Asia

Iranians take to the streets in Tehran to show support for Bahraini women enduring the violence and crimes committed against them by Saudi-backed security forces.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital following the Friday Prayers to condemn the brutal repression of anti-regime protests in Bahrain, Fars News Agency reported.

The head of a Bougainville women's NGO says it supports a possible return of peace monitors to the autonomous Papua New Guinea province.

Bougainville's president John Momis says it may be necessary to bring back the United Nations peace keepers if violence and lawlessness are not brought under control in the south of the main island.

The head of a Bougainville women's NGO says it's preparing to talk to those involved in the build-up of arms in the autonomous Papua New Guinea province, including the leader of the militant Mekamui Defence Force.

This comes after Bougainville's president, John Momis, said it may be necessary to have peacekeepers return if violence and lawlessness continue in the south of the main island.

The United Nations Children's Fund or UNICEF has warned that the gender gap in student enrolments in Papua New Guinea schools is widening.

The Post-Courier newspaper says an education workshop on gender and education is being held in Port Moresby until May 13.

Speaking at the workshop, UNICEF country representative Bertrand Desmoulins said Papua New Guinea has made some progress in girls' education.

Syrian security forces on Saturday arrested two veteran opposition figures and a group of female protesters as part of a crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners, rights groups said.

The reports came as the Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah said security forces had killed at least 560 civilians since protests started just over six week ago.

Currently, more women in Kurdistan are seeking primary, secondary and higher education, creating a more educated female workforce.

It was in this dusty village that Mukhtaran Mai, then an illiterate Pakistani villager, was gang-raped by up to 14 men on the orders of a village council in 2002. Her infraction? Her brother had allegedly committed adultery with the daughter of an opposing clan's feudal lord.

It's also where she set up a women's welfare organization, a women's shelter, and three of the best schools in the area a year after her ordeal.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders will say there is an "urgent need" for a comprehensive approach to the transnational crime, according to the draft communique which was seen by AFP on Friday.

Pakistan People's Party Women Wing Sindh Information Secretary Sharmila Farooqui on Wednesday called for raising socio-economic empowerment of women by ensuring pro-women legislation, pro-women taxation system, more political participation and lucrative education facilities.

Going by the charged reaction to the Mukhtar Mai verdict, it is clear that loopholes in the investigation mechanism and the law need to be fixed. Women victims of violence in Pakistan do not find redress whether through the courts or the country's policing and investigation apparatus.