Afghanistan remains an extremely dangerous country for women. Ninety percent of Afghan females have experienced some form of violence, including rape, and the suicide rate among women is climbing because women feel there is no other choice. According to Afghan activist Malalai Joya, “In Taliban time we had one enemy; now we have three: the Taliban, warlords and the occupation forces.”
As at any international gathering of public health specialists and women’s advocates, there was hope, hype, and a bit of hypocrisy when more than 3500 participants from 140 countries convened for the “Women Deliver 2010” conference in Washington, DC June 7 to 9. “We’re at a tipping point,” claimed Jill Sheffield, Founder and President of Women Deliver, an organization aimed at monitoring progress toward meeting specific Millennium Development Goals established by the United Nations for 2015.
A single mother in Washington State used the store to furnish her living room. But the goods she received were damaged and worn. When she stopped making payments while awaiting replacements her home was accosted by employees of the Rent-A-Center she had patronized. Elsewhere in the same state, a man who called to say his payments would be late due to his wife's hospitalization said collectors tried to kick his door down to repossess his rent-to-own goods.NYC Rent-A-Center Protest
"I have to put on heavy clothes. There are painful blisters and itching. I must continue working which causes more dribbling of urine. Nobody wants to stay with me because of the smell."
Siem Reap, Cambodia - It's the woman with the infant in her arms. I can't take my eyes off her. More than the other pictures of frightened children, of men with missing ears, their eyes swollen shut, or the faces reflecting sheer terror or numb acceptance, it is her face that mesmerizes me. Maybe it's that she doesn't seem to know about the torture. Landmine Victims Play Music
The first World Health Organization (WHO) study on domestic violence couldn't have come at a better time for women's advocates in
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