Asia

Skittish at first, then wide-eyed with delight, the women and girls entered the sea, smiling, splashing and then joining hands, getting knocked over by the waves, throwing back their heads and ultimately laughing with joy.

Most had never seen the sea before.

Iran has released two prominent cultural figures from jail following intense criticism of its crackdown against artists and rights activists.

Pegah Ahangarani, 27, a popular actor and outspoken supporter of the country's opposition green movement, was arrested two weeks ago en route to the women's World Cup. Mahnaz Mohammadi, 37, a documentary filmmaker, was detained by unidentified officials in June.

More than 500 Iranian women's rights activists and their supporters have issued a statement calling on authorities to put an end to "systematic violence against women" as the sixth gang rape in recent months was reported, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

Only 20 per cent of sexual assaults and domestic violence occurring in Fiji is reported, says Fiji Women's Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali.

Ms Ali said violence and abuse was still a major issue in the country and the main reason for the recent increase in cases was because more women were becoming confident and reporting offences to the authorities.

Reports emerged last week from Kachin and Shan States that rape is still being used as a tactic by the Burmese army to demoralise and terrorise ethnic communities

In the corner of an up-market Chiang Mai coffee shop, three women, spanning three generations, sort through maps, photographs and reports detailing the injuries, rapes and murders of ethnic women recently brutalised by Burmese army soldiers.

A Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) law that bans female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crucial step in eradicating the practice, Human Rights Watch said today. The Family Violence Bill, approved by the Kurdistan parliament on June 21, 2011, includes several provisions criminalizing the practice, recognized internationally as a form of violence against women.

A petition from MADRE, a global women's rights organization, is accusing Iraqi government security forces of sexually assaulting women to break up pro-democracy protests and demanding that officials intervene to protect the peaceful demonstrators.

Despite the formation of a new civilian government after last year's elections, recent developments in Burma only indicate that the country continues to be ruled by one of the world's most brutal regimes, several influential US lawmakers have said in arguing for increased sanctions on this Southeast Asian nation.

What do driving, voting, wearing pants, and protesting have in common? They are forms of political expression for many women in the Arab world right now. This political expression is often a basic effort to participate in political systems and give voice to simple needs like getting to work, or taking a child to school, as well as more powerful human needs of influencing a movement for major political change.

Campaigners for a draft law to outlaw domestic violence urged MPs Friday to refrain from passing a “hollowed-out” version of the legislation.

A national campaign in support of criminalizing domestic violence, representing more than 150 nongovernmental organizations, distributed a 64-page report on domestic violence that analyzes the process of submitting complaints on domestic violence under the current penal code.