WLUML Newsletter 7

Women worldwide continue to be subjected to terrible violence in the private and public sphere, and our networkers in Senegal alert us to a grave situation where perpetrators of violence against women in that country believe that they can continue to offend without facing prosecution.

We also give special mention to Cherifa Kheddar who received the Award for the Defence of the Human Rights of Women in December 2008. Ms Kheddar supports female survivors of the Algerian civil war, thousands of whom were raped, tortured or forced into hiding by the fundamentalists’ armed insurgency.

The differential treatment of women that leads to prohibitions on their dress and behaviour, and can result in sexual harassment and even enforced gender apartheid and murder is a reality that cannot be ignored in discussions on multiculturalism and the role of religion and culture in Muslim communities. Fatou Sow underlines the questions that are central to a current renewal of feminist claims throughout the world in her reflection on two conferences in October 2008: From Morocco to Cataluña: Feminisms, multiculturalism and identity rights.