The High Court in Malaysia has announced it does not have jurisdiction to hear SIS’ judicial review application in response to the 2014 Selangor fatwa which declared the organisation ‘deviant’. SIS will either appeal this decision or pursue the challenge in the Shariah courts. Written by Ida Lim, Malay Mail Kuala Lumpur, Aug 27 —…
Verdict from country’s top court will see ‘virgin’ replaced with ‘unmarried’ in landmark victory for campaigners. Written by Agence-France Presse, The Guardian The word “virgin” must be removed from Muslim marriage certificates in Bangladesh, the country’s top court has said, a landmark verdict after campaigners challenged the “humiliating and discriminatory” term. Under the South Asian…
Myanmar’s military must stop using sexual and gender-based violence to terrorize and punish ethnic minorities, according to a new report released on Thursday by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission. Written by Vincent Tremeau, UN News “Extreme physical violence, the openness in which it is conducted … reflects a widespread culture of tolerance towards humiliation…
Victims of crimes, including those alleging rape, are to be asked to hand their phones over to police – or risk prosecutions not going ahead. Written by BBC News Consent forms asking for permission to access information including emails, messages and photographs have been rolled out in England and Wales. It comes after a number…
Kenya will become the first African country to collect data on its intersex citizens. Written by Rufaro Samanga, Okayafrica Next month, Kenya will be carrying out its national census. The BBC reports that for the first time in the country’s (and the continent’s) history, data will be collected from the approximately 700 000 intersex individuals who…
New research shows a fall in the age of menarche in Indonesia leading to concerns about the effect on child marriage and the need for legal reform. Written by Pierre van der Eng, The Jakarta Post The age of menarche, when girls first start menstruating, is falling in Indonesia. My recently published paper shows this is a…
The new measure comes amid a raft of opaque reforms around women’s rights issued by Saudi Arabia after the detention of women’s rights activists last year. Written by The New Arab Saudi women will now have the right to travel with their children without the permission of their husbands, the latest in a series of…
