Sunday 8 March marked International Womens' Day.
In some countries progress has decidedly been made to give women at least some equal rights. In many countries, notably those in the Middle East, the position of women is fraught.
IslamOnline reports in "Women's Day Marks Crisis of Inequities":
"Demanding equal rights and protesting domestic violence and growing poverty, women rallied worldwide Sunday, March 8, to draw attention to discrimination in their respective countries.
"Violence against women and girls is not a women's issue, it is an issue that concerns and diminishes us all," Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement on the UN website.
"No custom, tradition or religion can justify cruel and degrading treatment."
Thousands of women gathered in public squares from Kinshasa to Bangalore to the capitals of Europe to protest domestic violence.
In Africa, women called attention to the plight of their sex in war zones.
Some 10,000 women marched in the streets of Kinshasa to protest massive and savage violence against women and children using them as a weapon of war.
"The desires of Congolese women are clear: stop rape, stop HIV/AIDS, and stop other human rights violations against women and children," said Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankolo, family minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Iraq, many women -- especially widows -- are too poor to provide for their families, according to a report by aid agency Oxfam.
In Bangalore in India's south, activists met in parks and open areas to protest over a spate of violent attacks on women by extremists in the name of "moral policing."
In Europe, deteriorating financial security in the face of recession has made life more precarious for women workers.
"When, in times of crisis, jobs become scarce, women are often the ones who are the first to go," said Hlega Schwitzer, a leader of Germany's powerful IG Metall union, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"Women must not be the losers in the crisis," she told a gathering in Emden, northwest Germany, as she noted that women still earn on average 23 percent less than men.
In Spain, women marched in the capital Madrid to demand equal rights.
"Masculine globalization equals female poverty" read a banner at a march in Madrid, while in Warsaw calls for equality were linked to paychecks: "Equal rights, equal pay."
In some countries progress has decidedly been made to give women at least some equal rights. In many countries, notably those in the Middle East, the position of women is fraught.
IslamOnline reports in "Women's Day Marks Crisis of Inequities":
"Demanding equal rights and protesting domestic violence and growing poverty, women rallied worldwide Sunday, March 8, to draw attention to discrimination in their respective countries.
"Violence against women and girls is not a women's issue, it is an issue that concerns and diminishes us all," Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said in a statement on the UN website.
"No custom, tradition or religion can justify cruel and degrading treatment."
Thousands of women gathered in public squares from Kinshasa to Bangalore to the capitals of Europe to protest domestic violence.
In Africa, women called attention to the plight of their sex in war zones.
Some 10,000 women marched in the streets of Kinshasa to protest massive and savage violence against women and children using them as a weapon of war.
"The desires of Congolese women are clear: stop rape, stop HIV/AIDS, and stop other human rights violations against women and children," said Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankolo, family minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Iraq, many women -- especially widows -- are too poor to provide for their families, according to a report by aid agency Oxfam.
In Bangalore in India's south, activists met in parks and open areas to protest over a spate of violent attacks on women by extremists in the name of "moral policing."
In Europe, deteriorating financial security in the face of recession has made life more precarious for women workers.
"When, in times of crisis, jobs become scarce, women are often the ones who are the first to go," said Hlega Schwitzer, a leader of Germany's powerful IG Metall union, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"Women must not be the losers in the crisis," she told a gathering in Emden, northwest Germany, as she noted that women still earn on average 23 percent less than men.
In Spain, women marched in the capital Madrid to demand equal rights.
"Masculine globalization equals female poverty" read a banner at a march in Madrid, while in Warsaw calls for equality were linked to paychecks: "Equal rights, equal pay."
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