Spider,

Everything can be taken out of context. I am not informed on the topic of FGM in the middle east, but the easiest and most common way would be to show a few actual cases of the atrocity, then falsely state (or leave implied) a grossly exagerrated claim (impression) of the number of occurances.


----
Sorry, I'm out of sync - spider had already commented on youtube, more succinctly

You have to deal with that anger Spider.

kidatheart70,

Watch the video and post how you feel afterwards.

Spider - my previous post was answer to your general question "how can [FGM] be taken out of context" - nothing more, nothing less.

massagetrade,

http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/fgm/
===============================================================
In the world today there are an estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women who have been subjected to the operation. Currently, about 3 million girls, the majority under 15 years of age, undergo the procedure every year.
===============================================================

This is from the WHO (World Health Organization). Not a Jewish front group. Not a bunch of conservatives. Not Christians.

Spider, I have no reason to believe that this video is any more biased than the evening news (hahahaha) .... scratch that. I don't presume any particular level of bias in this video (aside from finite nonzero) - whose codecs I lack on my phone.

I watched it (twice)...And I reached the same conclusion..

Hatemongerinfg seems to be in vogue...

Try to find where North American families have been in the same situation..It isn't even noteworthy or newsworthy here, anymore, because it has become so common..

Way to go, Spidy...You are batting 1000!!

Keep it up and you can get anyone to hate anyone, Mr. Christian!!

insert jack quote from a few good men here

poor spider,
I pity you.
How lonely must one be when even the most negative attention is better than none.
How lonely must one be when one searches for the worst negative of occurrences in one religion and generalizes it, makes it look like the whole religion is like that, only to get this said attention.
I'm sorry I didn't know that you are so badly off.
I hope some positive energy and thoughts can help you.
I send you love and light,
and angels to watch over you, and hold your hands in your loneliness.

sorry I cant watch violence........true or not!!!

Domestic Violence is a Serious, Widespread Social Problem in America: The Facts

Prevalence of Domestic Violence

* Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend per year1 to three million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year.2
* Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.3
* Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey.4
* Nearly 25 percent of American women report being raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date at some time in their lifetime, according to the National Violence Against Women Survey, conducted from November 1995 to May 1996.5
* Thirty percent of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year.6
* In the year 2001, more than half a million American women (588,490 women) were victims of nonfatal violence committed by an intimate partner.7
* Intimate partner violence is primarily a crime against women. In 2001, women accounted for 85 percent of the victims of intimate partner violence (588,490 total) and men accounted for approximately 15 percent of the victims (103,220 total).8
* While women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner.9
* In 2001, intimate partner violence made up 20 percent of violent crime against women. The same year, intimate partners committed three percent of all violent crime against men.10
* As many as 324,000 women each year experience intimate partner violence during their pregnancy.11
* Women of all races are about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate.12
* Male violence against women does much more damage than female violence against men; women are much more likely to be injured than men.13
* The most rapid growth in domestic relations caseloads is occurring in domestic violence filings. Between 1993 and 1995, 18 of 32 states with three year filing figures reported an increase of 20 percent or more.14
* Women are seven to 14 times more likely than men to report suffering severe physical assaults from an intimate partner.15

Domestic Homicides

* On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day. In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. The same year, 440 men were killed by an intimate partner.16
* Women are much more likely than men to be killed by an intimate partner. In 2000, intimate partner homicides accounted for 33.5 percent of the murders of women and less than four percent of the murders of men.17
* Pregnant and recently pregnant women are more likely to be victims of homicide than to die of any other cause18 , and evidence exists that a significant proportion of all female homicide victims are killed by their intimate partners.19
* Research suggests that injury related deaths, including homicide and suicide, account for approximately one-third of all maternal mortality cases, while medical reasons make up the rest. But, homicide is the leading cause of death overall for pregnant women, followed by cancer, acute and chronic respiratory conditions, motor vehicle collisions and drug overdose, peripartum and postpartum cardiomyopthy, and suicide.20

Health Issues

* The health-related costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homicide committed by intimate partners exceed $5.8 billion each year. Of that amount, nearly $4.1 billion are for direct medical and mental health care services, and nearly $1.8 billion are for the indirect costs of lost productivity or wages.21
* About half of all female victims of intimate violence report an injury of some type, and about 20 percent of them seek medical assistance.22
* Thirty-seven percent of women who sought treatment in emergency rooms for violence-related injuries in 1994 were injured by a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend.23

Domestic Violence and Youth

* Approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.24
* Eight percent of high school age girls said “yes” when asked if “a boyfriend or date has ever forced sex against your will.”25
* Forty percent of girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.26
* During the 1996-1997 school year, there were an estimated 4,000 incidents of rape or other types of sexual assault in public schools across the country.27

Domestic Violence and Children

* In a national survey of more than 6,000 American families, 50 percent of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also frequently abused their children.28
* Slightly more than half of female victims of intimate violence live in households with children under age 12.29
* Studies suggest that between 3.3 - 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.30

Rape

* Three in four women (76 percent) who reported they had been raped and/or physically assaulted since age 18 said that a current or former husband, cohabiting partner, or date committed the assault.31
* One in five (21 percent) women reported she had been raped or physically or sexually assaulted in her lifetime.32
* Nearly one-fifth of women (18 percent) reported experiencing a completed or attempted rape at some time in their lives; one in 33 men (three percent) reported experiencing a completed or attempted rape at some time in their lives.33
* In 2000, 48 percent of the rapes/sexual assaults committed against people age 12 and over were reported to the police.34
* In 2001, 41,740 women were victims of rape/sexual assault committed by an intimate partner.35
* Rapes/sexual assaults committed by strangers are more likely to be reported to the police than rapes/sexual assaults committed by “nonstrangers,” including intimate partners, other relatives and friends or acquaintances. Between 1992 and 2000, 41 percent of the rapes/sexual assaults committed by strangers were reported to the police. During the same time period, 24 percent of the rapes/sexual assaults committed by an intimate were reported.36

Stalking

* Annually in the United States, 503,485 women are stalked by an intimate partner.37
* Seventy-eight percent of stalking victims are women. Women are significantly more likely than men (60 percent and 30 percent, respectively) to be stalked by intimate partners.38
* Eighty percent of women who are stalked by former husbands are physically assaulted by that partner and 30 percent are sexually assaulted by that partner.39


http://www.endabuse.org/resources/facts/

Making Violence against Women Count: Facts and Figures - a Summary


Press release, 03/05/2004

The following statistics outline the gravity and magnitude of the problem of violence against women throughout the world. However, such figures do not show the true extent of this human rights violation. They cannot be comprehensive or exhaustive and must therefore be interpreted with caution. There is a lack of systematic research and statistics on violence against women. Many women do not report it - they are ashamed or fear scepticism, disbelief or further violence. The fact that there is no information on this problem in some countries and extensive information in others does not mean that the problem is country specific. On the contrary, it emphasizes the need for more research, so that it can be studied and tackled.

GLOBAL VILLAGE

How will violence against women look in a scaled down world, in a global village of 1,000 people? (the figures are based on statistics from UN, WHO and governmental and non-governmental organizations)

* 500 are women
* It would be 510, but 10 were never born due to gender-selective abortion or died in infancy due to neglect
* 300 are Asian women
* 167 of the women will be beaten or in some other way exposed to violence during their lifetime
* 100 of the women will be victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime


WOMEN AND POPULATION

* 49.7% of the world population are women (3,132,342,000 women; 3,169,122,000 men) (UN Population Division).
* At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations as a result of sex-selective abortions or inadequate care as they are seen less important than boys (E, Joni Seager, 2003).


VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY

Violence within the family takes different forms - from physical aggression, such as slapping, hitting, kicking and beating to psychological abuse, such as intimidation, constant belittling and humiliation, including various controlling behaviours, such as isolating a person from their family and friends, monitoring and restricting their movements, access to information or assistance.

Around the world

* At least one in every three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her (L Heise, M Ellsberg, M Gottemoeller, 1999).
* Up to 70% of female murder victims are killed by their male partners (WHO 2002).
* In Kenya more than one woman a week was reportedly killed by her male partner (Joni Seager, 2003).
* In Zambia five women a week were murdered by a male partner or family member (Joni Seager 2003).
* In Egypt 35% of women reported being beaten by their husband at some point in their marriage (UNICEF 2000).
* In Bolivia 17% of all women aged 20 years and over have experienced physical violence in the previous 12 months (WHO 2002).
* In Canada the costs of violence against the family amount to $1.6 billion per year, including medical care and lost productivity (UNICEF 2000).
* In the USA a woman is battered, usually by her husband/partner, every 15 seconds (UN Study on the World’s Women, 2000).
* In Bangladesh 50% of all murders are of women by their partners (Joni Seager, 2003).
* In New Zealand 20% of women reported being hit or physically abused by a male partner (UNICEF 2000).
* In Pakistan 42% of women accept violence as part of their fate; 33% feel too helpless to stand up to it; 19% protested and 4% took action against it (Government study in Punjab 2001).
* In the Russian Federation 36,000 women are beaten on a daily basis by their husband or partner, according to Russian non-governmental organizations (OMCT 2003).
* In Spain one woman every five days was killed by her male partner in 2000 (Joni Seager, The Atlas of Women).
* About two women per week are killed by their partners in the United Kingdom (Joni Seager, 2003).


SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Rape is the most violent form of sexual violence. Rape is also associated with unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. However, rape is greatly under reported because of the stigma attached to it, and even more rarely punished.

Around the world

* One in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime (WHO 1997).
* In South Africa 147 women are raped every day (South African Institute for Race Relations 2003).
* In the USA a woman is raped every 90 seconds (US Department of Justice, 2000).
* In France 25,000 women are raped per year (European Women’s Lobby, 2001).
* In Turkey 35.6% of women have experienced marital rape sometimes and 16.3% often (surveys published in 2000, Women and sexuality in Muslim societies, WWHR Publications: Istanbul, 2000).


WOMEN AND WAR

Violence against women during conflict has reached epidemic proportions. Mass rape is frequently used systematically, as a weapon of war. On top of this, during conflict women are physically and economically forced to become prostitutes, sometimes in order to secure the basic necessities for their families. War impacts on women in other ways - women and children are also the majority of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Around the world

* 80% of the refugees are women and children (UNHCR, 2001).
* Millions of women and children are caught in 34 communal, ethnic, political and/or international armed conflicts around the world (all active instances of societal armed conflicts as of 1 January 2003, CSP-Centre for Systemic Peace).
* Trafficking of women and girls was reported in 85% of the conflict zones (Save the Children 2003).
* In the Democratic Republic of Congo 5,000 cases of rape, corresponding to an average of 40 a day, were recorded in the Uvira area by women associations since October 2002 (UN 2003).
* In Rwanda between 250,000 and 500,000 women, or about 20% of women, were raped during the 1994 genocide (International Red Cross report, 2002).
* In Sierra Leone 94 per cent of displaced households surveyed had experienced sexual assaults, including rape, torture and sexual slavery (Physicians for Human Rights, 2002).
* In Iraq at least 400 women and girls as young as eight were reported to have been raped in Baghdad during or after the war, since April 2003 (Human Rights Watch Survey, 2003).
* Every 14 days a Colombian woman is a victim of forced "disappearance" according to a 2001 report by the Women and Armed Conflict Work Table (UNIFEM 2001).
* Approximately 250,000 Cambodian women were forced into marriage between 1975 and 1979. On average, two group marriages may have taken place in every Cambodian village during the Khmer Rouge regime (UNIFEM).
* In Bosnia and Herzegovina 20,000 - 50,000 women were raped during five months of conflict in 1992. (IWTC, Women's GlobalNet #212. 23rd October 2002).
* In some villages in Kosovo, 30%-50% of women of child bearing age were raped by Serbian forces (Amnesty International, 27 May 1999).


HARMFUL PRACTICES

Virtually every culture in the world contains forms of violence against women that are nearly invisible because they are seen as "normal" or "customary".

Around the world

* More than 135 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation and an additional 2 million girls and women are at risk each year (6,000 every day) (A, UN, 2002).
* 82 million girls who are now aged 10 to 17 will be married before their 18th birthday (UNFP).
* In more than 28 countries in Africa, female genital mutilation is practised (Amnesty International, 1997).
* In Niger 76% of the poorest young women will marry before the age of 18 (UNFPA 2003).
* 97% of married women in Egypt aged 15 to 49 have undergone female genital mutilation (WHO survey, 1996).
* In Iran 45 women under the age of 20 have been murdered in so-called "honour" killings by close relatives in Iran’s majority ethnic Arab province of Khuzestan in a two-month period in 2003 (Middle East Times, 31 October 2003).
* Female genital mutilation has been reported in Asian counties such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka as well as among immigrant communities in Australia (UN 2002).
* In India there are close to 15,000 dowry deaths estimated per year. Mostly they are kitchen fires designed to look like accidents (Injustices Studies. Vol. 1, November 1997).
* FGM is performed amongst immigrant communities in Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UN 2002).


THE STATE FAILING VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence against women goes widely unreported. There are various factors which prevent women from reporting incidents of violence, such as fear of retribution, lack of economic means, emotional dependence, concern for children and no access to redress. Few countries have special training for the police, judicial and medical staff to deal with rape cases.

Around the world

* Around 20-70% of abused women never told another person about the abuse until being interviewed for the study by WHO (WHO, Geneva, 2002).
* In South Africa the conviction rate for rape remains low at an average of 7%. A third of the estimated number or rapes were reported in 2003 (Police Annual Report for the year ending March 2003).
* In Egypt 47% of physically abused women never told anyone (Population-based study, 1999) (WHO 2002).
* In Chile only 3% of all raped women report the incident to the police (WHO 2002).
* In the USA 16% of women report rapes to the police; of those who do not, nearly 50 per cent of women would do so if they could be assured that their names and private details would not be released publicly (National Victim Center /Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992).
* In Australia 18% of women who were physically assaulted in a period of 12 months never told any one (Population-based study, 1999).
* In Bangladesh 68% of women never told anyone about being beaten (WHO 2002).
* In Austria 20% of reported rape cases ended in convictions in the 1990s (London Metropolitan University, 2003).
* In Ireland 20% of physically abused women contacted the police (Population-based study, 1999; WHO 2002).
* In the Russian Federation 40% of women victims of violence within the family do not seek help from law enforcement officials (International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Women 2000: Russia).
* In the United Kingdom 13% of all raped women report the assault to the police (Joni Seager, 2003).


VIOLENCE WITH IMPUNITY

Violence against women often remains unchecked and unpunished. Some states have no laws at all, others have flawed laws which may punish some forms of violence but exempt others. Even with the appropriate legislation in place, many states fail to implement the law fully.

Around the world

* In 2003 at least 54 countries had discriminatory laws against women (based on a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women).
* In her 1994-2003 review, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women highlighted problems of law enforcement in almost all of the reviewed states.
* 79 countries have no (or unknown) legislation against domestic violence (UNIFEM, Not a Minute More, 2003).
* Marital rape is recognized specifically as a crime in only 51 countries as far as information was available (UNIFEM, 2003).
* Only 16 nations have legislation specifically referring to sexual assault, while as few as three have legislation that specifically addresses violence against women as a category of criminal activity in itself (Bangladesh, Sweden and USA) (UNIFEM 2003).
* So called "honour" defences (partial or complete) are found in the penal codes of Peru, Bangladesh, Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the West Bank and Venezuela (UN 2002).


HIV/AIDS

Increasingly, violence against women is recognized as a major public health concern. Violence can affect woman’s reproductive health as well as other aspects of her physical and mental well being. Sexual violence against women has led to higher infection rates of HIV/AIDS than among men of the same age group.

Around the world

* 51% of all people living with HIV/AIDS today (over 20 million) are women (UNIFEM, 2003).
* World-wide, over half of new HIV infections are occurring among young people between the ages of 15 to 24, and over 60% of HIV-positive youth between the ages of 15-24 are women (UNAIDS, 2003).
* 55% of the 16,000 new infections occurring daily are women (UNAIDS, 2003).
* AIDS now ranks as one of the leading causes of death among women aged 20 to 40 in several cities in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and North America (UNAIDS, 2003).
* Three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2003 (UNAIDS, 2003).


http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGACT770342004

Violence against women in Australia: A hidden reality

* Published on 9/03/2007
* by: Ellen

While Australia is one of the most liveable and wealthy countries in the world, violence towards women continues to exist and at alarming rates:

* One in three women who have been in a relationship have experienced violence by a partner;
* 57% of women have been subjected to violence at some point in their lives;
* 10% of women have experienced violence in a 12 month period;
* Domestic violence contributes to more ill-health and premature death than any other single cause for women aged 15 - 44 years.
* A Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) study concluded that domestic violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and illness in Victorian women between the ages of 15 - 44 years.

Currently there are significant differences between Australia's states and territories in terms of policy, programs, legislation and allocation of funding to address violence against women.

Reform of the way victims are treated in the legal system is also crucial. Only 14% of women who have suffered some type of violence report it to the police.

The emotional impact of an assault deters some women from reporting the crime, but many are unaware of the support services available, or simply do not believe the police will be able to help them.

Overriding opinion from experts is that further policy change and community education are fundamental to changing societal behaviour in order to prevent violence against women.

When the Australian Government launched its 'Violence Against Women - Australia Says No' campaign in 2004, the national helpline received more than 24,000 calls in the first seven weeks of the campaign. The 'Australia Says No' campaign has been re-launched this year.
UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

It is a poignant time to look at where Australia stands in terms of addressing violence against women in Australia. For the first time in 10 years, the Australian Government appeared before the committee which monitors the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), in early 2006.

The Australian Government also submitted a report to the CEDAW Committee, which outlined what is being done to address discrimination against women in Australia.

Hundreds of women's organisations and individuals from across Australia prepared and supported the four shadow reports which were also submitted.

The CEDAW committee congratulated the Australian Government for some of the progress made in addressing violence against women. However, a number of areas of serious concern were identified by the CEDAW Committee:

* The incidence of violence against women;
* Low rates of reporting, prosecutions and convictions;
* Poor enforcement of laws that protect victims of violence and require perpetrators to leave the family home;
* High levels of violence against women in Indigenous, refugee and migrant communities
* Failure to punish violence against women sends the message that it is not a serious crime. This leads to a culture of tolerance and acceptance, which in turn reduces the likelihood of women reporting violence to the authorities

The committee called on the Australian Government to fully implement and enforce laws relating to violence against women and to ensure that all female victims of violence are able to get legal help and support.

It also called on the government to ensure that public officials, especially police, judges, health and social workers are fully trained to recognise violence against women.
Trafficking

The committee also drew specific attention to the issue of trafficked women. Concern was raised at the lack of a comprehensive approach to combat trafficking and exploitation resulting from prostitution.

Women who have been trafficked are victims of serious human rights abuses and should be treated accordingly.

Australia was urged to consider reforming the existing visa regulations to allow all victims of trafficking to access protection and support services.

At present, due to visa restrictions, many trafficked women are denied access to services such as free medical care and trauma support.
Indigenous women

That fact that violence against women takes a greater toll in at least one Australian state (Victoria) than health problems such as obesity, blood pressure and cancer is disturbing. The toll is much worse for Indigenous women.

The International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) in 2004 found that the number of Indigenous women who suffer at the hands of domestic or family violence is 40 times higher than for non-Indigenous women.

Equally alarming is the fact that Indigenous women, who represent just 2% of Australia's population, are victims of 15% of homicides nationwide.

The committee was particularly concerned at the ongoing inequalities suffered by Indigenous women in Australia, particularly in employment, education, health and political participation.

Specific concern was raised about the disproportionately large number of Indigenous women in prisons and the much lower life expectancy of Indigenous women.

The CEDAW Committee recommended improving services to Indigenous women, examining reasons for high levels of incarceration and targeted measures to improve the position of Indigenous women.

The committee also made a number of general recommendations to the Australian Government, including:

* Increasing funding to service providers;
* Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention;
* The introduction of a paid maternity leave scheme;
* Action to address the needs of rural women and women with disabilities;
* Increased efforts to eliminate racism and xenophobia particularly as they impact on women.




http://action.amnesty.org.au/svaw/comments/

violence_against_women_in_australia_a_hidden_reality/

Widespread violence against women in Africa documented
Related items

afrol.com, 21 September - At least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way, usually by an intimate partner or family member, according to a new report by the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA. In Africa, domestic violence, rape and other sexual abuse and female genital mutilation are of special concern.

Documenting the extent of the problem, The State of World Population 2000 report says that gender-based violence constitutes a life-long threat for hundreds of millions of girls and women around the world. Gender-based violence - in various forms including rape, domestic violence, "honour" killings and trafficking in women - exacts a heavy toll on mental and physical health. Increasingly, gender-based violence is recognized as a major public health concern and a serious violation of basic human rights.

The problem seems worst in Asia and in the Muslim world. However, African women are subject to a range of oppressive threats.

Violence against women and girls takes many forms:

* At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations, mostly in Asia, as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect;
* Studies suggest domestic violence is widespread in most societies and is a frequent cause of suicides among women;
* Rape and other forms of sexual violence are increasing. Many rapes go unreported because of the stigma and trauma associated with them and the lack of sympathetic treatment from legal systems. Estimates of the proportion of rapes reported to authorities vary — from less than 3 per cent in South Africa to about 16 per cent in the United States;
* Two million girls between ages 5 and 15 are introduced into the commercial sex market each year;
At least 130 million women have been forced to undergo female genital mutilation or cutting; another 2 million are at risk each year from this degrading and dangerous practice;
* So-called "honour" killings take the lives of thousands of young women every year, mainly in Western Asia, North Africa and parts of South Asia. At least 1,000 women were murdered in Pakistan in 1999.

Domestic violence
Many cultures condone or at least tolerate a certain amount of violence against women. In parts of South Asia, Western Asia and Africa, for instance, men are seen as having a right to discipline their wives as they see fit. The right of a husband to beat or physically intimidate his wife is a deeply held conviction in many societies.

Even women often view a certain amount of physical abuse as justified under certain conditions. For instance, 80 per cent of women surveyed in rural Egypt said that beatings were common and often justified, particularly if the woman refused to have sex with her partner.

In a study in Ghana, close to half of all women and 43 per cent of men said a man was justified in beating his wife if she used a family planning method without his expressed consent.

Justification for violence stems from gender norms - distorted views about the roles and responsibilities of men and women in relationships. Worldwide, studies have shown a consistent pattern of events that trigger violent responses. These include: not obeying the husband, talking back, refusing sex, not having food ready on time, failing to care for the children or home, questioning the man about money or girlfriends or going somewhere without his permission.

Sexual abuse and rape
In South Africa, the incidence of rape is thought to be the highest in the world. Forced or unprotected sex puts women at risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Rape victims are especially at risk of infection. Up to 30 per cent of women raped in the United States every year, for instance, develop an sexually transmitted disease as a result.

Molestation of young girls is another profoundly disturbing aspect of this problem. A study in Zaria, Nigeria, for example, found that 16 per cent of hospital patients with sexually transmitted infections were under age 5. At the Genito-Urinary Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, doctors discovered that more than 900 children under age 12 had been treated for a sexually transmitted disease in 1990 alone.

Physical and sexual abuse also increases a woman's risk for a number of common gynaecological disorders, including chronic pelvic pain. In many countries, chronic pelvic pain accounts for up to 10 per cent of all visits to gynaecologists and one quarter of all hysterectomies.

Women who are abused or afraid to raise the issue of family planning with their partners are at risk of repeated unwanted pregnancies. Many abused women seek abortions. Violence has also been linked with increased risk of miscarriages, premature labour, foetal distress and low birth weight.

"Honour" Killings
Throughout the world, perhaps as many as 5,000 women and girls a year are murdered by members of their own families, many of them for the "dishonour" of having been raped, often as not by a member of their own extended family. Many forms of communally sanctioned violence against women, such as "honour" killings, are associated with the community's or the family's demand for sexual chastity and virginity.

In Egypt, a father paraded his daughter's severed head through the streets shouting, "I avenged my honour."

Such killings have been reported in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda and the United Kingdom, according to the report. The report says that "honour" killings tend to be more prevalent in, but are not limited to, countries with a majority Muslim population. It adds, however, that Islamic leaders have condemned the practice and say it has no religious basis.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Many societies in Africa and Western Asia practise FGM, often referred to as female circumcision. Worldwide, some 130 million girls and young women have undergone this dangerous and painful practice, with an additional 2 million at risk each year.

FGM is practised in about 28 countries in Africa - where the prevalence varies widely, from 5 per cent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 98 per cent in Somalia - and in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. It also occurs among some minority groups in Asia, and among immigrant women in Europe, Canada and the United States.

FGM refers to the removal of all or part of the clitoris and other genitalia. Those who perform the more extreme form, infibulation, remove the clitoris and both labia and sew together both sides of the vulva. This leaves only a small opening to allow passage of urine and menstrual blood. Infibulation accounts for an estimated 15 per cent of all cases of FGM, and 80-90 per cent of cases in Djibouti, Somalia and the Sudan.

This terrible violation of girls' and young women's human rights is based on prevailing beliefs that female sexuality must be controlled, and the virginity of young girls preserved until marriage. Men in some cultures will not marry uncircumcised girls because they view them as "unclean" or sexually permissive.

Genital mutilation is nearly always carried out in unsanitary conditions without anaesthetic. It is also extremely painful and may result in severe infection, shock or even death. If the girl survives, she may experience painful sexual intercourse, degrading the quality of her life.

In some cases, FGM can lead to sterility. A study carried out in the Sudan found that women who had undergone FGM were twice as likely to be infertile as women who had not. In traditional societies, infertility is a particularly devastating condition, since a woman's worth in many of these cultures is measured by her ability to bear children.

NGOs Work against Gender Violence
NGOs' work worldwide on violence against women is one of the most important contributions to ending gender-based oppression.

Through the work of African NGOs, with the support of international organizations, FGM is being challenged and the practice outlawed, giving millions of girls and women hopes for a life with rights, health and security. The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, a network of affiliates in 26 African and 3 European countries, has led the increasingly successful fight against FGM through public awareness campaigns and training in schools, and communities with traditional and trained medical staff.

In South Africa, where the incidence of rape is thought to be the highest in the world, a group called WomenNet used the Internet for a Stop Rape campaign supported by international signatories. The government is now setting up 20 specialized "rape courts", the first such initiative in the world.


http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/wom003_violence_unfpa.htm

What's my point with all these cut and paste articles???


Violence against women is EVERYWHERE.

A legacy of sexual violence
Poster for Spirits of Hope coalition
Poster produced by Spirits of Hope coalition. Spirits of Hope provides training to tribal and non-tribal programmes on domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in Oklahoma Indian country, USA. It also provides counselling and referral services.
© Spirits of Hope/Huzo Paddlety, Kiowa artist

Indigenous women in the Americas face high rates of rape and other forms of sexual violence with little recourse to justice

More than one in three Native American and Alaska Native women will be raped during their lifetime, according to US Department of Justice figures; the comparable figure for women in the USA as a whole is less than one in five. While the reasons why Indigenous women are at particular risk are varied and complex, a key factor identified by Indigenous women themselves is the legacy of impunity for past atrocities.

“Sexual assault rates and violence against Native American women did not just drop from the sky. They are a process of history,” says Jacqueline Agtuca, of the National Congress of American Indians.

Today, most perpetrators of sexual violence against Indigenous women across the Americas are still getting away with it. A major barrier preventing these women from reporting such violence is a lack of confidence that they will be believed and that perpetrators will be brought to justice.

For survivors, sexual violence has its own legacy and can remain hidden from public view for years or even decades. In Guatemala, sexual violence against Indigenous women was an integral part of the counter-insurgency strategy during the conflict in the 1980s. Yet, although some survivors still suffer the psychological effects of their abuse, they attribute these to a vague “sadness” (tristeza) rather than acknowledge even to themselves the brutality they have endured.

Inaction and indifference characterize many government responses to sexual violence against Indigenous women throughout the region. In some cases, far from eliminating the barriers to justice, the authorities are actively supporting laws and practices which effectively deny Indigenous women justice.

In the USA, Indigenous women face a jurisdiction maze where up to three justice systems – tribal, state and federal – are potentially involved in responding to sexual violence. The result too often is confusion, delay and denial of justice for survivors.

In Mexico, two Indigenous women raped by Mexican soldiers in 2002 are being forced to lodge their complaints before the military prosecutor. Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú of the Tlapaneca Indigenous community have so far refused to do so, arguing that as long as their cases remain under military jurisdiction, real justice cannot be served.

Indigenous peoples in the Americas maintain an immense diversity of cultures, customs and histories. However, all, to varying degrees, experience persistent negative stereotyping. Indigenous women are discriminated against as women and as Indigenous peoples. The resulting prejudice can affect police attitudes, posing another barrier to obtaining justice.

In 2003, a Native American woman in the USA was raped, beaten and thrown from a bridge by two white men. She was seriously injured but survived the attack. But when the case first went to trial in a state court, jurors were unable to agree on a verdict. Asked why, one of the jurors replied: “She was just another drunk Indian.” Both men eventually received custodial sentences.

Urgent action is needed to stop sexual violence against Indigenous women. But action must be shaped by understanding, not prejudice. Indigenous women’s organizations and tribal authorities have launched numerous initiatives throughout the region on how they can best be protected from sexual violence. It is time for governments to listen and act.


http://web.amnesty.org/wire/May2007/Indigenous

International Women's Day 2007 A Tribute to Women



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DN30h8Atk

Jess,

Thank you for bringing purpose to this thread.

This thread has a purpose: To bring attention to the religious teachings of radical Islam, which teach the abusing women is a virtue. Women who are abused in most of the world have legal recourse against their abusers, but in areas controlled by radical Islam, the law protects the abuser. It's heartbreaking that so many of you make light of this horror, but I realize that getting frustrated serves no good. You clearly see what I see, you understand what I'm saying and you are too weak to do anything but oppose me.

yes Jess, thank you...



what cries to be mentioned is where this began...male domination,
patriarchy.

makes no diff which costume you dress him in