Asia

Rape is a "significant and disturbing" feature of the Syrian civil war, with women and girls citing sexual violence as their main reason for fleeing the country, according to a report published on Monday.

Women and girls told the International Rescue Committee (IRC) of being attacked in public and in their homes, primarily by armed men. The rapes, sometimes by several men, often occurred in front of family members.

A two-day training workshop for women politicians on “Leadership, peace-building, advocacy and effective media messaging skills”, organized by PAIMAN Alumni Trust in collaboration with Search for Common Ground-Pakistan (SFCG) concluded on Saturday.

Three Kurdish women activists, including a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have been killed overnight inside the Kurdish Information Centre in Paris, French police say.

Their bodies were found at around 2am on Thursday morning. All three were shot in the head.

Taiwan's former vice president on Friday will talk about the crucial role of women in maintaining world peace and the importance of soft power in the peaceful resolution of marine conflicts in Asia.

Annette Lu, the first female vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), will deliver her special remarks at the launching of the Global Women's Peace Network–Asia (GWPN) at the Manila Hotel.

Britain is being urged to look to Israel for lessons in how to combat human trafficking and rehabilitate victims.

Labour MP Frank Field and former Conservative MP Anthony Steen are among those praising Israel for making trafficking “a priority issue”, prosecuting perpetrators to such an extent that shelters that were once full of trafficked Eastern European women are now empty of them.

Two decrees reconstituted the council, which advises the government on new legislation, for a new four-year term - and stated that women should always hold at least a fifth of its 150 seats.

The king took the decisions following consultations with religious leaders.

The council has had female "advisers", but women still have little role in public life in the conservative state.

Srinagar: In the backdrop of a recent acid attack on a school teacher, a group of youths on Thursday staged a demonstration demanding speedy justice in cases of violence against women.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and a handful of other senators met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington, D.C., to discuss the upcoming 2014 election and women's rights in the war-laden country.

When news broke late last month about the death of a 23-year-old woman who died after succumbing to horrified injuries sustained from a brutal attack on a bus in New Delhi, there was horror expressed around the world.

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the prime minister's residence in Nepal for a 10th day to protest against the alleged rape and robbery of a maid by officials and other violence against women.

The protesters chanted slogans on Sunday demanding the government punish those involved in crimes against women and that authorities do more to protect women in the Himalayan nation.