Action Alert: Afghan Women and Girls Need Our Help

If you are having trouble viewing this email, please read it online.

Support NOW's Work	August 24, 2009	Tell a Friend

Action Needed Background All NOW Actions Continued Threats to Afghan Women Require Support in U.S. and Worldwide		Afghan Women and Girls Need Our Help Tell Your Senators: Support The Afghan Women Empowerment Act After taking action, please support our work! If there is a hell on earth for women and girls, it surely must be found in Afghanistan. Desperate poverty persists and gender-based violence is increasing. Nearly 200 schools have been bombed or set on fire and school girls have had acid thrown in their faces. Illiteracy is over 80 percent among women, and the country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Many women are still forced to wear the total body cover of the burka and may not leave home without a male escort. There is an epidemic of suicide among young women who set themselves on fire to escape the severe repression and poverty that they face. A new law, criticized as a trade for votes from the Shia religious minority in the presidential campaign, strips away Shia women's recently guaranteed constitutional rights. Action Needed: The Afghan Women Empowerment Act, S. 229, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), would give Afghan women and girls a chance at a better life with more opportunities. Please send a message to your senators asking them to co-sponsor and take a leadership role on passing S. 229. Use our formatted message or write one of your own. Background: Despite the various efforts made by the United Nations and the U.S. government to improve the lives of women and girls in war-torn Afghanistan, little progress has been made. Hospitals and clinics are scarce, poorly staffed and dramatically under-equipped. Women, especially those in the rural areas, do not have access to even the most basic health care services. Currently, Afghanistan has a very high maternal and infant mortality rate; for every six births, one mother will die as a result of inadequate access to medical attention. Even though women were granted certain rights in a new national constitution, Afghan women face violence and intimidation in their everyday lives. Oppression of women has increased recently as a result of the resurgence of the Taliban and other religious extremists. These groups have been responsible for scores of attacks against school girls and teachers to prevent them from obtaining an education. In certain parts of Afghanistan, women must still wear the head-to-toe burka and are constrained from participating in public life. Take action NOW! Bowing to pressure from religious extremists, President Hamid Karzai has backed the Personal Status Law permitting Shia men to deny their wives food and sustenance if they refuse to obey their husbands' sexual demands. The final version of the legislation also grants guardianship of children exclusively to fathers and grandfathers and requires women to get permission from their husbands to work. Further, the law allows rapists to avoid prosecution by paying victims who are injured while being raped! International public outrage as well as an outcry from Afghan women's rights leaders earlier this year caused Karzai to reconsider this barbaric set of proposals. Karzai was criticized for backing the regressive Personal Status Law as being a trade for votes from the Shia minority, which constitutes about 20 percent of the country's 33 million population. But the new law quietly took effect on July 27, with little improvement, according to Human Rights Watch. Other news is somewhat more positive. Thanks to continuing pressure from women's rights activists in Afghanistan and abroad, there has been a positive action in the Parliament that suggests there is some hope for Afghan women. In mid-July, President Karzai signed a bill which would punish those who perpetrate violence against women. Under this bill, men who have prevented women from getting an education, working, or obtaining healthcare can be punished for up to six months in prison. This is a commendable act by the Afghan government, but it is not nearly enough. And, as we have seen in other countries, laws to protect women are often ignored. Passage of the Afghan Women Empowerment Act (S. 229) is crucial. This bill will fully commit the U.S. government in helping advance the rights and well-being of Afghan women. It will provide necessary equipment, medical supplies, and other healthcare assistance in order to reduce maternal and infant mortality. Women and children will have greater access to life-saving immunizations. Constant exposure to violence can have detrimental effects on the mental health of women; this bill will establish programs to provide mental health services. In addition, S. 229 would establish primary and secondary schools for girls that will offer mathematics, sciences, and languages as well as expand technical and vocational training for women to develop skills needed to support their families. Funding would be provided for programs to protect women and girls against various forms of violence such as sexual assault, physical abuse, trafficking, abduction, and exploitation. This includes developing emergency shelters for women and girls who are facing danger and violence. We have an opportunity to make a substantial difference in the lives of Afghan women and girls. Contact your senators and ask them to co-sponsor and help pass the Afghan Women Empowerment Act (S. 229) that will help offer millions of women a chance to live a better life. Read more about the status of Afghan women and then
SUPPORT NOW: Support NOW's Work for Equal Rights Join NOW Monthly Giving Catalog Shop Amazon TAKE ACTION: Get Involved Find Your Nearest Chapter Tell a Friend Learn More LISTS: Unsubscribe, Edit Profile Subscribe All Lists

Posted by,
Jerin Alam
National NOW Young Feminist Task Force
NOW – NYS Young Feminist Task Force Chair
National Organization for Women (NOW)

V-Day Congo Director on Meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

		Update from V-Day Congo Director Christine Schuler Deschryver on Meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton V-Day Congo Director and acclaimed women's rights activist Christine Schuler Deschryver met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday, August 11 in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Among those also in the meeting were Dr. Denis Mukwege, Founder of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu and the V-Men's movement, and Chouchou Namegabe of AFEM Women's Media Association. Mrs. Clinton's trip to Congo was reported as extraordinary for a Secretary of State as she brought a sharp focus to the ongoing sexual atrocities against women in the DRC, as well as worldwide attention. We applaud Mrs. Clinton and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer for their commitment to the women and girls of the DRC, and thank them for hearing our call. Following is Christine's update from the meeting: Hope among atrocities On Monday, Dr. Mukwege (Founder of the Panzi hospital), Chouchou Namegabe (AFEM - Women's Media Association) and I took the boat for a 3 hour ride across the lake from Bukavu to Goma to take part in a panel on sexual gender violence in the DRC with U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton....it's now the dry season here but it doesn't change anything on the beauty of our Kivu. When we arrived in Goma, we didn't have time to check in at the hotel and went straight to Heal Africa hospital to prepare for the visit of Mrs. Clinton and try to put together with all our colleagues from north Kivu the best methodology to convey our messages in a short period of time, lots of discussions but at the end we distributed the role to everyone...after leaving the meeting we were all very down and started to wonder what we were doing there, wondered if she will listen to us, wonder if it will just be another visit like we already had thousands of, with only "beautiful speeches" and promises. After a good family meal at Ester Ntoto's house (one of our amazing V-DAY activists based in Goma), we felt a little better and decided to go and rest. On Wednesday, we met again (Dr. Mukwege, Chouchou, Ester and I) to prepare our discussion and to finalize the memo with our recommendations. Mrs. Clinton arrived a little later than expected and greeted all of us very warmly before going on a talk with two survivors. She said in an interview how overwhelmed she was about what she saw and heard and couldn't find words to describe the level of suffering and atrocities. In the panel, there were 7 of us, mostly V-DAY activists, and all over the walls were our big campaign posters - STOP RAPING OUR GREATEST RESOURCE: POWER TO THE WOMEN AND GIRLS OF DRC. Before we started with the discussion, Secretary of State Clinton announced publicly that the U.S. Government will provide a $17 million plan to fight sexual violence in DRC. This money will be used to train doctors, supply rape survivors with mobile phones and cameras to document violence, to train a special police force essentially with female police officers to fight the violence against women, etc.... We were of course very happy. She then listened attentively to each one of us and many times I saw tears in her eyes, I didn't really feel I had the Secretary of State next to me but we all had the feeling we were just between women, she was so humble, so human, so sensitive, she paid so much attention that I sometimes felt she was swallowing our words, for the first time since a decade hope was permitted among all the atrocities... In our recommendations, we have asked for the following: To help DRC to control and regulate trade of natural resources (the main cause of the war) To help end the impunity of criminals and prosecute offenders in the Congolese Military To call upon neighboring countries to find a political solution with their citizens (militias and other who still live in DRC) To help DRC to have a good police force (essentially of women) and army Mrs. Clinton said that she doesn't have a magic wand but in spite of this we absolutely have to work together to ensure the meeting results in real change and that she delivers. Like she said, "I hope that we will see the changes from within and outside that will lead to the end of these problems so that our children will not even know what we were talking about." READ The New York Times coverage of Clinton's visit to Goma - "Clinton Presents Plan to Fight Sexual Violence in Congo" LISTEN to Christine's Interview with Democracy Now on the meeting with Clinton READ the transcript of the meeting > For more information on V-Day's global campaign STOP RAPING OUR GREATEST RESOURCE: Power To The Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo, please visit vday.org/drc. DONATE to Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power to Women and Girls in Democratic Republic of Congo > Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. Tell-a-friend! If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for V-Day.
Posted by, Jerin Alam National NOW Young Feminist Task Force NOW-NYS Young Feminist Task Force Chair National Organization for Women (NOW)

Yet Another Proof that RAPE is about power, not sex

The New York Times reports:
August 5, 2009

Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

An excerpt:

For years, the thickly forested hills and clear, deep lakes of eastern Congo have been a reservoir of atrocities. Now, it seems, there is another growing problem: men raping men.

According to Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, United Nations officials and several Congolese aid organizations, the number of men who have been raped has risen sharply in recent months, a consequence of joint Congo-Rwanda military operations against rebels that have uncapped an appalling level of violence against civilians.

Aid workers struggle to explain the sudden spike in male rape cases. The best answer, they say, is that the sexual violence against men is yet another way for armed groups to humiliate and demoralize Congolese communities into submission.

The United Nations already considers eastern Congo the rape capital of the world, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to hear from survivors on her visit to the country next week. Hundreds of thousands of women have been sexually assaulted by the various warring militias haunting these hills, and right now this area is going through one of its bloodiest periods in years.

Posted by:
Jerin Alam
National NOW Young Feminist Task Force
National Organization for Women (NOW)