US Secretary of State John Kerry announced last Tuesday that the United States will ban any perpetrators of sexual violence from obtaining US visas. The ban was announced during discussions on sexual violence in war zones. As part of these talks, Secretary Kerry met with British Foreign Minister William Hague, the US Ambassador at large for…
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An injunction has been issued in the American state of Texas to stop a law banning gay marriage from coming into effect. The voter-driven ban has been deemed unconstitutional by US District judge Orlando Garcia, who wrote that its ‘state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in [the] United States Constitution’. ‘These Texas laws deny Plaintiffs…
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In January 2014 I went on a volunteer trip to Nepal with an organisation called Student Volunteer Placement’s International (SVPI). SVPI is a relatively new organisation that was founded a few years ago by Neville and Banita, an Australian couple. On a visit to Nepal, the couple met Keshab, the manager of the Children’s Welfare…
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Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has signed a bill that will toughen the penalties for LGBT people, including life sentences for gay sex and same-sex marriage. While a proposed sentence of up to 14 years for first-time offenders has been removed, homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda. President Museveni had previously agreed to hold the…
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A step in the right direction for Libya this week: the creation of a law acknowledging and compensating the women raped in the 2011 uprising which removed Muammar Gaddafi from power. Hundreds of women may have been raped during the eight-month conflict (exact numbers have not been confirmed) according to the International Criminal Court, which…
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On Sunday, the women of Kazakhstan took to the streets to protest the impending ban on lace underwear. ‘Freedom to Panties’ was yelled as women gathered under the ‘Panties for the President’ protest, for the right to have access to lace underwear. Valery Koreshkov, minister for technical regulations in the Eurasian Economic Union, the planned successor to the Customs…
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The Federal government will put $4.2 million into two programs aimed at helping empower the women of Vietnam. Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop announced during her visit of the country that the money will be distributed equally between Vietnamese Women’s Union projects to end gender-based violence and for agricultural development. The funds for ending gender-based violence…
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Feminist punk rockers, Pussy Riot have been attacked in Sochi by the region’s Cossack militia. Video footage clearly shows members beginning to perform a song, when Cossacks cover singer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (blue balaclava) with pepper spray and then proceed to whip, shove and unmask members. It additionally shows the militia – utilised by local police…
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Somayya Jabarti has made Saudi Arabian history as the nation’s first female newspaper editor, after being appointed to the top job at the national daily Saudi Gazette. English language broadsheet’s departing editor, Khaled Almaeena chose Jabarti for her strong work ethic. ‘It was not a question of gender but of merit that decided and earned…
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German artist Georg Baselitz has sparked backlash, recently telling a newspaper that women cannot paint well. Baselitz has dismissed female painters – even the most iconic like Frida Kahlo – saying that they ‘simply don’t pass the market test, the value test.’ Despite making up the majority of art students, Baselitz claims that women lack…
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Thirty-five asylum seekers escaped from Manus Island detention centre on Sunday, after a violent clash with security forces. Following a meeting on Sunday evening, asylum seekers attempted to shatter windows and created weapons out of their beds and fencing, before fleeing the compound. The asylum seekers had been told by immigration officials that if they…
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Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been named chair of the Global Partnership for Education. Made up of nearly 60 developing countries, donor governments, international organisations and civil society groups, the program aims to have the world’s poorest children attending school. Ms Gillard, at the head of all this, will take control of fundraising efforts…
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Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg started a nonprofit organisation, LeanIn.org, to educate, inspire and support women who feel pressured by the media to be skinnier, sexier and prettier. On 9 February, she announced that the organisation would be partnering with Getty Images to create a ‘collection of images that it says represent women and families in…
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A new legislation has been passed by the Afghanistan parliament, which ‘will allow men to attack their wives, children and sisters without the fear of punishment.’ The law makes it impossible for anyone to testify against relatives and for evidence to be brought against those who are related to domestic violence victims. Lastly, those…
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