Violence against women

Somalia: Stoning to death of a 13-year old girl

13-year-old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was killed on Monday, 27 October 2008, by a group of 50 men who stoned her to death in a stadium in the southern port of Kismayu, Somalia in front of around 1,000 spectators. She was accused of adultery in breach of Islamic law but, her father and other sources told Amnesty International that she had in fact been raped by three men, and had attempted to report this rape to the al-Shabab militia who control Kismayo, and it was this act that resulted in her being accused of adultery and detained. None of men she accused of rape were arrested.

UPDATE: Somalia: Girl stoned was a child of 13

Contrary to earlier news reports, the girl stoned to death in Somalia this week was 13, not 23, Amnesty International revealed.

Pakistan: Police raid child wedding

"Police raided a wedding between a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl in Pakistan's largest city, arresting the Muslim cleric officiating at the ceremony and the children's parents, a senior officer said Friday."

Somalia: Woman stoned to death for adultery

Somali Islamists have stoned to death a woman accused of adultery, witnesses said, the first such public killing by the militants for about two years.

Niger: Woman wins slavery case against Niger

"A West African regional court of justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday for failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery in a case anti-slavery campaigners hope will set a precedent."

UN: Violence against women still endemic, says UN expert

""In spite of considerable achievements, violence against women persists in every country as a pervasive and universal violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality." --Yakin Erturk.

Egypt: 60 percent of women harassed on daily basis in Cairo

"Being an Egyptian woman is to accept sexual harassment as daily routine, according to a recent report from the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR). The study outlines, 60% of Egyptian women and 98% of foreign women are harassed on a daily basis."

Uganda: "Forced marriage within the Lord’s Resistance Army, Uganda"

This paper focuses on the experiences of those women and girls forcibly married within the Lords Resistence Army (LRA) in Uganda, and their attempts to reintegrate in civilian life after captivity.

Afghanistan: "Women who took on the Taliban – and lost"

Three years ago, Kim Sengupta interviewed five women who wanted to build a new Afghanistan. Today, three are dead and a fourth has fled.

Mali: Violence against women on rise

At least 300 women are victims of sexual violence every year in Bamako, according to local police records, but the actual figure is much higher said the president of the Bamako-based non-profit, Women in Law and Development in Africa.