The practice of stoning to death and honour killing as a state-sanctioned activity was revived in several Muslim-majority contexts, based on religious and cultural fundamentalist interpretations beginning, for instance, in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1970s and 80s. Feminist movements in many countries mobilized against these misogynist practices and the high rate of femicides, and Iranian women launched a national campaign. The WLUML network subsequently launched a global campaign in solidarity: “Stop Stoning and Killing Women!” to amplify national campaigns, while also bringing various forms of femicide and inhuman and extreme abuse of human rights practices across contexts into international focus.
The campaign was launched in 2007 In Istanbul with the participation of some 200 network members from multiple countries, and was re-ignited with the support of a number of network organizations from 2012-2013. The campaign aimed to expose the ways in which culture is abused and misused to justify violence against women.
What is the purpose of this campaign?
Our ultimate goal is to end the brutal practice of stoning. In the short-term – this November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – we aim to galvanize a critical mass of 10,000 supporters worldwide to sign our petition online on Change.org. The petition functions as a mobilizing platform articulating our analysis of stoning as a persistent form of violence against women and our agenda. Targeting the UN human rights system with stage one, this in turn feeds into our medium-term aim – to successfully advocate for a UN resolution against stoning. In the medium-to-long term, the campaign’s goal is to ban stoning in countries where it still exists in law and criminalize those who engage in this heinous practice worldwide. In order to achieve medium and long-term aims, we will engage in a separate lobbying strategy at the United Nations. This process will be integrated into the campaign on the ground.
GOALS:
- To stimulate and promote discussion and public awareness of the politicization of culture and religion as a means for justifying the abuse of women’s human rights.
- To support and strengthen local, national and global advocacy to end practices of stoning and other forms of ‘honour-based’ killings.
- To develop an inventory of discourses and counter-discourses on the use of culture and religion as a means of legitimization of violence against women.
- To build the capacity of women’s human rights advocates and women’s movements to document such cases of abuse and to use the relevant international instruments for advocacy.
Who is participating?
Key partners of the campaign include: Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML); Women’s UN Report Program & Network (WURN); the Women’s Intercultural Network; Justice for Iran; Research Institute on Women, Peace and Security; Foundation of Solidarity for Justice; BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights; Salmmah Women’s Resource Centre; Solidaritas Perempuan; Groupe de Recherche sur les Femmes et les Lois Senegal (GREFELS); Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre; Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq; and the Institute for Women’s Empowerment (IWE). We are joined by a broad and growing coalition of allies, influential individuals and international and local organizations whose work focuses on violence against women and torture and cruel and inhuman treatment and who champion the campaign and endorse the petition.
USEFUL RESOURCES
- Stop Stoning Women Now – Global Campaign Toolkit – WLUML
Publication Author: Naureen Shameem (2013)
This toolkit has been created for the use of allies of the campaign. We hope that it will function as a reference point for all of us as we work to raise awareness and publicize the campaign, broaden the reach of the campaign and develop a critical mass of supporters.
2. CSW 57 Panel – Global Campaign to Stop Stoning: Why Stoning Is Violence Against Women – WLUML
3. Commission on the Status of Women 57-Statement on Stoning – WLUML
4. International: The UDHR60 Campaign and the Stop Killing and Stoning Women campaign – WLUML
