Tag: Women

Iraqi Christian Rita was sold four times on the IS sex slave market

June 19, 2018 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh, Quran, Rape, Syria, Trauma, Turkey, Women, Yazidis

Iraqi Christian Rita Habib was sold four times on the ISIS sex slave market. (Photo: Still from video)

Rita, a Christian woman from the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, was 26 when Islamic State invaded her town and took her captive. She was sold and bought four times as a sex slave before she was freed in 2017 and reunited with her father in April this year, almost four . . . Read More

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

Ad in Vanity Fair tells #MeToo celebrities of women who suffer for their faith

June 8, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Boko Haram, India, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Italy, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Women, Yazidis

Rebecca Bitrus was abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 and suffered because of her faith. (Photo credit: Claire Giangravé/Crux news agency)

An ad in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair has called for the global #MeToo campaign to include women who suffer violence because of their religion. The Vanity Fair ad includes an open letter to some of the actresses who spoke out as part of the #MeToo initiative, like Asia . . . Read More

Indonesia: How women and children became agents of terror

June 7, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Children, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, JAD, Jakarta, Muhammadiyah, Surabaya, Women

Women pray in Blue Mosque in Indonesia's capital Jakarta. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Terrorism in Indonesia is now carried out by “entire families, including mothers and children”, one local police chief noted, three weeks on from the suicide blasts on three churches and a police station that claimed 27 lives, including 13 attackers. In raids following the series of bomb attacks, Jakarta security . . . Read More

Uzbek police accused of targeting Christian women with sexual violence

June 1, 2018 Uzbekistan Khorezm, Police, Protestants, Religious freedom, Urgench, Uzbekistan, Women

Christian women in Uzbekistan meet for a meal and to pray together. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Women belonging to a Protestant church in the western Uzbek city of Urgench face threats, harassments and sexual violence from local authorities, according to regional news agency Forum 18. The news agency highlighted the case of Nargiza Khusainova, who was reportedly walking in the streets in January when she was . . . 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

Amnesty accuses Nigerian army of raping women and girls who fled Boko Haram

May 24, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Divorce, IDPs, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Women

Women and girls detained by Boko Haram have then been raped by their military ‘rescuers’ reports Amnesty International in a report that has taken two years and 250 interviews. Nigerian troops sometimes separated women from their husbands and raped them, sometimes in exchange for food, in refugee camps, the rights . . . Read More

Can the Scouts help safeguard the future of the Church in Syria?

May 17, 2018 Syria Children, Churches, Damascus, Greek Orthodox, Homs, IDPs, Refugees, Syria, Women, Youth

As the war in Syria enters its eighth year, clergy who have watched their congregations dwindle fear that those who have left the country may not return. One priest expressed his fear that “Christianity will be erased” from certain areas of the country “because the Christians who left these places . . . Read More

Kidnapping fears for missing Coptic newlywed

May 8, 2018 Egypt Aswan, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Kidnapping, Marriage, Minya, Qalyubia, Qena, Samalut, Sharqia, Sohag, Upper Egypt, Women

A Coptic Christian woman who had been married for two weeks went missing from her school last Wednesday, sparking fears that she may have been kidnapped. Her disappearance brings to eight the number of Coptic women in Egypt who have gone missing since April, according to research by World Watch . . . Read More

Egypt’s disappearing Coptic women and girls

May 1, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Cairo, Children, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Kidnapping, Marriage, Minya, Qalyubia, Qena, Sharqia, Sohag, Women

At least seven Coptic Christian women and girls disappeared in Egypt last month, in what is becoming a recurring phenomenon. In each case, the family of the woman says she was abducted by a Muslim who wished to convert her to Islam and marry her. All of the disappearances have been . . . Read More

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