sexual violence against women

Tunisia Acts on Violence Against Women, With Help From UN Women

August 6, 2017

• Prodded by Tunisian advocacy organizations and assisted by international legal experts, the Tunisian parliament passed a law in late July not only to curb violence against women but also to introduce measures to protect them and provide help to those who have suffered abuse. It is the first such law passed by Tunisian …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Poverty, Take a Look, US Foreign Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Building a Case for Prosecuting the Genocide of Yazidi Women

August 1, 2017

by Barbara Crossette

As the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq crumbles, assessments begin to emerge of the damage left in its wake by its cultural nihilism and harsh sectarian absolutism designed to remake an Arab society. The human costs have been high in Iraq — in deaths, maiming, displacement and the enslavement of girls and women. …

Gender-Based Violence, Middle East, Responsibility to Protect, Security Council, Terrorism, Women

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A New Campaign, #EveryHourMatters, Urges Instant Post-Rape Care

March 28, 2016

by Lori Silberman Brauner

Maureen Phiri, a young girl from a poor family in Malawi, was only 11 years old when she was raped by the man who had hired her to do housework for him and his wife. Not only did Maureen continue to experience sexual abuse from the man she worked for, he left her with another …

Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population, UN Agencies, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

In Kurdistan and Beyond, Honor Killings Remind Women They Are Worthless

May 6, 2014

by Johanna Higgs and Liga Rudzite

KURDISTAN, Iraq — For many women in Kurdistan, life is anything but honorable. We have come to this autonomous region in northern Iraq as social anthropologists to research violence against women — particularly, honor killings — by interviewing local experts, including United Nations personnel. We were told by a Kurdish man here that women …

Gender-Based Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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UN WOMEN'S CONFERENCE 2014

A Kenyan Says US Policy Could Advance Women’s Rights Everywhere

March 27, 2014

by Barbara Crossette

Can a bill languishing in the United States Congress make a difference to half the people of a country more than 7,500 miles away? Yes, said Wangechi Wachira-Moegi, the executive director of an organization in Nairobi, Kenya, that works to bring justice to women in the courts and open opportunities for them in political …

Gender-Based Violence, Women

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Congolese Rebel Leader Faces Broad Charges of Sex Crimes

February 13, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

The first step to possibly try Bosco Ntaganda, a Congolese warlord born in Rwanda, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, began recently at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Ntaganda, who turned himself in to the court last year by going to the United States Embassy in Rwanda, allegedly committed the crimes …

Africa, Child Soldiers, Gender-Based Violence, ICC, International Justice, Women

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A Rape Accusation in Northern Mali and the UN’s Awkward Response

January 28, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

Now that Gao, a remote but critical outpost in northern Mali, has become a hub of military personnel — Mali Army, French troops and UN peacekeepers — to fend off terrorist incursions, it is also a simmering spot for sexual assaults and intimidation of women who live there. These acts are committed in the …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights, Women

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Unraveling Sexual Violence in Costa Rica and Throughout Latin America

January 8, 2014

by Ryan Villarreal

For the past three decades, Costa Rica has carried out progressive steps to reduce violence against women, a major inhibitor of human and economic development in the country and throughout Latin America. While the issue has garnered more attention among the general public in recent years, it remains intertwined in the fabric of Latin …

Gender-Based Violence, Latin America, UN Agencies, Women

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In Cambodia, Silent Reactions to Sexual Violence May Be the Norm

December 4, 2013

by Clothilde Le Coz

PHNOM PENH — Kunthear Laut, a 33-year-old Cambodian woman, is a child of marital rape and a victim of two rapes as well as three attempts and at least five years of incest from her uncle. “A woman has to obey a man; otherwise he uses violence,” she said in an interview with PassBlue …

Asia, Gender-Based Violence, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

War Crimes Against Women and Girls Must Be Prosecuted

November 4, 2013

by Navi Pillay

There is now overwhelming evidence that conflicts exacerbate pre-existing gender discrimination and put women and girls at heightened risk of sexual, physical and psychological violence. One appalling example of this evidence is the report recently to the Human Rights Council by the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which highlights the threat and …

Gender-Based Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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Signs of Transformation From the ‘Pink Ghetto of Gender’

October 31, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

One question about women’s rights that may never go away is how to ensure that women are represented fairly in large organizations, like the United Nations. For now, work on “gender mainstreaming” may suffice by concentrating on small steps as opposed to devising wholesale solutions. As one expert has described the process, it is …

Gender-Based Violence, International Justice, Peace and Security, Women

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For Many Latin American Women, Abuse Never Lets Up

August 19, 2013

by Barbara Crossette

Latin American and Caribbean nations have pulled ahead of most other developing regions on numerous measures of economic growth and human progress in recent years. The region has one of the world’s lowest poverty levels; hunger has been reduced to under 5 percent of the regional population; primary school enrollment rivals that of rich …

Health and Population, Human Rights, Latin America, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

Congo Court Reparations Elude Sexual Violence Victims

July 15, 2013

by Randi Aho, Kathryn Bowman and Delaney Simon

At the United Nations Security Council’s ministerial meeting on securing peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the rest of the Great Lakes region on July 25, to be presided over by United States Secretary of State John Kerry, we will likely be reminded that Congo, often referred to as the “rape …

Gender-Based Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Congolese Women Grow More Demanding of Local Governments

June 7, 2013

by Mavic Cabrera-Balleza

A global women’s organization with wide experience in peace-building recently brought together scores of prominent women from six African nations to take well-defined steps for dealing with the root causes of the persistent sexual violence occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Declaring that peace in eastern Congo could bring peace to the entire Great Lakes area …

Gender-Based Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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The Recipe for a Better World? Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

March 7, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

Thousands of women worldwide flock to the Commission on the Status of Women’s conference at the United Nations every March, and this year is no exception, for good reason: the theme is eliminating and preventing all violence against women and girls. Violence is a phenomenon that all females can relate to day after day, …