Vice President Joe Biden has announced the creation of new position in the White House- advisor on Violence Against Women. The position will help further enforce the landmark 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which imposes stricter penalties for those who commit crimes against women.

Vice President Biden, author of the act, counts the federal law as his greatest achievement.

Appointed to the position is Lynn Rosenthal, who has dedicated her life to combating domestic violence and is the former director of a shelter for battered women.

Rosenthal will serve as an advisor to the President and Vice President.

Sue Else, President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, commented, “Lynn Rosenthal is a pioneer in the movement against domestic abuse and sexual assault. Her expertise will help to shape federal policies that will serve countless survivors of domestic and sexual violence.”

White House Press Release

With the presidential election only a week away, advocates for women’s rights in Indonesia met on June 23 to discuss how to push gender issues onto the agenda. Although Indonesia has made strides in recent years to protect women’s rights with international and national legislation, activists contest that much still needs to be done to achieve true equality. Moreover, none of the three presidential candidates have addressed women-specific issues in their campaigns. 

The June 23 summit yielded a document outlining a 100-day and 5-year plan to advance policies promoting gender parity. A copy will be sent to all three presidential candidates with the expectation that the provisions will be included in the new government’s agenda. The new policies include eliminating or amending existing discriminatory legislation, such as the 1974 Marriage Law, which places the wife at a subservient status to the husband. Also discussed were suggested improvements to the education and business sectors, a desire to see increased representation for women in government, budgetary allowances for women’s issues such as reproductive health and violence against women, and participation in public debate.

INDONESIA: Presidential Poll Race Disappoints Women’s Activists-IPS News

Thousands of North Korean women have fled the extreme poverty and oppression in their home country only to be caught by Chinese traffickers. These women are often forced into prostitution or marriages with Chinese men in a process of human trafficking that has come to be regarded as modern day slavery. The women are raped repeatedly by traffickers and buyers, and are often expected to perform hard labor. Some estimate that as many as 50,000 North Korean women have now been bought and sold into new lives in China.

As an ally of North Korea, the Chinese government does not recognize these border-crossers as refugees. As a result, these women can be sent back to North Korea if they are caught, where they will most likely face further punishment. Although some local Chinese municipalities are beginning to recognize the problem, the central administration largely ignores issue. Though some make attempts to flee, most do not feel they have the option to resist. These women are held hostage by the poverty of their new situation, and many simply do not know where they are or where to turn for help.

Traffickers Prey on North Korean Women Fleeing to China-VOA News

In an industry dominated by men, Raqiba Barmaki has become the only female shopkeeper in Mazar-e-Sharif, the bustling city and pilgrimage site in northern Afghanistan. Although some women operate shops in Kabul, work for women is both hard to find and generally frowned upon. Families without a male breadwinner face particular hardship. With the support of her family and her own determination, however, Barmaki, a former teacher, has broken with tradition.

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At a recent meeting held by Swiss International Organization Crans Montana Forum, Maria da Luz Guebuza, first lady of Mozambique, called upon governments and the global community to look beyond statistics when considering the empowerment of women. Ms. Guebuza pointed out that statistical analysis implies, and may even encourage, competition between men and women, when the goal of women’s empowerment and development is that all “work [together] to develop the country,” as AllAfrica reports.

The 20th annual meeting of the Swiss organization focused partly on the theme of ‘The Increased Role of Women in Leadership of World Matters’. Representing the Mozambican delegation, First Lady Guebuza said that despite a significant number of women in parliament, there remains a considerable struggle for women’s empowerment in her native Mozambique: “We shall keep on struggling for women to be trained and able to participate in decision making.”

Former Ivorian Minister Ginette-Ursule Yoman spoke of the progress yet to be achieved, both within Africa and internationally: “The number of women in leading posts has been growing, but we still do not have women leading strategic development institutions.”

Mozambique: Emancipation Must Be More Than Mere Statistics-AllAfrica News

In 2004, the Moroccan parliament installed significant changes in the country’s family code, or Moudawana, in the area of women’s rights.

The reforms included:

1. The right for a woman to divorce
2. Raising the legal age of marriage from 15 to 18 (but with a small provision to allow judge exceptions)
3. Women are not longer required by law to obey their husband
4. A woman can be awarded custody of her children

At the crux of the women’s movement that demanded these changes was a million signature campaign, enumerating reform in the context of Islamic doctrine, not western feminism.

Five years after the reforms were instated, some traditionalists still fear that with greater rights in marriage come greater rates of divorce. However, statistics by Morocco’s Justice Ministry have shown the opposite. In fact, the rate of marriage has increased by 30 percent while the rate of divorce has only increased by a mere 3 percent.

Many rights advocates believe Morocco’s success will inspire similar movements in other Islamic countries.

Vital Voices Global Advisory Councilmember and member of Moroccan parliament Dr. Latifa Jbabd is excited by the change. She said,

“This little window that was opened by Islamists in parliament has become a huge door [for women].”

Is Morocco A Model for the Muslim World? - AWID

Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Services (SAFAIDS) recently published a report analyzing the relationship between culture, women’s rights and HIV/AIDS in Africa, finding that the epidemic is impacting significantly more women than men on the continent. Findings indicate that 60 percent of HIV positive adults in Africa are women, a fact largely attributed to “women’s lower socio-economic, political and cultural status,” as AllAfrica news reports.

The correlation between an absence of women’s rights and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has been widely acknowledged, yet the report maintains that little has been done to address the direct causation of the two issues. In an effort to create culturally relevant materials, SAFAIDS has distributed a casebook documenting the best practices of six Zimbabwean communities, intending to “help mitigate the HIV crisis through a cultural and gender perspective.”

There is a call for a concerted effort of gender-focused policies to address HIV/AIDS and there is much work to be done, as noted in the SAFAIDS report:

“While it is universally understood and accepted that traditional and cultural ideologies and practices that promote male dominance and the marginalization of women are key drivers of the epidemic in Africa, not much is known about how to effectively address those practices in a way that will increase gender equality and reduce vulnerability to HIV for African women.”

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Nadya Khalife, researcher with the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, writes in the Huffington Post on the limited political participation of women in Lebanon. Khalife comments that women must unite to achieve change: “For women, like me, who believe in fairness and equality, women’s exclusion from the political process is a sign for civil society to step up…We must mobilize women to become politically active, to participate in the daily decisions that affect our lives.”

Read Nadya Khalife’s post: A Woman’s Place, in Lebanon-The Huffington Post

A UN human rights expert voiced concern on July 1 regarding “attempts to curtail lawyers’ freedom to effectively represent their clients in Cambodia,” as the UN news center reports. Lawyers in the nation are frequently subject to intimidation, harassment, threat of prosecution and disciplinary action “merely for having acted in the interests of their clients,” as Special Rapporteur on the independence of lawyers and judges Leandro Despouy expressed in a press release.

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Twenty-four communities in Gambia have pledged to end the practices of female genital mutilation and early or forced marriage of young girls. The reform is due in large part to the work of Tostan, an organization facilitating community-led development in East and West Africa. Joined by UNICEF and supported by the Gambian government, the 24 communities commemorated their pledge with a ceremony.

With powerful symbolism, Kobaye Nyabally, a native of Dasilameh who said she had been cutting herself for years as part of a cultural practice she had inherited from her parents, “pledged to abandon the practice by dropping her knife in front of the crowd.” Regional health officer Saikouna Sagina commended the communities for their show of support for the health rights of women and girls, adding that “the declaration by the 24 communities is a clear manifestation [of] the knowledge gained…[that] is impacting positively on their lives.”

It is the hope of organizations such as Tostan and UNICEF that the momentous commitment of the communities will serve as a regional and international example. Gambia’s practice rate of FGM is among the highest in Africa, 78 percent among women aged 15-49 years, as AllAfrica informs.

Gambia: 24 Communities Pledge to Abandon the Practice of FGC, Early/Forced Marriage-AllAfrica News