Women

Afghanistan: Prominent policewoman another casualty for women’s rights in Afghanistan

Published by on September 16, 2013

16 September 2013 Amnesty International The killing of one of Afghanistan’s most senior woman police officers is the latest setback for women’s rights in Afghanistan, Amnesty International said. Lieutenant Negar, 38, died on Monday morning in hospital after two unidentified gunmen on a motorbike shot her in the neck on Sunday near police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the capital of restive Helmand province. She had been an outspoken advocate for the protection of women who challenge the use of violence against women and girls. Other women in the public eye – including her predecessor, an Indian writer and two representatives Read the full article…

DR Congo: UNHCR statistics show alarming rise in rape and violence against women in North Kivu

Published by on July 30, 2013

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 30 July The UN refugee agency warned on Tuesday that recurrent conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North Kivu province is uprooting more civilians and exposing an increasing number of women, girls and men to rape. Statistics gathered by UNHCR in North Kivu point to an alarming rise this year in acts of violence against women and girls in the province, particularly rape. “Our protection monitoring teams have registered 705 cases of sexual violence in the region since January, including 619 cases of rape,” said a UNHCR spokesperson. “During the same period Read the full article…

Jamaica: Country of Origin Information Report

Published by on January 14, 2013

UK Home Office 14 January 2013 The US State Department 2011 Human Rights Report: Jamaica (USSD Report 2011), released on 24 May 2012, provided the following overview: ‘Jamaica is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. On December 29 [2011], the opposition Peoples National Party (PNP) won 42 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, and PNP leader Portia Simpson Miller was sworn in as prime minister on January 5, 2012 …International election observers deemed the elections transparent, free and fair, and without violence. During the year there were instances in which elements of security forces acted independently of civilian control. Read the full article…

Afghanistan: The worst place to be a mother

Published by on July 12, 2011

IRIN, UN News Service, 12 July 2011 Authorities are striving to improve health conditions for women in Afghanistan, where maternal mortality and female life expectancy indicators are the worst in the world, says a new report. According to the State of the World’s Mothers 2011 report, published on 24 June by NGO Save the Children, about 50 women die in childbirth each day in Afghanistan. One in three is physically or sexually abused and the average life expectancy of women is 44. It said that more than 85 percent of Afghan women are illiterate, while 70 percent of school-age girls Read the full article…

Kenya: Legislation failing to curb FGM/C

Published by on June 2, 2011

IRIN, UN News Service, 2 June 2011 At her grandmother’s home in the western Kenyan village of Nyamataro, 14-year-old Ruth* lies on a mat surrounded by visitors, all congratulating her on becoming a woman; the previous week, Ruth was one of 10 girls to undergo female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). “When people see me and I smile at them, they think I like what I went through… [but] I wish I could run away,” she told IRIN. “My grandmother said I must be cut so I can be a good girl in future. “I was afraid to go, but they forced Read the full article…