An old friend of mine called saying “you were right.” I was a bit surprised, because my friend had traditional views regarding the connections between gender and security threats. He believed that security is a man's business and a woman has nothing to offer.
I believe security is everybody's business including women and children.
What actually is security? Pot-bellied generals with a big pair of binoculars, missile bases, fully stocked weapons warehouses. These images come to mind upon hearing this question. This is how we are used to thinking about this concept.
Sixteen employees of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior became the first females to complete a formal MoI Basic Human Rights course here, Oct. 7.
The training, sponsored by the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights' National Institute for Human Rights, is based upon international law and the Iraqi constitution. Topics included basic principles of human rights, women and children's rights, and the treatment of detainees and their rights.
Legal reforms are necessary to fight against gender-based violence but they must be accompanied by wider social and political transformations, activists said Tuesday.
This campaign for the elimination of violence against women is a social, political and civil duty for us all; whatever our posts are, whatever aspect of life we operate in, we should all combat this plague.
Data from different sources seems to consistently estimate that no less than 100 women come forward yearly to denounce abuse by security forces. Since only an approximate 10% of victims do complain, the real figure would ascend to around 1000 cases of violence against women perpetrated by security forces every year.
The problem of statelessness is global. Figures are imprecise but it is estimated that there are millions of people who do not have legal identities. In the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) there are several large stateless populations, including several hundred thousand Bidoon in the Gulf region, more than 200,000 stateless Kurds in Syria and Lebanon and millions of Palestinians still waiting for a State of their own.
Scores of women's organisations from Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia joined forces last week for a sensational campaign led by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR).
When Indonesian citizens began scrutinizing their local government budgets as part of an Asia Foundation-led program on gender-responsive budgeting, they found some surprises: a new suit for the governor, an aquarium for the mayor, and thousands of boxes of tissues for a regional leader.
