Women’s Rights

By Manipadma Jena for IPS NEW DELHI, Apr 21 2014 (IPS) – “Men just do not want to give up their seats, it’s as simple as that,” says 67-year-old candidate in the Indian election Subhhasini Ali, voicing a gloomy view…

Bayan Alzahran has opened the first female lawyer’s office in Saudi Arabia, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Thursday, two months after she and three other women were granted licenses to practice the profession in the kingdom. “Our activity is…

By Emma Bonino for IPS In this column, Emma Bonino, the Italian minister of foreign affairs, writes about progress made in strengthening women’s rights, and the challenges that still lie ahead. ROME, Dec 23 2013 (Columnist Service) – The past three years have…

“I welcome the chorus of voices calling for an end to the violence that affects an estimated one in three women in her lifetime. I applaud leaders who are helping to enact and enforce laws and change mindsets. And I…

La Paz, Nov 26 (Prensa Latina) More than a hundred delegates from 11 countries will participate in the XIV Ibero-American Meeting of Female Judges, which will be inaugurated today in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba. The objective of the meeting,…

Human rights, including women’s rights, must be integral to any peace deal with the Taliban said Amnesty International today as the USA announced that it was to start direct peace talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban armed group. The call comes as…

Opportunity to reform Catholic doctrine on human rights issues By Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation Pope Benedict XVI was notorious for his opposition to equality, especially for women and LGBT people. Will his successor be more sympathetic…

By India Stoughton In late 2011 four Arab women, inspired by the success of the Arab Spring demonstrations but horrified by the backlash against the women who had protested side-by-side with men in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Syria, decided to…

We reproduce here an article by Mel Frykberg for IPS. Photograph: Tahrir Square, the cradle of Egypt’s revoltution, has become also a place for harassment of women. Credit: Khaled Moussa al-Omrani/IPS. CAIRO, Nov 1 2012 (IPS) – Egyptian bullies who…