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By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) —The gruesome murder of a 31-year-old mother Hannah Clarke and her three small children aged 6, 4 and 3 years, by her estranged 42-year-old husband Rowan Baxter, a former footballer, has shocked the nation and brought into the spotlight an epidemic of domestic violence in Australia that has gone largely unchecked for years. It has also got Australians questioning the attitude of men towards women with their greater tendency towards violence against women.
Viewpoint by Michael W. Lodge
The writer is Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. ISA headquarters are in Kingston, Jamaica.
KINGSTON (IDN) – As we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February 2020, we are reminded of the need to renew our commitments to improve access for women from developing States to education and training, and ensure their increased participation in the field of ocean science, particularly in deep-sea scientific research.
By Caroline Mwanga
NEW YORK (IDN) – While significant progress in eliminating the practice has been made in the last 30 years, approximately 200 million girls and women alive today have had their genitals mutilated. This can lead to long-term physical, psychological and social consequences, warns a joint statement by UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) –The World Bank’s executive board cancelled expected action on a $500 million loan to Tanzania where teenage girls can be expelled from school because they are pregnant.
The Bank had been under pressure from rights activists and held a last-minute emergency meeting on January 27 with Tanzanian and international human rights organizations.
By Aqila Hassanzada*
NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – Mairam Bibi says her sons will not follow in their father’s footsteps – an abductor who kidnapped a teenage girl and forced her into a violent marriage.
At the age of 41, Mairam is sitting in her small straw house telling the story so many women in Kyrgyzstan could tell.
One morning when she was a teenager, Mairam was going to school when an old car stopped in front of her. Two men ran out of the car and headed towards her. She was terrified.
By Pía Figueroa
The writer is Co-Director of Pressenza, humanist, author of several monographs and books. This feature appeared first in www.pressenza.com.
SANTIAGO DE CHILE (IDN) – The hashtag #lastesissenior was broadcast on Twitter December 6. It had not been communicated before by social networks. It quickly became a trending topic in Chile. And this came as a surprise, though everything had been organized with a lot of discretion.
By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Government Ministers and senior officials from the Ministries of Women, National Planning, and Finance, representatives of civil society and other key stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific region have gathered at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand for a three-day Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review concluding on 29 November. The following is a joint viewpoint of Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women.
Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
The following statement by Executive Director of UN Women is for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2019. [Also available in ar, es, fr, ru]
NEW YORK (IDN) – If I could have one wish granted, it might well be a total end to rape. That means a significant weapon of war gone from the arsenal of conflict, the absence of a daily risk assessment for girls and women in public and private spaces, the removal of a violent assertion of power, and a far-reaching shift for our society.
By Justus Wanzala
NAIRBI (IDN) – ICPD25, held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi from November 12-14 and marking the 25th anniversary of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, ended with bold commitments towards attainment of the rights of women and girls.
The conference, attended by more than 6,000 world leaders, scholars, rights advocates and faith leaders saw partners announce commitments to end all maternal deaths, satisfy unmet need for family planning and tackle gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls by 2030.
“Some people change when they see the light; others when they feel the heat”. – Caroline Schoeder, former U.S. Congress member
Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens
GENEVA (IDN) – The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000 is a commitment to work resolutely toward greater protection of women and girls in conflict zones, to appoint more women in UN peacekeeping operations and ensuring that women would increasingly become more active participants in decision-making processes, especially at “peace table” negotiations.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.