“Alarming malnutrition” in Sudan conflict zones: UN
Malnutrition is stalking civilian populations in conflict zones inside the Sudan and Sudanese authorities should end restrictions on United Nations’ staff ability to travel to the affected areas, says UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos. Clashes between Sudanese security forces and rebels that erupted in June have forced about 417,000 people from their homes.
Case of tortured child bride shocks Afghanistan
Afghans have reacted in shock and dismay to the case of a 15-year-old child bride brutally tortured by her husband and his family in a bid to force the youngster into a life of prostitution. The outcry has raised questions on women’s rights progress more than a decade after the end of the Taliban’s rule and prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to form an investigative committee.
First domestic abuse hotline in Pakistan assisting women
The first helpline for Pakistani women seeking assistance for domestic violence has been opened by the charity Madadgar, or The Helper, in Karachi, the country’s largest city. More than two-thirds of women in Pakistan suffer some form of abuse at the hands of family members, according to this report.
Robinson, Tutu lead charge against child marriage
Former Irish President Mary Robinson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are spearheading an initiative on behalf of The Elders to raise awareness around child marriage and the damage the practice causes to 10 million young girls every year. Girls Not Brides aims to mobilize people around the world to support an end to marriages under the age of 18 and protect the basic rights of young females.
Pakistan: Poverty is cited for rise in infanticide
The number of babies abandoned by parents on Pakistan’s streets to die is on the rise, and girls make up the overwhelming majority of the infants, according to local NGO Edhi Foundation. Increasing food prices and grinding poverty are the main causes cited for the upswing in infanticide.
Sex-selective abortions still common in India
A mechanical device that allows authorities to track sonograms and monitor doctors’ abortion decisions is drawing fire from Indian activists as failing to be a solution to gender-selective abortions. Research shows that India has lost 12 million females to selective abortions in the last three decades.
India’s efforts to cut sex selection may be paying off
By and large, growing wealth has only resulted in greater use of sex-selective abortions in the two largest countries on earth, India and China, as well as other countries across Asia. But research shows India might have turned a corner.
Family sizes changing across Latin America
Fertility rates are dropping across Latin America as modern financial realities, improved health care and mass migrations to urban centers have resulted in women exerting more control over family planning. The average fertility rate across the region has dropped from 6 in 1960 to 2.3 in 2010.
Gender equity gains ground worldwide
Gender equality in four key areas — education, health, workforce and rights — is improving across the world, according to a new report from the World Bank. In the last two decades, dozens of countries in Africa and Latin America have passed legislation protecting women’s civil and political rights, and Saudi Arabia is now the only country in the world that maintains restrictions on women voting.
Rise in assaults on Somali women, girls
Aid workers and UN officials are reporting an alarming increase in incidences of rape and sexual abuse against women and girls in southern Somalia, primarily at the hands of the militant group al-Shabab. But the displacement of thousands of women as a result of famine has made them vulnerable to attacks by other men, too, especially in lawless refugee camps where they are preyed upon by rogue militiamen and even government soldiers.
