Peace Monument for Comfort Women

From the Hankyoreh:

A 130-cm bronze sculpture of a young girl was erected Wednesday on the road in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul's Jongno District.

The “Peace Monument” was designed to give shape to the spirit of the “comfort women” who have come to the area every Wednesday for the past twenty years to call for an apology from the Japanese government.

Dressed in a hanbok, traditional Korean outfit, the girl sits on a chair with her fists on her knees, looking quietly toward the embassy. The shadow hanging to the ground beneath the sculpture forms the shape of an elderly woman. A bird sits on the girl's left shoulder, and a butterfly is positioned on the shadow's chest. In addition to representing freedom and peace, the bird is also a spiritual bridge linking the women who have passed away with those who are still alive. The butterfly symbolizes rebirth.

Below the statute is a history of the Wednesday Demonstrations engraved in Korean, English, and Japanese. The empty chair to the girl’s right is a contribution from citizens to offer comfort to the survivors. The peace memorial was likewise made through the actions of citizens.

From Sex Trade To Second Chance

From the Daily Beast:

“There was no way to go back and erase a criminal conviction in New York,” says Sienna Baskin, co-director of the organization the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center. SWP is a legal advocacy organization that helps sex workers of all kinds, from trafficked individuals to those who freely engage in commercial sex. In 2007, SWP helped create the New York Anti-Trafficking law, which made human trafficking a statewide offense.

“We wanted to have as part of that law a remedy for people who’ve been convicted of prostitution,” said Baskin, but it wasn’t included in the final bill. So in 2010, they drafted and were instrumental in passing Criminal Procedure Law §440.10(1)(i), which allows judges to vacate convictions directly related to an individual’s history as a trafficked person. This law, the first of its kind in the nation, gave Maria and other survivors the chance to truly leave their pasts behind. It also sparked a wave of similar organizing around the country.

UK: Women & Prisons

Two reports on the state of women's prisons in the UK.

From UK Press Association:

The UK's largest and most high profile women's prison is "extremely difficult to run safely and effectively", with almost six out of 10 inmates feeling unsafe at some point, inspectors said.

Threats and intimidation from other prisoners at Holloway in north London were rife, with one inmate describing it as "a very scary place for a first-time prisoner".

Many of the problems were long-running and stemmed from badly designed residential units that made it hard for staff to see inmates, but there were also reports of inappropriate behaviour by male prison officers, the inspectors found.

Nigel Newcomen, deputy chief inspector of prisons, said managers and staff were hampered by the "unsafe and unsatisfactory design of the prison" and "the lack of strategic direction and effective operational management within the women's prison system in general".

Which brings us onto our nest report from the London Evening Standard:

An investigation is under way into alleged sexual harassment of prisoners by officers at Holloway, Britain's largest women's jail.

Government inspectors revealed today that the inquiry centres on claims of “inappropriate behaviour” by male guards.

Some prisoners have complained about the “disconcerting” way in which guards watch them at night through the hatches in their cell doors. Others said “favouritism” by officers is making it difficult to maintain “appropriate boundaries” in their relationships.

Other findings by the prison inspectors include high levels of intimidation, with 60 per cent of women saying that they had felt unsafe, and “disturbing examples” of “poor or dismissive” treatment of inmates by a minority of staff.

There is also strong criticism of the “lack of strategic direction and effective operational management within the women's prison system in general” which the inspectors say must be addressed.

Ghana: Sexual Abuse in Schools

Article in Ghana News:

Recent findings by the UN suggest that sexual abuse in schools is widespread but highly unrecognised. In Ghana, there is a recognised child sexual abuse problem in schools but there is limited information and documentation of the extent of the phenomenon.

The study reveals that both contact and non contact forms of child sexual abuse was prevalent in the areas where the study was conducted. ‘’About 14% of school children, mostly 15 and 14 year olds had been sexually abused.’’ The main perpetrators of child sexual abuse included: classmates (89%), teachers (21%) and relatives (13%). Majority (41%) of the victims of sexual abuse were living with both parents. Girls were found to be more vulnerable to child sexual abuse in a ratio of 11:9.

The study also indicated that only 30% of the victims told someone about the abuse. The response, in most cases is either nothing is done to the perpetrators or they are warned not to do that again.

Source: Plan Ghana