Hello Friends, March was a month of engagement and reflection on the urgent needs of human rights defenders (HRDs) across our region. As geopolitical dynamics shift and crises intensify, the threats facing HRDs have grown more complex—demanding coordinated responses and sustained solidarity.
DefendDefenders call for applications – Safe Sisters Fellowship Round 15 Call for
Hello Friends, This November, DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of
Hello Friends, In our efforts to address the protection needs
Oral statements delivered during the 57th session of the UN
Hello Friends, Since 2007, DefendDefenders has been supporting the establishment
Hello friends, The suppression of the rights to freedom of
Hello friends, The right to peaceful assembly facilitates the exercise
Hello friends, The human rights situation on the continent continues
As a child, Asmahan’s childhood was scarred by the violent practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), then popular in Somali culture. Girls as young as seven years were subjected to the violent practice often against their will, and young Asmahan was revolted by it.
“I witnessed very young girls aged between seven and ten years undergoing this harmful practice (FGM), conducted using rudimentary tools, which usually left long effects on these girls’ bodies. By all intents, it was a violation of both their bodies and their rights, and even at that early age, it didn’t sit well with me,” she says.
As she grew up, the social injustices against women would only grow more evident. In addition to FGM, girls were rarely taken to school. Instead, child marriages were frequent, and young girls would be married off before their first teenage birthdays, often to older men, where they would go on to lead lives blighted by systemic socio-cultural discrimination and abuse.
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Arie Towers
Plot 16, Mackinnon Road
Nakasero P.O. Box 70356,
Kampala, Uganda
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