Tennessee Republicans introduce bill making it illegal to be Muslim

[^_^ 5,021]

... by the by India does not institutionalize or condone murder, even for women who dress immodestly.

If you are born and raised in certain (now very small) pockets of rural India, you'd never know that. But to the point of Indian law protecting the rights of Indians to marry anyone they want (as long as it's not same sex, haha), you are right.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Turning the Other Cheek: Domestic Violence Touches Christian Women Too

"It has been 11 years since my ex-husband last beat me," says Ginny H. "Funny how we never forget the last time. We who have suffered spousal abuse remember distinctly the first and the last times we were hit, punched, kicked, shoved, or otherwise physically and/or verbally and emotionally assaulted. To this day I wrestle with after-effects of his abuse. But healing has come. Bit by bit and piece by piece, I have been reclaiming what abuse had taken from me."

Ginny is a Christian. And she is not alone.

"We are very aware that our Christian leaders are abusing their wives and abusing women," says Winnie Bartel, chair of the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) women's commission.

At its 11th General Assembly in Malaysia, the WEF, which represents 160 million Christians in 110 countries, released a report showing that incidents of violence against women are nearly as bad in church circles as in wider society.

In a strongly worded statement, WEF called upon the Church "to denounce abuse from the pulpit, to protect and provide for those in need of safety, to offer healing for victims, and to admonish offenders."

Co-author of the book "No Place for Abuse," Bartel says, "I am thrilled that WEF is taking the issue of abuse seriously. Henceforth, we'll make a difference. And it should be a radical difference."

Bartel herself was sexually abused as a child by a deacon in her church, which was covered up. Instead of turning against the church, Bartel says she found healing through true Christian love and grace - particularly when male members of WEF acknowledged her and many other women's pain and suffering at the last General Assembly.

"If more male leaders took a stand and went to bat on this issue," Bartel adds, "it might have a great influence on their peers and create a sense of accountability that's missing."

The national statistics are alarming. Women of ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) cite that 30 to 50 percent of women seeking help for themselves in hospital emergency rooms are victims of abuse. Twenty to 30 percent of adult women are at risk of being abused by their male partners during the course of marriage.

According to My Sister's Keeper International, domestic violence includes physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual and financial abuse that occurs between people in an intimate relationship. The group was organized for "the purpose of responding to the silent cries of our suffering sisters, including women of all faiths."

Among the ways that My Sister's Keeper reaches out is by raising awareness of the problem of domestic violence in all communities, including religious groups, and by encouraging all communities, including religious groups, to get involved in breaking the cycle of violence through education and training.

They also provide Godly guidance and practical assistance to the victim for a victorious life and urge batterers to attend recovery programs for their own healing.

My Sister's Keeper agrees that Christians are not exempt from domestic violence. They cite a landmark Minnesota case "revealing a chilling story of domestic violence in a Christian family. Lucille Tisland, described as a devout Christian woman, and her five children, were found to be the subjects of constant physical and emotional beatings by her pulpit-pounding preacher-husband for more than 13 years."

In many instances, Christian women stay in dangerous situations longer than a non-Christian might. According to Lois Pruneau, co-coordinator of the domestic violence department of the Family Support Council in the Lake Tahoe area: "A lot of our domestic violence victims that are of a certain faith say their marriage vows are very important to them and they don't know what to do when they're being battered in that marriage."

One woman is battered every 15 seconds in this country, Pruneau adds. "And some Christian women say they feel their abuse is a consequence of their own behavior, and that's why God isn't protecting them."

Nancy Nason-Clark, a professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick, says on her Web site there are many reasons why women don't leave, or for them to return: The inability to see any other option; fear of reprisal; economic dependency, and a feeling that leaving would mean breaking their wedding vows. "This may be a particular issue for women of faith," Nason-Clark writes.

Other women cite fear - fear that the abuser would follow "and kill me" - as well as the Biblical instruction to turn the other cheek. They also misunderstand Paul's command to submit to a husband's authority.

Joyce Williams-Mitchell, a veteran battered-women's advocate and a member of Union Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass told The Boston Herald, "Churches should remember that the pressure to keep up appearances within a congregation can make it harder for a woman to leave a violent situation.

"If it's difficult for people who aren't in faith communities," said Williams-Mitchell, "how much more difficult it is for people who are?''

By Janet Chismar, Religion Today

[^_^ 5,021]

One woman is battered every 15 seconds in this country...

So for 14 of every 15 seconds no woman is being battered in this country. That is pretty impressive!

Edited February 26, 2011 by \

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Why? Why should I travel down any stupid tangent you feel necessary to throw out there? There are all kinds of ignorant practices that go on around the world, and a lot of them target women, I'm well aware of that and guess what? Some of them go on right in the good ol' US, practiced by good old fashioned white males. So what? What has any of that got to do with sharia or religious law? NOT ONE THING. Oh, and by the by India does not institutionalize or condone murder, even for women who dress immodestly.

Iv'e had enough of your ignorant bs on here. Don't play anyone on here for stupid. You want to compare what goes on in the US compared to a lot of other country's ? You want to go ####### for tat on this ? Let's do it then. Otherwise save your ####### on here for someone who is mentally retarded and can't read English. You think we were all born yesterday or that none of us have travelled ? Seriously some of your post on here would be laughable if they weren't so far out.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

And yet, in the last two years, at least six attempts have been made to defend the practice on religious grounds, in the US.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-29-honor-killings-in-the-US_N.htm

And, we can throw a few other questionable practices in the mix, for some of the other religions, just to add balance.

When I saw Robert Spencer being quoted as a credible source in that article, I knew it was bogus.

[^_^ 5,021]

Iv'e had enough of your ignorant bs on here. Don't play anyone on here for stupid. You want to compare what goes on in the US compared to a lot of other country's ? You want to go ####### for tat on this ? Let's do it then. Otherwise save your ####### on here for someone who is mentally retarded and can't read English. You think we were all born yesterday or that none of us have travelled ? Seriously some of your post on here would be laughable if they weren't so far out.

The reason so many people from South and West Asia move here is because life is better here and they have to deal with less BS. Even my wife says she can't imagine moving back to India. American culture gives women a degree of autonomy she simply would never get there. Even if she's legally free to do everything she does here (work, go to school, etc.) people there are a lot more intrusive and judgmental and it makes for a stifling environment for women.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Iv'e had enough of your ignorant bs on here. Don't play anyone on here for stupid. You want to compare what goes on in the US compared to a lot of other country's ? You want to go ####### for tat on this ? Let's do it then. Otherwise save your ####### on here for someone who is mentally retarded and can't read English. You think we were all born yesterday or that none of us have travelled ? Seriously some of your post on here would be laughable if they weren't so far out.

You are the prime example on this forum of someone is not only ignorant to the max, but indignant when anyone points it out to you. I don't know what world you live in, but it's got to be a living hell.

Edited February 26, 2011 by Sofiyya

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

So for 14 of every 15 seconds no woman is being battered in this country. That is pretty impressive!

Ask her about all the country's that don't even have DV laws. She's another one that's full of it.

You are the prime example on this forum of someone is not only ignorant to the max, but indignant when anyone points it out to you. I don't know what world you live in, but it's got to be a living hell.

Save it for the brainwashed masses on the other side of the globe.

[Peikko 1,575]

Iv'e had enough of your ignorant bs on here. Don't play anyone on here for stupid. You want to compare what goes on in the US compared to a lot of other country's ? You want to go ####### for tat on this ? Let's do it then. Otherwise save your ####### on here for someone who is mentally retarded and can't read English. You think we were all born yesterday or that none of us have travelled ? Seriously some of your post on here would be laughable if they weren't so far out.

A battered woman is a battered woman, doesn't matter where in the world it takes place. However, my point, such as it was, is that it's got ###### all to do with religion and everything to do with education. Allowing muslims to practice sharia law in the US isn't going to suddenly make stoning women for adultery mandatory or accepted or legal. Now, you may think that's #######, you have every right to be that ignorant but it doesn't change reality one jot.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

When I saw Robert Spencer being quoted as a credible source in that article, I knew it was bogus.

Wow. Everybody has a fan club these days.

I don't think David Koresh or Jim Jones did much to advance religious family values either.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

The reason so many people from South and West Asia move here is because life is better here and they have to deal with less BS. Even my wife says she can't imagine moving back to India. American culture gives women a degree of autonomy she simply would never get there. Even if she's legally free to do everything she does here (work, go to school, etc.) people there are a lot more intrusive and judgmental and it makes for a stifling environment for women.

Do you have an idea how long woman have even begun to have any level of autonomy here? About 25 years. And, that's if you were White all that time.

Save it for the brainwashed masses on the other side of the globe.

It's sorely needed whenever you post. You're like the replacement part for Booyah. When you think one scourge is removed, another comes along to take its place.

Edited February 26, 2011 by Sofiyya

[Peikko 1,575]

The reason so many people from South and West Asia move here is because life is better here and they have to deal with less BS. Even my wife says she can't imagine moving back to India. American culture gives women a degree of autonomy she simply would never get there. Even if she's legally free to do everything she does here (work, go to school, etc.) people there are a lot more intrusive and judgmental and it makes for a stifling environment for women.

Yes, that's true but it's changing. Take a look at the life of a woman in 1950's and 60's America and tell me how different it was for a woman then to an Indian woman now, probably not very much. Better yet, there are many men on these very forums who wish that is exactly how women had remained.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Turning the Other Cheek: Domestic Violence Touches Christian Women Too

"It has been 11 years since my ex-husband last beat me," says Ginny H. "Funny how we never forget the last time. We who have suffered spousal abuse remember distinctly the first and the last times we were hit, punched, kicked, shoved, or otherwise physically and/or verbally and emotionally assaulted. To this day I wrestle with after-effects of his abuse. But healing has come. Bit by bit and piece by piece, I have been reclaiming what abuse had taken from me."

Ginny is a Christian. And she is not alone.

"We are very aware that our Christian leaders are abusing their wives and abusing women," says Winnie Bartel, chair of the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) women's commission.

At its 11th General Assembly in Malaysia, the WEF, which represents 160 million Christians in 110 countries, released a report showing that incidents of violence against women are nearly as bad in church circles as in wider society.

In a strongly worded statement, WEF called upon the Church "to denounce abuse from the pulpit, to protect and provide for those in need of safety, to offer healing for victims, and to admonish offenders."

Co-author of the book "No Place for Abuse," Bartel says, "I am thrilled that WEF is taking the issue of abuse seriously. Henceforth, we'll make a difference. And it should be a radical difference."

Bartel herself was sexually abused as a child by a deacon in her church, which was covered up. Instead of turning against the church, Bartel says she found healing through true Christian love and grace - particularly when male members of WEF acknowledged her and many other women's pain and suffering at the last General Assembly.

"If more male leaders took a stand and went to bat on this issue," Bartel adds, "it might have a great influence on their peers and create a sense of accountability that's missing."

The national statistics are alarming. Women of ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) cite that 30 to 50 percent of women seeking help for themselves in hospital emergency rooms are victims of abuse. Twenty to 30 percent of adult women are at risk of being abused by their male partners during the course of marriage.

According to My Sister's Keeper International, domestic violence includes physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual and financial abuse that occurs between people in an intimate relationship. The group was organized for "the purpose of responding to the silent cries of our suffering sisters, including women of all faiths."

Among the ways that My Sister's Keeper reaches out is by raising awareness of the problem of domestic violence in all communities, including religious groups, and by encouraging all communities, including religious groups, to get involved in breaking the cycle of violence through education and training.

They also provide Godly guidance and practical assistance to the victim for a victorious life and urge batterers to attend recovery programs for their own healing.

My Sister's Keeper agrees that Christians are not exempt from domestic violence. They cite a landmark Minnesota case "revealing a chilling story of domestic violence in a Christian family. Lucille Tisland, described as a devout Christian woman, and her five children, were found to be the subjects of constant physical and emotional beatings by her pulpit-pounding preacher-husband for more than 13 years."

In many instances, Christian women stay in dangerous situations longer than a non-Christian might. According to Lois Pruneau, co-coordinator of the domestic violence department of the Family Support Council in the Lake Tahoe area: "A lot of our domestic violence victims that are of a certain faith say their marriage vows are very important to them and they don't know what to do when they're being battered in that marriage."

One woman is battered every 15 seconds in this country, Pruneau adds. "And some Christian women say they feel their abuse is a consequence of their own behavior, and that's why God isn't protecting them."

Nancy Nason-Clark, a professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick, says on her Web site there are many reasons why women don't leave, or for them to return: The inability to see any other option; fear of reprisal; economic dependency, and a feeling that leaving would mean breaking their wedding vows. "This may be a particular issue for women of faith," Nason-Clark writes.

Other women cite fear - fear that the abuser would follow "and kill me" - as well as the Biblical instruction to turn the other cheek. They also misunderstand Paul's command to submit to a husband's authority.

Joyce Williams-Mitchell, a veteran battered-women's advocate and a member of Union Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass told The Boston Herald, "Churches should remember that the pressure to keep up appearances within a congregation can make it harder for a woman to leave a violent situation.

"If it's difficult for people who aren't in faith communities," said Williams-Mitchell, "how much more difficult it is for people who are?''

By Janet Chismar, Religion Today

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=honor+killings&aq=f <---- Watch some of these....have some pop corn while your at it.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Belarus: Domestic Violence - More than a private scandal

1. Introduction

"A lot of people consider that violence is a normal part of life, and this attitude needs to be changed". (1)

Violence against women in the family exists throughout Belarus. Women from all social levels and backgrounds fall victim to this form of gender-based violence. Violence against women is an abuse of their basic human rights, including their right to physical and mental integrity, their right to life and their right to equality with men. Throughout the world women are hit, beaten, raped, and in some cases even killed by their intimate partners, while many more endure psychological violence and economic control. The stories they tell differ little from one country to another.

In preparing this report, Amnesty International listened to the accounts given by Belarusian women and analysed the action being taken by the state to support the victims of violence and to prosecute the perpetrators. On the basis of this, the organization makes recommendations about how to combat impunity and better protect and support women.

Raisa:

"I had been married since 1984. He drank, but I should have understood the situation. I took the child and went to my mother's, because he didn't just drink dreadfully, he insulted me, beat me. I worked at a factory and once a neighbour called me and said: 'Raia, he's going to the factory with an axe!' He got into the factory and attacked me. It was pure chance that I survived. I still have the scar. It was hell. He had attempted to kill me at the factory not at home, so there was a court case and he got six years. In 1992, he was sent to prison and I stayed alone with the child. After the court case I divorced him. I blamed myself the whole time and when the six years were up I started to live with him again. I registered him in my flat. There was a feeling of fear that grew and grew."

Svetlana:

"A short time after we got married he started to go out at night. He didn't come home, he was having fun. I understood that he had not yet got it out of his system. A wife wasn't enough for him. We were 21 when we got married. The first time I took my things and went home to mother. He came after me a month later and begged forgiveness and said that it wouldn't be like that anymore. The second time I was pregnant. He was working and hiding the income from me. It was really difficult financially. Once he came home, there was nothing to eat in the house and he brought himself something and sat down to eat and only thought of himself. I left and went to my mother. He didn't want me to get pregnant, but again he came and said he was sorry. I decided to forgive him again. Our daughter was born and a short time later I was pregnant again. When I was pregnant he got drunk and bent my arms behind my back. He wanted to go out drinking, but I didn't let him go out and that is how it all started. He swore at me and called me names."

Yelena:

"The main problem was my former husband's drunkenness... He beat me up very badly when the child was three months old. He beat me so badly that he broke the bridge of my nose. And as he was doing it, he was holding... And you know the most terrible thing for a mother is when she sees that a child is involved in all this willy nilly, especially when the child is so young... He was holding the child in his arms and beating me... You know it is really terrifying when the child's clothes are covered in blood and he is laughing and saying: 'There, you'll get on your knees now and beg me not to kill you'."

These women had all benefitted from the assistance of the service providers who put Amnesty International in touch with them, but there are thousands more women who do not have access to support and who do not dare to report the violence they suffer to the authorities.

Vera:

Vera allegedly suffered beatings and sexual abuse at the hands of her husband for 23 years before the violence led to her death in July 2005. Vera married Oleg in 1982 and the couple lived in a three-roomed flat with Vera's mother and sister. Vera's sister and mother could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the room where the couple lived, but Oleg put a lock on the inside of the door and locked Vera into the room with him. According to her sister, the police were called numerous times by neighbours who could hear the noise, and each time Vera 's mother reported the violence. However, threatened by Oleg and fearful of his reprisals, Vera would withdraw the report. Vera's mother would sometimes try to defend her daughter, but she was also beaten by him. Vera reportedly confided in her sister that Oleg gained sexual enjoyment out of partially strangling her. Vera's sister knows of four occasions when she ended up in hospital because of the injuries inflicted by her husband. On each occasion, Oleg, a former policeman, checked her into the hospital under a false name. He boasted that he could bribe policemen and medical personnel so that his crimes would not be reported. On 25 July 2005, Vera was found dead in her room with a noose around her neck. On 26 May 2006, Oleg was charged with driving his wife to suicide, a crime which carries a maximum sentence of five years. Vera's family believe that she was murdered and are contesting the charge.

Amnesty International is concerned that despite measures that have been taken by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to combat domestic violence, Belarus is falling short of its international obligation to protect women's rights. The very low number of women reporting to the police means that impunity persists for domestic violence. There are insufficient measures and services to protect the victims of domestic violence such as temporary shelters and adequate and safe alternative housing. There is a lack of mandatory government training programmes for police, judges and medical staff, and staff of state crisis centres for women. Key agencies such as law enforcement officers and the courts fail to record cases of domestic violence in a systematic manner and to create reliable and comprehensive statistics disaggregated by sex, indicating the relationship between victim and perpetrator. As a result of a lack of public awareness and support many women are unable to escape the cycle of violence, and some return to violent situations even after the aggressor has been prosecuted and punished because they have nowhere else to go.

The information in this report has been gathered through interviews with victims, lawyers, social workers, psychologists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), employees of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, and policemen, and through correspondence with the Ministry of the Interior and others. It is by no means a comprehensive or definitive account, rather it is a contribution to efforts to combat the problem of domestic violence in Belarus.

Amnesty International representatives conducted one fact-finding visit to Belarus in February 2006 and visited state organizations and NGOs in Minsk, Homiel, Orsha, Barysau and Мazyr.(2) Amnesty International is grateful to the dedicated men and women working in NGOs and within the state sector who have helped in compiling this report and hopes that the recommendations made to the Belarusian government will support them in their work. For reasons of personal safety, some of the names of women mentioned in this report have been changed.

This report is part of a series published during Amnesty International's Stop Violence against Women Campaign, which was launched in March 2004.(3) The global campaign highlights the failure of countries around the world to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women. While acknowledging that the Belarusian government should take action to address all forms of violence within the family, this document focuses on violence against women perpetrated by their husbands or other intimate partners or former partners, more commonly known as domestic violence or intimate partner violence.

In focusing in this report on domestic violence in Belarus, Amnesty International does not suggest that violence against women is peculiar to Belarus, or that it is more widespread in Belarus than elsewhere. Amnesty International has documented in its reports on many countries -- in the European context on France, Georgia, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom -- that women are subjected to violence by their intimate partners regardless of where they live or their social status. In many cases, violence is seen as a normal part of the relationship between men and women, or it is justified on the grounds of jealousy, honour or tradition. Amnesty International believes that none of these excuses, or indeed any other grounds, can ever justify violence against women. Human rights law and standards emphasize that violence against women is an inexcusable abuse of human rights.

2. What is violence against women?

According to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),(4) gender-based violence against women is "directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately".(5)

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women(6) defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life" (paragraph 1). Recent interpretations of this definition also include "the withholding of economic necessities from the victim".(7)

In its preamble, the Declaration describes violence against women as "a manifestation of historically unequal power relationships between men and women" and as one of the "crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men".

The World Health Organization has defined partner violence as any behaviour within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm, including:

acts of physical aggression, such as slapping, hitting, kicking and beating;

psychological abuse such as intimidation, constant belittling and humiliation;

forced intercourse and other forms of sexual coercion;

various controlling behaviours such as isolating a person from their family and friends, monitoring their movements, and restricting their access to information or assistance.(8)

In Belarus, violence against women by family members spans the spectrum from depriving women of economic necessities through verbal and psychological violence, to beatings, sexual violence and killings.

Raisa had endured years of violence at the hands of her husband before he attempted to murder her with an axe. Svetlana's husband went on regular drinking sprees with his friends and spent all the family money on drink leaving her and two small children to go hungry. Svetlana described how he would bring food home for himself and eat it in front of the family without offering her any.

The crime sections of Belarusian newspapers regularly carry reports of violence in the family:

In September 2005, in Navapolack, a man poured hot liquid over his wife causing fourth degree burns over 80 per cent of her body (Khimik, 13 September 2005).

In Salihorsk, a man and woman were taken to hospital with burns. The woman claimed that her husband had poured acetone over her and set her alight. The man claimed that they had had an accident while decorating (Sovetskaya Belarusiya, 2 February 2006).

In March 2006, as a result of an argument, a man threw his wife from the balcony of their ninth floor flat in Mahiliou. Her clothing caught on an aerial on the eighth floor, but by the time she was removed she was dead (Sovetskaya Belarusiya, 21 March 2006).

3. Belarus' obligations under international human rights law and standards

Violence against women is an abuse of women's basic human rights including their right to physical and mental integrity, their right to life and their right to equality with men. Belarus is a party to all major relevant international conventions which include:

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);

the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women's Convention) and its Optional Protocol;

the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture);

the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Children's Convention).

Under these conventions, Belarus is required to protect, respect and fulfil the human rights of people in its territory and subject to its jurisdiction without discrimination, including on the grounds of sex.(9) Article 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus recognizes the supremacy of international law.

The obligations of states under international law are not limited to ensuring that their agents do not commit violations; they are also required to take effective measures to prevent and punish violations by private individuals or groups. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) holds that states should "exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the state or by private persons." This is further expanded under CEDAW's General Recommendation 19 which states, "Under general international law and specific human rights covenants, states may also be responsible for private acts if they fail to act with due diligence to prevent violations of rights or to investigate and punish acts of violence, and for providing compensation."(10)

CEDAW, in its General Recommendation 19, also states that gender-based violence, including domestic violence against women, is a form of discrimination.(11) Thus as a state party to the Women's Convention, Belarus is obliged to "adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women".

Belarus is under an obligation to bring its laws and practices into compliance with the Women's Convention's provisions, including the whole range of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for women guaranteed by the Convention.

Governments that have ratified the Women's Convention are obliged to submit reports to CEDAW on implementation of the Convention every four years. Belarus submitted combined fourth, fifth and sixth periodic reports in January 2004. In its concluding recommendations CEDAW called on Belarus to place high priority on implementing comprehensive measures to address violence against women in the family and in society in accordance with General Recommendation 19. In particular, CEDAW called on Belarus to ensure that:

violence against women is prosecuted and punished with the required seriousness;

the draft law on the prevention and suppression of domestic violence should be enacted;

victims of violence have immediate means of redress and protection and access to legal aid;

victims have access to shelters in sufficient numbers with adequate funding;

public officials, especially police, judiciary and health care providers, are fully sensitized to all forms of violence against women;

the state takes awareness-raising measures to prevent and combat violence against women through the media and public education programmes.(12)

To date, Belarus has not enacted these recommendations. This report will show that despite some excellent initiatives by dedicated individuals in the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and other ministries, much still needs to be done if Belarus is to fulfil its obligations under international law.

4. Background

Political and economic conditions

Belarus has a population of 9,800,000 and gained its independence from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991. Belarus was one of the most affluent parts of the USSR, but since independence it has experienced economic decline. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has been in power since 1994 and has preserved state control of the economy and civil society along with all the symbols of Soviet power. This has meant that Belarus has been sheltered from the worst effects of the painful transition to a market economy that other countries in the region have faced. However, disregard for political freedoms, including violations of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, has led to international condemnation and isolation of the country. Large numbers of peaceful demonstrators were detained and beaten by riot police and anti-terrorist forces during demonstrations following the presidential elections on 19 March 2006, which reportedly failed to meet international standards. According to one local human rights group, a total of 686 people were detained between 19-25 March 2006. During 2005 and 2006 Amnesty International campaigned on behalf of 16 prisoners of conscience who have been imprisoned for the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Belarus is the only country in Europe that still executes prisoners -- it maintains the death penalty for "premeditated, aggravated murder" and 12 other peacetime offences. Belarus is not a member of the Council of Europe and its special guest status was suspended in 1997 after reportedly unfair elections.

Status of women in Belarus

"The Committee is concerned about the feminization of poverty, particularly among vulnerable groups of women, such as those heading households, older women and rural women."

CEDAW's concluding observations on Belarus, 2004

The Constitution of Belarus guarantees all citizens equality before the law and guarantees women equal rights in education, employment and socio-political, cultural and other spheres of activity. However, despite the fact that women have equal access to education at all levels and that their educational achievements are greater than men's, there are still significant barriers to equality in Belarus.(13)

Once women enter the labour force they do not have equal opportunities with men and they are paid less. Women tend to be employed in low paid sectors, and are more likely than men to become unemployed.(14) According to the Shadow Report to the CEDAW, by Lyudmilla Petina of the Women's Independent Democratic Movement, and Svetlana Burova of the Belarusian Young Women's Christian Association, one of the reasons for this is that enterprises tend to employ men rather than women to avoid being bound by generous maternity packages.(15)

Women represent 31 per cent of deputies of the Council of the Republic (upper house of parliament) and 10 per cent of the deputies in the

House of Representatives (lower house). However, in reality, these bodies have little power and can be bypassed by the President, who often introduces new legislation by presidential decree.

Stereotypical views of the role of women in society persist. According to the state report to CEDAW, "any initiative to promote gender equality and equal rights comes up against traditional, stereotypical concepts of the role of women as being confined to the family, while professional activities are widely considered to be unfeminine or anti-family."(16) Official documents and policies tend to reinforce the stereotypical view of women as mothers and wives rather than individuals in their own right. For example, in June 2006 Belarus hosted a Commonwealth of Independent States meeting of official women's organizations entitled "Woman. Mother. Peace". 2006 is the Year of the Mother in Belarus.

According to UN statistics, Belarus has a relatively high marriage rate(17) and social pressure for women to marry is high. The Second World War had a particularly catastrophic effect on the demographic situation in Belarus, and for a long time the ratio of men to women was very low.(18) One social worker working with victims of domestic violence gave this as one reason why women are willing to marry at any cost.

Trafficking

The Belarusian Young Women's Christian Association has been carrying out an anti-trafficking programme under the umbrella of the international anti-trafficking network, La Strada, for the past five years. Calls to their hotline demonstrate that Belarusian women and girls (and increasingly men) consider working -- and therefore may become victims of trafficking -- in over 82 countries. These countries include Germany (13 per cent), Russia (8.3 per cent), the UK (7.2 per cent) and the USA (6.6 per cent). Yemen, Burkina-Faso, Mali, Peru, South Africa and Oman are also possible destinations.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) offered reintegration and assistance to 563 returned trafficked women in 2005 and the La Strada helpline has assisted 190 calls from trafficked women or their families over the past five years. According to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, "the Government of Belarus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; but it is making significant efforts to do so."

There is no conclusive research on the link between trafficking and domestic violence, but women's NGOs in Belarus acknowledge that domestic violence is a significant push factor for trafficking, as women seek to escape their home situation and feel that they have nothing to lose.

5. Scale of domestic violence

Surveys by the World Health Organization show that, across the world, between 10 and 69 per cent of women reported being physically assaulted by an intimate partner at least once in their lives. In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the USA, 40-70 per cent of female murder victims were killed by an intimate partner.(19)

The real scale of the problem in Belarus is not known. Most cases go unreported because women either endure the violence or solve their problems without reporting the violence, such as by divorcing their husbands. However, there are indications that violence in the home is very widespread. In January 2004, Belarus presented its report on its implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women to CEDAW. In the oral presentation, the state representative identified violence against women as one of the main challenges towards achieving gender equality and stated that 30 per cent of women in Belarus experienced violence in the home and 12 per cent were subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace.(20) A survey by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), carried out from October 2001 to March 2002, concluded that 3.9 per cent of the women questioned in Belarus had been struck on the head or pushed frequently and that 20 per cent had been subjected to such treatment less frequently.(21)

There are no publicly available detailed government statistics concerning the problem of domestic violence and its impact on the lives of women and their families. The Ministry of the Interior website(22) gives statistics about crime figures and prosecutions, but these statistics do not include information about the victim or his or her possible relationship to the perpetrator. The Ministry of the Interior Department for the Prevention of Crime collates information from the duty officers who have responsibility for dealing with "domestic crimes"(23) (see section 7), but these statistics are not easily disaggregated by gender. In response to an inquiry, the Department reported to Amnesty International that in 2005, 166 people were murdered in the context of domestic relationships. In the same year, there were 396 cases of serious injury and 211 cases of less serious injury in the context of family relations. These figures cover all aspects of "domestic crime" and the victims include men, women and children. In total 2,736 women were victims of all types of crime in the home.(24)

A policeman working in the Department for Crime Prevention in Barysau (population: 150,148) told Amnesty International representatives that in the month of January 2006 there had been 232 reports of "domestic crime" in the town. Another policeman told Amnesty International representatives that in one of five districts of the town of Mazyr (population: 110,700) two men had attempted to murder their wives in 2005.

Many women escape from violent relationships by divorcing their husbands. Belarus has a high divorce rate; in 2003 there were 31,700 divorces compared to 69,900 marriages. Svetlana Burova, a social scientist who works with the NGO Belarusian Young Women's Christian Association, carried out a survey in 1979 among recently divorced women and found that 64 per cent of divorces took place because of beatings and alcoholism.(25) Unfortunately, no more recent surveys have been carried out.

Public attitudes

"Domestic violence is a secret problem -- people just don't talk about it."

Мember of an NGO in Orsha

Article 5 of the Women's Convention calls on governments to "modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women" in order to eliminate prejudices and all practices based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women. The government of Belarus has not yet taken effective measures to combat such prejudices.

In addition, domestic violence continues to be viewed as a private matter and something that many people are reluctant to speak about. A member of an NGO in Orsha (population: 136,000) told Amnesty International representatives how they faced public stigma over the issue:

"When we went to talk to the city council about domestic violence the first time they told us not to use swear words."

Very often this stigma masks an acceptance of violence in the family. Yelena (see Introduction) said that social acceptance of violence means that a woman often cannot even count on the support of her close relatives:

"Here there are still old-fashioned people who say: 'Put up with it. We are all women, we also had to put up with it', or 'Whatever he is, he is still the child's father'. In such situations it is essential to work not only with the woman and her child, but with the relatives, who surround her, because sometimes there is such pressure from the relatives that no matter how much she wants to leave, a woman has nowhere to go."(26)

In 2001-2002, in the context of a regional public awareness campaign for Women's Right to a Life Free from Violence, UNIFEM carried out a survey of the level of public awareness of domestic violence and sexual harassment in the workplace and its reflection in the media in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The majority of the population in all countries considered violent relations between people to be acceptable. Violence as a normal part of a relationship between men and women was less accepted in Belarus than in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

During their visit to Belarus in February 2006, Amnesty International representatives were struck by the amount of public information available about the dangers of trafficking, including contact details for hotlines run by state bodies and NGOs. The International Organization for Migration was running a poster campaign in train and bus stations and at border crossing points, and the Ministry of the Interior website offered information about the La Strada hotline. There was no comparable information about domestic violence, despite the fact that, as a psychologist working on the La Strada project pointed out, a much higher percentage of Belarusian women are exposed to domestic violence than to trafficking.

Amnesty International believes that a public awareness campaign about domestic violence would help to overcome social stigma and acceptance of violence, and encourage women to speak out.

Yes, that's true but it's changing. Take a look at the life of a woman in 1950's and 60's America and tell me how different it was for a woman then to an Indian woman now, probably not very much. Better yet, there are many men on these very forums who wish that is exactly how women had remained.

QFT

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

LOL...yes tell me about "Belarus"...or better yet let me tell you. In Belarus the government pimps their women to Middle East country's. Not only do they help forge passports for these women, they provide the air transportation (for a generous cut of course). White slavery in the "RUB" country's is and has been an on going problem. In Belarus I could literally beat the holey sh*t out of my wife and not worry about going to jail. $50 takes care of that...or even less.

Edited February 26, 2011 by Why_Me