Fighting Abuse of Women In Western Cape Farmlands
In part one of a four-part series on gender-based violence and grassroots activism, we look at an anti-GBV community-response team in the small Western Cape town of Klapmuts. It is a tall order for an organisation with no funding to provide protection and safety for female victims of gender-based violence (GBV) 24 hours a day. […]
Afghans ‘Marry Off’ Baby Girls For Dowries As Starvation Looms
Jobless and engulfed in debt, Afghan brick kiln worker Fazal said the country’s imploding economy had left him with a stark choice – marry off his young daughters, or risk the family starving to death. Last month, he received a $3,000 dowry payment after handing over his 13- and 15-year-old daughters to men more than […]
A Reluctant Feminist: Germany’s Merkel Still Inspires Many Women
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a feminist icon after 16 years in power even though the world’s most powerful woman has only belatedly accepted that label as she prepares to step down, and conceded that gender equality is still a long way off. “She is admired by women all over the world, this is […]
Our Boys Need More
I recently had a flashback to the defense a friend put up as being the reason for the training bias in the upbringing of the girl-child. According to him, it is a way of protecting the woman. In his words: ‘If a girl misbehaves, chances are her future is wrecked but if the boy misbehaves, […]
South African Women Risk Assault To Reach Work As Taxi Violence Surges
Activists say women are particularly vulnerable in a country where a sexual offence is committed every 10 minutes * Violence between taxi firms has left thousands stranded * Women are at risk walking long distances to and from work * Activists have called for more police and community engagement South African language tutor Debbie Odumuko […]
What Is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
The fight against FGM seemed to be prominent in Africa. Or so I had thought. After all, as an African living in Africa, there is the tendency to think it is a problem with our people alone. However, when I discovered that this is not the case as it is also being practised in the […]
VP Taylor, Partners Break Grounds For Girls’ Safe Home Facility and Training Center
Liberia’s Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and partners Saturday, July 10, 2021, jointly broke grounds for the construction of a Safe Home facility and Girls Training Center in Monrovia. The Partners include CEMENCO, Spoon Foundation and the Jewel Starfish Foundation. The Office of the Vice President is also collaborating with the YWCA for the construction of […]
Family Planning Saves Lives
A year ago, I met a 26-year-old breastfeeding mother who was a graduate student. She was married with three children; the youngest was just eight months old. She started using oral contraceptives after the return of her menses following the birth, but she hid the pills from her husband. When he discovered them, he forced […]
Kagame Shares Rwanda’s Journey Towards Gender Equality
Achieving gender equality in technology and innovation is just one part of the wider struggle to guarantee equal rights and opportunities for women and girls, President Paul Kagame has said. Kagame was speaking at the virtual Generation Equality Forum, global feminist gathering convening governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector and young people seeking […]
End GBV to Save Women From HIV, Urges UN Agency
United Nations HIV/Aids agency has called for urgent action to end gender-based violence (GBV) which exacerbates women’s vulnerability to HIV. “Women who have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV,” read a May 28, tweet posted on Joint United Nations Program on HIV/Aids (UNAids) account. “Governments must […]
Maryam: 
Iyanuoluwa Isinkaye: 
Fisolami: 