News

5/11/2012

LONDON (TrustLaw) – African member states of the United Nations have submitted a draft resolution on ending female genital mutilation (FGM) to the U.N. General Assembly, in what campaigners have hailed as a landmark step to end a practice that has been inflicted on up to 140 million women and girls.

1/11/2012

T­he world is encouraged as Malala Yousafzai continues her fight since being shot in the head by the Taliban simply because she wanted to go to school. This weekend when she stood up for the first time since being laid low by the dreadful attack, the world witnessed her standing up for 32 million girls around the world who are denied daily their right to go to a classroom and learn. 

1/11/2012

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil stated on Sunday using his official Facebook page that his cabinet, along with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the National Council for Women, are working on finding ways to wipe out sexual harassment in Egypt.

1/11/2012

The cleric who heads the Saudi morality police said he is taking steps to rein in the force, the latest move by authorities aimed at improving the position of women in Saudi society amid a public outcry in social media.Sheik Abdulatif al-Sheikh, appointed by King Abdullah in January to head the religious police, told The Wall Street Journal that he plans to distribute guidelines to all members of his force making clear that they don't have the power to arrest or interrogate Saudi citizens, or to attend trials.

31/10/2012

A Congolese gynaecologist known for his work with victims of sexual violence has told how a quick-thinking friend saved him from assassination and paid with his own life.Denis Mukwege, who has won numerous awards and been nominated for the Nobel peace prize, narrowly escaped death when five gunmen in civilian clothes attacked his home in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Thursday night.

29/10/2012

Every morning before school, nine-year-old Terisia Techu would undergo a painful procedure. Her mother would take a burning hot pestle straight out of a fire and use it to press her breasts.

29/10/2012

NEW YORK (25 October 2012) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, today urged States to consistently respect, protect and promote the human right to freedom of religion or belief in the area of conversion.

29/10/2012

India: Dabra is a typical village in India's rural Haryana state. It has narrow lanes with open drains and small houses built of brick and mud. Children play in the dirt, while men sit around smoking. Not many outsiders visit this poor farming community.But outside one of the houses two policemen stand on guard. Inside, a 16-year-old girl sits in one of the rooms surrounded by women. She is the reason the police are here. Six weeks ago, she was out walking on the street when she was abducted by a dozen men. 

26/10/2012

The Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has reached a state of total contempt even for universal norms. That means it is a war to the end. Yet there is too much pussyfooting and false intellectualisation of what is going on. President Jonathan should declare war on the group.

26/10/2012

News that Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has won the Sakharov Prize – an award from the European Parliament for human rights and freedom of thought - came as her health deteriorated due to a hunger strike in protest at the Iranian authorities’ refusal to allow her face-to-face visits with her 13-year-old daughter and five-year-old son.