Archives for April 2016

Here are a few news stories on my radar recently:

Economic Times, “Widespread sexual harassment still persists in Delhi: Study“

“Sexual harassment remains a pervasive problem in Delhi despite tougher laws being enacted after the gruesome Nirbhaya rape and murder case in 2012, according to a new study that found 40 per cent of female respondents were sexually harassed in the past year.

About 40 per cent of women surveyed in Delhi said they have been sexually harassed in a public place such as a bus or park in the past year, with most of the crimes occurring in the daytime, researchers said.

Further, 33 per cent of women have stopped going out in public and 17 per cent have quit their jobs rather than face harassment in public places.

‘What this means is that women, despite Nirbhaya, are still afraid,’ said Mahesh Nalla, from the Michigan State University in US.”

Telegraph, “German rail operator launches women-only train carriages following sex attacks“

“Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn will introduce the option for women passengers on the Leipzig to Chemnitz line, positioning the carriages next to the train conductor.

‘The local proximity to the customer service representative is chosen deliberately,’ a Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn spokesman said.

The carriages are designed to make solo female travellers or women with young children feel safer on trains.

Boys up to the age of ten will also be allowed to ride in the special carriages.”

Yahoo News, “New York City proposes crackdown on taxi driver sexual harassment“

“New York City’s taxi authority plans new rules for drivers that will impose tougher penalties for sexually charged comments and contact with passengers amid growing concern about harassment.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission, which licenses about 150,000 drivers of yellow cabs and other for-hire vehicles such as Uber [UBER.UL] and Lyft, wants to curb unwanted communication and touching as the number of drivers has significantly grown.

The TLC said the regulations are meant to clear up any confusion about what defines sexual harassment as more drivers enter the industry.

The behavior is already prohibited under a broad definition against threats, harassment or abuse, but the commission’s goal is clear up any confusion about what defines sexual harassment said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg.

The agency plans to debate the proposal at an April 21 meeting.

‘This rule amendment would provide clear definitions of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact, which would help TLC prosecution enforce its rules and protect our passengers,’ he said in a statement.”

The Hollywood Reporter, “‘Ovarian Psycos’: SXSW Review“

“For the women of the Ovarian Psycos Bicycle Brigade, riding through the streets of Los Angeles is an act of guerrilla theater, bandanas optional. Taking back the night — and, on tough and disapproving turf, the daytime streets as well — they’ve staked their place in the riot grrrl lineage and are direct descendants of the feminist and Chicano movements of the ’60s and ’70s.

A concise and intimate documentary on the collective illuminates why they find solace as well as purpose in their DIY activism. Many of these tough pedalers are self-described “at-risk adults,” still pushing against the undertow of abuse and trauma.

As a portrait of the group, Ovarian Psycos, which takes its bow in the Documentary Feature Competition at South by Southwest, is incisively personal rather than all-encompassing. It showcases compelling characters and, at its most potent, explores complex territory between mothers and daughters, tradition and independence. The film is a natural for doc platforms with a political edge.”

Odyssey, “How It Actually Feels To Be Catcalled“

“Here is a look inside the mind of someone who has been verbally harassed by strangers since the age of fourteen.”

The Ohio State University, “Why sexual harassment is worse than other types of abuse online“

“A survey of 293 women who played video games online showed that, while they didn’t like general abuse such as swearing and insults about their game-playing skills, they could dismiss these types of comments from their mind pretty easily.

But even after the game was over, women continued to think about the sexist comments, rape jokes and threats, and other sexually related comments that they received while playing with men.

‘Most women players understand trash talking and having their playing skill insulted, even if they don’t like it,’ said Jesse Fox, lead author of the study and professor of communication at The Ohio State University.

‘But what disturbs them is being targeted simply for being a woman. They don’t easily forget those comments and continue to think about them when they’re done playing.’

And while the results suggested women didn’t think it was the responsibility of gaming companies to stop general harassment, they did seem to blame the companies for not doing more to end sexual harassment.”‘

DAWN, “‘Cycle chalao, patriarchy dubao’: Taking to Karachi streets without the company of men”

“Three girls are cycling ahead of me, one trailing with a poster that reads #GirlsOnBikes. Another has one hung on her back:

‘Hamari sarkein, hamara sheher.’

Fifteen bikers — an unusual sight of kameezes, long hair and dupattas— follow at their pace behind me. There is assurance in travelling in a pack, but our collective confidence is intentional and prepared.

Our all-women bike rally is based on a troubling reality: we are protesting street harassment against women.

Earlier this month, a girl in Lahore was hit by a car of boys while cycling to join the Critical Mass group. The girl — Aneeqa — responded with indifference to their initial attempts at harassment. But that did not deter them; they drove closer, and rammed their car into her bike. The reaction was somehow justified in their head.

Our bike-rally is an act of solidarity for Aneeqa, who, I realise, is probably cycling right now with the girls in Lahore, hardly two weeks since her bruises healed.”

Open Democracy, “Sexual harassment in Kosovo: no longer invisible“

“The oddest finding, however, is the excellent ability of male survey respondents, the main perpetrators of harassment, to identify specific acts as sexual harassment – in some instances even better than women. For example, 48.8% men think leaning on another person’s body without their permission is sexual harassment, compared to 25.1% of women. Similarly, being pressured to go out with someone is seen as an act of sexual harassment by 41.9% of men, compared to only 23% of women.   My theory would be that there are some pretty enlightened men in Kosovo, and women so normalized to acts of harassment that they don’t even think of them as such. It may also mean that many men know exactly what sexual harassment is, but still harass others or simply stand by when they see it happening around them (the bystander effect applies to women as well).

This can change. This report has provided the first quantitative data on the prevalence of harassment in Kosovo, and should serve as a great resource to shut down arguments that it isn’t a widespread problem – the kind of arguments I frequently read from young men on the internet whenever the issue of sexual harassment is brought up in Kosovo.”

Vice, “In Mexico, Women Are Protesting a Wave of Brutal Murders with Performance“

“Help me, help me,” screams a stout but strong elderly woman standing on the banks of a garbage-filled canal in Chimalhuacan, Mexico. The woman is Irinea Buendía, and she is acting in a street theater performance, holding a sign with the words: “I didn’t commit suicide, you killed me.” The woman in the photo is her daughter, Marina. Buendía is surrounded by dozens of women dressed in fiery costumes. They are all screaming the names of other women who have been killed in the State of Mexico.

This canal has become the final resting place for an undetermined number of women who have been kidnapped, assassinated, mutilated, and dumped in the sewage-filled water. The group gathered here is composed of various feminist collectives which have reappropiated this harsh environment as a public theater space. Femicides have become an alarming crisis in the state, where more than 1,500 women have been murdered in the past ten years. It is believed that the victims’ gender was a primary motive in the majority of the assassinations.

All over Mexico, various womens’ groups are using creative theater to combat the scourge of gender-based violence. In Mexico City, the Hijas de Violencia (Daughters of Violence) shoot street harassers with confetti guns and sing punk anthems to denounce sexual harassment. In Puebla, a state where women have been murdered by their boyfriends and partners, the organization El Taller hosts a feminist school to help women identity violence in their personal relationships.”

Observers, “Video: Tunisian women share insults they’ve received on the street“

“Why are you so nervous? Do you have your period?” “You’re ugly, go home!” “You’re a girl, you can’t drive.” These are just a couple of examples from a video project in which filmmakers asked 60 Tunisian women to give examples of verbal sexual harassment they’ve faced on the street.

On March 20, Tunisia celebrated 60 years of independence. For the occasion, two women’s rights NGOs created this video, which they titled “60 years of independence and our bodies are still colonised.” It is full of insults, sexist comments and unwelcome propositions. Several of the women are famous in Tunisia, including journalist Lina Ben Mhenni, actress Amira Chebli, and MP Bochra Belhaj Hmida.”

The Guardian, “From Peru to Kosovo, female MPs aim to end abuse of women in politics“

“During her time as mayor of Lima, the Peruvian capital, Susana Villarán experienced brutal and harmful attacks and threats. She says they were designed to ‘diminish my image and make it clear it was not a place for a women like me to try and disrupt that male world of politics and power.’

The British MP Jess Phillips began receiving online threats when she started speaking about women’s rights after winning her parliamentary seat last year. She receives daily attacks and has seen online articles in which ‘people wished to see me raped or come home to see my sons hanging from a tree as I couldn’t possibly care about men.’

Villarán and Phillips shared their stories at the launch of a campaign by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to stop violence against women in politics.

Launched on the fringes of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York last week, the #NotTheCost campaign is seeking to raise awareness of the different methods of violence women face when seeking positions of power at local, national and international level. This can include physical, sexual, psychological, verbal and economic violence.”

Human Rights Watch, “Sudan: Silencing Women Rights Defenders“

“Sudanese security forces have used sexual violence, intimidation, and other forms of abuse to silence female human rights defenders across the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should investigate all alleged abuses, hold those responsible to account, and undertake legislative reforms to protect women’s rights.

The 61-page report, “‘Good Girls Don’t Protest’: Repression and Abuse of Women Human Rights Defenders, Activists, and Protesters in Sudan,” documents efforts by Sudanese authorities to silence women who are involved in protests, rights campaigns, and other public action, and who provide social services and legal aid, as well as journalists. Women engaged in these efforts are targeted with a range of abuses, from rape and rape threats, to deliberate efforts to tar their reputations. Their male counterparts may be less likely to experience some of these abuses.”

BDnews24, “Ganajagaran Mancha announces signature campaign demanding arrest of Tonu’s killers“

“The Comilla Victoria Government College student was found dead, her head smashed, near her house inside Comilla Cantonment on the night of Mar 20.

Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarker announced the programme at Dhaka’s Shahbagh on Wednesday, while the killers remain at large and unidentified even nine days after the murder.

Following a Road March to Comilla on Sunday demanding justice for Tonu, the platform had also called for a one-hour strike at all educational institutions across Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The mass signature campaign aims to push the authorities to meet three other demands — implementation of an anti-sexual assault policy as per High Court orders, new law for death penalty for rapists and ensuring security of all women.”