AIDS-LATIN AMERICA: Neglect, Ageism Put Older People at Risk

AIDS prevention campaigns tend to target the young, who make up a large percentage of those infected with the disease. But experts in Latin America say that people in older age ranges with an increasingly active sex life are being neglected, and are at risk because of lack of information.

MEXICO: Gays Defend Their Right to Be Catholic

Social activists and members of "unusual couples," as the Catholic Church calls gay, lesbian and transsexual unions, are discussing possible actions to be taken on Jan. 13-18, 2009 when Mexico hosts the Sixth World Meeting of Families organised by the Vatican.

RIGHTS-SPAIN: Human Traffickers’ Assets to Be Seized

The Spanish government announced a new plan Friday to combat human trafficking, which includes a measure for the immediate seizure of the assets of anyone convicted of involvement in such activities, in particular, those who force foreign women into prostitution.

MEXICO: Supreme Court Debates Transsexual’s Right to Privacy

When transsexuals or transgender persons in the Mexican capital have their birth certificates altered to reflect their change in identity, is it legal to include a notation on the new document indicating that Ms Y used to be Mr X?

POLITICS-US: “No Surrender” for Hardline Abortion Foes

While the "March for Life - held annually on Jan. 22, memorialising the United States Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision - has always been one of the high points of the year for anti-abortion organisations and activists, next month's 36th annual gathering may be a much more somber affair.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Where Homophobia Totes a Gun

Homosexuals can remain in the closet and not be noticed, but that is not an acceptable alternative for transgender people who suffer violence to a greater extent in Colombia, where armed combatants in the conflicts too often turn prejudice into murder.

Q&A: Escalating Violence Against Women in Swaziland

Still wearing a campaign t-shirt with the slogan "FED UP: with violence against women", Dlamini-Shongwe, the public relations officer for the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) is fresh from the Nov. 25 launch of the16 days activism against gender-based violence at Jubilee Park in Manzini.

CUBA: Films that Tackle Touchy Social Issues

"Viviendo al límite" (Living to the Limit), a documentary by Cuban filmmaker Belkis Vega that follows the lives of five HIV-positive people, will be shown for the first time on Cuban television this week, four years after its release.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Marching Against Machismo

Raising their voices in agreement with the declaration over the loudspeaker that "machismo kills", hundreds of Dominican women, carrying banners and roses, ended a march through the streets of Santo Domingo Tuesday in front of the Supreme Court Building, protesting the rising level of murders of women.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: No More Excuses on Gender Violence

As the world marks the twenty-seventh International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations figures indicate that in the course of her lifetime, one in every three women is beaten, coerced into sex or abused, by a relative or acquaintance. In Africa, concerns continue to be raised over poor legislation and enforcement to protect women and girls from harm.

CHILE: 512 HIV-Positive People Not Notified

Chilean Health Minister Álvaro Erazo reported Thursday that 512 people who tested positive for HIV were not notified by the public health system.

POLITICS-US: Feminists Say the Work Has Just Begun

Women's right activists see an open door to the White House of President-elect Barack Obama, and they plan to walk right in and take a seat.

CUBA: Cultural Prejudice Still Lingers

Political convenience, generation gap or Stalinist influence? Nearly 50 years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, it is still hard to discern why this country decided that rock, fashion, long hair for men and homosexuality were counter-revolutionary.

Q&A: Fistula Turns Women Into Outcasts

Women suffering from obstetric fistula in Malawi received free medical care to reverse their condition during the country’s Fistula Week.

POLITICS-US: Palin and Christian Right on Abortion Warpath

Although the issue of abortion has not come up in either of the U.S. presidential or vice presidential debates, it is very much in play on the campaign trail, especially in a number of battleground states.

POLITICS-US: Right-Wing Magnate Takes Up Anti-Abortion Banner

As the U.S. presidential race winds down and attack ads against Sen. Barack Obama intensify, Raymond Ruddy, a multi-millionaire conservative Catholic who over the years has been more comfortable operating in the backrooms of conservative philanthropy, appears to be coming out of the closet.

MEXICO: Legalisation Fight Gains Ground as Illegal Abortions Increase

Legal access to abortion, available since April 2007 in the Mexican capital, should be extended to the rest of the country, where the rate of illegal abortions exceeds the average for developing countries and the total number reached 880,000 in 2006, up 64 percent from 1990.

UGANDA: Radio Drama Strengthens Women’s Voices

Fifteen-year-old Taboni's parents are in a bind. Their daughter has been raped by the commandant of the squalid internally-displaced persons camp they call home, and they do not know what to do.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Rape Survivor Families Struggle Against Odds

Rape and sexual violence are endemic in Pakistan, but cases are rarely registered. Few survivors and their families can withstand the pressure to compromise with the assailants over the years the cases drag on.

DEVELOPMENT: Presidents Boost Maternal and Child Health

As world leaders gather at the United Nations to discuss progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Presidents Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Tarja Halonen of Finland, and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania are calling for more attention to be paid to maternal and child health.

RIGHTS-US: Asylum Courts Mishandled Gender Violence Case

A woman who was denied asylum in the U.S. despite her fears that she would suffer additional female genital mutilation if she was deported to her native Mali has been given a second chance.