Our weekly selection of 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.
AFRICA
Nigeria: rape cases in the east should raise concerns beyond the region
allAfrica.com
Women in their 70s and 80s have become the principal targets of rape in the eastern region of Nigeria, apparently for ritual purposes. According to a non-governmental organisation, 30 of such incidents were reported in one month.
Nigeria: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Forbes list of world's most powerful women
allAfrica.com
Forbes has released its list of "The World's Most Powerful Women" with Nigeria's finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, taking the 81st position in the politics category as one of only three Africans on the list.
AMERICAS
Senate candidate provokes ire with ‘legitimate rape’ comment
The New York Times, United States
In an effort to explain his stance on abortion, Todd Akin, the Republican Senate nominee from Missouri, provoked ire across the political spectrum by saying that in instances of what he called “legitimate rape”, women’s bodies somehow blocked an unwanted pregnancy. Asked in a TV interview about his views on abortion, Akin, a six-term member of Congress, said his opposition to the practice was nearly absolute, even in instances of rape.
MIDDLE EAST
Anger as Iran bans women from universities
The Telegraph, UK
Female students in Iran have been barred from more than 70 university degree courses in an officially-approved act of sex-discrimination which critics say is aimed at defeating the fight for equal women's rights.
EUROPE
Pension plans 'unfair to women’
The Telegraph, UK
Plans to get an extra 8 million people in Britain saving for retirement from this autumn risk increasing the pensions savings gap between men and women because the new rules exclude many lower paid and part-time workers, a consultancy has warned.
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