An expert in post-conflict peace building who is studying the Solomon Islands peace and reconciliation process says telling the truth can re-traumatise its victims.

Dr Karen Brouneus of the University of Otago in New Zealand says its especially true for women who experience sexual violence. Her study of the Solomon Islands experience will examine the effect on people's attitudes to trust, coexistence, peace and security.

‘Girls are forced to get married by their families at an early age, because once she goes to university and graduates, then her reputation is down the drain. She becomes expired,' explained Intisar Al-Maylie, branch head of the Iraqi Women League in the Najaf province, to a group of women at an Erbil conference.

The planting of a Peace Tree, a sketch, talks on peace education, and other activities crowned the event chaired by Njika Joseph.

The widespread rape of women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other conflict-torn African nations could be spurring a significant number of new HIV infections, a new study suggests.

Scores of Iraqi women forced into marriages with Al-Qaeda fighters following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 are seeking government help to rebuild their lives and provide for their children, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports.

Mass rape could be causing thousands or even tens of thousands of HIV infections annually among women and girls in conflict-afflicted countries in Africa, according to mathematical modelling by Virginie Supervie and Sally Blower of UCLA and Yasmin Halima of the Global Campaign for Microbicides.

In a chilling ABC radio interview last week, a young Palestinian man calmly described how he repeatedly smashed his sister's head against the wall until he killed her.

Khaled Mahmood explained this was an "honour" killing, as his sister had shamed the family by sleeping with a man of her choice. She had to be obliterated. It seems the police agreed. No charges were laid.

Over 60 individuals have arrived in the Tajik capital Dushanbe to participate in a conference on women's empowerment in Central Asia, the Tajik news agency AsiaPlus reported on Monday.

The two-day conference, which is jointly hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), opened on Monday.

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire was denied entry to Israel on Tuesday morning and detained at the country's Ben Gurion International Airport.

Maguire, an Irish peace activist and a co-founder of the Nobel Women's Initiative, was traveling to Israel and the West Bank with a delegation to learn about the efforts of Jewish and Arab women working for peace and co-existence.