— The News: “4,514 incidents come to light in first half of 2009”
— “Presenting the report findings, Arifa Mazhar said among the total violence cases, 691 were cases of murder, 293 cases of honour killing, 1,046 cases of abduction, 332 cases of domestic violence, 388 cases of suicide and 466 cases of rape and gang rape. There were 1,086 cases of miscellaneous nature, which included ‘vanni’, ‘swara’, custodial violence, torture, trafficking, child marriages, incest, threat to violence, attempted murder, and sexual harassment.”
— “Indicating that the tradition is still alive in our society, the list also includes 37 most horrific cases of stove burning. Research shows that major motives behind stove burning are demand of dowry and divorce and other domestic conflicts. Around 27 cases of acid throwing were also reported in the first half of the year, with 21 of them occurring in Punjab.”
— “Arifa said out of the total 3,067 incidents of violence in Punjab, there were 901 cases of abduction and kidnapping, 393 of murder, 119 of honour killing, 412 of rape and gang rape, 253 of suicide, 129 of sexual assault, 24 of stove burning, and 21 cases of acid throwing.”
— “In Sindh, out of the total 835 incidents, there were 132 cases of honour killing, 135 of murder, 79 of abduction and kidnapping, 103 of suicide, 19 of rape and gang rape, 75 of domestic violence, 18 of sexual assault, eight of stove burning and six cases of acid throwing.”
Category: Stopping Misogyny
Challenging Misogyny and Violence Against Women
Liberia: “The new war is rape”
Liberia: “The new war is rape”
— IRIN: “‘The civil war is over,’ said Monrovia resident Tupee Kiadi. ‘But the new war is rape, especially targeting teenagers and babies. During the war we had peacekeepers to prevent further violence… but women do not have peacekeepers to stop rape.’ ”
— “During the war women and girls were subjected to rape (commonly gang rape) and sexual slavery, many becoming pregnant from rape. Since peace was sealed in 2003, sex crimes – and impunity – have persisted throughout the country.”
Women’s Rights Defender Jiang Tianyong Arrested, Wife Beaten in Communist China
ChinaAid reports that human rights attorney Jiang Tianyong was arrested by Communist Chinese authorities on November 19 (Beijing time), just over a week after Mr. Tianyong gave U.S. Congressional testimony on the dehumanizing treatment, torture, and forced abortions by Communist authorities of women in China. Mr. Tianyong spoke on Capitol Hill at the U.S. House of Representatives on November 10, 2009 on this issue. His fellow presenter, Ms. Reggie Littlejohn, described Communist Chinese policies against women as causing “more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on Earth.” R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm heard Mr. Tianyong and the other human rights speakers on November 10 and has collected their testimony online.
ChinaAid reports that on November 18, when Jiang Tianyong and a handful of other human rights lawyers attempted to meet with U.S. President Obama, the U.S. Embassy told Mr. Tianyong that President would not meet the group. The groups was then surrounded by 200 Communist Chinese “police officers,” and interrogated. The next day, Mr. Tianyong was arrested and his wife beaten in front of their 7 year old daughter.
Chinese Human Rights Attorney Jiang Tianyong Arrested and His Wife Beaten in Front of Their Daughter
Attorney Jiang Tianyong recently returned from a tour in the US exposing the abusive treatment of human rights lawyers in China.
November 19, 2009
“BEIJIN — At 7:40 AM (Beijing time) on Nov. 19, Jiang Tianyong and his wife attempted to leave their home to take their daughter to school, when they were barred from leaving the apartment building by Public Security Bureau officers assembled at the gate. Before Jiang could speak with them, four officers grabbed him violently and forced him into a police car. A police officer named Wang Tao threw his wife to the ground and began striking her. Jiang’s 7-year-old daughter cried helplessly as she watched her father being dragged away to detention by the officers.”
“Jiang Tianyong was arrested and held in detention at the Yangfangdian PSB office of Haidian District, Beijing for over 13 hours, under the guard of Officers Li Aimin and Wang Tao. He was allowed only one meal during his detention. A dozen human rights lawyers rallied in front of the station to demand Jiang’s release and to show support for their colleague. He was released at 9:26 PM (Beijing time) to return home to his family.”
“Immediately after learning of Jiang’s arrest, ChinaAid contacted the US Embassy in Beijing and several U.S. Congressional offices, notifying them of Jiang Tianyong’s brutal treatment and detention. A US Embassy official quickly responded and said that the Embassy had called the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and formally registered the U.S. Government’s concern and opposition to this action. The embassy further reported the incident to the National Security Council and the State Department, all prior to Jiang’s release.”
“Jiang Tianyong had just returned to Beijing on Tuesday, November 17, after touring the United States for 4 weeks and speaking out on the unjust treatment of human rights lawyers in China. On several occasions, he and the other five Chinese human rights defenders on the tour advised U.S. officials to encourage President Obama to meet with human rights lawyers and speak out on religious freedom while visiting China. Read Jiang Tianyong’s Testimony before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Hear his remarks at the National Press Club and at the hearing in Washington, DC.”
“Fearing the lawyers would become targets upon their return, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chair Frank Wolf of Virginia warned against ill-treatment upon the lawyers’ return: ‘If any of them are arrested or harrassed when they get back, I will do everything I can to just create the biggest problem possible for the Obama adminsitration and for the Chinese government.’ ”
“Yesterday, on November 18, Jiang Tianyong and a fellow legal researcher attempted to arrange a meeting with President Obama before he left China, hoping to follow through with the lawyers’ request for US acknowlegement of the current dire situation. After receiving a phone call from the U.S. Embassy, informing him President Obama would not be able to meet with the group of five human rights lawyers who had gathered, 200 police officers immediately pulled up, and interrogated Jiang and one of his colleagues in the hotel for over an hour. They were informed they ‘were not allowed to meet President Obama” and would “be held until he left’ yesterday afternoon.”
“The brutal assault of Jiang Tianyong, his wife, and their daughter is an unjust an inexcusable attack on the rights of peaceful Chinese citizens. Jiang’s family now suffers even more from this abuse, as their well-being was taxed after Jiang’s license to practice law was revoked and his tenure at the Beijing Global Law Firm was terminated in April of this year.”
“ChinaAid denounces the cruel and inhumane treatment of human rights Attorney Jiang Tianyong. We urge the Chinese authorities to stop their harassment of Attorney Jiang and the other human rights lawyers and their families who have been detained during President Obama’s visit.”
“ChinaAid further calls on the international community to pray for healing from this unjust persecution, in the wake of Jiang’s courageous tour in the United States, and to call on American leaders to voice their opposition to human rights abuses in China.Raise your concerns on Jiang’s behalf to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.”
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
3505 International Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (202) 495-2000
Fax: (202) 588-9760
Chinese Embassy Press Secretary Baodong, Tel: 202-495-2218
NOTE: If you are a citizen of another country, please click here to find the contact information of the Chinese embassy in your own nation http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zwjg/2490/.
Communist China: Women’s Rights Without Frontiers Testifies as to How Communist China “Prevented” 400 Million Births – Including Forced Abortion
R.E.A.L. attended testimony of human rights activists and of persecuted Chinese women who faced oppression and forced abortion due to the PRC Communist Party of China (CCP) regime’s “One Child Policy.” R.E.A.L. heard women in tears and pleading for the lives of their babies from the cruel and anti-human rights, anti-human life policy of the Communist China regime. To those who use distance, politics, and silence to keep the voice of these women and their very real suffering and human rights abuses from being heard, today in Washington D.C., on Capitol Hill, their voice was given a public hearing, so that world would hear, remember, and call for end to such a genocide against children, and violence against women.
Activist Reggie Littlejohn of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers described the horrors in China that persecutes those caught pregnant with a second child. “Women being literally dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night, or even in the middle of the day, strapped down to tables, pleading and crying, and then being forced to abort their babies.” According to human rights activist Reggie Littlejohn, the PRC CCP regime has boasted on of preventing 400 million births with its policy that allows a woman only one child. Littlejohn stated, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life on this issue. No one supports forced abortion because it’s not a choice. ” According to Littlejohn, the actual number of the millions of forced abortions is a tightly-held state secret.
In addition, chairman of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Leonard Leo stated, “Speaking softly to China about human rights is a fool’s errand. History has shown it simply does not work.”
— Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
— R.E.A.L. was at news conference where Reggie Littlejohn described this as it “causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on Earth”
–— November 10, 2009 – DC: Experts on China’s One Child Policy to Testify in Congressional Hearing
November 10, 2009 Congressional Testimony on Communist China
— Seriously Raise Forced Abortion With Chinese Leaders in Beijing — The Worst Violation of Women’s Rights in History, Rep. Chris Smith, Chairing the Hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
— Testimony of Wujian, citizen of the People’s Republic of China
— “My ‘Little Foot,’ My Lifelong Pain”
— Wujian_Testimony (Adobe Acrobat)
— Jiang Tianyong, Beijing Global Law Firm: Testimonies on Violent Implementations of the One Child Policy in Linyi City, Shandong Province, China – Specific cases of Fang Zhongxia, Hu Bingmei, Li Juan, family of Song Huahou, and reports from investigators Jiang Tianyong, Cheng Guangcheng, Yuan Weijing, Li Chunfu, Li Jian, Li Heping, Teng Biao, Guo Yushan, and the imprisonment of blind human rights activist Cheng Guangcheng for seeking to protect women for forced abortion.
— Infanticide “What if the Infant Is Still Alive after Induced Labor?” – Call by Medical Team Personnel to Puncture Fetus’ Skull and Other Atrocities
— The Consequences of Coercion: China’s One Child Policy and Violence Against Women and Girls; Reggie Littlejohn President, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
— Harry Wu, Director, Laogai Research Foundation; Prepared Statement on China’s One Child Policy
— Rebiya Kadeer, President, Uyghur American Association: An Evaluation of 30 Years of the One Child Policy in China
— Associated: NDTV video on this Testimony at U.S. Congress
=========================
Related Article from Washington Post on this Testimony at U.S. Congress
By Kathleen Parker
Washington Post
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
— “One of the few incontrovertible assertions one can reasonably make is that no one supports forced abortion.”
— “Yet, coerced abortions, as well as involuntary sterilizations, are commonplace in China, Beijing’s protestations notwithstanding. While the Chinese Communist Party insists that abortions are voluntary under the nation’s one-child policy, electronic documentation recently smuggled out of the country tells a different story.”
— “Congressional members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission heard some of that story Tuesday, two days before President Obama was slated to leave for Asia, including China, to discuss economic issues. Among evidence provided by two human rights organizations, ChinaAid and Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, were tales of pregnant women essentially being hunted down and forced to submit to surgery or induced labor.”
— “Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of the Frontiers group, told the commission that China’s one-child policy ’causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on Earth.’ ”
— “I met Littlejohn for breakfast the day before the hearing. A petite wife and mother — as well as a Yale-educated lawyer — Littlejohn gave up her intellectual property practice in San Francisco after a life-altering illness to become a full-time activist for Chinese women. She is remarkably buoyant, considering the knowledge she has absorbed. Action, she says, is her way of coping with the unconscionable.”
— “Here’s the question Littlejohn insists we consider: What really happens to a woman who doesn’t have a “birth permit” and has an ‘out of plan’ pregnancy?”
— “The answer is simple and brutal: A woman pregnant without permission has to surrender her unborn child to government enforcers, no matter what the stage of fetal development.”
— “Late-term abortions are problematic, but the Chinese are nothing if not efficient. On one Web site for Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists, doctors recently traded tips in a dispassionate discussion titled: “What if the infant is still alive after induced labor?” ChinaAid provided a translation of a thread regarding an eight-month-old fetus that survived the procedure.”
— ” ‘Xuexia’ wrote: ‘Actually, you should have punctured the fetus’ skull.’ Another poster, ‘Damohuyang,’ wrote that most late-term infants died during induced labor, some lived and ‘would be left in trash cans. Some of them could still live for one to two days.’ ”
— “To be clear, some of the doctors online expressed concern for the rights of the child. Others, however, worried only about potential legal ramifications. Technically, it is illegal in China to kill a baby, one is relieved to learn, but family-planning imperatives sometimes prevail. According to a 2009 State Department report, monetary incentives and penalties are attached to population targets, creating what amounts to bounties on the unborn.”
— “As recently as July, officials of China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission said that the one-child policy ‘will be strictly enforced as a means of controlling births for decades to come,’ according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency.”
— “The violence of these procedures doesn’t only kill the child in some instances. In two of the cases described in a document leaked this past August, the mothers died, too. Those who dissent, meanwhile, are persecuted.”
— “Such has been the fate of activist Chen Guangcheng, who is serving a four-year sentence after exposing 130,000 forced abortions and sterilizations in Linyi County, Shandong province, in 2005. Named by Time magazine as one of 2006’s top 100 people ‘who shape our world,’ Guangcheng, who is blind, was severely beaten and denied medical care the following year, according to an Amnesty International report.”
— “The one-child policy has created other problems that threaten women and girls. The traditional preference for boys has meant sex-selected abortions resulting in a gender imbalance. Today, men in China outnumber women by 37 million, a disparity that has become a driving force behind sex slavery in Asia. Exacerbating the imbalance, about 500 women a day commit suicide in China — the highest rate in the world, which Littlejohn attributes in part to coercive family planning.”
— “Obviously, the United States is in an awkward position with China, our second-largest trading partner and the largest holder of our government debt. But Littlejohn hopes Obama will “truly represent American values, including our strong commitment to human rights.” She is also calling on Planned Parenthood and NARAL to speak up for reproductive choice in China.”
— “On this much, both sides of the abortion issue can agree: Forced abortion is not a choice. Averting our gaze from China’s horrific abuse of women is.”
Egypt: “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt”
A new report entitled “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt” has been released by the Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights on the ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity of Coptic Christian women in Egypt.
Preface of the report reads:
“Reports of Muslim men abducting and forcibly marrying and converting Coptic Christian women and girls have filtered out of Egypt with increasing frequency over the past decade. The emerging patterns of force, fraud and coercion correspond to definitions of human trafficking used by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State., with the UN identifying it as a ‘crime against humanity’.1 These violations of fundamental human rights appear to be encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt – often rooted in Islamic traditions – that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. They appear to be further abetted by the tacit complicity of the government as evidenced by its lack of willingness to thoroughly investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse or to reinstate policies designed to protect Egyptians from coerced conversion by educating potential converts of the full implications of conversion.”
“Details of trafficking cases involving Copts often reach the West through desperately worried relatives of victims. When the Egyptian police fail to find and return (or often even search for) victims of abduction, forced marriage and conversion, some relatives summon the courage to release information and photos to Coptic human rights organizations in the diaspora.”
“The violent abuse of Coptic women and girls in connection with forced marriage and conversion is not altogether new. The Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, protested against this phenomenon in 1976, declaring: ‘There is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands.’2 But the issue has now reached boiling point within Egypt’s Coptic community.”
“As the prestigious Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly recently noted:
‘It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July [2009] alone three separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry a Muslim. Two other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta, also hit the headlines.’3 ”
“Despite the accumulation of substantial evidence and the expressions of concern by the most senior leader of the Coptic community, this aspect of human trafficking has scarcely been acknowledged by the world’s most powerful human rights institutions, including those dedicated to the issue of trafficking in persons. The Coptic Foundation for Human Rights and Christian Solidarity International (CSI) therefore commissioned an anti-trafficking specialist, Michele Clark, and a Coptic women’s rights advocate, Nadia Ghaly, to undertake an investigation of allegations surrounding the abductions and forced marriages and conversions to Islam in Egypt. They performed outstanding pioneering work, interviewing victims, their relatives, lawyers, priests and other Coptic community leaders.”
“This report documents dozens of specific cases and demonstrates consistent patterns used by the perpetrators, their victims, government and law enforcement, and members of Egypt’s faith communities. The report concludes with a valuable set of practical and critical recommendations for the Coptic community, the Government of Egypt and the international community. The findings of Ms. Ghaly and Ms. Clark are deeply disturbing, and should challenge human rights activists and institutions, especially those whose mandate includes women’s rights and trafficking in persons, to undertake, as a matter of urgency, further research into this form of gender and religious based violence against Coptic women and girls in Egypt.”
1 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “Human Trafficking.”
U.S. Department of State. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
2 Mary Abdelmassih. AINA, “Family of abducted Christian Coptic Teenager Assaulted by Muslim Mob”, Cairo, June 9, 2009.
3 Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 3-9 September 2009; no.963
——————–
Media Reports:
— “Report Exposes Forced Conversions of Christian Women in Egypt”
— “Human trafficking caused by religion: Christian teenagers victimized in Muslim countries”
— “Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women”
— “Christian org to Obama: Egypt gov’t complicit in ‘raping’ Coptic girls”
Additional R.E.A.L. Reports on Freedom for Copts
Egypt: “Coptic Family Forced to Surrender Woman Rescued in Egypt”
“Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”
“Egyptian Security Refuses to Return Abducted Christian Coptic Girl”
Egypt: Two Christians Coptic Girls Abducted for “forced Islamization”
Egypt – Convert Woman Arrested for Marrying Christian
Egypt: “Family of Abducted Christian Coptic Teenager Assaulted By Muslim Mob”
Egypt: Report on Increasing Extremist Intolerance to Women, Christians
DC: Egyptian Coptic Christians Protest for Human Rights, Equality, as President Obama Meets Mubarak
Canada: Citizenship Guide Rejects “Honor Killings,” Female Genital Mutiliation, and Gender-Based Violence
National Post: Canada: New citizenship guide says no to ‘barbaric’ practices
— Canada’s “The Rights and Responsibilities of Canadian Citizenship” document states: “In Canada, men and women are equal under the law… Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, ‘honour killings,’ female genital mutilation or other gender-based violence. Those guilty of these crimes are severely punished under Canada’s criminal laws.”
— Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Canadian Citizenship
— Canada to Immigrants: No Tolerance for “Honor” Killing – by Phyllis Chesler
Arkansas: “Child Rapist and Anti-Catholic Cult Boss Gets 175 Years” — “Christian Evangelist” Tony Alamo
— Tony Alamo Gets 175-Year Sentence
— TV 40/29 reports: “Evangelist Tony Alamo has been sentenced to 175 years in federal prison for taking underage girls across state lines for sex.”
— “Alamo was sentenced Friday in Texarkana.”
— “U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes listened to testimony from three of Alamo’s victims before giving Alamo the maximum time allowed by federal guidelines. He told Alamo that he will one day face ‘a greater judge,’ and said ‘may (God) have mercy on your soul.’ ”
Arkansas Report: “Child Rapist and Anti-Catholic Cult Boss Gets 175 Years” — Tony Alamo
Christian Supremacism – Texas: Polygamist convicted of sexual assault on child — “Renegade Mormon Group”
Texas: Polygamist convicted of sexual assault on child
— AP reports: “The first polygamist sect member to face criminal trial following last year’s raid at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in West Texas was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an underage girl with whom he had a so-called ‘spiritual marriage.'”
— “Raymond Jessop, 38, didn’t visibly react when the verdict was read after just more than two hours of jury deliberations. Free on bond during trial, he was immediately handcuffed and led to jail. Jurors were expected to return to court Monday to begin deciding his sentence on the child sexual assault conviction. He faces up to 20 years in prison.”
Texas: Child Sexual Assault Charges in Case Challenging Members of “Renegade Mormon Group”
Christian Supremacism – Texas: Child Sexual Assault Charges in Case Challenging Members of “Renegade Mormon Group”
The Daily Telegraph reports: — “Polygamy challenged as renegade Mormon group’s trial grips Texan town” — “Court case sheds light on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, where it is alleged that bigamy and sexual abuse of girls, some as young as 12, are widespread.’ — “It was laid out in the makeshift courtroom set up in Eldorado’s draughty community hall, where, over coming weeks, the key tenet that marks the sect out from mainstream Mormons – polygamy – will come under challenge. Prosecutors claim that the church’s controversial practice of ‘spiritually uniting’ young women with men often several decades older is a cover for rampant sexual abuse, as well as bigamy.” — “The legal showdown began last week, when a leading pillar of the church pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly assigned as one of his nine wives.” — “Raymond Jessop, 38, is one of 12 men from the sect who are facing sex and bigamy charges arising from a raid last year on the church’s nearby Yearning for Zion ranch.” — “‘We will ask you to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Raymond Merrill Jessop is guilty of sexual assault on a woman less than half his age,’ deputy attorney General Eric Nichols told the jury of eight men and four women in a brief opening statement.” — “Jurors were shown a picture of a toddler in a pink prairie dress, clinging to the skirt of a teenage woman who prosecutors say is the girl with whom Mr Jessop allegedly had sex in 2004. Prosecution DNA evidence is be presented to show that the toddler was the product of that liaison.” — “Led by their ‘prophet’ Warren Jeffs, who has since been jailed on sex charges, many of the sect’s senior figures moved here in 2004 from their long-standing communities 1,100 miles away on the Utah-Arizona borders. — “Even as the softly-spoken mothers, their hair coiffed up from their foreheads as a tribute to God, insisted that the authorities were breaking up happy normal families, child welfare services were reporting a large number of pregnancies among ‘clearly underage’ teenage girls. They also noticed an unusual rate of broken bones among young children, The Sunday Telegraph was told.” — “The children were all subsequently returned to the church, to the delight of its leaders and horror of its critics. But based on evidence seized from the ranch, the prosecutions are being pursued.” — “Their 10,000 followers, who are spread across the Midwest, broke away early last century after the mainstream Mormon church renounced polygamy. They are committed to the doctrine of ‘plural marriage,’ which requires a man to take multiple wives to receive the highest form of salvation.” — “The church also practices ‘placement marriage’ – with the church leader, who has the status of prophet, assigning females to husbands. Traditionally, this has involved marrying off girls as young as 12, although the church stated last year that it would end the practice of child brides.” — May 30, 2008: “Texas overstepped authority in removing polygamist sect children, rules court” — April 28, 2008: “Most teen girls from ranch have been pregnant” — Wikipedia reports: “Despite the widespread assumption that the calls that triggered the raid were hoaxes, Texas officials have no regrets. One child, a 14-year-old girl, remains in foster care. She was married to jailed leader Warren Jeffs two years ago, when she was just 12.” — June 11, 2004 – Arizona Republic: “Peek at polygamists’ haven”
U.S.: Violence against women, female teens, surges on TV
(U.S.) Violence against women, female teens, surges on TV
— Reuters: “Incidents of violence against women on mainstream U.S. television has increased by 120 percent in the past five years, with the depiction of teen girls as victims rising by some 400 percent, the Parents Television Council said in a report on Wednesday.”
— “The media watchdog said it was particularly disturbed by the use of violence against women in comedies and said it hoped TV networks and advertisers would stand up against the trend.”