Women's Health

Savagery of Rapes of Minors

By Geetika Dang, Vani S. Kulkarni and Raghav Gaiha
Rapes of minors surged from 16 per day in 2001 to 46 per day in 2016. As if this was not horrendous enough, their savagery adds to it. In 2016, 43.3% of the total female rape victims were minors. Around 13% of the minor female victims were of age 11 and below. The deceased victim in the Kathua rape case from a nomadic Muslim community was barely eight years old. Her crumpled body was found in a blood-smeared dress in January, 2018. A group of Hindu men lured her into a forest, kidnapped her, drugged her, locked her in a Hindu temple, gang-raped her and then strangled her.

EU Urged to Ban Early & Forced Child Marriages

By Rangita de Silva de Alwis
Something historic was initiated at the European Development Days (EDD) in early June: the EDD placed women and girls at the forefront of Sustainable Development. Since its inception in 2006, EDD has become a barometer for ideas in global development.

Kenya Can End the Moral Indignity of Child Labour

By Jacqueline Mogeni and Siddharth Chatterjee
On 12 June every year is the World Day Against Child Labour. In the world's poorest countries, around one in four children are engaged in work that is potentially harmful to their health.

Hunger and Food Insecurity Plague the Lives of Millions in Africa

By Moody Awori and Siddharth Chatterjee
Africa is rising. But at the same time, Africa is the continent with the largest number of people, (390 million) living in extreme poverty.

We Need a Gender Shift to save Our Girls from the Jaws of Extremism

By Ambassador Amina Mohamed and Siddharth Chatterjee
Consider this. Boko Haram, the ISIS-affiliated insurgent group has sent 80 women to their deaths in 2017 alone. The majority of suicide bombers used by terror group Boko Haram to kill innocent victims are women and children, US study reveals.

To Have Children or Not: The Importance of Finding a Balance

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
While the world’s population has changed dramatically over the last 50 years, little is still understood about fertility transition and the reasons behind it. Over the last half a century, the global fertility rate has halved, reaching a level of 2.5 births per woman.

Human Trafficking for Organs: Ending abuse of the Poorest

By Maged Srour
Organ transplantation is one of the most incredible medical achievements of the past century. Since the first successful transplants, which took place in the 1950s, organ transplantation has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

Kidnapped, Abducted and Abandoned…

By Geetika Dang , Vani S. Kulkarni and Raghav Gaiha
Kidnappings and abductions have soared since 2001. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that their share in total crimes against women nearly doubled from 10% in 2001 to 19% in 2016. More striking is the fact that 11 women were kidnapped or abducted every day in Delhi in 2016. What these statistics do not reveal are brutal gang-rapes of kidnapped minors and women, multiple sales to husbands who treat them as animals, unwanted pregnancies, police inaction, and frequent abandonment with nowhere to go—not even to their maternal homes—because of the stigma of a being a “prostitute”.

The Gang Rape and Murder of an 8 Year Old Child in India

By Siddharth Chatterjee
Grotesque and barbaric, is the only way to describe the rape and murder of an 8 year old child, in a country where women and girls are traditionally revered as Goddesses.

El Salvador’s Shameful Treatment of Women Who Miscarry

By Jeannette Urquilla
Mayra Veronica Figueroa Marroquin (34) was released from prison earlier this month after serving time for what she argued was a miscarriage. Her sentence was reduced from 30 years to the 15 years she had already spent behind bars.

Accelerating Universal Health Coverage in Kenya-How do we get there?

By Werner Schultink and Rudi Eggers & Siddharth Chatterjee
The Government of Kenya has prioritized universal health coverage (UHC) in its Big 4 agenda over the next 5 years. This is a significant and perhaps the most important strategic priority. Why? Every year over a million Kenyans get trapped into poverty because of a catastrophic out of pocket payments due to health reasons.

A Pledge for Parity

By Ann-Kathrin Pohlers
With March marking Women’s History Month, the debate over gender-based discrimination couldn’t have reached its new peak at a more critical time.

The United Nations Strongly Supports Kenya’s Push to Achieve Universal Health Care

By Siddharth Chatterjee
Mr. Maina Kiai’s account (Nation, 24 February) of the exciting dialogue hosted at Stanford University, USA does not present a true account of what transpired at that meeting.

Helping Women, Period

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The United Nations Headquarters and Brooklyn Bridge were lit up on Thursday night not to help tourists navigate the major landmarks but to bring attention to a key issue that many women and girls face today: period poverty.

Turning Promise into Action: Working Towards Gender Equality

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Persistent and pervasive gender-based discrimination is undermining sustainable development and preventing communities and countries from reaching their full potential, said a UN agency.

How It Feels to Survive Slavery: Ira’s story

By Olga Borzenkova
“A client called at night and ordered a girl. I was sleeping when suddenly I was told to go to the client. He was already drunk and aggressive. I was scared to stay with him. He made me drink and I had to obey. You feel neither pain nor shame when you are drunk. Everything goes easier. I woke up in the morning and got ready to leave when he told me to stay. He told that he had paid for the whole day and I must work it off. The door was closed. He hid the door keys and my phone. He claimed that he had paid for my services and could do with me whatever he wanted… He fell asleep soon again. I didn’t find the keys. I thought I could exit through the window. It was the third floor and there was a fire escape ladder nearby. I decided to climb over the balcony to the ladder. And fell down… Everything happened very quickly. I felt no pain… I remember that I tried to stand up but couldn’t and saw my bones sticking out of my arms. I passed out. I came round in the ambulance. Later – only in the intensive care unit. There I told my name and where I came from. Doctors called my relatives. Later my family moved me back to Belarus. It was super expensive.”

“No Time to Waste” in Ending FGM

By Will Higginbotham and Tharanga Yakupitiyage
More than 200 million women around the world have experienced some kind of female genital mutilation (FGM) and more could be at risk, a UN agency said.

Gaza Health Sector on Verge of Collapse

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UN agencies have sounded the alarm on the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, pointing to the devastating repercussions of the ongoing fuel shortages.

UN Refugee Agency Calls for Aid and Peace in South Sudan

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
As South Sudan quickly becomes Africa’s largest refugee and humanitarian crisis, the world must come to its aid, said the UN refugee agency. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has launched a global appeal to support displaced persons amid South Sudan’s rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Business Unusual will Drive Africa’s Quest to achieve Health Care for All

By Siddharth Chatterjee and Radhika Shah
Africa’s quest for health continues to be held back by a combination of factors such as natural disasters and pandemics, prevailing high rates of communicable and rising incidence of non-communicable diseases, sedentary lifestyles, road accidents and greater population mobility.

Survival of Indigenous Tribes in Bangladesh Starts at School

By Rafiqul Islam Sarker
Just before sundown on Jan. 30, a group of women day labourers from the Shantal indigenous community are in a rush to wind up their work harvesting potatoes in a field in the village of Boldipukur, some 15 km away from Rangpur district in northern Bangladesh.
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