Global Roundup: South African Women's Day, Venezuela LGBTQ Club Mass Arrest, Nepal Period Huts, Scotland LGBTQ+ Community, Queer Japanese-American Artist
Curated by FG Contributor Samiha Hossain
FILE - Women protest after more than 80 men suspected of the gang rapes of eight women appeared in court, outside the Krugersdorp Magistrate Court in South Africa, Aug. 1, 2022. Photo: AP
South Africa marked its National Women's Day on Wednesday this week – but with more than 10,000 rapes recorded in the first three months of 2023 and more than 900 women killed, one rights activist says there isn't much to celebrate. The public holiday commemorates a historic protest of unjust laws under the then-apartheid regime. According to women’s rights activist Caroline Peters, it comes from a call to action in 1956 by 20,000 women who marched onto the union buildings in Pretoria, singing, 'Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo!' 'You strike a woman, you strike a rock.' Peters said an increase in the number of female homicide victims in the first part of this year means it's not a happy holiday.
As a gender-based violence activist who's been working in communities for 30 years, I've never seen the level of violence. The violence on women's bodies has escalated. … I almost feel like we've got nothing to celebrate. -Caroline Peters
Police statistics for the first three months of 2023 showed 10,512 rapes and 969 murders of women. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said South Africa has levels of gender-based violence that "are comparable to countries that are at war," referring to it as "a pandemic."
Lirandzu Themba, spokesperson for the ministry of police, said the South African Police Services, or SAPS, are very concerned about the safety of women. But Mara Glennie, who runs the free crisis hotline TEARS, noted that women who report rapes are not always assisted adequately. She says that women who go to the police station are frequently sent back home to their abusers.
Asked why gender-based violence is such a scourge in South Africa, Sis'Mantoa Selepe, a gender-equality activist, said current socioeconomic malaise, as well as the brutal history of apartheid, play a part. She believes that men need to be educated on gender equality in order to challenge patriarchal norms.
A parade for Pride Month, the annual LGBTQ celebration, fills the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, on July 2 [File: Gaby Oraa/Reuters]
On July 23, police burst into the Avalon Club, a bar and sauna popular with the LGBTQ community in Valencia, Venezuela, propelling the venue and its patrons into the national spotlight — and sparking questions about LGBTQ discrimination in Venezuela. The officers proceeded to round up the 33 men in the establishment and hold them in the sauna’s locker rooms.
Luis told Al Jazeera that the police said they were conducting a “routine inspection”. But then the officers took Luis and the other men to police headquarters and only after he was forced to give up his mobile phone and have his picture taken did Luis realise he was under arrest. Being gay is not a crime in Venezuela. But the men were eventually charged with “lewd conduct” and “sound pollution” among other counts. The police offered images of condoms and lubricant as evidence for the supposed crimes. In addition, the men’s photos were leaked to local media, where they were accused of participating in an “orgy with HIV” and recording pornography. Some of the men, like Luis, had not previously gone public with their sexuality.
But the backlash to the mass arrest was swift. Protests broke out in Caracas and Valencia, with demonstrators calling for the men’s release. The hashtag #LiberanALos33, or “Free the 33”, also went viral on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Thirty of the men were ultimately released on “conditional parole” after 72 hours in custody. The other three — the owner of the Avalon Club and two massage specialists — were let go 10 days after their arrest.
Well, the truth is that this type of action, in the Venezuelan context, sends a very powerful message to the police and sends a very powerful message to judges that LGBT people can be persecuted for being LGBT. - Tamara Adrian, Venezuela’s first transgender legislator and a candidate in the 2024 presidential elections
Adrian also tied the arrests to efforts under President Nicolas Maduro to rally support among evangelical Christians, some of whom hold anti-LGBTQ views. For Yendri Velasquez, a Venezuelan LGBTQ activist, recent events signal a deepening relationship between evangelical groups and the Maduro government.
Principal representatives from the state are forming an electoral alliance with anti-rights groups. I believe the arrest of the 33 people is an escalation of the political homophobia and transphobia that already existed. - Yendri Velasquez
A teenage girl sits inside a hut in a village in western Nepal. The practice of chhaupadi was banned in 2005 but remains deeply embedded in the region. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters
A 16-year-old girl from Nepal has died as a result of the illegal practice of chhaupadi, where menstruating women are forced to stay in huts outside their homes. Anita Chand, from Baitadi district is understood to have died on Wednesday this week from a snake bite while she was sleeping. Her death is the first reported fatality from chhaupadi since 2019 and campaigners fear progress to eliminate the practice is being eroded, largely due to COVID-19.
Chhaupadi is based on the centuries-old belief that women and girls are unclean and untouchable during menstruation. They are not allowed to do a range of activities and in some cases are banished to “period huts” for the duration. Outlawed in 2005, chhaupadi is punishable by up to three months in prison and a 3,000 Nepali rupee (£20) fine.
In 2019, Parwati Budha Rawat, 21, died after spending three nights in an outdoor hut. Her death was the fifth reported case that year. Women and girls have died from animal attacks and from smoke inhalation after lighting fires in windowless huts. Rawat’s brother-in-law was sentenced to three months in jail. Her death prompted countrywide programmes and campaigns to end the practice. Thousands of period huts were destroyed, but it appears they are starting to be rebuilt.
After Parwati’s death, we destroyed more than 7,000 period huts in the area. People were getting information about menstruation and [the] law. Then suddenly Covid came and all focus was shifted to Covid. Then people again started rebuilding period huts or started staying in a shed. There were no programmes and campaigns on chhaupadi after Covid. People almost stopped talking about it. - Pashupati Kunwar, campaigner
Radha Paudel, founder of Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation, said the government in Nepal needed to do more than distribute free sanitary pads to schoolgirls, a service introduced in 2019. She calls for implementing the policies and laws that are already in place.
Photo: Getty
As the Scottish government prepares to introduce a draft Human Rights Bill, LGBTQ+ people are being encouraged to share their experiences. Holyrood opened a consultation in June to inform its landmark legislation, which aims to “incorporate a range of economic, social and cultural rights into Scots law for the first time, as far as possible within the limits of devolved competence”.
Equality Network, an LGBTQ+ rights organisation based in Edinburgh, opened its own survey on Tuesday this week to “make sure that LGBTI+ voices are heard” and to inform its own response to the consultation.
A lot of people assume that we have everything we need and that the LGBT community is very well served and everything’s fine, but when you break it down there are a lot of people really suffering because of their lack of access to health care, because of inadequate housing. -Rebecca Crowther, Equality Network policy manager
A guide to the official consultation explains that the Scottish government has been advised to incorporate four international human rights treaties into Scotland law – those covering economic, social and cultural rights, disabled people’s rights, the rights of Black and ethnic minority groups, and women’s rights. These treaties will all include considerations on equal access to rights for the elderly and LGBTQ+ people. Crowther noted to PinkNews that, to that effect, extra consideration must be made to specific societal issues that LGBTQ+ face, including institutional and domestic discrimination.
We’re asking the Scottish government to name LGBTI+ people on the face of the bill, to have this equalities clause, to have something they’re calling the interpretive clause which will allow lawmakers and public authorities to look towards international guidance and different cases to ensure that dignity is taken into account for LGBTI+ people. -Rebecca Crowther
Installation from SPRING/BREAK LA 2022, curated by Hannah Turpin. Photo: Courtesy of Eriko Hattori
Deeply influenced by their experiences as a queer, non-binary Japanese-American, Eriko Hattori’s work reflects on perceptions of Japanese femininity and the commodification of bodies and cultures. Pittsburgh City Paper interviewed Hattori about their work, influences, and process of creation.
Hattori discusses how their work is particularly influenced by traditional Japanese art (ukiyo-e) and mythology (yokai). They say they are attracted to stories that center on women-creatures and ghosts. The Jorogumo, or spider-whore, is the one they work with the most.
I’m particularly drawn to narratives of these women-creatures and demons as they’re either connected to trauma, ostracization, or fear. Many of these figures are told in unflattering, negative lights and my aim is to reclaim them from narratives that I find to be rooted in patriarchy and an unwillingness to understand complex identities and backgrounds. -Eriko Hattori
Hattori grew up in West Virginia and was the only Japanese-American person at their school, which they say felt “extraordinarily unique and isolating.” They were also the only “-American” and queer person in their family. Now, through their work, they are able to reconnect with their heritage and find narratives that resonate with them.
…I felt like I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of who I was within all of these intersecting contexts, experiencing both loneliness and cultural fetishization while feeling very disconnected from my culture at the same time. -Eriko Hattori
Recently, Hattori has exhibited work at Pittsburgh International Airport and Sidewall: a mural project, an outdoor gallery space.
Samiha Hossain (she/her) is a student at the University of Ottawa. She has experience working with survivors of sexual violence in her community, as well as conducting research on gender-based violence. A lot of her time is spent learning about and critically engaging with intersectional feminism, transformative justice and disability justice.
Samiha firmly believes in the power of connecting with people and listening to their stories to create solidarity and heal as a community. She refuses to let anyone thwart her imagination when it comes to envisioning a radically different future full of care webs, nurturance and collective liberation.