General Women, Peace and Security

Rape jokes, such as the one recently made by comedian Vice Ganda, are more than just ill-advised humor and reflect Philippine society's attitudes toward women and women victims of violence, according to the party list group Gabriela.

Imphal-based NGO Women Action for Development (WAD) has taken serious note of the growing crime against women in New Delhi, the latest being the alleged murder of a Manipuri woman, Reingamphy Awungshi. The NGO will place the issue before UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (UNSRVAW) Rashida Manjoo and the NHRC for redressal.

Rural Women demands right to land, employment quota for rural women, protection of violence against women and a comprehensive framework for implementation of women protection laws to ensure rights and help them to become productive members of society.

Several UN experts on Wednesday criticised Iran's decision to bar women from running in upcoming elections, saying the move violated international law.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will provide $450,000 to the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) for a three-year pilot project.

The issue of Italy's rising tide of violence against women has been in the spotlight with a raft of headline-grabbing murders of women, often by their current or past lovers.

The UN special investigator on violence against women reported last year that since the 1990s, as homicides committed by men against men fell in Italy, the number of women murdered by men has increased: In 2010, the figure stood at 127, the UN report said.

The end of Moammar Gadhafi's 40-year rule in 2011 was a watershed moment for women, said a new report from Human Rights Watch. Women's rights are at contention as the country begins to draft a new constitution following four decades of dictatorship.

The Libyan revolution was an "earthquake" to the cultural status of women in Libya, according to Human Rights Watch.

The first Didi Nirmala Deshpande South Asian Peace and Justice Award for 2013 has been conferred on Sunila Abeysekera, leading women and human rights' defender in Sri Lanka and South Asia, and a major player in the global women's movement.

The violence committed against women and girls by men is a global scourge. And it is only one of the barriers to women and girls attaining their full human rights and achieving their potential.

In so many places around the world, the access of women and girls to economic and political participation and to basic reproductive health measures is blocked by outdated systems and structures controlled by men.

The number of women and girls jailed by Afghan authorities for "moral crimes" has risen by 50 percent in the last year and a half, an alarming statistic that reflects the Afghan government's need to step up efforts to protect women's rights, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.