Tag Archives: women’s human rights

Deputy Secretary-General of the UN Amina J Mohammed has expressed concern over the increase in child marriage in Afghanistan in response to the UN report. Amina Mohammed tweeted on Wednesday in response to the increase in child marriage in Afghanistan, saying she was concerned about the situation of girls in the country. “Forcing them to marry is a travesty,” she tweeted. Amina Mohammed added that girls in Afghanistan should enjoy their childhood with their families, classmates, and the community. Earlier, the United Nations issued a …

The truism that there cannot be real development without women’s participation needs a caveat: women’s rights cannot be achieved while religious forces are involved in development. Seminar on Gender Fundamentalism and Development at SOAS. Ayesha Khan presents her analysis of the way religious fundamentalism impacts on gender and development in Pakistan.Photo: Rahila Gupta Ruth Pearson, Emeritus Professor of International Development at the University of Leeds, one of the speakers at a seminar on Gender, Fundamentalism and Development, recounted how issues …

“My daughter and I appeared before the Sharia court at Regent’s Park mosque in London. They were not interested in anything we had to say, the whole process was shocking.” Protest in London against the Law Society’s guidance on Sharia Wills April 2014. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/See Li The UK government is conducting an inquiry into the operation of Sharia courts which is being boycotted by a number of women’s organisations because its remit is too narrow, and the panel of …

With police violence against Black communities giving rise to the #Blacklivesmatter campaign, anniversaries of civil rights victories are an opportunity to bring to light the invisible actors behind historic moments.  Jo Ann Robinson, Head of the Women’s Political Council which initiated the Montgomery Bus Boycott In 2013, Angela Davis came to the UK on a lecture tour on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech and argued elegantly and eloquently about how such celebrations, represented …

In less than four years, the women’s umbrella organisation, Kongira Star, has set up an autonomous, grassroots, democratic structure which has resulted in shifting patriarchal mindsets and reversing gender discriminatory laws. Part 3. On day three of my trip to Rojava, Nuvin and Essam from the media centre take me to the offices of Kongira Star, the umbrella organisation for women, based in Qamişlo, capital city of Rojava. Like all the other cities, Qamişlo, is painted in the colours of …

The EU Victims Directive comes into force this month. Will it prevent the further decimation of Black and minority ethnic organisations offering specialised services to women facing violence in the UK?  This is part two of an article addressing the cuts to the women’s sector in the UK. Read part one.  The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which the UK has so far failed to ratify, obliges member states to adequately fund both …

The quality of service in the independent women’s sector is no guarantee against the future as the British government continues its assault on specialist women’s services protecting women from violence.  It is tragic that we must mark the 16 Day period of activism and awareness of violence against women in 2015 with the recognition that the very sector that provides services to these women is looking emaciated, deprived of nourishment by a government which drones on about its commitment to …

The British government’s programme to counter violent extremism hands religious fundamentalists the gift of a narrative of victimhood, narrowing the political space for secular feminists and others to challenge fundamentalism. While governments struggle to come up with effective ways of countering extremism, the British government’s policy of choice appears to be the Prevent programme which has been placed on a statutory footing by the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. From July 2015 every local authority has a legal duty to “prevent people from …

“At the heart of my work is the idea that human beings are to be intrinsically valued, that we can all co-exist through mutual respect and rights.”  – Pragna Patel Pragna Patel after receiving the award. Photo: Equal Rights Trust (all rights reserved)Pragna Patel has won the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award, announced last week.  In 1982 Praga almost single-handedly revived the semi-defunct Southall Black Sisters (SBS), a campaigning and advocacy group for BAME women. Pragna was recognised for her …