Women's Rights News
UK pledges £35 mln to fight female genital mutilation
The World Health Organisation estimates up to 140 million girls have undergone FGM and three million are at risk every year.
For Thai rape victims, seeking justice is another assault
Rape laws are weak or poorly enforced, and victims who do come forward with accusations are blamed, ostracised and threatened
UN threatens to stop working with Congo army units accused of rape
United Nations says 126 women raped in eastern Congo town
Displaced women need livelihoods safe from risk of violence
Crisis settings increase vulnerability to rape and abuse, and livelihood programmes may inadvertently put women at greater risk to these dangers
Alma's tale of gang violence: "I didn't want to be seen as a weak woman"
For five years, Alma belonged to Guatemala's most feared maras, or gangs responsible for murders, extortions, rapes and robberies
Women’s rights under growing pressure in Arab world
In aftermath of Arab Spring, advocates fear erosion of gains and danger to activists in Middle East and North Africa
Arkansas passes most restrictive abortion law in the U.S.
Lawmakers pass “Human Heartbeat Protection Act,” restricting the procedure to 12th week of pregnancy - when ultrasound can detect fetal heartbeat
“Vote for Maria” in Online Contest and Help Poor African Women Start Businesses
Maria Grazia Khoyan, a Village Mentor for The BOMA Project in Kenya, is a finalist for a $10,000 award from Students Rebuild and Half the Sky. BOMA is an innovative nonprofit that helps ultra-poor women start small, sustainable businesses in their rural villages.
Voting is underway online through Friday, March 8 at http://bit.ly/voteformaria.
U.S. honours Indian gang rape victim, nine other women
The outcry over the gang rape and murder of an Indian student pushed the government into taking action to improve the lives of Indian women
India's "Ring the bell" is global call to stop wife-beating
"For all of us, the role of men in ending and preventing violence is key. It’s absolutely vital. We feel the time has come to ramp up that call" - CEO of Breakthrough, the charity behind the "Ring the Bell" campaign
Women have bigger presence in world’s parliaments in 2012 - report
Quotas are a crucial factor - but by no means the only one - in increasing women's participation in national parliaments, the IPU says in a report marking International Women's Day
Top court issues guidelines in India foeticide fight - report
Supreme Court slams govt for lax implementation of a law banning sex determination tests that fuel the scourge
Thousands of rape, harassment cases pending before India courts - report
More than 24,000 cases of rape and sexual harassment are pending before various courts in India
New UK aid programme aims to help end FGM “in a generation”
Campaign to end female genital mutilation in a generation is optimistic, say campaigners familiar with countries practising it, as Britain prepares to launch new global drive
