Marital rape not being prosecuted enough, campaigners say, in a country where women face growing harassment
Activists have warned of an “epidemic” of sexual harassment and violence against women in Indonesia, in the wake of two recent cases of horrific domestic abuse.
In one incident, a man in Jakarta reportedly slashed his wife’s throat with a machete after she refused to have sex with him, an act witnessed by their two children, aged seven and 14.
Continue reading...As two exhibitions of the photojournalist’s work open in Madrid on her 70th birthday, Ferrato recalls some of the most powerful images in Holy – a retrospective spanning nearly 40 years
For nearly four decades, the photojournalist Donna Ferrato has documented the effects of domestic violence on abused women and their families. Her book and series Living with the Enemy is one of the most important works on the subject.
She launched a campaign in 2014 called I Am Unbeatable, which features women who have left their abusers.
Continue reading...Sally Challen was subjected to a false narrative by a criminal justice system that painted her as “a controlling and jealous lover who planned to kill her husband”, her son has said.
In doing so it failed to recognise the decades of abuse and coercive control she had suffered at his hands, David Challen writes in an article for today’s Observer that is heavily critical of how abused women continue to be viewed by the courts, a concern that women’s rights campaigners said they shared.
Continue reading...Reshma Qureshi’s makeup tip videos put a spotlight on violence against women, but survivors still face an uphill struggle for justice
When catwalk model Reshma Qureshi offers makeup tips, her online tutorials end with the message that an eyeliner or lipstick is just as easy to buy in India as a pot of over-the-counter acid.
The point, coming from a woman who was left disfigured and partially sighted by an acid attack, has already proved so powerful that it has helped lead first to an international petition, and then to the supreme court of India ordering states to enforce the ban on sales of the chemical.
Continue reading...Bill Shorten says money raised from banking fairness fund will provide tailored support packages for families
“Instead of asking ‘why did she stay’, we need to ask ‘where could she go’.”
Reframing the question of what options victims of family and domestic violence have in deciding to leave is behind Labor’s latest policy announcement which would see $60m committed to a program which helps tailor support packages for families needing to rebuild their lives.
Continue reading...Bolsonaro’s move allowing more people to own firearms is causing unease in a society where domestic violence is rife
A pledge to make it easier for “good citizens” to buy guns for self-defence helped sweep Jair Bolsonaro to power. But there is alarm that the Brazilian president’s decree loosening firearms laws will make pervasive violence against women even worse – and more deadly.
“I believe this is a very negative measure that will lead more women to be threatened by violence,” said Maria da Penha, the women’s rights activist whose case changed Brazil’s domestic violence laws. “This decree should be reviewed.”
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