#MeTooUniv in Morocco; abortion in Ecuador and Chile; ban on conversion therapy in France; and more

February 14th, 2022

ECUADOR: The Legislative Assembly in Ecuador is debating a bill to decriminalise abortion in cases of rape. The bill seeks to give legal status to a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court, which established this legal ground in response to several unconstitutionality lawsuits filed by human rights groups. Abortion is only permitted in Ecuador in cases of risk to the mother’s life and, since the court ruling, when the pregnancy is the result of rape. The final text of this initiative, which proposes voluntary abortion up to 22 weeks of gestation for girls and 20 weeks for women, is expected to be presented this month.

CHILE: A popular initiative to guarantee free, safe and unrestricted abortion in Chile, Será Ley, is the first bill to obtain the 15,000 signatures required to be debated by Chile’s Constitutional Convention, which will draft a new national constitution for the country. At the end of last year, another attempt to fully decriminalise abortion by changing the Penal Code  was rejected by deputies in the lower house. This proposal seeks another way to ensure access to abortion: by enshrining it in the constitution.

POLAND: Hundreds of people protested in Poland after the death of a 37-year-old woman who was denied an abortion. « Poland is killing women », the protesters shouted. Agnieszka T. was expecting twins. When one foetus’s heart stopped beating, doctors refused to remove it, instead waiting for the second foetus to die. Only after this happened did doctors proceed with the termination, Agnieszka’s family says. She died on January 25, believed to be the third pregnant woman to have lost her life due to restrictions on abortion since laws were further tightened a year ago to rule out access to abortion in cases of foetal abnormality.

EUROPE: Roberta Metsola, the newly elected President of the European Parliament, opposes the rights to abortion. Although Metsola has stated that she will respect the position of the institution she represents, she has an anti-abortion voting record in the parliament. Metsola represents Malta, one of the few countries in Europe where abortion is banned in all circumstances. Speaking at the European Parliament after Metsola’s election, French president Emmanuel Macron called for abortion to be included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Last year, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on member states to ensure universal access to safe and legal abortion. Metsola voted against it.

MOROCCO: Hundreds of Moroccan women and girls are sharing their stories of being sexually abused and harassed by university lecturers after a professor was sentenced to two years in prison for blackmailing a student for sex in exchange for good grades. The online movements Moroccan Outlaws and 7achak have revived the #MeTooUniv on Instagram and Twitter, encouraging people to come forward with their stories of sexual abuse and exploitation in universities. The hashtag has also recently been taken up by students in Spain.

Heloísa Marques for Impact x Les Glorieuses

AUSTRALIA: The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has apologised in parliament for the culture of sexual harrassment and abuse in the halls of government. Last year, fromer parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins said she had been raped by a colleague in the defense minister’s office in 2019. In a review commissioned after Higgins came forward, the Sex Discrimination commissioner found that 51% of people working in the Australian parliament had experienced bullying, sexual harassment or sexual assault.

PAKISTAN: The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Amendment Bill, which was voted through by the Pakistani National Assembly and Senate last month, was rapidly put into effect by the government on January 25. The legislation aims to increase women’s participation in the labour market. It introduces an expanded definition of harassment that includes gender discrimination, and extends protections against violence to female students, artists, and athletes. This new law has been applauded by human rights organisations, as Pakistani women face serious abuse in the workplace and at home. According to the World Bank, female participation in the labour market is 22%, while the world average is 47%.

US: Women who held high-level positions at the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) foreign service have been in a legal battle for the past five years over pay inequality. Among the agency’s visions is the goal of « improving the lives of people around the world by addressing the distinct and intersectional needs of women and girls, men and boys, in all their diversity ». However, the women pursuing the case against USAID claim that they were hired decades ago at lower salaries than men and that their promotions were not accompanied by corresponding raises. They estimate that their pensions are $400,000 lower as a result.

TURKEY: Members of the Purple Solidarity and Campus Witches movements demonstrated in several Turkish cities in January to demand free menstrual hygiene products. Several women were arrested during the protests. Pads and tampons are taxed at 18% in Turkey, meanwhile the cost of living crisis has seen the price of sanitary products increase by 50% in the past year. A study by the Deep Poverty Network found that 82% of women in poverty in Turkey are unable to afford the menstrual hygiene products they need.