Libya: Crimes against humanity committed since 2016 – rights probe
27 March 2023 UN-appointed independent human rights investigators on Monday said there are grounds to believe that Libyan authorities and armed militia groups have been responsible for “a wide array” of war crimes, and crimes against humanity in recent years. In the case of State security forces, human rights violations were committed to quash dissent and exploit […]
‘We are not afraid’: Indigenous Brazilian women stand up to gender violence
21 January 2023 Women Women from Brazil’s indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence, but UN-backed initiatives, and a change in the law, are encouraging them to seek protection. In Parque das Tribos, an indigenous neighbourhood in Manaus, the capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state, violence against women is not uncommon. “As a leader, I […]
Actions to stem violence against women and girls ‘needed now more than ever’
UN Women/ Fahad Kaizer Amidst a spike in COVID-related violence against women and girls and a shortage of temporary shelters in Bangladesh, Romela Islam managed to escape her abusive marriage. 23 June 2022 Human Rights Over the past two years, there has been “an unprecedented increase in all forms of gender-based violence,” the UN Deputy […]
The crisis behind closed doors: a look into the ‘shadow pandemic’
Although we are currently facing a public health crisis, COVID-19 has also caused a surge in intimate partner violence (IPV), negatively affecting our world’s pursuit of SDG #5: Gender Equality. While stage three restrictions have been reinforced in order to control the pandemic’s spread in Metropolitan Melbourne, stay-at-home mandates have also left many women and […]
#MeToo movement stems from impunity and culture of silence, senior UN official writes
Casual indifference to sexual harassment is unacceptable, the head of the United Nations entity mandated to promote gender equality today said, urging women and men to change their response to acts of sexual aggression. In an opinion piece, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, pointed to the “pain and anger” of […]
Over half of schools remain closed in epicentre of Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria – UNICEF
About 57 per cent of all schools are closed in Nigeria’s Borno state, worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency and the subsequent humanitarian crisis, leaving an estimated 3 million children in need of emergency education support, even as the new school year begins, the United Nations child agency said today. “Children in northeast Nigeria […]