#BLM

French music producer's beating sparks new anger over police violence
Issued on: 26/11/2020 - 

Accusations of police violence are multiplying in France

 THOMAS COEX AFP

Paris (AFP)

French authorities on Tuesday opened an investigation and ordered suspensions of police after they were filmed beating up a black music producer in central Paris in images that sparked new anger over the conduct of the security forces.

The images published by the online news site Loopsider showed the music producer, identified only as Michel, being repeatedly beaten as he tried to enter a music studio in the 17th district of Paris.

The incident comes after a string of high-profile probes into police violence against black and Arab citizens and as concern grows over new legislation that would restrict the right of the press to publish images of the faces of police.

The man was himself initially arrested for violence and failure to obey the police. But prosecutors threw out the probe and instead opened an investigation against the police officers themselves for committing violence while in a position of authority.

"I am asking the chief of (Paris) police to suspend on an interim basis the police officers concerned," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter.

The man's lawyer, Hafida El Ali, told AFP that his client had been detained for 48 hours on the basis of "lies by the police who had outrageously aggressed him".

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz told AFP that he had asked France's National Police General Inspectorate (IGPN) to shed light on what happened as quickly as possible.

"It is a very important case in my opinion and I have been following it personally," he said.

- 'Exceptionally serious' -

Loopsider, which has exposed several episodes of police brutality in recent months, said that the images "had to be seen to understand the full extent of the problem".

Loopsider said Michel had initially been stopped for not wearing a mask and subjected to racial abuse by the police.

"People who should have been protecting me attacked me. I did nothing to deserve this. I just want these three people to be punished according to the law," Michel told reporters on Thursday as he arrived at the IGPN with his lawyer to file a complaint.

Paris' Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was "profoundly shocked" "by an intolerable act... that is exceptionally serious."

A close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, parliament speaker Richard Ferrand, also expressed alarm, writing on Twitter that illegitimate use of force by the police "eroded the indispensable link of confidence between citizens and those who protect us, and must be punished without weakness."

There has already been virulent criticism of the police this week after they used tear gas late Monday to remove migrants from a camp set up in central Paris.

Prosecutors have opened probes into the use of violence against both a journalist and a migrant in that incident.

The beating of the producer now piles new pressure on Paris police chief Didier Lallement who has faced stern questions from critics and media over the dispersal of the migrants.

- 'Would still be in prison' -

The lower house of parliament Tuesday evening gave initial approval to a security bill which would restrict the publication of photos or videos of police officers' faces, although it still faces further legislative hurdles.

Media unions say it could give police a green light to prevent journalists from doing their work and potentially documenting abuses.

"If we did not have the videos (of the beating of Michel), my client would be in prison," lawyer El Ali said.

Macron swept to power in 2017 as a centrist who rallied support from across the political spectrum. But critics and even some supporters accuse him of tilting to the right as he seeks re-election in 2022.

© 2020 AFP

Black Australia: Bringing Aboriginal voices to the silver screen


Issued on: 26/11/2020 - 

PERSPECTIVE © FRANCE 24
By:Haxie MEYERS-BELKIN
10 min

Australia is still grappling with the legacy of its historic subjugation of the country’s Aboriginal minority. We speak to Greta Morton Elangué about her online film festival Black Australia, an event she hopes will give the world a chance to hear hear the stories of an often marginalised community

Violence against women: How one woman in Zimbabwe decided to take a stand

Issued on: 25/11/2020 - 

PERSPECTIVE © FRANCE 24
By:Stuart Norval
10 min

Beatrice Savadye grew up in a poor mining community in northern Zimbabwe. She experienced gender violence at home: her father told her brother to beat her and her sisters up if they misbehaved. But she decided to take a stand and not accept the status quo. Seven years ago, she started a women's group for Zimbabweans called Roots Africa. It pushes for stronger laws to protect women trapped with abusers from a surge in violence and from HIV infections. She joins us as part of our special coverage to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Honour crimes: Women in Chechnya forced to suffer in silence
Issued on: 25/11/2020 - 

By: Elena VOLOCHINE|Pavel SERGEEV|Gulliver CRAGG|Albina KIRILLOVA

7 min

Since 2007, the people of Chechnya, a small Muslim republic in southern Russia, have lived under the hardline rule of President Ramzan Kadyrov. He became notorious in 2017 when he launched a purge of homosexuals. He's also known for encouraging so-called honour crimes – crimes committed against women by members of their own families. Our team in Russia managed to meet one Chechen woman who fled the threat of an honour crime and told us her harrowing story.

Global Covid-19 lockdowns inflame violence against women
Issued on: 25/11/2020 - 

Demonstrators take part in "Las Catrinas CDMX 2020" march demanding justice for girls and women killed by femicide violence in Mexico City, on November 01, 2020. 

AFP - CLAUDIO CRUZ

Text by:FRANCE 24

No country has been spared the coronavirus, nor the scourge of domestic violence which has surged during lockdowns, as the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Wednesday.

From a spike in rapes in Nigeria and South Africa, increased numbers of women missing in Peru, higher rates of women being killed in Brazil and Mexico and overwhelmed associations in Europe: the pandemic has aggravated the plague of sexual violence.

According to UN data released in late September, lockdowns have led to increases in complaints or calls to report domestic abuse of 25 percent in Argentina, 30 percent in Cyprus and France and 33 percent in Singapore.

Pioneering the fight against domestic violence in China

02:14   

In essentially all countries, measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus have resulted in women and children being confined at home.

"The house is the most dangerous place for women," Moroccan associations noted in April as they pressed authorities for "an emergency response".

In India, Heena -- not her real name -- a 33-year-old cook who lives in Mumbai, said she felt "trapped in my house" with a husband who did not work, consumed drugs and was violent.

As she described what she had endured, she frequently broke down in tears.

After buying drugs, "he would spend the rest of his day either hooked to his phone playing PubG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) or beating me up and abusing me," she told AFP by telephone.

Insufficient measures

On August 15, her husband beat Heena worse than before, in front of their seven-year-old son, and threw her out of the house at 3:00 am.

"I had nowhere to go," she said. "I could barely move my body -- he beat me to a pulp, my body was swollen."

Instead of going to the police, she made it to a friend's home and then to her parents.

She is now fighting for custody of her son, "but courts are not working in full capacity due to Covid".

She has not seen her son in four months, though he manages to call her in secret from time to time.

It is not just the courts that are hobbled by the virus. The closure of businesses and schools, as well as cultural and athletic activities, have deprived victims already weakened by economic insecurity of ways to escape violence.

Hanaa Edwar of the Iraqi Women's Network, told AFP there had been "a dangerous deterioration in the socioeconomic situation for families following the lockdown, with more families going into poverty, which leads to violent reactions".

In Brazil, 648 murders of women were recorded in the first half of the year, a small increase from the same period in 2019 according to the Brazilian Forum for Public Security.

While the government has launched a campaign to encourage women to file complaints, the forum says that measures designed to help victims remain insufficient.

'Mask-19'

Worldwide, the United Nations says that only one country in eight has taken measures to lessen the pandemic's impact on women and children.

In Spain, victims could discreetly ask for help in pharmacies by using the code "mask-19", and some French associations established contact points in supermarkets.
Violence against women: Spain's fight against domestic abuse

03:36

"The women who came to us were in situations that had become unbearable, dangerous," said Sophie Cartron, assistant director of an association that worked in a shopping mall near Paris.

"The lockdown established a wall of silence," she said.

Mobilisation on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women remains uncertain owing to restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marches for women's rights have nevertheless taken place recently in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Liberia, Namibia and Romania.

"We will not be able to demonstrate to express our anger, or march together," said the Paris-based feminist group Family Planning.

"But we will make ourselves heard all the same, virtually and visually."

Tamara Mathebula of the South African Commission for Gender Equality described a chronic "toxic masculinity" that was "everywhere you look".

"There are gender pay gaps which are widening and continue to widen during the Covid-19 pandemic," she told AFP.

"Gender-based violence worsened" as a result, she said, and the potential consequences were very serious.

In July, the UN estimated that six months of restrictions could result in 31 million additional cases of sexual violence in the world and seven million unwanted pregnancies.

The situation was also undermining the fight against female genital mutilation and forced marriages, the UN warned.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Thousands of Chilean women perform feminist anthem

Issued on: 26/11/2020 

Members of the feminist group Las Tesis, authors of the performance piece "A Rapist In Your Way," take part in a demonstration during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Santiago, Chile, on November 25, 2020 MARTIN BERNETTI AFP

Santiago (AFP)

Thousands of women gathered in one of Santiago's main plazas on Wednesday and performed the feminist anthem "A Rapist In Your Path" to mark the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women -- before Chilean police violently dispersed them.

Created by Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis and first performed in 2019, the song condemns men who attack women and is accompanied by dance moves.

Four members of Las Tesis led the performance, which has been copied and translated into different languages by women around the world.

The crowd was able to complete the performance only once before police deployed a water cannon to disperse the demonstrators from the Plaza Italia in downtown Santiago.

Las Tesis gained worldwide fame during Chilean demonstrations against economic disparity in 2019 with the street theater performance.

Earlier Wednesday, women's groups demonstrated in Santiago demanding an end to the male violence. Barricades were set on fire and a store was looted.

"We believe that violence against women is part of a structural state violence and of the neoliberal patriarchal system to which we are subjected in this country," feminist lawyer and demonstrator Florencia Pinto told AFP.

The demo was one of dozens around the world protesting violence against women, from Istanbul to Paris to Mexico City.

The demonstrations were given new urgency by an alarming rise in violence targeting women around the world since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Venezuela documented 228 femicides in 2020 -- 159 of which came after virus lockdowns began in mid-March, according to the Monitor de Femicidos.

"We are being murdered," a crowd of women protesting in the capital Caracas chanted.

A large crowd of women and their supporters also marched in Mexico City, including native women, trans women, and relatives of people who have been murdered or have vanished during the country's drug war.

"Let's not forget that while violence is what unites us, that violence turns into something much stronger which is dignified feminist outrage," one of the marchers, 27 year-old college student Luky Coutino told AFP.

pa-burs/st/ch

Mexican protesters decry violence against women


Issued on: 26/11/2020 - 

Mexican protesters demanded justice for victims of femicides on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 

RODRIGO ARANGUA AFP

Mexico City (AFP)

Demonstrators marched through the Mexican capital on Wednesday and scuffled with police during an angry protest at widespread violence against women in the Latin American nation.

Around 10 women are killed every day in Mexico and activists accuse the government of not doing enough to tackle the problem.

Holding banners, flags and placards, thousands of protesters demanded justice for the many victims of femicides on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

"Although the state doesn't do its job, we support each other as women," said 22-year-old student Ana Karen Resendiz.

"We look for a way to move forward and to stay well and alive."

Protesters marched to the city's main square where some faced off with riot police trying to stop them defacing the walls of the presidential palace and the cathedral with paint.

Around 3,800 women are killed each year in Mexico, while six in 10 women have suffered some form of aggression in the past decade, Interior Minister Olga Sanchez said.

"We have a historical debt to women, especially to victims of violence, and we cannot allow impunity," she said.

"Machismo kills, destroys the lives of women and limits our country's development," Sanchez added, speaking at President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily press conference.

Lopez Obrador for his part said that "conditions of poverty and economic inequality have led to these phenomena of aggression and violence against women."

Only half of all femicides in Mexico lead to a convictions and in some regions impunity is as high as 98 percent, according to the report presented at the news conference.

Protests against gender violence have multiplied in the past year in the capital and other parts of the country.

Last month a police crackdown on a protest in the resort city of Cancun against the murder of a local woman left several people injured and sparked national outcry.

© 2020 AFP

Schoolgirls urge world to follow Scotland on free period products

Issued on: 26/11/2020 -

Many girls miss school because they cannot afford or access sanitary products
LOIC VENANCE AFP/File

Stenhousemuir (United Kingdom) (AFP)

A group of schoolgirls who started a campaign to educate fellow pupils about period poverty want more countries to follow Scotland's example and make sanitary products free.

The Scottish parliament this week unanimously passed a groundbreaking law to make tampons and sanitary napkins free in all public buildings -- making Scotland the first country in the world to do so.

"I think we all felt elated that we had contributed to such a big change for the world," said Elle-Rose Fotheringham, 17, from Larbert High School in Stenhousemuir, central Scotland.

She told AFP she hoped "many more" countries would follow Scotland's example. "There are women all over the world who need free access to feminine hygiene products. This is definitely a necessity."

Fotheringham formed the group "Lady Business" with fellow pupils Meredith Rae, Tilly O'Donnell and Abby Reid after writing an article on period poverty for her school newspaper.

The four made it their mission to spread the word about the problem, addressing school assemblies and holding a rally outside the Scottish parliament.

They also topped up containers of period products in the school lavatories which were initially vandalised. That ended once the girls' message sank in.

Rae, 16, said she felt enormous relief when the bill was passed.

"We've worked so hard to get to this point," she said. "We've been doing it so long that now getting it passed was relieving for us."

According to a May 2019 survey of 1,000 teenage girls in Britain, more than half (52 percent) had missed school because of their periods.

One in 14 of these said they missed school because they could not afford or access sanitary products, the study by hygiene services company PHS Group indicated.

Globally, campaigners say the issue has a direct effect on girls' education, with a knock-on impact on work opportunities, thus deepening gender inequality.

- 'World-leading' -

The "Lady Business" girls had to battle to overcome the stigma around menstruation at school, despite indications of broad support for tackling period poverty.

"It was frustrating... because obviously it is not something that needs to be so taboo," Rae said.

"Since starting this we have worked and we have done assemblies, we've worked in classrooms and we've really seen a shift in attitudes with people, especially with younger boys and maybe even older teachers."

Lawmaker Monica Lennon, who introduced the bill, said Scotland's parliament had agreed that "no one should have to worry where their next tampon, pad or reusable is coming from".

"Scotland will not be the last country to consign period poverty to history but we have the chance to be the first," she said, praising "Lady Business" during her speech.

While the legislation is "world-leading", Scottish schools should also offer education to pupils to end the stigma of periods, she added.

The law goes further than existing provisions for free period products in schools in England, Scotland and Wales, and than measures elsewhere in the world such as the reduction or elimination of sales tax on the items.

Fotheringham and Rae are now preparing to study at university. Both hope younger children at the school will fight on to speak without embarrassment or shame about menstruation.

Lucy Clark, 13, who recently joined Lady Business, said she is ready to pick up the fight to get people talking.

"Maybe younger children find it like, 'eww, that's disgusting!', but I just think that it's natural," she said.

"Girls can't help that. They need products to be able to be healthy and be happy."

© 2020 AFP

 PINK MARTINI 20TH ANNIVERSARY

 

SYMPATHIQUE

Devil horns meet sutras in Taiwan's Buddhist death metal band


Issued on: 26/11/2020 - 

The gig began with a nun chanting on stage but suddenly erupted into a wall of noise unleashed by distorted guitars and screamed sutras -- the unique sound of Taiwan's first Buddhist death metal band Sam Yeh AFP

Taipei (AFP)

The gig began with a nun chanting on stage but suddenly erupted into a wall of noise unleashed by distorted guitars and screamed sutras -- the unique sound of Taiwan's first Buddhist death metal band.

The island has a vibrant metal scene but few outfits are quite as eye-catching as "Dharma".

The band aims to deliver enlightenment via the medium of throaty eight-string guitars and guttural roars.

Dressed in robes -- black, of course -- they use traditional Sanskrit sutras as lyrics. But everything else screams death metal, from bloody face paint on stage, to growled vocals, relentless riffs and double-kick blast beats.

Founder and drummer Jack Tung first came up with the idea 14 years ago after listening to a recording of Tibetan lamas reciting sutras.

"The way it's sung is like in metal, with some voice distortion," he told AFP, referencing the often throaty low nature of Tibetan chanting.

"This is very similar to death metal music which I like."

- Get behind me Satan -

On the face of it, death metal and Buddhism might not appear to be the most natural of bedfellows.

Early death metal bands -- and to a more significant extent their black metal cousins -- often revelled in Satanic and occult themes.

While many were simply trying to shock, some bands -- especially out of Scandinavia -- were committed Satanists or vehemently anti-religion.

But like any genre, the scene evolved to welcome a vast array of views and philosophies.

Miao-ben, the Buddhist nun who opened a recent Dharma gig in Taipei with traditional chanting, said she had no issue taking the stage alongside such music.

"Buddhism is not set in form. Having Buddha in our hearts is more important," she told AFP.

Unlike more dogmatic faiths, she added, Buddhism is syncretic.

"This is just another form of Buddhist sutra ceremony," she said of the set-list.

- 'Be respectable' -

Bringing Dharma together was not easy.

"I asked many people and nobody wanted to be in a 'religious' choir," laughed Tung, a practising Buddhist.

He decided to work on the songs first, primarily with guitarist Andy Lin, who also grew up in a devout family, and find remaining band mates later.

They sought the advice of Buddhist Master Chan Song, who provided interpretations of the ancient text and rituals.

Among Master Song's students was Joe Henley, a Canadian who moved to Taiwan 15 years ago and is now the lead singer.

"Buddhism has become a regular part of my life now," said Henley, explaining his decision to covert. "I want to do this right. I wanted to be respectable."

The band's first single "Sapta Jina Bhasitam Papa Vinasana Dharani", an incantation about peace and wellness, is currently being mastered at a Polish studio and will be released next month.

"We are getting a lot of attention, I guess because we are doing something new," said Henley.

"I am enjoying the ride, enjoying the experience."

- Evangelist aim -

Tung, who declined to give his age, grew up when Taiwan was a dictatorship and authorities heavily censored rock and metal.

The island transitioned towards democracy in the 1980s and 1990s and Tung devoured whatever he could find.

Bands like Guns N' Roses and Cinderella introduced him to rock while pioneers such as Sepultura and Napalm Death got him hooked on the more extreme metal.

Taiwan has since morphed into one of Asia's most progressive democracies with vibrant artistic communities and sub-cultures.

The island's most famous metal act "Chthonic", which utilises traditional instruments like the erhu alongside guitars, has toured globally and is fronted by Freddie Lim, a now prominent politician.

Younger generations, especially those in the cities, have embraced a distinctly Taiwanese identity and are less likely to be as religious as their parents.

Tung hopes to change that in whatever way he can via music.

"We have democracy and lots of freedom and we live in a very open society," he explained. "But social morality has declined".

Dharma's live act is deliberately infused with Buddhist traditions. The sutras are projected on screens so fans can read them.

Their face paint embodies the fierce looking deities found in many temples that fight evil spirits.

"You can't defend god by being nice and polite," said Tung.

Celine Lin, 27, came to Dharma's gig with a friend and was looking up Buddhist texts on her phone during the break.

"The music blew my mind," she enthused. "It got me interested in sutras and their meanings."

That is music to Tung's ears.

"If we can influence one person who came to see our performance... I consider the performance a success," he said.