#gender-based-violence

#gender-based-violence

The brief and deeply unsettling encounter lasted just a few seconds, sparking outrage across Mexico and beyond as it laid bare what many women in the country face daily. But for those who have spent years tracking women in politics, the incident in which a drunken man attempted to kiss Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on the neck and grope her was shocking but not entirely surprising.

Those most vulnerable to sexual harassment, assault and abuse are, unsurprisingly, those who have less power or are treated with less respect: undocumented migrants; women in precarious employment; women with disabilities; LGBTQ women; young women and girls. Paradoxically, that helps to explain why the assault of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's president, has drawn such outrage domestically and internationally. A drunken man tried to kiss her neck and grabbed her chest as she spoke to citizens in the capital's streets.

Machismo in Mexico is so fucked up not even the president is safe, said Caterina Camastra, a professor and feminist, when I talked to her in Morelia, a city west of the Mexican capital this week. Succinct and to the point, it is a sentiment shared by many women in Mexico after watching the now viral video of a drunk man groping the country's first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, as she walked from the National Palace to the education ministry on Monday.

Aurora, a pseudonym to protect her identity, says she was almost one of those people before she discovered the York Region Centre for Community Safety (YRCCS). They told me that I'm not the one who should be blamed for this situation they taught me how to love and care for myself again, said Aurora. According to executive director Jaspreet Gill, YRCCS helped connect over 800 people and 1,200 of their children with intimate-partner violence resources such as shelters, legal support, and food banks last year.

Connecticut is one of only a handful of states without a law banning female genital mutilation and cutting, a human rights violation and one of the most extreme forms of gender-based violence. FGM/C, as the practice is often abbreviated, can be done for cultural reasons or a way to exert control over sexuality. It is most often performed on young girls without their consent, has no medical value, and can result in severe medical complications like obstructed childbirth and sensory deprivation.

Men's heavy drinking is fueling a hidden crisis affecting millions of women and children worldwide. The harms, from violence to financial instability, are especially severe where gender inequality is high. Experts warn that alcohol policies must include gender-responsive strategies to protect vulnerable families. They call for reforms combining regulation, prevention, and community action. A sweeping global review has revealed that men's alcohol consumption is causing widespread harm to women and children, from violence and neglect to lost educational and life opportunities. Credit: Shutterstock

Villasana says she is in awe of the strong spirit of the girls she's encountered. "I've met girls and women who have been kidnapped by militants or faced gender-based violence when migrating, who have camped in vans going across hundreds of miles. It's just amazing that the women and girls can keep pushing forward despite these incredible, really unthinkable challenges." "I think when given opportunity and support and education and resources," she says, "women and girls are unstoppable."

The murder of three young Argentinian women whose torture by suspected drug traffickers was livestreamed on a private Instagram group has sent shock waves through a country unused to such extreme levels of narco violence. Brenda del Castillo, 20, Morena Verdi, 20, and Lara Gutierrez, 15, went missing on Friday, after they were lured to a house in the outskirts of Buenos Aires by a promise that they would be paid US $300 for taking part in a sex party.

I was about 13 when my family decided to marry me off to a man of 29. I cried, I resisted. The pain was doubled because even at that age I was already drawn to reading about rights and freedoms. My suffering came from knowing that my rights were being violated, along with my adolescence and childhood. But soon I had to accept the situation

The brutal rape and murder of a young female trainee doctor at one of the largest government-run hospitals in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata in August 2024 caused a nationwide outcry, leading to demonstrations in several cities across India. The protests spread and morphed into a women's social justice movement, "Reclaim the Night," which demanded safer public spaces and workplaces for women.

Italian authorities reported the arrest of an American man in Greece linked to the deaths of a mother and her baby found in central Rome.