International Human Rights Day 2006
On International Human Rights Day 2006, INSTRAW commemorates the conclusion of the 16th annual 16 Days of Activism Campaign with a look at some of the achievements we have made over the last 16 years in the struggle to end violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A Precarious Shelter in Afghanistan
By Pamela Constable, Washington Post, December 5, 2006
The room was carpeted and cozy, warm from the wood stove and filled with the chatter of children. But the tales their mothers and older sisters told recently, speaking hesitantly even in the safety of a guarded private shelter, were bone-chilling.

Algerian women speak out on violence
By Hassen Zenati, DAWN, 10th December 2006
The young woman's smile is sad, her greeting weary. Assaulted by her half brother, Farida took refuge in one of 30 safe houses throughout the Algerian capital that shelter abused women.

Africa: Sexual violence denounced
UN DPI, 1st December 2006
Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, today denounced the use of rape as a weapon of war and called upon the authorities in one of the most affected countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to ensure that rape victims - including those traumatized by fistula - no longer find themselves ostracized in their communities, as is now so often the case.

Dealing with Domestic Violence
Factsheet Ministry of Justice, The Netherlands
Domestic violence is an act of violence that has been committed by a person from the victim's family circle. It may include physical and sexual violence as well as mental violence such as threatening behaviour or stalking. Domestic violence may take the form of child abuse including sexual child abuse, partner-relation violence in all its conceivable forms, as well as abuse or neglect of the elderly.

Fighting Tradition: Domestic violence is fabric in the family cloth
By Gayane Abrahamyan, ArmeniaNow.com
“If the day ends up without a fight and I have no blood on my body, I am happy that day,” says Varduhi Khachatryan, 47, resident of the village of Burastan in the Artashat region.

National observatories to combat violence against women
Currently, the Violence Policy Centre and its European Observatory are working on the development of National observatories to combat violence against women, who will monitor polices on violence against women at the national level and make the link to the European level.

Africa: Countries Pledge to Fight Violence Against Women in UN-Backed Campaign
allAfrica.com, 28.11.06
Twenty-two African countries have recommitted themselves to ending violence against women and children as part of a United Nations-backed 16-day-long campaign against the scourge.

Sex Abuse of Girls Is Stubborn Scourge in Africa
New York Times, 30th November 2006
Thirty miles outside this down-at-the-heels seaside town, Justin Betombo tends his vanilla plants and cheers the local soccer team as if he had not a care in the world. And in fact, what was once his greatest worry has been almost magically lifted from his shoulders.

Congress Should Boost U.S. Efforts to Protect Women Worldwide, Say Groups
One World, Nov. 29, 2006
Joining others in the ongoing international campaign against gender violence, women's groups in the United States stepped up pressure on Congress this week to endorse a proposed law that would protect women in poor countries.

Violence and HIV – the need for rights-based approaches to HIV/AIDS
On World AIDS Day 2006 – 1 December – Amnesty International calls for the protection of human rights of all people living with HIV/AIDS and for human rights based approaches to be at the centre of all responses to HIV/AIDS.

Strengthening Resistance: Confronting Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS (2006)
Centre for Women's Global Leadership
Strengthening Resistance focuses on the points of intersection in the social, political and public health crises of violence against women and HIV/AIDS. The report uses a human rights lens to focus on critical political challenges and on innovative strategies used by activists worldwide as they respond to the links between violence and HIV/AIDS.

Celebrate the 1st International Day on Women Human Rights Defenders - Towards the integration of a gender perspective in implementing the EU Guidelines on HRDs
29 November marks the opening of the First International Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs),organised by several human rights organisations in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2005. The Consultation participants declared 29 November as the International Day on WHRDs to be celebrated as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. In the framework of the 1st International Day on WHRDs, we are calling on the States of the European Union to ensure that a gender perspective is included in the efforts to implement the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.

Violence against Women in South Africa
A Resource for Journalists
by Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communications
The media can play an essential part in the solution to the problem of violence against women in South Africa. It can reflect women’s experiences in all their diverse forms, direct people to find help, raise awareness, and encourage a critical, informed understanding of the problem. Poor coverage can endorse existing perceptions that perpetuate violence against women and can further victimise the survivor.

Amnesty Urges Nigeria to Curb Sexual Abuse by Forces
New York Times, 28th November 2006
Nigeria should urgently overhaul its legal system to curb widespread sexual violence against women, including rape by security forces and police, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Spain's lesson on fighting spousal abuse
By Geoff Pingree and Lisa Abend, Christian Science Monitor, 28 November 2006
As European leaders convene in Madrid to tackle the problem, many in Spain feel legislation alone may not be enough.

Culture of neglect, denial about violence against women is ‘massive’ – top UN official
Un News Centre, 27 November 2006
There is a “massive” culture of neglect and denial about violence against women, and refugee populations are in the front line of the scourge, according to the top United Nations refugee official.

Dalit women are determined to transform their pain into power
IDSN, 27 November 2006
International Conference seeks urgent action on discrimination and violence against Dalit Women Dalit women from South Asia are determined to ‘’transform their pain into power’’.

Dates commemorated during the 16 Days of Activism for the Elimination of Gender Violence
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
World AIDS Day
Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre
International Human Rights Day

Domestic Violence Shelter Stories
Amnesty International Stop Violence Against Women Campaign
Domestic violence happens everywhere. It affects someone near you.

SENEGAL: Raising the profile of abuse
IRIN, 24 November 2006
When Henriette Tine was brutally attacked recently by her husband with a large wooden pestle the size of a bat, hundreds of women from her native Casamance rose up in protest.

Violence Against Women: Stories You Rarely Hear About
UNFPA, 23 November 2006
Every day, women all over the world are abducted into forced marriage; subjected to harmful traditional practices; married, while still children, to far older men; and injured through gang rape and rape with foreign objects—usually during conflict.

Celebrate 16 Years of 16 Days: Advance Human Rights ‹—› End Violence Against Women
2006 marks the 16th anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign! Since 1991, the 16 Days campaign has worked to increase the visibility of violence against women as a human rights violation. The campaign has been utilized by groups all over the world to demand support services for survivors, enhance prevention efforts, press for legal and judicial reform, and use international human rights instruments to address violence against women as a human rights violation, a public health crisis and a threat to human security and peace worldwide.

Investment in Proven Strategies Needed to End Violence against Women
UNIFEM, 22 November 2006
Statement by Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2006

Not a Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women
At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime — with the abuser usually someone known to her.