03 September 2019 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM and Women's Rights

Articles

Finland under pressure to criminalise lack of consent in rape laws
The Guardian, 02 Sep 2019

Finland is facing calls from the Council of Europe to reform its rape laws to criminalise a lack of consent rather than just the use of violence. The human rights body said Finland’s legislation lagged behind international standards despite the country’s strong record in furthering gender equality. The council’s group of experts on action against violence against women and domestic violence “strongly encouraged” swift action in its first report on the country.

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Village by village, the quest to stop female genital cutting in Somaliland
Standard Digital, 30 Aug 2019

When Mumtas Khadar turned nine she couldn't wait for the ritual undertaken by every woman in her village in Somaliland in northeast Africa that she believed would make her more beautiful. But the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) left her in agony, bedridden for a week then with painful periods every month and troubles conceiving when she married. "I was happy as I thought it would be a great dignity for my wedding night," Khadar, now 45, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Sanani village on the outskirts of Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

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The War On Afghan Women
Aljazeera, 29 Aug 2019

As the Taliban and US negotiate a peace deal, Afghan women fear their rights and freedoms will be traded for stability. "If they captured us, they'd kill us." Laila Haidari drives a car, does not wear a headscarf and likes to meet her friends at a bowling alley. For that, she fears, the Taliban could kill her. 101 East investigates fears that Afghanistan's women could again fall victim to the Taliban's brutal rule.

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What the G-7 Got Right—and Wrong—About Gender Equality
Foreign Policy, 28 Aug 2019

Foreign leaders attending the French-led G-7 summit last weekend found little consensus on pressing foreign-policy challenges, including climate change, tensions with Iran, and a growing trade war. While France was roundly criticized for departing from past practice and failing to pursue a traditional outcome document, when the United States takes up leadership of the group of leading industrial nations next year, there’s one aspect of the French playbook it should follow: recognizing the importance of gender equality to the G-7 agenda. For the second year running, the G-7 made gender equality one of the five central themes of the summit. G-7 leaders held a session entirely focused on women’s empowerment.

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