violence against women

Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has announced that women police desks would be established at all 500 police stations of the province to facilitate the province’s female population.

Speaking at a ceremony in the provincial capital city, Khattak announced the establishment of Model Police Stations at Gulbahar, Faqirabad and UniversityTown areas under a pilot project which would be later extended to other police stations across the province.

In Afghanistan, a dangerous bill has slipped through two houses of Parliament and is poised to devastate women’s rights advocates and victims of abuse. The law would ban all family members of accused criminals—be they abusers, rapists, murderers—from being questioned by police or testifying against them in court. Doctors and psychiatrists would also be barred from providing evidence. In most domestic cases it would be virtually impossible to get a conviction.

Both houses of the Afghan Parliament have voted to pass an act that would prohibit relatives from testifying against a criminal defendant in a judicial proceeding. If signed by President Hamid Karzai, the proposed change to the Afghan criminal code would prevent family members from testifying as victims or witnesses in all criminal cases, including domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault cases. The act would also ban children and doctors – including those who may have examined victims – from testifying against the accused.

India and the United States will jointly move a resolution to address violence, particularly against women and girls, at the Executive Board meeting of the World Health Organisation in Geneva later this month.

The resolution on “The role of health sector in addressing violence, particularly against women and girls” will be supported by Belgium, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway and Zambia.

As the world celebrates 100 years of women suffrage, Indian women continue to fight for things that matter.

2013 was a turning point for women in India as the brutal gang rape of Nirbhaya and the huge protests in the aftermath placed the issue of violence against women at the heart of public discourse in the country.

As we step into 2014, it is crucial to reflect as to why as a society we are still struggling to ensure something as basic as safety for one half of its population.

On the eve of elections in Delhi, women's rights activists called on political parties on Tuesday to commit to a "Womanifesto" - a gender-sensitive agenda - to combat rising crimes against women in the Indian capital.

The gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy trainee in New Delhi last December jolted many usually apathetic urban Indians into joining street protests and sparked national discussion about how prevalent violence against women is in largely patriarchal Indian society.

A young Fijian woman who intends to stand in the Fiji elections says she has received threats, including threats of rape, on social media.

Roshika Deo is standing as an independent candidate in next year's promised elections.

Ms Deo who has been using the internet as a campaigning tool, has told Pacific Beat she's been the subject of vicious personal attacks.