Tag Archives: Discrimination/Terror/Hate Crimes

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Germany Feature | Women & Refugees

Securing Women’s Bodies in Germany

On New Year’s Eve, hundreds of women were grabbed and sexually assaulted by a group of mostly Algerian and Moroccan men during holiday festivities in Cologne. In the fallout, a contentious international debate exploded, impacted by ongoing tension over Germany’s refugee policy. While both sides have accused the other of information distortion for political purposes, some feminists have shifted the focus to the lax laws that enable such sexual assaults to take place, arguing that such violence has been a problem since long before refugees arrived. With a mere 13% of rape cases resulting in conviction, advocates have sought to change laws that require evidence of overwhelming offensive and defensive physical force for a case to be considered rape. BuzzFeed News examines the intersection of sexism, racism, xenophobia, and feminism in the fight to secure women’s sexual agency and refugee integration in Germany.

Read more:
“Why The New Year’s Attacks On Women In Germany Weren’t Even A Crime” (BuzzFeed News)

Additional reading:
“Germany tightens rape law in wake of Cologne assaults” (AFP via The Local)
“Germany to tighten rape laws in wake of Cologne attacks” (The Independent)

(Image Credit: Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Latvia Feature | LGBT

The Rise of “Family Values” Activism in Latvia

Caught between the Western-democratic values of the EU and conservative nationalists and Kremlin supporters, Latvia has seen a surge in so-called family values activism in recent years. Activists have increasingly targeted LGBT rights and visibility as symptoms of cultural decline, and anti-LGBT sentiment has been connected to wide-ranging issues including the rights of Latvia’s Russian minority, abortion, corporal punishment, and academic freedom. EurasiaNet investigates how groups like Asociācija Ģimene (Family), Mūsu bērnu (Our Children), Dzimta (Kin), and Sargāsim mūsu bērnus! (Let’s Protect Our Children!) have grown their reactionary causes, including the influence of Russia’s hard-line anti-gay, “pro-family” campaign next door.

Read more:
“Looking at Latvia’s Cultural Fault Line” (EurasiaNet)
“The ABC of ‘Traditional’ Values Activism” (EurasiaNet)

(Image Credit: Dean C.K. Cox/EurasiaNet)

Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Honduras News | Indigenous Activists

Indigenous activist murdered days after famous campaigner in Honduras
  • Nelson García, member of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), was gunned down on his way to his family home.
  • His murder follows that of fellow activist Berta Cáceres, the co-founder of COPINH killed in her home after having received threats from police and anonymous individuals.
  • The deaths come as government officials have subjected COPINH affiliates to illegal surveillance and coercive detention, part of an anti-environmentalist environment in Honduras that saw more than 100 killed between 2010 and 2014.

Read more:
“Fellow Honduran activist Nelson García murdered days after Berta Cáceres” (The Guardian)
“Another Member of Berta Caceres’ Group Assassinated in Honduras” (teleSUR English)
“Berta Cáceres, Honduran human rights and environment activist, murdered” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Ukraine News | LGBT

Far-right protesters in Ukraine attack LGBT festival attendees after officials ban event
  • Police and city officials in Lviv refused to give official permit to the equality-themed event, whose program included film screenings, literary discussions, and a public march.
  • After a last-minute court hearing banned the festival’s public events, far-right protesters descended on the hotel housing festival attendees, throwing stones and allegedly shouting “kill, kill, kill” as attendees were evacuated.
  • Although Lviv’s mayor admonished both victims and attackers, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack and announced police had begun an investigation.

Read more:
“LGBT festival in Ukraine abandoned after far-right protest” (The Guardian)
“U.S., Canadian ambassadors condemn attack on LGBT activists in Lviv” (Ukraine Today)
“Ukrainian LGBT festival cancelled as far-right groups surround venue, chant ‘kill’” (PinkNews)

(Image Credit: Mykola Tys/EPA, via the Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Global Feature | LGBT

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The Global Fight to End “Reparative Therapy”

Countries around the world are increasingly acknowledging the extreme physical and psychological effects of LGBT “conversion” or “reparative therapy,” pseudoscientific practices including electroshock therapy, sexual violence, and psychological assault run in an effort to purge LGBT individuals of their sexual and gender orientations and identities. From East Asia to the Americas to the Middle East, governments have begun banning such practices, though they continue to run to the financial and psychological detriment of their subjects. The Guardian examines global stories and efforts to dismantle the phenomenon.

Read more:
“Electric shocks, rape and submersion: ‘gay cures’ and the fight to end them” (The Guardian)

Additional reading:
“A Firsthand Account of the Torture of ‘Conversion’ Therapy” (The Advocate)
“‘Gay Conversion’ Therapists Find Safe Haven in Israel” (The New York Times)
“Gay conversion therapy, fake doctors to be banned in Victoria” (ABC)
“US government calls for an end to LGBT ‘conversion therapy’” (Al Jazeera America)

(Image Credit: Ng Han Guan/AP, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

India News | Gay & Lesbian

India’s top court to reconsider law criminalizing homosexual sex
  • The court announced it will review the constitutionality of the law following a five-judge panel to review the 1860 law, reinstated in 2013 after a four-year reprieve.
  • Homosexual acts carry a 10-year prison sentence, and though rarely enforced, the law can be used to coerce and intimidate individuals in a country where 75% of the population continues to express disapproval of homosexuality.
  • Should the court uphold the law, advocates would have to depend on future reform to come from the country’s largely conservative parliament.

Read more:
“India’s Supreme Court will review law criminalizing gay sex” (Reuters)
“Supreme Court agrees to revisit law criminalising homosexuality” (The Indian Express)
“SC to hear petitions on criminalisation of homosexuality tomorrow” (The Hindustan Times)

(Image Credit: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Indonesia News | LGBT

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Indonesian city orders Muslim hardliners to remove anti-gay banners
  • Bandung, Indonesia’s third-largest city, ordered the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) to take down banners and encouraged them to leave.
  • The FPI targeted boarding houses in the city they believed to be housing LGBT residents.
  • The pro-LGBT support comes as Indonesia’s education minister has faced a storm of criticism over anti-LGBT comments and a call to ban an LGBT research and counseling group at the University of Indonesia.

Read more:
“Indonesian city reprimands Muslim hardliners for harassing gays” (Reuters)
“Minister on back foot over anti-gay remarks” (The Jakarta Post)
“Affectionate gay students should be banned from university campuses, Indonesian minister says” (ABC)

(Image Credit: Agus Bebeng/Antara Foto/Reuters)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | LGBT

Court fines Turkey’s football governing body for firing gay referee
  • Istanbul’s 20th Court for Serious Crimes fined the Turkish Football Federation 23,000 Turkish lira ($7,900) for revoking the refereeing license of Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ, the country’s first openly gay referee, in 2009.
  • Dinçdağ’s release came after the TFF declared him unfit for military service due to the military’s exemption of gay men from military service, with which referees are required to be in good standing.
  • Dinçdağ’s lawyer plans to appeal the ruling, which fell considerably short of the 110,000 lira originally demanded.

Read more:
“Turkey’s top football body fined over dismissal of gay referee” (Hürriyet News Daily)
“Turkish Football Federation fined for sacking gay referee” (BBC)
“Turkish FA ordered to compensate referee who lost licence for being gay” (AFP, via the Guardian)

(Image Credit: DHA Photo, via Hürriyet News Daily)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Ukraine News | Black

Ukraine football team faces sanctions, assailants face charges after black fans attacked at Ukraine football match
  • At least four black individuals were attacked during an Oct. 27 Champions League match between Dynamo Kyiv and Chelsea.
  • The individuals–along with at least three white fans who came to their aid–were attacked in the stadium section of Dynamo’s Rodychi fan group.
  • While the assailants face charges of hooliganism, UEFA has initiated disciplinary action against the team for racist behavior by fans.

Read more:
“Dynamo Kiev consider calls to segregate black fans to prevent racism inside stadium” (The Telegraph)
“Dynamo Kyiv charged with racist behaviour of fans during Chelsea draw” (The Guardian)
“Attacks on Black Fans Show Tide of Fan Racism in Ukraine” (AP via ABC News)

Religion + Belief

Turkey News | Atheists

Turkish group lobbies for equal treatment and protection for atheists
  • The Turkish Atheism Association has created a petition calling for the end of automatic registration of Turkish newborns as Muslim, the removal of religion from Turkey’s ID cards, and the inclusion of the association in official meetings with non-Muslim groups.
  • Although a 2010 poll found only 1% of Turkish people identify as atheist, the group hopes the 5,000 signatures it hopes to attain will bring attention to their marginalization in Turkey’s nominally secular society.
  • The association was founded in 2014 in Istanbul, but a court blocked access to its website in March on the grounds of “provoking the people.”

Read more:
“Turkish Atheism Association starts petition calling for ‘equal treatment’” (Middle East Eye)
“Turkey’s Atheism Association starts petition for ‘equal treatment’ before law and in society” (Hurriyet News Daily)
“Atheists raising their voice in Turkey amid polarized reactions” (Hurriyet News Daily)

(Image Credit: via Hurriyet News Daily)

Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

France News | Gay Men

France opens blood donation to gay men with qualifications
  • Fulfilling a campaign promise of President François Hollande, the French health ministry announced it will relax the 1983 law banning gay men from donating blood.
  • Men who have abstained from sex with other men for at least 12 months will be allowed to donate blood, while men who have not had sex with men or have had sex in the context of a monogamous relationship for four months can donate plasma.
  • Rights groups cautiously praised the development, acknowledging the continued profiling of gay men through the ongoing restrictions, which will be reviewed in 2017.

Read more:
“Ouverture progressive du don de sang aux homosexuels à partir de 2016” (Le Monde)
“France to lift ban on gay men giving blood” (AFP via Yahoo! News)
“France to Lift Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood” (The New York Times)

(Image Credit: Noah Seelam/AFP)

Ideology + Affiliation

Bangladesh News | Secularist Writers

Secular Bangladeshi book publisher murdered, three others attacked in separate incidents in Dhaka
  • Faisal Abedin Deepan, a publisher affiliated with the Jagriti Prokashoni publishing house, was hacked to death in the Bangladeshi capital.
  • Publisher Ahmed Rahim Tutul was attacked at his home along with writers Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim in a separate incident.
  • Both publishers had published work by Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy, who was murdered earlier in the year in a spate of attacks on secular bloggers.

Read more:
“Avijit’s publisher Dipan slaughtered” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Avijit Roy’s publisher, 2 bloggers hacked in Dhaka” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Secular publisher hacked to death in Bangladesh” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/Zuma Press/Corbis, via the Guardian)

Gender, Nationality + Migration

UAE Feature | Migrant Women

Trapped in Silence

Women in the UAE–particularly the country’s large population of Asian and African migrant women–have long faced a brutal catch-22 under the Gulf nation’s Sharia-driven legal system after being raped. When attempts at legal justice can lead to their own prosecution for extramarital sex, women find themselves coerced into silence and, for migrant workers, at the mercy of employers who control their movement in the country and ability to leave. BBC and the Guardian highlight the stories of rape victims and the structural disadvantages they face, from illegal abortions to imprisonment with illegitimate children.

Read more:
“Raped, pregnant and afraid of being jailed” (BBC)
“UAE imprisoning rape victims under extramarital sex laws – investigation” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: BBC)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Sweden News | Immigrants & Minorities

Deadly attack on Swedish school being treated as hate crime
  • The chief of police in Trollhättan reported that the man who killed a student and teacher and left two others critically injured chose his victims by skin color, attacking dark-skinned individuals.
  • Police disclosed that the assailant had no ties to official far-right groups but had neo-Nazi sympathies, posting Nazi-sympathist videos to social media.
  • Trollhättan has a history of predominant segregation and hate crimes, and the Kronan school, with its high proportion of students of immigrant background, was a vulnerable target.

Read more:
“Sweden school attack: police treat killing of pupil and teacher as racist hate crime” (The Guardian)
“Police in Sweden: Deadly school attack a racist hate crime” (AP via Yahoo! News)
“Sweden school killings: Attacker ‘had racist motives’” (BBC)

(Image Credit: EPA, via BBC)

Religion + Belief

UK News | Muslims

British government’s new counter-extremism strategy draws criticism from Muslim civic leaders
  • PM David Cameron and Home Secretary Teresa May released the UK’s new counter-extremism strategy, with measures including studying discrepancies between Sharia and British law, new broadcast regulations, increased movement restrictions on suspected extremists, and pressuring internet service providers to remove extremist material.
  • The strategy also involves a wide-scale review of the public, non-profit, and for-profit sectors to suss out “infiltrators” who attempt to gain access to platforms to disseminate extremist ideologies.
  • While officials allege the new measures target all forms of extremism, Muslim civil groups including the Muslim Council of Britain criticized them as poorly formulated and discriminatory, arguing they alienate the Muslim community and tip over into “McCarthyist” territory.

Read more:
“Counter-extremism: May targets ‘all those who spread hate’” (BBC)
“Government launches hunt for extremists across public sector” (The Guardian)
“Muslims condemn Britain’s plans to combat extremism” (Reuters)
“‘One Nation Counter-Extremism Strategy’ Risks Further Undermining Fight Against Terrorism” (Muslim Council of Britain)

(Image Credit: Luke MacGregor/Reuters)