Tag: Women

Eritrean Christian mother’s ‘isolation’ after church-leader husband imprisoned

September 15, 2017 Eritrea Children, East Africa, Eritrea, Pentecostals, Women

World Watch Monitor reported a month ago how a mother of three, Fikadu Debesay, died in a desert camp where she had been imprisoned together with her husband. Their crime? Belonging to a non-sanctioned church in Eritrea. Like Debesay, Ruth is in her late 30s, has three children, and although not . . . Read More

Uzbekistan ‘violates religious freedom through coercion and sexual violence’

September 14, 2017 Uzbekistan Religious freedom, Russian Orthodox Church, Uzbekistan, Women

Russian Orthodox St. Alexey Cathedral in Samarkand, southeast Uzbekistan. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Uzbek regime continues to hold its citizens, including Christians, “in constant fear”, subjecting them to surveillance, threats, raids, fines and short-term imprisonments, according to regional news agency Forum 18’s analysis of religious freedom in Uzbekistan. In a comprehensive overview, Forum 18 highlights a number of incidents, including two in . . . Read More

Egypt: ex-kidnapper admits ‘they get paid for every Coptic Christian girl they bring in’

September 14, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Kidnapping, Minya, Salafism, Women

“I remember a Coptic Christian girl from a rich, well-known family in Minya. She was kidnapped by five Muslim men. They held her in a house, stripped her and filmed her naked. In the video, one of them also undressed. They threatened to make the video public if the girl . . . Read More

Central Asian mother beaten while pregnant, afraid to lose her child – for being a Christian

September 6, 2017 Central Asia, Divorce, Islamic extremism, Sharia, Women

The narrow room in the old hostel in this Central Asian city is too small for the four women who live there: 23-year-old Sameda*, her mother, sister, and little daughter. Although they are in the capital, their room has no access to water or gas, and the authorities refuse to . . . Read More

‘Prostitution is rife’ – sexual exploitation of Boko Haram survivors in IDP camps

September 1, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Cameroon, Divorce, IDPs, Maiduguri, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Women

Thousands of Christians in north-east Nigeria displaced by Boko Haram’s insurgency now face discrimination and harsh treatment – including sexual exploitation – by government officials, reports Global Christian News (GCN). While many thousands have been killed, others sought refuge in neighbouring Cameroon or in the relatively safe states in the . . . Read More

Vietnam issues harsh sentence to another Catholic blogger

July 3, 2017 Vietnam Catholics, Communism, Hanoi, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Women

Vietnam has again been criticised over its treatment of a Catholic blogger. Mary Magdalene Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 37, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a one-day trial on 29 June for posting what police described as anti-state reports, including one about civilians dying in police custody, reports . . . Read More

Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Conservative attitudes can be passport for misogyny’

June 8, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Belgium, Boko Haram, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Pakistan, Punjab, Religious freedom, Trauma, Women

Women are often subject to discrimination and rejection due to social, legal and cultural norms, especially in patriarchal societies. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has said that sometimes “[religiously] conservative attitudes are a passport for misogyny, while at other times they are simply inherited attitudes”. His comment came two days after a consultation about Christian women under pressure for their faith, where speakers noted that women living in highly . . . Read More

Al-Shabaab sex-slave programme to ‘breed next generation of fighters’

May 31, 2017 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Garissa, Mombasa, Somalia, Women

A Kenyan woman searching for her two brothers, suspected of joining the Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants Al-Shabaab, has discovered that women are being seized and trafficked by the group as sex slaves. Her findings are revealed in the BBC report, The sex slaves of al-Shabab. During her search, Salama Ali uncovered stories . . . Read More

500 children taken by Boko Haram from one northern Nigeria city

April 28, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Damasak, Kidnapping, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Refugees, Women

As thousands of refugees return home to northern Nigeria, they are discovering with dismay the scale of devastation left by Boko Haram. In Damasak (Borno State), a city once occupied by the Islamist extremists, hundreds of children are missing. Most of them were seized by Boko Haram in autumn 2014. . . . Read More

As a Christian woman in Yemen, life is about survival

April 11, 2017 Yemen Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Converts, Houthis, Sana'a, Women

Being a woman and Christian in Yemen is not easy. Photo: Open Doors International

Life in Yemen is not easy for a woman. Especially if you are a woman who has decided to become a Christian. Yemen is a tribal country, where leaving Islam is seen as a betrayal of that tribe, punishable by death. Nadeen (*), a born-and-raised Yemeni woman in her late . . . Read More

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