“DRAMATIC” SETBACKS
In Washington, US President Joe Biden warned that “despite decades of progress, in far too many places around the world, the rights of women and girls are still under attack”, pointing to Afghanistan, Russia and Iran.
And in Abu Dhabi, former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said progress on issues affecting women and girls had been “dramatically set back” by the COVID-19 pandemic and the “organised pushback” to the advancement of women.
In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised women for their central role in defending the nation against the Russian invasion, pointing to those who “teach, study, rescue, heal, fight – fight for Ukraine”.
Raising the alarm about the women journalists covering global conflicts, media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said 73 were currently behind bars, calling for their “immediate and unconditional release”.
Women journalists have paid the price for being at the front line in recent crises, it said. Of the 12 women journalists detained in Iran, 11 were arrested following the Amini protests, with two facing charges that could carry the death penalty, it added.
Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurd, died in custody last year after she was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
Meanwhile Brazil marked a grisly landmark on Wednesday with a study showing it had suffered 1,410 femicides last year – the highest number since records began in 2015.
UN statistics show Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world for women, with a murder rate of 3.5 per 100,000 female inhabitants.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
