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
INTERVIEW: Ghanaian midwife honoured for birthing stool design
TrustLaw, United States
In Ghana, taxi drivers consider it a bad omen if a woman delivers a baby in their car. As a result, women in labour often find it difficult to get to hospital to give birth. At the same time, Ghanaian women, particularly those in rural areas, often avoid hospital deliveries because they prefer kneeling or squatting to give birth rather than lying on their backs as required by many health facilities. Magdalene Juliet Acquah, prinicipal midwifery officer at the Metropolitan Hospital in Ghana’s Cape Coast, knew both situations posed problems with potentially tragic outcomes.
Kenyan girls ask court to force police to prosecute rape cases
TrustLaw, Kenya
Hundreds of Kenyan girls, including some as young as three years old, filed a petition in the High Court on Thursday to try to force the police to investigate and prosecute rape cases they say have been ignored.
Botswana court rules women are no longer second-class citizens
IRIN news, South Africa
A landmark ruling on 12 October by Gaborone’s High Court found that gender discrimination based on Botswana’s customary law is unconstitutional.
ASIA
Violence against women persists in Bangladesh
Inter Press Service, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, often cited as a model of progress in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), appears to be sliding backwards when it comes to dealing with violence against women (VAW). Police statistics and assessments by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to establish women’s rights show a rising trend in VAW.
Women in Nepal speak out about sexual harassment on buses
Global Press Institute, Nepal
Harassment on buses is a real problem in Nepal. It gets worst during peak hours, when the lack of space on packed buses makes it easier for perpetrators to touch women inappropriately.
AMERICAS
Global Post, Peru
The country is set to become one of the few Latin American countries to legalize abortion. So why aren't women's rights advocates celebrating?
EUROPE
European Commission official fights for women in the boardroom
The New York Times, United States
Viviane Reading - a former journalist, a longtime politician and a mother - is trying to institute quotas for women on the supervisory boards of Europe’s companies.
GLOBAL
Six ways to stop honour-based violence
TrustLaw, UK
Nearly 3,000 cases of honour violence were reported to the police in Britain in 2010, according to the UK-based Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation, though experts believe the number is much higher because many women are too frightened to report abuse.
Swift action needed in fight against child marriage – UNFPA report
TrustLaw, UK
Despite gains in some countries, more than 14 million girls under age 18 will be married each year over the next 10 years, and the number is expected to rise to more than 15 million girls a year between 2021 and 2030, according to a new report from the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) released on Thursday.
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