18 Dec 2018 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & Women's Rights

Articles

Girls taken to Uganda, Tanzania for 'vacation cutting' as Kenya cracks down on FGM
Times Live, 18 Dec 2018

Girls in Kenya are being taken across the border to countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia for female genital mutilation (FGM) to avoid a crackdown on the harmful traditional practice at home, campaigners said on Monday. Kenya criminalised FGM in 2011 with a minimum punishment of three years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine - spearheading efforts to curb the internationally condemned ritual with the most comprehensive anti-FGM legislation in east Africa.

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Is Saudi Arabia torturing women's rights activists?
Al Jazeera, 18 Dec 2018

A Saudi human rights commission, which reports to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, is investigating the alleged torture of detained women's rights activists. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the commission began interviewing activists this past month and, according to reports, some of the detained activists have been subjected to torture such as waterboarding and electrocution.

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Liberia: Rural Women President Calls for Partnership to End FGM
AllAfrica, 14 Dec 2018

Kebbeh Monger, president of the Rural Women Association, on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, called for partnership between the traditional leaders and stakeholders to end female genital mutilation (FGM) across Liberia. FGM is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all external female genitalia, a practice observed throughout Liberia and other parts of the world.Madam Monger made the statement at a program organized by the "WeAreUnprotected Women Human Rights Group," held at a resort in Monrovia. She emphasized the need for collective efforts to end the FGM practice in the country.

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Myanmar Debates Women’s Rights Amid Evidence Of Pervasive Sexual And Domestic Violence
HuffPost, 13 Dec 2018

For years, feminists in Myanmar have been fighting to gain even the most basic legal rights for women. Spousal abuse is still legal in the isolated country formerly known as Burma. Even criminal sexual assault is rarely punished. Activists’ patient efforts to change that are starting to pay off. In late November, officials announced that the Prevention and Protection of Violence Against Women Act, long stalled in parliament, may finally be passed in 2019. The bill would protect women from domestic violence, marital rape, sexual violence and workplace harassment, and provide legal and medical support to survivors.

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