One generally overlooked feature of the Guatemalan government and military's 36-year (1960-96) genocidal counterinsurgency campaign against the country's Mayan population is the strategy of targeting women with violence.

Papua New Guinea enters its second week of elections, but with the only female MP in PNG retiring, there are fears no woman will be elected in her place.

Of the more than 3000 candidate, only 135 are women, a PNG record.

But outgoing Opposition Leader Dame Carol Kidu, argues that while women have equal opportunity to run, a lack of access to funding means they don't have equal opportunity to win.

The first Angolan conference on Women and Domestic Violence will happen on July 3 in Luanda, under the leadership of the Ministry of Family and Women Promotion (Minfamu) and Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) bank.

The Women's League of Burma (WLB) told a Burmese government peacemaking delegation on Thursday in Bangkok that it wanted to hold a nationwide women's convention to discuss peace and reforms and the role of women in development.

WLB General-Secretary Tin Tin Nyo said a convention was needed to explore ways to bring more Burmese women into the peacemaking and reconciliation efforts of the country.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) committee has urged the government to prioritise adoption of legal provisions to fight discrimination against women.

The committee has sought a comprehensive programme including public education and awareness raising campaigns involving mass media as well as community and religious leaders to address multiple forms of discrimination.

The policeman spoke with calm and assurance as he insisted that he could not have raped the teenage daughter of a local shepherd, because a mullah had married them just before intercourse.

“Once the marriage contract is done, any sexual intercourse is not considered rape,” said Khodaidad, 42, who until he was detained in the case had worked for the American-trained Afghan Local Police.

Saudi Arabia has announced that it will allow women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time, following more than a year of Human Rights Watch reporting, campaigning, and high-level advocacy with the International Olympic Committee.

Failure to allow women to play sports violates the Olympic Charter, which prohibits gender discrimination, and would have triggered Saudi Arabia's banning from the London Games.

As a way of training young girls' leadership experiences, Nyagatare Secondary School administration has opened a "Gender Club" where girls will be meeting their brothers for discussions on several issues.

The MDC Women's Assembly has celebrated the resilience shown by women to fight off socio-economic hardships caused by instability in the political landscape of Zimbabwe.

Addressing stakeholders at a Women's Constitutional Consultative Conference held in Harare, Mrs Sibusisiwe Bhuda-Masara, the MDC Women's Assembly Secretary General said the MDC is committed to a new Zimbabwean constitution which clearly spells out women's rights.

Participants of a national consultation have demanded representation of female political workers in all party ranks to ensure women's true participation in the political process.