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Petition filed on behalf of woman known as as Fausia, who underwent a forced pregnancy after being raped Honduras is being taken to a global human rights body for the first time over its total abortion ban, which campaigners say violates women’s fundamental rights and the country’s international commitments.The Center for Reproductive Rights and the Honduras-based Centro de Derechos de la Mujer (Center for...

Reports of exorbitant cost of basic vegetables, as well as oil and flour, come amid warnings that Gaza is on the verge of faminePeople living in Gaza are facing exorbitant food prices as more than 1 million residents of the Palestinian territory face famine.Since Israel’s invasion in October, it has become common for Gaza’s displaced population to share pictures of their shopping baskets and...

Progress to prevent female genital mutilation needs to be ‘27 times faster’, says UNThe number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) has increased by 15% in the past eight years according to new data.Figures released by the UN children’s agency, Unicef, show that more than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, compared with 200 million...

Activists will cross the continent visiting areas where the practice is prevalent to revive progress in protecting women and girlsAfrican female genital mutilation survivors will lead thousands of campaigners in a two-year “caravan campaign” across the continent, calling for an end to the practice.Organised by #FrontlineEndingFGM, a group of grassroots activists and organisations in Africa will cover about 7,400 miles (12,000km) across 20 countries,...

Children’s parents and those who performed the procedure are in police custody, according to local reportsPolice in Sierra Leone are investigating the deaths of three girls who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM).Adamsay Sesay, 12; Salamatu Jalloh, 13; and Kadiatu Bangura, 17, died during initiation ceremonies in the country’s North West province last month, according to local reports. Continue reading...

MSF begins vaccine drive against incurable disease, which is spread via dirty water and kills thousands of pregnant womenA push to tackle an outbreak of hepatitis E in South Sudan is being hampered by flooding that has isolated populations and turned villages into islands.A pioneering vaccination drive has begun to protect people against a spate of cases but the true scale of the disease...

Exclusive: testimonies describing malnourishment and disease to renew pressure on government to repatriate dozens of Britons, many of them childrenBritish mothers held in a prison camp in north-east Syria fear that they may die in detention after an “alarming” deterioration in living conditions.Their testimony – revealed in a series of WhatsApp messages seen by the Guardian – will place fresh pressure on the UK...

At least four women have been murdered since the start of the year, leading to accusations of government inactionRights groups are calling for the Kenyan government to urgently investigate and prosecute cases of femicide, after the brutal murders of two women.“This is a national crisis – we are not doing enough as a country to protect women,” said Audrey Mugeni, the co-founder of Femicide...