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Welcome to the Feminist News Wrap by Impact, a Les Glorieuses newsletter. In addition to our monthly reported feature, we bring you a summary of all that’s making news in the world of women’s rights, from historic political decisions to the grassroots movements pushing for change.
Got a news item you think should be included in our wrap? Email us: [email protected].
You can also read Impact in French. You may be interested in our other bilingual monthly newsletter, Economics.
– The team at Les Glorieuses
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Setback for women’s rights in Afghanistan and US, femicides in Spain and Greece, and gender self-id in Switzerland
AFGHANISTAN: In December, the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ruled that women must wear a hijab when taking a taxi and be accompanied by a male guardian if they are travelling more than 72 kilometres. Then in January, the Taliban in northern Afghanistan announced that communal baths, a long-standing winter tradition in the country, will no longer be allowed for women. Since the Taliban swept back to power last August, millions of Afghan women and girls have lost fundamental rights including access to education and paid work. To protest these attacks on women’s rights, a large demonstration took place on December 27 in Kabul.
ISRAEL: Women in Israel earn 22,7% less than men, according to a study carried out by the country’s finance ministry. This gender gap is the second-highest in the OECD, behind on South Korea – the OECD average is 12.5%. The study warns that one of the main causes of gender gaps in the Israelian labor market is « the motherhood penalty », meaning that women who have children face a reduction in their salary over the course of a decade. In this case, the gender gap increases to 28%.
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EL SALVADOR: Three women who were imprisoned after suffering an abortion, accused of having intentionally miscarried and charged with murder, were released from prison on Christmas Eve. The decision was taken by the government after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in late November that the Salvadoran state was guilty in the death of Manuela, a woman who lost her pregnancy and died in prison after being convicted of an alleged illegal abortion. Fourteen other women remain imprisoned in the country for the same reasons. Abortion is fully criminalised under Salvadoran law.
US: In January, South Dakota’s state legislature, with the support of the health department, passed new restrictions banning medical abortion at home. Pregnant people will now have to go to an authorised centre to receive both doses of the drugs needed for a medical. In November, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments
on Mississippi’s petition to uphold a state law banning abortion 15 weeks after conception, which has the potential to overturn the Roe v Wade decision that legalised abortion throughout the US.
SWITZERLAND: Since January 1, transgender people who wish to change their identity in Switzerland can now do so more easily thanks to a law passed at the end of 2020 and submitted to referendum in April. Trans people will now simply need to express the will to change their first name or gender, with no surgery, hormone treatment or medical diagnosis will be required. Children under 16 will require the agreement of a legal guardian to change gender. Swiss law currently only recognises two genders, although there are two parliamentary initiatives to introduce a third gender or eliminate gender entries completely.
TAIWAN: For the first time, a same-sex couple has been able to become legal parents in Taiwan thanks to a court ruling that allowed a man to be registered as the legal guardian of his husband’s previously adopted daughter. Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalise equal marriage in May 2019, although the legislation did not cover same-sex adoption. The court ruling only applies to the couple in question and does not set an automatic precedent.
NEPAL: Conjugal violence and abuse is one of the leading factors behind high rates of suicide among Nepali women, a new study has found. The research, published by BMC Women’s Health, examined various statistics from across the country and found that 63% of suicide victims were women aged 15-29, the majority of them married. The most common factors leading to suicide among Nepali women were abuse, interpersonal conflict, marital disputes and relationship problems; 61% had experienced physical abuse in the three months prior to suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age in Nepal.
SUDAN: Dozens of women and girls are believed to have been raped or abused during demonstrations in Sudan in December. UN rights office spokesperson Liz Throssell said at least 13 women and girls were raped by security forces during a demonstration in Khartoum on December 19 to mark the third anniversary of the uprising which led to the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir. Two people were killed and 300 injured during the demonstrations. Days later on December 25, the Darfur Bar Association reported 30 complaints of sexual harassment, including 16 cases of rape, allegedly perpetrated by security forces during the suppression of the Marches of the Millions
GREECE: Feminists protested in front of the Greek parliament in December to denounce the murders of women in the country and to urge government to include femicide as an offence in the penal code. March organisers said 17 women were killed by their partners in 2021, but as it is not a criminal offence, it is possible that the number of cases is underreported. Politicians such as opposition leader Alexis Tsipras are also pushing for a legislation change.
SPAIN: In Spain, meanwhile, an expanded definition of « femicide » will be adopted by the Ministry of Equality to include all « murders of women motivated by historical discrimination, structural gender misogyny and power relations of men over women ». The ruling coalition also announced that it will insist on an amendment to the country’s gender-based violence law to include the term « vicarious violence », an expression mostly used in Spain and Latin America for the violence perpetrated against a woman’s family as a way of damaging her, mainly against her children. Last year, 43 women and 6 children were murdered and another 30 children were left motherless, although with the expanded definition the number of femicides would rise to 78.
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This issue of IMPACT was prepared by Agustina Ordoqui, Heloísa Marques, Megan Clement and Steph Williamson from the team at Les Glorieuses.
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