Refugee. n.A person who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
The United Nations Refugee Agency provides shelter, food, clean water, and life-saving assistance to 32 million people around the world identified as refugees. World Refugee Day is held annually on June 20. For more information, please visit the UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency’s website.
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 21 June 2010 (ECOSOC Video): Featuring Geena Davis, Academy Award-Winning Actress; Government Officials; and Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, this short film brings into focus the startling statistics of worldwide violence against women and girls, and how the empowerment of women can help break this cycle.
Leaders from the private sector and civil society discuss with government representatives the challenges of ending violence against women and girls, the economic empowerment of women, and join forces to bring together governments with private and philanthropic organizations at the Special United Nations ECOSOC Event, “Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality & the Economic Empowerment of Women”.
Produced, Directed and Edited by pattiedesign. Copyright (c) 2010 pattiedesign. All rights reserved.
JERUSALEM – Israeli commandos rappelled down to an aid flotilla sailing to thwart a Gaza blockade on Monday, clashing with pro-Palestinian activists on the lead ship in a botched raid that left at least nine passengers dead.
Bloodied passengers sprawled on the deck and troops dived into the sea to save themselves amid hand-to-hand fighting that injured dozens of activists and six soldiers. Hundreds of activists were towed from the international waters to Israeli detention centers and hospitals.
International condemnation was swift and harsh as Israel scrambled to explain how what was meant to be a simple takeover of a civilian vessel went so badly awry
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled a planned meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington to rush home. The global reaction appeared likely to increase pressure to end the embargo that has plunged Gaza’s 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty.
Most of the information about what happened on the single ship where violence broke out came from Israel, which cut off all communication to and from the activists and provided testimony and video evidence that its soldiers came under attack by activists armed with metal rods, knives, slingshots and two pistols snatched from the troops.
A few days later, on June 5, another humanitarian ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, tried to pass the Israeli blockade to deliver aid and goods to the Gaza. Again, Israeli commandos boarded the ship and redirected it to Israeli port of Ashdod. There was no bloodshed.
The MV Rachel Corrie is named after an American student crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza. The 20 passengers, which included Nobel Peace prize winner Mairead Maguire, were questioned and their identifies were checked by Israeli officials before being deported, as happened with hundreds of people taken off the previous aid flotilla.
An international children’s rights charity has said it has evidence that Palestinian children held in Israeli custody have been subjected to sexual abuse in an effort to extract confessions from them. The Geneva-based Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected 100 sworn affidavits from Palestinian children who said they were mistreated by their Israeli captors. Fourteen of the statements say they were sexually abused or threatened with sexual assault to pressure them into confessions.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh met with one of the children, identified only as N, who says he suffered sexual abuse at the hands of his interrogators.
Sakhina, 15, was sold into marriage to pay off her father’s debts when she was 12 or 13. She is one of four fugitive child brides at a shelter in a secret Kabul location. Photo: Alissa J. Rubin/The New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — The two Afghan girls had every reason to expect the law would be on their side when a policeman at a checkpoint stopped the bus they were in. Disguised in boys’ clothes, the girls, ages 13 and 14, had been fleeing for two days along rutted roads and over mountain passes to escape their illegal, forced marriages to much older men, and now they had made it to relatively liberal Herat Province.
Instead, the police officer spotted them as girls, ignored their pleas and promptly sent them back to their remote village in Ghor Province. There they were publicly and viciously flogged for daring to run away from their husbands.
Their tormentors, who videotaped the abuse, were not the Taliban, but local mullahs and the former warlord, now a pro-government figure who largely rules the district where the girls live.
Neither girl flinched visibly at the beatings, and afterward both walked away with their heads unbowed. Sympathizers of the victims smuggled out two video recordings of the floggings to the AfghanistanIndependent Human Rights Commission, which released them on Saturday after unsuccessfully lobbying for government action.
The ordeal of Afghanistan’s child brides illustrates an uncomfortable truth. What in most countries would be considered a criminal offense is in many parts of Afghanistan a cultural norm, one which the government has been either unable or unwilling to challenge effectively.
According to a UNICEF study, from 2000 to 2008, the brides in 43 percent of Afghan marriages were under 18. Although the Afghan Constitution forbids the marriage of girls under the age of 16, tribal customs often condone marriage once puberty is reached, or even earlier.
Flogging is also illegal.
The case of Khadija Rasoul, 13, and Basgol Sakhi, 14, from the village of Gardan-i-Top, in the Dulina district of Ghor Province, central Afghanistan, was notable for the failure of the authorities to do anything to protect the girls, despite opportunities to do so.
Forced into a so-called marriage exchange, where each girl was given to an elderly man in the other’s family, Khadija and Basgol later complained that their husbands beat them when they tried to resist consummating the unions. Dressed as boys, they escaped and got as far as western Herat Province, where their bus was stopped at a checkpoint and they were arrested.
Jackie and Mike Bezos have donated a personal gift of $25,000 to "The RaiseForWomen challenge," a fundraising initiative supporting nonprofits doing work to empower women and girls around the world. The donation, combined with $75,000 from The Skoll Foundation, brings to $100,000 the total in prizes going to the causes that raise the most funds. Ja […]
We are thrilled to announce a very successful first week in the RaiseforWomen Challenge, with over $126,000 raised! We would like to thank everyone who has participated in the challenge so far. We have under five weeks left –– until June 6 –– to raise as much as possible! Half the Sky Movement will be giving out weekly prizes to individuals participating in […]
I remember reading Betty Harragan’s Games Mother Never Taught You when it first came out over thirty years ago. As a woman entrepreneur, that book had a huge impact on me — both in how to navigate at work, a new universe that felt like I had been dropped onto Mars, and how I saw myself as an agent of change. This was long before cell phones, the Internet, an […]
A White House task force set up to combat human trafficking held its annual meeting today, chaired by Secretary of State John Kerry. The cabinet-level group, called the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF) coordinates the U.S. government's efforts to eradicate the phenomenon commonly likened to […]
Yesterday, Maryland's governor signed into law legislation protecting pregnant women from workplace discrimination. This should be a no-brainer. Picture this: you have a good job, you have medical benefits, you're financially stable, and you decide it's time to start a family. Sounds reasonable, right? But what would you do if your employer de […]
An important Congressional subcommittee held a hearing today on domestic drone use. Members and witnesses didn't just rehash familiar concerns; they dug deeper to explore how advanced surveillance technology has become, and the real dangers of the surveillance society that it creates. The hearing, held by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommitte […]
Headline Title: Argentina: Death of former military leader who did not escape justice 17 May 2013 Argentina’s former military leader, Jorge Rafael Videla, has died in prison, where he was serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity committed during his time in office.“Argentina led the way in the prosecution of those responsible for the torture, kil […]
Headline Title: Activists worldwide target homophobia in Jamaica, Ukraine and South Africa 17 May 2013 In Jamaica, some men are labelled as criminals just for expressing their love.Attempts to hold a Pride in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have repeatedly run into roadblocks because of very real threats of violence and a police force unwilling to protect partic […]
Headline Title: Georgia: Homophobic violence mars Tbilisi rally 17 May 2013 Police in the Georgian capital Tbilisi failed to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists as thousands of people violently attacked a Pride event today in what Amnesty International said was an ineffective response to organized and violent homophobi […]
Tweet Widget Facebook Like Email The United States should use the upcoming visit by Burma’s president to ask tough questions about the slowing pace of human rights reforms and insist on implementation of past commitments. (Washington, DC) – The United States should use the upcoming visit by Burma’s president to ask tough questions about the slowing pace of h […]
Tweet Widget Facebook Like Email (New York) – The Chinese government should demonstrate its commitment to the rights of people with disabilities by announcing on China’s “Help the Disabled Day” that it will remove barriers that prevent children with disabilities from attending mainstream schools, Human Rights Watch said today.read more
Tweet Widget Facebook Like Email Three years on, the Thai government has failed to fulfill its promise to impartially prosecute all those responsible for the 2010 political violence. (New York) – Three years on, the Thai government has failed to fulfill its promise to impartially prosecute all those responsible for the 2010 political violence, Human Rights W […]
Family Project Director and licensed social worker, Ellen Kahn, presented the HRC Foundation's groundbreaking Youth Survey today at the National Transgender Health Summit.
Labor, sacrifice and justice are all part of the foundation of this country. They also play a huge role in the stories of so many of the immigrants who have come to America to seek a better life for themselves and their families.
Obama says that the U.S. military's sexual assaults are "dangerous to our national security." A mayor says the Japanese military's "comfort women" were necessary.
With female sterilizations pushed as the primary mode of fertility control in Andhra Pradesh, post-operative complications have caused women to undergo needless hysterectomies and endure side effects they never expected.
The critically ill, pregnant woman has asked to be permitted to undergo the procedure, even though abortion is illegal under all circumstances in the country.
The United Nations human rights chief today welcomed the decision of dozens of international companies to sign on to an fire-and-safety agreement in the aftermath of the deadly factory collapse in Bangladesh, while calling for additional actions to overhaul the entire garment sector.
Members of Boko Haram and other extremist groups in Nigeria could face war crimes charges for deliberate acts leading to ethnic and religious cleansing, the top United Nations human rights official said today.
Marking the International Day Against Homophobia, United Nations officials today issued a call on Governments worldwide to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals, and strike laws that discriminate against them.
President Obama talks about his belief that a rising, thriving middle class is the true engine of economic growth, and that to reignite that engine and continue to build on the progress we’ve made over the last four years, we need to invest in three areas: jobs, skills and opportunity. Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3
Watch the West Wing Week here. Obama Cares: On the Friday before Mother’s Day, President Obama explained how the Affordable Care Act is helping women. For example, the law prevents insurance companies from charging women more than men and requires insurance companies to cover preventive services like mammograms free of charge. Thanks to the women in this roo […]
As the single largest consumer of energy in the United States, the Department of Defense (DOD) knows that improving efficiency and harnessing new energy technologies is imperative – not only to achieve significant cost savings, but to give our troops better energy options on the battlefield, at sea, in the air, and at home. At DOD’s fixed installations alone […]
The implementation of scientifically proven HIV prevention strategies is helping to reduce the number of new infections — the annual HIV infection rate globally fell by 22 percent from 2001 to 2011 — but a great deal more must be done. Significant scale-up of proven HIV prevention strategies coupled with the discovery of new HIV...
As we celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Heritage Month and the many accomplishments of AAPIs, we also want to recognize that these communities still face many barriers to health and health care, including HIV/AIDS. To recognize these challenges, May 19th has been designated as the National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness […]
May 18th is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD), led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health. We spoke to Dr. Carl Dieffenbach at NIH, who had this to say about HIV Vaccine Awareness Day: “[On Vaccine Awareness Day] we can take a moment to acknowledge the...
