Asia

After ending her 49 day hunger long strike a few days ago, Iranian human rights attorney Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh sent a letter from her Tehran, Iran prison cell in Evin prison to the ‘outside' world thanking those activists and advocates who have worked hard to bring attention to the issue of her incarceration in Iran and the injustice that has followed for herself and others.

A new report released by the UN says Afghan women are still victims of abuse despite some success by authorities in prosecuting cases of rape, forced marriages and domestic violence.

The UN collected information from 22 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces over a 12-month period ending in September to find out how existing laws protecting women were being implemented.

Kurdistan Regional Government KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani joined the High Committee of the Campaign Combatting Violence Against Women to open a conference on promoting women's rights and combatting domestic violence in Erbil yesterday.

As unrest unfolds in the Middle East, a traveling art exhibition at the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln seems all the more relevant in its message.

A Dubai resident has decided to undertake a one-woman mission to bring peace to the 22 countries in the Arab League.

Egyptian Raghda Yusuf wants to help people in each country she visits and hopes that in doing so she will be able to get across her message: “Arab people should be standing together, particularly at this uncertain time.”

Marched through the middle a market in Damascus carrying red banners that read 'Stop all military operations in Syria. 100% Syrian'
Rima Dali, Rowa Jafar, and sisters Kinda and Lobna Zaour were immediately detained by Syrian security forces

In Egypt, domestic abuse is not a crime. When a woman is beaten by her husband, the authorities are seldom called. Hospital trauma centers see the extreme cases of internal bleeding and broken bones. Otherwise, it's only when marital violence shifts into child abuse that many women seek out help.

The Department of Interior and Local Government enjoined all local governments to conduct activities towards ending violence against women.

This is in line with the observance of the 18-day Campaign to End Violence Against Women which started November 25 to December 12.

Prominent female lawmaker and rights activist Leyla Zana who symbolises the Kurdish struggle in Turkey has joined hundreds of Kurdish inmates who have been on hunger strike for two months, one of her colleagues said Thursday.

“Zana began to fast in her office in parliament” on Wednesday, the colleague said.

On the first day of the Eid el-Fitr celebrations, Cairo's Nile River promenade's sidewalks were crowded, and packed with young boys on the prowl. The few women on the streets were huddled in packs, braving the Eid holiday known for its rampant sexual harassment. When one boy grabbed a woman's breast and behind, she turned and yelled at him, she received a push from the perpetrator in response.