Female Migration Increases and Spurs Development, Shows World Bank Research
World Bank, 26.11.2007
Women make up almost half the migrant population in the world and their numbers are increasing, according to a new World Bank report released today.

Rudd to apologise to Aborigines
BBC, 26.11.2007
Australia's new government will issue a formal apology to Aborigines for the abuses they suffered in the past, prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd has promised.

Brazil teen's alleged rape underscores human rights problems in prisons, lawmaker says
International Herald Tribune, 26.11.2007
The alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl while she was imprisoned for weeks with nearly two dozen men underscores widespread human rights abuses in Brazil's corrections system, a lawmaker said Monday ahead of a congressional investigation of the scandal.

Outcry at Tanzanian HIV beating
BBC, 28.11.2007
There has been an outcry in Tanzania over a woman who was badly injured by her husband after she took an HIV test which is being encouraged nationwide.

Freedom Called Lethal Risk for Jailed Afghan Women
WeNews, 7.10.2007
Women are jailed in Afghanistan for "crimes" that would make them victims of domestic abuse elsewhere. As the annual festival of Eid brings the prospect of presidential pardons, advocates warn that many women are safer inside prison.

Women condemn Turkey constitution
BBC, 2.10.2007
Women's groups in Turkey have condemned a new draft constitution, saying it sets the country back years in terms of gender equality.

Nicaragua abortion ban killing women -rights group
Reuters, 2.10.2007
An outright ban on abortion in Nicaragua has caused the deaths of at least 80 women since it was imposed 11 months ago, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

Iraqi women: Prostituting ourselves to feed our children
CNN, 16.8.2007
The women are too afraid and ashamed to show their faces or have their real names used. They have been driven to sell their bodies to put food on the table for their children -- for as little as $8 a day.

China to act on gender imbalance
BBC, 25.8.2007
The Chinese government says it is drafting new laws to tackle the growing gender imbalance caused by the widespread abortion of female foetuses.

Guatemalan Survivors Struggle to Pursue Justice
OneWorld.net, 27.8.2007
Twenty-five years after 177 indigenous women and children were massacred at Rio Negro, central Guatemala, the search for justice continues. And, as a new publication from survivors makes clear, the campaign is encountering red tape, a shortage of money and outright intimidation.

S Africa recalls faulty condoms
BBC, 28.8.2007
South Africa's health department has recalled millions of condoms given out under a programme it funded.

Pro-Choice Ugandans Steer a Gradual Course
WeNews, 27.8.2007
Abortion has long been a no-go topic for local politicians in Uganda torn between health workers and the influential Christian church. But as the rest of Africa begins to shift its stance, pro-choice activists are carefully making their mark.

A Quiet Battle for Rights in Iran
Washington Post, 26.8.2007
It was during a recent visit to a middle-class beauty salon here, amid the women getting their upper lips threaded and their legs waxed, that I saw what the One Million Signature Campaign is up against.

HIV test before Nigerian marriage
BBC, 17.8.2007
Couples are being advised to take an HIV test before they marry, the Anglican Church in Nigeria says.

Saudi family killed domestic workers says rights group
Middle East Times. 17.8.2007
A Saudi family beat to death two Indonesian women workers in an attack that Human Rights Watch said Friday highlighted the government's failure to deal with employers who seriously abuse domestic staff.

Mounting Poverty, Health Risks for China's Sex Workers
Feminist Daily News Wire, 15.8.2007
In an attempt to escape poverty, women in China are increasingly turning to prostitution and competition for clients has reportedly resulted in lower pay and more dangerous conditions for China's estimated ten-million sex workers.

Philippines Not Prepared for Contraception Phase-out
Feminist Daily News Wire, 16.8.2007
A US-sponsored birth control program that provides free birth control pills, condoms, and injectibles to the Philippines will end in 2008, causing concern among family planning advocates.

Iranian-American Scholar Reaches 100th Day of Imprisonment
Feminist Daily News Wire, 15.8.2007
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar who has worked extensively for women's rights, has now been held in Iran for 100 days on charges that she was conspiring to overthrow the government and committing espionage.

Women's Representation Bill Defeated in Kenya After Walkout
Feminist Daily News Wire, 17.8.2007
Kenya's parliament rejected on Wednesday a bill to amend the constitution to guarantee women 50 seats in the parliament.

Amnesty Abortion Stance Bolsters Mexico Activists
WeNews, 17.8.2007
Pro-choice activists in Mexico welcomed Amnesty International's advocacy for the decriminalization of abortion for women who have been raped or whose lives are in danger. Opposition to abortion rights, though, is firmly entrenched in the region.

Lesbian murders overshadow National Women's Day
Pink News, 9.8.2007
While South Africa celebrates National Women's Day, the debate about homophobia in the country has intensified since the recent murders of several lesbians.

South African AIDS activists outraged over axing of deputy health minister
International Herald Tribune, 9.8.2007
South Africa's deputy health minister, one of its most respected women politicians, lost her job on the eve of the nation's Women's Day.

Mauritanian MPs pass slavery law
BBC, 9.8.2007
Mauritania's parliament has unanimously passed legislation making the practice of slavery punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

LEBANON: Women in the Frontline for Clearing Cluster Bombs
IPS, 8.8.2007
"Mine action is a male dominated sector, but it doesn't have to be," declares Christina Bennike, the dynamic head of Danish charity Dan Church Aid (DCA) in south Lebanon. "I really felt it would be important to address this from the beginning, then it would be natural instead of something different or unique."

BOLIVIA: Work Comes First for Women
IPS, 6.8.2007
The role of self-sacrificing wife and mother who stays at home is no longer the main goal of many Bolivian women.

UN Skips Gender Perspective in Climate Change
IPS, 2.8.2007
When the United Nations concluded a two-day debate Thursday on the potential devastation from climate change, it covered a lot of territory: deforestation, desertification, greenhouse gases, renewable energy sources, biofuels and sustainable development.

Women Defy Tradition, Run Shops in Mazar Town
IPS, 15.8.2007
Women have stormed a male bastion in this historic city, capital of the northern province of Balkh, and traditionalists are clicking their tongues in disapproval.

SADC ministers endorse Gender Protocol ahead of Lusaka Summit
Southern African News Features, 3.8.2007
Ministers for gender and women’s affairs from southern Africa have endorsed the contents of a Gender Protocol that would make regional decisions on gender equality legally binding for the first time.

UN Appeals For Zero Tolerance on Genital Cutting
One World, 31.7.2007
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is urging the international community to back its pledge for Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) by intensifying advocacy and grassroots interventions against the practice and mobilizing additional resources to combat FGM/C.

Iran's supreme leader signals limited flexibility on women's rights
International Herald Tribune, 6.7.2007
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a willingness to reinterpret Islamic law in favor of women's rights, but not following Western convention, his official Web site and state-run television reported Thursday.

Violence against women "beyond rape" in Congo - U.N
Reuters, 30.7.2007
Extreme sexual violence against women is pervasive in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and local authorities do little to stop it or prosecute those responsible, a U.N. investigator said on Monday.

More Indians in 'city of widows'
BBC, 27.7.2007
The number of young Hindu widows seeking refuge in India's holy city of Vrindavan - nicknamed "the city of widows" - is rising, a study says.

Zimbabwe's women 'face brutality'
BBC News, 25.7.2007
Women who oppose Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe are suffering increasing violence and repression, a study says.

Sex Equality 'Generations Away' in UK
OneWorld, 24.7.2007
Gender equality is still generations away -- 200 years in the case of women's representation in Parliament -- Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission said today as it called for urgent action across all aspects of life to close the gaps within 10 years.

U.N. suspends Moroccan contingent in Ivory Coast
Reuters, 21.7.2007
The United Nations has suspended a Moroccan military contingent from its peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast while it investigates allegations of widespread sexual abuse, the world body said on Saturday.

First female president for India
BBC News, 21.7.2007
Pratibha Patil is to become India's first woman president after winning a comprehensive election victory, Indian officials say.

Southern Africa: SADC Ministers of Women's Affairs Meet
allAfrica.com, 20.7.2007
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Friday praised the role of women in the struggles to free southern Africa from foreign rule, racist regimes and apartheid.

Mexico City's Abortion Law Hits Stop-and-Go Signs
WeNews, 19.7.2007
Federal officials here are challenging Mexico City's new law legalizing first-trimester abortion. But as the Supreme Court decides whether to take their case, city officials and activists are doing what they can to ease its implementation.

The Maldives Appoints First Women Judges
Feminist Daily News Wire, 18.7.2007
The president of the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, has appointed the country's first two women judges, and a third is expected to join them this week.

Saudi Arabia: Officials Harass Forcibly Divorced Couple
Reuters, 17.7.2007
After a Saudi court forced a married couple to divorce in response to a lawsuit brought by the wife's brothers, officials placed the woman and her young son in detention and are threatening to detain her husband, Human Rights Watch said today.

Women Face Increased Violence in Kurdistan
IPS, 18.7.2007
Shawbo Rauf Ali, 19, clearly did not know that the picnic she was headed for would become a death trap. When she got there, her husband and several other men beat her to death on suspicion of extra-marital relations.

Turkey's Brothels Produce Two Election Candidates
WeNews, 15.7.2007
Two former prostitutes are running for seats in Turkey's July 22 election to raise awareness about the stigma sex workers face in the nation.

Tanzanian leader takes Aids test
BBC, 14.7.2007
The president and opposition leaders in Tanzania have launched a national campaign for voluntary HIV/Aids testing by being tested in public.

Indian government wants to register all pregnant women to curb illegal abortions
International Herald Tribune, 13.7.2007
A Cabinter minister's proposal would require all pregnant women in India to register with the government and get official permission if they want to have an abortion, a newspaper reported Friday.

Dark Days for Women
IPS, 9.7.2007
Judicial authorities in Iran have sentenced two women activists who participated in a peaceful protest against discriminatory laws in June 2006 to more than 30 months in jail and ten lashes.

Corporate Human Rights Program Panned
OneWorld, 10.7.2007
On July 5-6 world leaders and global business chiefs attended the second UN Global Compact Summit in Geneva to assess progress on the seven-year-old voluntary initiative aimed at promoting human rights standards for corporate operations.

Brazil Will Provide Morning-After Pill to Poor
Feminist Daily News Wire, 3.7.2007
Morning-after pills will be included in Brazil's newly expanded birth control program, a health official announced Monday.

Brazil gets cut-price Aids drug
BBC News, 5.7.2007
Brazil has accepted an offer from a manufacturer of an important anti-Aids drug to cut its price by around 30%.

Half Rape Crisis centres face closure threat
Guardian Unlimited, 3.7.2007
Up to half of Rape Crisis centres in England and Wales are facing closure within the next year because of severe funding problems, charities said today.

10 African Leaders Call for Safe, Legal Abortion
Ms Magazine, 3.7.2007
Political leaders of 10 African countries this week called for the legalization of safe abortion procedures in an effort to curb maternal mortality among African women.

Profile: Argentina's powerful First Lady
BBC News, 2 July 2007
Argentina's First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has often been described as a strong-willed woman, obsessed with her image.

Israel president sex case delayed
BBC News, 1.7.2007
Israel's supreme court has agreed to consider a challenge to the plea bargain struck by ex-President Moshe Katsav to avoid rape charges.

New Anti-Rape Law in Thailand
Feminist Daily News Wire, 25.6.2007
The National Legislative Assembly of Thailand approved a new law last week that criminalizes marital rape. Previously, rape law could not be used to prosecute a husband who forced sex on his wife. This new law carries a monetary fine (40,000 baht, or $1,156) and up to 20 years in jail for offenders.

Israel Drops Rape Charges as President Agrees to Quit
New York Times, 28.6.2007
The Israeli government has dropped rape charges against President Moshe Katsav in exchange for his agreement to step down and to plead guilty to lesser charges, the attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, announced Thursday.

Egypt forbids female circumcision
BBC, 28.6.2007
Egypt has announced that it is imposing a complete ban on female circumcision, also known as genital mutilation.

IRAQ: Women Resist Return to Sectarian Laws
IPS, 25.6.2007
As Iraq struggles to define its future, there is one important group that has been largely left out of the process: women.

IRAN: Temporary Marriages Just a Way to Degrade Women - Critics
IPS, 26.6.2007
A key Iranian minister calls ‘temporary marriages’ a pragmatic way to deal with young people’s sexual needs and to prevent prostitution, but a wide range of critics lambasts them as little more than ways to give religious sanction to practices that degrade women.

Ugandan Adultery Law Curbs Effects of Polygamy
By Anna S. Sussman, WeNews, 24.6.2007
Uganda's Constitutional Court recently nullified a law that made adultery criminal for women, but not men. The case also strengthened women's rights on divorce and inheritance. First in a series on women and the rule of law in Africa.

Crackdown on dissent is under way in Iran
International Herald Tribune, 23.6.2007
Iran is in the throes of one of its most ferocious crackdowns on dissent in years, with the government focusing on labor leaders, universities, the press, women's rights advocates, a former nuclear negotiator and Iranian-Americans, three of whom have been in prison for more than six weeks.

Bid To Protect Serbian Women Defenders
OneWorld, 21.6.2007
Advocates Launch Campaign to Protect Women Human Rights Defenders in Serbia

US House opposes abortion aid ban
BBC, 22.6.2007
The US House of Representatives has voted to overturn a ban on aid to overseas groups practising abortion.

Gender violence outlawed in Sierra Leone
afrol News, 19.6.2007
Sierra Leonean women can now snore well in their sleep, after bearing the fruits of their long walk to freedom. The country's parliament took the bull by the horns to enact a law that outlaws domestic violence in all its forms as well as guarantees the rights of women to inheritance and registration of customary marriages.

Women under siege in Afghanistan
BBC, 20.6.2007
For the past three months, Afghan female MP Shukria Barakzai has been receiving a letter saying she may be targeted by a suicide bomber in the next six months.

UN: Rights Council Ends First Year with Much to Do
Human Rights Watch, 19.6.2007
The United Nations Human Rights Council ended its disappointing first year by agreeing on a package of procedural measures that lay a foundation for its future work, but fall short of providing it a firm footing, Human Rights Watch said today.

Breastfeeding declines in Asia
BBC, 20.6.2007
Two major UN agencies have warned that a decline in breastfeeding in the Asia-Pacific region is lowering the survival rate of babies and children.

UN human rights body sets rules
BBC, 19.6.2007
The UN's Human Rights Council has agreed to a new set of rules which will oblige all member states to have their rights records regularly scrutinised.

Saudi women to get one third of govt jobs
Khaleej Times, 17.6.2007
One third of government jobs will go to Saudi women and additional job opportunities will also be created for them, according to Crown Prince Sultan.

UNHCR: refugee numbers up for the first time in five years
UNHCR, 19.6.2007
The number of refugees in the world has increased for the first time since 2002, largely as a result of the crisis in Iraq, the UN refugee agency said today.

Iraqi journalist murdered outside her home in Mosul
WLUML, 8.6.2007
Sahar Hussein al-Haideri had long been concerned for her safety and had been submitting her accounts anonymously for the past year.

Kuwaiti Women Barred from Working at Night
Feminist Daily News Wire, 13.6.2007
The Kuwaiti Parliament unanimously passed a law earlier this week to restrict women's rights by restricting the hours that women are allowed to work.

Fatal Shooting Outside Afghan Girls' School
Ms Magazine, 14.6.2007
Two gunmen killed two girls and wounded six others, including a teacher, outside a girls' school in Logar Province, Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Commonwealth Event Debates Why AIDS Wears "the Face of a Woman"
IPS, 14.6.2007
The issue of women continuing to be at higher risk of HIV infection than men has received considerable attention at a gathering of women's affairs ministers from Commonwealth countries underway in Uganda's capital, Kampala.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi turns 62 today, marking 4,253 days under house arrest
Novel Women's Initiative, 19.6.2007
Today we celebrate the 62nd birthday of our sister Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and join international calls for an end to her ongoing detention. Today marks the 4,253rd day the democratically elected leader of Burma has spent in detention (11 years and 238 days).

Women lawyers force big rights gains in Uganda
By Alexis Okeowo, The Christian Science Monitor, 14.6.2007
This spring, a small group of lawyers helped overturn laws that gave men more rights than women.

BOLIVIA: Not Another 500 Years of Marginalisation, Say Indigenous Leaders
IPS, 13.6.2007
"We prefer to defend our rights with bloodshed and die rather than wait another 500 years," says Esperanza Huanca, a Quechua Indian who is one of the 84 women in the constituent assembly that is rewriting Bolivia's constitution.

Egypt court rules against U.S. university on face veil
Reuters, 9.6.2007
An Egyptian court ruled on Saturday that a U.S.-accredited university in Cairo was wrong to bar a female scholar who wears an Islamic face veil from using its facilities, court sources and a lawyer for the woman said

Amnesty rejects Vatican criticism
Sydney Morning Herald, 14.6.2007
Amnesty International has rejected a Vatican appeal for Catholics to withdraw support for the group over its call to decriminalise abortion.

Kurdish Women Resent New Passport System
IWPR, 8.6.2007
A law requiring women to have a male guardian sign their passport application angers women in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Cairo campus veil ban struck down
BBC News, 10.6.2007
A court in Egypt has ruled that the American University of Cairo cannot ban women from wearing the niqab - the full Islamic face covering - on campus.

Turkish women gain voice in fight to stay secular
Reuters. 4.6.2007
Turkish women are on the street protesting as never before as the fight to preserve Turkey's secular status gives them a louder political voice that could translate into parliamentary seats in this summer's elections.

BOLIVIA: Safe Abortion Nearly Impossible Even in Cases of Rape
IPS, 8.6.2007
Bolivia's constituent assembly has just two months left to finishing rewriting the country's constitution. In 10 months of sessions, it has approved a single article, regarding the right to hold football matches at high altitudes, in response to the International Football Federation's (FIFA) ban on high-altitude international matches.

U.N. women's rights group criticized Pakistan for honor killings, trafficking
International Herald Tribune, 8.6.2007
A U.N. committee charged with promoting women's rights expressed concern over an increasing number of reported "honor killings" in Pakistan and criticized the country for failing to adequately address the trafficking of women.

Safe abortions may soon be legal in Mozambique
Afrol News, 11.6.2007
Abortion could be soon legal in predominantly Catholic Mozambique if the Maputo parliament endorses a new bill recently approved by the Council of Ministers.

S Leone bans child brides not FGM
BBC News, 8.6.2007
Sierra Leone's parliament has passed a child rights bill, which bans under-age weddings but controversially dropped a clause to outlaw female circumcision.

Cover up or face death, Palestinian women told
Daily Telegraph, 5.6.2007
Women working in Palestinian television in Gaza have been ordered to avoid walking alone in the street after radical Islamists threatened to slit their throats if they do not dress in religious garb while on air.

Afghan woman radio head shot dead
BBC, 6.6.2007
A female owner of a radio station in Afghanistan has been shot dead. Zakia Zaki was shot seven times, including in the chest and head, as she slept with her 20-month-old son at her home north of Kabul, officials say.

G-8 Faces Lesson on School Girls in Battle Zones
By Bojana Stoparic, Women's eNews, 5.6.2007
When the world's wealthiest nations meet at the G-8 summit in Germany this week, aid workers plan to remind them that education pledges they made to children--the majority of them girls--are not being met in the world's worst conflict zones.

Yemeni women excluded from high political positions
Yemen Observer, 2.6.2007
Yemeni women are completely excluded from high posts in the government, although there is some female participation in the public sector, said a recent study on women conducted by the Women’s Leadership Forum in Sana’a.

Iran talks up temporary marriages
BBC News, 2.6.2007
Iran's Interior Minister, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, has started promoting temporary marriage as a solution to the country's social problems.

Guinea girl workers 'face abuse'
BBC News, 15.6.2007
Thousands of girls in Guinea are facing abuse as domestic workers, a new report has concluded.

Brazilian Government to Subsidize Birth Control Pills
Feminist Daily News Wire, 29.5.2007
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced yesterday his government's plan to subsidize the price of birth control pills.

Mexican Supreme Court Will Consider New Abortion Law
Feminist Daily News Wire, 31.5.2007
The Mexican Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it will hear a case filed by the National Human Right's Commission (NHRC) and the Attorney General's Office to determine whether Mexico City's law allowing abortion in the first three months of pregnancy is constitutional.

Report Links Discrimination Against Women and HIV Infection Rates
Ms Magazine, 31.5.2007
Physicians for Human Rights released a report on Friday demonstrating that discriminatory views against women contribute to the spread of HIV.

Quota Law Puts More Women in Armenia's Election
By Nicole Itano, WeNews, 10.5.2007
A gender quota law for political parties is putting more women on the ballot in the May 12 elections in Armenia, where only seven women serve in Parliament. Observers say women are now playing a wider role in local politics.

Kuwait to host Arab Women's Day
Kuwait Times, 10.5.2007
Kuwait will host the Arab Women's Day on May 20 under the sponsorship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a Kuwaiti feminist official said yesterday.

Anger at Somali face veil burning
BBC, 9.5.2007
Two hand grenades have gone off in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where government soldiers were confiscating and burning face veils worn by women.

NGOs Warn of World Bank "Fundamentalists"
IPS, 7.5.2007
When the United States tried to water down a longstanding policy on reproductive health and family planning at the World Bank last month, there was a storm of protests from population experts and activist groups worldwide.

Global Campaign Calls for Tackling the Roots of Poverty
IPS, 5 may 2007
The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) made a commitment in Uruguay Saturday to extend their campaign until 2015, and to emphasise the structural causes that determine that over one billion people in the world are living in extreme poverty.

Iran: Dress-Code Crackdown Continues Despite Criticism
RFE/RL, 2 May 2007
Every year -- ahead of the hot summer months -- the authorities launch a crackdown on what they describe as "bad veiling." The term is used to describe women who appear in public with colorful scarves and tight coats, or who show their hair or use makeup.

Court Abortion Ban Ignites Activism in States
By Allison Stevens, WeNews, 3.5.2007
Advocates on both sides of the abortion issue agree the April 18 Supreme Court decision banning a specific abortion procedure portends a new wave of legislation in the states. Pro-choice efforts, however, trail those in search of more restrictions.

NZ secures clean bill of health on rights
Scoop, 3.5.2007
Women's Affairs Minister Lianne Dalziel tonight welcomed the unanimous passing of a Bill that gives New Zealand a clean bill of health as a credible voice in international women's rights.

Southern Africa: SADC to Finalise Consultations On Gender Protocol
allAfrica.com, 2.5.2007
Southern Africa is finalising consultations on a draft protocol to promote gender equality that will be tabled at a summit of regional leaders in August.

Australian outcry over women jibe
BBC News, 2.5.2007
An Australian senator has caused a storm of protest for describing a female politician as "deliberately barren" and therefore unfit to govern.

Why Forced Abortions Persist in China
Time Magazine, 30th April 2007
Harrowing details have emerged in recent news reports of alleged forced abortions in China's impoverished Guangxi province.

Guinea's dirty dancing backlash
BBC News, 1.5.2007
Men in Guinea's capital have begun attacking women who they accuse of doing the popular buttock-swinging Wolosso dance from Ivory Coast.

Finland's New Government Puts Women in Majority
Feminist Daily News Wire, 23.4.2007
Finland made history on Tuesday when 12 of its 20 cabinet positions went to women, making Finland the world's first female-dominated government.

Polygamous lesbians flee Sharia
BBC News, 27.4.2007
A Nigerian lesbian who "married" four women last weekend in Kano State has gone into hiding from the Islamic police, with her partners.

Shanghai defines sexual harassment, offers protection
Sina.com, 27.4.2007
The Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on Thursday passed legislation that defines sexual harassment and allows women who are harassed to sue their harassers.

Abortion legalised in Mexico City
BBC News, 25.4.2007
Mexico City's legislative assembly has voted to legalise abortion in the city, the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic country.

Museveni endorses law on discrimination
New Vision, 22.4.2007
PRSEIDENT Yoweri Museveni has agreed to the Equal Opportunities Act which outlaws discrimination, thus paving the way for marginalised groups to participate in decision making and development.

Four Iranian women's rights activists sentenced to prison for organizing a peaceful protest demanding equal rights
WLP, 25.4.2007
Four women's rights activists were sentenced to prison last week for their role in organizing the June 12, 2006 peaceful protest demanding equal rights for women.

What Have Eight Years of Democracy Done for Women Politicians?
IPS, 14.4.2007
"Men are the decision makers; women should be cooking in the kitchen while men play politics." This is the type of comment that Dorothy Ukel Nyone's male counterparts repeatedly made when she announced her intention to contest a seat in Nigeria's state elections, which got underway Saturday.

Court's Abortion Ruling Undercuts Roe
By Stevens and Bowen, WeNews, 19.4.2007
USA - The Supreme Court's decision Wednesday upholding a law banning some abortions after 12 weeks, without a health exception, dismayed reproductive health advocates.

Southern Africa: Advantages of Draft Regional Gender Protocol
allAfrica.com, 18.4.2007
The proposed SADC Protocol on Gender and Development will enhance existing commitments to gender equality by providing accountability and monitoring mechanisms in the region, Assistant Minister for Labour and Home Affairs Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri said on Monday.

Access to HIV therapy grew significantly in 2006, but significant obstacles remain to approaching universal access to HIV services
UNICEF, 17.4.2007
More than two million people in low- and middle-income countries now receive HIV therapy; Efforts must increase significantly to increase access to HIV treatment and prevention.

Raped Zimbabwean Women Seek Justice
By Zakeus Chibaya, IWPR, 13.4.2007
Exiles group spearheads bid to bring their plight to the attention of the international courts.

Egypt's first-ever women judges stir controversy
Mail and Guardian Online, 18.4.2007
In a first for Egypt, last week saw a number of women appointed judges by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the country's highest legal authority.

ETHIOPIA: New strategy to tackle reproductive health issues
IRIN, 12.4.2007
Ethiopia has launched a national strategy on adolescent and reproductive health that aims to tackle the problems of early marriages and pregnancies, female circumcision, abduction and rape, and poor access to healthcare for 10- to 24-year-olds.

India 'to drop' menstrual forms
BBC News, 13.4.2007
The Indian civil service is dropping part of a new appraisal form requiring female employees to detail their menstrual cycles, a top official says.

Assam's missing women and the sex trade
BBC News, 10.4.2007
The biggest problem in India's north-eastern state of Assam is separatist militancy. But it faces another, less well known issue. Thousands of its women, old and young, have gone missing over the past 10 years.

Outrage at India menstrual form
BBC News, 11.4.2007
Women civil servants in India have expressed shock at new appraisal rules which require them to reveal details of their menstrual cycles.

Over 53% children face sexual abuse: Survey
Times of India, 10.4.2007
In a shocking revelation, a government commissioned survey has found that more than 53% of children in India are subjected to sexual abuse, but most don’t report the assaults to anyone.

Portuguese abortion law in force
BBc News, 10.4.2007
Portugal's president has ratified a new law allowing abortion up until the 10th week of pregnancy, his office has said in a statement.

Call for Brazil abortion debate
BBC News, 9.4.2007
The newly-appointed minister of health in Brazil has called for a wide-ranging debate on the issue of abortion.

Middle East Leaders Appraise Pelosi's Visit
By Brenda Gazzar, WeNews, 10.4.2007
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria stirred praise and skepticism from a variety of female political leaders in the Middle East. Many hope her visit signals a U.S. shift toward greater dialogue and engagement in the region.

Malaysia's Islamic officials seize baby from mother who sought a Hindu life
International Herald Tribune, 6.4.2007
Islamic authorities took away the baby of a Muslim woman who is living as a Hindu in defiance of the law in the latest case of religious conflict straining ties in multiethnic Malaysia, officials said Friday.

SWAZILAND: AIDS activists call for death penalty for HIV infection by rape
IRIN, 23 April 2007
A rising incidence of rape in Swaziland, coupled with the world's highest level of HIV-infection, is fuelling a national debate on what punishment should be meted out to rapists, especially if the victims of sex crimes become infected with the disease.

South Africa sets pace for regional gender equality
Afrol News, 11 April 2007
Later this year, women in Southern Africa expect a leap forward when it comes to gender equality as Heads of State are discussing more binding commitments to raise women's share of decision-making positions to 50 percent.

China women, children face growing trafficking risk
Reuters, 4 April 2007
Women and children in China face a growing threat of being trafficked and sold into marriage or sex work, as labour migration and a widening gender imbalance put them at risk, an international aid group said on Wednesday.

Ugandan adultery law 'too sexist'
BBC News, 5th April 2007
Uganda's adultery law has been scrapped by the Constitutional Court because it treated men and women unequally.

Eritrea bans female circumcision
BBC, 4th April 2007
Eritrea has banned the life-threatening practice of female circumcision, the Eritrean information ministry has said.

Lesbian Palestinians Break Social Taboos
By Brenda Gazzar, WeNews, 3.4.2007
The group Aswat--Voices in Arabic--is breaking the silence for Palestinian Arab lesbians. On March 28, it held its first public conference and released a groundbreaking book despite bitter opposition by the Islamic Movement.

Violence Plagues Female Tsunami Victims
NewsDay, 1.4.2007
Many women devastated by the 2004 tsunami continue to face violence and impoverishment at relief camps in South Asian nations like India and Sri Lanka, according to a new report.

Iraq Refugee Crisis Engulfs Women Silenced by Rape
By Rasha Elass, WeNews, 1.4.2007
An Iraqi woman who survived a rape before she and her family moved to Lebanon is finding a way to talk about her ordeal. But aid workers say that in the major Iraqi refugee communities of Syria and Jordan this war wound goes unmentioned.

Air hostesses told to shed weight
BBC, 1.6.2007
An Indian court has ruled against a group of female flight attendants who were grounded from the national airline for being overweight.

Finland's New Government Puts Women in Majority
Feminist Daily News Wire, 23.4.2007
Finland made history on Tuesday when 12 of its 20 cabinet positions went to women, making Finland the world's first female-dominated government.

Decriminalize Abortion To Help Women
Reuters, 30.3.2007
The Legislative Assembly of Mexico's Federal District should support the partial decriminalization of abortion currently under consideration, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the deputies

Lecturers Prey on Nigerian Women, Girls
The Associated Press, March 25, 2007
When Nigeria's education minister faced an audience of 1,000 schoolchildren, she expected to hear complaints of crowded classrooms and lack of equipment.

Kyrgyz Lawmakers Reject Decriminalizing Polygamy
Radio Free Europe, 26.3.2007
Kyrgyzstan's parliament has voted against a measure that would decriminalize polygamy,

Women Partly to Blame for Slow Change
IPS, 27.3.2007
Sitting in her small art-deco office, wearing a traditional head-to-toe black garb and a headscarf, Najla al Awadhi might, at first glance, fit the traditional stereotype image of a conservative Muslim, Arab woman, content to be ruled in a male-dominated society.

Zimbabwe Turmoil Hindering Gender Equality, Says Rights Group
Voice of America, 16.3.2007
A human rights group says the political crisis in Zimbabwe is hindering efforts for gender rights in the country.

New Rights, Old Wrongs
By Veronica Vadía Morgenstern, Ms Magazine, Winter 2007
Colombia has eased some abortion restrictions—but displaced women still suffer

Egypt: First Group of Female Judges Appointed
Reuters, 22.3.2007
The Egyptian government's appointment of the country's first group of female judges is a welcome step toward ending discrimination against women in the judiciary, Human Rights Watch said today.

Iran frees women's rights activists on hefty bail
Middle East Times, 19.3.2007
Two prominent Iranian women's rights activists detained for demonstrating outside a Tehran court were released Monday on bail of more than $200,000, their lawyers said.

Mexico City embraces gay unions
BBC News, 17.3.2007
The first civil partnerships among same-sex couples in Mexico City have been celebrated under new legislation.

KYRGYZ MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, PARLIAMENT WANT TO LEGALIZE POLYGAMY
By Erica Marat, Central Asia Caucasus Institute, 7.3.2007
n the mid-1990s, Kyrgyzstan was among the world's most progressive countries in terms of gender representation in public institutions.

Fiji Women's Rights Movement Protests
FWRM/Pacific Media Watch, 16.3.2007
The Fiji Women's Rights Movement is deeply concerned by the illegal pushing through of the Water Authority of Fiji Bill - despite almost a year of community action against the privatisation of water.

No Turning Back from Path to Gender Equality
IPS, 15.3.2007
The approval of a gender equality law by the Spanish parliament Thursday and the signing of a United Nations convention to fight gender violence has set Spain firmly on the path to gender equality, despite the opposition of conservatives.

Portuguese Parliament Approves Abortion Reform
Feminist Daily News Wire, March 12, 2007
Portugal's parliament voted overwhelmingly to liberalize the country's abortion laws on Thursday.

Mexico City Moves to Liberalize Abortion Laws
Feminist Daily News Wire, March 14, 2007
A bill that would legalize abortion laws in Mexico City is moving through the capital's city assembly and is expected to pass within months.

Nicaraguan Activists Press Abortion Legal Case
By Adeyemi and Stevens, WeNews, 16.3.2007
A case that tests an abortion ban in Nicaragua is being reviewed by the nation's Supreme Court this spring. Activists say the law imperils the lives of women and it looms large as a symbol of the economic and health inequalities they routinely face.

Anti-Stoning Women Activists Held Indefinitely
IPS, 15.3.2007
The indefinite detentions of the prominent lawyer Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a leading campaigner against the award of stoning sentences for adultery, are being seen here as part of increasing pressure on women’s rights activists by the Islamic republic.

Côte d'Ivoire: Women and girls forgotten victims of conflict
Amnesty International, 15.3.2007
Amnesty International today revealed the horrifying extent of sexual violence against women and girls taking place in the context of the current conflict in Cote d'Ivoire, saying that the scale and brutal nature of the attacks are vastly underestimated.

UNICEF welcomes Moldovan law aimed at combating domestic violence
UN News Centre, 13 March 2007
With more than a quarter of Moldova’s women over 15 years of age having experienced domestic violence, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed parliament’s decision to adopt a law aimed at preventing and combating the problem, along with setting up rehabilitation centres and providing other support services for the victims.

Sri Lanka Ban on Young Mothers Working Abroad Hasty
OneWorld, 15.3.2007
A ban by the Sri Lankan government on young mothers taking up jobs as housemaids in foreign countries, to minimise social disruption at home, has whipped up a storm of protests with rights groups slamming the move as hasty and poorly planned.

Population Forecast 'Is a Wake-Up Call'
OneWorld, 13.3.2007
New world population projections for the year 2050 by the United Nations are yet another wake-up call to the urgency of giving couples the means to exercise their human right to freely determine the sizes of their families, said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

AFGHANISTAN: New contract to curb child marriages
IRIN, 14.3.2007
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan has approved a new marriage contract which is expected to help stop child and forced marriages in the country.

Sterilised Roma accuse Czechs
BBC, 12.3.2007
"I was sterilised when I was 21", says Elena Gorolova, an ethnic Roma (Gypsy) woman living in Ostrava in the east of the Czech Republic.

Pope Reaffirms View Opposing Gay Marriage and Abortion
New York Times, 14.3.2007
Pope Benedict XVI strongly reasserted on Tuesday the church’s opposition to abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage, saying that Roman Catholic politicians were “especially” obligated to defend the church’s beliefs in their public duties.

Yemeni Activists Couple Contraception With Islam
By Anna Sussman, WeNews, 13.3.2007
Yemen has scored enormous success in reducing its maternal mortality rates and increasing the use of contraception. Advocates turned to the interpretations and assistance from religious leaders to get out the family planning message.

U.S. Strategy Undermined Iraq's Women: Report
OneWorld, 10.3.2007
The United States' four-year-old occupation of Iraq has considerably worsened the lives of the country's women, charges a new report from an international human rights group.

Proposed U.N. Women's Agency Gains Key Ally
IPS, 12.3.2007
A coalition of over 140 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and women's groups is gratified that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expressing public support for the creation of a new U.N. agency for women.

Chilean women make notable gains under Bachelet
Globe and Mail, 9.3.2007
One year into her mandate, Chile's first woman president has legislated the right to breast-feed in the workplace, offered greater protection against domestic violence, cracked down on alimony-dodgers and placed more women in positions of power.

Major Lenders Urged to Enforce Gender Rights
IPS, 8.3.2007
Dozens of international civil society groups have endorsed a call to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to require enforceable gender protections and equality for women as conditions for project financing in developing nations.

Iraqi Women's Death Sentences Spur European Outcry
By Cynthia L. Cooper, WeNews, 9.3.2007
Death sentences imposed on three Iraqi women--some of them mothers with young children--have spurred international concerns about the conduct of their trials and the abrogation of international prohibitions against the death penalty for new mothers.

Taking a beating
Guardian Online, 9.3.2007
The CCTV footage of a 19-year-old woman being punched by a police officer is shocking. Is it an isolated incident or just one more example of the troubled relationship between women and the police?

Groups say says Iran persecutes women's rights activists
International Herald Tribune, 8.3.2007
The State Department said Thursday it was deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian authorities attacked peaceful women's rights protesters in Tehran at a gathering to mark International Women's Day.

Denial Reopens Wounds of Japan’s Ex-Sex Slaves
New Yok Times, 7.3.2007
Wu Hsiu-mei said she was 23 and working as a maid in a hotel in 1940 when her Taiwanese boss handed her over to Japanese officers. She and some 15 other women were sent to Guangdong Province in southern China to become sex slaves.

China raps Japan over sex slaves
BBC, 6.3.2007
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing says Japan should face up to history and take responsibility for its army's use of sex slaves during World War II.

Iraq: death threats against women's rights defender
A statement from the international women's rights group MADRE:
On February 26, 2007, Houzan Mahmoud, an international representative of MADRE's sister organization, the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, received an e-mail signed by Ansar al-Islam, the notoriously brutal jihadist group based in Kurdistan/Iraq.

Girls speak out for their rights at UN-backed forum
UN News centre, 3 March 2007
Girls from around the world – including a former child soldier from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an HIV-positive rape victim from Zambia, and a child-labourer from Nepal – have come together to share the experiences that made them activists at an event at United Nations Headquarters.

Stricter Law Fails to Diminish the Demand for Child Laborers in India
New York Times, 4.3.2007
Seven days a week, 8-year-old Jasmina K. rises before dawn to fetch water for the household where she works as a maid.

Iran women arrested over protest
BBC, 4.3.2007
Iran's authorities have arrested more than 32 women activists protesting outside a courthouse in Tehran.

Iran to Prosecute Women's Rights Activists
Feminist Daily News Wire, March 2, 2007
The Iranian Judiciary will hold a trial on March 4 to prosecute four female activists for peacefully protesting Iran's discriminatory laws against women.

GENDER EQUITY INDEX 2007: Countries Do Not Need to Be Rich to Treat Women Fairly
Social Watch, 6.3.2007
Rwanda, one of the poorest countries, has greater gender equity than the United States, where the status of women has significantly regressed.

Abe questions sex slave 'coercion'
BBC, 2nd March 2007
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said there is no evidence that women were forced to become sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II.

Nigeria: Anti-Gay Bill Threatens Democratic Reforms
Human Rights Watch, 1st March 2007
A sweepingly homophobic bill being fast-tracked through Nigeria's National Assembly threatens human rights and Nigeria's democratic progress, Human Rights Watch said yesterday in a letter to lawmakers.

Commission proposed to protect women and children in Saudi Arabia
Arab News, 26 February, 2007
Saudi Arabia is studying the establishment of a nationwide system under which a supreme commission would be established to protect women and children from violence.

Women in Darfur Celebrating Peace on International Women’s Day
UNDP Sudan, 8.3.2007
On 8 March 2007, UNDP Sudan, in partnership with DAI and Um Jumma Women’s Charitable Society, celebrated the International Women’s Day, together with the women and men from different ethnic tribes of Darfur.

Zimbabwe: Womens’ Lives Cut Short
IWPR, 27.2.2007
AIDS epidemic and failed government policies are blamed for women’s plummeting life expectancy.

World War II sex slaves testify against Japan before Congress
USA Today, 15.2.2007
Three women who say they endured rape and torture at the hands of Japanese soldiers during World War II and a lifetime of mental and physical scars are asking that U.S. lawmakers urge the Japanese to apologize.

Nearly half of Indian women have not heard of AIDS
By Kamil Zaheer, Reuters, 23.2.2007
More than 40 percent of women in India have not heard of AIDS, according to a government survey that has alarmed activists.

Iraqi Police Commit Rape—Armed, Trained, and Funded by the US
CommonDreams.org, 22.2.2007
The international news media is flooded with images of a woman in a pink headscarf recounting a shattering experience of rape by members of the Iraqi National Police.

Ukraine leads in number of human trafficking victims in Eastern Europe, group says
International Herald Tribune, 19.2.2007
More Ukrainian men, women and children have been trafficked abroad and forced into indentured labor or prostitution than in any other Eastern European country since the Soviet collapse, an international migration group said in a report Monday.

Menchu seeks Guatemala presidency
BBC, 22.2.2007
Indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu says she will run for president in Guatemala's elections this September.

Pakistan: Women's rights activist minister killed by known extremist
WLUML, 21.2.2007
A Pakistani minister and women's activist has been shot dead by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the full veil.

The President's Budget Request: What's In It For Women?
Women's Edge Coalition, February 2007
Last week’s budget request for 2008 by President Bush was a mixed bag for global women’s issues.

Rape claim splits Iraq government
BBC, 20.2.2007
An allegation that Iraqi police raped a Sunni woman while enforcing a new security plan in Baghdad has opened sectarian splits within the government.

Japan anger at US sex slave bill
BBC, 19.2.2007
Japan has expressed its displeasure at a resolution before the US Congress calling on Tokyo to apologise for the country's use of sex slaves in wartime.

Cradles plan for unwanted girls
BBC, 18.2.2007
The Indian government is planning to set up a network of cradles around the country where parents can leave unwanted baby girls.

Russia bids to boost birth rates
By Richard Galpin, BBC News, 14.2.2007
Irina Mironova is an exceptional woman in the modern Russia, at the age of 27 she already has two children.

Chile Kick-Starts Debate on Gender Quotas
By Jen Ross, WeNews, 16.2.2007
Chile may be notable for having a female president, but the country ranks 14th out of 18 Latin American countries in female political representation. Congressional hearings on a gender-quota bill for political parties are stirring debate.

'Honor' killing spurs outcry in Syria
By Rasha Elass, The Christian Science Monitor, 14.2.2007
A 16-year-old's killing spurred the country's grand mufti to call for legal reform and protections.

NGOs Campaign for New U.N. Women's Agency
IPS, 14.2.2007
When the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) holds a two-week session beginning Feb. 26, a coalition of over 150 international non-governmental organisations will use it as a platform to urge Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help implement a proposal for the creation of a new U.N. women's agency.

AFGHANISTAN: Inadequate care for trauma victims
IRIN, 13 February 2007
In October 2006, Jamila, a resident of Panjwai district in the southern province of Kandahar, fled to Kandahar city after heavy fighting between the anti-government insurgents and NATO-led forces.

China to name those who skirt child policy
AP, February 8, 2007
Officials in eastern China plan to name and shame rich families who ignore the country's strict one-child policy and simply pay the fine for having a second or third baby, state media said.

Portugal will legalise abortion
BBC, 12.2.2007
Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said abortion will be legalised in Portugal despite the turnout for a referendum being too low to be legally binding.

Women come to South America's defense
Seattle Times, 31.1.2007
South America's leaders are increasingly naming women as their defense ministers, putting them in charge of keeping the peace in nations still grappling with legacies of military dictatorships.

Challenging the mullahs, a signature at a time
New York Times, 7.2.2007
Well-behaved women rarely make history," my favorite bumper sticker says. It surely applies to Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner whose relentless campaign against discrimination has enraged the mullahs for more than 25 years.

Women in Black Accuses Serbian Politicians
OneWorld, February 8, 2007
In a stinging rebuke to Serbian nationalism, Women in Black, the renowned Serbian women's group, has accused Serbian politicians of condemning Serbia to further international isolation and perpetuating the policies of the late Slobodan Milosevic by rejecting a UN plan for the independence of Kosovo.

Saudi Princess Would Let Women Drive
The Associated Press, January 25, 2007
The most prominent princess in Saudi Arabia's royal family said Thursday that if she could change one thing about her country, she would let women drive _ a rare and direct challenge to the driving ban imposed by the kingdom's ruling male elite.

Death of Angela King
UN, 6th February 2007
Angela King led the United Nations’ efforts for the empowerment of women with knowledge, passion and courage as the United Nations worked to translate into practice the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Teenager's Rape - Test for New Women's Law
IPS, Feb 6, 2007
Proceedings underway against 11 men accused of gang-raping a 16-year-old girl, to extract customary revenge for an elopement, will test the soundness of Pakistan's new legislation passed in December to protect women from crimes committed in the name of defending honour.

Statement on the International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation
UNFPA, 6 February 2007
Today, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, joins people around the world in calling for an end to female genital mutilation or cutting.

Child soldiers still recruited 10 years after pact
Reuters, Feb 5, 2007
Child soldiers are still being recruited in at least 13 countries from Afghanistan to Uganda, 10 years after international guidelines were agreed to eradicate their use, a British-based charity said on Monday.

Madres de Plaza de Mayo Bring Housing Hope to Slums
IPS, 5.2.2007
Wearing blue coveralls with a picture of a white scarf, the symbol of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, some 300 men and women from a slum in the Argentine capital are building new homes -- and new lives -- for themselves.

Kuwaiti panel passes landmark women's rights bill
Agence France-Presse, 5 February, 2007
A Kuwaiti parliamentary panel has approved landmark draft legislation that grants a host of benefits to women in the oil-rich Gulf state, the head of the committee said.

Mexico enacts law on domestic violence
Associated Press, 1.2.2007
President Felipe Calderon praised on Thursday a new law that obligates federal and local authorities to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women, and he promised a "relentless" fight against gender-related abuse.

Pakistani rape victim says attacks increasing
Reuters, Feb 1, 2007
A Pakistani rape victim who became a prominent women's rights campaigner said on Thursday violence against women was increasing in Pakistan because authorities were not serious about punishing the perpetrators.

'Anti-Aids gel' trial is stopped
BBC, 1.2.2007
Clinical trials of a new drug designed to help prevent women contracting the Aids virus have been stopped.

Much more needed to achieve goals of gender equality, warns Deputy Secretary-General
UN News Centre, 26 February 2007
Much work remains to be done before goals of gender equality – and their resulting positive impact on primary-school enrolment, maternal mortality rates and women’s economic independence – are reached, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General told the opening of the 51st session of the UN’s women’s commission today.

Pakistan's ruling party introduces bill to prohibit forced marriages
Associated Press, 13.2.2007
Pakistan's ruling party on Tuesday introduced a bill to outlaw forced marriages, including under an ancient tribal custom in which women are married off in order to settle feuds.

Respect Women Before Setting Up Military Bases'
IPS, Jan 31, 2007
Japan's plans to boost its defence capability with the support of the United States is being opposed by women's rights activists who say that U.S. military bases in this country are a danger to women who live in their vicinities.

Six arrested over Pakistan rape
BBC, 31.1.2007
Police in southern Pakistan have arrested six men in connection with the kidnap and rape of a 16-year-old girl.

Emergency pill for Chilean girls
BBC News, 30.1.2007
Chile's president has signed a decree so that the morning-after contraceptive pill can be given to girls as young as 14 without their parents' consent.

Military sex abuse worries Australia
The Age, 28 January 2007
Female pro-democracy activists are being assaulted, stripped and sexually humiliated by Fiji's new military regime.

Israeli President Takes Leave of Absence Following Rape, Harassment Charges
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 24, 2007
Israeli President Moshe Katsav announced to parliament this morning that he will take a leave of absence following the attorney general's decision to charge Katsav with rape, harassment, sexual relations involving the abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and illegally accepting gifts.

House Challenges Global Gag Rule
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 25, 2007
On Monday, the sixth anniversary of President Bush's 2001 reinstatement of the "global gag rule," a bipartisan coalition in the House led by Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) reintroduced a bill to overturn the policy.

Female genital mutilation persists in Egypt despite renewed opposition
Miama Herald, 25.1.2007
Zaineb Tarek grew suspicious when relatives bundled her into a minivan and plied her with potato chips and sweets for a "special trip" to see the doctor.

Gender activists seek action not pledges at AU Summit
By Anaclet Rwegayura, Angola Press, 24 Janaury 2007
Once again gender activists are hard on the heels of African leaders to discuss the implementation of their 2004 Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.

Women Suffer Abuse Behind the Front Lines
IPS, Jan 23, 2007
"The actors in the Colombian armed conflict, in particular the paramilitary groups and the guerrilla, employ physical, sexual and psychological violence against women as a strategy of war," stated the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Portugal Tests European Stance on Abortion
By Meghan Sapp, WeNews, 23 January 2007
Portugal, one of four European nations where most abortions are illegal, will vote next month in a referendum to liberalize its laws.

UNHCR pledges to rebuild women's centre destroyed in northern Colombia
Reuters AlterNet, January 23, 2007
The UN refugee agency pledged Tuesday to fund the reconstruction of a centre for displaced women and children that went up in flames at the weekend in the Colombian city of Cartagena.

China sticking to one-child policy despite gender gap
By Associated Press, January 23, 2007
China will not loosen its one-child policy, despite a top family planning official’s acknowledgment Tuesday that it was partly to blame for a worsening problem of too many boy babies and not enough girls in the world’s most populous nation.

Gov't Failing Low Caste Women, U.N. Says
IPS, 19 January 2007
India, the world's most populous democracy, has come under fire from a United Nations body for its failure to protect low caste women and those belonging to the country's religious minorities from discrimination.

Schools for girls come out of shadows
By Oakland Ross, Toronto Star, January 21, 2007
The brave teachers who defied Taliban edicts have a new challenge – finding the necessary resources to educate vast numbers of young women who crave the schooling that was forbidden by the clerics.

UK: Judges try to block rape trial reforms
By Clare Dyer, Guardian Unlimited, January 23, 2007
Changes to rules on consent, expert witnesses, video evidence opposed

Feminists Celebrate Successful 100 Hours
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 19, 2007
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gathered yesterday with Democratic leaders and supporters to celebrate the successful completion of her agenda for the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress.

Chilean Court Halts Free Birth Control Program
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 17, 2007
Chile's highest court terminated a 4-month-old program that provided free birth control, including emergency contraception, to women over the age of 14.

Israeli Women Challenge Meaning of Security
By Brenda Gazzar, WeNews, 19 January 2007
When Israel holds a high-level meeting on national security next week, Israeli women's groups will meet on the sidelines to discuss the harmful effects of last summer's war on Lebanon and recommend ways to defuse nuclear tensions in the region.

Women as Top Politicians
The Globalist, January 16, 2007
With Nancy Pelosi’s recent ascendancy to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, The Globalist takes a look at the achievements of other women in world politics.

Liberia: Government, women's groups decry post-war sexual violence
IRIN, 15 January 2007
Rising levels of rape and sexual exploitation of women and teenage girls in Liberia have sparked concern by both the government and women's rights groups.

Women on the Move—New Evidence on the International Migration of Women
World Bank, January 2007
About half of the world's migrant population is female, and the share of women in the total estimated migrant stock of 190.6 million people in 2005 has increased by almost 3 percent since 1960 (UN, 2005).

Farm Widows in India Fear Crop of Creditors
WeNews, 16.1.2007
In the past three years, farmers in a central India region have committed suicide by the thousands following bad harvests. Now, their widows are left to grieve and worry about the arrival of moneylenders and debts they don't understand.

Waiting to take 2d dose of AIDS drug may be key step
Boston Globe, 11.1.2007
A Harvard study has found a way around one of the thorniest problems in preventing HIV transmission from mother to child during birth in poor countries.

Algae gel to combat HIV infection
BBC, 16th January 2007
A type of algae found on the Brazilian coast could hold the key to a powerful new protection for women against HIV.

Kashmir's Half-Widows Struggle for Fuller Life
WeNews correspondent, 14.1.2007
The wives of men who have disappeared in India's Kashmir conflict gather each week holding photos of their husbands in a protest.

SOMALIA: Children, women most affected by fighting
IRIN, 12 Jan 2007
Scores of women and children have been separated from their families or wounded in fighting between Somali government forces and remnants of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), sources said.

Abortion doctor: More crusaders needed in fight for women's rights
International Herald tribune, 12.1.2007
Dr. LeRoy Carhart is entrenched in what he calls a "never-ending battle" — one that abortion foes would like him to surrender.

Turkish Government Taking Unprecedented Steps Against "Honor" Killings of Women
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 11, 2007
Facing pressure from women's groups and the European Union, the Turkish government has begun a major media campaign condemning all violence towards women, especially so-called "honor" killings.

African Women Score Firsts in World Political Leadership
allAfrica.com, 12.1.2007
The recent appointment of highly respected Tanzanian foreign minister Asha-Rose Migiro to the number two job at the United Nations marks an important turning point in the growing number of African women who are breaking into influential leadership positions nationally and internationally.

Chinese facing shortage of wives
BBC, 12.1.2007
China will have 30 million more men of marriageable age than women by 2020, making it difficult for them to find wives, according to a national report.

Gender battle not yet won for Mozambican women
Mail and Guardian, 11th January 2007
The contradictions in Maria's life are typical of many women in Mozambique.

Ethiopia: Inequality, Gender-Based Violence Raise HIV/Aids Risk for Women
allAfrica.com, 8.1.2007
Efforts to address the plight of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS are lagging behind in Ethiopia's profoundly conservative society, while they continue to bear the brunt of the epidemic.

Fashion factor fuels Iran's Aids fears
Guardian Unlimited, January 2, 2007
In a smart boutique displaying an array of miniskirts and skimpy tops, the shopkeeper was too busy attending to his female customers to listen to a sermon on HIV/Aids.

Nicaraguan activists bid to block abortion bill
Reuters, 8.1.2007
Human rights activists in Nicaragua on Monday asked the Supreme Court to block a controversial law that bans abortions for rape victims and women who risk dying in childbirth.

The rise of the cyber-stalker
The Guardian, 10.1.2007
These days men don't need to hang around their exes' homes to torment them - all they need to do is log on. Julie Bindel on an old crime in new clothing

Another Closet
The Guardian, 8.1.2007
Violence in same-sex relationships often goes unmentioned - and is increasingly common.

Starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides
The Observer, 7.1.2007
Villagers whose crops have failed after a second devastating drought are giving their young daughters in marriage to raise money for food

On Aussie beaches, burqa plus bikini equals burqini
Christian Science Monitor, 9.1.2007
It's a sweltering day, and the beach is packed with suntanned bodies. Girls in swimsuits lounge on the sand while their boyfriends cradle surfboards. Mecca Laalaa is the lone exception. Instead of a barely there bikini, she's in a burqini - a top-to-toe two-piece lycra suit complete with hijab, or Islamic head covering.

Liberia's Market Women Test President's Promise
By Ruthie Ackerman, WeNews, 7.1.2007
When Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated a year ago she vowed to help market women who had supported her in the election. Today those supporters are anxious to improve schools they set up during the civil war.

Warning over pro-anorexia sites
BBC, 6.1.2007
Eating disorder support groups are warning that a growing number of websites are pushing vulnerable people into anorexia and bulimia.

International Justice Failing Rape Victims
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 5 January 2007
Despite significant strides in international law, many sexual violence crimes are going unpunished because of flawed investigations and prosecutions.

Togo Increases Accessibility to Abortion
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 5, 2007
A law newly passed in Togo expands abortion rights, legalizing abortion in cases of rape or incest and when the fetus is at risk of a serious medical condition.

Tanzanian Foreign Minister named new UN Deputy Secretary-General
UN News Centre, 5 January 2007
Tanzanian Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro today became the third person – and second woman – in history appointed United Nations Deputy Secretary-General when she accepted the post offered to her by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

New Roles for Women Leaders Worldwide
Feminist Daily News Wire, January 4, 2007
In the past month, women across the world have been moving into new and groundbreaking political leadership positions. Here, we profile four women's recent successes.

Women Nobel Laureates Call for New U.S.-Iran Engagement
One World, 8.1.2007
Two days before President Bush will deliver a speech announcing a new course in Iraq which will exclude the Iraq Study group’s recommendation to engage Iran, women Nobel Peace Prize Winners Dr. Shirin Ebadi and Professor Jody Williams will be in Washington, D.C. to call for constructive US-Iran dialogue and engagement.

Iraq's Woes Are Adding Major Risks To Childbirth
Washington Post, January 4, 2007
Noor Ibrahim lay shivering underneath two blankets on a bed at al-Jarrah Hospital. Steps away was a red plastic bassinet. It was empty.

Uganda: Struggle for Equal Status - Women Enter 2007 With Hope
allAfrica.com, 1.1.2007
Women are among the most marginalised in our society. Since they also tend to be the poorest, getting justice is always a nightmare for them. But a bill passed in December 2006 is set to change this.

First woman elected to lead Tunisian party
CNN, 25.12.2006
Tunisia's main opposition party elected a woman as its leader, a first for the North African country and only the second time a woman has headed a political party in the Maghreb region.

NGO Demands Independent Inquiry into UN Peacekeeper Sexual Abuse Scandal
UN Watch, January 3, 2007
UN Watch today called on new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to create immediately an independent investigation into disturbing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan, with full powers to prosecute offending soldiers as well as UN officials who were obliged but failed to prevent the crimes.

The rape of Darfur: a crime that is shaming the world
By Marie Woolf, The Independent, 10 December 2006
Halima Bashir is a survivor. She was tortured and gang- raped for days as a punishment for speaking out about an attack on primary school children in Darfur.

Rights body at odds over activists' treatment
Fiji Times, 27.12.2006
The co-ordinator of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre has expressed disappointment at the inaction of the Fiji Human Rights Commission after five activists were allegedly ill-treated by the military.

African Union Marks First Displaced Women in Darfur Suffer Severe Depression
Feminist Daily News Wire, 21.12.2006
A new study of internally displaced women in Sudan's South Darfur illuminates the bleak status of women's mental health in the volatile region.

Domestic violence victims being turned away
The Hindu, 20.12.2006
Nearly a month and a half after the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act (DVA) came into effect, the authorities are still dithering on its implementation.

Nepal among "deadliest" places to give birth
By Gopal Sharma, Reuters, Dec 18 2006
When pregnant Nepali villager Suntali Rai felt pain in her stomach, relatives comforted her and urged patience as she waited for the birth of her second child.

Policy on Morning-After Pill Upsets Chile
By LARRY ROHTER, New York Times, December 17, 2006
President Michelle Bachelet of Chile is a feminist and physician who used to practice pediatric medicine at public clinics in poor neighborhoods.

Woman wins seat in first-ever UAE election
By Wissam Keyrouz, Middle East Online, 13 December 2006
A woman was elected to an advisory council in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday in the first national polls in the Gulf country, in which only a tiny part of the population is taking part.

Gaza City: 'Free the women and you free the whole country'
By Johann Hari, The Independent, 15 December 2006
There are many things you expect to find in the cratered, cramped heart of Gaza City, but a group of proto-Germaine Greers and Betty Friedans would be low on the list.

Human Rights Council decides to send mission to assess human rights situation in Darfur
HRC, 13 December 2006
The Human Rights Council this afternoon adopted by consensus a decision to dispatch a high-level mission to assess the human rights situation in Darfur and the needs of Sudan in this regard after expressing its concern regarding the seriousness of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Darfur.

WEST AFRICA: Girls getting educated but also abused
IRIN, 14 Dec 2006
Child rights advocates are increasingly facing a dilemma: How to boost the number of girls getting an education while reducing sexual violence in school?

UN adopts disability convention
By Geoff Adams-Spink, BBC News, 13 December 2006
The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a treaty on the rights of disabled people.

Afghan Female MPs Call It a Rough First Year
By Aunohita Mojumdar, WeNews, 15 December 2006
While Afghanistan's Parliament offers one of the most generous spaces for women's participation in the country's public life, female parliamentarians are ending their first year feeling fractured and far from the start of a true women's caucus.

New Jersey legalises gay unions
BBC, 15 December 2006
Lawmakers in the US state of New Jersey have legalised same-sex civil unions, giving gay and lesbian couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.

'Taleban law' blocked in Pakistan
BBC, 15 December 2006
Pakistan's Supreme Court has blocked a fresh attempt to enact a Taleban-style law to enforce Islamic morality in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

How the Dutch protect their prostitutes
By Patrick Jackson, BBC News, 15 December 2006
As the murder of prostitutes in Suffolk grips the UK, BBC News looks at some of the safety mechanisms being used in the Netherlands to protect local sex workers there from violence.

Quotas help empower women
Times of India, 14 December 2006
Advocating quotas for greater political participation of women throughout the world, a Unicef report says that it has proved to be an effective method for women’s empowerment. The report’s conclusions come at a time when the UPA-led government has all but pushed the women’s reservation Bill into cold storage.

Speaking Up Against Domestic Violence
IPS, Dec 12 2006
In Afghanistan's pervasive culture of violence, women and girls are powerless to resist being traded to settle family disputes and debts; rape and abduction; and forced marriages. Violence is widely tolerated by the community.

Foeticide means 7,000 fewer girls a day in India
Reuters, 12 December 2006
Seven thousand fewer girls are born in India each day than the global average would suggest, largely because female foetuses are aborted after sex determination tests, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

Catholic Poland mulls tighter abortion laws
By Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters, Dec 13, 2006
Even under Poland's strict laws, Alicja Tysiac says she should have been allowed an abortion.

Gateways to Safety Scarce for Navajo Women
By Pamela Burke, WeNews, 12 December 2006
A Navajo safe-house network for those fleeing domestic violence, two shelters and a new police training program put band-aids on what a local police officer calls an epidemic.

Rights of Iraqi women under growing threat
Reuters, 12 December 2006
The rights of Iraqi women and girls are under growing threat in the home, school, workplace and political sphere, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Women demand end to Darfur rapes
BBC, 10 December 2006
International stateswomen have made a joint call for an end to rape and sexual violence in Sudan's conflict-torn region of Darfur

UN body 'must investigate' Darfur
BBC, 12th December 2006
The UN Human Rights Council has been urged by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send a team to investigate abuses in Sudan's Darfur region.

Nigeria: Bill Would Make Meeting With Gays a Crime
New York Times, December 12, 2006
Lawmakers are debating a bill that would ban any form of association with a homosexual, even sharing a meal at a restaurant.

Centre condemns threats on activists
Fiji Times, December 12, 2006
The Fiji Women's Crisis Centre has condemned threats and intimidation against human rights defenders concerning the military takeover.

Pakistani Islamists protest against pro-women law
Reuters, 10th December 2006
Thousands of Islamist protesters demonstrated in southern Pakistan on Sunday against a new law that reduces the burden of proof on rape victims by allowing them to seek justice without the need for four male witnesses.

Gender bias 'increases poverty'
BBC, 11 December 2006
Inequality at home between men and women leads to poorer health for the children and greater poverty for the family, says a new study.

PM: Same-sex issue closed
Toronto Star, Dec. 7, 2006.
The last major threat to same-sex marriage rights in Canada was soundly defeated in the House of Commons today, with MPs sending the message that they don’t want to revisit the emotional, divisive debate

COUNCIL TAKES UP VARIOUS ISSUES INCLUDING CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT, SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND VIOLATIONS IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES
UN, 01 December 2006
The Human Rights Council this afternoon concluded its discussion of follow-up to decisions by the Council, and took up "other issues" related to the protection and promotion of human rights, under which is discussed the situation of children involved in armed conflict, human rights violations linked to sexual orientation and gender identity, and the situation of human rights in various countries of the world.

UN urges freedoms for Arab women
BBC, 7th December 2006
Discrimination against women is holding back economic and social development across the Arab World, a report by the UN's development agency says.

Malaysian city warns of fines on women for wearing 'sexy' attire
International Herald Tribune, December 4th 2006
Authorities in a Malaysian city have warned waitresses and female staff of retail outlets that they face a US$138 fine if they wear revealing and tight fitting clothes, a news report said Tuesday.

Headscarves Dispute Travels to Egypt
IPS, 1st December 2006
Heated disputes have arisen in Egypt over the suggestion by culture minister Farouk Hosni last week that the rising number of Egyptian women wearing the Islamic headscarf is a sign of social "regression".

It's Hard Being a Woman
IPS, Dec. 5 2006
Once one of the best countries for women's rights in the Middle East, Iraq has now become a place where women fear for their lives in an increasingly fundamentalist environment.

Communities choose health over tradition
IRIN, 4 December 2006
About 150 communities in Guinea on Sunday collectively abandoned the practice of female genital cutting - a landmark declaration in a country where more than 97 percent of women undergo the ritual, the event’s organisers said on Monday.

UN General Assembly Declines Vote on Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Cultural Survival, December 4, 2006
Called Indians, First Peoples, Aborigines, Eskimos, or the names they call themselves - Wampanoag, Pokomam, Batwa, or MakMak - indigenous peoples are among the poorest and most marginalized peoples on our planet today.

UN, Groups Raise Pressure on Sex Abusers Overseas
OneWorld, 3rd December 2006
Independent humanitarian groups that work closely with the United Nations welcomed the world body's decision to call a high-level meeting next week to address the issue of sexual abuse against children by its peacekeepers.

UN Haiti troops accused of rape
BBC, 30th November 2006
Children have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia, a BBC investigation has found.

SA same-sex marriage law signed
BBC, 30.11.06
South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has signed the Civil Union Act which gives same-sex couples the right to marry.

Pakistan votes to amend rape laws
BBC, 15 November 2006
Pakistan's national assembly has voted to amend the country's strict Sharia laws on rape and adultery.

Gender activists welcome new woman deputy prime minister
Reuters, 30 Oct 2006
Swazi gender rights groups have welcomed the appointment of a woman to the post of deputy prime minister in a country that only this year granted women equal rights under the constitution.

Violence in Iraq increasingly targeting women
Agence France-Presse, 23 November, 2006
Women are increasingly the victims of violence in Iraq, as direct targets of assassinations and as widows left without support after the deaths of their husbands, an Iraqi women's activist has said.

Nicaragua abortion ban called a threat to lives
Boston Globe, November 26, 2006
Doctors and women's groups are warning that Nicaragua's ban on all abortions -- even to save the mother -- will endanger the lives of thousands of women every year.

Call to end female circumcision
BBC, 24th November 2006
Muslim scholars from around the world have called for female genital mutilation to be banned and those who carry it out to face punishment.

BOTSWANA: Army rolls out carpet for women
IRIN, 22 Nov 2006
Forty years after independence, Botswana is ready to recruit its first women soldiers to private and officer ranks, depending on their academic qualifications.

Joint property rights: A bid to empower women
The Times of India, 22nd November 2006
India: Government's proposal to "incentivise" ownership of property is seen as a bid to empower women in the hope that better economic status would make them less vulnerable to exploitation

WHO Panel Discusses Global State of Reproductive, Sexual Health
Feminist Daily News Wire. November 22, 2006
The World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored a news conference last week at the National Press Club to bring attention to the declining status of sexual and reproductive health in the global development agenda.

AIDS Is on the Rise Worldwide, U.N. Finds
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, New York Times, November 22, 2006
The AIDS pandemic is growing in all areas of the world, with worrisome signs of resurgence in some countries that were trumpeted as successes in combating the disease, the United Nations said yesterday.

Women Have a New Tool against Discrimination
IPS, Nov 20, 2006
The Argentine Congress has ratified the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), after a tug-of-war between the forces of feminist organisations and the Catholic Church that has lasted for years.

New bill on women's rights divides opinion
IRIN, 17 Nov 2006
The Protection of Women bill, finally passed by Pakistan's National Assembly on Wednesday after many months of bitter debate and controversy, continues to divide public opinion.

Nicaragua's Abortion Ban Faces Legal Blockade
By Lorraine Orlandi, WeNews, 17/11/2006
Nicaragua faces the imminent implementation of an abortion ban that makes no exception for the life of a woman. As concern spreads about its fatal effects for low-income women in particular, rights groups and others vow a legal challenge.

Socialists Back Woman in Race to Lead France
New York Times, Nov. 17
Ségolène Royal moved a step closer to becoming the first female president of France early Friday, crushing her two male rivals for the Socialist Party nomination in next April’s election.

New WHO Director-General stresses on Africa, women's health
By Kanaga Raja, South-North Development Monitor, Nov 13 2006
The new Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr Margaret Chan of China, following her appointment by the World Health Assembly, said that she wanted to be judged by the impact that the organization's work has on the people of Africa and on women worldwide.

Massacre in Chiapas, Mexico
By Al Giordano, The Other Journalism, November 13, 2006
On Monday, November 13, presumed paramilitaries committed a massacre in
the Montes Azules jungle region of Chiapas, killing nine indigenous women
and men and two children.

Silence and Fury in Cairo After Sexual Attacks on Women
New York Times, 15 November 2006
There is fear in the shops along Talat Harb Street, and shame. It is not because of what the people who work here say they witnessed, the crowds of men groping women and pulling at their clothing. They fear the police returning, and they are shamed by their own silence.

Muslim clerics begin meeting on gender violence, HIV/AIDS
IRIN, 14 Nov 2006
Muslim clerics from 25 African countries have begun a five-day population and development meeting in Tanzania's semiautonomous island of Zanzibar, focusing on issues such as HIV/AIDS and gender violence from an Islamic point of view.

India grounds hostesses who are 'too fat to fly'
By Amelia Gentleman, The Observer, November 5, 2006
National carrier faces legal backlash from cabin crew suspended for being overweight

S Africa approves same-sex unions
BBC, 14 November 2006
South Africa's parliament has voted to legalise same-sex weddings - the first African country to approve such unions.

Afghanistan's women burn in desperation
The Standard, November 14, 2006
But efforts trying to stop a horrifying trend are now paying off, writes Bronwen Roberts

'Taleban law' passed in Pakistan
BBC News, Monday, 13 November 2006
Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has passed a bill setting up a Taleban-style department under a cleric to enforce Islamic morality.

Women Launch India's Social Forum
By Rahul Kumar, OneWorld, Nov. 13, 2006
The India Social Forum (ISF) took off in the Indian capital New Delhi Thursday to the sound of drums, anti-globalization cries, and cheers for the setback U.S. President George W. Bush received in his country's mid-term elections.

South Africa - Sexual Offences Bill voted for approval
SABC News, November 10, 2006
One of the most far reaching pieces of Legislation, safeguarding the rights of victims of rape and other gender based violence was voted for approval by members of the Justice Committee in Parliament today.

Proposed UN agency `dramatic step forward' for women
By Olivia Ward, The Toronto Star, Nov. 10, 2006
A landmark proposal for creating a powerful new United Nations women's agency moved a giant step closer to reality yesterday, with the endorsement of a high-level panel on reforming the sprawling UN system.

Women's Groups Push for Gender Parity in OAS
Marcela Valente, IPS, Nov 6, 2006
Women's groups in Latin America have launched a campaign to press the Organisation of American States (OAS), which has never had a female secretary general, to live up to the principle of gender parity at the highest levels, where women are remarkable only for their absence.

Mexico City passes gay union law
BBC, 10th November 2006
Mexico City's assembly has backed a law recognising same-sex civil unions, the first such move in the country's history.

Panel Endorses New U.N. Women's Agency
IPS, Nov 9, 2006
Dissatisfied with the outcome of U.N. efforts to reduce poverty, gender inequality and environmental degradation, a high-level panel has called for drastic changes in the way the world body reaches out to many countries that need help in achieving development.

Italy government seeks veil ban
By Christian Fraser, BBC News, 7th November 2006
Italy is to put forward draft new legislation to ban the Islamic veil that covers the face.

Unifying the UN
By Shaukat Aziz, Luísa Dias Diogo and Jens Stoltenberg, International Herald Tribune
November 8, 2006
On Thursday we are presenting proposals to Secretary General Kofi Annan on how the United Nations can greatly improve its effectiveness in the fields of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment.

Zimbabwean court frees 180 women
BBC News, 7th November 2006
A judge in Zimbabwe has dropped charges against 180 women charged for taking part in anti-government protests.

Abuse of women still rife in Palestinian life, says study
By Donald Macintyre, The Independent, 7 November 2006
Sanaa Umar fidgets with her handbag as she describes the daunting task of making a new start when her own father blames her for failing to keep the violent and abusive man who married her at 15 and divorced her at 16.

Poland: Parliament and President Disagree on Abortion Ban
Feminist Daily News Wire, November 1, 2006
Poland's parliament introduced a constitutional amendment last week that would ban all abortions in the country, but both the President and Prime Minister have expressed their disapproval of the ban.

UN-backed study paints grim picture of neglect in promoting reproductive health
UN News Centre, 1 November 2006
The huge level of disability and premature death due to sexual and reproductive problems is rising around the world, with over half a million women dying each year in pregnancy and childbirth, yet financial support for family planning is falling amid growing political interference, according to a new United Nations-backed ‘wake-up call’ study.

Somalis learn to follow the law
By Yusuf Garaad, BBC, 1st November 2006
Fear of a good lashing or having one's head shaved is keeping drivers in Somalia's capital on the straight and narrow.

Nepal 'goddess' inquiry ordered
By Surendra Phuyal, BBC News
The Supreme Court in Nepal has ordered an inquiry into whether the tradition of worshipping a "living goddess" has led to the exploitation of girls.

Namibia: Rape Overtakes All Other Crimes
allAfrica.com, October 24, 2006
The numbers of rape and attempted rape cases since independence to 2005, have more than doubled, making it the most serious form of crime currently being committed in Namibia, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) has said.

U.S.: Abortion Regulations Undermine Women's Right to Choose
Reuters, 30 Oct 2006
Some States Place 'Undue' Burden on Access to Abortion
Several U.S. state laws and regulations on abortion chip away at every woman's right to have a safe and legal abortion, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

Dutch government proposes public burqa ban
Guardian Unlimited, November 17, 2006
The Dutch government said today that it plans to draw up legislation that will ban the wearing in public of all Islamic veils which cover the body and face, such as burqas.

Hundreds of thousands raped in Congo wars
By Chris McGreal, Guardian Unlimited, November 13, 2006.
Hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped over the past decade by soldiers, rebels and ethnic militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Women's rights champion murdered
The Daily Telegraph, October 28, 2006
Gunmen broke into the house of an Iraqi women's rights campaigner and shot her dead in front of her three children.

Parents fly in African village elders to circumcise their young daughters
By Nicola Woolcock, The Times. 23rd October 2006
Police and health authorities fear that 25,000 British girls are at risk of genital mutilation

Nicaragua: Penal Reform Constitutes an Assault on Huma