Archive for July, 2009
A Judge has questioned if a man who had sex with a drunken woman after she passed out should be “marked for the rest of his days as a rapist”, describing it as a “technical rape”. Sexual assault experts and victims groups said the judge should be censured while NSW Rape Crisis Centre manager Karen [...]
A Liberian man whose 8-year-old daughter allegedly was raped by four boys, and then reportedly shunned by her family, must wait at least three months before possibly regaining custody of the girl. The father, who is not being named to protect the girl’s identity, met with Child Protective Services on Monday. The girl was taken [...]
The Supreme Court has allowed a mentally challenged rape victim who doctors said had a maximum IQ of a nine-year-old to give birth to her baby, saying nature will “take care” of the orphan mother and child. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan brushed aside every argument in favour of aborting the [...]
Following changes to the Dutch abortion law, the organisation Women on Waves has decided to cancel all upcoming trips of its so-called abortion boat. Opposition to abortion is growing, says director Rebecca Gomperts. A decade ago, Rebecca Gomperts (1966) had a vision. With her organisation Women on Waves (WoW) she would run a floating clinic [...]
Spain’s Socialist prime minister has irked his natural enemies on the right and in the Catholic church by legalizing gay marriage and instituting fast-track divorce. Now he has hit a raw nerve even among his supporters with a proposal to let 16-year-olds get abortions without parental consent. The debate is harsh and emotional, showing that [...]
Italy’s drug regulation agency has authorized the use of the abortion pill despite protests from the Roman Catholic church which threatens to excommunicate doctors who prescribe the drug and patients who use it. The Italian Pharmaceuticals Agency (AIFA) announced its decision late on Thursday after a long meeting during which it was lobbied intensely by [...]
In a backlash to Mexico City’s move to decriminalize abortion two years ago, states across Mexico have been rewriting their constitutions to grant embryos legal rights. So far 13 states out of 32 have approved the changes and six are debating it. When Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in August 2008 that any state could legalize [...]
Nicaragua’s ban on all abortions, even when a woman’s life is at risk, is compelling incest and rape victims to give birth and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths, according to a report from Amnesty International. Delegates from the human rights charity, who recently visited the predominantly Catholic country, say young girls subjected to [...]
The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) International solidarity network is gravely concerned to hear that on Wednesday 29 July, at 10:00 am, Sudanese time, the court will hear the case brought against Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmad Hussein for ‘inappropriate dress and conduct’. Hussein and 12 other women were arrested in Khartoum on July 3, [...]
A Malaysian woman sentenced to flogging for drinking beer has accepted the Islamic court’s order, saying she wants the punishment to be carried out soon, news reports said Thursday. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old model, was arrested on charges of drinking beer after Islamic authorities raided a hotel nightclub last year. She was sentenced [...]
Amnesty International has learned that at least 180 people face being flogged in the Maldives as a punishment for extramarital sex. The vast majority of those who are flogged in the Maldives are women, even though both men and women can be sentenced to flogging. The most up to date official statistics on flogging from [...]
The Hamas-appointed chief justice in the Gaza Strip has ordered female lawyers to wear a head scarf in court, drawing criticism from human rights groups in the territory controlled by the Islamist group. Hamdi Shaqoura of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said on Monday Chief Justice Abdel-Raouf al-Halabi’s edict “violated personal freedoms” and that [...]
The debate over proposed changes to Israeli divorce laws has made its way to the Knesset, where interested parties are meeting to hash out a compromise in a dialogue that could stretch into the next legislative session. Supported by a host of women’s rights groups, one plan seeks to eliminate the so-called “race to file,” [...]
The report “Out of Court Resolutions of Violence Against Women” has been written as a part of the project “Ending violence against Women”. The aim of the report is to convey an idea of the perceptions of domestic violence and resolution of domestic violence at the community level. In interviewing over 300 people in five [...]
Hundreds of people participated on Saturday in Luanda in a march against domestic violence, which was dubbed “Zero Tolerance”. The march was held in the ambit of the commemorations of the African Women Day, to be marked on July 31. During the event, which took place under the theme “Impact of the financial crisis in [...]
Since January, over twenty women have been murdered at the hands of men they knew, the most recent and horrific crimes involving a son allegedly locking his mother in a room and beating her to death and a spurned ex-lover allegedly setting in wait and killing the mother of the woman he wanted to marry. [...]
The landmark Sexual Offences Bill, which reforms and amalgamates various laws relating to rape, incest and other sexual offences, was finally passed by the Senate last Friday. The Bill will repeal the Incest (Punishment) Act, as well as several provisions of the Offences Against the Person Act. It also provides for the establishment of a [...]
Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog has demanded that the Finance Ministry immediately release some NIS 16 million in left-over funding for an already approved initiative aimed to both improve treatment for victims of rape and sexual assault and to assist those wanting to escape the sex industry. Speaking at a session of the [...]
The National Commission for Women (NCW) along with its Delhi wing urged the central government to address the grievances of rape victims with sensitivity. Several advocates, NGO workers and the members of the NCW and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) held a seminar to discuss the guidelines approved by the Delhi High Court a [...]
Recent postings- Towards a Future without Fundamentalisms: New Report Analyzes Religious Fundamentalist Strategies and Feminist Responses
- Statement on the Murder of Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, women’s human rights defender of Ciudad Juarez
- Sudan police arrest women protesting at flogging video
- UN Chief Leaves Women out of Year-End Summing Up
- Sex education is expelled from Egyptian schools
- Kurdish Parliament Turns Blind Eye to Prostitution
- Sexual harassment cases in Israel’s civil service rose 40% in 2010
- Women in south Sudan have been targeted in a string of abusive attacks by police cracking down on Western clothes
- Women and girls living in Haiti’s makeshift camps face an increasing risk of rape and sexual violence says Amnesty International new report
- Stand up against hatred and threats against LGBT in Malaysia
- new on womensgrid
- Tower Hamlets Residents Solidarity Campaign – Solidarity with women involved in prostitution in east London
- East London Fawcett: Free Gallery Tour ~ 12 May & Pay Gap Talk ~ 23rd May 2012
- The Light Bulb Moment and future of feminism Book launch and panel – Bristol ~ 15th May 2012
- Hollaback! Portsmouth launch event – Tuesday 22nd May 2012
- Run for Congo Women – Deadline extended to 25th May 2012!
- Fast fall in number of male-only FTSE 100 boards
- Why has the UK got so few women scientists?
- The Haven Wolverhampton E Bulletin May 2012
- 2 vacancies – Shakti Women’s Aid (Edinburgh) ~ 28th May 2012
- Volunteering for Dorset Rape Crisis Centre
- new on women in london
- Information added in March 2012
- Information added in February 2012
- Information added in January 2012
- Pro-Choice Public Meeting – Abortion Rights ~16th May 2012
- Fawcett on Queen’s speech: flexible parental leave / red tape challenge
- Policy and Campaigns Internship – Power and Agency campaign – Fawcett ~ 22nd May 2012
- Administration and Finance Worker – Women in Prison ~ 18th May 2012
- A Women’s Agenda for the Local Elections May 2012 – Survey Results
- Friends of the Women’s Library update on the future of the Library
- Women in Black, vigils and Facebook page
Half measures against honour killings in Syria not enough – HRW
31 July 2009 in Family Marriage Partnership, Government, Middle East, Opinion Comment, Violence Against Women
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has welcomed Syria’s move to enforce a minimum jail sentence of two years for honour killers but said it was not enough as all murders should be dealt with equally. “Two years is better than nothing, but it is hardly enough for murder,” Nadya Khalife, Middle East and North Africa women’s [...]