UN Says Human Trafficking Appears To Be Worsening

24 February 2009 in Global, Pornography, Publication, Trafficking

Three-quarters of those exploited as modern-day slaves work in the sex industry. In a new report, the United Nations says human trafficking for the sex trade or forced labor market appears to be getting worse, not better, because many countries aren’t paying attention to it. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) surveyed [...]

Sex trafficking of children in the US

24 February 2009 in Children Parenting, North America, Prostitution, Trafficking

According to estimates by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, over 100,000 children and young women are sex trafficked every day in the United States. Most Americans think that this type of human traffic occurs elsewhere in the world in places like Thailand, Cambodia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Throughout the U.S., children, especially girls are [...]

US stalking survey results alarming

24 February 2009 in North America, Research, Violence Against Women

3.4 million say they were victims; legal changes urged The largest snapshot of stalking ever done in the U.S. revealed an estimated 3.4 million victims – most of them women – who often lived with the terror of not knowing what would happen next. The federal report underscored what experts and advocates have long argued [...]

American Muslims Call for Swift Action Against Domestic Violence

24 February 2009 in Domestic Violence, Faith, North America

A coalition of Muslim organizations, journalists, community leaders, imams, and other concerned citizens called for immediate action by American Muslim leaders and religious figures to address domestic abuse and violence in America, including that found in the American Muslim community, last Friday, February 20, 2009. In response to the collective concern of the American Muslim [...]

Islamic women seek recognition of their rights (Malaysia)

24 February 2009 in Asia, Faith, Feminism, Women's Group

The religious order banning women from dressing like tomboys was bad enough. But the fatwa by Malaysia’s leading clerics against yoga was the last straw. “They have never even done yoga!” said Zainah Anwar, head of a Malaysian women’s rights group called Sisters in Islam. Anwar argues that the edict, issued late last year by [...]

Women rebel over forced abortions in China

24 February 2009 in Abortion Contraception, Asia, Government, Violence Against Women

Anger at the regime’s extreme birth control regime is growing Abuses of women’s reproductive rights, some of which break China’s own laws, are provoking outrage as Chinese public opinion wakes up to the persistence of forced abortion, compulsory sterilisation and even infanticide. China has run birth control campaigns since the 1970s. In 1979 it passed [...]

Spain prepares to fully legalise abortion

24 February 2009 in Abortion Contraception, Europe, Government

Spain is preparing to fully legalise abortion for the first time to allow women to have terminations on demand in the early stages of pregnancy. The move has put the Socialist government on a collision course with the Catholic Church which has argued the need “to restrict and not expand abortion” in Spain. A parliamentary [...]

President Ernest Koroma gives assent to ‘Women’s Liberation ‘ Act (Sierra Leone)

24 February 2009 in Africa, Equality, Family Marriage Partnership, Legal Police

President Ernest Bai Koroma last month appended his signature to, thereby formally giving his assent and making into law, the Customary Marriage and Diviorce Act 2007, which commentators have described as a “women’s liberation” Act. Before appending his signature, President Koroma said he had found himself in a very unique situation because he participated in [...]

Marital Rape – Ruling Seen as Move to Protect Spousal Right to Sex – Korea

24 February 2009 in Asia, Family Marriage Partnership, Legal Police, Rape and Sexual Assault

A husband or a wife can no longer go unpunished for coercing his or her spouse into sexual relations. In fact, Korean society has so far tolerated forced sex in married life. But a local court made a landmark ruling Friday, recognizing marital rape as a crime for the first time here. The ruling is [...]

Extreme Risk for Pregnant Women and Newborn Babies in Developing Countries – UNICEF Report

24 February 2009 in Childbirth Pregnancy, Global, Government, Health, Research

Each year, more than half a million women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and nearly 4 million newborns die within twenty-eight days of birth. Millions more suffer from disability, disease, infections and injury. Cost-effective solutions are available that could bring rapid improvements, but urgency and commitment are required to implement them and [...]

First meeting of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)

24 February 2009 in Europe, Government, Trafficking

The first meeting of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) will take place on 24-27 February 2009 at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. At this first meeting GRETA will prepare and adopt its internal rules of procedure and elect its President and Vice-President. GRETA will also hold an [...]