UN says number of women circumcised aged between infancy and adolescence rose by 30m to 230m since 2016
The practice, incorrectly believed to control women’s sexuality, can cause serious bleeding and even death. Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. Long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications, as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.
FGM: United Nations boss Antonio Guterres launches plan to tackle ‘baked-in bias’ in Kenya
The UN chief also launched a plan to boost empowerment of women and girls around the world on Friday, unveiling details at a meeting commemorating International Women’s Day on the theme of investing in women and girls.
How Kenyan activists embarked on mission to end gender-based violence as attacks on women spike
Kenya’s Demographic and Health Survey of 2023 found that more than 11 million women – or 20 per cent of the population – have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner during their lives, with 2.8 million of those women having experienced this type of violence in the last 12 months.
Ramadhan with a difference: Muslims in Gaza to fast against grim setting of Israeli bombs
Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, along with the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and pilgrimage. Muslims see various meanings and lessons in observing the fast.
No man, No cry: Chinese women eschew hunt for husbands, prefer ‘singledom’ as economy stutters
China’s single population aged over 15 hit a record 239 million in 2021, according to official data. Marriage registrations rebounded slightly last year due to a pandemic backlog after reaching historic lows in 2022. A 2021 Communist Youth League survey of some 2,900 unmarried urban young people found that 44 per cent of women do not plan to marry.
Research: Junk food addicts with high ‘bliss point’ usually have low appetite for fresh fruits, vegetables and beans
A 2023 research report published in the journal Addiction found that: “Tobacco-owned foods were 29 per cent more likely to be classified as fat and sodium hyper-palatable food (HPF) and 80 per cent more likely to be classified as carbohydrate and sodium HPF than foods that were not tobacco-owned between 1988 and 2001.
Junk food addiction: How Big Food hooks you just as cigarettes and cocaine trigger cravings
Along with speed, “addiction is also deeply enmeshed with memory and the memories we create for food are typically stronger and longer lasting than any other substance. Childhood memories of food can wield an uncanny power over our eating habits for the rest of our lives.”
Why in Senegal’s capital Nicaragua is popular flight path for illegal migrants headed for US
US authorities arrested Senegalese migrants 20,231 times for crossing the border illegally from July to December. That’s a 10-fold increase from 2,049 arrests during the same period of 2022, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Many like Ba cross in remote deserts of western Arizona and California.
Ghana’s anti-gay law draws United Nations condemnation after it is passed by parliament
The United States said it was deeply troubled by the bill, saying it threatens Ghanaians’ freedom of speech and is urging for its constitutionality to be reviewed, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Wednesday.
India’s ruling Janata Party bets on women voters with sewing machines, piped water and cooking gas
Traditionally Indian women were more inclined to vote for Congress, the main opposition party, in part because it gave a country short of female role models its first woman prime minister, Indira Gandhi.
