Africa
Nigerian senator Sani denies marrying girl of 13
A Nigerian senator accused of marrying a 13-year-old Egyptian girl says he has done nothing wrong.
Ahmad Sani Yerima, 49, told the BBC that his fourth wife was not 13, but would not say how old she was.He denied breaking the law but said he would not respect any law that contradicted his religious beliefs. The Nigerian senate ordered an investigation after complaints from women's groups but the senator said he did not care what the groups thought.
A spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in Nigeria has said the girl is still at school in Egypt.
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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Indiscriminate Attacks Devastate Mogadishu
(New York) April 18, 2010 -- The Islamist armed group al-Shabaab is subjecting inhabitants of southern Somalia to killings, cruel punishments, and repressive social control, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Al-Shabaab, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and African Union (AU) forces in the war-torn capital, Mogadishu, continue to conduct indiscriminate attacks, killing and wounding numerous civilians.
The 62-page report, "," finds that al-Shabaab forces have brought greater stability to many areas in southern Somalia, but at a high cost for the local population - especially women. Based on over 70 interviews with victims and witnesses, the report describes harsh punishments including amputations and floggings, which are meted out regularly and without due process.
Senegal: Boys in many Quranic schools suffer severe abuse
(Dakar) April 15, 2010 -- Tens of thousands of children at residential Quranic schools in Senegal are subjected to slavery-like conditions and severely abused, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch urged the Senegalese authorities to regulate all Quranic schools and take immediate and concerted action to hold accountable teachers who violate Senegalese laws against forced begging and child abuse.
The 114-page report, "," documents the system of exploitation and abuse in which at least 50,000 boys known as talibés - the vast majority under age 12 and many as young as four - are forced to beg on Senegal's streets for long hours, seven days a week, by often brutally abusive teachers, known as marabouts.
Southern Sudan - Forced Marriage - Journalist's Personal Story
Christine Akuol, who is being trained by Internews to be a community radio journalist, is interested in reporting on women's issues and encouraging girls to stay in school.
Stoning is Not our Culture: A Comparative Analysis of Human Rights and Religious Discourses in Iran and Nigeria
Stoning is Not our Culture: A Comparative Analysis of Human Rights and Religious Discourses in Iran and Nigeria
Stoning is a cruel form of torture that is used to punish men and women for adultery and other 'improper' sexual relations. It is currently sanctioned by law and carried out by state actors in at least two countries, and at least seven individuals have been stoned to death in the last five years.
No Justice in Justifications: Violence Against Women in the Name of Culture, Religion and Tradition
This briefing presents a survey of culturally justied violence against women, including how violence against women is justified by 'culture', the different forms this violence can take, and recommendations for change. The SKSW Campaign is undertaking projects on `culture', women and violence, with partners in Senegal, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, and Sudan.
Fatwas against FGM in Mauritania and Niger
By Laurent Prieur and Abdoulaye Massalatchi
NOUAKCHOTT/NIAMEY, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Efforts to eradicate female genital circumcision in West Africa have taken a step forward with a fatwa against the practice in Mauritania and sanctions in Niger against mothers who subject their daughters to it.
Violence, Gender, Culture and HIV - UNESCO
Overview and abstracts from UNESCO's upoming publication:
Introduction
The HIV and AIDS pandemic is both fuelling and being fuelled by inequalities across gender, race, ethnicity, class and age. e patterns of impact vary across different settings and regions of the world and are also shaped by demographic crises, armed conflicts, natural disasters, environmental degradation, state incapacities, famine and poverty. e pandemic’s refractory impacts on women and girls – and humanity writ large – are nothing short of catastrophic. In the third decade of the HIV pandemic, women and particularly young women and girls have become a growing proportion of those affected and infected. Nearly half of the 40.3 million people living with HIV are women between the ages of 15-49.1 Gender disparities in HIV prevalence are more extreme among young women between the ages of 15-24, globally 1.6 times more likely to be living with HIV and AIDS than young men. And in sub-Saharan Africa overall, young women between 15 and 24 years old are at least three times more likely to be HIV-positive than young men.