Women Rights

Jill Biden calls on men to support women fighting for their rights

Jill Biden on Wednesday praised a group of women from around the world, including those who have been protesting against Iran's leaders, for showing courage while fighting for their rights and called on men to "be partners" with women and support them in their cause. "As much as we need women who are willing to speak up, we need more men who are willing to listen and act," the first lady said. "We need more men to hold each other accountable when their sisters are being hurt or left behind, she said at a White House ceremony for the 2023 recipients of the International Women of Courage Awards. "We need more men who nurture families, who feed and teach and mentor, who build safer communities. We need more men who know that caring, collaboration and kindness are signs of strength, not weakness. "Men, we need you to support the women who are fighting for their rights and to lift up those who have been silenced, she continued. Be partners, be partners with women. Become the men of ...

Taliban to set new rules on Afghan women's aid work: UN officials

A top UN official said that the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan are planning to set up new rules to allow women to work in some humanitarian operations

OIC asks Taliban to reconsider ban on women from working for NGOs

OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim stressed that the OIC has been following with deep concern the developments of the "unfortunate events" in Afghanistan

Taliban's ban on women workers hits vital international aid for Afghans

Last June, a team of female doctors and nurses drove six hours across mountains, dry riverbeds and on unpaved roads to reach victims of a massive earthquake that had just hit eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people. When they got there, a day after the earthquake hit, they found the men had been treated, but the women had not. In Afghanistan's deeply conservative society, the women had stayed inside their tents, unable to come out to get medical help and other assistance because there were no women aid workers. The women still had blood on them, said Samira Sayed-Rahman, from the aid agency International Rescue Committee. It was only after she met local elders to tell them about the arrival of a female medical team that women came out to get treatment. That's not just the situation in emergencies; in many parts of the country, women don't go out to get aid, she said. It's an example, Sayed-Rahman said, of how vital women workers are to humanitarian operations in ...

UNSC calls on Taliban to drop 'unfathomable' restrictions on women

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday decried increasing restrictions on women's rights in Afghanistan, urging the country's Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately. The Security Council "reiterated its deep concern of the suspension of schools beyond the sixth grade, and its call for the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan," it said in a press statement. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker pointed to "terrible consequences" of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations. Last week, Taliban authorities stopped university education for women, sparking international outrage and demonstrations in Afghan cities. On Saturday, they announced the exclusion of women from NGO work, a move that already has prompted four major international aid agencies to suspend operations in Afghanistan. "No country can develop indeed survive socially and economically with half its population excluded," U.N. High Commissione

Taliban bar women from university education in Afghanistan despite promises

Female students have been banned from private and public universities in Afghanistan effective immediately and until further notice, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday in the latest edict cracking down on women's rights and freedoms. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women's and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. The Taliban were ousted in 2001 by a U.S.-led coalition for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and returned to power after America's chaotic departure last year. The decision was announced after a government meeting. A letter shared by the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashmi, told private and public universities to implement the ban

A new legislation for women's representation: The need of the hour

Bifurcating constituencies into two separate sections - each to be represented by a man and a woman respectively - can be accomplished within a few months

Dabur India enters women's personal hygiene with sanitary napkin launch

Product will only be sold online, comes in two variants

Afghan women stage protests in Kabul over concerns on female employment

The women protesters called on the Taliban to work for women and to allow girls above grade six to learn as the organization's rule has only added to the poverty in the country

UN deputy secretary-general decries global trampling of women's rights

The trampling of women's rights and deeply ingrained misogyny are connected in many ways to today's global challenges, from the proliferation of conflicts to increasing assaults on human rights, the UN deputy secretary-general said on Thursday. Amina Mohammed told a UN Security Council meeting on women, peace and security that despite decades of evidence that gender equality offers a path to sustainable peace and conflict prevention, we are moving in the opposite direction. We cannot separate the perilous state of peace in our world from the destructive effects of patriarchy and the silencing of women's voices, she said. Mohammed urged the world's nations to call out misogyny as it manifests itself in the abuse and discrimination that women confront on the street, at home, at work, as well as online. They must challenge the social, political, and economic structures and norms that sustain it, she said. The Security Council was assessing the state of a resolution it adopted on Octob

Priyanka Chopra Jonas discusses women's rights with US VP Kamala Harris

Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas says she has raised the issue of women's rights, including their right to vote, in her recent conversation with US vice president Kamala Harris. The actor had interacted with Harris when she took part in the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum conference on Friday. Chopra Jonas posted several photos and videos from the conference on Instagram and wrote a lengthy note, detailing her discussions with Harris. "Since the very beginning, the world has undermined the power of women. We've been shunned and silenced, but thanks to the sacrifices and tenacity of so many selfless women, we are in a place today where we can come together and work collectively to right the wrongs. "This was a key takeaway from the conversation I had the honour to moderate with @vp, Kamala Harris at the Women's Leadership Forum conference in Washington DC last night," the 40-year-old actor wrote. Over the past two years, Chopra Jonas said humanity has experience

All women are entitled to safe and legal abortion, says Supreme Court

The Court ruled that the exclusion of unmarried women who conceive out of live-in relationships from the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules is unconstitutional

UK envoy raises concern on 'grave' oppression of Afghan women under Taliban

As human rights violations continue to take place in Afghanistan, Britain's Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French condemned the suppression of women in Afghanistan

US special envoy calls Afghanistan's humanitarian situation a great tragedy

The US special representative for Afghan girls, women and human rights, described the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as "a great tragedy" and urged the Islamic countries to raise their voice

Taliban to bring new curriculum in Afghanistan for girls' education

After backlash by the international community over the neglect of girls' education in Afghanistan, the Taliban have created a "directorate of academic curriculum"

Hijab protests: Iranian women publicly remove veils to raise their voices

For months, protests against the hijab have been gaining traction in Iran. Human rights foundations had urged women to use '#No2Hijab' on social media, along with the videos

UNSC holds emergency meeting on Taliban crackdown on women rights

The Norwegian-drafted statement would also call for a reversal of policies that restrict the rights of women and girls

Bill to codify abortion rights fails to advance in US Senate amid protests

The Women's Health Protection Act, which had passed the House of Representatives, was voted down 49-51 in the upper chamber

Criminalising marital rape: Delhi High Court delivers split verdict

Exception 2 of IPC Section 375 says that a rape charge cannot be filed against a man who has non-consensual sex with his wife

Taliban to resume hiring government employees without women recruits

The Taliban announced to resume hiring government employees but said that the women are excluded from those recruitments.