Category Archives: Women’s rights and gender equality

UN to investigate use of ‘parental alienation’ tactic in custody cases

Posted on by

Fears an increase in allegations, particularly against mothers, of deliberately alienating a child against the other parent in domestic abuse cases may put victims at further risk

The UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls is to investigate how family courts around the world approach “parental alienation” (PA) and how this may lead to the double victimisation of those who have suffered domestic abuse.

There is no single agreed definition of parental alienation but a generally accepted description is a child’s rejection of one parent as a result of psychological manipulation by their preferred parent.

Continue reading...

Argentinian court clears woman of killing her baby after obstetric emergency

Posted on by

Accused had a gynaecological condition and was unaware she was pregnant, court told, as verdict hailed a victory by women’s rights activists

A woman in Argentina accused of killing her baby after suffering an obstetric emergency has had her case dismissed.

A court in Buenos Aires, cleared La China*, 43, after the prosecution withdrew its charge of aggravated homicide.

Continue reading...

‘We’re losing hope’: Honduras anger as first female president fails to fulfil women’s rights pledge

Posted on by

Xiomara Castro unable to make good on promises in country with highly restrictive abortion and contraception laws

At her inauguration earlier this year, Xiomara Castro, the first female president of Honduras, ended her speech with a message to women.

“Honduran women, I will not fail you, I will defend your rights, all your rights, count on me,” said Castro, whose resounding election victory ended a dozen years of conservative rule and generated high hopes for change in a country with one of the highest rates of femicide and most restrictive laws against reproductive rights in Latin America.

Continue reading...

Iran arrests top actors who removed headcarves, in wider crackdown on celebrities

Posted on by

Prominent Iranians in film and sport have been condemned for expressing solidarity with the protest movement

Iran has arrested two prominent actors who expressed solidarity with the country’s protest movement and removed their headscarves in public, according to state media.

Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were both detained after being summoned by prosecutors looking into their “provocative” social media posts, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said.

Continue reading...

‘It’s not against Islam’: Pakistani trans actor tells of deep sadness over film ban

Posted on by

Exclusive: Alina Khan, star of award-winning Joyland, speaks out as the movie’s licence for domestic release is revoked, putting its Oscar contention in doubt

The transgender star of an award-winning Pakistan film that depicts a love affair between a man and a trans women has said she is very sad at the government’s decision to ban the movie and hopes it will be reversed.

Alina Khan, who stars in Joyland, the first major Pakistani motion picture to feature a trans actor in a lead role, said: “I’ve been very sad. There’s nothing against Islam and I don’t understand how Islam can get endangered by mere films.”

Continue reading...

Fresh protests erupt in Iran’s universities and Kurdish region

Posted on by

Movement against country’s regime sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death keeps going in face of crackdown

New protests erupted in Iran on Sunday at universities and in the largely Kurdish northwest, keeping a seven-week anti-regime movement going even in the face of a fierce crackdown.

The protests, triggered in mid-September by the death of Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for allegedly breaching strict dress rules for women, have evolved into the biggest challenge for the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.

Continue reading...

Iranians defy crackdown with fresh protests, as president dismisses US vow to ‘free Iran’

Posted on by

Ebrahim Raisi declares streets ‘safe and sound’ while shopkeepers strike and student demonstrations sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death reach 50th day

Iranian students protested and shopkeepers went on strike despite a widening crackdown, according to reports on social media, as demonstrations that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death continued for a 50th day.

Saturday’s protests came as President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran’s cities were “safe and sound” after earlier dismissing a pledge from the US president, Joe Biden, to “free Iran”.

Continue reading...

Dozens arrested as Iranian security forces attack university campuses

Posted on by

Detained students could face death penalty, human rights groups report, with at least 277 people killed as protests enter eighth week

Iran’s security forces have launched a series of attacks on university students at campuses across the country with dozens of students being arrested, according to the Students’ Union of Iran.

According to student organisations and human rights groups, the attacks on universities intensified this week as young people gathered to mark 40 days since Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September. The death of the 22-year-old woman sparked eight weeks of nationwide protests against the regime. The highly symbolic 40th day traditionally marks the end of mourning.

Continue reading...

Mapping Iran’s unrest: how Mahsa Amini’s death led to nationwide protests

Posted on by

Interactive map shows spread of demonstrations over five weeks after woman’s death in custody

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death in custody on 16 September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin who had been arrested three days earlier for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women. This interactive map shows how protests spread between 16 September and 21 October, fuelled by public outrage over a crackdown that has led to the deaths of other young women and girls. Now in their seventh week, the protests show no sign of ending.

Methodology

Continue reading...

Young girls being sold in India to repay loans, says human rights body

Posted on by

Notice issued to Rajasthan state government demanding police inquiry into ‘abominable’ practice

Young girls in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan are being sold as “repayment” for loans their parents cannot afford, the national body that protects human rights has said.

The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the state government demanding a police inquiry and answers within a month to what it called an “abominable” practice.

Continue reading...

Iran protests reignite at funerals and commemorations for those killed

Posted on by

Protesters turn out in dozens of towns and appear to take control of largely Kurdish city of Mahabad

Protests against the Iranian government have suddenly regained momentum as funerals for those killed and a highly emotional commemoration of the movement have stretched security forces drawn into a further cycle of arrests and repression.

Dozens of towns were rocked by protests on Wednesday night as mainly young crowds used the cover of darkness to mark the 40th day since Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, died in police custody, sparking unprecedented unrest.

Continue reading...

Iran’s security forces reportedly open fire as thousands mourn Mahsa Amini

Posted on by

Teargas also used against protesters gathered in home town of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, says rights group

Iranian security forces have clashed with protesters who had gathered in their thousands in Mahsa Amini’s home town to mark 40 days since her death, with reports that shots were fired.

“Security forces have shot teargas and opened fire on people in Zindan Square, Saqqez city,” Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions, tweeted without specifying whether there were any dead or wounded. It said more than 50 civilians were injured by direct fire in cities across the region.

Continue reading...

Canada to host meeting on Iran protests for world’s female foreign ministers

Posted on by

Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly said they will meet to discuss protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini

Canada is to host a virtual meeting of female foreign ministers to discuss Iran’s “brutal” crackdown on protests ignited by the death of a young woman who was detained by morality police for “improper” use of the hijab.

Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, said she and 14 others will meet virtually on Thursday to discuss the state of women’s and human rights in Iran, Joly’s office said, adding that it would give them an opportunity to coordinate efforts and discuss “ways to increase their collective support for the Iranian people”.

Continue reading...

Iranian schoolgirl ‘beaten to death for refusing to sing’ pro-regime anthem

Posted on by

Fresh protests ignited around Iran by 16-year-old Asra Panahi’s death after schoolgirls assaulted in raid on high school in Ardabil

Another schoolgirl has reportedly been killed by the Iranian security services after she was beaten in her classroom for refusing to sing a pro-regime song when her school was raided last week, sparking further protests across the country this weekend.

According to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, 16-year-old Asra Panahi died after security forces raided the Shahed girls high school in Ardabil on 13 October and demanded a group of girls sing an anthem that praises Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Continue reading...

Gunshots and blasts heard at Mahsa Amini protests in Iran

Posted on by

Government officials struggle to end demonstrations sparked by death in police custody of Kurdish woman

Gunshots and explosions were heard in the Iranian Kurdish city of Sanandaj on Monday as the protests over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini continued to unfold across the country and for first time spread to Iran’s crucial oil industry.

Government officials are struggling to end the protests led by young Iranians, especially women, previously regarded as uninterested by politics.

Continue reading...

Iranian students defy security forces after violence at university

Posted on by

Rights groups ‘extremely concerned’ about violent repression of demonstrations in Tehran and Isfahan

Iranian students have stepped up their protests in defiance of a crackdown by security forces, who allegedly cornered and shot 12 students at a prestigious university in Tehran on Sunday night.

Anti-government protests ignited by the death of a young woman in police custody in mid-September have spread around the country at various levels of intensity, revealing a cultural chasm between the country’s educated youth and an elderly male religious establishment.

Continue reading...

Sudan campaigners demand action after alarming rise in ‘honour killings’

Posted on by

Reported deaths more than double in a year, with women attacked by male relatives for appearing to talk to men on smartphones

Campaigners are calling for urgent action to tackle what they say is a rise in “honour killings” in Sudan.

Eleven women and girls have reportedly been killed by relatives so far this year, more than double the number reported in 2021. Two women have died in the past month.

Continue reading...

Iran launches airstrike against Kurdish group in northern Iraq

Posted on by

Deadly attack comes in response to KDPI support for ongoing protests over Mahsa Amini death in custody

Iran has launched a deadly cross-border airstrike into northern Iraq to punish Kurds for their role in supporting demonstrations over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in Iranian police custody that are still rattling the Tehran regime.

As many as 13 people were killed and 58 injured in the Iranian drone strikes on military bases in northern Iraq that belong to the exiled Kurdish Democratic party of Iran.

Continue reading...

Iranian authorities must ‘deal decisively’ with protests, says president

Posted on by

At least 35 dead in eight nights of demonstrations after death of Mahsa Amini in custody, state media report

Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said authorities must “deal decisively with those who oppose the country’s security and tranquility”, Iranian state media have reported.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Tehran and other major cities for eight straight nights since the death of Mahsa Amini.

Continue reading...

Mahsa Amini’s death could be the spark that ignites Iran around women’s rights

Posted on by

The country faces a litany of problems, from inflation to a democratic deficit, and the women’s movement is seen as an agent of change

On the day that news of Mahsa Amini’s death spread throughout Iran, a young woman with a shaved head joined protesters who had gathered outside Kasra hospital, where Amini had lain in a coma since her violent arrest by Iran’s morality police days earlier.

In her hand she carried a plastic bag full of her long hair, shorn off in a gesture of solidarity with Amini and in defiance of the increasing crackdown on women by the regime.

Continue reading...