Women's Rights in the News

Brazil has become the third and largest Latin American country to give a de facto green light to same-sex marriage.

On Wednesday, May 15 the Supreme Court of El Salvador will hear testimony from Beatriz, the 22-year-old woman who has petitioned the court to allow her to have a life-saving abortion, a procedure prohibited under all circumstances in El Salvador and punishable by lengthy prison terms.

The conviction of Guatemala’s ex-president General Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity during his time in office is a historic step in the nation’s long struggle for justice, Amnesty International said.

Judge Richard Wagner has ruled that sex worker organizations in Ontario and Quebec, and feminists agencies who support their human and labour rights, cannot speak in the Bedford case appeal to be heard on June 13^th.

Iowa's Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the state's health department must include the names of both same-sex spouses on a child's birth certificate.

Three states have recently joined the progressive trend towards recognising in law the equal right to marry regardless of sexual orientation.

The country’s court system says the 1971 Sorcery Act is inappropriate because evidence to prove sorcery related incidences in court is hard.

Sri Lankan trade unions are planning to highlight the rights of women workers as part of the issues that will be raised in the workers’ rallies on May 1.

Five university students launched Miss G Project eight years ago to get gender studies into high schools. It’s finally happening.

While some religious leaders might shy away from establishing a tradition of helping women ascend to high-ranking positions, the Dalai Lama voices a more progressive view: His Holiness says he would be pleased if a woman were to succeed him.

Nobel Peace laureates—including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jose Ramos Horta, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú Tum—are calling on past and present Guatemalan authorities to “respect a legitimate, independent and transparent judicial process” in the trial of former president General Efraín Ríos Montt.

Kate Doyle of the National Security Archive and the Open Society Justice Initiative's riosmontt-trial.org has the most accurate summary I've found of today's confusing and widely mis-reported legal developments in the Guatemala genocide trial of General Rios Montt and former head of intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez:

With a definitive vote by the lower house of Parliament, France on Tuesday became the world’s 14th nation, and the third in just two weeks, to approve marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Swedes are shaking up their language with a new gender-neutral pronoun.

The Uruguayan Parliament’s adoption of the Equal Marriage Act on 10 April will bolster human rights protections and bring an inclusive society for all a step closer, Amnesty International said.

This week the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis supports an ongoing crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents about 80 percent of nuns in the United States.

A series of shocking events rocked the genocide trial today, including courtroom theater by the defense and legal proceedings which put the oral and public debate heard thus far at risk.

Today, on the afternoon of 18 April in Nebaj, the office of UDEFEGUA, the Protection of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Unit Guatemala (Unidad de Protección de Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos) was raided.  The raid occurred after the illegal ruling by Judge Patricia Flores to suspend the trial concerning the criminal responsibility of two military personnel for committing the genocide and crimes against humanity.

Rights activists in Kyrgyzstan are campaigning against a parliamentary proposal to bar women under the age of 23 from travelling abroad without their parents’ consent.

Statement by United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Hawa Bangura

Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince AlWaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Abdullah, has thrown his support behind allowing Saudi women to drive, saying it makes economic sense.

Malawi President Joyce Banda on Friday assured all women in the country that she will continue championing women empowerment and right in the country, disclosing that she has ascended the Domestic Violence Bill in into law.

Canada is looking further into the case of a teenage girl who hanged herself after an alleged rape and months of bullying, after a photo said to be of the assault was shared online and no charges were filed against four teenage boys being investigated.

On 10 April 2013 the Third Court of First Instance of the Judicial District of Xalapa sentenced Jorge Antonio Hernandez Silva, “El Silva”, to 38 years and two months in prison, for the homicide and robbery of human rights defender and journalist Regina Martínez Pérez in April 2012.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says hundreds of women were killed in so-called honor killings in the country last year.

Vote in lower house of Congress makes Uruguay the third country in Americas and 12th in world to allow gay marriage.

In Egypt, women's rights groups are pushing back against some Islamists' attempts to blame women for an upsurge in sexual harassment.

Two elderly women were beheaded in Papua New Guinea after being tortured for three days, a report said Monday, the latest in a string of sorcery-related crimes.

Women's rights supporters on Saturday marched through Bogota for the right of women to behave and dress as they like, drawing a thousand protestors.

On 4 April 2013, a jury in Marabá, in the state of Pará, Brazil, sentenced Lindonjonson Silva Rocha and Alberto Lopes do Nascimento to prison terms of 42 to 45 years respectively for the May 2011 murders of human rights defenders Maria do Espírito Santo and José Claudio da Silva.

A leading Fijian political activist has accused the interim government of ignoring women in the country's draft constitution.

The anti-pornography Bill would outlaw "provocative" clothing on women, censor film and television and restrict personal internet use.

A senior United Nations official today [March 1] welcomed the recent decision by Cambodia’s genocide tribunal to annul a previous ruling that would have prevented it from trying crimes of sexual violence committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Uruguay Senate, in approving a bill on April 2, 2013, to legalize same-sex marriage, has moved to guarantee marriage equality and diminish discrimination, Human Rights Watch said. The vote was 23 to 8. Uruguay would be the 12th country to approve same-sex marriage nationwide.

European Court of Human Rights releases judgment in Valiuliene v. Lithuania. State held liable for failure to investigate effectively into complaints of domestic violence. The crimes of silence and the complicity of inaction.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today denounced the recent murder of Somali radio journalist Rahma Abdulkadir and called for an investigation into the crime.

Hamas passes new law ordering gender segregation in schools that will go into effect in September.

UN agency for Palestinian refugees says it has been forced to cancel Gaza marathon after Hamas reverses previous approval

To ensure a gender-sensitive approach to climate finance, women’s particular vulnerabilities must be recognized and women included in the planning, experts said during a Twitter chat with the Global Gender and Climate Alliance.

Colleagues and friends mourn death of Rahma Abdulkadir, who is the third journalist killed in the country this year

Women’s rights group Fouada Watch criticised President Mohamed Morsi’s initiative regarding women, rejecting its contents completely.

Front Line Defenders recently received a letter from Claudia Julieta Duque describing her feelings of 'vindication' after the arrest was ordered of seven former members of the disbanded Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad ( Administrative Department of Security DAS).

The use and abuse of national law to impair, restrict and criminalise the work of human rights defenders is a contravention of international law and must end, according to a landmark resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council today.

Violence linked to culture was the main reason for a 20 percent rise in deaths and injuries of females in Afghanistan last year, U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan Jan Kubis said on Monday.

The election of a controversial evangelical preacher, known for his vocal hardline views on homosexuality and racist remarks, as the chairman of the Brazilian legislature's human rights committee has earned the condemnation of religious groups and sparked protests around the country.

15 March 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that Michelle Bachelet had informed him of her intention to step down as head of the United Nations entity mandated to promote gender equality.

International Women’s Day, March 8, was established at a 1910 European socialist women’s conference. It was proposed by German socialist Clara Zetkin, who recognized the struggles of women workers in the United States as well as in Europe. The goals of this annual event were to recognize the common struggles of working women, to build international solidarity among them, and to forge alliances to oppose war.

12 March 2013 – The United Nations human rights office today welcomed a new law in Bolivia which broadens the protection of women against various forms of violence.

Every woman has the right to live in peace and dignity.

These were the words of the National Volunteer Steering Committee chairperson, Zarina Begum, who was chief guest at the International Women's Day celebration in Labasa.

UCLG´s Standing Committee on Gender Equality and the whole of the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments join all partners, and in particular elected women and their associations, in the celebration of 2013 International Women´s Day.

UNITED NATIONS: “Those who deny women and girls their right to education, violate Islam,” Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Masood Khan told an audience at the world body on Monday. He said the religion was for all men and women without discrimination.

Mogadishu court overturns conviction but journalist who interviewed her still faces six months in prison

People who were sexually abused in Kenya's 2007 post-election violence are still seeking justice as the next vote near

For the first time in Syria, 150 Kurdish women have set up a female-only battalion in the northern province of Aleppo, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting since the start of the Syrian uprising in early 2011.

More than 20 musicians from across the globe are joining forces with the United Nations to spotlight the importance of empowering women through a song that will be released on International Women's Day, celebrated on 8 March.

Scores of people held a vigil in Talaat Harb Square in downtown Cairo Tuesday, denouncing what they called “sexual terrorism of women in Egypt.” Those in attendance said the government has failed to protect female protesters and activists during demonstrations and marches recently.

Women rights groups demonstrated in Istanbul earlier this month in support of abortion rights, accusing state institutions of complying with a government campaign to systematically curtail the practice.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Tuesday swore in the country's first female members of the Shura Council, an appointed body that advises on new laws, in a move that has riled conservative clerics in the Islamic monarchy. 

Boko Haram sect suspected of carrying out two separate attacks on medical centres in northern city of Kano

Gaza is becoming increasingly radicalised as Hamas continues its crackdown on civil liberties, press freedom and the rights of women. In the last few weeks a number of journalists have been arrested and accused of being involved in “suspicious activities”, several detainees shot dead by police during arrest attempts, and female students asked to abide by a strict Islamic dress code.