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	Sexual violence against women & children at critical levels by The Hindu, NDTV, Times of India, agencies India   May 2018   A series of gruesome child rape cases over recent months continues to leave India reeling. (SBS News, AFP)   In January, an eight-year-old girl was abducted in remote Jammu and Kashmir state, before she was drugged, starved, gang-raped and murdered.   During the fallout, it emerged that two teenagers were raped, doused in kerosene and set on fire in the eastern state of Jharkhand, one of them dying from her injuries.   New Delhi-based columnist Mitali Saran was unequivocal, writing in a dispatch to The New York Times that "India is sliding toward a collapse of humanity and ethics".   While in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 50 former police chiefs, ambassadors and senior civil servants wrote that "in post-Independence India, this is our darkest hour".   The crimes are some of the most high-profile since the 2012 rape and murder of a student on a New Delhi bus that triggered mass protests and international condemnation.   Indians have once again taken to the streets and the government has now decided to introduce the death penalty for certain instances of rape. But behind the headline cases, there lies a disturbing trend.   Figures from the National Crime Records Bureau show child rape is on the rise across India. There were 10,854 cases of child rape reported nationally in 2015, while this number rose to 19,765 in 2016. This means that child rape now makes up about 40 percent of the reported rape cases.   The Indian Express, joining a chorus of outrage, called it a "huge spike in the rape of children". "It is for the first time that such a sharp increase in sexual assaults on children has been registered," the newspaper said.   Prabhat Kumar from NGO Save the Children said the "upsurge" was the result of both an increase in child rape cases and an increase in reporting. But he said the latest numbers are just "the tip of an iceberg".   "There is a huge stigma when it comes to reporting sexual offences, due to fear of ostracisation in the family and society and also due to insensitive behaviour among the law enforcement agencies responsible for dealing with such cases," he told SBS News from New Delhi.   A 2017 report by Human Rights Watch found that rape victims "suffer humiliation" at police stations and hospitals across India.   The report said police "are frequently unwilling to register their complaints, victims and witnesses receive little protection" and medical professionals - often males - can subject victims to "degrading tests".   "These obstacles to justice and dignity are compounded by inadequate health care, counselling, and legal support for victims during criminal trials of the accused."   Material from UNICEF India suggests it could be the "consequence of discrimination against women and of persisting inequalities between men and women".   India is ranked 125 of 159 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, which examines the inequalities in reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market participation.   While the United Nations Resident Coordinator in India Yuri Afanasiev issued a statement citing the "everyday normalisation" of sexual violence in India.   "Such normalisation can only be prevented through strong engagement with schools, colleges, communities, state machineries and elected leaders, and a policy of zero tolerance of violence against women and girls," it said. "Addressing impunity at every level – family, community, institution – is crucial."   Police have also alleged that there could be a sectarian element to some of these crimes. The eight-year-old who was recently murdered and raped was Muslim while all the accused are Hindus, and it occurred in a deeply polarised Indian region. Local activists also blame various levels of government for not taking child rape seriously enough.   After the recent rape and murder of the eight-year-old, the Kashmir deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta controversially called it a "small incident". While some local leaders appeared to offer support to the men accused.   Responding to public pressure, the Indian government has introduced the death penalty for people convicted of raping girls aged under 12. The law has also been amended to include more drastic punishment for convicted rapists of girls below the age of 16.   But there has been some pushback on the possibility of using the death penalty.   Save the Children''s Mr Kumar told SBS News "there is no evidence that the death penalty for child rape acts as deterrence". "We believe that the focus should be on enforcing existing laws in a speedy manner."   He pointed to the fact that the Indian government brought in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2012 but there has been no reduction in cases.   UNICEF India similarly questioned the death penalty, saying in a tweet "we hope this will be backed up by real investments in protecting children, in making schools, public spaces but above all our own homes and communities safe for children".   Mr Kumar also expressed concern for the lack of support that victims currently receive in India. "If children are made to feel guilty for the abuse, then they will develop a deep sense of worthlessness," he said. "And abused or exploited children are sometimes re-victimised if they are rejected by the family, community and society.. If the process of healing does not take place, the trauma will last a lifetime." http://bit.ly/2KTcaYf   8 May 2018   Indian village councils under fire over "farcical" punishment for rape suspects, by Annie Banerji.(Thomson Reuters Foundation)   India''s traditional village councils must be prosecuted for acting as de-facto courts, activists said on Tuesday, after a teenage gang-rape victim was burned to death in apparent retaliation for the punishments handed down by one.   The 16-year-old victim was killed after her parents reported her kidnap and rape to their village council, which imposed a fine of 50,000 rupees (552 pounds) on the two accused and ordered them to do 100 sit-ups.   Shortly afterwards, a mob set fire to their house in the eastern state of Jharkhand, killing the girl - an attack human rights activists say could have been prevented had the original crime been reported to police.   "They (council) abused their authority, acting as judge and jury to come up with this farcical decision, which resulted in a miscarriage of justice and loss of life," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.   "They should have informed the police, especially since it was a crime involving a minor. What they have done is illegal and must be properly punished," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.   India''s often male-dominated village councils hold huge sway, particularly in rural areas, settling disputes on everything from land and cattle to matrimony and murder.   They are coming under growing scrutiny for regressive and illegal edicts ranging from banning women from wearing western clothing and using mobile phones to supporting child marriage and sanctioning so-called honour killings.   But political ties mean they remain largely immune from prosecution, said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, a Delhi-based women''s advocacy group.   "They are bullies of the village and their extra-constitutional actions create a culture of rape with impunity."   "Politicians need to stop using them, supporting them, encouraging them and end this illegal parallel justice system."   Ravi Kant, founder of charity Shakti Vahini which recently challenged the role of the village councils in India''s Supreme Court, said such punishments served "the opposite of justice".   "Girls become very vulnerable and that''s why we need to bring the fear of the law," Kant said.   "People who intervene illegally in such cases, they need to be booked (charged), so that a strong message can be sent."   India toughened its laws on sexual violence and promised to speed up trials after the fatal gang rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 sparked mass protests.   Last month the government approved the death penalty for the rape of girls younger than 12 following the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl.   But activists say too little has been done to implement the laws and sexual violence remains common.   Police have now arrested 15 people over the teenager''s gang rape and opened a case against several others including members of the village council for failing to report the allegations.   http://tmsnrt.rs/2G5cSOx http://tmsnrt.rs/2I7RJcm http://tmsnrt.rs/2Kg2CoP   May 2018   Horrific rapes in India in recent days have once again sparked outrage and large-scale protests nationwide. The ghastly incidents highlight the link between sexual violence and the caste system. Murali Krishnan reports (DW).   Caste dynamics permeate every aspect of life across vast swathes of India, particularly in the South Asian nation''s rural areas. When it comes to sexual violence, a potent mix of caste-driven rivalries, and sometimes religion-based ones, has been the prime motivational reason.   The country is still coming to grips with the recent gang rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir that drew global attention and condemnation. But sexual violence cases involving marginalized groups — including tribal people and the Dalits, who form the bottom of the Hindu caste and social hierarchy — haven''t received enough public attention, say analysts.   Vulnerable to systematic discrimination and attacks, women from the Dalit community regularly fall victim to sexual crimes committed by "upper-caste" Hindu men.   Last month, a Dalit girl who was allegedly raped for several months went to the superintendent of police''s office in the Satna district in the central state of Madhya Pradesh with a six-month-old fetus wrapped in a plastic bag. She accused three upper-caste locals of sexually assaulting her. In the state of Chhattisgarh, a similar case came to light when a 22-year-old woman was allegedly lured by a priest and raped.   The list is long and observers say the incidents demonstrate that caste-based rape is a tool of domination that the upper castes use against "lower-caste" women.   "We have seen this almost on a daily, yet sickening, basis. There is no caste-based data on sexual crimes in the country, but it is there for everyone to see. The women are also targeted more when their men folk leave for urban centers in search of work," Ranjana Kumari, director of the Center for Social Research, told DW.   Analysts point out that rape is often used as a weapon when there is a situation of caste or class conflict. This was evident in February 2016 when an agitation by the Jat community, a relatively well-off upper caste agricultural community demanding reservation or "quotas" in government jobs, disrupted life in the northern state of Haryana.   During the violent riots, it came to light that attackers dragged out nine women, all Dalits, from their houses and subjected them to gang rape.   Similar incidents have also happened in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Sexual violence is not restricted to rural spaces, however. Last month, the southern city of Hyderabad''s crime records bureau pointed out that over the past three years, 37 Dalit and tribal women in the city have been raped by members of upper castes.   "Rape is about power. Therefore, rape of Dalit women by upper-caste men is an exercise of power. It is also how upper-caste men can imply that Dalit men were not able to ''protect'' women. Hence, rape is also a contest among men," sociologist Sanjay Srivastava told DW.   Dalit women number over 100 million and according to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than four Dalit women are raped every day. The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, an NGO, says over 23 percent of Dalit women report being raped, and many have reported multiple instances of rape.   Many perpetrators commit sexual crimes with a sense of impunity, say experts, pointing to abysmally low conviction rates and a lack of legal protection for the victims.   Activists chronicling atrocities against the Dalit community say the rural women are subjected to ghastly crimes when they or their families are deemed to have violated traditional caste-derived rules and norms.   "One form of punishment is that either their property is burnt down or looted. The other degrading method is, women are raped, undressed and then paraded in public squares," Shabnam Hashmi, a social activist told DW.   A variety of reasons can be attributed to the rising violence against women from marginalized communities. With men from lower-caste groups increasingly migrating to cities and urban areas in search of employment, women of their families are rendered vulnerable back in their villages.   In addition, displacement of indigenous communities from their known areas of living like forests has led women to lose their secure conditions of life and render them vulnerable.   Political assertion by the Dalits has also been a reason for the increase in attacks. "The government''s claims about safeguarding Dalit rights are a sham. Caste-based power dynamics need to be challenged. We are dealing with a historical problem here," says activist Paul Diwakar.   http://www.dw.com/en/caste-dynamics-behind-sexual-violence-in-india/a-43732012 http://bit.ly/2IfH62X http://gendermatters.in/2018/04/gender-based-violence/ http://www.csrindia.org/ http://bit.ly/2IaAVgx http://bit.ly/2JEZgfX http://bit.ly/2IaFUhu http://bit.ly/2IBRAtZ http://bit.ly/2JqySWr http://www.savethechildren.net/article/third-india-s-girls-expect-be-assaulted-or-stalked-when-they-go-out-public-new-report
	Amid allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma, UN chief calls for civilian protection by UN News, agencies Syria   The use of chemical weapons, under any circumstances, is unjustifiable and abhorrent.   Alarmed at persistent reports of chemical weapons use in Syria, the United Nations Secretary-General has called on the Security Council to demonstrate unity and resolve in response to bringing to justice those who use.   In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, Secretary-General António Guterres expressed that the use of chemical weapons, under any circumstances, is unjustifiable and abhorrent.   “Equally unjustifiable is a lack of response to such use, if and when it occurs. Impunity cannot prevail with respect to such serious crimes,” he added.   The statement follows a meeting on 20 March, between Mr. Guterres and Ahmet Üzümcü, the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).   During the meeting UN chief reiterated his support for OPCW’s work in investigating allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria as well as his confidence in its integrity and expertise as well as in that of its Fact-Finding Mission and its conclusions.   The OPCW is an international organization which works closely with the UN to implement the Convention against Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and eliminate the use of chemical weapons as well as the threat of their use. http://bit.ly/2JtTo95   http://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2018/chemical-attacks-syria/en/ http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/war-crimes.html http://bit.ly/2xaaCW7 http://bit.ly/2q9Dk6x http://www.icc-cpi.int/resourcelibrary/official-journal/elements-of-crimes.aspx http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/film/2013/04-05-chemical-weapons-beerli.htm http://bit.ly/2n7015D http://bit.ly/2v2v5M6 http://bit.ly/2H8PYdq http://bit.ly/2q4sWL5 http://bit.ly/2JqRjKZ http://bit.ly/2qih5ZZ http://bit.ly/2GHiiAb http://bit.ly/2GNVYcd http://bit.ly/2HNfMdi   * There have been repeated calls for the ongoing violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law taking place in the Syrian conflict to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation. On the 24th of Feburary the UN Security Council called for a 30 day cessation of hostilities in Syria. The conflict now entering its eighth year with such devastating consequences must be brought to an end. Visit the related web page
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