their presence in the affected areas, according to a statement released
today
by MONUSCO. Helicopters have also been dispatched for surveillance over
the
concerned areas.

Additionally, the Congolese military "has opened an
investigation," the
statement said. "One suspect has already been apprehended," it
said.
Although the U.N. maintains a presence in the DRC, the legal burden to
arrest
and prosecute the perpetrators of the mass rapes lies with the Congolese
government.

Victims left in the wake of the rebels’ violence have gradually come
forward
as the Congolese military is able to secure their villages and the rebels
retreat,
U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq told IPS.

The U.N. has identified the perpetrators as members of the Democratic
Forces
for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Mai Mai Cheka - rebel groups that
regularly terrorise the mineral-rich eastern DRC region, looting villages
and
systematically gang raping women and children as a tool of war.

MONUSCO was informed of the additional rapes following the Walikale raid
by
aid groups who provided care to the victims.

The U.N. is currently conducting its own non-criminal investigation,
jointly
headed by its human rights office and MONUSCO, "to try to establish
the facts
related to the U.N.’s mission on the ground, to learn from that and
also, in so
doing, to try to establish… what actually happened," U.N.
spokesperson
Martin Nesirqy told IPS.

The U.N. and MONUSCO have come under fire since news of the mass gang
rapes first broke early last week - for their failure to prevent the raid
despite
having knowledge of rebel activity in the villages. The primary mandate of
the
one billion dollar MONUSCO force, the world body’s largest
peacekeeping
presence worldwide, is the protection of civilians.

Eighty peacekeepers patrol the densely wooded 300 square kilometre area
encompassing Walikale - a number, the U.N. says, is insufficient.
"They can’t
be behind every bush," outgoing U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes
told
reporters here last week.

U.N. agencies knew of rebel activity and one reported rape in the Walikale
area
when the raid began on Jul. 30, and knew of 24 more rapes by Aug. 10,
‘The
New York Times’ reported today, disputing earlier claims by
officials that the
U.N. did not have knowledge of rapes of any scale until Aug. 12.

A MONUSCO patrol did not pass through the villages until Aug. 2. At this
time, the raid was still occurring, but U.N. officials say that the
peacekeepers
received no indication of the rebels’ presence, or of the mass rapes
during
their visit.

Meanwhile, the DRC government insists that it doesn’t need U.N.
peacekeepers, who have been in the country since 1999 after a ceasefire
was
brokered between warring factions in the central African region.

Kinshasa has expressed its desire for the MONUSCO mandate - which expires
next summer - not to be extended, and has sought a drawdown of U.N. forces
in the DRC. Nearly 2,000 blue helmets stationed in the relatively stable
western part of the country were sent home in June.

But aid groups claim that the DRC’s security forces are incapable of
providing
peace and stability to its citizens. The Congolese army has itself been
reported to perpetrate human rights abuses, including systematic rape of
the
civilian population.

As a result, "as long as the Congolese armed forces are in a state of
indiscipline where they are themselves a threat to the population and
women,
mostly… MONUSCO is the best hope to protect civilians," Marcel
Stoessel, DRC
country director for Amnesty International told IPS.

But in the long run, Stoessel said, the way to ensure an end to the
impunity
for human rights abuses, like sexual violence, committed in the conflict-
ridden DRC is comprehensive security sector reform.

"MONUSCO cannot be a long-term solution," Stoessel told IPS.

And she is clear on what she plans to do in the committee: work to
democratise the country's educational system, which, she says,
discriminates against and excludes native people — something she has
experienced firsthand.

In her colourful traditional dress, Supa moves comfortably around the
legislative palace in the historical centre of Lima, where just a few
years ago the security guards would probably have barred her from entering
the building, but now she has been unanimously voted to preside over the
educational committee by its members.

However, Supa, who belongs to the Peruvian Nationalist Party (PNP), has
faced criticism from legislators of the governing APRA party and the
Alliance for the Future, made up of supporters of former president Alberto
Fujmori (1990-2000), who is serving lengthy sentences on multiple charges
of corruption and human rights abuses.

Her detractors argue that because of her lack of formal education, she is
not qualified to head a committee that plays a key role in determining the
direction of educational policy.

"Who criticises me? The 'doctores' (roughly, 'the
PhDs') who have already presided over the committee and did not do a
thing for the people I represent, who have historically been
marginalised," she told IPS in an interview in the chamber where the
committee meets.

"I am a social activist who fights for the rights of poor campesinos,
and you don't get that degree at a university," she said.

The lawmaker was born 52 years ago in the rural community of Huallococha
in the province of Anta, four hours northwest of the highlands city of
Cuzco in southeastern Peru.

From a young age she suffered humiliation and abuse at the hands of the
powerful elites. Her family worked for a local landowner whose
mistreatment of local peasants included rapes of women.

"I didn't become a rebel in a political party," she said.
"I have experienced marginalisation in the flesh, for the simple fact
that I am a poor, Quechua-speaking campesina woman.

"For people like me, education is prohibited. I have made it to
Congress because of the votes of my (indigenous) brothers and sisters, and
it is them I represent," Supa said.

In this South American country with an overall literacy rate of 96 percent
among men and 89 percent among women, 31 percent of Quechua-speaking rural
women are illiterate, 38 percent have some years of primary schooling, 23
percent have made it to secondary school, and just under three percent
have gone on to the university.

Pro-Fujimori legislator Martha Hildebrandt, who is a linguist by training
and a former chair of the education committee, disparaged Supa's
election to preside over the committee as "inappropriate," while
Mauricio Mulder of the ruling party said "If there's one thing
she doesn't know about, it's education."

"I am self-educated, and I say that with pride," Supa responded.

APRA legislator Wilmer Calderón, who has a doctorate in education,
commented to IPS that Supa's election as chair of the committee was
an "act of demagoguery" that gave a glimpse of what a possible
PNP government would look like, "giving important positions to people
without the necessary qualifications.

"I am also a Quechua-speaker, and I was born in the (central) sierra
of Ancash," he said. "But that doesn't give me the
qualifications I need; a rigorous education is also necessary.

"Exclusion isn't fought by putting representatives of the
marginalised in key positions like the education committee, but rather
people who are qualified to tackle the challenges facing Peru's
educational system," Calderón said.

In this multiethnic country, Amerindians account for an estimated 45
percent of the population of nearly 30 million. The main indigenous groups
are Quechua and Aymara people from the highlands, while a relatively small
proportion of native peoples are distributed in several dozen lowland
groups. Around 80 percent of native people in Peru are poor.

"Mestizos" or people of mixed European and indigenous descent
represent roughly 37 percent of the population; an estimated 15 percent of
the population is of European descent; and there are small black and Asian
minorities.

Referring to the criticism, Supa said "I detect a certain racism in
their words. That's how they always talk to us: 'You people are
Indians, you aren't capable of doing anything.' No,
'doctores', now it's our turn. And you will see the results
for yourselves."

The oldest of the 14 children of Eufrasio Supa and Elena Huamán,
Hilaria was basically raised by her maternal grandparents, to whom she
refers as her parents. And no one has to describe to her how the peasants
in her highlands region work practically around the clock to eke out a
living.

"A campesino's day starts at 4:00 AM and ends at 9:00 PM,"
she said. "As a girl, I worked in the fields and tended the
livestock."

By her teenage years, she was helping organise people in her community to
stand up to the mistreatment of the landowners and the local authorities
who were accomplices in the abuses, which she herself experienced,
including the 1965 murder of her grandfather for defending campesino
rights.

She later worked as a domestic in towns in her home province, and in Lima,
from which she returned after her husband was killed in an accident. She
has two daughters. Her son died young — a subject she prefers not to
dwell on.

On her return from the capital, she began gathering with other local
women, to organise protests and set up soup kitchens for children.

In the late 1980s, she headed the Micaela Bastidas Committee of Anta, and
in
1991 she became organisational secretary of the Anta Women's
Federation (FEMCA).

"When I was a leader of the FEMCA, we organised to teach women and
children to read and write in Quechua, offered workshops on dangerous
agricultural chemicals, and taught people the benefits of traditional
medicine," she said.

With her enthusiasm and energy, Supa soon became well-known as a social
activist and leader in the entire department (state) of Cuzco, and was
invited to attend the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in 1995 in
Beijing.

Fujimori also attended the Conference, "to explain his plan to
supposedly pull campesina women out of poverty and ignorance, through
family planning. Everyone applauded.

"He didn't mention, however, that the method he would use was
forced sterilisation," Supa said.

The roughly 2,000 victims of that programme included one of Supa's
daughters. The activist organised the women and launched an all-out
offensive against the Fujimori regime and the forced sterilisations.

In 2009, the public prosecutor's office shelved a lawsuit against
three former health ministers, who under Fujimori implemented the plan,
which coerced and tricked poor indigenous women into being sterilised.

But Supa said she will continue fighting for justice in the case.
"The Inter-American Court of Human Rights handed down a ruling
calling on the Peruvian state to bring to justice those responsible for
the crime that affected my fellow campesinas, and I will carry on with
this, to see that justice is done," she said.

In 2006 she was elected to Congress for the PNP, whose leader, Ollanta
Humala, won the largest number of votes in the first round of elections
that year, but lost in the runoff to current President Alan García.

Last year, pro-Fujimori legislator Alejandro Aguinaga, one of those
accused of running the mass sterilisation campaign, was elected vice
president of Congress.

"When he walks by he doesn't look at me, he turns his face away,
embarrassed," Supa said. "I feel indignant that he forms part of
the leadership of Congress. I'll make him pay for his responsibility.
He caused harm to thousands of women."

Supa had some good news to share. Her biography, "Hilos de mi
vida", which was originally published in Spanish to little fanfare in
2001, in a small print run in Cuzco, will come out again this year in a
new Spanish-language international edition, propelled by the success of
the German and English ("Threads of My Life: The Testimony of Hilaria
Supa Huaman, a Rural Quechua Woman") editions, which were published
in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

"I've been told that my book is taught in schools in
Germany," she said with evident pride. "How can the
'doctores' say my life experience doesn't count for
anything? They're wrong. They have a lot to learn."

IPS Asia-Pacific's Johanna Son introduces the glossary

MANILA - The need to teach students early about gender-sensitive language. Examples of how media reports pass on prejudices in some stories, and mistake gender blindness for political correctness in others. Some editors and writers’ discomfort with asking frank questions when they hear the word ‘gender’.

These are some of the topics that came up for lively discussion at the August 2010 launch of the third edition of the ‘Gender and Development Glossary’, held at the ISIS Intl conference room in Quezon City, Philippines. A mix of journalists, gender and reproductive health experts, professors and civil society advocates made sure there was a variety of opinions at the discussion around words, gender, language and media that day.

IPS Asia-Pacific Regional Director Johanna Son, who edited the publication, opened the discussion by sharing the views from journalists who had been interviewed about their views on what gender-unfriendly terms to avoid and their views of what made for a gender-sensitive story. Many of the replies, collated ahead of updating the Gender and Development Glossary, showed a tendency to equate gender sensitivity with not mentioning the sex of a source in the story, which Son said often means that, especially in the case of names where one cannot easily tell the speaker’s sex, readers cannot tell whether the person speaking is a he or she. Using ‘chair’ instead of ‘chairwoman’ or ‘chairman’ also does the same thing.

“Political correctness can go overboard,” agreed Dr Michael Tan, dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Social Science and Philosophy who is also reproductive and gender expert in the South-east Asia. “Language really shapes the way we think.”

He also encouraged IPS to work with local groups on developing tools like the gender glossary in local languages, so that the process of discussing media language from the gender perspective can bring out discussions on prejudices and stereotypes in societies. Changing language is far from a easy thing, however. Tan recalls medical doctors saying that some Filipino women in poor settings are so used to using the word ‘ginamit’ (’used’ in Filipino) to refer to sex that they don’t understand questions when they are asked ‘when did you last have sex with your husband?’ but will understand ‘Kailan ka huling ginamit ng asawa mo?’ (When were you last used by your husband’?)

Tan, along with Prof. Elizabeth Enriquez, also of the University of the Philippines, said they would like to see the glossary used in university classes, adding that there are not many tools like it. “We do need to get students while it’s early,” Tan said.

Dr Marilen Danguilan, a health policy adviser, says that to her, gender-sensitive reporting is simply a way of reporting based firmly on a human rights approach. The jargon around gender, and even the word itself, she says, can make the term so ‘big’ that many, including writers, get lost in trying to understand it for fear of being seen as politically incorrect. “I have a problem with the word gender,” she said, adding that “gender is a donor-driven word.”

“It’s good to have a glossary as a tool” to help understand the issues around this, “but it’s also the thought process (that matters),” she added.

For his part, journalist Jaemark Tordecilla of the Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said that news desks tend to assume that assignments that have to do with women or have a gender angle should ‘naturally’ go to women, so that male reporters can have fewer opportunities to do such assignments. He also asked how the gender lens can be used in coverage of conflict situations, to which other participants suggested looking into issues like how are women and men affected differently by war, among others. (He blogged about his reflections here).

Talking about words, language, media and mindsets

Some discussion focused around what Son shared, from experience, as difficulties by journalists and editors alike when it comes to gender - some think that they should not report any ‘bad’ news about women, others think they had better tiptoe around it, some use a heavy dose of development jargon that has no place in news stories, and others may try to treat a gender story like they would a crime story.

There was also debate about how to refer to abortion and legal reform advocates who would like to have it legalised, given that abortion is an emotion-laden word, especially in mainly Catholic countries like the Philippines, and suggestions on other terms to include in possible future editions of the glossary.

Dr Florence Tadiar of the  Institute of Social Studies and Action added that she hopes the glossary can help journalists report better on gender and other issues in society, adding that “now even all government officials know the terms in this book”.

Read articles about the launch of the Gender and Development Glossary here:

- Words and Meanings by Rina Jimenez-David, ‘Philippine Daily Inquirer‘

- Male reporters & the gender lens by Jaemark Tordecilla

Arrival 17 October 2010 and departure 24 October at the beautiful Convento S.Maria del Giglio, Bolsena, Viterbo, Italy.

Fifteen full scholarships are available through the Grundtvig programme for adult learners from EU countries outside of Italy, SEE countries and Turkey. The scholarships will cover all travel and accommodation. Apply by September 13 at http://www.conventobolsena.org/grundtvig.html

Or by sending your CV in EU format and motivation letter to puntidivista@pelagus.it

The workshop will explore the intersection between food systems, gender and environment, looking at the multiple links between food, gender and environment through a series of lectures, laboratories and field trips. The workshop will be run by Sabina Aguiari and Wendy Harcourt as part of their efforts to build a European wide network to encourage greater awareness of ’slow food’, traditional cuisine and how to appreciate the importance of women’s roles in food production and culture

Highlights of the workshop

·         Off the press talks by Italian and international experts on the transformation of food systems produced by industrialisation and globalisation of markets

·         Participatory dialogues on agribusiness and about the commodification of food in food industry

·         In depth discussion on the transformation of food systems and related economies through a gender lens and debates in ecofeminism on the topics

·         Organised Visits to the hubs of the slow food movement in Italy,

·         Sharing of traditional knowledge on food preparation by nutritionalists and chefs

·         Hands-on sessions of preparing food

·         Meals at local slow food restaurants and wineries

·         Creating a collective blog on the workshop, sharing recipes, ideas, networks and ways forward

Read the call for application for details. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process by Monday 20 September 2010.

"When we switched duties in the family, I represented a complete
reverse of
gender roles in Japanese society," explained Ozaki, a 59-year-old
photographer. "Our relatives and friends thought we were weird and
never
forgave me for becoming the homemaker."

In the not-so-distant future, however, Ozaki might be considered a
model
citizen.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has joined the hitherto slow
gender equality drive in Japan with its ‘Ikumen’ programme, a
campaign to
encourage men to take leave from work to raise their young children.

Hironobu Narisawa, a district mayor of the central Bunkyo ward in
Tokyo,
made headlines in April for declaring that he would be the first
government
leader – whether male and female – to go on parental leave, a
move he hoped
will help "change attitudes". Only 1.7 percent of Japanese men
take paternity
leave, compared to 78 percent of men in Sweden.

Coined from ‘iku’, the Japanese word for child-raising, and
the English word
‘men’, officials also hope the ‘Ikumen’ project
will remedy Japan’s flagging
birth rate, which currently stands at 1.2 births per woman.

"The project has two goals – one is to raise awareness in
men that child
rearing is not only for women," said ministry official Mayuko Nakai.
"The
other is to create a family where men and women can work and also have a
family, which is difficult now because men have to work long hours in the
office."

Some 550 Japanese fathers have signed the ‘Ikumen’
declaration, a
statement that publicly declares their commitment to child rearing, since
the
launch of the campaign website in June 2010.

Japan’s revised child-care and family-care leave law, which came
into effect
on Jul. 30, permits fathers to take paternity leave at any time within a
year of
the birth of their child. Fathers with infants under three years old will
also be
allowed shorter six-hour working days to encourage more time spent at home
with their spouses and children.

In part due to its workaholic culture, Japan saw some 253,000 cases of
divorce in 2009, a whopping 60 percent increase from the 157,000 recorded
in 1990. The government’s campaign to allow men more opportunity to
spend
at home, some observers believe, will result in happier marriages due to
increased interaction within the family.

"My work started four years ago when I decided to stay at home
with my
kids," said Tetsuya Ando, director of Fathering Japan, a
not-for-profit
organisation helping men to develop closer ties with their wives by
sharing
housework.

"I realised then there were a lot of men who wanted to make the
same
choice as myself because they felt they were losing out on family
life,"
explained Ando, who notes that younger fathers are more receptive to
taking
on household duties.

"Men, mostly in their early thirties, share the perception that
they do not
want to end up like their fathers who have spent their whole married life
at
their companies and when they retire, suddenly realised they are lonely at
home," said Ando.

Programmes like the government’s ‘Ikumen’ project are
seen as a step
toward chipping away at gender discrimination in Japan’s patriarchal
society,
where men dominate powerful public positions and women are respected for
their devotion to their husbands and family.

Indeed, some Japanese are also exploring more varied lifestyle and
professional options themselves these days. For instance, cooking schools
and social dance studios are reporting male middle-aged retirees that have
become an important clientele base in traditionally female-dominated
activities.

"My male students, mostly in the sixties, have graduated from
learning basic
cooking skills to taking on complicated dishes," said Miho Nakayama,
who
runs a small cooking school in Tokyo. "And they are proud to be able
to cook
at home, a major change to the time when the kitchen belonged solely to
their wives."

But Prof Takayoshi Kitagawa, a sociologist at Nagoya University, urges
caution in concluding that traditional gender roles in Japan are on the
way
out.

"The new measures seem bold, but it is too early to say Japan is
moving
towards gender equality. In reality, I think the reforms stem from the
current
economic issues or men are forced to change to pacify their wives,"
said
Kitagawa.

While the Ikumen project is a definite attempt by the government to
bring
men into family care, Kitagawa explained, it could also be a stopgap
measure
due to the economic consequences of the country’s low birth rate.

Labour experts predict a looming labour shortage brought on by an
ageing
population will force companies to rely on female workers.

A survey by the labour ministry indicates that almost 70 percent of
Japanese
women quit their jobs or take on part-time work when they have a child.
Both
men and women reported long working hours as the top reason for marrying
later, and having fewer children.

Genuine and sustainable gender equality, Kitagawa believes, cannot be
borne solely from economic necessity, but from men and women’s
realisation
that equality brings personal fulfilment and allows individuals to be
their best.

"Gender equality in a traditional society has to be nurtured by
both genders
and this takes time. Economic concerns will not bring about the
solutions,"
said Kitagawa.

"These scandalous, outrageous atrocities should serve as a
wake up call for the international community," Marcel
Stoessel, Oxfam International's country director in the DRC,
told IPS in a phone interview.

Amnesty International echoed Oxfam's sentiments, calling for
a critical investigation of the U.N.'s inaction.

"The DRC government and the United Nations must urgently
review the failures to protect civilians to prevent such
horrors from being inflicted again," Amnesty International
said in a statement.

Amnesty also urged the immediate gathering and preservation
of evidence in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Legally, the responsibility to arrest and prosecute the
perpetrators of the mass rapes lies with the weak and often
ineffective Congolese government, which has been under
mounting pressure to capture and try the individuals
responsible.

A spokesperson for the U.N. said that a team has been
deployed to investigate the incident, and is expected to
finish its work by the beginning of September. The Congolese
government, however, is not involved.

Another official of a human rights group admitted that the
rebels were not likely to be apprehended, much less
prosecuted. He cited a leaked U.N. report, revealed by Le
Monde on Wednesday, which accuses the government of Rwanda
of war crimes, including possibly genocide, in the DRC as
reflecting the history of violence in the region since 1993.

"The report shows that impunity has been the norm," he told
IPS. "In this particular case," he said, referring to the
mass rapes, "it's not, unfortunately, going to be the
exception."

The conflict-ridden DRC has been ranked the number five
failed state by Foreign Policy for the last two years,
worsening two spots since 2007. Rape is systematically used
as a tool of war, with about one case of rape reported every
hour – the perpetrators of which are usually armed men from
rebel groups or the regular Congolese army, according to
Amnesty.

"The government doesn't have a presence, indeed authority,
over the entire territory, which makes it possible for armed
groups to commit these atrocities," Stoessel told IPS. "And
even when the Congolese army is present, they are often
themselves not a protective force and are perpetrators."

Given the DRC's instability, in 1999 the U.N. sent a
peacekeeping force to the country, now called MONUSCO, which
is charged with the protection of civilians. This week, it
was revealed that MONUSCO failed to act despite knowledge of
the rebels' presence in the villages, and failed to respond
timely after eventually receiving information of the mass
rapes.

The Security Council held an emergency meeting about the
mass rapes Thursday, after which Russian Ambassador Vitaly
Churkin and U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice expressed indignation
at the number of questions that remain outstanding regarding
the U.N.'s response to the incident on the ground.

"We're horrified and we're outraged," Rice said.
"It was a
disturbing briefing both for what we learned and what we
don't know still."

Between Jul. 30 and Aug. 3, 200 to 400 armed men allegedly
from the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and
the Mai Mai Cheka rebel groups ravaged a cluster of villages
in the DRC's North Kivu province. One of the villages was
just 20 kilometres away from a MONUSCO forward operating
base.

A day after the raid began, MONUSCO received information of
rebel activity in the villages. Robert Meece, the U.N.'s top
official for the country, told reporters on Wednesday that
there was no indication of an attack. However, the same day,
an e-mail was sent to U.N. staff urging them to stay away
from the area because the situation was too dangerous, the
New York Times reported Wednesday.

Despite this, MONUSCO did not visit the villages until Aug.
2. At this point, the raid was still taking place, but
according to Meece, the peacekeepers were not informed of
the violence occurring. This alarming lack of contact has
raised questions about MONUSCO's procedures during their
visits and their efficacy in communicating with the very
people they are charged to protect.

"They need to get out of their vehicles, go on foot patrols
right close to these most vulnerable communities and deploy
strategically where civilians are most at risk," Stoessel
said of the peacekeepers.

Another patrol took place Aug. 4, but Meece noted it went in
the opposite direction of the villages.

"Visits alone are not sufficient – that was the clear
feeling of members of the Security Council," Churkin told
reporters after the council meeting. "Every other day, once
a week, is not sufficient for having reliable information."

Peacekeepers did not return to the affected area until Aug.
9, Meece said – over a week after MONUSCO learned of the
rebels' presence in the villages and three days after the
International Medical Corps (IMC) says it alerted the U.N.'s
office of humanitarian affairs of the mass rapes. CNN
reported Thursday that the IMC informed the U.N. of the raid
on Aug. 6, disputing official U.N. claims that it did not
have knowledge of the rapes until Aug. 12.

In response to revelations of the mass gang rapes this week,
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dispatched Atul Khare,
deputy head of the U.N. peacekeeping department, and Margot
Wallstrom, his special representative on sexual violence in
conflict to the DRC. They are expected back in New York on
Sep. 8 and will brief the Security Council.

"We are looking forward to the return of Mr. Khare and a
very serious, sober evaluation – as one council member put
it – of what happened and why. Clearly not everything worked
the way it should have worked under these circumstances,"
Churkin said. "We are going to get to the bottom of it."

The Hamas authorities in Gaza have been making international headlines as
they slowly restrict the rights of women. The restrictions have included
banning women from smoking argilah (also known as hookah or water-pipe)
in public places and riding pillion on motorbikes. Schoolgirls and women
lawyers are now forced to cover their hair, and mannequins displaying
female
underwear have been banned from Gaza's shop windows.

In the West Bank, five of the Palestinian Authority's (PA) 24 cabinet
ministers
are women. Women head two West Bank municipalities. A woman has been
appointed commander of one of the Palestinian police stations, and a woman
also runs the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The Governor of Ramallah (Palestine's de facto capital) Dr Leila
Ghanem has
several government bodies falling under her jurisdiction. Earlier, she had
been a high-ranking official in the Palestinian Security Services.

Nissan FM Radio station has a staff of 20, most of them women, and hosts a
Café au Lait programme which broadcasts six hours a day. The radio
station
focuses its programme content on the rights and interests of Palestinian
women.

"Palestinian women constitute half our society and they are beginning
to be
recognised as full partners to their male counterparts," Rabiah Diab,
the PA
minister of women's affairs told IPS.

And in the most significant development in March this year, PA Prime
Minister
Salaam Fayyad approved new legislation, which would equate "honour
killings"
of Palestinian women with murder.

Every year, throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, dozens of
women
are killed by their male relatives for allegedly having an affair or
bringing
"dishonour" of a sexual nature to the family.

Many of the murders, however, are actually motivated by other reasons. But
the men know that even if they are found guilty of an "honour
killing" they will
get off with an extremely light sentence, in the worst-case scenario.
Fayyad approved the legislation following several years of hard work and
intensive lobbying by a number of Palestinian human rights and civil
society
organisations, as well as the PA Ministry of Women's Affairs.

"We spent many late nights working on the issue and continually
pushing the
relevant authorities to give the matter the attention it needed,"
says Maha
Abu Dayyeh the director of the Women's Centre for Legal Aid and
Counselling
(WCLAC) in Ramallah.

"In March of this year Fayyad ratified our proposals after it was
approved by
the PA Ministry of Justice. It was then passed on to PA President Mahmoud
Abbas who refused to sign it and asked for further inputs," Abu
Dayyeh told
IPS.

"The PA Ministry of the Interior, which was consulted on the issue,
voiced
various objections to the new legislation. Following this, the justice
ministry
decided to ignore all our previous work and research and asked foreign
donors for a grant to finance new research on the subject," she
added.

The Interior Ministry has been involved in numerous Palestinian human
rights
abuses such as torture. It is also accused of abusing civil rights,
including
denying Palestinians passports based on political allegiances.

The ministry works in conjunction with EU Cops, a contingent of European
police and advisors based in Ramallah and funded by the European Union,
who help to train and advise Palestinian police and other security forces.
According to WCLAC, EU Cops is one of the donors of the new research
project to inquire into "honour killings" and other gender-based
issues.

"We are not prepared to start from scratch after spending years
exploring the
issue only to see our efforts – which were approved by the foreign
minister –
ignored by the PA and some who fund it. It would be unethical as well as
an
enormous waste of our time and the resources of foreign donors," Abu
Dayyeh told IPS.

Abu Dayyeh added that despite the goodwill of some senior politicians to
improve the rights of Palestinian women, Israel's continuing and
illegal
occupation of Palestinian territory was destroying the West Bank
economically,
and negatively affecting Palestinian society.

"Don't be deceived by the Ramallah bubble where some people are
getting
rich and driving flashy cars. They are the minority. The majority of
Palestinians are suffering great financial deprivation. And in our
conservative
society, when men can't be the breadwinners who support their
families, they
feel emasculated. Then it is often the women who pay the price.

"The number of women suffering from domestic violence has spiked in
the
last few years. If anything, the plight of women is getting worse despite
efforts at certain governmental levels," Abu Dayyeh told IPS.

Women Learning Partnership (WLP) in cooperation with Cultural Conversations of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University presents “Challenges of Change: Religion, Secularism & Rights“.

The event will be held on September 21, 2010, 9:30 am - 5:30 pm at Kenney Auditorium, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, 1740 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC.

Speakers will discuss the impact of a decade of “clash of civilizations” rhetoric on the intellectual as well as pragmatic work of those who struggle for gender justice and seek to transform cultures of violence into cultures of peace. They discuss the interrelation between violence against women in the home and violence in the community, nation, and internationally. They will share strategies for mobilizing communities to bring about non-violent, positive change.

Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home-so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world….Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.
- Shirin Ebadi

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Registration
Registration: $15 (includes light lunch, coffee and refreshments)
Students: Free (ID required, optional lunch $10)
Seats are limited. Register online.

Speakers:

Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh (Iran), Founding Member, One Million Signatures Campaign
Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/USA), Founder and President, Women’s Learning Partnership
Zainah Anwar (Malaysia), Founder, Sisters In Islam
Karima Bennoune (Algeria/USA), Professor of Law, Rutgers University
Marian Wright Edelman (USA), Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund
Yakin Ertürk (Turkey), former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Anne Gahongayire (Rwanda), Secretary General, Supreme Court of Rwanda
Pregs Govender (South Africa), Deputy Chairperson, South Africa Human Rights Commission
Asma Khader (Jordan), Secretary General, Jordanian National Commission for Women
Azar Nafisi (Iran/USA), Executive Director, Cultural Conversations, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid (Saudi Arabia), Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund
Jacqueline Pitanguy (Brazil), Co-Founder and Director, Cidadania, Estudo, Pesquisa, Informação e Ação (Cepia)
Eleanor Smeal (USA), Founder and President, Feminist Majority Foundation

Chairs:

LaShawn Jefferson (USA), Women’s Human Rights Program Officer, Ford Foundation
Frances Kissling (USA), Former President, Catholics for a Free Choice
Carolyn Long (USA), Director of Global Partnerships, InterAction
Regan Ralph (USA), Executive Director, The Fund for Global Human Rights

For more information: +1-301-654-2774 | wlp@learningpartnership.org | www.learningpartnership.org

"The mud helps me take care of my children," she says
matter-of-factly.

Jeanti is a slight, muscled woman, one of millions of
Haitians who have migrated from the countryside to Port-au-
Prince over the past decade. She left her hometown to find a
way to feed her five kids.

"My children have no father. I am the mother and the father
of them," Jeanti told IPS. The father is gone and Haiti has
no statutes protecting women who are abandoned with their
children.

Jeanti grew up in Anse D'Hainault, a remote town in Haiti's
southwest near Grand Anse, known as the "city of poets".
Ezer Villaire, one of the great Haitian poets, was born and
raised there.

Unlike other parts of rural Haiti, trees still populate the
mountains and little plateaus where yams and cacao are
grown. "Have you visited Anse D'Hainault? It's really nice.
You should go," she told IPS. "I used to farm. I am a
farmer."

But the income from farming small crops wasn't enough.
Unemployment rates rise to 80-90 percent in much of the
countryside.

Now Jeanti lives in Cité Saint Georges, a tiny district
within Cité Soleil. The concrete canal running through the
neighbourhood is full to the brim with plastic bottles.

She sits in a dirty corner near the entrance to a narrow
corridor where people come to buy mud cookies or a gallon of
water from a neighbour. Most the houses are made with
concrete blocks and unfinished.

During her first two years in Port-Au-Prince, Jeanti managed
the products she brought from Anse D'hainault. But it wasn't
enough, so she started baking and selling mud cookies
herself.

"I buy two bags of mud for 500 gourdes (12.57 U.S.). And I
made 100 gourdes (2.50 U.S.)," she told IPS.

Mud cookies are big business. The mud mine is located in the
central of Haiti. A cookie-maker like Jeanti has to buy the
mud from middle-man who purchases it from someone with
access to the mine, then brings it to Port-Au-Prince.

Jeanti wants to go back to her town Anse D'hainault to take
of her mother. She is the only daughter. "I want to come
back to my home. My mother is getting old. I have to come
back to take of her. I am her unique daughter," she
explained.

But she is worried about how she is going to support her
five children, plus her mother. "I have one problem. I can't
come back with 2,500 gourdes to Anse D'ahainault. It is not
going to help me. But I am getting old as my mom. I'm 49.
And… I have to come back to Anse D'Hainault," she said.

Jeanti knows her story is like those of many Haitian single
mothers. "I am not the only one who is making mud cookies to
sell. There are many women here who are doing the same
business like I do to support their children." She points to
a group of women drying mud cookies on top of the roof.

The voice of Lurene Jeanti is the voice of many hundreds of
thousands Haitian women who left their towns to come to
Port-Au-Prince in the hope that life will smile on them.
With 1.5 million people living in tent camps months after
the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, it doesn't appear their
situation will improve anytime soon.

While 5.3 billion dollars was pledged by international
donors to aid in the rebuilding, less than 20 percent has
been disbursed.