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29 Jan 2019 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM and Women's Rights
Articles
Afghan men oppose more women's rights; elders less hardline
Reuters, 29 Jan 2019
Afghan men strongly oppose giving women more freedom - two in three think they have too much already - and young men are even more reluctant than their elders, a survey said on Tuesday.Nor are women fully on board with the idea of parity.
Almost one in three of the Afghan women surveyed think women already have a surfeit of rights and a similar proportion say they are “too emotional” to be leaders.
The male generational gap may be explained by younger men seeking rigid gender roles as they struggle to find work and stability in a country ravaged by war and poverty, said gender equality group Promundo.
From Le Pen to Alice Weidel: how the European far-right set its sights on women
The Guardian, 29 Jan 2019
In far-right populist parties across the continent, a new generation of angry white women are rising to leadership roles. Why are they turning to groups that have traditionally opposed feminism?[...]
It was a chastening lesson for any woman tempted to join the cut and thrust of rightwing populism. After Corinna Miazga was elected to the German parliament in 2017 for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, a male colleague suggested she would be better suited to being a pole dancer than an MP.
Saudi exile to establish group to fight for women's rights
Aljazeera , 28 Jan 2019
Saudi exile Reem Suleiman has told Al Jazeera she intends to start a new organisation advocating for women's rights in the kingdom.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, Suleiman, who is seeking asylum in the Netherlands, said she would only feel calm when other dissidents were freed from Saudi prisons and were able to express themselves without fear of government retribution.
Suleiman was a columnist for several government-controlled Saudi newspapers until she was ordered to stop writing by Saud al-Qahtani, a former key adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Woman claims she 'turned to spells' after being accused of FGM on three-year-old daughter
Independent , 28 Jan 2019
A mother claimed she turned to spells after being accused of inflicting female genital mutilation on her three-year-old daughter, London's Old Bailey heard.
The 37-year-old, from Uganda told the court she had never heard of FGM before her child was hurt in August 2017.
The mother was asked about a two-page “court spell”, which contained the names of her children and others involved in the case, including then director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders.
Police arrest 19 people over FGM gang attacks on women in Uganda
The Guardian, 24 Jan 2019
Sixteen men and three women have been arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting female genital mutilation (FGM) in eastern Uganda after reports of gangs attacking women in the region.
The suspects were taken into custody earlier this week after joint police and military operations in Kween district. The arrests followed local media reports of more than 400 women, some as young as 12, being mutilated by force by local gangs in the past month.
FGM was outlawed in Uganda in 2010, but campaigners say too little is being done to persuade people, especially in rural areas, to stamp out the practice.