Pope says women’s rights fight is “continuous struggle”, condemns mutilation
Updated: 10:30am (AEST)Aboard the papal planeReuters Pope Francis said on Sunday the fight for women’s rights was a “continuous struggle”, and condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped. Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a four-day trip to predominantly Muslim Bahrain, he […]
UN rights body seeks reversal of Taliban policies making Afghan women “invisible”
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Friday condemning rights violations against women and girls in Afghanistan, urging the ruling Taliban to end restrictive practices described as making them “invisible” in society. The Taliban seized power for a second time in Afghanistan last August as international forces backing a pro-Western […]
US Supreme Court leak: Some Catholic abortion foes are uneasy about overturning Roe
DAVID CRARY, of Associated Press, reports on Catholic responses to the leaked US Supreme Court draft opening which suggests a majority of the nine justices are poised to reverse the 1973 Roe v Wade decision…
Dede Robertson, wife of US religious broadcaster, dies at 94
Norfolk, Virginia, USAP Dede Robertson, the wife of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and a founding board member of the Christian Broadcasting Network, died Tuesday at her home in Virginia Beach, the network said in a statement. Robertson was 94. The statement did not provide her cause of death. Former Republican presidential hopeful Pat Robertson gives […]
US urges Saudis to review cases of “prisoners of conscience”
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The United States urged ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to review cases of “prisoners of conscience” and lift travel bans and other restrictions imposed on women’s rights activists previously released from jail. The rare US intervention on the matter came with US-Saudi ties strained over a range of issues including the Yemen war, […]
“The Taliban are here!”: Afghan women fear return to “dark days” amid Taliban sweep
ZEINA KARAM and AHMAD SEIR, of Associated Press, report on the situation facing women in Afghanistan as the Taliban advance…
Taliban would roll back Afghan women’s rights – US intelligence report
Washington DC, US Reuters The Taliban “would roll back much” of the progress made in Afghan women’s rights if the Islamist extremists regain national power, according to an assessment released on Tuesday by top US intelligence analysts. The US National Intelligence Council report likely will reinforce fears that the Taliban will resume the harsh treatment […]
Egyptian women oppose “repressive” bill to strip them of rights and freedoms
Cairo, EgyptThomson Reuters Foundation Women’s rights could be rolled back 200 years in Egypt under a proposed law that would stop them signing their own marriage certificates, registering their child’s birth or travelling abroad without a man’s consent, rights activists say. The personal status bill, which was approved by the cabinet in January, would also […]
Changing behaviour: Men enlisted to fight ‘tradition’ of gender violence in Cambodia
MATT BLOMBERG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on efforts to tackle gender-based violence in Cambodia…
UN chief urges equality fight, US slams China for “murder” of baby girls
New York City, USReuters UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday of a recent pushback against gender equality and women’s rights and urged people to fight back as the United States slammed China and the world body for “the murder of millions of baby girls.” World leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor […]