A round-up of our work in April 2016
News
COMING SOON – EQUALITY NOW’S NEW LOOK AND FEEL
We may not be turning 25 until next year, but that’s not stopping us from celebrating early. Stay tuned as we get ready to launch our next chapter. Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey. Your feedback is crucial in helping us to inspire even more people to create a just world for women and girls!
Events
Slideshow: Our favorite March moments
This March was one of our best ever. We celebrated Women’s History Month with Versace US and the cast of Broadway’s Eclipsed in honor of International Women’s Day (IWD), and advocated with inspiring activists from across the globe at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60). We’d especially like to thank Versace US and their shoppers who raised more than $32,000 for Equality Now for International Women’s Day! Re-live some of our favorite moments now.
Campaign Updates
#TimeforaWomanSG: Women candidates & a clearer process in UN Secretary-General race
Our efforts to see women candidates and a more transparent election process for the next Secretary-General are paying off! Four of the nine current candidates are women, and, for the first time ever, Member States had the opportunity to question the nominees at the UN in a public forum open to civil society and broadcast live.
#ENDDEMAND: FRANCE BANS PURCHASE OF SEX
On 6 April, the French National Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Nordic Model. Moving forward, people in prostitution will no longer be treated as criminals while those who buy or facilitate the purchase of sex will face charges. This approach, based in promoting gender equality and human rights, has proven effective in curbing sex trafficking and places France in compliance with international and European law on the issue. Go France!
#JUSTICEFORGIRLS: PARAGUAY QUESTIONED ON FAILURE TO PROTECT GIRLS FROM SEXUAL VIOLENCE & FORCED PREGNANCY
Our 4 April hearing with partner CLADEM before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) was a major step toward getting justice for girls in Paraguay. The hearings put the voices of girls who have been raped, isolated and forced into motherhood on the record. We are committed to making sure that more girls don’t fall through the cracks like 11-year-old Mainumby, who continues to struggle with forced motherhood and is still waiting to see justice in her case.
RADOVAN KARADZIC – A HISTORIC CONVICTION 20+ YEARS IN THE MAKING
On 24 March, 70-year-old former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, was convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by a UN tribunal in the Hague. The conviction came 21 years after he had been indicted and 23 years after our third ever Equality Action campaign targeting him, Bosnian Serb military leader, Ratko Mladic, and others responsible for the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war. The highest-ranking official to be convicted, he was found guilty on 10 of 11 charges and sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment.
In 1993, Equality Now mounted an investigation into Serbian forces’ genocidal campaign of “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims during the Bosnian war. Co-founder Feryal Gharahi led a mission to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to report first hand on the horrific campaign of torture, rape, forced pregnancies and killing under Karadzic. We testified before Congressional hearings on the issue, were instrumental in bringing international attention and media to the atrocities and assisted in recruiting women attorneys to gather evidence on behalf of the UN War Crimes Commission.