Asia

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/v-egms-gplahpaw.htm#expert

"Harmful practices against women in India: An examination of selected legislative responses"

Violence against women, of which harmful practices against women is a part, has been acknowledged as “one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men” equality rights. Women face violence due to their position of inequality; their vulnerability to violence being exacerbated due to their positions of dependency as well as prevailing patriarchal attitudes. The Indian Constitution guarantees women equality before the law and the equal protection of laws under Article 14 and prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex under Article 15. A unique feature of the Indian Constitution is Article 15(3), which empowers the State to take special measures for women and children. Despite these guarantees, the position of women in India remains unequal.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02775395/32/3

*This full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

Domestic Violence Network (DVN) is a Chinese women's NGO that has emerged in response to the transnational women's human rights movement against violence against women. This article discusses and analyzes the socio-political processes of DVN's “translation” of the transnational issue frame of “violence against women” in its local programs. It reviews DVN's gender and human rights advocacy across three of its major areas of activism—research, gender training and legal advocacy. Moreover, it examines how DVN collaborates with state agencies, especially the governmental women's organization, to transform its advocacy into policy action. In particular, the article raises questions about the potential costs of this “politics of engagement,” arguing that this relationship with the state may dilute DVN's gender and human rights advocacy as well as curb its political autonomy in future activities.

http://genderlinks.org.za/gmdc/research/figure-it-out-reporting-on-traff...

Media coverage of trafficking of women and children, migration and sex work is confused and inaccurate. Media wrongly uses the terms ‘sex work’ and ‘trafficking’ synonymously, perpetuating stereotypes and stigmatisation and contributing to the violation of women’s right to free movement and livelihood options, say these authors. If media reports were to be believed, there would be no young girls left in Nepal. Oftquoted figures such as 5,000-7,000 Nepali girls being trafficked across the border to India every year and 150,000-200,000 Nepali women and girls being trapped in brothels in various Indian cities, were first disseminated in 1986 and have remained unaltered over the next two decades. The report that first quoted these statistics was written by Dr I S Gilada of the Indian Health Association, Mumbai, and presented in a workshop in 1986. Subsequently, a version of this report was published as an article in the Times of India on January 2, 1989. The source of this figure remains a mystery to date. Unfortunately, such a lack of clarity is more the norm than the exception when it comes to reporting on trafficking in women and girls.

http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=publisher&publishe...

Since   1995,   violence   against   women   (VAW)   has   captured   the attention  of the  government  and  legislators  in  the  Philippines  as  a  result  of the  demand  of  a  growing  women’s  human  rights  movement  and  the  State Obligation  of  the  Philippine  Government  under  the  Convention  on  the Elimination  of  All  Forms  of  Discrimination  Against  Women,  its  Optional Protocol as well as other international conventions. The Beijing Conference on Women in 1995 heightened the demand of women’s rights advocates for laws protecting women from violence all over the world.

Progressive reforms in laws protecting women  were brought about by several factors beginning with the democratization process that started in the 1986 People Power  Revolution after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, the  1987  Constitution  that  has  specific  provisions  on  the  rights  of  women and fundamental equality before the law of men and women, the increasing number  of  women’s  organizations  in  the  provinces  with  links  to  Metro Manila based women’s human rights organizations, and the participation of women  legislations  who  are  becoming  increasingly  aware  of  the  need  for gender  equality  and  the  elimination  of  VAW.  This  period  marks  the contribution  of  women  legislators  who  were  elected  in  the  1992  elections and thereafter.

Since 1995, violence against women (VAW) has captured the attention of the government and legislators in the Philippines, propelled by the demand of a growing women’s human rights movement and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, its Optional Protocol as well as other international conventions. The Beijing Conference on Women in 1995 heightened the demand of women’s rights advocates for laws protecting women from violence.

Progressive reforms in laws protecting women was brought about by several factors beginning with the democratization process that began in the 1986 People Power Revolution after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, the 1987 Constitution that has specific provisions on the rights of women and fundamental equality before the law of men and women, the increasing number of women’s organizations in the provinces with links to Metro Manila based women’s rights organizations, and the participation of women legislations who are becoming increasingly aware of the need for gender equality and the elimination of VAW. This period marks the contribution of women legislators who were elected in the 1988 elections and thereafter. 

http://www.usaid.gov/gsearch/philippines%2Bnational%2Bsurvey%2B2008

Document is top result

The National Statistics Office (NSO) is pleased to present this final report on the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). The survey is the ninth in a series of surveys conducted every five years since 1968 designed to assess the demographic and health situation in the country. The 2008 NDHS provides basic indicators on fertility, childhood mortality, contraceptive knowledge and use, maternal and child health, nutritional status of mothers and children, and knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. For the first time, data on violence against women were collected in this round of the DHS. Fieldwork for the 2008 NDHS was carried out from August 7 to September 27, 2008 covering a national sample of approximately 13,000 households and 14,000 women aged 15 to 49 years.

http://chinatoday.sinoperi.com/en20073/610959.jhtml

*The full article is available through this link. This article may be available free of charge to those with university credentials.

PILES of books on women's issues cover every working surface of Guo Ruixiang's office. On its wall is a poster bearing the slogan: "curb domestic violence."

http://www.omct.org/violence-against-women/urgent-interventions/japan/20...

This report was designed to supplement the NGO Shadow Report on the general situation of torture in Japan, in order to ensure that women’s issues are brought to the attention of the United Nations Committee against Torture (“CAT”) in its consideration of, and response to, torture and ill-treatment in Japan, given the Government’s failure to recognize the scale and seriousness of gender-based violence. The report was presented by OMCT and AJWRC at the CAT’s 38th session held in May 2007 in Geneva.1 Torture and other manners of ill-treatment of women in Japan, including rape, domestic violence and trafficking, persist in Japanese society under silent acquiescence, open tolerance, inaction and sometimes direct involvement of state agents including: police, immigration control officers and the judiciary. Further, the Japanese State continues to fail to provide redress and remedy for the victims of such crimes, including the military sexual slavery during the Second World War. Even though several international bodies, such as the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”) and the International Labour Organization (“ILO”), have made recommendations to the Japanese State, for it to address these issues in a responsible manner, it has failed to take necessary actions.

http://www.iolaw.org.cn/global/en/shownews.asp?id=18172

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted unanimously by UN General Assembly in 1979, taken as one of the core human rights treaties of the United Nations, is the milestone of the movement for gender equality. To achieve the aim of gender equality, CEDAW endows women with comprehensive rights in civil, political, economic, social, cultural and domestic aspects, and imposes state parties to take all appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

People’s Republic of China ratified CEDAW in December 1980, and made a reservation on Article 29(1) of the Convention. China has not ratified the optional protocol. According to Article 18 of the convention, till now, China has handed in 6 periodical reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

http://www.cyelp.com/index.php/cyelp/article/view/42

http://www.parliament.lk/en/business-of-parliament/acts-bills?tab=acts&t...

An act to provide for the prevention of any act of domestic violence and for matters connected therewith or incidental in Sri Lanka.

Trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, is a highly lucrative business worldwide. Millions of women and girls, mostly from poor countries, are trafficked globally into the sex industry. They are traded as objects or goods to be used like any commodity. This human rights problem has been the subject of  various international instruments, including, notably, the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. Trafficking victimizes mostly women and girls because of gender discrimination and their vulnerability.

In response to this problem, many countries have signed or acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which obliges States to pass laws to stop trafficking. The Philippines ratified this convention in 1981. These international instruments notwithstanding, trafficking continues unabated, with syndicates preying on vulnerable women and children from developing countries like the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand. It thrives as a very lucrative business because there is an existing demand for cheap labor, sex slaves, and organs of human beings. Traffickers take advantage of the lack of laws and inadequate government policies, poor law enforcement, corruption in government, political and economic conditions of the countries of origin, as well as the domestic situations of their target victims.

http://www.omct.org/rights-of-the-child/reports-and-publications/philipp...

Writing alternative reports is one of the main activities of the OMCT and a vital source of information for the members of the Human Rights Committee. With these reports, it is possible to see the situation as objectively as possible and take a critical look at government action to eradicate torture.

Under the aegis of the European Union and the Swiss Confederation, the “Special Procedures” program presented this report on state violence and torture in the Philippines at the 79th session of the Human rights Committee, which took place in Geneva from 20th October to 7th November 2003 and during which the Government’s report of the Philippines was examined.

The study is divided into three parts. Part I provides a general overview of torture and inhuman or degrading treatments (in prisons in particular) committed by state officials. Parts II and III deal with torture and inhuman or degrading treatments of women and children respectively. This rather novel approach sheds light on the situation of particularly vulnerable groups of people. The Human Rights Committee’s Concluding Observations and Recommendations adopted following examination of the Filipino Government’s Report are included in the Appendices.

http://www.solidaritycenter.org/publication/trafficking-of-women-and-chi...

“Trafficking of Women and Children in Indonesia” examines the many forms of human labor trafficking, their causes and the demographics fueling the rise of women and children in forced and exploitative labor. 

http://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/en/countries/asia/india/2002/sou...

In 2002, the South Asian Regional Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) signed a Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.