domestic violence - The African Mirror

Feb

2021

Murders of women spark anger in Lebanon as domestic violence doubles

TIMOUR AZHARI and KATY MIGIRO THE murder of three women has provoked outrage in Lebanon, as authorities revealed a doubling of domestic abuse reports in a country that recently won praise for new laws to protect women. The most high-profile death was that of model Zeina Kanjo, who was strangled at home. An arrest warrant has been issued for her husband, who was charged with her murder after fleeing to Turkey, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). A local news channel invited Kanjo's husband, Ibrahim Ghazal, on to share his version of events, triggering anger on social media…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

From child marriage to revenge porn: 10 set-backs for women in 2020

NEWS

EMMA BATHA FROM mass job losses to soaring domestic violence, the rise of revenge porn and a widening gender poverty gap, 2020 has threatened to hobble progress on women's equality as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks global havoc. U.N. experts predict the gender poverty gap will widen in 2021 amid the economic downturn. Here are 10 set-backs women faced this year: CARING DUTIES/UNPAID LABOUR Even before COVID-19, women were doing three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men, according to U.N. data, but this has soared in 2020 with women undertaking the lion's share of caring for sick…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

In new UN role, ex-CNN journalist seeks to end abuse of women and girls

HUMAN RIGHTS

ELLEN WULFHORST FORMER CNN correspondent Isha Sesay planned to begin her new role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with a visit to Nigeria and Haiti - cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the British journalist and author listened remotely to stories from women and girls, from midwives to abuse survivors, in Yemen, Ukraine, Somalia and Sierra Leone. "We did a global virtual tour," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation this week from her home in Los Angeles. "It's not the same as being there and sitting side by side but .... it will…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Refugee women in Africa say domestic violence rose during pandemic

HUMAN RIGHTS

NITA BHALLA MORE than 70% of displaced and refugee women in Africa have seen a rise in domestic violence in their communities during the coronavirus pandemic, a newly-published survey has found. More than half the 850 women interviewed in 15 African nations also reported a rise in sexual violence and almost one in three had observed growth in early and forced marriage, said the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 have fuelled an upsurge in gender-based violence (GBV) across the world, with victims forced to spend more time with their abusers and prevented from seeking…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Most countries failing to address women’s needs during pandemic – UN

COVID-19

LISA OHLEN ONLY one in eight countries worldwide have brought in measures to specifically protect women from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a database of government responses to COVID-19 launched by two U.N. agencies on Monday. The crisis offers a chance to reshape societies for a fairer future, but many nations are failing to protect women and girls from pandemic-linked risks such as a surge in domestic abuse, said U.N. Women and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP). "The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting women hard - as victims of domestic violence locked down with their abusers, as unpaid…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

‘Groundbreaking’ Lesotho study reveals high cost of domestic violence

NEWS

EMMA BATHA COUNTRIES could save billions of dollars a year by tackling the "disgusting pandemic" of domestic violence, the Commonwealth secretary-general said as economists estimated the scourge cost the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho 5.5% of GDP. Patricia Scotland said domestic violence burdened health, police and judicial services, led to absenteeism at work and school, and permanently damaged children who witnessed it, impacting future generations. About one in three women in Lesotho has suffered physical or sexual violence - often by a partner, similar to the global prevalence rate, according to a Commonwealth study published on Friday. Analysts calculated this…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Congolese abuse survivors rebuild lives, brick by brick

HUMAN RIGHTS

MALAICKA ADIHE CONGOLESE teenager Aline was left destitute aged only 15 after she was raped, left pregnant and then accused of bringing dishonour to her family and made to leave her home. But just two years later, her life is back on track, thanks to a groundbreaking scheme to teach building skills to survivors of sexual violence in a region ravaged by years of ethnic conflict that have hit women particularly hard. The scheme is the brainchild of Lauren Muntu Kintadi, 36, who wanted to help single mothers and other women in need to find paid work, and realised there…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

African activists fight violence against women one law at a time

HUMAN RIGHTS

KIM HARRISBERG AS a young girl growing up in northern Zimbabwe's mining community of Mashonaland, Beatrice Savadye watched as her friends were forced into child marriages and early motherhood while many became sick with HIV. Wanting a different life for herself and other girls, Savadye started the Zimbabwean women's movement Roots Africa seven years ago fighting for, among many things, legislation change to better protect women's rights in her region. Under the lockdown, Savadye is one of a band of female activists in Africa pushing for stronger laws to protect women trapped indoors with abusers from a surge in violence,…