Daily Feminist News: This Week

Taliban Announces New Education Bans on Women and Girls

1/5/2009 - Pamphlets distributed by the Taliban in Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan yesterday impose a ban on co-educational schooling in the region. According to the Times of India, all co-educational schools in the region must close by Monday. During the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which lasted until 2001, Afghan girls were forbidden to attend school.

In December, regional Taliban leader Mullah Shah Doran announced an education ban that impacts women and girls in a northern part of Pakistan known as the Swat Valley. The directive set a deadline of January 15 for all girls, both in single-sex and co-educational schools, to be withdrawn. The Taliban reportedly threatens to bomb schools that ignore this directive and to severely punish violators. Teacher Mohamed Osman told the Times of India that "we have no choice but to follow the orders. The government cannot give us protection. Taliban runs a parallel government in 90 per cent of the area of the district and they execute everyone who opposes them."

Enrollment of women and girls in schools and colleges in the Swat Valley region is only a quarter of what it was only three years ago, before the Taliban gained strength there, according to the Washington Times. In the past year, more than 130 schools, many of which were all girl institutions, have been destroyed in the area.

Department of Justice Reports Increase of Rape, Sexual Assault, and Domestic Violence in US

1/5/2009 - According to a new Department of Justice (DOJ) report, the rates of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in the United States have soared over the past two years. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), a biannual report from the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs, estimated at least 248,300 rapes and sexual assaults occurred in 2007, a 25 percent increase from 2005 levels. Estimates of domestic violence incidents rose by 42 percent between 2005 and 2007.

Incidence of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence increased the most of all violent crimes since 2005, while reported rates of most violent crimes, including robbery and aggravated assault, decreased.

The Office of Justice Programs used revised methods to collect data for the 2007 report, which may account for some of the differences from the 2005 analysis. In a Human Rights Watch statement, researcher Sarah Tofte said, "The new numbers indicate that previously, the government significantly underestimated the number of individuals affected by domestic and sexual violence in this country. Authorities should urgently adjust public policies, law enforcement, and provision of support services accordingly."

Decreased Reporting of Sexual Assaults in Military Academies

1/5/2009 - Sexual assault reporting rates within national military academies are low and have significantly dropped, according to the Department of Defense (DOD). The DOD released results from the Academic Program Year 2007-2008 Service Academy Gender Relations Survey in December. The survey indicates that at military academies, approximately 90 percent of sexual assaults are unreported.

DOD spokeswoman Cynthia Smith commented on the survey results: "We recognize that unwanted sexual conduct is the most under-reported crime. We want these numbers to go up. We want to create environments in which cadets and mids can come forward to get the care they need," according to the Baltimore Sun. Navy Commander Joe Carpenter of the US Naval Academy also told the Baltimore Sun that "certainly it is a challenge to eliminate sexual harassment, but we have been pretty clear that one incident is too many," he said. At its core, the emphasis is to set "a command climate of dignity and respect."