Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Tunisia’s minister for women said Friday more needs to be done to promote female civil servants to top jobs after a study showed that few reach the most senior positions. Just 37 percent of Tunisia’s 630,000 civil servants are women, said Khaoula Labidi, who coordinated …
Read More »GLOBAL COMMENT: How women shape coups
According to new research, female leaders may be more likely to provoke military coups COMMENT | RAJ PERSAUD & PETER BRUGGEN | Recently, Zimbabwe’s generals took President Robert Mugabe into custody in an effective coup (though they insist on not calling it that). Days later, the country’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National …
Read More »Egypt court sentences lawyer to jail over rape remarks
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced a lawyer who said woman wearing ripped jeans should be raped to three years in prison, a judicial source said. The sentence against Nabih al-Wahsh was passed in absentia as the lawyer, previously released on bail, did not attend …
Read More »Men at higher risk of dying of AIDS than women: UNAIDS
Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Men are less likely to test for HIV or access antiretroviral therapy and, therefore, are more likely to die of AIDS-related illnesses than women, UNAIDS said on Friday. Around the world, fewer than half of HIV-positive men are getting treatment, compared to 60 percent of …
Read More »French NGO helps African mums shake off AIDS stigma
Paris, France | AFP | To young African migrant women seeking help at a centre outside Paris, AIDS is much more than a disease. It is social death. The women, some of whom were infected after being raped on the perilous journey across land and sea to Europe, complain …
Read More »Meghan Markle helped raise global attention to gender equality: UN
United Nations, United States | AFP | Meghan Markle has helped the world focus attention on gender equality, the UN women’s agency said Monday, voicing hope that Prince Harry’s fiancée will continue to use her voice for women. The 36-year-old actress became an advocate for women’s political participation and leadership …
Read More »Over 180 women claim sex assault at US massage chain: report
Washington, United States | AFP | More than 180 women have reported being sexually assaulted when they were customers of Massage Envy, the largest chain of massage spas in the United States, according to a BuzzFeed News investigation. The report published over the weekend comes amid a wave of sexual assault …
Read More »Liverpool star Salah backs Egypt women’s rights campaign
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has thrown his support behind a UN-sponsored campaign to end violence against women in his homeland Egypt where sexual harassment is rampant. Hundreds of thousands of people viewed an animated video teaching men to respect women and their rights after national team …
Read More »Sixty percent of US women ‘sexually harassed’: poll
New York, United States | AFP | Sixty percent of US women voters say they have experienced sexual harassment and more than two-thirds of them said it happened at work, a nationwide poll revealed Tuesday. The findings come as the United States grapples with sexual assault and harassment scandals that have …
Read More »Trump policy harming Kenya, Uganda health services
Expanded Trump ‘Mexico City’ policy causing cuts in HIV, Reproductive Care in East Africa Washington, US | THE INDEPENDENT | Early effects of United States restrictions to global health aid will include cuts to essential health services in Kenya and Uganda, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned. Human Rights Watch has …
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