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Women in France Stage Walkout to Protest Unequal Pay
By Sarah Lafen
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe
PARIS, France — This past Monday, at 4:34pm, women across France staged a walk-out from their jobs in order to protest the disparity in salaries and wages between women and men. Women’s rights group Les Glorieuses called for the protest, deciding that the issue of wage disparity finally needs to be addressed in France. 200 women were gathered in Place de la Republique by 5pm on Monday, and there were protests staged in other cities across France as well. Thousands of women were seen on social media leaving their jobs on Monday afternoon. The movement became known as “7 november 16h34.”
Les Glorieuses was inspired by a similar and successful protest in Iceland last month. For the past 11 years, women in Iceland have been walking out on the same day and time that they should leave if they were to be paid the same hourly wage as men. Iceland’s pay gap between men and women’s hourly wages is 14%.
In France, women were urged to leave at exactly 4:34pm because according to their calculations, after this point women will have been essentially working voluntarily. In 2010, the gap between men and women’s average hourly wage was 15.5%, which means that a woman in France must work 38.2 days more than a male counterpart in order to be awarded the same salary. Rebecca Amsellem, founder of Les Glorieuses, “thought the difference would maybe be 10 working days, not a month-and-a-half.”
Amsellem urged that at exactly 4:34pm on Monday, “women essentially stop being paid.” Osez le Feminisme, another women’s rights group, is supporting the movement as well and has called on French companies to be fined if they do not respect equal pay laws. Les Glorieuses also claims that factored in to the percentage of pay difference between men and women is the notion that women do 1.5 more hours of unpaid housework every day than men.
In recognition of the movement, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo suspended the city council for the afternoon. French minister for women’s rights, Laurence Rossignol, voiced her support for any women from her office who wished to take part in the protest. Rossignol told reports that “[w]hen women protest, they make visible what is invisible, when they speak their outrage and raise collective indignation even higher, I support it.”
For more information, please see:
BBC — Why did some French Women Walk out of Work Early? — 7 November 2016
The Local — Women in France Urged to Walk out of Work Early — 7 November 2016
RT — French Women Stage Mass Walkout in Protest Against Wage Gap — 7 November 2016
Zuma Under Fire Amid Reports of Corruption
By Samantha Netzband
Impunity Watch, Africa Desk Reporter
CAPE TOWN, South Africa– President Jacob Zuma is under intense scrutiny after being accused of corruption. Zuma has been under fire before for misuse of government funds. A new 355 page report called the ‘State of Capture’ claims that Zuma had an improper relationship with the Gupta Brothers. The report claims that the Gupta brothers helped Zuma pick key cabinet members.
Zuma giving a speech. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)
Zuma is a member of the African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela that has been ruling South Africa since the end of apartheid. The party has enjoyed uninterrupted rule despite Zuma’s past issues with corruption. However, the release of the ‘State of Capture’ is worrying other party members who are calling for a full investigation of Zuma.
Opposition party members are calling for Zuma’s resignation. Zuma is defiant and says that he has done nothing wrong.
For further information, please see:
BBC – South Africa’s Zuma ‘Not Afraid of Jail’ Amid Corruption Allegations – 5 November 2016
CNN – South Africa corruption report released amid anti-Zuma protests – 2 November 2016
Gulf News – Zuma’s Truly Overwhelming Problems – 5 November 2016
Press TV – South Africa’s Zuma Censures Judiciary Amid Corruption Probe – 5 November 2016
Turkish Riot Police Use Tear Gas, Water Cannon and Plastic Bullets to Disperse Protest
by Yesim Usluca
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish police have used tear gas, a water cannon, and plastic bullets to disperse a protest against the imprisonment of nine journalists from the secularist opposition newspaper, Cumhuriyet.
The protest took place hours after nine journalists were formally arrested. Approximately 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside a mosque in central Istanbul, shouting slogans denouncing the “fascist” state and vowing not to remain silent. Riot police sprayed freezing water from trucks, fired plastic bullets and used tear gas in an attempt to prevent crowds of protestors from marching to the offices of the Cumhuriyet newspaper.
The nine arrested individuals include some of the most prolific journalists of the Turkish press. They were detained as part of an intensifying crackdown on oppositionists by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following the arrests, the Turkish courts ordered a media blackout, prohibiting the press from reporting on the detention of Cumhuriyet journalists. The newspaper is known for being one of the few media outlets still critical of President Erdogan. Its reporters are suspected of crimes committed on behalf of Kurdish militants and U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing the coup attempt.
The arrests come after the shutdown of over 100 media outlets and detention of dozens of journalists following July’s failed coup attempt. Prominent Turkish journalist, Can Dundar, declared his outrage over the current administration by stating “our ‘crime’ is our writing, our headlines, our news. We will write again. We will write even more…” The government has stated that the crackdown is necessary to identify terrorists, whereas critics of President Erdogan state that he is using the coup as an attempt to defeat the opposition. Recently arrested politicians stated that they are victims of a “civilian coup by the government and the palace.” Furthermore, the head of Turkey’s main opposition party outraged “What are you trying to do? Are you trying to create a Turkey where everyone is in jail?”
The recent wave of opposition arrests has sparked concern among Turkey’s allies. The EU’s Foreign Policy Chief stated that she was “extremely worried” over the detentions. The U.S. State Department spokesman noted that there was a “worrisome trend” in Turkey over limiting freedom of speech.
For more information, please see:
Newsweek—Protesters clash with Turkish authorities in continuing crackdown—5 November 2016
BBC News—Turkey coup aftermath: Pro-Kurdish Istanbul protests broken up—5 November 2016
ICTJ: In Focus: “If You Don’t Believe in Human Rights, Why Are You in Journalism?”
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ICTJ In Focus 62 November 2016 |
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