Dear All, Turkish Association of University Women is joinig to the "ONE BILLION RISING" activity in Turkey TO SAY "STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN !!" with hope to live in a world where gender equality and womens human rightsin all spheres of life is implemeted.
The Tanesse 2012 is given once every three years to someone that has contributed a lot to the status of women. We are honoured to have Marie José Jonczy in the UWE board and congratulate her.
For the board,
Edith Lommerse
Marie-JoséJonczy, membre du Conseil d’administration du LEF, lauréate du prix Tanesse 2012
[Bruxelles, 24 janvier 2013] Marie-JoséJonczy, membre du Conseil d’administration du LEF pour University Women of Europe, a remporté le prix Tanesse, décerné tous les trois ans par l’Académie des sciences morales et politiques (France).
Ce prix est décerné "à la personne ayant, dans les trois années précédant le concours, le plus contribué à améliorer la condition de la femme".
Marie-JoséJonczy a travaillé de nombreuses années en tant que conseillère principale au service juridique de la Commission européenne. Elle est aujourd’hui engagée au sein du LEF comme membre du Conseil d’administration et y représente University Women of Europe dont elle est membre du Comité exécutif.
Toute l’équipe du LEF la félicite pour ce prix et la remercie pour son engagement en faveur des droits des femmes.
The Finnish Federation of University Women (FFUW) has new board and new president who is professor, dr Helena Ranta. The board had first meeting of this year on 19th January and the rest of the board is consisting of the following persons:
Helena Rantapresident
Siv Dahlin Jansson Ivicepresident
Ritva SalmiII vicepresident
Gun-Britt Brunström
Aune Kariluoto
Liisa Luomanen
Auli Ojala(UWE treasurer)
Helena Pettinen
Mirja Saarni
Marja Liisa Toivanen CIR 2013-
Leena Tiitu
Jaana Tähtinen
As FFUW treasurer is operating Sirkka Oksanen and ombudsman is Susanna Sulkunen.
FFUW is one of the largest federations in UWE and IFUW and it has more than 1000 members plus 19 local associations. It is publishing magazine called Minerva (also in internet). Theweb address of FFUW is www.akateemisetnaiset.fi.The federation has board meetings every two months. Besides of that it has skype meetings and the office (in the center of Helsinki) is moving to paperless systems.Finland is one of the leading paper producer but also one of the most developed IT societies.
The first picture is showing president Rantaand former president Ritva Tammivaara. Second picture is meeting of new board 2013.
Please let us know if you plan any actions. The UWE board will have possible actions on the agenda next weekend in our January board meeting. Let us inspire each other and work towards actions to get the EVAW convention signed in all countries in Europe! We have an obligation to support women all over the world that suffer from violence! Edith Lommerse UWE President
DearUniversity Women of Europe,
I write to you in order to inform you that EWL is participating to the worldwide event ONE BILLION RISING (OBR), initiated by V-Day and taking place on 14 February 2013. As you may know, the aim of the event is to rise up and raise awareness on violence against women and its pervasive presence in women’s lives.
EWL has planned to do a flash mob and participate, together with other Brussels-based organizations and individuals, to a free dance. EWL created an original song, “Rise up, Stand up”, and choreography on it for this flash mob. During the last Board Meeting, we made a picture of you with a paper stating why you would dance and rise. With these photos we prepared a diapo presenting the song:
·Diapo of the song “Rise up, Stand-up”
·Lyrics : see attached file
·Choreography for the flash mob: - In English
-In French
-Full Choreography:
We kindly invite you to mobilize too on 14 February: you can use this song and choreography to invite your members to dance and say no to VAW.It would be great if they could join their efforts together with EWL national members and create joyful and powerful events.
As you know, among EWL political priorities regarding violence against women are:
-EU Ratification of the CoE Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
-EU deciding for a European Year on violence against women
-EU providing for a common European strategy to tackle violence against women.
One Billion Rising events could have a big impact in terms of our visibility and awareness raising among the population and European and National institutions on the issue.
Please feel free to use EWL logo. The more we are, the more pervasive our message can be. We want women in Europe to let their voice be heard on this massive violation.
I suggest you consult OBR website, www.onebillionrising.org , where you can get a lot of information on how people and organizations are mobilizing all around the world, download a toolkit and insert your own event.
Please, keep informing us about your event, as we would like to give visibility of all events of our members in Europe through our website and FB page!
For any other information, please do not hesitate to contact me or Colette (detroy@womenlobby.org).
Best regards,
Valentina Brogna (Ms.)
Communication Coordinator of EWL’s actions for One Billion Rising
European Women's Lobby / Lobby européen des femmes
The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union (EU), working to promote women’s rights and equality between women and men. EWL membership extends to organisations in all 27 EU member states and three of the five candidate countries, as well as to 20 European-wide bodies, representing a total of more than 2500 organisations.
Think before you print / Réfléchissez avant d'imprimer
Commission for Social Development: Informal briefing
The Chair of the fifty-first session of the Commission for Social Development, Mrs. Sewa Lamsal Adhikari (Nepal), will hold an informal briefing for all interested delegations on the programme of work of the fifty-first session of the Commission, on Thursday, 17 January 2013, from 10:00 to 13:00, in the Economic and Social Council Chamber (NLB).
Fifty-first session
The fifty-first session of the Commission for Social Development will be held from Wednesday, 6, to Friday, 15 February 2013. The opening meeting will take place on Wednesday, 6 February, at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 4 (NLB). The provisional annotated agenda and the proposed organization of work are contained in document E/CN.5/2013/1. For further information on the fifty-first and previous sessions of the Commission, please visit: http://social.un.org/index/CommissionforSocialDevelopment/Sessions/2013.aspx
Seating arrangements
NGOs with ECOSOC Status will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis.
She was a 23-year-old physical therapy student who boarded a bus in Delhi last month. Six men locked the door, and savagely raped her for hours, including with a metal rod. They dumped her naked in the street, and after bravely fighting for her life, she died last weekend. Across India, people are responding in massive protests to say enough is enough. In India a woman is raped every 22 minutes, and few see justice. Globally, a staggering 7 in 10 women will be physically or sexually abused in their lifetime. This horror in Delhi is the last straw -- it's 2013, and the brutal, venal, global war on women must stop. We can start by drawing the line in India. The government is accepting public comments for the next 48 hours. We urgently need both stronger law enforcement and a massive public education program to change the grotesque but common male attitudes that permit violence against women. If 1 million of us join the call for action, we can help make this young woman's horror the last straw, and the beginning of a new hope:http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_indias_war_on_women/?tFAxaabThe ringleader of the woman's rapists coldly says she deserved it because she dared to stand up to him. Blaming the victim and other outrageous attitudes are found across society, including in the police who continually fail to investigate rape. Such views repress women and corrupt men everywhere. Massively funded public education campaigns have radically shifted social behaviour on drunk driving and smoking, and can impact the treatment of women. Tackling the root causes of India’s rape epidemic is vital, alongside better laws and faster legal processes. Advertising in India is relatively cheap, so a significant funding commitment could blanket airwaves in multiple media markets for a sustained period of time. The ads should target male subcultures where conservative misogyny thrives, directly challenging and shaming those attitudes, ideally using messengers like popular sports figures that carry authority with the audience. We have just 2 days to influence the official Commission set up to find ways to crack down on India's wave of sexual violence. If we can show real success in shifting attitudes in India, the model can be applied to other countries. The money spent will more than pay for itself by reducing poverty and promoting development, since treatment and empowerment of women has been identified as one of the greatest single drivers of social and economic progress. Click to send a message directly to the Indian government. From opposing the stoning of women in Iran, to supporting the reproductive rights of women in Morocco, Uzbekistan and Guatemala, to lobbying for real action to counter the growing 'rape trade' in trafficked women and girls, our community has been on the front lines of the fight to end the war on women. This new year begins with new resolve in India. With hope and determination, the Avaaz team
This article I wrote as part of my work as a deputy head of the Press and Public Information Office of the EU mission for police and rule of law in Afghanistan. I thought it would also be of interest to you.
Edith Lommerse, Uwe president
Kabul, December 2012. Early in the morning in the province of Kunduz a gunshot is heard. It kills the 18-year-old Nasrin, leaving her family to cry for the loss of her young life. All they can do is grieve for her and with them thousands of women in Afghanistan, as almost 90 percent of them are potential victims of discrimination and violence ranging from child marriage, forced marriage, rape or polygamy. Only a month later, 15-year-old Tamara is brutally murdered by a relative in a so-called “honour killing”. In October, a 25-year-old-woman is beheaded in Herat province, another 30-year-old is mutilated and murdered. Nasrin, Tamara – the violent deaths of women in Afghanistan are hardly rare events. Women are frequently victims because of a perceived violation of family’s honour. Cases of "extreme or brutal violence against women" have increased in recent months, Women's Affairs Minister Husn Banu Ghazanfar said last month at an event to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. She cited more than 3,500 reported cases in the first six months of the Afghan year. While the official statistics are alarming, reports such as the “Survey of the Afghan people 2012” from the US based Asia Foundation say that there are many cases of violence which go unreported. Many families in Afghanistan do not want to reveal such incidents because they feel it will tarnish their honour and dignity in society. President Hamid Karzai has realised the gravity of the matter. He expressed serious concern over the increase in violence against women in his recent radio message to the nation. He said domestic violence in any way or any form stands in complete negation of all Islamic instructions and human rights values that women are entitled. “Both our religion and our culture give tremendous respect to women. Women are mothers and enjoy a valuable respect in Islam”, said the President. He also stated that domestic violence can rip apart the very fabric of a family life and badly affect the way its members including the children behave. “It destroys love, passion and respect.” To raise more awareness against (domestic) abuse, the Afghan government, the country’s rights organisations and the international community were celebrating the international ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’ campaign from 25 November until 10 December. The days started with commenting on the current status of women: “Afghanistan still is – despite improvements in the last 11 years - one of the most insecure places on earth for a woman to live”, comments EU Special Representative, Vygaudas Usackas, and EUPOL Afghanistan’s Head of Mission, Karl Ake Roghe, in a joint open letter published in Afghan media. “Women and girls are still disproportionately affected by violence that is rooted in distorted and harmful traditional customs and practices supplemented by weak governance and rule of law.” Whilst the Afghan Independent Rights Commission (AIRC) calls upon the government and all responsible organs to seriously follow up and make sure that those responsible for such violations like Nasrin and Tamara, are held accountable, it will remain a long fight against traditional values. To find justice in these cases is not easy in Afghanistan. In many cases of domestic violence, neither the perpetrator nor the victim realises that a crime is even being committed. Moreover, there are cases where women victims themselves are being accused of moral crimes (See fact box Moral Crimes). “Therefore” – the open letter states- “awareness raising on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law and other legal instruments remains an important and necessary weapon in the battle to end gender based violence”. In theory, the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW), passed in 2009, should offer the women protection and redress. It covers various things, outlawing a range of abuses from assault and rape to marriages that are coercive, involve minors or amount to a transaction between the families concerned (see fact box EVAW). The challenge is to put the legislation into practice which needs coordination between all government agencies. In practice, currently this coordination is hardly existent. This became very clear after is a workshop organised by EUPOL’s Human Right and Gender unit (HRG) to mark the International Day to combat violence against women. Challenges and possibilities were discussed by several representatives of the Afghan governments and units of the Afghan National Police. And there are many to overcome. For the victims it starts with the challenge reporting a crime, especially if the mahram (male guardian) of the victim is also the perpetrator. When a woman arrives at a police station, she often faces police officers who lack the knowledge, the capacity and even the will to deal with domestic violence professionally. Only a third of the cases make it to court to be investigated. Surprisingly, the majority of the cases are settled outside of court through mediation by the Family Response Unit (FRU) which is part of the Ministry of Interior. Its Head, Lieutenant Fazila, is rather unhappy about the position of her unit. She lacks recognition from other departments, and most of all, personnel. “My unit consists only of 347 police officers in a police force of 150.000.” Given the amount of cases they have to handle, this is only a drop in the ocean. Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Mojgan Mostavafi, also asks for more support and wonders why the Ministry of the Interior is absent in most meetings concerning the implementation of the law EVAW. He also wants to invest much more in education of the public and the justice system. “Through public awareness campaigns, women and men should know that violence against women is a crime and it has to be reported”, he emphasizes. Part of the problem, emphasizes Lieutenant Fazila, “is that people don’t know that violence against women is a crime.’’ Colonel Hekmat Shahi Rasuli of Human Rights and Gender fully agrees: “Law is not only knowledge you can learn in a book, its implementation matters. We need more training and education for those who implement the law such as police and prosecutors.” That there is a dire need for more training in human rights, demonstrates a snapshot of the EUPOL courses for police officers at the Central Training Centre in Kabul. Eleven students started there their two week course on the Elimination of Violence against women. EUPOL Trainer Alan Skurbaty starts of with basic questions to enhance a discussion: “Is it legal when women are leaving their homes? Is it against the law?” An inspector from Herat tries an answer: “Traditional rules in Afghanistan say that it isn’t allowed. In itself it is not a crime, but when a woman leaves her family, she will very likely commit a crime.” He says that he filed a case against a woman who ran away from home because she was beaten, but the prosecutor wouldn’t accept his claim”. Trainer Alan holds up the Afghan constitution, reads the paragraph on the EVAW law and asks again: “Is it lawful to go wherever you want?” Most of the students realize by now that the answer should be yes, every person has freedom of movement and residence. Trainer Allen won’t accept the ongoing discussion of traditional rules and moral crimes: “As police officers you are here to uphold and protect the law of Afghanistan. The questions of all your action is always is it lawful or not”. Despite the controversial discussions, EUPOL trainers such as Alan remain positive. “ I am aware that I challenge my students but I try to make all exercises personal, let them talk about their daughters and children to make them experience how it would feel if moral crimes would be applied for their own family members. Then, I often see a shift of opinion.” Despite the obvious needs to educate policemen, it is hard to find enough students to fill the classrooms although the EVAW course was put on as a special request from the Afghan Ministry of Interior. That same ministry has set an ambitious goal to employ 5000 female police officers by the end of 2014. Currently, there are only around 1.500 in the Afghan Police – a mere one percent of the overall police force. They are desperately needed, though, for investigating crimes where women are the suspects or victims of domestic violence, to search or pat down women at checkpoints, at airports or at crime scenes. According to the latest UNDP Police Perception Survey, seven in ten Afghans say “they are more likely to report a crime if the police officer is female” and two thirds say “female police fulfill a need in society.” The majority tend to trust females more to investigate a crime fairer than their male counterparts. Yet, you must be brave as a woman to be a policewoman in Afghanistan: they are facing threats and discrimination. Most of the complaints, though, are about misconduct, sexual harassment, unequal treatment and even violence by their male colleagues at the workplace. This is unacceptable behavior, says Hekmat Shahi Rasuli, the Deputy General of Human Rights and Gender at the Minister of Interior: “There should be respect for Afghan policewomen, especially at their working place. They should be protected”. The question remains how. Not an easy task: Yet, EUPOL is addressing this issue and is currently developing a programmatic approach to support the Minister of Interior to recruit more policewomen. The problem to tackle is not the low recruitment but problems to retain female police. Women are eager to join but need to be given better work conditions to entice them to stay in the police force. More gender equality policies must be developed, with a fair and equal deployment within all units of the ANP, with the equal opportunities for training and career development and a higher public awareness and understanding of women’s rights. But even if the aim of recruiting 5.000 female police officers was fulfilled, the police force would remain dominated by men. Still, it is not only about gender but rather about the professional commitment of both male and female policemen and prosecutors to abide by the law. This is also what the EU Special Representative and EUPOL’s Head of Mission conclude: “Gender does not prevent a female police officer from treating a rape as a case of adultery, or the act of running away from an abusive husband as a moral crime.” They say that only “awareness combined with capacity and will by all members of the Afghan National Police and justice institutions to address gender based violence, is the ultimate guarantee of the implementation of EVAW- law.”
Karzai’s speech expressing his concern on the increasing violence against women got a sinister follow up on 21 November when eight prisoners were hanged. The eight had been convicted of crimes including murder, kidnapping and rape.
I wish you all to spend the Holiday Season with those you love and those who love you.If somebody is missing, have them present in the memories of good times spent together.
May the Child Jesus, Santa Claus or the Wise Men bring you many, many gifts.
May Dickens´ Christmas Spirit fill your days.
And most of all, may you be very happy during 2013.
Dear President and Members of the IFUW and Dear Friends,
We wish you merry Christmas and a happy New Year
The Turkish Association of University Women is honoured to invite you to the 31st IFUW Conference to be held from August 16th to the 21st, 2013,in Istanbul, Turkey.
Members of the Turkish Association of University Women are looking forward to hosting you and to making your stay pleasant and enjoyable.
The Congress will be held in Kadir Has University Convention Center. The topic of the Conference is ''WOMEN'S ROLE in ACHİEVİNG SUSTAINABLE FUTURE; education, urbanisation,violence, human rights''.
The congress center offers convenient facilities, allowing you to select your favorite topics among the parallel sessions, visit the exhibitions and find space for networking with your peers.
Let's get together in Istanbul where East meets West, to share our experiences, to start new friendships, and to work together on ideas on how to make a meaningful difference in the lives of less fortunate women. Together we can build the roadmap of IFUW for the future.
Istanbul, once upon a time the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire and later the capital city of Byzantium, became finally capital of the Ottoman Empire after 1453.
Istanbul is a magnificent place to visit: practically an open air museum, Istanbul carries the remnants of her various historical inheritances, delighting history buffs and layman alike. Whether it is historical places of worship, palaces and fortresses, or world class museums - you can find it here. Istanbul is also home to some of the most breathtaking scenery and natural beauty - the Bosphorus Strait cuts through the city dividing Istanbul into Asia and Europe. A boat ride on the Bosphorus will expose a whole different side to the city and its architecture.
And whether you are into cultural paraphernalia or just in need of a wardrobe make-over, Istanbul will have you covered on the shopping side too.
This big mysterious city has something to offer to everyone.
On behalf of the Local Organising Committee, we welcome you to Istanbul and we look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Please stay tuned as we roll out more details about the 2013 IFUW conference in Istanbul.
Best Regards.
Nazan Moroglu-President of Turkish Association of University Women Nezihe Bilhan-LAC Chair-Vice President of TAUW