Web pages about "Stop Violence Against Women"

Women’s Rights Activists arrested in peaceful solidarity demonstrations in Iran

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:10:38 +0100

Nine women attempting to take part in a small, peaceful seminar to commemorate a day of solidarity with Iranian women were arrested in Tehran on Thursday. The women -Aida Saadat, Nahid Mirhaj, Nafiseh Azad, Nasrin Sotoodeh, Jelve Javaheri, Jila Baniyagoub, Sarah Loghmani Farideh Ghaeb and Aliyeh Matlabzadeh - were arrested and taken to a detention centre, and released later in the evening.

The seminar organized by the Campaign for Equality in honour of the anniversary of the day of solidarity of Iranian women, was due to take place in the Rahe Abrisham Gallery, but security forces prevented it from taking place by forcing the gallery owner to shut the doors. The nine women were arrested outside the gallery.

The Campaign for Equality is a network which works to end legal discrimination against women. The campaign informs women of their rights, and is aiming to collect one million signatures from the Iranian public to a petition against discriminatory laws.

22 Khordad (usually 12 June) is identified by women’s rights activists in Iran as their national day of solidarity against laws which discriminate against women. Three years ago on this day, women’s rights activists organized a demonstration in front of Tehran University, which was unprecedented in size. The following year, a similar peaceful demonstration was broken up violently, and resulted in 70 arrests. Activists have pledged to continue activities on this date until their demands are met by the authorities.

Women in Iran face widespread discrimination under the law. They are excluded from key areas of political participation and do not have equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.

The Iranian authorities must:

Stop the harassment of women’s rights activists and allow women to continue their peaceful activities, including future celebration of their day of solidarity unimpeded
Take concrete steps to bring laws governing the lives of women in line with human rights standards.

Brazil: Women's lives shattered by public security crisis in shanty-towns

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:20:17 +0100

In a new report published today, Amnesty International revealed the untold stories of women who are forced to live, bring up their children and fight for justice in Brazil’s lawless shanty-towns.

“The reality for women in Brazil’s slums is catastrophic. They are the hidden victims of the criminal and police violence that has engulfed their communities for decades,” said Tim Cahill, Brazil researcher at Amnesty International.

The Brazilian state is virtually absent in marginalized communities and often the only contact people have with the government is via sporadic, militarised police incursions.

Though the federal government has launched a new project which promises to attend to the decades of neglect that have contributed to this reality, little has been done to analyse and address the specific needs of women living in these communities.

“Far from providing protection, the police often subject women to illegal searches by male officers, abusive and discriminatory language and intimidation, especially when they attempt to intervene to protect a relative,” said Tim Cahill.

Women who fight for justice on behalf of their sons or husbands end up on the frontline, facing further threats and harassment from the police.

“In the absence of the state, drug lords and gang leaders are the law in most shanty towns. They dispense punishment and protection and use women as trophies or bargaining tools,” said Tim Cahill.

Used as “mules” or as decoys by drug gangs, women are seen as disposable by criminals and corrupt police officers alike.

Amnesty International heard stories of women having their heads shaven for infidelity, and being forced to provide sexual favours for the payment of debts. Growing numbers are ending up in Brazil’s overcrowded, unsanitary prison system, subject to physical and psychological abuse – and in some cases rape.

The knock-on effects of crime and violence reverberate through entire communities, severely affecting the provision of basic services, such as healthcare and education. If local clinics fall within the territory of a rival gang, women can be forced to travel miles to see a doctor. Maternity services, crèches and schools can be closed for long periods because of police operations or criminal violence. Healthcare workers and teachers are often too scared to work in crime-blighted neighbourhoods.

Women in poor communities face incredible stress. As one said: “I live doped up. Take that diazepam to sleep. Because if I’m lucid I can’t sleep for the fear. Doped, I grab my daughter, throw myself on the floor to protect myself from the shooting, and sleep all night. If my daughter loses her dummy, she’s going to cry all night because once it’s eight o’clock I’m not leaving the house for anything.”

“The state violates the rights of these women in three ways. It supports policing practices that lead to killings, perpetuates a system that ensures access to justice is extremely difficult if not impossible, and condemns them to intense hardship,” said Tim Cahill.

The Brazilian state has introduced some positive initiatives, including strengthening the protection of women suffering from domestic violence through the introduction of the Maria da Penha law, which is yet to be fully implemented.

Far-reaching, long-term policies aimed at improving the lives of women living in marginalized communities are urgently needed to tackle violence against women. As a first step, Amnesty International called on the Brazilian federal government to integrate the needs of women into the new public security plan, the National Public Security and Citizenship Programme (Programa Nacional de Segurança Pública com Cidadania, PRONASCI).

Background information
This report is based on interviews with women in six states – Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul – carried out between 2006 and 2007.

For a copy of "Picking up the pieces – Women’s experience of urban violence in Brazil", please see: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR19/001/2008/en

Brazilian women's lives shattered

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:54:40 +0100

Women in Brazil are finding themselves left to pick up the pieces following criminal and police violence in shanty-towns.

Stories of urban violence in Brazil tend to focus on young men. Though men make up the bulk of the victims and perpetrators, the stories of women who are forced to live, bring up their children and fight for justice in Brazil’s lawless shanty-towns, are often ignored.

Brazilian cities have long suffered high levels of both criminal and police violence. Some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Brazil are often dominated by drug gangs. The government’s response has been a series of ever more confrontational crack-downs, involving police operations which target not just criminal gangs, but entire communities.

Backdrop of violence
Women in these communities live in a climate of constant insecurity. Far from providing protection, the police often subject women to illegal searches by male officers and abusive and discriminatory language and intimidation, especially when they attempt to intervene to protect a relative.

Women who fight for justice on behalf of their sons or husbands end up on the frontline of change, facing further threats and harassment. One woman told Amnesty International, “We can’t go on living under these conditions. We live in fear."

Women are also at risk from drug chiefs and gang leaders. They dispense punishment and protection and use women as trophies or bargaining tools. Growing numbers of women are becoming involved in the drug trade. Many of these women end up in Brazil’s overcrowded, unsanitary prison system, subject to physical and psychological abuse – and in some cases rape.

Impact
The knock-on effects of crime and violence reverberate through entire communities, severely affecting the provision of basic services, such as healthcare and education. If local clinics fall within the territory of a rival gang, women can be forced to travel miles to see a doctor. Maternity services, crèches and schools can be closed for long periods because of police operations or criminal violence. Healthcare workers and teachers are often too scared to work in crime-blighted neighbourhoods.

Stopping the violence
Women who spoke to Amnesty International gave very clear messages of what is needed:

a police force which protects them and their families and provides genuine security
equal access to justice, irrespective of social class;
protection so they can continue their struggle to defend human rights;
social and economic support when a relative is injured or killed by police or criminal violence.

The Brazilian state has introduced some positive initiatives, including strengthening the protection of women suffering from domestic violence. But long term policies are urgently needed to tackle the broader issues of the impact of violence on women in excluded communities.

Action needed now
The Brazilian federal government must act to integrate the needs of women into the new public security plan, the National Public Security and Citizenship Programme (Programa Nacional de Segurança Pública com Cidadania, PRONASCI)

Brazil: ‘From burning buses to caveirões’: the search for human security (Report, 2 May 2007)
Brazil: ‘They come in shooting’: Policing socially excluded communities (Report, 2 December 2005)

Brazilian women's lives shattered

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:35:53 +0100

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In May 2006 the people São Paulo witnessed a massive display of organized violence, as the notorious criminal gang, the PCC, took to the streets. Across the state more than 400 people were killed in little over a week, many by masked men linked to police or criminal gangs. Few if any of these cases have ever been investigated.

These clips are about the hidden victims. About the women who are left to pick up pieces when their fathers, brothers and sons are gunned down.

Dona Maria, Debora, Nalva and Vera are just a handful of women amongst thousands who are forced to live, bring up their children, and fight for justice against a backdrop of criminal and police violence. Without profound reforms these women will be forced to continue picking up the pieces.

South Africa: Rural women the losers in HIV response

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:15:34 +0000

Rural women living with HIV in circumstances of poverty in South Africa face discrimination in relationships and in communities because of their gender, HIV status and economic marginalization.

A new Amnesty International report based on interviews with rural women, the majority of them living with HIV, exposes the overwhelming challenges they face in the midst of the severe HIV epidemic affecting the country.

"Rural women in South Africa are disproportionately affected by poverty and unemployment," said Mary Rayner, Amnesty International's South Africa researcher.

"They continue to experience discriminatory attitudes and practices -- particularly from male partners – and live in an environment rife with high levels of sexual and other gender-based violence."

Despite gradual improvements in the government's response to the HIV epidemic and the adoption of a widely-welcomed five-year plan, five and a half million South Africans are HIV-infected – one of the highest numbers in any country in the world. Fifty-five percent of them are women. South African women under 25 are between three and four times more likely to be HIV-infected than men in the same age group.

Many women interviewed by Amnesty International said that they were often unable to protect themselves against HIV infection because they felt at risk of violence when they suggested condom use.

One woman told Amnesty International that her husband, a truck driver, spent much of his time on the road. On his days off, he would visit her, but he refused to use condoms when she asked him. After he abandoned the family, she became sick and discovered at the local clinic that she was infected with HIV. She has no knowledge of her husband's health since he left the family.

Several other women interviewed by Amnesty International described being beaten and forced to have sex by husbands who actively refused to use condoms.

"Rural South African women's lives are scarred by persistent violence in their families, homes and in under-policed, unsafe communities," said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of AI's Africa Programme.

"The co-existence of epidemics of both HIV and violence against women has raised the costs of violence for South African women and girls – both physically and psychologically," said Kagari.

The majority of rural women interviewed by Amnesty International said that their male partners were reluctant to test for HIV or refused to be tested -- even when there were strong indications they might be HIV-infected. Many of the women faced abuse from their partners when they tried to access health services for HIV-related treatment and care.

Effective treatment for HIV and AIDS requires regular visits to hospitals and clinics and adequate daily food with which to take medication. Rural women living with HIV in poverty and unemployment face constant challenges in having regular access to food and often cannot afford transportation to health facilities accredited to provide treatment.

"Lack of physical access to treatment centres is tantamount to a denial of access to health care services, and the government must take more responsibility in ensuring this access," said Michelle Kagari.

Amnesty International's report offers specific recommendations to national and provincial authorities on how to tackle the challenges facing rural women living with HIV. It also makes recommendations to donor countries and institutions that support health initiatives in South Africa.

Governments must take action to end violence against schoolgirls

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:22:31 +0000

On the eve of International Women’s Day, Amnesty International called on governments and school officials around the world to take concrete action to end violence against girls, particularly inside schools, in a new report published today.

“Governments are failing girls at the most basic level. Their failure to address violence against girls in schools is unacceptable,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director at Amnesty International.

“Virtually every government claims to abhor violence against women and girls. Schools are a place where governments have direct responsibility and can start backing up their words with concrete actions.”

The report Safe Schools: Every Girl’s Right, shows how violence in and around educational institutions remains pervasive. From Mexico to China, girls continuously face the risk of being sexually assaulted, harassed or intimidated on their way to school or once inside school premises.

Some girls suffer violence more than others. Particular groups, such as ethnic minorities, lesbians or girls with disabilities, are at higher risk than their peers.

At school, many girls face psychological violence, bullying and humiliation. Some are caned or beaten in school in the name of discipline. Girls are threatened with sexual assault by other students, offered higher marks by teachers in exchange for sexual favours, and even raped in the staff room.

A 2006 study of schoolgirls in Malawi found that 50 percent of girls said they had been touched in a sexual manner without permission by either their teachers or a fellow student.

Equally, a study in the USA found that 83 percent of girls in grades 8 to 11 (aged around 12 to 16) in public schools experienced some form of sexual harassment.

Attacks against girls in schools have both immediate and long-term impacts.

Not only do girls suffer from the impact of violence on their physical and mental health, but in the context of education, the violence may cause girls to drop out and lose any hope of escaping poverty and political marginalization.

“Ensuring that girls have meaningful access to education is widely recognized as key to women’s empowerment. Being denied an education will follow a woman all her life,” said Brown.

Very often, aggressive and inappropriate sexual advances by boys in schools are dismissed as “just boys being boys”. Such behaviour often goes unreported and unpunished, sending out the message that violence against women and girls is acceptable and that male aggression is the norm.

People interviewed by Amnesty International in Haiti, for example, agreed that violence was widespread in schools but was rarely reported. Corporal punishment, the use of whips, beatings with electric cables, forcing children to kneel in the sun, food deprivation, sexual abuse, insults and psychological abuse of girls was common by teachers and administrative staff.

Schools in conflict zones represent a particular threat to the lives of girls attending them.

The provision of education is also disrupted in many ways where schools, teachers and students are targets of armed violence. In Afghanistan, the burning down of schools, particularly girls’ schools, and threats or assaults against girls who attend school have become increasingly common in recent years.

Although international law requires universal primary education to be free of charge, many schools continue to levy charges. School fees and other charges are an insurmountable obstacle for many children, and girls are more likely to be excluded from school than boys when there aren’t enough resources in the family.

Amnesty International has drawn up a six-point plan aimed at government officials and bodies, including school officials, which includes, amongst other recommendations:

Enacting and enforcing appropriate laws, policies and procedures prohibiting all forms of violence against girls, including corporal punishment, verbal abuse, harassment, physical violence, emotional abuse, and sexual violence and exploitation.
Creating national plans of action in order to create a safe environment for girls. Those should include guidelines for schools and compulsory training for teachers and students.
Teachers, school authorities and other state officials must promptly respond to reports of violence and ensure that a proper follow up mechanism is in place. That must include effective investigations and criminal prosecutions when appropriate and providing support services, including medical treatment, for victims and survivors.

Finally, Amnesty International is calling on governments working to achieve the 2000 Millennium Development Goals to address violence and discrimination against girls. The goals, which aim to eradicate poverty, include calls for universal primary education and gender equality, but they measure progress by the number of girls in class, without seeking to address violence and discrimination that keeps or pushes girls out of school.

“While supporting efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, Amnesty International believes that achieving gender equality in education requires increased commitment and an immediate effort to stop violence against schoolgirls. It’s difficult to learn when every school day is a struggle against violence,” said Widney Brown.

Safe Schools: Every Girl's Right (report, 7 March 2008)

Women unite to defend their rights

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:16:51 +0000

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, women across the world will take to the streets to express their commitment to the defence of human rights, often at great risk to their safety.

These rights include freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, the right to be treated equally under the law, sexual and reproductive rights, and the rejection of violence against women. But, in promoting these rights, activists come face to face with discriminatory laws, policies and practices.

Aline Castellanos is a leading member of the Committee for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equality in Mexico. She documented and publicized human rights violations in the Oaxaca region of the country during widespread protests in 2006. At that time, Aline Castellanos was working to encourage women’s activism and heighten women’s visibility in public life.

On 28 April 2007, Aline’s house was broken into and searched. The following day, a judge re-issued a warrant for the arrest, despite the fact that it had been successfully challenged twice before. She subsequently fled Oaxaca, fearing arrest on charges of assault, which appear to be baseless.

Given the nature of the harassment, threats and marginalization women human rights defenders can face, their protection is of particular concern. Women can be victims of a host of violations, some gender-specific, including sexual attacks.

Many women activists carry out their work in societies that impose heavy restrictions on women and find themselves vulnerable to harassment and abuse. In some contexts, working on issues viewed by some as unpopular and controversial, such as women’s rights, results in human rights defenders, their families and communities being targeted by the state authorities or other groups.

Delaram Ali is an active member of the organization Campaign for Equality, an Iranian human rights network which works to end legalized discrimination against women. She was arrested in June 2006 during a peaceful demonstration and was sentenced to 30 months in jail. This sentence has been suspended temporarily.

In Zimbabwe, forced evictions and government policies on land reform have had a disproportionately negative impact on women. As economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe have worsened, this has affected access to food, health, education and housing. Women have had little choice but to publicly condemn the government while demanding respect for these rights. Since 2000, hundreds of women have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, beaten and even tortured while in police custody.

Governments are obliged to both promote and protect the work of human rights defenders. Governments must:

Acknowledge the role human rights defenders play in documenting violations of human rights and in upholding democratic practices.
If the rights of defenders are violated, then governments must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Women human rights defenders often face a whole series of violations designed to silence them and paralyse their work. On International Women’s Day, women defenders will once again speak out for human rights. Their voices must be heard.

International Women's Day 2008. Safe Schools: every girl's right!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:26:53 +0000

International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate women’s achievements and look ahead to the exciting opportunities that await women. The key to a bright future is choice. Women must be free to choose the path that is right for them, a path that is out of harm’s way and allows them to move forward and realize their potential.

Education is a crucial step in this journey. It is crucial to breaking cycles of poverty, violence and disease. Education is a human right, and therefore every girl’s right.

As the 100 year anniversary of International Women’s Day draws close, and 60 years after human rights were enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, girls across the world find a range of barriers to education:

Girls are assaulted on the way to school, attacked in schools grounds and teased by their classmates. Some are threatened with sexual assault by other students, coerced into sex by teachers, even raped in the staff room.
In countries wracked by war, girls are at risk from armed groups and from attacks on their schools. Sexual abuse and exploitation are problems for girls living in refugee camps or displaced people’s camps.
Certain girls face an increased risk of violence at school. Certain aspects of girls’ identities, including their sexuality, status as migrants, orphans or refugees, caste, ethnicity and race, can increase their risk of abuse.
Although free primary education should be available to all children, schools around the world commonly charge user fees. Girls are more likely to be excluded than boys when there isn’t enough money to go round.

Violence leads to countless girls being kept out of school, dropping out, or not fully participating in school life. Effects range from pain and fear, to lowered self-esteem, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and depression. In many cases, abuses go unreported.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that girls often choose not to report what continues to be a taboo issue in some societies, or for fear of retaliation. That leaves such acts under-reported and allows their perpetrators to go unpunished.

There is no justification for the lack of action. The issue is not about resources but political will. Governments, teachers and school authorities must work to prevent violence against girls in schools, must promptly investigate reports of abuse, impose appropriate punishments on offenders, support those who have suffered from violence to recover and ensure that such abuses do not recur.

Join Amnesty International’s campaign to protect girls’ rights to safety, equality and education. Make schools safe for girls.

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Safe Schools
Stop Violence Against Women

Feminist prize winner barred from leaving Iran

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:32:53 +0000

Iranian feminist and journalist Parvin Ardalan was prevented from leaving Iran on Sunday to travel to Sweden where she was to receive the 2007 Olof Palme Prize in Stockholm. She told the AFP news agency that after she boarded an Air France flight at Tehran airport she was paged and then told that she was not permitted to leave the country.

"They took my passport and asked me to refer to the presidential office department for passport affairs after 72 hours to take it back," she said. "The only reason for this move is to prevent me from taking part in the ceremony. I think this is unreasonable."

Parvin Ardalan, who lives in Tehran, is facing possible imprisonment for her part in organizing a demonstration in June 2006, calling for an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran.

She was briefly detained after the demonstration. In April 2007, she was convicted of acting against national security and sentenced to six months' actual imprisonment, with an additional 30 months suspended for five years. She remains free pending her appeal.

On 4 March 2007, during the trial, a peaceful protest was held outside the courtroom and Parvin Ardalan was among 33 women arrested. She was released four days later and was later charged with "gathering and colluding with the intent to harm national security, disturbing public order and disobeying police orders." No verdict has yet been reached on this.

On 29 February, the Iranian Women’s Association reported that Marzieh Mortazi Langaroudi, also among the 33 arrested, was given a suspended sentence of six months’ imprisonment and 10 lashes, although others accused in the same case have been cleared of any offence.

Parvin Ardalan is well-known for her past work for prominent publications such as the recently banned Zanan magazine, and more recently for the website Zanestan, closed down in November 2007.

She is a member of the Women’s Cultural Centre, a non-governmental organization, and a founder member of the Campaign for Equality, which aims to collect a million signatures of Iranians demanding equality for women under the law.

In August 2007, Nasim Sarabandi and Fatemeh Dehdashti were the first women among the campaign’s activists to receive prison sentences. Detained for 24 hours in January 2007 while collecting signatures in Tehran, they were later sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. They were charged with "acting against state security by propaganda against the system."

62-year-old Ehteram Shadfar became the latest to be convicted of collecting signatures on 19 February 2008. She also received a six-month suspended sentence.

Over 40 others have been detained in connection with their campaigning activities, including Reza Dowlatshah. He was hosting an educational workshop for the campaign in September 2007, when he was detained for three days and beaten

The annual Olof Palme Prize was created to promote peace and disarmament and to combat racism and xenophobia. It is awarded for an outstanding achievement in the spirit of Olof Palme, the former Swedish Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1986.

The Olof Palme Memorial Fund website says that Parvin Ardalan was chosen because she has "succeeded in making the demand for equal rights for men and women a central part of the struggle for democracy in Iran."

The prize ceremony is to be held on 6 March.

Iran: Authorities must support, not suppress women human rights defenders

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:42:52 +0000

The Iranian authorities should cease their harassment of women human rights defenders and take urgent steps to dismantle the discriminatory legislation they are seeking to change, Amnesty International said in a report published today.

"Instead of using its powers to repress and intimidate those who protest and demand their rights, Iran's government should address longstanding legal and other discrimination against women, who make up half of the country’s population," said Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International. "They must release imprisoned women’s rights defenders and stop detaining and harassing those peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly."

Amnesty International’s new report comes as Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi - two Kurdish Iranian activists - continue to be detained without charge or trial, or even access to a lawyer. They were arrested in October and November 2007 for peacefully exercising their rights.

The organisation also published details of 12 women's rights activists, 11 women and one man, who are currently being detained or are otherwise facing persecution because of their peaceful efforts to lobby for legislative change.

According to the report, Iran: Women’s fRights Defenders Defy Repression , human rights defenders leading the campaign to end legalized discrimination against women are frequently arbitrarily arrested and detained, denied access to lawyers, family members and due process, and sometimes ill-treated with impunity by security officials. Some have been prosecuted on vaguely-worded charges, accused of threatening national or public security, apparently as a form of intimidation and to deter them from continuing their campaign to protect and promote women’s rights in Iran. Others have simply been detained without any formal charges for long periods during which they were held in solitary confinement and denied all access to the outside world, often under a legal provision that allows judges to order indefinitely renewable periods of detention.

The authorities' harassment and intimidation of women's rights activists have become even more evident and acute since the launch by activists of the Campaign for Equality on 27 August 2006. This aims to collect 1 million signatures of Iranians to a petition demanding an end to legal discrimination against women.

Dozens of activists and supporters have been arrested in connection with their activities for the Campaign for Equality, some while collecting signatures for the petition. As of January 2008, the Campaign’s website had been blocked by the authorities at least seven times. Official permission to hold public meetings has frequently been denied, and campaign activists usually hold their workshops in the homes of sympathizers, some of whom have then received threatening phone calls apparently from security officials or been summoned by them for interrogation. At least one such workshop was forcibly broken up by police who arrested those present, beating some.

Amnesty International is calling for a change in discriminatory legislation which, among other things, excludes women from the most senior positions of state and appointment as judges, denies them equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance, and determines that any evidence they give before a court carries only half the weight of that given by a man.

The report calls on the government, Iran's parliament (the Majles), and the judicial authorities who exercise significant influence over the position of women, to abide by Iran’s international obligations to uphold women's rights and end legal and other discrimination.

"Iranian women's demands to be allowed an equal place, and for an end to the discriminatory legislation which blights their lives, should be welcomed and encouraged by the authorities," said Malcolm Smart. "The government should see the work of women’s rights activists and human rights defenders as an asset, and recognize the important contribution that such activists and defenders are making to address discrimination and intolerance and to promote universal human rights for all Iranians."

Web pages about "Stop Violence Against Women"

Women’s Rights Activists arrested in peaceful solidarity demonstrations in Iran

Brazil: Women's lives shattered by public security crisis in shanty-towns

Brazilian women's lives shattered

Read more:

Brazilian women's lives shattered

South Africa: Rural women the losers in HIV response

Governments must take action to end violence against schoolgirls

Women unite to defend their rights

International Women's Day 2008. Safe Schools: every girl's right!

Feminist prize winner barred from leaving Iran

Iran: Authorities must support, not suppress women human rights defenders