Africa

Gambia: Women's rights defenders Isatou Touray and Amie Bojang-Sissoho arrested and detained without charge

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The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW Campaign) joins the  WLUML network in its concern over the arrests of  Dr. Isatou Touray and Ms. Amie Bojang-Sissoho on Monday, October 11, 2010 by an officer of the National Intelligence Agency in the Gambia.  According to reports received, they had been threatened and harassed prior to their arrest, before being held in police custody without charge until being transferred to the Mile Two Central Prison on Tuesday, October 12, 2010.  The two women were arrested and detained for an alleged misappropriation of 30,000 euros. Their request for bail, despite this being a bailable offence, was denied on Tuesday, October 12 and they were ordered to spend eight days in prison before appearing before the court on Wednesday 20 October.

ALGERIA: Ongoing massacres of women: Call on authorities to ensure protection of women in Hassi Messaoud!


For several WEEKS now, women have been subjected to murderous attacks in the South of Algeria; this has provoked international protests and calls for the intervention of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs. It is crucial that these initial protests are relayed and supported by a large number of organisations across the world. These events remind us of the tragic days of July 2001 which saw hundreds of women, “tortured, stoned, raped and buried alive”, as recalled by the Algerian press.

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Widow "Cleansing" Tradition - Rights Violation

Publication Date: 
April 13, 2009
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Widow cleansing dates back centuries and is practiced for example in countries like Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast, Congo and Nigeria. It gives a nod to a man from the widow’s village or her husband’s family, usually a brother or close male relative of her late husband, to force her to have sex with him – ostensibly to allow her husband’s spirit to roam free in afterlife.

As If We Weren't Human: Discrimination and Violence against Women with Disabilities in Northern Uganda

Publication Date: 
August, 2010
As If We Weren't Human: Discrimination and Violence against Women with Disabilities in Northern Uganda


(Kampala) - Women with disabilities in northern Uganda experience ongoing discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Many are unable to gain access to basic services, including health care and justice, and they have been largely ignored in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.

The 73-page report, "," describes frequent abuse and discrimination by strangers, neighbors, and even family members against women and girls with disabilities in the north.  Women interviewed for the report said they were not able to get basic provisions such as food, clothing, and shelter in camps for displaced persons or in their own communities. One woman with a physical disability who lived in such a camp told Human Rights Watch that people said to her, "You are useless. You are a waste of food. You should just die so that others can eat the food."  The research was conducted in six districts of northern Uganda - a region recently emerging from over two decades of brutal conflict between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army and the government.

Tackling sexual harassment in Egypt

Publication Date: 
September 21, 2010
Source: 
The Guardian

 

, first lady of Egypt, is a woman who treats criticisms of her country with a generous dose of scepticism. Take sexual harassment, a phenomenon that has indisputably been on the rise in recent years. It's an issue in which Suzanne Mubarak, as head of the government's , might be assumed to take at least a passing interest.<--break-><--break->

Nigeria: Children accused of witchcraft

Publication Date: 
August 28, 2010
Source: 
WUNRN / CNN
Two children accused of witchcraft

 

By Christian Purefoy, CNN

August 28, 2010

 

Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria (CNN) -- Just after midnight, the pastor seized a woman's forehead with his large hand and she fell screaming and writhing on the ground. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" shouted the worshippers, raising their hands in the air.

Egypt renews crackdown on female mutilation

Publication Date: 
September 3, 2010
Source: 
BBC News
Photo Credit: BBC

There are giggles and shouts as little children play boisterously in the dusty street by the Hadad family home in the village of Abu Nashaba.

Just inside the front door, however, a mother dressed in black is sitting on the floor weeping silently. It is less than a month since the death of her 13-year-old daughter, Nermeen.

The girl died in a nearby health clinic and was buried without a permit from the local authorities.

ليبيا: خطوة إيجابية للمرأة على طريق حقوق المواطنة

Publication Date: 
September 2, 2010
Source: 
Human Rights Watch

 

(بيروت) - قالت هيومن رايتس ووتش اليوم إن قانون المواطنة الليبي الجديد الذي يمنح النساء المتزوجات إلى أزواج أجانب الحق في حصول أطفالهن على الجنسية، هو خطوة هامة للأمام على مسار حقوق المرأة. وقالت هيومن رايتس ووتش إن القانون ما زال يضم بعض الأحكام المتعارضة التي يمكن تفسيرها بشكل يُبقي على التمييز.

Libya: Step Ahead for Women on Nationality Rights

Publication Date: 
September 2, 2010
Source: 
Human Rights Watch

 

(Beirut) - Libya's new nationality law granting women married to foreign spouses the right to pass their own nationality to their children is a significant move forward for women's rights, Human Rights Watch said today. But the law still contains some contradictory provisions that could be interpreted to perpetuate discrimination, Human Rights Watch said.