‘THE CASE in Ireland of the 14-year-old girl who got pregnant as a result of rape was a key issue in our formation,” said Jessica Neuwirth, President of the New York based organisation of Equality Now. “The idea that the world would sit by and watch this traumatised girl be forced to bear the child of her rapist is tragic. Traditional human rights groups are too afraid to take up issues like abortion or rape. And international organisations and national governments have for too long ignored human rights violations against women.”

A lawyer who worked for six years at Amnesty International, Neuwirth felt something needed to be done. “The media paved the way by showing us that exposing what’s going on and screaming out is very effective.” She recounts another incident of a ten-year-old Indian girl who was sold to a 60-year-old Saudi Arabian man for the equivalent of 240 dollars. A flight attendant noticed the frightened young girl crying, and rescued her by radioing the New Delhi police of the illegal sale. The press picked up on the story, and it was read around the world. “Although the media can have a huge impact on cases by raising an issue to an international level, it doesn’t have impact on the practice as a whole, and that’s the problem,” said Neuwirth. “We don’t know if the girl will be sold again next week.”

Neuwirth saw a need for organisational follow-up and with two lawyer friends – Navi Pillay of South Africa, and Feryal Gharahi of Washington – founded Equality Now in April 1992, an international organisation dedicated to taking action for the human rights of women. By using grassroots tactics modelled on Amnesty’s Urgent Action Network, the organisation tries to highlight the many ways women are discriminated against. Equality and the protection of women is their goal, and their methods work to enforce principles of international law. These standards are found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and other international conventions.

Civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women are monitored by the organisation. With so many issues of urgent concern: trafficking, domestic violence, female infanticide, genital mutilation, reproductive rights, gender discrimination, political representation, sexual harassment, rape and pornography, how does Equality Now prioritise?

“We look at things like the severity of the violation: is it killing people?” explains Neuwirth. “The universality: does it happen around the world or is it in just one country? What’s the potential to have impact: is it reachable for us right now? And finally, to what extent is this being ignored by everyone else – human rights organisations and the general community?

“Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an area where you have 100 million people around the world who have been violated and not a single human rights group has taken it up. It’s conceivable that we can have a great impact on this issue by supporting the handful of women’s groups in Africa who are struggling to battle this.”

FGM, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a religious and customary practice that takes different forms in different countries: the cutting of the hood of the clitoris (circumcision); the removal of the entire clitoris (excision); or in its most extreme form the removal of all external genitalia, and the stitching together of the two sides of the vulva (infibulation) leaving a very small vaginal opening for the passage of blood and urine. All of the procedures are usually performed without anaesthesia, using a knife or razor.

The girls who survive the cutting are left with lifelong pain and suffer chronic infection, severe pain during urination, menstruation and sexual intercourse, and psychological trauma. Nevertheless, the procedure is defended by both men and women in the cultures where it is practised as a rite of passage and social prerequisite for marriage. Ultimately, it is a barbaric way to control women’s sexuality by safeguarding virginity and suppressing sexual desire. Although FGM is widespread in Central African countries it is also found in some Asian countries and is growing among immigrant populations in Western Europe and North America.

To fight against this and other abuses, Equality Now has developed relationships with women’s groups around the world, and helps them by adding an international level to their campaign for women’s rights. One recent success story had a reverberating effect. A Saudi Arabian woman known publicly as ‘Nada’ arrived in Canada seeking asylum as a refugee on the basis of gender discrimination she faced in her home country. Saudi Arabia holds an oppressive regime for women and girls including laws that deny women the right to an education of their choice, forbid them to walk unaccompanied by a male member of the family, and obligate every female from the age of puberty to wear a veil outside her home. As a result of challenging these laws Nada was constantly threatened by violence and persecuted by her community.

The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board rejected her claim, and the judge chastised her by saying she should “go back home and obey the wishes of her father.” Upon hearing of Nada’s situation, Equality Now began an international letter writing campaign that generated another wave of activity back in Canada. Eventually the Minister responsible announced that Nada would be allowed to stay, and noted that his concern for the international reputation of Canada was a deciding factor. Furthermore, he established a committee to propagate guidelines for judges making decisions on gender-based claims for political asylum.

According to Neuwirth, the legislation that does exist does not effectively protect women. Equality Now is anxious to ensure that women’s rights are written into constitutions now being formed around the world in such places as South Africa, Eritrea and Uganda. And, with an advisory council that boasts prominent names including former AIUSA Executive Director, Jack Healey, Chilean human rights activist Veronica de Negri, Ms. Magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem and author Rose Styron, Equality Now has already attracted members from 24 countries, a substantial number of which are men.

Neuwirth is surprised by the level of male support, but thinks it’s because “Equality is not just a women’s issue, it’s a social issue of ‘how do we want to live and how do we want to get along with each other?’ To make the roles of women and men work harmoniously is really the goal: right now it’s the discord that we’re all talking about. Together we can have enormous impact on the fate of girls and women around the world who are suffering horrific violations,” she says. “Partnership is the enlightened way to look toward the future.”

For more information write to:

EQUALITY NOW

P.O. Box 20646

Columbus Circle Station

New York, New York 10023

U.S.A.

• Melissa Knight