Patricia Grogg – Havana Times – 24 May, 2009

Yamila Gonzalez Ferrer. Image: trabajadores.cu

HAVANA TIMES, May 25 (IPS) – Mercedes Toyo has begun smiling again, but only after years of crying and enduring violence, though painful memories continue to haunt her. “Now I’m falling in love with a 50-year-old man who tells me that I’m very withdrawn, that I don’t pay much attention to him,” she explained in the living room of her home.

Her story is no different from those of other women who have been battered by their partners. The Cuban Constitution and numerous laws assure women’s equality and the protection of the family, but the abuse that occurs in the intimacy of the home doesn’t always escape the fear and prejudice, nor is it reported to the authorities or tabulated in statistics.

“I never thought about going to the police; it would have been worse. Plus, nobody ever does that, everything remained within the family,” said a 55-year-old professional, who also went through that painful experience in her first marriage. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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CHOE SANG-HUN – The New York Times – Published Sunday 24 May, 2009

Kim Hee Young, right, 21, a statistics major, and Choi Yoon Hee, 22, a computer science major, bought food tickets in the cafeteria at at Sookmyung Women's University using their cellphones. Image: Park Jin-Hee for the International Herald Tribune

SEOUL — Kim Hee-young, a statistics major at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, holds more or less her whole life in her hands.

She wakes up in the morning when her mobile phone detonates an alarm, a loud Korean pop song. She checks weather forecasts on its screen before selecting what to wear.

In the subway, Ms. Kim breezes through the turnstile after tapping the phone on a box that deducts the fare from a chip that contains a cash balance. While riding to school, she uses her mobile to check if a book has arrived at the library, slays aliens in a role-playing game, updates her Internet blog or watches TV. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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BBC World Service Radio Station – Friday 22 May, 2009

Image: BBC News

Most people would be only too keen to get out of the refugee camps where they spent their childhood but Gemma Tracee Apiku cannot wait to return.

She spent eight years of her young life as a refugee in Southern Sudan after her family escaped Uganda in the 1980s when the Idi Amin regime – in which her father was a soldier – was overthrown.

Life was grim living in the congested transit camps, with up to eight people living in a small hut. . .

. . . Read complete article and listen to BBC World Service radio station . . .

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Lubanga Trial Coverage – ICC – Africa Update

Wairagala Wakabi in The Hague (AR No. 212, 15-May-09) – IWPR – Thursday 21 May, 2009

Experts in the trial of accused Congolese leader Thomas Lubanga this week struggled to confirm the ages of child soldiers said to have been part of the Union of Congolese Patriots, UPC.

The specialists in age determination testified at the International Criminal Court, ICC, that, based on x-ray images, some may have been as young as 10 or 11 years old at the time they were allegedly UPC fighters.

Others, however, probably were not as young, said the experts, pointing out that the quality and limited nature of the images created a margin of error. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Reuters AlertNet – Wednesday 20 May, 2009

Breaking News Image:

An internally displaced girl, seeking refuge from a military offensive in the Swat valley region, carries water atop her head inside the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) Jalozai camp, about 140 km (87 miles) north west of Pakistan's capital Islamabad May 20, 2009. Pakistani forces say they are making progress in their offensive against the Taliban in their Swat valley bastion following U.S. warnings that the militants posed an existential threat. REUTERS/Ali Imam (PAKISTAN CONFLICT POLITICS) REUTERS/STR/PAKISTAN

. . . for more information on the topic of Pakistan refugees go to
Reuters AlertNet . . .

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VOA News – Tuesday 19 May, 2009

Handout photo received and taken on 18 May 2009 from the Democratic Voice of Burma shows people walking past Myanmar soldiers manning a road block in Rangoon

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced a second day of hearings Tuesday as international criticism of her trial grew.

Hundreds of police, some in full riot gear, were deployed along roads leading to Insein prison where the trial is being held behind closed doors.

Twenty-two witnesses are expected to testify against Aung San Suu Kyi in the trial, which her lawyer says could last three months. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Bhavia Wagner – The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon US) – Monday 18 May, 2009

Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” drew an audience of 7,000 people to McArthur Court on May 7. His message was inspiring: Education of girls can change the world.

The quote he emphasized was, “If you educate a boy, you educate an individual. If you educate a girl, you educate a community.” Statistics show that when girls are educated: 1) infant mortality decreases, 2) population growth diminishes and 3) basic health and quality of life improve for everyone.

Friendship With Cambodia is a small-scale version of Mortenson’s work — only instead of educating girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we are educating girls in Cambodia,where half the girls and a quarter of the boys never go to school. Poverty is the main reason, but when girls are not valued their disadvantage is doubled. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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The Hindu News Update Service – published Thurs 14 May, 2009

Since 2008, six major human-trafficking cases have been cracked in which at least 40 persons were held including different airline staffers, passport officers, agents and women from well-to-do families, who opted illegal means to fly out of the city.

The two-month-old (police investigative) cell has also busted a case in March this year by arresting four persons including two Air India employees and an agent Imtiyaz Raheem Maradia, who is involved in many such cases.

“The accused identified as Deepak Salve and Hemant Morade, employees of Air India, were arrested from the International Airport after our investigation revealed that the duo had illegally took two woman to US on their wives passports,” said police inspector Nishikant Patil of the cell. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Brad Stone – The New York Times – Published Wed 13 May, 2009

Jim Buckmaster, chief of Craigslist, said the risk of violence from classified ads in newspapers “has been 1,000 times as great as the danger associated with Craigslist.” Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Craigslist, the Web’s largest classified advertising site, said on Wednesday that it would close its erotic services category, which critics have said is a forum that fosters prostitution and other illegal activities.

To replace it, the company has created a category called adult services, in which postings will be reviewed by employees who will look for indications of activity that is illegal or violates the site’s guidelines. The erotic services category would be deleted next Wednesday, Craigslist said.

Craigslist has been under increasing pressure from officials in several states, as violent crimes involving people who had made contact through the site made national headlines. But the changes did not appear to go far enough to satisfy everyone in the growing ranks of Craigslist’s detractors. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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PRWeb News Release – Wednesday 13 May, 2009

Playwright and V-Day Founder Eve Ensler will testify on the topic of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, May 13 at 2:30 p.m. before a joint hearing “Confronting Rape and Other Forms of Violence Against women in Conflict Zones” of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs and the new Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women’s Issues. Senators Barbara Boxer and Russel D. Feingold will preside over the hearing.

New York, NY (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 13, 2009 — Playwright and V-Day Founder Eve Ensler will testify on the topic of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, May 13 at 2:30 p.m. before a joint hearing “Confronting Rape and Other Forms of Violence Against women in Conflict Zones” of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs and the new Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women’s Issues. Senators Barbara Boxer and Russel D. Feingold will preside over the hearing.

Ensler will share her experiences and knowledge of the issue, and provide recommendations for change. Since 2007, she has traveled to the DRC on numerous occasions and spoken out through articles, speeches, and advocacy placing a global spotlight on the wide-scale atrocities committed against women and girls in Eastern DRC. Together with Congolese women, UNICEF and V-Day have mounted a global campaign entitled STOP RAPING OUR GREATEST RESOURCE: Power to The Women And Girls of the DRC, raising awareness and funds, and developing strategies and programs to empower women on the ground. . .

. . . read complete news release . . .
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Zahra Hosseinian – Reuters News – Wednesday 13 May, 2009

U.S.-born journalist Roxana Saberi, released from prison on Monday, stands outside her home in Tehran May 12, 2009. Saberi is in good spirits and may leave Iran next week after she was acquitted on charges of spying for the United States, her lawyer said on Tuesday. Image: REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s case against U.S.-born journalist Roxana Saberi was based on her acquiring a confidential government report on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, one of her defense lawyers said on Wednesday.

Saleh Nikbakht gave details about the charges against Saberi two days after an appeal court cut her eight-year jail sentence for spying to a two-year suspended term and she walked free after more than three months in Tehran’s Evin jail.

He said the 32-year-old freelance reporter had copied the report, which was prepared by a strategic research body at the Iranian president’s office ahead of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But she never used the information, he said. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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In May 2007, only 12 cases of sexual violence were filed with prosecutors appointed to carry out Colombia’s special Justice and Peace Law. Today that number stands at 228

Sibylla Brodzinsky – The Christian Science Monitor – 11 May, 2009

Bogotá, Colombia – Amelia had spent years counseling a woman who was raped by a right-wing warlord and suffered an unwanted pregnancy. So when the woman called her for advice after the warlord threatened to return to take away the child, Amelia rushed to go see her.

The two women stayed up late discussing how to protect the child in an isolated farmhouse in Colombia’s Antioquia Province. Suddenly, three masked gunmen burst into the house and warned Amelia to “stop messing in other people’s business.” The men then raped both women.

“They said I should take this as a warning,” Amelia says, adding that the men had told her not to leave the house for three days. When she left, she told no one what had happened to her. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Associated Press release – 9:30 am EST – Monday 11 May, 2009

AP - FILE - This undated file photo released by the family of imprisoned Iranian-American shows journalist …

TEHRAN, Iran – A lawyer for a U.S. journalist jailed in Iran says she has been freed from prison after an appeals court suspended her eight-year jail sentence.

Roxana Saberi, a 32-year-old dual Iranian-American citizen, was convicted last month of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison. An appeals court reduced her jail term on Monday to a two-year suspended sentence.

Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, tells The Associated Press that she was released and is “now out of jail.” . . .

. . . read complete release . . .
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AFP – Friday 8 May, 2009

Some of their children have died, some are in jail. All are victims of the Paco craze. Image: AFP

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) — A group of women are taking on police and drug dealers with equanimity here, risking all to save their drug-addled children from “Paco” — a cocaine derivative sweeping Argentina with alarming ferocity.

They are vaguely reminiscent of another women’s group, the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” who demanded during weekly vigils that the government account for the whereabouts of sons and daughters who went missing during the country’s “dirty war” of the 1970s and 1980s.

But the “Mothers Against Paco” know all too well where their children have gone: some have died, some are in jail. All are victims of the Paco craze. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Winifred Ogbebo – Leadership Nigeria – Thurs 7 May, 2009

Reacting to the recent killing of a woman at one of the church premises in Lagos , the National Council of Catholic Woman Organisation (NCCWO) yesterday in Abuja called on the federal government to beef up security around churches in the country.

The president of the organisation, Dr. (Mrs.) Ugoeze Josephine Nwachukwu, made the call at a press briefing on its forthcoming award of excellence to be conferred on some distinguished Nigerians.

She said, “the incident of kidnaping and killing in the church has become rampant, that the federal government should take urgent step towards addressing the issue.” Adding that about three persons have been kidnapped from the church recently, and wondered what the security agents are doing about such an ugly scenario. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Op-ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof - NY Times – 6 May, 2009

Americans tend to think of forced prostitution as the plight of Mexican or Asian women trafficked into the United States and locked up in brothels. Such trafficking is indeed a problem, but the far greater scandal and the worst violence involves American teenage girls.

If a middle-class white girl goes missing, radio stations broadcast amber alerts, and cable TV fills the air with “missing beauty” updates. But 13-year-old black or Latina girls from poor neighborhoods vanish all the time, and the pimps are among the few people who show any interest.

These domestic girls are often runaways or those called “throwaways”. . .

. . . read complete op-ed . . .
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Steven Musil – CNET - updated to 8pm EST 5 May, 2009

Three state attorneys general plan to meet with Craigslist representatives to begin negotiations toward eliminating advertisements from the site for prostitution and other suspected illegal sexual activities.

State attorneys general from Missouri, Illinois, and Connecticut will represent a group of state attorneys general in a meeting Tuesday in New York City with representatives of the Web site.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said his office found several ads offering and seeking prostitution on Craigslist pages for the Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia/Jefferson City, and Springfield areas.

Craigslist is allowing advertisements for illegal activities like prostitution on its site,” Koster said a statement. “It is blatant. It is irresponsible. It is illegal.” . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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BBC News Channel (UK) – Tues 5 May, 2009

The committee is investigating the treatment of female prisoners

Scotland’s chief prisons inspector has hit out at the policy of having just one female-only prison.

Dr Andrew McLellan told MSPs it was a major factor in overcrowding at Cornton Vale Prison and meant many women being far away from their families.

The Scottish Prison Service admitted the regime at the prison, near Stirling, had slipped amid population increases and pressure on staff time. . .

. . . read complete article . . .

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Associated Press – Monday 4 May, 2009

Members of Reporters Without Borders demonstrate in front of Iranian embassy in Paris Sunday May 3, 2009, in support of imprisoned journalist Roxana Saberi. US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi, awaiting an appeal against her eight-year jail sentence for espionage by an Iranian court, is continuing with her hunger strike that began 12 days ago. Sign reads: Free Roxana Saberi. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

CAIRO (AP) — The American journalist on a hunger strike for two weeks to protest her imprisonment in Iran was briefly hospitalized after she intensified her fast by refusing to drink water, Reporters Without Borders said Monday.

The press freedom group said 32-year-old Roxana Saberi was taken Friday to a clinic at Tehran’s Evin prison, where she has been held since her arrest in January. She was released from the clinic within a day after again drinking water, the group said.

Saberi’s Iranian-born father, who traveled to Iran to seek his daughter’s release, said last month that she was drinking only sweetened water while refusing food to protest her eight-year jail sentence for allegedly spying for the U.S. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Women News Network – WNN – Friday 1 May, 2009

Delara Darabi. Image: AIUK

Delara Darabi, a woman prisoner jailed under a questionable case in Iran prison in 2003 since the age of 17, has just been executed this morning by hanging in Rasht Central Prison.

Darabi’s case has raised much opposition, international outrage and protest during her 2007 retrial. Details on the case that may have saved Darabi’s life were not admitted in the retrial. Both parents have admitted that Delara was left handed. Case evidence required that the killer must have been right handed.

According to Amnesty International reports, Delara confessed to the murder of a relative at the age of 17. Later she retracted her admission, saying she was trying to protect her boyfriend from receiving the punishment. At the time she expected her young age would sway the courts in a positive direction.

“Amnesty International is outraged at the execution of Delara Darabi, and particularly at the news that her lawyer was not informed about the execution, despite the legal requirement that he should receive 48 hours’ notice,” said Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Programme Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. “This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carry no weight and are disregarded in the provinces,” continued Sahraoui.

Out of 140 executions thus far for 2009, Darabi is the second woman and the second child offender who has been executed by Iran judicial order this year. Since 1990, 42 child cases have resulted in execution in Iran.

For more information on this case see:

AIUK – Amnesty International UK report: “Iran: Outrage at execution of child offender Delara Darabi“

Shahrzad News You Tube: May 16, 2007 video release

AIUK blogger report: “Delara Darabi’s death: shocking news“

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WNN news release May 1, 2009

EDITH M. LEDERER – Associated Press – 29 April, 2009

UNITED NATIONS – A young woman abducted and repeatedly raped by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda told the Security Council on Wednesday how she became a rifle-toting child soldier. She urged the U.N.’s most powerful body to stop the suffering of children in wars.

“I still wait for some of my friends to return,” Grace Akallo said, “and I hope that everyone here will be committed to bring people like my friends home.”

Council members responded to the plea from the former child soldier — now a graduate student in the United States — with rare sustained applause. Many, including U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, assured her that her message had been heard. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Financial Chronicle (India) – 27 April, 2009

The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi known as the ‘‘banker to the poor’’ for making small loans in impoverished countries, is now doing business in the center of capitalism: New York City.

In the past year, the first U.S. branch of his Grameen Bank has lent $1.5 million, in increments ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, to nearly 600 women with small-business plans in the city’s borough of Queens.

People around the United States are struggling to repay mortgages and credit card debts, but Grameen America says its loan repayment rate is more than 99 percent.

. . . read complete article . . .
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South Africa: The Good News – Wednesday 29 April, 2009

South Africa's national assembly will be more representative with 45% of the seats being allocated to women. Image: SA: The Good News

Women’s representation in the South African national assembly has jumped to 45% since the country’s recent elections, giving South Africa a third place spot in the global women in parliament rankings.

This is according to Gender Links, a Johannesburg-based NGO that focuses on research, training and advocacy for achieving gender equity.

The latest statistics, which are based on political party candidate lists submitted to the IEC, show an 11% increase in the number of women in parliament. South Africa now sits just behind Rwanda and Sweden in the global rankings, who have 56% and 47% women’s representation in their respective parliaments. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Croydon Guardian (UK) – Tues 28 April, 2009

Local councils should put pressure on newspaper publishers to stop the exploitation of vulnerable women as sex slaves, a campaign group says.

This is the strong message being sent out by a charity that looks after women trafficked into sex slavery in London’s brothels.

Eaves Housing has launched their Nothing Personal campaign calling on councillors and editors to take responsibility for the blight of sex trafficking in their boroughs. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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Golnar Motevalli – The Washington Post – Sunday 26 April, 2009

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai told women activists Sunday he had signed a law that caused an international outcry over its effect on women’s rights because he had not read it properly, the activists said.

Karzai has ordered the Justice Ministry to review the Shi’ite Personal Status Law, which he signed two months ago.

The law, which applies to a Shi’ite Muslim community that makes up about 15 percent of the population, requires women to satisfy their husbands’ sexual desires, which some critics say could be used to justify marital rape.

It sparked an outcry from leaders of Western countries with troops in Afghanistan, including U.S. President Barack Obama who called it “abhorrent.” A group of 30 women parliamentarians and rights advocates met Karzai Sunday to discuss it. . .

. . . read complete article . . .
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