Girls' safety hinges on families' willingness to speak out about sexual violence, researchers in Senegal's southern Casamance region said at the release of a study that reveals widespread violence against girls aged 10 to 13.

The study, by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the University of Ziguinchor, found that in Kolda, Sédhiou and Ziguinchor, family, social and cultural pressures bred silence and impunity.

The reconciliation process that is part of the Yellow Ribbon Project needs to be carefully scrutinized when dealing with perpetrators of rape and sexual abuse.

"I am a firm believer in forgiveness, however, the process of forgiving and reconciliation in the incidence where the crime of rape has occurred needs to be looked at in depth," said Shamima Ali of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre.

For the first time, abuse of women and children will become a focal point of discussion at the Cakaudrove Provincial Council meeting in Yaroi this week.

The revelation by police that the northern division has the highest number of sexual assault cases is alarming according to the Roko Tui Cakaudrove Ro Aca Mataitini.

Ro Aca said the issue needs to be tackled head on.

President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is faced with big expectations from a country disillusioned with the alleged excesses of the previous administration.

But unlike most people who resorted to wish lists and plain accusations, a women's group opted to do it in style -- through a fashion show.

A loose-knit coalition of 106 organizations called Femmes Citoyennes Haiti Solidaire, or Women Citizens Haiti United, has emerged from the devastation of the January earthquake to lobby for women's advancement during the recovery efforts.

When Yenny Wahid became an assistant to her father, the former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, a decade ago, officials asked her to sit separately from him at public events. She was a woman, and sitting next to a man - especially the president - was seen as taboo in the socially conservative country, home of the world's largest Muslim population.

Amelia had spent years counseling a woman who was raped by a right-wing warlord and suffered an unwanted pregnancy. So when the woman called her for advice after the warlord threatened to return to take away the child, Amelia rushed to go see her.

The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation today announced that it will award the 2010 Women's Rights Prize to two organizations that have contributed significantly to advancing women's reproductive health and rights in many countries.

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court says crimes are continuing against civilians in Darfur refugee camps despite efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the U.N. Security Council Friday that rape and other such gender crimes remain unabated in the Darfur region of Sudan.