Flood effected family

01/08/2015

Sukkhar Pakistan: A flood effected family staying on prevention dam of river indus trying to keep them safe from rain , near rohri on Tuesday July 28.2015

Iran’s working mums face sack after maternity leave

01/08/2015

TEHRAN : Tens of thousands of working mothers have been sacked in Iran since the start of 2014 because employers found cheaper staff, an official said Friday, warning that a new maternity pay policy remains unfunded.

The comments highlight the financial pressures on families and on the Iranian government, despite this month’s nuclear deal with world powers that could pave the way for an economic rebound.

An austerity budget passed in March after a precipitous drop in global oil prices has left key Tehran ministries, including education and oil, struggling to pay wages.
A new law enshrining nine months of paid leave for mothers has been passed yet there are no funds to pay its estimated 3.2 trillion rial ($985 million) bill, according to welfare bosses.

“So far, not one rial has been allocated,” Mohammad Hassan Zeda, a deputy at Iran’s Social Security Organisation, told the ISNA news agency in an interview.

He said studies showed that from 145,000 women who had gone on a six-month maternity leave in the past 18 months, 47,000 of them - almost a third - were sacked when they tried to return.

“This is because right now due to the situation in the job market, there are many individuals with higher education who are prepared to work for lower salaries,” said Zeda, noting the trend would likely worsen.

“If maternity leave is increased to nine months, the number of women getting sacked, upon returning to work after using maternity leave, will increase much more.
”
According to the Statistical Centre of Iran, the unemployment rate was 10.
8 percent in 2014, though unofficial sources estimate the number is as high as 20 percent.

Unemployment is particularly bad among women (19.
2 percent) and youths (25 percent).

Underemployment has also become common in Iran, according to the World Bank, with a weak labour market leaving only 36.
7 percent of the population economically active.

Zeda said the nine-month maternity leave term can start if the government allocates the money, but officials are “not allowed to implement a law for which no financial resources have been provided.
”
Around 160,000 working women would be eligible for the nine-month leave, he said.

After a deep recession, Iran returned to growth of three percent last year, partly due to limited sanctions relief under an interim nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.

A final deal struck on July 14 in Vienna stands to lift all UN, US and Europeans sanctions imposed on Iran as punishment for its disputed nuclear activities, raising hopes of better economic and job prospects.

Nairobi men suffer most domestic abuse as Western tops in violence against women

By JOAN THATIAH

01/08/2015

Kenyan women are nearly four times more likely to suffer from domestic violence than their men compatriots, a study shows.

An examination of data from the Economic Survey shows the most the vulnerable women are those aged between 25 to 29 years followed by 20 to 24 years.

The data also shows that men living in Nairobi and other big towns are more likely to be battered than their rural counterparts.

The findings also reveal that Nairobi, Nyanza and Western regions are leading in domestic violence for both genders.

Men living in Nairobi are more likely to be battered than those living in other areas of the county at 11.3 per cent, the study shows, while Western region is leading in domestic violence against women at 36.6 per cent.

The lowest cases of domestic violence against both men and women are experienced in North Eastern.

The findings show that the women that are least vulnerable to gender-based violence are those in the highest earning bracket, lending credence to those who have called for the empowerment of women.

This is more so because the study further found that the most vulnerable group to domestic violence is comprised of those who did not complete primary school at 30.9 per cent for women and 8.1 per cent for men.

“40.7 per cent of women have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime as compared to 10.9 per cent of men.

"This shows that among men and women of the same ages, women are 3.7 times more likely to have suffered from domestic violence than men,” Mr Kwame Owino, the executive director of the Institute of Economic Affairs said.

The study conducted by Nation’s Newsplex project together with the Institute of Economic Affairs, a public policy think tank, also found that women who have been married more than once are the most likely to experience violence.

The findings come hot on the heels of US President Barack Obama’s comments during his historic visit last week that Kenya’s growth was inhibited by the oppression of women.

The findings seem to affirm his sentiments.

MEN AND WOMEN NEED LEGAL PROTECTION

The study sought to find out whether both genders need legal protection as claimed by Maendeleo ya Wanaume chairman Nderitu Njoka.

“Although more women experience domestic violence than men, both of them need legal protection from domestic violence since they are equally victims,” said Mr Owino.

Despite the numerous reports of violence against men around the country in the recent past, the findings show that the woman is still more vulnerable to direct gender violence.

However, some experts we spoke to insisted that violence against women cuts across all socio-economic groups.

“Past academic evidence shows that gender-based violence is highly prevalent in the high earning income bracket.

"It is just less reported because people from this economic class feel like they have a particular image to maintain,” Dr Mumbi Machera, a University of Nairobi sociologist said.

Women who have been married more than once were found to be the most vulnerable to domestic violence with the study placing the probability of abuse at 37 per cent.

Widowed and separated men, on the other hand, were found to be more likely than married men living with their partners to have been victims of gender violence.

Based on residence, the research found that the prevalence of violence against women was near equal in both rural and urban areas.

Interestingly, however, among men, those from the urban areas reported significantly more instances of gender based violence.

HISTORY OF ABUSE

Dr Christopher Hart, a psychologist specialising in relationships, said most of the aggressors in domestic violence are those who have a history of abuse, perhaps going back into childhood, suggesting those who witnessed battery as children are likely to be violent when they grow up.

He added that alcohol abuse, isolation, a lack of resources and a wide difference in incomes were the other contributing factors.

“That tends to mean that it is worse in urban areas and in more economically stressed households.

"It could also be that people in urban areas are more aware of their rights and thus more likely to report,” he said.

Dr Hart agreed with those calling for equal legal protection of men saying they probably were abused just as much as women in the home, but were less likely to admit because of their pride.

“Kenyan women are probably no more vulnerable than men, the men would just not admit it.

"They are probably equally in need of protection.”

Woman speaks of forced conversion, denial to lodge FIR of rape, trafficking

01/08/2015

KARACHI: How women of marginalised communities are suffering at the hands of influential people and the state has turned a blind eye towards their misery came to light at a press conference held on Friday.

Emmi, 30, and resident of Thatta city, is now looking for justice with the help of a non-governmental body providing legal aid to women and child survivors of violence and abuse.

Ironically, however, the police have not only refused to register an FIR on one pretext or another but also sexually harassed her. There is no action from the government side either that has been informed in writing about the case, according to her.

Emmi,a resident of thata narrates her ordeal to journalists at a press conference held at madadgar office on friday

“When I took my complaint to the Thatta police, nobody took me seriously and the staff there started laughing. I was told to go to the house of DSP Makli for FIR’s registration,” said Emmi at the press conference organised by Madadgaar Helpline in its office.

She accused the police official of sexually harassing her. “I have been exploited for eight years and demand justice,” she said as tears rolled down her face.

Emmi’s troubles started when she became friendly with a man over the phone in 2008. The man that she identified as Shahbaz, a resident of Mirpur Sakro, later convinced her to meet him outside her house and kidnapped her with the help of another man, Ramzan.

“They took me to an unknown place where I was confined in a dark room for 20 days, beaten and raped. Then I was sold and taken to Nawabshah,” she said.

In Nawabshah, Emmy was forced to sign some papers to convert her from Hinduism to Islam and arrange her fake marriage with Javed Khaskheli who forced her into prostitution. She attempted twice to escape and was punished.

“I was burnt and initially admitted to a hospital in Nawabshah and later to the Combined Military Hospital in Hyderabad.

I was told that I should identify myself as the wife of Javed,” she told journalists, adding that she was also poisoned by his tormentors.

According to her, she spent about six years in Hyderabad in confinement during which she also met three girls brought for prostitution. She finally managed to escape on the second day of Eid and reached her home in Thatta. It came as a shock to her that her father, the only close relative he had, died following her kidnapping.

“With the help of a friend, I came to a court in Karachi where someone suggested that I should seek help from Madadgaar,” she explained.

She also showed a picture and the national identity card of one of his tormentors to media persons during the briefing.

Giving his remarks, Advocate Zia Awan said his organisation prepared a case for the victim and also contacted relevant police officials in this regard. But the police were not willing to register the case.

“On Thatta police’s insistence that the case didn’t fall in their jurisdiction and that the Mirpur Sakro police should be contacted, we asked the victim to go to the latter. But they also refused to register the case. Both police stations have accepted the complaint, though,” he said.

According to Mr Awan, it was after his NGO received no positive reply from the government side, including minister for culture Sharmila Faruqui, that it decided to highlight the case in the media.

“We have contacted police officials and a sitting minister to take action but all our attempts have been futile. What else an NGO could do. We are not a state,” he said in reply to a question.

“State inaction and justice denial is also a kind of terrorism. We want this case to be seriously investigated and culprits punished,” he said, adding that a number of cases had brought to his knowledge in recent months in which women were trafficked and used for prostitution.

The women, he said, were taken to Afghanistan via Balochistan.

“This case is just the tip of the iceberg. Most cases go unreported. In cases that reach us, often the victims are reluctant to talk to the media. There is a dire need to make the police and the justice system efficient,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015

Press Conference WDO

WDO press conference Shaista Bukhari, Aysha Rasheed,Saima, Samsan Salamat ,Khalid Qureshi