Violence against women

Senator Sani Ahmed, commonly known as Yerima, was on Tuesday quizzed by the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) over his marriage to an Egyptian girl aged 13. The lawful age of marriage in both Nigeria and Egypt is 18. He faces a fine of N500,000 or five years in jail if convicted.

Le centre Nejma pour les femmes victimes de violences de l’Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc ADFM à publié le premier numéro de son bulletin électronique "Nejma News". Accèder au bulletin

On 17 April a Facebook group was created in response to the case of Nigerian Senator Yerima who married a 13-year old Egyptian girl: "Shameful cases of rape of children and babies are on the increase....added to this is the equally shameful practice of Child marriages in some parts of our country...we have to speak against this and protect our children....welcome to this group, let us hope that this small effort will make a big difference in the lives of our children..."

A dual Indian and Canadian national who complained to the Canadian government that her father was keeping her in Riyadh against her will has finally left the Kingdom. According to the Canadian Embassy, Nazia Quazi, 24, left the Kingdom on Monday. “Quazi, who was given all possible assistance by the Canadian mission, has flown out of Saudi Arabia,” said Sidney Fisher, spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh. 

The global aid agency Oxfam Great Britain, along with Lebanese women’s rights organization, KAFA, today released a groundbreaking publication that will play a pivotal role in bringing men across the Arab world into the fight to end violence against women.  

Hier, lundi 10 mai 2010 a eu lieu à 18 heures, en signe de soutien aux femmes de Hassi Messaoud, le rassemblement devant l'ambassade d'Algérie organisé par le Collectif de solidarité qui s'est créé le 20 avril 2010 pour dénoncer le lynchage des femmes, l'impunité des assassins et la complicité du pouvoir algérien. 

Work outside the home in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province has become almost impossible for women due to constant threats and intimidation by insurgents. Convinced she will be killed if she continues to defy the threats, 39-year-old Ranna Tareen, director of Kandahar’s women’s affairs department and a well-known women’s rights activist, has decided to leave Kandahar and run for parliament in Kabul.

In 1994, a frightened 17 year old girl boarded a plane to flee an impending forced marriage to a much older man with three other wives. In a small room waiting for the groom, in Togo, West Africa, Fauziya Kassindja was also warned that a woman would soon arrive to excise her clitoris and other parts of her genitalia in preparation for her impending nuptials. From time immemorial, women in her community needed to be "clean" for their husbands and to gain acceptance into society. In honor of her father who had protected her until his sudden death, Fauziya refused that day to undergo the harmful practice of female genital mutilation, or FGM, and escaped.

Last week, three Pakistani sisters, age 20, 16, and 14, had their lives irrevocably changed. As they walked from Kalat city to Pandarani village in the Baluchistan province, two motorcyclists threw acid on them, causing severe burns over their faces and bodies. Two weeks earlier, two sisters in the same province suffered the same attack—and they are only 11 and 13 years old. Their crimes? Not wearing hijabs and traveling unaccompanied by men. The Baloch Ghaeratmand Group, which was until recently unknown in the province, circulated a pamphlet in April that warned, “Acid will be thrown on the faces of women and girls who step out of their houses without covering their faces… People who fail to comply with these orders will themselves be responsible for the consequences.” 

Syndicate content