Tag Archives: women

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Female sex workers and homeless drug addicts in Tehran should be “convinced” to undergo sterilisation to prevent social problems, a deputy provincial governor in the Iranian capital said on Sunday. “These women deal drugs, consume drugs and also work as sex workers,” Siavash Shahrivar told …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday announced the appointment of Nigeria’s Environment Minister Amina Mohammed to be the UN’s number two official and tapped two other women for key leadership posts. Guterres has made gender parity a priority of his tenure which …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  A sit-in protest by the Nigerian women’s team stretched into a sixth day at an Abuja hotel on Friday as the players vowed not to give in until bonuses and other allowances are paid. They began their protest after arriving on Sunday from Cameroon, fresh …

VIDEO: The Uganda police has joined in the marking of the 16 days against gender based violence. The celebrations that started with a march around major streets of Kampala was punctuated by women and men carrying items that symbolized social roles of woman – that are often under looked. According to the …

Unreported cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) are on the rise in Uganda, a trend that Minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister Mary Karooro-Okurut says the country needs to halt. Making reference to statistics from The 2011 Uganda Police Force Report she said, …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  An outspoken billionaire Saudi prince wants an “urgent” end to his country’s ban on women driving, saying overturning the law was a matter of women’s rights and economic necessity. “Stop the debate: Time for women to drive,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  A public television station in Morocco has apologised after uproar on social media followed its broadcast of an item on makeup to hide the facial bruises of battered women. The sequence — marking last week’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Raped, abused and subjected to genital mutilation, many women suffer terribly in Somalia, an unrepentantly patriarchal country shown by successive surveys as one of the worst places to be female. A quota reserving 30 percent of parliamentary seats for women in current elections is supposed …

Ask Aline Kabanda the key to Rwanda’s future success, and she will tell you: educating and empowering women, writes Jennifer Mattson. “I like to quote Nelson Mandela, who said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,'” says Kabanda, the country director for the …

Wajir, Kenya | AFP | Swaddled in colourful hijabs the women exchange puzzled looks and suppress embarrassed giggles. “You’re sure it’s halal?” asks one, peering at a collection of birth control pills, condoms and IUDs. Such everyday forms of contraception are little known and rarely seen in Kenya’s arid and …