More than 500 Iranian women's rights activists and their supporters have issued a statement calling on authorities to put an end to "systematic violence against women" as the sixth gang rape in recent months was reported, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

Members of security organs from various countries applauded Rwanda for taking adopting numerous initiatives to fight Gender Based Violence (GBV).

The officers drawn from Africa, America and Asia said this yesterday, while touring the Isange One Stop Centre established at Kacyiru Police Hospital to offer medical services and care to GBV victims.

On 25 July the Khartoum Media Court, headed by the judge Mudathir Al-Rashid, sentenced the female journalist Amal Habani to pay a fine of 2000 Sudanese Pounds (about 660 US dollars). If she did not pay this sum, she knew she would face one month of imprisonment. Amal Habani decided to be sent to prison rather than pay the fine, and she has now been sent to Omdurman Women's Prison.

Zimbabwe is a fragile state. The whole country has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis and all social, economic, and political fundamentals are deteriorating faster than they would in a country at war.

Only 20 per cent of sexual assaults and domestic violence occurring in Fiji is reported, says Fiji Women's Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali.

Ms Ali said violence and abuse was still a major issue in the country and the main reason for the recent increase in cases was because more women were becoming confident and reporting offences to the authorities.

Reports emerged last week from Kachin and Shan States that rape is still being used as a tactic by the Burmese army to demoralise and terrorise ethnic communities

In the corner of an up-market Chiang Mai coffee shop, three women, spanning three generations, sort through maps, photographs and reports detailing the injuries, rapes and murders of ethnic women recently brutalised by Burmese army soldiers.

A Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) law that bans female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crucial step in eradicating the practice, Human Rights Watch said today. The Family Violence Bill, approved by the Kurdistan parliament on June 21, 2011, includes several provisions criminalizing the practice, recognized internationally as a form of violence against women.

A petition from MADRE, a global women's rights organization, is accusing Iraqi government security forces of sexually assaulting women to break up pro-democracy protests and demanding that officials intervene to protect the peaceful demonstrators.

Humanitarian organizations in the Horn of Africa say they've seen a dramatic increase in violence against women as more people make the journey to refugee camps in East Africa.

An influx of people at Hagadera, Ifo and Dagahaley camps, collectively known as Dadaab refugee camps, is also causing increased violence in the camps, according to aid agencies in the region.

Despite the formation of a new civilian government after last year's elections, recent developments in Burma only indicate that the country continues to be ruled by one of the world's most brutal regimes, several influential US lawmakers have said in arguing for increased sanctions on this Southeast Asian nation.