News

15/10/2013

New Tools And Approaches To End Violence Against Women and Children

Social Good Summit, New York – A thought-provoking discussion on violence against women and children took place this afternoon at the Social Good Summit. Bringing together Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF, former child soldier and activist Ishmael Beah , journalist and co-founder of Man Up Jimmie Briggs, and Rebecca Chiao, the co-founder and Director, HarassMap, the dialogue focused on how to make the invisible visible.

14/10/2013

Saudi Arabia: Women Activists' Sentences Confirmed

An appeal court in Dammam has confirmed the sentences of two women’s rights activists convicted in an unfair trial for attempting to help an abused woman. Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Oyouni were sentenced to 10 months in prison followed by a two-year travel ban.

14/10/2013

Iran: Child Brides in Iran

To mark the United Nations 'International Day of the Girl Child', Justice for Iran (JFI), an NGO based in London, UK, has released a report titled "Stolen Lives, Empty Classrooms: Child Brides in Iran". The full report may be read here (http://justiceforiran.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/JFI-Girl-Marriage-in-Iran-EN.pdf).

4/10/2013

Special report: The punishment was death by stoning.The crime? Having a mobile phone

Two months ago, a young mother of two was stoned to death by her relatives on the order of a tribal court in Pakistan. Her crime: possession of a mobile phone.

1/10/2013

Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) Nominates Iranian Women’s Group, the Mothers of Khavaran for the United Nations Human Rights Prize

The month of September marks one of the darkest periods in recent history when this time 25 years ago mass political executions were carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). On the 25th anniversary of this historical tragedy, WLUML has co-nominated the Mothers of Khavaran for the 2013 United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. This grassroots group with its base in Iran is largely made up of women whose children, mostly political and ideological activists, were tortured and secretly executed on mass by IRI officials.

30/9/2013

Sudanese women: you can beat us but you cannot break us

Amira Osman is awaiting trial for refusing to cover her hair. She is one of thousands of Sudanese women who are being arrested under Sudan's criminal code, sentenced, and publicly lashed.

"I am a Muslim woman but I will not cover my head, a piece of cloth should not determine my spirituality" - Amira Osman. While the anger is accumulating in Sudan and peaceful demonstrators are being injured and killed by the Sudanese regime forces, this comes as a natural result of years of injustices. Sudan has been exposed to the brutality of the dogmatic ideology of political Islam, and the people have been stripped of their dignity. The story here is just a tip of the iceberg. Sudanese women are the mirror of the cruelty and disparity imposed by the ruling regime.

27/9/2013

Sudan:More than 150 dead and use of heavy weapons against civilians

The death toll of Sudanese protesters dramatically increased after the night protests and the resume of the internet services at 2:00PM. The Sudanese Doctors Union, an independent union, announced to the media that there is confirmed 110 deaths in the Khartoum hospitals alone from Wednesday, 25 September, 2013 protests. The increase in the death toll also came in result of the lack of enough medical care for injured peoples, putting in mind that Sudan has no ambulance and emergency health care system that can transfer the injured victims with the international medical protocols that protect the patients’ lives. Moreover, there is serious fear among protesters from going to hospitals, in fear from being arrested. According to witnesses the numbers of injured peoples is beyond the hospitals capacities, and there is many injured peoples couldn’t have any medical care for hours or even left public hospitals to seek private medical care, which is not available for most of the poor protesters.

26/9/2013

China: setting the new standard for women in top jobs?

24/9/2013

Iran: Stop further denials of rape of virgin girls prior to execution

After years of silence, official organs of the Islamic Republic, including an organisation representing the Supreme Leader in Iranian Universities, have refuted claims of rape prior to execution. This is the first time that official state organs have declared their position with regards to this matter.

23/9/2013

Afghanistan: Dismantling Human Rights in Afghanistan: The AIHRC facing a possible downgrading of status

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) “has been until now”, said Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), “a critical, credible institution.” That ‘until now’ is significant: Pillay was visiting Afghanistan partly to discuss the risk to the Commission of losing its ‘A status’ when it comes up for international accreditation in November. The problem is the flawed way new commissioners were appointed earlier this year. Pillay said she had received no assurances from President Karzai that he might revisit those appointments. AAN’s Sari Kouvo and Kate Clark report.