U.S./JAPAN: Waiting for a Formal Apology on “Comfort Women”

Pressure has been growing in Washington in support of a bipartisan resolution calling on the government of Japan to acknowledge its role in forcing some-200,000 so-called "comfort women" into sexual slavery during World War Two.

RIGHTS: New Move to Check Human Trafficking

A new initiative was launched Monday to fight human trafficking globally.

MEXICO: Legal Abortion No Longer a Distant Goal for Activists

Mexico could join Cuba and Guyana as the only countries in Latin America where abortion is legal in cases other than those involving rape or a threat to a pregnant woman's life.

ARGENTINA: Recruiting Celebs Against Trafficking in Women

In order to rouse public indignation against trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation, popular Uruguayan actress and singer Natalia Oreiro, who lives in Argentina, launched a campaign Wednesday in conjunction with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

RIGHTS-IRAN: Anti-Stoning Women Activists Held Indefinitely

The indefinite detentions of the prominent lawyer Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a leading campaigner against the award of stoning sentences for adultery, are being seen here as part of increasing pressure on women’s rights activists by the Islamic republic.

JAPAN: ‘Baby Hatch’ Plan Still on Hold

Three months after a private Japanese hospital proposed the setting up of a ‘baby hatch' to save unwanted infants, conservative officials continue to resist its launch in what critics say illustrates indifference to female reproductive rights in this tradition-bound country.

JAPAN: In Denial Mode on ‘Comfort Women’ Issue

For more than 50 years after her return home to South Korea from Taiwan, where she spent three years as a sex slave for Japanese soldiers, Lee Yong Soo, 78, has waited for a sincere apology from the government of Japan. She may never live to see that day.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Rising Gender Violence Worries Women

Malaysian women this week marked their achievements in many areas but were uniformly worried over a sharp rise in gender related violence - especially rape and domestic abuse.

PAKISTAN: Deserted Women’s Help Centres Speak of Apathy

Climbing up the flight of rickety wooden stairs leading to the two-room government women's centre in this southern port city can be frustrating. The deserted look reveals a lack of interest in women's issues, even among the people's representatives.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY-SOUTH AFRICA: A Fight Against Cultural Norms on Violence

International Women's Day, commemorated Thursday, is this year focused on bringing those who abuse women and girls to book. The theme is a pertinent one for South Africa, where the twin challenges of tackling domestic violence and ending impunity have topped the agenda of women's groups for years.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY-INDIA: Two Steps Forward, One Backward

A government report released as part of an extensive national family health survey has come as a rude shock for a state long regarded as progressive. It placed Tamil Nadu high on a list of states where wife-beating is common.

BURMA: Women Take Brunt of Ethnic Minorities’ Struggles

At 17 she was in Geneva, not as a tourist but as an invitee speaker at the annual sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In 2005, aged 24, she had a celebrated hour-long meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush

RIGHTS: Women’s Lives Unraveling in Occupied Iraq

Amid the chaos and violence of U.S.-occupied Iraq, the significance of widespread gender-based violence has been largely overlooked, according to a groundbreaking report released here today by MADRE, an internationally active women's human rights organisation.

RIGHTS: Rape, Gender Violence the Norm in Post-War Liberia

When the West African state of Liberia was torn apart by 14 years of civil war, the victims of the brutal insurgency included mostly women and children who were subject to rape and sexual violence.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY-KENYA: Courts Far From a Safe Haven

As the world marks International Women's Day, Thursday, under the theme of 'Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls', activists in Kenya claim there is much to do in ensuring that abusers are punished.

RIGHTS: Sold Into Slavery Every Day

Somaly Mau of Cambodia was sold into sexual slavery at such a young age that she does not remember her parents and does not know how old she is.

TRINIDAD: Abortion Debate Takes a Strange Turn

In 1999, the U.S. economists John Donohue and Steven Levitt argued that the sharp decline in murder rates in the United States in the 1990s could be traced back to the legalisation of abortion by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.

IRAQ: Outrage over Imminent Execution of Iraqi Women

Three young women accused of joining the Iraqi insurgency movement and engaging in "terrorism" have been sentenced to death, provoking protest from rights organisations fearing that this could be the start of more executions of women in post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

IRAQ: Rape Cases Emerge From the Shadows

Reports of the gang-rape of 20-year-old Sabrine al-Janabi by three policemen has set off new demands for justice from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

MEXICO: Discharge of HIV-Positive Troops Ruled Unconstitutional

Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the military to expel HIV-positive members, a practice that is habitually followed by the armed forces.

SOUTH AFRICA: How Discarded Bottles Led to the ‘DNA Project’

DNA profiling has rapidly proved an indispensable tool in fighting crime. The process offers a host of benefits, such as quick identification of criminals, and of innocent suspects - as well as solid evidence for presentation in court.