Dear Friends,
In the recent months of 2017-2018, while our blog has been on pause, IOSDE has been working with a strong emphasis on addressing issues of domestic violence and discrimination against immigrants and other vulnerable groups and persons that puts certain persons at greater risk for being abused.
IOSDE works internationally, however IOSDE is also, at the same time, based in Sweden, and in Sweden IOSDE has, to-date, spent must time and work on Indigenous Sami rights and issues as residing in Sapmi, from its inception in 2012 on (including much of the the 1.5 years pre-dating this news blog site). However, Sweden, like many other European States, faces its own prejudices and harms beyond its more obvious colonial pasts and reconciliations therein, both at home and abroad. Currently, and really since the era of WW2, many European countries, including Sweden, have harbored in their populations sentiments of racism in the form of notions of ethnic cleansing, race biology, ethnic superiority, and isolationism, not only against people colonized, but all minority groups, especially religious and ethnic minorities and immigrants of all kinds.
Such prejudices are the root cause of violence. Violence cannot exist if the people themselves, on the daily level, do not burn for it as the result of misinformation, mis-education, or propaganda that promotes it (for nation-building, group-think, sense of power or otherwise). Such violence affects all lives, but some persons are more at risk than others, and women and immigrant women, along with Indigenous women, are among these at-risk persons. Not all women (or immigrants or Indigenous persons, or persons from vulnerable groups) are victims or at highest risk, just as not all stereotypes of oppressors hold true and many persons perceived as from oppressor groups, such as men or majority persons, are actually victims, as well. For this reason, IOSDE continues to be flexible in its approach to human rights, not only to 'go with the flow' of the agendas that are easy or predictable, but rather to address also the taboo.
In our country of base, Sweden, as well as in Sapmi therein (including within the Sami Parliament in Sweden, the over-arching self-governing mechanism to-date in Sapmi in Sweden, while also a branch of and funded by the Swedish Government), domestic violence is a taboo subject, as are immigrant rights and issues and the notions (legal, ethical, social and otherwise) of all non-majority persons in Swedish society as minorities and who should have minorities rights as non-majority groups and persons of all backgrounds in Sweden. IOSDE, for reasons that can be seen in recent works and throughout, brings to light, within and among this, the issue of the conditions of discrimination against so-called "love immigrant" women, for example, that put such women at additional risk for domestic violence.
Domestic violence is, in our eyes, a hate crime, and it is a pandemic. Domestic violence is about forcing a person to conform to norms- norms of gender, society, the home, economy, or otherwise, and more often than not it targets women and especially women who have less access to payment for their work, societal inclusion, recognition of background and otherwise. However, violence is also a pandemic that affects and touches all. Perpetrators are also victims, in their own right, as committing violence is not a healthy or happy lifestyle or a way to successfully resolve issues either personal or societal, and using violence usually occurs in the context of being taught no other way or not having healthy limits to expectations of power or control. It is for this reason IOSDE's Founder and Director, India Reed Bowers, has also promoted Restorative Justice, both personally and professionally, within and around these and surrounding and influencing issues.
At present, we give to you three recent publicly-available works addressing these issues or affecting them, two from IOSDE and one from a group we would like to endorse the work of, the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network, who was excluded by Sweden from the private State-NGO preparatory meeting during the recent UN CERD session just prior to Sweden's review (IOSDE was not permitted to attend due to needing interpretation from Swedish to English, as we were told it would be 'too disruptive' to have even casual interpretation at the ear, however this group was entirely excluded from invitation, and we therefore and for the reasons above and ethics and commitments of IOSDE choose to include their report and issues here).
1. IOSDE's report to the Council of Europe's GREVIO division, the monitoring group for the Istanbul Convention, i.e. the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, for GREVIO's first ever review of Sweden, including critique of the silence of the Sami Parliament in Sweden in country reviews as on domestic violence, as a State-funded, State body. The GREVIO Sweden country page is here, and contains also IOSDE's report along with Sweden's report and dialogue with State representatives, as well as, eventually, GREVIO's current conclusions.
2. IOSDE's report to the United Nations CERD (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination) Committee for its review of Sweden at the 95th CERD session, with a focus on discriminatory at-risk conditions of 'love immigrant' and all non-majority women in Sweden for domestic violence. Sweden and other 95th Session country documents, including CERD concluding remarks re Sweden and other countries reviewed, country reports, and other civil society reports available here.
3. From the same UN CERD session of #2 above, the report provided re Sweden to the CERD Committee by the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network.
See also IOSDE's report, "Silence is Violence: A Shadow Report to UN CEDAW re Sweden Submitted to the United Nations CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) Committee for its review of Sweden, 63rd Session, February 2016", dated 22 January 2016, and IOSDE's corresponding news blog entry "Silence is Violence" - IOSDE Report for the review of Sweden by the UN CEDAW Committee (United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women), as well as the IOSDE news blog entry International Women's Day 2014.
All of these reports and many current and previous UN and other monitoring treaty body systems call for Sweden to undertake disaggregated statistical data across Sweden including ethnic, immigration status and other lines important to knowing the prevalence of domestic violence within our shared lives, situations and communities in real figures, so that we can then examine the realities for their true urgency, which we already experience, and hold Sweden accountable for both appropriate changes for better equality, as prevention, and better services, for prevention and healing. Sweden is a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society, with many immigrants families already living for multiple generations in Sweden, as well many newly persons newly arrived, in addition to a 5-group historical grievances 'national minorities' category of the State for long-standing non-majority groups discriminated against/affected- Jews, the Roma, the (Indigenous) Sami, the Swedish Finns and the Tornedalers. IOSDE calls for Sweden to celebrate us all, as the diverse fabrics that we are contributing our gifts to the society as we do, and to eliminate the discrimination that leave some, more than others, most at-risk.
In the recent months of 2017-2018, while our blog has been on pause, IOSDE has been working with a strong emphasis on addressing issues of domestic violence and discrimination against immigrants and other vulnerable groups and persons that puts certain persons at greater risk for being abused.
IOSDE works internationally, however IOSDE is also, at the same time, based in Sweden, and in Sweden IOSDE has, to-date, spent must time and work on Indigenous Sami rights and issues as residing in Sapmi, from its inception in 2012 on (including much of the the 1.5 years pre-dating this news blog site). However, Sweden, like many other European States, faces its own prejudices and harms beyond its more obvious colonial pasts and reconciliations therein, both at home and abroad. Currently, and really since the era of WW2, many European countries, including Sweden, have harbored in their populations sentiments of racism in the form of notions of ethnic cleansing, race biology, ethnic superiority, and isolationism, not only against people colonized, but all minority groups, especially religious and ethnic minorities and immigrants of all kinds.
Such prejudices are the root cause of violence. Violence cannot exist if the people themselves, on the daily level, do not burn for it as the result of misinformation, mis-education, or propaganda that promotes it (for nation-building, group-think, sense of power or otherwise). Such violence affects all lives, but some persons are more at risk than others, and women and immigrant women, along with Indigenous women, are among these at-risk persons. Not all women (or immigrants or Indigenous persons, or persons from vulnerable groups) are victims or at highest risk, just as not all stereotypes of oppressors hold true and many persons perceived as from oppressor groups, such as men or majority persons, are actually victims, as well. For this reason, IOSDE continues to be flexible in its approach to human rights, not only to 'go with the flow' of the agendas that are easy or predictable, but rather to address also the taboo.
In our country of base, Sweden, as well as in Sapmi therein (including within the Sami Parliament in Sweden, the over-arching self-governing mechanism to-date in Sapmi in Sweden, while also a branch of and funded by the Swedish Government), domestic violence is a taboo subject, as are immigrant rights and issues and the notions (legal, ethical, social and otherwise) of all non-majority persons in Swedish society as minorities and who should have minorities rights as non-majority groups and persons of all backgrounds in Sweden. IOSDE, for reasons that can be seen in recent works and throughout, brings to light, within and among this, the issue of the conditions of discrimination against so-called "love immigrant" women, for example, that put such women at additional risk for domestic violence.
Domestic violence is, in our eyes, a hate crime, and it is a pandemic. Domestic violence is about forcing a person to conform to norms- norms of gender, society, the home, economy, or otherwise, and more often than not it targets women and especially women who have less access to payment for their work, societal inclusion, recognition of background and otherwise. However, violence is also a pandemic that affects and touches all. Perpetrators are also victims, in their own right, as committing violence is not a healthy or happy lifestyle or a way to successfully resolve issues either personal or societal, and using violence usually occurs in the context of being taught no other way or not having healthy limits to expectations of power or control. It is for this reason IOSDE's Founder and Director, India Reed Bowers, has also promoted Restorative Justice, both personally and professionally, within and around these and surrounding and influencing issues.
At present, we give to you three recent publicly-available works addressing these issues or affecting them, two from IOSDE and one from a group we would like to endorse the work of, the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network, who was excluded by Sweden from the private State-NGO preparatory meeting during the recent UN CERD session just prior to Sweden's review (IOSDE was not permitted to attend due to needing interpretation from Swedish to English, as we were told it would be 'too disruptive' to have even casual interpretation at the ear, however this group was entirely excluded from invitation, and we therefore and for the reasons above and ethics and commitments of IOSDE choose to include their report and issues here).
1. IOSDE's report to the Council of Europe's GREVIO division, the monitoring group for the Istanbul Convention, i.e. the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, for GREVIO's first ever review of Sweden, including critique of the silence of the Sami Parliament in Sweden in country reviews as on domestic violence, as a State-funded, State body. The GREVIO Sweden country page is here, and contains also IOSDE's report along with Sweden's report and dialogue with State representatives, as well as, eventually, GREVIO's current conclusions.
2. IOSDE's report to the United Nations CERD (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination) Committee for its review of Sweden at the 95th CERD session, with a focus on discriminatory at-risk conditions of 'love immigrant' and all non-majority women in Sweden for domestic violence. Sweden and other 95th Session country documents, including CERD concluding remarks re Sweden and other countries reviewed, country reports, and other civil society reports available here.
3. From the same UN CERD session of #2 above, the report provided re Sweden to the CERD Committee by the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network.
See also IOSDE's report, "Silence is Violence: A Shadow Report to UN CEDAW re Sweden Submitted to the United Nations CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) Committee for its review of Sweden, 63rd Session, February 2016", dated 22 January 2016, and IOSDE's corresponding news blog entry "Silence is Violence" - IOSDE Report for the review of Sweden by the UN CEDAW Committee (United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women), as well as the IOSDE news blog entry International Women's Day 2014.
All of these reports and many current and previous UN and other monitoring treaty body systems call for Sweden to undertake disaggregated statistical data across Sweden including ethnic, immigration status and other lines important to knowing the prevalence of domestic violence within our shared lives, situations and communities in real figures, so that we can then examine the realities for their true urgency, which we already experience, and hold Sweden accountable for both appropriate changes for better equality, as prevention, and better services, for prevention and healing. Sweden is a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society, with many immigrants families already living for multiple generations in Sweden, as well many newly persons newly arrived, in addition to a 5-group historical grievances 'national minorities' category of the State for long-standing non-majority groups discriminated against/affected- Jews, the Roma, the (Indigenous) Sami, the Swedish Finns and the Tornedalers. IOSDE calls for Sweden to celebrate us all, as the diverse fabrics that we are contributing our gifts to the society as we do, and to eliminate the discrimination that leave some, more than others, most at-risk.
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