Tag: Rape

What churches can do to help victims of sexual violence in conflict to stay ‘part of us’

June 19, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, Children, Iraq, Islamic State, Minorities, Rape, Religious freedom, Seleka, Trauma, UN, USA, Women, Yazidis

Women affected by violence in the Central African Republic, have formed self-help groups in the capital Bangui and run a small shop where they sell their products. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Adrienne* survived a brutal sexual attack during a conflict with ex-Seleka militants in Central African Republic (CAR), only to be ostracised from her own community. Adrienne was alone in her greatest time of need, and the baby born to her nine months later bears the same vulnerabilities, and a label: a . . . Read More

Pakistani court hands down 14 years in prison for rape of 7 year-old Christian girl

May 25, 2018 Pakistan Pakistan, Punjab, Rape, Sialkot, Women

In Pakistan it is rare to see prosecutions on behalf of Christians going through to a conclusion in court. (Photo: Nadir Burney via Flickr; CC 2.0)

A Pakistani court has sentenced a young man who raped a seven year old Christian girl on Easter Day four years ago, to 14 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 Pakistani rupees (c.US $2,000). The verdict has been greeted by activists, as one of the few examples where . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian girl, 13, raped by fellow worker in field

January 17, 2018 Pakistan Bonded labourers, Gujranwala, Lahore, Pakistan, Rape

A 13-year-old Pakistani Christian girl was raped in a rural area near the city of Gujranwala, north of Lahore, on Sunday (14 January), as she worked in the fields. The girl was found by her younger cousin, and taken to hospital. The local police station has registered a case and . . . Read More

Nigeria: Boko Haram survivor and her baby ‘shamed’

December 1, 2017 Nigeria Acid attacks, Boko Haram, Borno, Converts, Gwoza, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Rape, Trauma, UN, West Africa, Women

Boko Haram survivor Esther*, holding her daughter Rebecca in her arms. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

As Islamic extremist group Boko Haram continues to hold young women captive in West Africa, some have been rescued only to return to their homes in shame, finding themselves labelled “Boko Haram women”. Until October 2015 Esther* lived the normal life of a 17-year-old in Gwoza, a town in southern . . . Read More

Sunni Arabs ‘helped drive out’ Middle East Christians

March 13, 2017 Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Rape, Sunni, Syria

Amid the push by Iraqi government forces to retake Mosul from Islamic State (IS), some former inhabitants of Christian villages in the Nineveh Plains and northern Syria are refusing to go back because they believe their former Sunni Muslim neighbours were complicit in driving them out, says Middle East analyst . . . Read More

Iraq urged to allow UN investigation into genocide

March 10, 2017 Iraq Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Middle East, Rape, Torture, UN, Yazidis

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has called upon the Iraqi government to allow a UN investigation into the treatment of Yazidis by the so-called Islamic State (IS), reports Reuters. A year ago, the UK Parliament joined US Secretary of State John Kerry, the US House of Representatives, the EU . . . 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

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

USCIRF says Myanmar must ‘control’ its military

December 21, 2016 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Churches, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Naga, Rape, Torture

A new, critical report on religious freedoms in Myanmar by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom says the major challenge facing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is “bringing the military under civilian control”. The report says the Burmese Army, which, due to constitutional provisions, is beyond civilian control, has . . . Read More

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