Tag Archives: Women’s Rights

Women’s Human Rights news

5 Nov

Tep-Vanny-photo-credit-Amnesty-UK-via-TwitterGOOD NEWS – TEP VANNY IS FREE!

Cambodian land rights defender Tep Vanny has received a royal pardon and is free from prison. Tep was detained for two years for peacefully protesting against the forced eviction of her community from Boeung Kak Lake, Phnom Penh. A luxury tourist development on the site has seen thousands of families lose their homes.

SAUDI ARABIA – FREE THE WOMEN WHO FOUGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO DRIVE

However, in Saudi Arabia, the crackdown on women’s human rights defenders continues. The month, Human Rights Watch report that human rights activist Israa al-Ghomgham is amongst a group of rights defenders facing the death penalty. This comes as part of the Saudi government’s terrorism tribunal – but these women are being held on charges solely relating to peaceful activism. None the less, women who led the fight for women’s right to drive remain imprisoned and branded as ‘traitors’. Thirteen activists remain detained without charge. Help to achieve their release by taking action here.

IRAN – HELP GET NAZANIN HOME

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British mother serving a five – year prison sentence in Iran – but she hasn’t committed any crime She was recently released on a three day leave from prison to visit her family – but has now, crushingly, been returned to prison. Nazanin has done nothing wrong. Help secure her freedom by signing Amnesty’s on-line petition here.

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Save the date! Taunton Amnesty stall Saturday 16th July

6 Jun

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On Saturday 16th July we will be holding a stall event from 10am until 2.30pm at Castle Green in the centre of Taunton. We are aiming to raise awareness about one of Amnesty’s key campaigns on Women’s Rights, focusing on Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone where discriminatory attitudes and high costs create barriers to women accessing contraception and sexual and reproductive services and information.

From 18 April to 18 July this year, the Department for International Development will be doubling any money raised by Amnesty to support a project to prevent cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Early Forced Marriage (EFM) in Burkino Faso and Sierra Leone.

Please come along to make a donation (which will be doubled by the UK government) and sign our petition calling on Burkino Faso’s government to protect girls and young women from forced marriages.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Afghan women’s rights at risk

3 Oct

Doctors, teachers, journalists, activist and lawyers. Ordinary people are doing extraordinary work, risking their safety, to help women across Afghanistan know and access their rights. Their work is vital.  But the threats and violent attacks on them and their families continue and the future looks increasingly dangerous.

UK governments have worked to encourage women to take up public roles like these in Afghanistan. But as international forces prepare to withdraw from the country, the British Government must act now to support and protect women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Please follow this link and sign the petition calling on the UK government to:

  • create and maintain a database to know who is at risk
  • have a named member of staff whose job it is to keep in regular contact with women at risk
  • condemn any threats or violence towards individuals; or any discriminatory laws passed by the Afghan government
  • provide emergency support as needed,  including safe houses and relocation.

Take Action Now

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Petition: Protect survivors of sexual violence

19 Jun

In Algeria and Tunisia, the law allows rapists to escape prosecution by marrying their teenage victims. Morocco recently did away with a similar law, two years after 16-year-old Amina Filali committed suicide having been forced to marry the man she said had raped her.  

There are many other laws in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia which fail to protect female survivors of sexual violence, such as making the severity of punishment for rape dependent on whether the victim was a virgin.

Sign the petition here asking the Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan authorities to end discriminatory rape laws and protect survivors of sexual violence.

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Demand Afghanistan scrap a law silencing survivors of domestic violence

16 Feb
Teenager Sahar Gul recovers in hospital after being beaten and tortured by her in-laws © AFP PHOTO/ SHAH Marai

Sahar Gul recovers in hospital after being beaten and tortured by her in-laws © AFP PHOTO

Afghanistan is set to pass a law that will allow people to attack their wives, sisters and daughters without fear of punishment, because relatives won’t be allowed to testify as witnesses to these crimes.

An estimated 87% of women in Afghanistan have experienced at least one form of physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage. In a country blighted by ‘honour killings’ and child marriage, we know that most of this violence takes place within the family – that’s why this law will be so devastating.

But it’s not too late.  Enough international and local pressure could turn this situation around. Just last November, we were successful in stopping the approval of another proposed law which would have allowed death by stoning for ‘adultery’.

Click here to stand with the women and girls of Afghanistan and help us stop this outrageous law from becoming reality.

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My Body, My Rights – Tell world leaders to protect sexual and reproductive rights

4 Jan

My Body, My Rights

Being able to make your own decisions about your body, your life and your sexual and reproductive health is a basic human right. But for millions worldwide – many of them young people – this right is denied on a daily basis.

Please take a moment to sign the My Body, My Rights petition and call on World Leaders to stand up for the health and human rights of young people everywhere.

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Missed September’s group meeting? Read all about it here…

18 Sep

In Afghanistan, 26 schools were bombed or burned down in 2010 and at least 126 students and teachers killed in the same period. In 2008, Taliban members threw acid in the faces of five girls on their way to school in Kandahar (Oxfam source).

These are the daily threats still facing women in Afghanistan. Susan Mew of the Minehead group of AI spoke to us about Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, and how vital pressure from the international community is in improving the situation. Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, has described the violence worldwide against women and girls as ‘the greatest challenge of our times’.

We discussed the case of Dr Tun Aung, our Burmese prisoner of conscience, and how pressure can be brought to bear on the Burmese authorities to hasten his release.

The Taunton Deane Male Voice Choir, together with the Farey family, are putting on a concert at St Michael’s Church, Galmington, at 7.30pm on Saturday 26th October, in aid of the Church and of the Taunton Group of AI. Tickets £10 from the Group Treasurer (01823 284001) or from the Church Office (01823 332371). It sounds like a rousing evening. Hope to see you there!

Further details about this and our other activities can be found on our website amnestytaunton.wordpress.com. Meetings on the second Tuesday of the month at 8pm in the Silver Street most welcome!

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