Source: The Guardian
The Nigerian senate recently passed its violence against persons prohibition (VAPP) bill, which seeks to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) as well as all other forms of gender-based violence.
Source: BBC
Egyptian security forces are using sexual violence against detainees on a massive scale, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
A report by the organisation suggests men, women and children are being abused "to eliminate public protest".
Many are subjected to virginity tests, rape and gang rape after arrest.
Egypt's Interior Ministry said it would not comment until it had studied the report.
The study notes a surge in sexual violence after the Egyptian military takeover in July 2013.
The perpetrators are rarely held to account and the impunity points to a "cynical political strategy aimed at silencing all opposition".
Police, intelligence officers and members of the military are guilty of targeting male and female detainees, according to the report.
Human rights groups have accused the authorities of failing to address the issue (file photo)
Student's ordeal
I saw an officer who was grabbing a young woman by the breasts and I said to him: "If you want to arrest her, then arrest her, but you have no right to touch her breasts."
He grabbed me exactly as he had her, before calling two other police officers to come and hold me. They beat me, insulted me.
In the van they insulted me and beat me so much that I could no longer stand up. Two soldiers started to sexually assault me.
The officer from the start got into the van and said to me: "Come here I'm going to show you if I'm a man." He sexually assaulted me, the soldiers laughed, and then he raped me completely. I was paralysed, I started to vomit blood.
My life is ruined. I'm afraid of my son, my husband and even my father.
The authors said they did not have evidence that commanders were giving the orders, but the scale of the violence - and the impunity - suggested there was a political strategy.
They claim that victims who file complaints are systematically obstructed by the justice system, and face threats and reprisals by police officers and prison guards.
Sexual violence has long been a problem within the general population in Egypt, with assaults dramatically increasing in the years since Hosni Mubarak was removed from power.
Last year, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi ordered police to launch a crackdown amid growing public anger.
He said sexual assaults, were "an unacceptable form of conduct" and called for citizens to "reinstate moral values in society".
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
The Nezeledoun resource centre in Cassou village is a hive of activity, unlike the thirsty farms nearby, as women cultivate tree seedlings and vegetables here, thanks to a borehole that provides much-needed water.
Source: The Ethiopian Herald
In conjunction with the ongoing Fifth General Election, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Women League based in Addis held at the Addis Ababa Stadium yesterday a rally in support of the advancements made by women in the social, political and economic spheres.
Source: Diplomat
When Fadumo Dayib announced her bid to run for President of Somalia on national TV last year, people thought she was crazy. Somalia's violent history and the life-threatening conditions that the country's politicians and activists face on a daily basis makes Dayib's choice to run for office— especially as a woman in a patriarchal culture—a brave one. "People just can't understand why I would do such a thing," Dayib says.
Source: The Chronicle
Information reaching The Chronicle the indicates that 7,256 girls, representing 33.69 percent from six districts in the Eastern Region, dropped out of basic school between the 2010 and 2012 academic years.
Source: IPS
When some 40,000 delegates, including dozens of heads of state, descend on Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference later this year, a group of African women mayors plan to be there and make their voices heard on a range of issues, including electrification.
Source: The News
The Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) has expressed joy over the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration of Liberia as an Ebola free nation.
Source: London Evening Standard
A leading human rights campaigner has been appointed to run a project to stamp out female genital mutilation.
Source: Daily News
It has been an uphill battle for women and civil society organisations in their quest to have the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on gender and development come to realisation.
Source: Times Live
Tackling violence against women is not a priority in South Africa.
Source: UN News
It is time to change social norms that support male control over women and reinforce discrimination against vulnerable family members, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today on International Day of Families.
Source: Gender Links
Despite all the accomplishments of the women's movement in the past 50 years, women today still live in a world that celebrates a femininity that is passive, submissive, and essentially silent.
Source: Namibian
The gap between what men and women earn in the country has widened to 16%, according to labour experts.
Source: Zimbabwe Independent
Women have criticised the proposed Gender Commission structure saying it will give President Robert Mugabe and the Minister of Women Affairs power to infringe on the commission's independence.
Source: Spyghana
The International Day of Families will be observed on 15th May. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1994 and reflects the importance the international community attaches to families.
Source: The Guardian Nigeria
A paper presented as a keynote speaker at the occasion of the kick-off of the "Pan-African Girl Child Education Campaign" organized by the Boss Friendship Club in Nigeria in conjunction with the World Dynasty Pageant, held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria.
Source: IPSNews
"We can really argue as much as we want but if we put ourselves in the skin of victims, we just have to do something to stop this." This was Graça Machel's appeal at the launch of Code Blue, the campaign to end impunity for sexual violence by United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping personnel Wednesday.
Source: SANews
Minister for Women in the Presidency, Susan Shabangu, says her department will be working with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to ensure that funding of women projects is adequate.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
On May 5, a police gender and children desk was opened here as a milestone in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV).