Posted on: 09-03-04 20:21:16
You're very welcome, Biomed. 
. These issues must be brought forth to bring awareness. I'll post many more when I have the time.
Regards.
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Hey BL
Great !!!!!
You made my day... thanks for spending time on bringing up these issue, keep it up!
It looks our women are looser in both the countries... India and Canada if you go by stats... what a pity 
regards.
Biomed
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"Change before you have to" : Jack Welch
Quote:
Orginally posted by biomed
Hey BL
Great !!!!!
You made my day... thanks for spending time on bringing up these issue, keep it up!
Biomed
Hey, I live for this stuff.
As a matter of fact, on many fronts the plight of Indian women is much worse than that of women in Canada. Especially the ones in the rural areas. Some may say its because of population, so its ok. But I don't agree. I think its a crying shame and something must be done about it. We must either actively or through donations contribute to the cause of women, all over the world for that matter.
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Two-fold Discrimination against women, gender and caste based....When will it stop? Read article at amnesty.org
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Discrimination Against Women
According to a recently released Amnesty International report, women in India are targeted for violence and discrimination not just because of their gender, but also on the basis of their caste, community, religious affiliation and other factors. The report, entitled “Battle Against Fear and Discrimination,” was released in conjunction with Amnesty International’s worldwide Campaign to Stop Torture.
The report highlights patterns of violence—including the beating, stripping and rape of women—in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It focuses particularly on dalit (“untouchables”) and adivasi (tribal) women; on their lack of access to justice, and the failure of the state to protect them at the local level.
The Case of Ramvathi Chandra
The case of Ramvathi Chandra exemplifies the types of abuse and discrimination faced by women in India. Ramvathi Chandra and her husband owned land that was coveted by her neighbors who belonged to an upper caste. In January 1999, Ramvathi was raped by five higher caste men. Amnesty believes the rape was a means of isolating her and her husband within the community because of the stigma attached to this crime in India.
Ramvathi attempted to bring her attackers to justice, but police refused to file a report on her behalf or conduct an investigation of her allegations. Sometime later, both Ramvathi and her husband were severely beaten. He barely survived; she died.
Attacks like the one on Ramvathi are not unusual. In many parts of India, women are killed as “dayans,” or witches. It is widely believed that most women killed as “dayans” are, in fact, targeted as a result of property disputes.
Police Issues
Often women will not approach police because they fear being dishonored, dismissed or further abused. One activist working with Dalit women in Uttar Pradesh estimated that only five percent of cases of violence against women are registered. Many Dalits are not aware of their rights under special legislation designed to protect them, and it is rare that police voluntarily inform them of those rights.
Police are also accused of withholding and destroying evidence in many cases, usually at the behest of the accused, with whom they may have caste or other links. Witnesses often withdraw testimony after taking bribes or being threatened by the accused; medical evidence is lost because simple procedures are not followed. The discouraging length of time required to pursue torture cases through the courts often causes victims to make compromises or to withdraw their cases entirely.
Other common forms of violence perpetrated against Indian women include:
female feticide (selective abortion based on the fetus’ gender);
domestic violence;
dowry death;
mental and physical torture;
sexual trafficking; and
public humiliation.
Women Human Rights Defenders in India
Women activists in India have played a crucial role in highlighting problems faced by women but they are often punished for it, becoming victims of violence themselves.
For example, in Uttar Pradesh during 1999, activists of several organizations were subjected to severe harassment because of their actions in defending the rights of a woman and her child who had been subjected to domestic violence and child sexual abuse. On 10 June, Ela Panday and her 11-year-old daughter left her husband, Jagdish Chand Panday and their home in Karvi, Banda district, after having been subjected to systematic violence. Her daughter was also reportedly subjected to sexual abuse. Ela Panday immediately made a statement to this effect before the Sub-divisional Magistrate of Karvi and was provided help and support by Vanangana, a women's human rights organization, and others.
On the same day that Ela Panday and her daughter left their home, the husband filed an application with police asking them to register a case of kidnapping against three members of Vanangana. In addition to this application, he made repeated threats to the lives of members of Vanangana and the members of other organization helping the mother and her daughter. However, the police failed to register a First Information Report (FIR) or investigate these complaints.
Amnesty International has received further reports that the High Court judge, Jagdish Chand Panday, and his lawyers made several derogatory statements against Ela Panday's lawyers and the human rights organizations who had taken up her case in open court. Amnesty International is concerned that these reports indicate a lack of respect by the judiciary for human rights defenders, and insensitivity to the issues of domestic violence and child abuse.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW)
India ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1993. It establishes a minimum set of standards for combating discrimination against women.
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great job guys! I'll try to find some of these too.
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http://www.servicedomino.com
The story of the famous five. One of them them Irene Parlby grew up in England and India. They changed the course of Canadian constitutional law for not only women but Canadians.
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Remarks of the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C.
Famous Five Breakfast October 17, 2000
We are here today to celebrate the legacy of five women who pursued justice for all Canadian women against many obstacles, and succeeded in obtaining a ruling from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council recognizing that women were qualified persons for appointment to the Senate of Canada.
As Chief Justice of Canada, I salute these women for the tenacity they demonstrated in achieving a remarkable legal victory, and I, a beneficiary of their efforts, thank them. At the same time, the irony is not lost on me that I am participating in a celebration of the overturning of a judgment of my own Court, albeit one that was handed down in 1928, a little before my time -- an irony that is acute on the occasion this year of the 125th Anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada and its 50th year as our court of final appeal.
The five women who came together to petition for a Supreme Court ruling on the ability to appoint women to the Senate were in every sense of the word \"persons\". They were also an unlikely coalition.
Henrietta Muir Edwards came from a background of wealth and privilege in Montreal, and devoted her life to good works. She married a doctor who was dedicated to helping Canada's aboriginal people. Together, they traveled throughout Canada in pursuit of this goal -- travels that took them to southern Alberta. Her life was one of contrasts. She was a close associate of Lady Aberdeen, wife of the Governor General, but she also knew hardship and penury. Indeed, at the time of the petition, she was widowed, had lost two of her three children to illness and childbirth, and reduced to living with her sister in Fort Macleod, Alberta.
The legendary Nellie McClung was a life-long activist for women's causes, sparkling of intellect, quick of tongue and possessed of a devilish sense of humour. She achieved the vote for women in Manitoba and, when circumstances took her there, repeated the feat in Alberta. She became a member of the legislature in Alberta but, at the time of the petition, was rather dispirited by her defeat in the election of 1926.
Louise McKinney had long been active in the temperance movement. These days, when we look back on the efforts to control the consumption of alcohol of the teens and twenties, we picture rather stodgy, solemn and humourless ladies in bonnets who exaggerated -- perhaps just a tad -- the evils of drink. But in their time, these were the women who were the advocates for children, for women's rights and for social welfare reform. The reality is that a lot of harm came to those families in which the wage earners abused alcohol and it was women who, through the church and through temperance societies worked to improve things. Louise McKinney was at in the forefront of these efforts her entire life. She also became, in 1917, the first woman to sit in a provincial legislature.
more about it here
http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/judges/speeches/famousfive_e.asp
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Very informative... I am enjoying .. it is nice to see brain storming articles.
Thanks and regards.
Biomed
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"Change before you have to" : Jack Welch
