Source: Our Africa
Status of women
Women have fought to achieve equal rights in many parts of Africa. But as in other regions of the globe, a woman’s status varies by country and region.
Several organizations working in Africa have found the most effective way to stop the practice of female genital cutting is to avoid assigning blame and help communities tackle the practice from within.
Vaginal microbicides are meant to give women autonomy over how they protect themselves against HIV. But a recent study set in Zambia shows that social ideas of masculinity mean men get to dictate how and when women use microbicides.
Uganda has made progress on HIV/AIDS, but activists say discrimination is still rampant. Now, two women who say they were fired after forced testing revealed them to be HIV positive are fighting back.
With a higher proportion of women in Parliament than any other country, Rwanda seems to be a model of equal representation and empowerment. But politicians and rights campaigners say the nation’s women still struggle to be heard.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
FGM is still taking place because it is a big source of income for the cutters. We want to see more ngaribas dropping their knives.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
A national survey in Morocco found that nearly two-thirds of women had experienced physical, psychological, sexual or economic abuse.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thousands of elderly Tanzanian women have been strangled, knived to death and burned or buried alive over the last two decades after being denounced as witches.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Fati Ibrahim was one of scores of women gathered outside a tent in a remote community of Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, struggling for a chance to get in and receive help. Three years ago her husband was murdered, her first son went missing, and she was forced to flee her hometown of Gwoza in northeast Nigeria when Boko Haram Islamist militants attacked.
Source: AllAfrica
Maseru — Women's representation in Lesotho's parliament dropped by two-percentage points from 25% to 23% after the June 2017 National Assembly Elections.
Source: Vangaurd
Barely three months to the Anambra State Governorship Election, billed for November 18, 2017, the political terrain has once again been electrified.
Source: AllAfrica
Most women nominated by political parties to the Senate, National Assembly and Ward Representative in 2013, successfully used their positions as a stepping stone to elective politics, in the just concluded General Election.
Discrimination and misunderstanding of the law are causing tensions between Malawi’s police and sex workers, who often accuse officers of abusing them. A local NGO is stepping in to help sex workers uphold their rights and teach police to look past the stigma.
South Africa is home to the biggest HIV epidemic in the world. It also has one of the world’s highest rates of rape. With the country’s legal system slow to recognize the issue of violence against women, local NGOs are working to break the link.
The proportion of women in U.N. peacekeeping operations has been slow to rise. But there might be a way to speed things up: Give financial incentives to troop-contributing countries, say Charles Kenny and Tanvi Jaluka of the Center for Global Development.
When governments in the global north provide aid to the global south, they rarely invest directly in the organizations that are already making a difference on the ground. Jessica Neuwirth of Donor Direct Action says that needs to change.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
A rising number of African women are heading to the Middle East for domestic work, driven abroad by the lack of jobs at home.
Source: unfpa.org
Three times, Abebech Kabla has given birth alone in the woods. Each time, she thought she might die. The first time, she was only 13 years old, a year into her marriage. “Even after giving birth, I didn't go back to my house for seven days until I became clean from blood,” she said.
Since entering politics, Kenyan lawmaker Sarah Korere has been insulted, shot at, slapped by a colleague and cursed by tribal elders - but she's still trying to take a man's parliamentary seat in one of Kenya's most violent regions. Korere's experiences are symptomatic of a wider hate campaign against female candidates in Kenyan politics, women representatives say, which helps give the east African nation the lowest representation of women in politics in its region.
The law on violence against women, including domestic violence, approved by the Tunisian parliament on July 26, 2017, is a landmark step for women’s rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Tunisian authorities should ensure that there is adequate funding and political will to put the law fully into effect and to eliminate discrimination against women.