Two decrees reconstituted the council, which advises the government on new legislation, for a new four-year term - and stated that women should always hold at least a fifth of its 150 seats.

The king took the decisions following consultations with religious leaders.

The council has had female "advisers", but women still have little role in public life in the conservative state.

Scores of Malians have found havens in neighbouring Mauritania to escape the months-long conflict. But while the first batch of refugees fled the effects of the civil war, the more recent exiles had a different motive.

"The population of northern Mali did not want to leave their homes at all. The harsh practices of Ansar al-Din and al-Qaeda forced them to flee," Touareg activist Boubakar Ansaru says.

Srinagar: In the backdrop of a recent acid attack on a school teacher, a group of youths on Thursday staged a demonstration demanding speedy justice in cases of violence against women.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and a handful of other senators met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington, D.C., to discuss the upcoming 2014 election and women's rights in the war-laden country.

Cynthia Enloe, Research Professor at Clark University has written the blog: Combat: The Zone of Women's Liberation? We are happy to share this blog with you.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's announcement that the Pentagon is lifting its ban on American military women in serving in combat is notable in so far as it represents another step in rolling back masculine privilege in a major U.S. public institution.

One of Fatou Bensouda‘s missions as the new chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is to make rape during conflicts a thing of the past.

When news broke late last month about the death of a 23-year-old woman who died after succumbing to horrified injuries sustained from a brutal attack on a bus in New Delhi, there was horror expressed around the world.

She was thrust into politics by default at the age of 20, and is said to be the world's youngest legislators in a country that ranks highly for female representation in parliament.

But for 20-year-old Ugandan MP Proscovia Alengot Oromait, it's not just her age that has been a big detractor for her critics. It's also her gender.

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the prime minister's residence in Nepal for a 10th day to protest against the alleged rape and robbery of a maid by officials and other violence against women.

The protesters chanted slogans on Sunday demanding the government punish those involved in crimes against women and that authorities do more to protect women in the Himalayan nation.

Betty Puerto Barrera is a Colombian peace activist. Her peace work has focused particularly on women and the struggle to end all forms of violence that are suffered by women in Colombia. She currently forms part of one of Colombia's oldest women's organisational processes, the People's Women's Organisation, and forms part of a nationwide platform promoting a negotiated solution to the armed conflict.