EQUALITY NOW 1994-1995 REPORT EQUALITY NOW Equality Now international force, capable outside the scope of the was founded in of rapid response to crisis mainstream human rights 1992 to work situations and committed to movement, such as domestic for the protec- voicing a worldwide call for violence, reproductive rights, tion and pro- justice and equality for trafficking of women, female motion of the human rights women. Equality Now genital mutilation, and equal of women around the world. addresses issues which have access to economic opportu- Working with national historically been considered nity and political participation. human rights groups and individual activists, Equality SOMMAIRE Now documents human Egalité Maintenant a été fondée en 1992 afin de travailler pour la protection et la pro- motion des droits individuels des femmes dans le monde entier. Travaillant avec des rights violations against groupes locaux de droits individuels et des militants individuels, Egalité Maintenant women and adds an inter- documente les violations de ces droits et ajoute un aspect international d’action pour soutenir les efforts locaux et nationaux au nom des droits des femmes et au nom des national action component— femmes individuelles qui subissent des violations de leurs droits humains. Egalité Maintenant aborde les questions qui ont généralement été considérées en dehors du to support their efforts to champ des droits humains internationaux, telles que la traîte des femmes, la violence advance women’s rights and familiale, les droits de reproduction, la mutilation féminine génitale et égalité d’accès économiques et participation politique. to defend individual women RESUMEN who are suffering abuse. Igualdad Ya fue fundada en 1992 con el propósito de luchar por los derechos Equality Now’s action tech- humanos de la mujer alrededor del mundo. Trabajando con grupos locales de derechos humanos y con activistas individuales, Igualdad Ya documenta las violaciones de los niques have proven effective. derechos humanos de la mujer, además de agregar una dimensión internacional para By distributing information apoyar a los esfuerzos que se hacen para promover los derechos de la mujer y para defender a las mujeres que sufren abusos a nivel individual. Igualdad Ya se dedica through its Women’s Action a asuntos que históricamente han sido descuidados por el movimiento de derechos humanos, tal y como lo son la violencia doméstica, el derecho a la reproducción, el Network to concerned tráfico des mujeres, la mutilación genital femenina y el derecho de participar en con- groups and individuals diciones iguales en la economía como en la vida política. around the world, with recommended actions for publicizing and protesting human rights violations, Equality Now is building an 1 THE WOMEN’S ACTION NETWORK The Women’s Action participate in campaigns on mation and to facilitate grass- Network is the core of broader women’s issues, and roots participation. Equality Equality Now’s work. As of channel information and Now has undertaken eight year-end 1995, the Network strategy on concerns in their Women’s Actions to date. consists of almost two thou- own countries back through sand groups and individuals the Network. Reproductive Rights in in 65 countries around the All Women’s Actions are Poland Gender-Based Political world who take action in issued in English, Spanish, Asylum in Canada— response to appeals on French and Arabic to pro- The Case of Nada behalf of individual women, mote equal access to infor- Rape as a Weapon of Genocide in SOMMAIRE Bosnia-Herzegovina A la fin de l’année 1995, le réseau consistait de près de deux mille groupes et indi- Trafficking of Women vidus dans 65 pays autour du monde qui répondent aux appels au nom des femmes individuelles, participent à des campagnes sur des questions plus générales relatives to Japan: The Death aux femmes et disséminent des renseignements sur le statut des femmes et les vio- of Maricris Sioson lations des droits indiviuels dans leurs pays par l’intermédiaire du réseau. Egalité Maintenant a lancé des Actions Femmes sur les droits de reproduction, l’asile poli- UNICEF’s Failure tique basé sur le sexe, le viol comme arme de guerre et de génocide, la violence to Fund Efforts to familiale, la traîte des femmes et la mutilation génitale féminine. Stop Female Genital RESUMEN Mutilation A fines del año 1995, la Red consiste en casi dos mil grupos e individuos de 65 países Rape and Violence que actúan en respuesta a los llamados que se hacen para que se interceda a favor de la mujer a nivel individual, participan en campañas sobre los asuntos de la mujer Against Women at the en general, y hacen llegar a la Red información y estrategias sobre asuntos que se Durban Train Station, presenten en sus países. Igualdad Ya ha promulgado varias Acciones Mujeres acer- South Africa ca del derecho a la reproducción, el asilo político en base al género, la violación de mujeres como arma de guerra y genocidio, la violencia doméstica, el tráfico de mu- Domestic Violence in jeres y la mutilación genital femenina. the United States: Judicial Misconduct in the State of Maryland— the Peacock Case The Medicalization of Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt 2 CLADEM Comité Latinoamericano para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer WOMEN LIVING UNDER MUSLIM LAWS De nuestra consideración: FEMMES SOUS LOIS MUSULMANES Muy consternadas nos dirigimos International Solidarity Network Réseau International de solidarité a Ud. en relación a las continuas violaciones genocidas y los Chères Amies, Chers Amis, asesinatos que se cometen en Nous avons reçu cet appel de Equality Now Bosnia-Herzegovina, y en este qui concerne les conditions de vie insouten- sentido pedimos un juicio pronto ablesa de femmes sans domicile et vivant aux los criminales de guerra, tales alentours de la gare de Durban. Elles y sont como Radovan Karadzic por partevictimes de vols, viols et violences. Çet appel del Tribunal Internacional. vous demande donc d’alerter les responsa- Confiadas en que coincide conbles de la police ainsi que le Président Nelson nosotras en que se le debe ponerMandela sur ces faits inadmissibles au sein fin a estas atrocidades, no d’un état démocrate. despedimos de Ud. Envoyez vos lettres et pétitions aux adresses mentionnées dans l’appel ainsi Atentamente, qu’une copie de vos actions à Equality Now. Roxana Vásquez S. En solidarité Coordinadora Regional M.A. Hélie Lucas Coordinatrice Réseau Femmes Sous Lois Musulmanes BAFROW—THE GAMBIA Foundation for Research on Women’s Health Productivity and the Environment It is with great regret that we learnt of the tragic and suspicious death of Maricris. Details of the situation leading to her death are provided to us by Equality Now, of New York. We associate our- selves with all those who publicly condemn this act, and call upon the Japanese authorities to investigate the death of Maricris and to bring to justice those responsible for the act. 3 SOUTH AFRICA Rape and Violence Against Women at the Durban Train Station In May 1994, Equality Now We are extremely concerned about the unfortunate and issued a Women’s Action on unacceptable situation of our African sisters in Durban. The rape in South Africa. South horrifying acts of rape, abuse and violence against our sisters Africa has one of the highest are intolerable and must be stopped. —SAMIA TABARI, ASSOCIATION NAJDEH, BEIRUT, LEBANON rape rates in the world—it is estimated that a woman is local thugs who rob, attack These women want police and rape them with impuni- protection, and Equality President Mandela ty. The women who live out- Now’s Women’s Action adds ... is concerned side the Durban train station an international voice to their about the large numbers of reported to Equality Now’s call for help. It calls on the homeless people. The Gov- ernment has embarked on a mission delegates, who police to patrol Umgeni Reconstruction and Develop- worked in conjunction with Road, and urges President ment Programme which the Durban-based Advice Nelson Mandela to demon- seeks to address basic Desk for Abused Women, strate to the police and the human needs. that practically every night a public that the new South —RESPONSE FROM woman gets raped, and that Africa will not tolerate rape THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT often they see their rapists and other violence against raped every 83 seconds. The again, raping other women. women. Women’s Action focuses on Regina Nyanda, Umgeni Road, Durban the plight of the women who live on the pavement of Umgeni Road outside the Durban train station. Al- though the police station is only a few blocks away, the police do not patrol the stretch of pavement on which the women live, leav- ing the women vulnerable to 4 UNITED STATES Judicial Misconduct in the State of Maryland—The Peacock Case In December 1994, Equality light sentence on the defen- Now, working with the dant, Kenneth Peacock, who Women’s Law Center in had killed his wife Sandra Maryland, issued a Women’s after finding her in bed with Domestic Violence Quilt, Africa Preparatory Action on the judicial mis- another man. In his sentenc- Conference, Dakar, November 1994 conduct of Judge Robert E. ing decision, the judge com- Cahill in the Peacock Case. mented, “I seriously wonder walk away . without in- On October 17, 1994, Judge how many married men . flicting some corporal punish- Cahill imposed an extremely would have the strength to ment, whatever that punish- SOMMAIRE ment might be. I shudder to think what I would do.” En mai 1994, Egalité Maintenant a lancé une Action Femmes sur le viol en Afrique du Sud, mettant l’accent sur le sort des femmes qui vivent sur Umgeni Road, devant de la Equality Now’s Women’s gare de Durban.