By Milly Stilinovic

Your wedding day should certainly be one of the happiest moments you’ll experience during your journey as a couple.

However, the sweetness of joy can be soured by the daunting fact that your special day – from ring to reception – can be overshadowed by actions that contribute to human rights abuses.

Here are seven helpful alternatives to consider, before you walk down the aisle, to keep your celebration humane and your conscience clear.

1. Look beyond the karat and clarity of your diamond

Seventeen years ago, The World Diamond Council (WDC) imposed a crackdown aimed at curbing the trade of blood diamonds.

Since then, the sale of precious stones mined in conflict zones – whose sales financed some of Africa’s most violent war crimes atrocities in the 1990s – has been close to eradicated.

However, despite this encouraging news, couples are still at risk of purchasing blood diamonds from new supply streams that have entered the market from the Central African Republic (CAR).

The best way to avoid purchasing a blood diamond is to ask your jeweller a series of questions – where does your diamond come from, do they have supporting evidence to back this claim, and what is their policy on the purchase of blood diamonds. If the jeweller cannot answer these questions satisfactorily, then it’s best to keep shopping.

2. Consider fabric choices

Silk organza or chiffon? Unfortunately, your fabric choices – from groomsmen suits, bridesmaids dresses, to the all important bridal gown – could be produced in garment sweat shops where 1 in 10 workers survive on less than $2 a day and are subjected to poor working conditions.

The solution is to consider going vintage for the occasion. Rummage through your mother’s closet and scour the racks at vintage shops. Not only will you avoid contributing to the global chain of slave labour but also to the fashion industry’s detrimental impact on the environment.

3. Ditch the decorations

While pretty, your decorations may have been produced by children as young as eight, forced to work in small and unventilated work rooms, under the constant threat of violence.

Instead of going OTT on the ornaments, why not opt for a reception venue that needs little to no embellishment? Or, better still, get creative and decorate your space with locally-sourced, and ethically-grown, flora.

4. Location, location, location

You may have found the perfect backdrop for your special day. However, unbeknown to you and your beloved, you could be standing atop a site that was once witness to atrocious human rights violations.

From former jails, where inmates were subjected to mindless torture, to plantations that once housed slaves, some of world’s sought-after reception halls are tainted with the memory of abuses past.

The antidote is to do your research. The haunting tale of human suffering can really put a dampener on your special day.

5. Re-think your wedding make-up

It’s no secret that the global production of palm oil, which has doubled over the last decade, has had a detrimental impact on the environment.

However, according to a recent Amnesty International Report, The Great Palm Oil Scandal, palm oil production contributes to heartbreaking child and labour abuses.

Palm oil that can be found in roughly 50 per cent of household products – including makeup. Opt for cruelty-free by surveying the list of products that don’t contain palm oil.

6. In lieu of gifts

Tearing the wrapping paper off a mountain of gifts might be the marital equivalent to Disneyland for some couples. However, the registry is an opportunity to help those less fortunate.

Instead of opting for a long list of must-haves, why not inform your guests that you’d prefer if they donate to the charity of your choice.

7. Honeymoon heaven or hell?

The nuptials have been performed, the cake sliced, now all that’s left is for you and your loved one to ride off into the sunset and enjoy a few weeks of honeymoon bliss.

And while you may have your heart set on a particular destination, it’s recommended to check that your destination of choice is not a territory marred by human rights violations.

From ongoing and often secluded abuse, to government crackdown on freedom of speech and expression, your honeymoon heaven can equate to hell for many a local living on the picturesque shores of the world’s most coveted hot spots.

With the Cambodian general election on the horizon, the country’s ruling party has launched a ruthless crackdown on all forms of dissent. Opposition figures, rights activists like Tep Vanny and journalists are all under fire, explains James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia and Pacific Director.

Climate of fear

In July last year, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen gave a speech to his supporters shortly after his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) suffered unexpected losses in local elections. Dressed in a military uniform, the long-time ruler did not mince his words. He warned his opponents to “prepare their coffins” and said that he would eliminate “100 to 200 people” if it was needed for “national security.” Troops were standing ready to “crack down on all movements that would [topple the government].”

Six months later, it is safe to say that this was not an empty threat. Cambodia’s ruling party has launched a swift, ruthless and far-reaching crackdown on all forms of dissent. Opposition figures, rights activists and journalists have all become targets of the authorities—there is a palpable climate of fear among activists in Cambodia.

Remarkably, Hun Sen and his allies have managed to do this largely without attracting international attention. Cambodia has emerged from the decades of brutality under the Khmer Rouge regime and widespread political violence in the 1990s. But unless the world wakes up to what is going on, this progress risks being rolled back—and much of it already has.

The crackdown has to be seen in the context of general elections that are due this summer. In the last vote in 2013, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)—led by the charismatic Sam Rainsy—almost pulled off a surprise win, despite the odds being stacked against it. Hun Sen seems determined not to let this happen again—let alone allow a full upset.

Crackdown on political opposition

Today, the CNRP has been all but decimated. Sam Rainsy has been forced into exile to avoid facing trumped up defamation charges and long imprisonment. In September last year, the CNRP leader Kem Sokha was arrested on ludicrous accusations of “treason”. One month later, his deputy, Mu Sochua, fled the country to avoid a similar fate. At least 35 other leading opposition figures have been arrested since 2015, 19 of whom still remain behind bars.

In November, the supreme court put the final nail in the coffin of the CNRP by dissolving the party completely and banning many of its key members from political activity for five years. The court’s decision exposed how Cambodia’s judiciary has become little more than an arm of the ruling party, used to crush any form of dissent. With elections fast approaching, the question is no longer if the opposition will be allowed a fair fight, but whether it will be let into the ring at all.

Civil society and media under pressure

However, it is not just the political opposition that has been swept up in the crackdown. Cambodia’s vibrant civil society is also facing unprecedented pressure. Relying on repressive legislation that gives authorities sweeping power to control the NGO sector, the government last year shut down the US-funded National Democratic Institute and has threatened to do the same to other civil society groups.

While NGOs and individual human rights activists have continued to bravely fight against injustice, they are increasingly doing so at their own risk. Tep Vanny, a housing and land rights activist, is just one example. Since 2013, she has been arrested at least five times for defending her community around Boeung Kak lake in Phnom Penh against eviction. Her latest arrest in August 2016 resulted in a two-and-a-half year prison sentence. Her only “crime” was her peaceful involvement in “Black Monday”, an advocacy campaign highlighting the imprisonment of five other rights defenders.

Hun Sen’s government has also set its sight on the media sector. In September, the English-language Cambodia Daily—one of the country’s few independent print media outlets—was abruptly forced to close over an allegedly unpaid tax bill. Around the same time, the government forced broadcasts from Voice of America and Radio Free Asia off the air, while also shutting down the independent radio station Voice of Democracy. Broadcast media in Cambodia is now almost completely under government control.

International community must speak out

As Hun Sen tightens his iron grip, it is high time the international community spoke out against the crackdown in Cambodia. Many UN officials have, to their credit, tried to highlight the situation. In September 2017, Rhona Smith, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, warned that Cambodia is slipping “inexorably towards a precipice.”

But the reaction from key states has been tepid, perhaps due to fears of pushing Cambodia even further into the arms of China. While the U.S. has withdrawn some funding and issued a few stern rebukes, it could and should do much more. Japan and the EU are providing significant development aid to Cambodia, they must use their influence to push the government to change course immediately. As the July elections draw closer, the coming months will be crucial.

When Amnesty International met Tep Vanny’s mother in Phnom Penh last year, she told us about her daughter’s spirit of activism. “Even when she was beaten in protests, she would return the next day. If anyone is in trouble my daughter will support them in their search for justice.” The world must ensure that Tep Vanny and others like her are not left to fight this battle alone.

This article was first published on www.newsweek.com.

Abdu Salam stayed in his village as Myanmar soldiers and local vigilantes burned down dozens of homes there last August. He stayed as news spread of atrocities that soldiers had committed in other Rohingya villages across northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. He stayed because Hpon Nyo Leik village was his home, the only home he’d known, and he wanted to protect his family’s property and right to live there.

But when, at the end of 2017, the Myanmar military’s starvation tactics left Abdu Salam’s family struggling to find food, they were forced to join the exodus to Bangladesh.

On 13 February, the UN Security Council will be briefed again on the situation in Myanmar. The briefing comes as the Myanmar government says it’s ready to start repatriating people from Bangladesh. But the military’s efforts to drive the Rohingya population out of the country haven’t even ground to a halt. The Security Council’s inaction, amid a weak international response to the ongoing crimes against humanity, has been a key part of the problem.

Pushed out of Myanmar

Abdu Salam and I sat in his recently erected bamboo shelter at the edge of Kutupalong Extension, the ever-growing refugee camp in southern Bangladesh that houses most of the 688,000 Rohingya who have fled Myanmar since last August. He was with his wife and six children, including his baby son, visibly emaciated, who slept in a makeshift crib that hung from the shelter’s ceiling.

His family arrived in Bangladesh in early January, among the hundreds who still cross the border each week. As part of our latest research in Bangladesh, my Amnesty International colleagues and I interviewed 19 men and women from this newest wave of refugees. I heard the same story again and again: the Myanmar military squeezed them out of northern Rakhine State by driving them to the brink of starvation.

Abdu Salam told me he used to go to the hill near his village and collect wood to sell at market. But even before the current crisis began, that source of livelihood was cut off, due to the severe movement restrictions imposed on the Rohingya population, as part of the conditions of apartheid under which they have lived.

Rakhine: violence and starvation

Then, following the 25 August attacks on around 30 security force outposts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Myanmar military unleashed a campaign of violence against the Rohingya across northern Rakhine State. Our October 2017 report documented in detail the military’s crimes against humanity, including the widespread killing of Rohingya men, women and children; rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls; forced deportation; and the targeted burning of villages. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) estimates that at least 6,700 people were killed in the first month of the crisis. The UN, other rights organizations, and media outlets have all painted the same, devastating picture.

Hpon Nyo Leik village was spared the worst of the military’s violence. But security forces arrested Abdu Salam’s 14-year-old son, accusing him of involvement with ARSA. To secure the boy’s release, the family scraped together almost their entire savings. It’s one of many examples of arrest-for-extortion we have long documented.

In the months after 25 August, movement restrictions grew even tighter for the remaining Rohingya, and already strict curfews were extended. Soldiers and vigilantes looted and torched Rohingya markets or, as in Hpon Nyo Leik, restricted market access to people holding a National Verification Card (NVC), a temporary identification document that most of the Rohingya community rejects, since it fails to recognise them as citizens.

Even as pressure mounted and hundreds of thousands left, many other Rohingya families stayed. Agriculture is central to livelihoods across Rakhine State, and the harvest season for rice, the area’s staple crop, occurs in November and December. Stockpiles from the previous harvest began to run low. The Myanmar military must have known what was to follow when, in many Rohingya villages, it then blocked people from going to their paddy fields.

As the harvest started, Abdu Salam worked for several days. “Then the soldiers came and said, ‘This harvest is not your harvest’,” he told me. “There were many [of us] harvesting there. All of us were forced to leave.” Soon after, he saw non-Rohingya villagers using machinery to harvest the same crops.

With no food for their six children, except occasional handouts of a little rice from wealthier neighbours, Abdu Salam’s family fled in late December, joined by others facing the same situation. Even before the August attacks and subsequent lockdown, the World Food Programme warned that malnutrition rates in northern Rakhine State were at emergency levels.

As Rohingya families fled toward the coast in recent weeks, Myanmar forces dealt a final blow by systematically robbing them at checkpoints. More than a dozen recent arrivals, including Abdu Salam, described to me the worst such checkpoint, near Sein Hnyin Pyar village tract in Buthidaung Township. There, soldiers separate men from women; search sacks and bodies, often sexually assaulting women in the process; and steal whatever of value they find, including money, jewellery, clothes, and phones.

Global inaction for Rohingya must end

Though the tactics may have changed, it should come as no surprise that the military’s ruthless campaign races forward. In the midst of its almost incomprehensively-efficient ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population, some states around the world have expressed alarm or even condemned the atrocities. But the international community has taken almost no concrete action.

The Security Council must finally act, and send a clear, united message to the Myanmar military that atrocities must stop, and there will be no more impunity for its crimes. To start, the Security Council should impose a comprehensive arms embargo, as well as targeted financial sanctions on senior officials implicated in serious rights violations. It should explore avenues to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes under international law. And it should call on Myanmar to dismantle the apartheid system that forms the backdrop of the current crisis.

In addition, the Security Council must demand that Myanmar authorities provide full and sustained aid access throughout the country, as well as access to independent investigators, including the UN Fact-Finding Mission. It should also demand that Myanmar respect a free press and immediately release two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, being detained and prosecuted simply for carrying out their reporting work on the military’s atrocities.

The Security Council has to quickly decide which side of history it wants to be on. With each day it fails to act, more people like Abdu Salam are forced to flee.

Matthew Wells is a Senior Crisis Advisor at Amnesty International, and has just returned from two weeks of research in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

This article originally appeared in IPS News.

By Milly Stilinovic

The road to gender parity may seem long, but here are six ways you can help further the rights of women in 2018 to bring us all closer to equality.

Throughout history, concerted efforts have been made to lift the profile of women in society; suffrage, liberation, the right to own property, handle finances, and enter into politics or other sectors once reserved for men. But from sexual harassment and abuse on the streets, to violence in our homes, online trolling, and workplace discrimination — there is still a long way to go in the battle to make sure women can enjoy their rights equally to their male counterparts.

It begins with one voice challenging the status quo, and can end in a chorus of many. Whether you identify as a woman or not, here are six ways you can assist the plight of women in 2018 to allow the sisterhood equal rights and an equal platform in society.

Show up for women

Thursday 8 March commemorates International Women’s Day, a celebration of the women’s movement whose tireless efforts to eradicate gender disparity have moved the barometer in favour of social justice.

Originating in New York in 1909, International Women’s Day was adopted by former soviet and communist states a decade later after women gained suffrage. The commemoration was finally embraced by the United Nations in 1975, and today it is celebrated the world over.

While there is much to celebrate in terms of women’s liberation, it’s time to #PressForProgress. Unite with your fellow sisters by pledging to march this International Women’s Day, signifying your support for an all-inclusive society where women enjoy equal status. Enter your postcode and we’ll keep you updated about events coming up in your area.

Stand up for women

Yes, even when it’s uncomfortable.

As the #MeToo campaign has all too painfully demonstrated, most women have experienced harassment and abuse from colleagues, roommates, strangers and even loved ones.

Now, with the explosion of social media, it’s more common than ever for women to experience attacks online that are of a sexually-charged, violent, and shaming nature. And the problem is widespread. A recent poll conducted by Amnesty International discovered that three out of 10 Australian women said that they have experienced harassment or abuse online.

Three in 10 Australian women have experienced harassment or abuse online.

Platforms like Twitter have promised to stamp out misogyny online but have been slow to keep good on their promises. When you see online harassment of women, make sure to report it and let social media platforms know that you expect them to adequately enforce their comments policies, as a means to protect women’s free speech online.

If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. pic.twitter.com/k2oeCiUf9n

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 15, 2017

Understand the experiences of women

It has been said that the best way to understand the inequalities women are working to overcome is to walk a mile in their shoes. There are plenty of reasons why feminism is as prevalent today as it was during the first and second wave, and we have plenty to learn from the iconic feminists of today and those who have come before us.

If you’re a reader, you’ll want to check out the works of feminist writers, such as Virginia Woolf (with her explosive tome ‘Orlando’), Alice Walker (‘The Colour Purple’), Bell Hooks (‘Ain’t I A Woman?’), and Wilma Mankiller (the first woman elected to serve as chief of the Cherokee Nation, who wrote, among other books, ‘A Chief and Her People’). If you like non-fiction, there’s no better time to familiarise yourself with the biographies of leading figures from the feminist movement – the Suffragettes, Maya Angelou, Simone de Beauvoir, Eleanor Roosevelt, Coretta Scott King.

For the film buffs, note entertaining and powerful films such as Belle, Erin Brokovic, Wild, and the classic Thelma & Louise.

If art is your thing, there is also plenty of amazing artwork to absorb by artists like ! Women Art Revolution, The Guerrilla Girls, and Yoko Ono.

And if you’re a podcast fiend, Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams will have you in stitches during their weekly episode of 2 Dope Queens where they aren’t afraid to real-talk. The Guilty Feminist makes space to discuss the big topics surrounding feminism with a sense of humour and refreshing honesty, and One Bad Mother delves into the joys and struggles of motherhood in the 21st century.

Amplify the voices of women

Once inspired, it’ll be easy to share women’s achievements, challenges and stories on your own platform — whether via your blog, Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube — to plant the seed of inspiration in the people around you.

Amnesty International’s #IndigenousMums campaign placed the spotlight over much-deserving, hardworking, Indigenous Mums last Mother’s Day, and you’ll want to keep an eye on what they’re up to next. There are also plenty of amazing women defending human rights around the world who to know about, and plenty of inspiring women who you should be following online.

The efforts of celebrities at the Golden Globes, who wore black to draw attention towards rampant sexual harassment and abuse in the industry also garnered much-deserved attention, and allowed for lengthy discussions on social media. You can do the same, by lending your influence to raise the volume of voices that matter.

Assist them

Women who obtain the courage to escape the pain of domestic abuse often find themselves at women’s shelters, adjusting to a new environment, confronting their fears of retaliation, and doing all they can to save both their children and their sanity.

Show you care by lending a hand at your local women’s shelter, or donating supplies to help get women back on their feet.

Most importantly…

If you don’t identify as a woman: keep the channels of communication open for the women around you. If you do: stand in solidarity with the sisterhood when they need you.

Women have powerful insights into the importance of women’s liberation and gender equality, and we need to shine a light on women’s experiences if we want to end the violence perpetuated against them. Women are, after all, the people who have seen, felt, and experienced the odds stacked against them.