Four days before the 2016 congressional primary in her Northern California district, Erin Schrode woke up to tens of thousands of messages. They were everywhere: in her email, on her cellphone, on her Facebook and her Twitter and her Instagram.

“All would laugh with glee as they gang raped her and then bashed her bagel eating brains in,” one said.

Actor and politician Kamal Haasan on Sunday encouraged more women to join politics.

“I have seen women as resilient participants in many great revolutions and will encourage them to join politics. Whichever party you choose to join will only be benefited by your presence,” he said at the Homepreneur Awards 2018.

By Paola Flores, Associated Press

Few countries in the world have advanced so quickly toward gender parity in politics as has Bolivia, where women now hold almost half the seats in congress and laws mandate gender equality at lower levels too.

But some male Bolivian politicians have resisted the change, and women's rights activists report a sharp increase in violence against female politicians as their numbers rise.

Souad Abderrahim is not like the past 32 mayors of this North African capital. They hailed from wealthy, influential families. She’s a self-made businesswoman. They were political appointees. She was elected in the first-ever mayoral vote last month.

And, oh, yes, they were all men.

A number of organisations representing the interests of women have gathered in Parliament on Monday for a Women’s Charter Review Conference.

The conference serves as a launch pad to engage women across all sectors of society on issues like gender-based violence and gender parity.

The Commission for Gender Equality has called for punitive measures against political parties who don't adhere to the 50/50 gender parity.

Human rights activists are campaigning to save the life of the first woman in Saudi Arabia to be sentenced to death over her political activism. 

Israa al-Ghomgham, 29, was arrested along with her husband Moussa al-Hashem in December 2015 for their roles in organising anti-government protests in eastern Qatif province in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.