Tag: Women

Isolated, female and vulnerable to abuse: Christian nannies in the Gulf

March 8, 2017 India, Nepal, Philippines, Trauma, Women

Locked up in the palaces of rich families, abused and treated as slaves by their “owners”, sexually exploited, or almost starved to death. Such is the plight of many foreign Christian nannies and housemaids from Asian countries working for families in the Arabian Peninsula – and almost nobody knows about . . . Read More

UPDATE: Missing Egyptian woman, 18, given new Muslim identity by security services

March 8, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Kidnapping, Luxor, Upper Egypt, Women

UPDATE (8 March) The brother of 18-year-old Hanan Girgis, an Egyptian Christian woman missing since 26 January, says he has been told she has a new Muslim identity and is being held by the security services. Rezeiky Girgis heard from the Civil Status Authority at Esna Police Station that Hanan . . . Read More

‘Double suffering’ when women targeted not only for gender, but also religion

March 8, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Boko Haram, Central African Republic, Islamic State, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trauma, Women

On International Women’s Day, one statistic you may not hear much is that 83% of global women identify with a religious faith. Pew Research asked people in 84 countries how often they pray; in half of them, substantially more women than men say they pray on a daily basis. And . . . Read More

Polygamy creates terrorists, says Nigerian Emir

February 22, 2017 Nigeria Borno, Chibok girls, Education, Kano, Katsina, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Rape, Terrorism, Women

One of Nigeria’s most prominent Muslim leaders has suggested that polygamy among the poor should be banned, saying that having masses of uneducated, poor children leads to terrorism. Muhammad Sanusi, the Emir of the northern state of Kano, who has four wives, said that polygamy itself is not wrong, but . . . Read More

Photographer tells stories of ‘Boko Haram girls’

February 7, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Nigeria, Women, Yola

A photographer given access to some of the most vulnerable victims of Boko Haram has produced a set of striking images to help tell their story. Chris de Bode, who specialises in covering humanitarian stories, visited Yola in north-eastern Nigeria for the Dutch Relief Alliance, a coalition of 14 Dutch . . . Read More

Four Ethiopian teenagers leave prison ‘in good health’ after sentence for giving out Christian book

January 30, 2017 Ethiopia Babile, Harar, Proselytism, Women

Four Ethiopian teenagers given a one-month jail sentence for distributing Christian literature are reported to be in “good health” following their release from prison on 22 December. The girls were found guilty of “inciting religious violence” and started their sentence on 25 November, despite three of them being minors. Gifti, . . . Read More

Women ‘central’ to spread of Christianity in Iran

January 20, 2017 Iran Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Maryam Rostampour, Marziyeh Amirizadeh, Women

Women are playing a central role in the underground churches of Iran despite the risk of rejection by their families and imprisonment by police, research by the global charity Open Doors has found. An Iranian woman lights a candle during the Christmas Eve mass at the St. Gregor Armenian Catholic . . . Read More

‘Like a jail without bars’: what it’s like working in China with women refugees from North Korea

January 19, 2017 China, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, Refugees, Women

Hwa-Young* works in China with women who fled North Korea or were abducted by people traffickers and taken across the border. Many of the women are tempted to leave behind a miserable life when they are told there are jobs waiting for them in China. But often they are sold . . . Read More

Two missing pastors; Myanmar army link suspected

January 19, 2017 Myanmar Baptists, Chin, Kachin, Myanmar, Rape, Shan, Women

International human rights organisations have expressed concern for two pastors missing since 24 December in Myanmar. Ethnic Kachin live in Shan as well as Kachin State, and the two Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) men had taken reporters to a Catholic church damaged by airstrikes in clashes between the government army and . . . Read More

Police rapes, acquittals and false accusations highlight Christians’ vulnerability in India

January 12, 2017 India Chhattisgarh, Dalits, Hindu nationalism, India, Raipur, Rape, Women

The acquittal of two suspects in the gang rape of a Catholic nun, and a series of rapes by security forces in remote areas of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have highlighted the vulnerability of women from marginalised communities. “If you are a woman tribal or from a minority, . . . Read More

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