Our selection of this week's stories on women's rights from TrustLaw and other media
LONDON (TrustLaw) – Here is our selection of this week’s stories on women's rights from TrustLaw and other media.
SPECIAL REPORT: TRUSTLAW POLL OF BEST AND WORST G20 COUNTRIES FOR WOMEN
Full coverage: G20women.trust.org
AFRICA
Women want political equality law before Sierra Leone elections
TrustLaw, Senegal
Women’s groups in Sierra Leone are hoping that at least 30 percent of seats in the West African nation’s parliament will be held by women after general elections due in November.
Uganda: cervical cancer - silent killer
allAfrica.com
Cervical cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting Ugandan women, according to the World Health Organization, which reports that every year, 3,577 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 2,464 die from the disease.
AMERICAS
Why women can't still have it all!
The Atlantic, U.S.
A controversial article by a former top U.S. State Department official explains why she traded in her high-powered job to return to academia - and her family. "It's time to stop fooling ourselves…the women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are superhuman, rich, or self-employed. If we truly believe in equal opportunity for all women, here’s what has to change," she writes.
Afghan rape case turns focus on local police
The New York Times, U.S.
The policeman spoke with calm and assurance as he insisted that he could not have raped the teenage daughter of a local shepherd, because a mullah had married them just before intercourse, the newspaper reports.
ASIA
Abandoned, aborted, or left for dead: These are the vanishing girls of Pakistan
According to an estimate by the CIA World Factbook, Pakistan currently has 6 percent more males than females. But Stephan Klasen, chair of development economics at Germany's University of Goettingen, suspects the problem is actually much worse.
Women facing harsh new pressures in North Korea
International Herald Tribune, U.S.
According to a new paper by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland for the Peterson Institute for International Economics, disproportionate numbers of women are being laid off from jobs at North Korea’s state-owned enterprises because “working for the state is considered more politically advanced ‘man’s' work”.
China's one-child policy faces fresh criticism
Inter Press Service
Since implementing the one-child policy in the late 1970s, China claims to have prevented over 400 million births. Abortions have become a commonplace way to prevent couples from having more children. In 1983, 14.37 million women had abortions, according to the Ministry of Health.
EUROPE
Q+A: UK MPs investigate child marriage
TrustLaw, UK
An unknown number of girls in Britain are married before the age of 18 each year, with many sent to their family’s country of origin to get married over the summer break, according to the chair of a parliamentary inquiry on child marriage.
UK should stop detaining trafficked women - campaign group
TrustLaw, UK
Orphaned at 10, Grace was begging for food and living on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, until she met a woman who promised her a job and a better life in England. The woman was true to her word and brought Grace to Britain - to work as a prostitute. For three months, she was beaten, forced to have sex without condoms and barred from going outside before escaping her traffickers.
MIDDLE EAST
Foreign Policy magazine, U.S.
Norah al-Faiz is supposed to be a symbol of progress in Saudi Arabia. She was appointed deputy minister of education by King Abdullah in February 2009, making her the kingdom's highest-ranking female official. At the time, many observers hailed the move as a sign of reform. But controversy has dogged Faiz since the beginning of her tenure.
Arab women and men see eye to eye on religion's role in law
Gallup World, U.S.
Many observers of the Arab uprisings are growing concerned about women's rights as Islamist parties that generally favour a more assertive role for religion in public life gain influence across North Africa. But Gallup surveys in five Arab countries found Arab women are as likely as Arab men in their countries to favour sharia as a source of legislation.
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