The refugee convention wasn’t designed with women in mind. Women fleeing domestic violence and asking for asylum face many barriers to qualifying for protection under international law.
Over 47% of women in Kenya have experienced physical or sexual violence by their partner.
Chaiyapong/Shutterstock
Survival sex can be a viable option for women managing homelessness. It ranged from staying with men for a night or a woman remaining in a sexual relationship to avoid becoming homeless again.
South African women march against high levels of gender based violence in the country.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Even for those that escape, the stigma of refusing a forced marriage separates young women from their family and community.
In Mozambique, gender-based violence, early marriage and early pregnancy all play a part in compromising the health of mothers and infants.
(Nazeem Muhajarine)
Mozambique has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. Researchers hope to reduce this, with an ambitious project aimed at empowering women and girls.
South Africa has been dubbed “the rape capital of the world”.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
South Africa has tended to prioritise race relations over gender relations since formal apartheid ended.
Music festivals tend to be geared toward young audiences, and may constitute the site of sexual harassment and assault against younger women.
AAP/Damian Shaw
Under the Rome Statute, court ordered reparations are available to victims after the accused is found guilty. In the case of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, this involves over 5,000 victims.
According to a Global Adolescent Study boys are given more freedom and independence than girls.
Reuters
Do boys and girls from diverse cultural settings experience their transitions into adolescence? Their cultural differences don’t make a difference, but their genders do.
In the transition to democracy in South Africa the promise of a more gender-equal society has struggled to gain traction.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Despite persistent myths that sexual violence and harassment are rare, two recent cases – and the subsequent online response – expose their commonality.