Asia

Certain extremist armed opposition groups are imposing strict and discriminatory rules on women and girls that have no basis in Syrian law, Human Rights Watch said today. The harsh rules that some groups are administering in areas under their control in northern and northeastern Syria violate women's and girls' human rights and limit their ability to carry out essential daily activities.

A Danish woman was held at knife point, beaten and gang-raped in the centre of New Delhi's backpacker district after she asked a group of young men for directions back to her hotel.

There is some indication that the rates of physical violence against women have reduced since the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre's survey in 1999.

This conclusion was reached following a recent survey held by the centre in 2011.

Banned under strict refugee laws from applying for asylum from within her own country's borders, the former member of parliament Noorzia Atmar had no choice but to flee.

A women's group says the military in Myanmar is still using rape as a weapon of war, with more than 100 women and girls raped by the army since a 2010 election brought about a nominally civilian government that has pursued rapprochement with the West.

This is the first of two articles by Mariz Tadros discussing the disjunctures between the current international discourse on gender based violence and women's realities on the ground in 'Arab transition' contexts.

Only three women won seats in the Indian capital's 70-member assembly in recent elections, showing women continue to face huge obstacles to political empowerment in the world's largest democracy, activists said on Monday.

To highlight the issues of inter-faith harmony and rights of women at the national level, AAWAZ, in collaboration with five well-known civil society organisations – the Aurat Foundation, South Asia Partnership-Pakistan, Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Sungi Development Foundation and Sustainable Development Policy – held a national conference on women, peace and social harmony on Monday.

Syrian refugee women have a key role to play in shaping the future of their war-torn homeland, the protection chief of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) told a conference in London today.

Women refugees who escaped Syria's conflict to find sanctuary in neighbouring Lebanon have been sexually harassed by employers, landlords and an employee of a local aid group, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.