rape - The African Mirror

Oct

2020

Bangladeshi protestors say death penalty not the answer to rise in rape

NAIMUL KARIM PROTESTORS took to Dhaka's streets to demand action on rising rape cases in Bangladesh, saying a new law that expanded the use of the death penalty was not enough to bring about real change. Women's rights campaigners are demanding a root and branch reform of the legal system and more education to address what they say is a rising incidence of violence against women in Bangladesh. Earlier this month, the government changed the law to make rape committed by a single person punishable by death following protests triggered by an online video showing a group of men sexually…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt court starts sex crimes trial of student in #MeToo case

NEWS

MENNA A. FAROUK A former Cairo university student appeared in court charged with blackmail and indecent assault of at least three women in a closely-watched case prompted by social media that opened up a rare public debate on sex crimes. Ahmed Bassam Zaki, aged in his early 20s and a former student at the American University in Cairo, attended a closed session with the trial adjourned to November 7, a lawyer from the defence team, Ahmed Ragheb, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In September, the public prosecutor referred Zaki to the criminal court on charges of "sexually assaulting three girls…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Rapes show double struggle of low-caste women in India

WORLD

ANNIE BANERJI and SAURABH SHARMA THE victim of India's latest alleged gang rape faced the double discrimination of being born female and low caste, says her family, fearing she will get no justice in death either. They say it would all have been different if the 19-year-old victim of a brutal attack came from an upper-caste family or if the suspects were all lower-caste Indians, known as Dalit. "The police are twisting facts," her brother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Things could have been different had we belonged to an upper caste." His…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Anger in Algeria over rape, murder of 19-year-old woman

NEWS

BAN BARKAWI THE rape and murder of a young woman has sparked anger in Algeria, with women's rights activists demanding to know why she was not better protected after her mother said the suspect in her killing had attacked her before. The 19-year-old victim was lured into an abandoned gas station where she was raped, beaten until she was unconscious and then set alight, according to a statement from a court in Bourmedes, the northern Algerian province where she died. In a video circulated on social media, her mother said the victim had been raped by the same man in…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

ANC leader arrested for rape of his two daughters

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A senior ANC leader has been arrested and is expected in court to face charges of raping his two daughters. The leader, a former member of parliament, ex provincial minister of finance and economic affairs and current member of the Mpumalanga provincial executive committee of the ANC, was arrested at his home. The ANC has identified the leader but the law prohibits the media from identifying him until he has appeared and pleaded in court. In a statement, the ANC in Mpumalanga expressed shock and anger. The ANC said the leader has been suspended. “The ANC takes…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Two women accuse “Prophet” Bushiri of rape

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SELF-PROCLAIMED “Prophet” Sheperd Bushiri has been accused of rape by two members of his congregation - the Enlightened Christian Gathering. The two women have separately told television station ENCA how they were invited to a five star hotel in Pretoria, raped, then given R5000 and told to go away. One woman, named *Thandi by ENCA as the South African law prohibits the identification of rape victims, said the Malawian-born Bushiri used to stare at her during church service and one day one of his lieutenants approached her and said the chuch leader wanted to meet her at…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Uproar after Somali lawmaker presents bill to legalise child marriage

NEWS

ABDI SHEIKH HAFSA was married off at 13 by her father to a man who paid $100. She and her mother say she was beaten and raped for two years before they convinced him to divorce her. "The man just slept with me, beating me always," she said, sitting by her mother, who clutches her daughter tightly. "I regretted I was born." There is no law mandating a minimum age for marriage in Somalia. A bill introduced in parliament this month by a presidential ally caused a storm of criticism from lawmakers when they realised it would legalise marriage at…

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,…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Botswana rape survivor fights sexual violence with awareness campaign

NEWS

KELETSO THOBEGA A Botswana singer and activist who was raped three years ago launched a campaign on Friday to fight high rates of sexual violence in the country, saying the rape of her younger sister last month had spurred her to act. Refilwe Mooki, 23, who still suffers post-traumatic stress as a result of her attack, said the "Say No to Rape" campaign would push for harsher sentences for rapists as well as measures to support victims and encourage them to speak out. "Enough is enough. We need to challenge people feeling entitled to other's bodies and violating them because…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenya police arrest prison warden over rape of patient in COVID-19 quarantine

NEWS

KENYAN police arrested a prison warden accused of raping a female patient in a COVID-19 isolation facility he was meant to be guarding, a police report said on Friday. It was the latest in a string of incidents highlighting substandard conditions at some government-run coronavirus treatment centre in the East African country. The attack may add to fears overtreatment in government facilities that health experts have warned may deter Kenyans from coming forward to be tested for the new coronavirus. Earlier this year there were several breakouts from quarantine centre amid bitter complaints about inadequate food, water and hygiene from…