Reports of at least a dozen cases of femicide since start of year prompt protests across the country
Protests against femicide have taken place across Kenya after a rise in killings this month.
Reports of at least a dozen cases of femicide since the start of the year have prompted public outrage, debate and demonstrations across the country, including in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.
Continue reading...Trainee detective constable says her ordeal helps her to empathise with victims and help other officers on her team
A Metropolitan police officer who was assaulted and raped by an ex-partner has channelled her ordeal into targeting domestic abusers.
The trainee detective constable, who works in a safeguarding unit in east London, was a student when the abusive relationship left her feeling suicidal. The woman, 24, who is not being named for legal reasons, hopes that speaking out about her experience will give victims the confidence to report abusers to the police.
Continue reading...Det Supt Andrew Wadey says force has ‘let women and girls down badly’ and service must be improved to restore faith
Victims of domestic abuse have lost confidence in Britain’s biggest police force after a series of scandals, a senior officer has admitted.
Det Supt Andrew Wadey, the Metropolitan police’s lead for domestic abuse and stalking, acknowledged the force had “let women and girls down badly in the past” but insisted they were committed to rebuilding trust.
Continue reading...Home secretary said secret of a long marriage was sedating spouse on the same day a new policy on spiking was announced
James Cleverly has apologised for joking about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug in comments made at a Downing Street reception.
The home secretary’s remarks came just hours after the Home Office announced plans to crack down on spiking, when someone puts drugs into another person’s drink or directly into their body without their knowledge or consent.
Continue reading...Israel says comments by Unicef chief were insufficient and came only as a result of international pressure
Israel has criticised the head of the United Nations children’s agency after she condemned acts of sexual violence committed against women during Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on 7 October, as attention has focused on rapes and other atrocities in recent days.
Israel said the comments by Catherine Russell, the executive director of Unicef, were insufficient and were issued only as a result of international pressure.
Continue reading...Concerns raised over ‘consistency and availability’ of stalking advocates in UK police forces to support victims
Stalking victims face a “postcode lottery” of support due to a lack of advocates in police forces across the UK, a coroner has said following the death of Gracie Spinks.
The 23-year-old was killed in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, by a work colleague, Michael Sellers, who had become “obsessed” with her after previously harassing a number of other women. On 18 June 2021 he followed Spinks to the field where she kept her horse before fatally stabbing her and taking his own life soon after.
Continue reading...The first amputee runner to compete at an Olympic Games in 2012, he killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013
Oscar Pistorius is a former professional sprinter and a convicted murderer.
Continue reading...Jozef Puska, 33, stabbed 23-year-old as she jogged along a canal last year in a case that shocked Ireland
A man has received a life sentence for stabbing to death a primary school teacher last year in a case that shocked Ireland.
Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher and musician, was murdered as she jogged along a canal near Tullamore, County Offaly, in January 2022.
Continue reading...Jozef Puska faces mandatory life sentence over January 2022 killing of 23-year-old teacher
A man has been found guilty in Dublin of the murder of Ashling Murphy while she was out jogging in broad daylight, in a case that sent shockwaves across Ireland.
Murphy, 23, a teacher and musician, was killed on a canal towpath near Tullamore in County Offaly in the Irish midlands in January last year after being set upon and stabbed 11 times in the neck and left to die in a deep ditch.
Continue reading...Exclusive: State’s domestic violence prevention minister says it’s ‘up to every single one of us’ to help prevent harm against women
Preventing violence against women is up to individuals and government money to fight the scourge will be “wasted” without community change, according to the New South Wales domestic violence prevention minister, Jodie Harrison.
The minister wants everyone to call out disrespect towards women in the wake of the killing of 21-year-old Lilie James at an elite private school in Sydney last week that left Harrison “physically sick”.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
Continue reading...Research reports vulnerable women targeted for grooming into sex work and calls for ‘gendered response’
Female drug users are at risk of being groomed into sex work and other forms of exploitation when they attend treatment programmes with men, according to new research.
Some women reported feeling vulnerable to “predatory males” in mixed groups where they were often outnumbered two-to-one by men, but said they were not given an option to access women-only treatment programmes.
Continue reading...Report urges changes in the law to make it easier to take down content and prosecute its makers
As much as 90% of pornographic content online features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount of violence shown is punishable under existing laws in France, a report by the government-nominated equality watchdog has found.
France’s high council for equality between women and men on Wednesday handed the government a damning report on illegal porn-industry practices, urging changes to the law to prosecute makers of pornography and to take down content in order to protect those who have been filmed.
Continue reading...Councils, police and hospitals endangering women by accidentally revealing details such as addresses, says ICO
Councils, police forces and hospitals are putting women’s lives at risk by accidentally disclosing domestic abuse victims’ addresses to perpetrators, the UK’s information watchdog has said.
John Edwards, the information commissioner, who has reprimanded seven organisations in just over a year for data breaches affecting victims of abuse, said: “This is a pattern that must stop.”
Continue reading...UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack
Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.
The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.
Continue reading...Apology and ‘substantial’ payouts to Patsy Stevenson and Dania al-Obeid mark major climbdown after years of legal battles
Scotland Yard has apologised and paid “substantial damages” to two women arrested during the vigil for Sarah Everard, in a major climbdown following years of legal battles over the policing of the event.
In a move that the new Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, will hope draws a line under one of the darkest periods of the Met’s recent history, the force acknowledged that it was “understandable” that Patsy Stevenson and Dania Al-Obeid had wanted to attend a candlelit vigil at Clapham Common because they felt women had been “badly let down”.
Continue reading...Giorgia Meloni called on to condemn partner who appeared to suggest women could avoid rape by not getting too drunk
A row has erupted in Italy after a journalist and the partner of Giorgia Meloni appeared to suggest that women could avoid rape by not getting too drunk, with opposition parties calling on the prime minister to distance herself from his comments.
“If you go dancing you are fully entitled to get drunk ... but if you avoid getting drunk and losing consciousness, perhaps you’d also avoid getting into trouble, because then you’ll find the wolf,” Andrea Giambruno said on his show on the right-leaning channel Rete 4 after recent high-profile gang rape cases near Naples and in Palermo.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Data from past five years in England and Wales includes wage costs and victim payments for claims such as upskirting, indecent exposure and inappropriate videos
Local authorities in England and Wales have spent at least £2.5m in the past five years on costs relating to allegations of sexual harassment, an investigation by the Observer can reveal today.
Data obtained through freedom of information (FoI) laws shows that since 2018, 62 councils spent more than £1,728,900 to cover wage costs of staff who were suspended after allegations of sexual harassment, with accusations ranging from indecent exposure, upskirting, inappropriate comments and sexual assault to stalking and abuse of power.
Continue reading...Rallies in Sofia and other cities after leniency shown to man whose ex-girlfriend says she was cut hundreds of times by him
Thousands of Bulgarians have taken to the streets to protest against violence against women after a harrowing case of a teen cut hundreds of times shocked the Balkan nation.
Approximately 5,000 people demonstrated in Sofia, while protests also took place in other cities across the country, where rallies over violence against women are rare.
In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
Continue reading...Police say further arrests expected as attack captured in viral video prompts nationwide outrage
Four men have been arrested in connection with the case of two women who were stripped naked, publicly paraded and allegedly gang raped in the Indian state of Manipur, in an attack that caused outrage after it was captured in a viral video.
The arrests took place on Thursday, a day after the footage of the assault prompted anger across India and was condemned by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the supreme court. The police said more arrests were expected soon.
Continue reading...Experts believe numbers partly reflect effects of lockdowns and trickling down of Jair Bolsonaro’s ultra-conservative views
Brazil saw a disturbing increase in sexual violence against women and children in 2022, according to new figures which paint a worrying picture of a country that is failing to protect its young and female population, particularly in their own homes.
The data, published on Thursday by the Brazilian Public Security Forum showed that reported rapes increased 8.2% to an all-time high of 74,930 last year, while rape cases among minors grew 15.3%. Females make up 88.7% of rape victims, and a staggering 61.4% are children aged 13 or younger.
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