IN THE NEWS

Honor Killings on the Rise in Netherlands

In the last few years, there have been more than 500 reports of honor killing in the Netherlands. In 2013, the number even rose. These incidents take the form of abuse, rape, kidnapping or murder, and are all in the effort to avenge someone. This is according to the yearly report from the National Expertise .. read more

(Dis)Honor Killings in Pakistan

A man in Gujranwala slit throats of his wife and two teenage daughters after suspecting them of dubious character. The seriously injured lady told police her husband was a drug addict, and tried to kill her and daughters accusing them of being of bad character. The three victims were rushed to DHQ Hospital in critical condition, while .. read more

Attacks on women, minorities on the rise in Pakistan: HRCP

Islamabad: Pakistan has failed to protect the rights of minorities and women, a leading rights group said today, citing the alarming rise in honour killings and violence against religious minorities in the country in 2013. More than 869 women were killed in the name of honour while 56 were killed for giving birth to a .. read more

Cases filed against forced marriages

PESHAWAR: Parents of two girls in separate incidents on Thursday lodged the first information reports (FIRs) in the police stations, claiming that they were kidnapped for forced marriages, police said. Khan Gul, a resident of Phando Road, lodged an FIR at the Agha Mir Jani Shah Police Station, claiming that his daughter was kidnapped by .. read more

Gay Indian Youth Goes to Australia to Escape ‘Arranged Marriage’

A 25-year-old gay Indian student who fled to Australia to escape a forced marriage arranged by his Muslim family has been granted refugee status. The commerce graduate, who lives with his boyfriend in New South Wales, arrived on a student visa in March 2009 to study business management but he withdrew from the diploma course .. read more

Girl Commits Suicide After Being Forced To Marry Her Rapist

A 16-year-old Moroccan girl has committed suicide after a judge ordered her to marry her rapist, according to Moroccan media reports. Last year Amina al-Filali’s parents filed charges against their daughter’s rapist, a man 10 years older than her but it was only recently that a judge in the northern city of Tangier decided that .. read more

Human trafficking evident in PNG

PORT MORESBY, PNG — Domestic servitude, forced labour and sexual slavery or forced prostitution are most common and serious forms of exploitation of human trafficking in Papua New Guinea. These forms of human trafficking may not be seen as serious because they are also entwined in PNG’s cultures, for instance; forced marriages and domestic servitude. Forced .. read more

Today’s daughters and their suffering

I may not be wrong in assuming that the main reason behind divorce and suicide amongst women and girls is increasingly that parents never see eye-to-eye with their daughters regarding their marriage. Recently, in Turbat, Balochistan, an 18-year-old girl who was forcibly married by her parents without her consent, suffered a lot at the hands .. read more

Yemen: End Child Marriage

(Sanaa) – The Yemeni government should expedite passage of a draft Child Rights Law establishing 18 asYemen’s minimum marriage age. On April 27, 2014, Legal Affairs Minister Mohammad Makhlafi submitted the proposed law to Prime Minister Mohammad Basindawa, who should ensure a cabinet review and submit it to parliament for prompt passage. “The draft minimum age law is a real .. read more

How can Britain deport a child at risk of FGM? Theresa May must think again

Two-year-old Rashidat was born in the UK after her mother fled a forced marriage to an older man. Now the Home Office wants to send her to Nigeria How much can we risk the safety of a small child? What if that risk was of female genital mutilation? And what if the child was born .. read more