This article describes the ways in which Janet Benshoof, GJC President and Founder, challenges abortion restrictions in the US.

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GJC writes a letter to Chilean Minister of Health, Jaime Manalich Muxi, asking him to allow doctors to perform a life saving abortion on an 11-year old girl who was impregnated after being raped repeatedly by her mother's boyfriend.

Excerpt:

On behalf of the Global Justice Center, I am writing to urge you to immediately permit doctors to perform a therapeutic abortion to save the life and prevent further cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of a young Chilean girl, “Belén,” who faces a life-threatening pregnancy resulting from rape.

Belén, an 11-year old girl, was impregnated after being raped repeatedly for more than two weeks by her mother’s boyfriend. According to Belén’s doctors, the pregnancy has placed her life at risk. If, however, her doctors were to provide her a life-saving abortion, they and Belén would both be found in criminal violation of Chile’s absolute ban on abortion, which allows no exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother. As Chilean law now stands, an 11-year old girl will be forced to endure a life-threatening pregnancy that will either kill her or compel her, a child herself, to give birth to and raise the child of her rapist. This forced pregnancy will continue the violation of her bodily integrity and sovereignty, extending the pain and abuse she has already experienced.

We call on your government to permit a therapeutic abortion as the only humane response to Belén’s predicament, and to reform your restrictive ban on abortion so that future girls and women are not subjected to the physical and psychological dangers of unwanted and life-threatening pregnancies.

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A woman stood up during the conference and told the graphic and horrific details of the sexual torture she was subjected to for nine months. She, however, was not alone; there had been around 35 other women in the same detention center, all of whom were subjected to sexual violence. And these 35 women were also not unique in their experiences of sexual violence; International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated, “The information and evidence indicates at this stage that hundreds of rapes occurred during the conflict.”

This conflict was the Libyan Revolution of 2011. Because rape is viewed by most Libyans as an attack upon the honor of a family or tribe—rather than an attack against a woman’s body, mind, and autonomy–sexualized violence was used as a weapon of war by Gaddafi’s forces to obtain information and punish rebel communities. Rape was also used as a terror tactic to induce submission to the regime.

As Libya recovers from the violent Arab Spring and begins to rebuild its government and country, a bill that would treat rape during armed conflict as a war crime is being drafted. As the law currently stands, rape is already a crime under Libyan law. Convicted rapists face around 10 years in jail. Under the new specialized law, convicted rapists in armed conflict could potentially face a life sentence in prison.  Additionally, legislators have agreed that this new law should require compensation from the state to victims of sexual violence. The amount of compensation would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

While this bill is not yet law—it still must be passed by the general national congress of Libya—it is a positive first step toward ending impunity for sexualized violence in war. Such a law would make it possible to begin holding perpetrators of wartime rape accountable, including where those rapes were sanctioned by the government.

The Global Justice Center has been advocating for states to be punished for using rape as an unlawful weapon of armed conflict. The GJC strongly hopes that the Libyan bill will provide an example for countries like Syria and Burma, whose governments similarly authorize mass rape of ethnic minority civilians and rebel populations. Action must be taken around the globe to ensure that women are no longer systematically harmed through sexualized violence condoned by the governments that are supposed to protect them.

Waves of people have spilled into the city centers of Egypt, arms stretched high with red, white and green flags, clutching posters with one demand: “ar7l” or “leave.” Reminiscent of the 2011 Arab Spring, these recent protests against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi are the epitome of political dissent and powerful activism. However, this freedom of expression does not extend to all Egyptians. Women wishing to exercise their rights by joining political protests are frequently subjected to violent sexual assault and harassment.

Consider that, in just one day on June 30, 2013, 46 sexual assaults were reported from Tahrir Square. The majority are mob attacks, where many men descend upon women, tearing their clothes to shreds. Some use patrol batons to beat these women, while law enforcement turns a blind eye. In the words of Soraya Bahgat (founder of the women’s rights organization Tahrir Bodyguard), these attacks are “sexual terrorism.”

All around the globe, sexual violence is used as a weapon to suppress women and to keep them from voicing their opinions in the public sphere. At the Global Justice Center, we know that there cannot be political progress without including women. After all, as we saw in 2011, women were an integral part of in overthrowing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

A number of inspirational Egyptian organizations have formed to secure women’s right to demonstrate like their male peers, like Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment and Tahrir Bodyguard. These groups, made up of male and female volunteers, work to ensure the safety of women at protests. Tahrir Bodyguards, decked in neon vests and hard hats, survey from checkpoints and watchtowers within Tahrir Square at major protests. They intervene in the attacks upon women, often suffering injuries themselves as they fight to protect the victims. Tahrir Bodyguard also provides free self-defense lessons for women. Similarly, Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment will intervene in violent situations. It also works to raise awareness at protests, spreading information on how to handle rape-trauma survivors and provides an emergency hotline number. They also have safe houses located around Tahrir Square.

While these organizations play very important roles in addressing immediate problems, more must be done to address the broader issues of misogyny and rape culture that enable the rampant use of sexual violence against women worldwide. A major key to this is to radically increase the number of women in power.Women make up 51% of the world’s population, but compose less than 20% of government leaders.This discrepancy is clearly reflected in the composition of Egypt’s 36-member cabinet; only two are women.

The Global Justice Center works to increase women’s roles in governments internationally. With 99% of Egyptian women having experienced some form of sexual harassment, their experiences would likely guide their political policies. Allowing Egyptian women to protest without the fear of being sexually assaulted is only the first step in ameliorating the endemic of sexual violence. This is not a cultural issue, and it is certainly not limited to Egypt. This is a global issue. Women across the world must be in positions of power in order to enact change and truly achieve greater societal progress.

We must remember that there is more than one revolution occurring in Egypt right now. An unspoken revolution is bravely being fought by the Egyptian women risking their lives to express their political beliefs, and by those who are working tirelessly to protect them.