Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Two Kenyan rugby sevens players, Frank Wanyama and Alex Olaba, appeared in a Nairobi court on Monday charged with the February gang rape of a female singer. Wanyama, 23, who captained Kenya’s second sevens team to win the Victoria Sevens tournament in Zimbabwe in March, and …
Read More »New York Times, New Yorker win Pulitzer for #MeToo watershed
New York, United States | AFP | The New York Times and The New Yorker won the Pulitzer Prize for public service on Monday for explosive reporting that brought down Harvey Weinstein and spawned a cultural watershed on the issue of sexual harassment. The prestigious prize was awarded to the …
Read More »Putin spokesman calls Weinstein accusers ‘prostitutes’
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the actresses who have claimed sexual abuse by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein “prostitutes” and poured scorn on journalists who have accused a Russian lawmaker of sexual harassment. Peskov, speaking to students in Moscow, said that the …
Read More »S.Africa police accused of abuse during child assault probe
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African police were on Wednesday probing one of their own officers who was accused of molesting young girls while investigating sexual assault of scores of primary school pupils. The forensic investigator allegedly molested two girls aged seven and eight on Monday when he …
Read More »S. Korea’s Moon supports #MeToo, urges ‘stern punishment’ for abusers
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on Monday threw his support behind the #MeToo campaign spreading across the country, urging measures to combat the widespread abuse of women and punish offenders. The remarks came as a growing number of South Korean women accused prominent figures …
Read More »Somalia’s first forensic lab targets rape impunity
Garowe, Somalia | AFP | The new freezers at Somalia’s only forensic laboratory can store thousands of DNA samples, although for now there are just five. The big hope is that they could be the start of a revolution in how the troubled Horn of Africa country tackles its widespread …
Read More »18 new sexual abuse claims against UN peacekeepers in DRC
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The United Nations said Wednesday it had registered 18 alleged cases of sexual abuse and exploitation by its peacekeepers and civilian personnel in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year. Fourteen of the allegations involve paternity cases or complainants seeking “care for children …
Read More »Sex abuse trauma centres set up for Olympic athletes
Pyeongchang, South Korea | AFP | As American sport reels from a horrifying sexual abuse scandal, athletes competing in this month’s Pyeongchang Olympics will have access to trauma units for the first time in Games history. The Winter Olympics open in South Korea on Friday after long-time USA Gymnastics team doctor …
Read More »Case dismissed against French troops accused of child rape in C.Africa
Paris, France | AFP | French investigating magistrates have closed a probe into allegations that French soldiers raped children in the Central African Republic while on a peacekeeping mission, judicial sources said Monday. Members of Operation Sangaris, deployed to keep warring militias apart, had been accused of abusing children at …
Read More »Top Hollywood women launch anti-harassment initiative
Washington, United States | AFP | More than 300 top women in Hollywood — from Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence to Emma Thompson and Cate Blanchett — unveiled an initiative Monday to tackle pervasive sexual harassment in workplaces, calling special attention to their “sisters” in less than glamorous blue-collar jobs. …
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