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Nigeria Marriage and Sexuality -Median Age of Marriage for women is 18 -gradually increased from 17 (on average for women in their 40s) to 19 (women now) -women who live in urban areas tend to marry 4 years later than women who live in rural areas (20 compared to 16) -women with secondary education also on average marry 6 years later (15.5 to 21.5) -wealthy women (top 1/5) tend to marry 8 years later (at 23.2) than poor women (bottom 1/5) Tangent: -around 25% of men have more than one wife

This story follows various rural Afghan women (most notably, one named Shakira) and tracks their life as Afghanistan has oscillated from regime to regime, each containing different improvements and violence. Parallel to this political pendulum are the women's different opinions on what rights they should have - traditionalism versus progressivism.

This is a beautifully crafted article.Centering Shakira's story and perspective in the larger historical saga of Afghanistan allows us to examine the intersection between politics and culture in the country. Many people have a tendency to see Afghan women as a monolith- defined by their current political regime- but this article puts into perspective how reductive this is.

Cole, good find! Audrey, I really appreciate your noting the tendency to say women in a country are all of the same mind.

Stateless Somalia is attempting to re-legitimize itself by creating a new electoral process for the 2016 election. Somalia's next president will be elected on November 30th. Some interesting aspects to note is that this election is not universal, but putting a process in place is the country's first step to developing universal elections by 2020 and creating more political participation.

I think it is especially interesting how hard they are trying to get female representation (1 of ever 3 seats in the House of the People will be contested by only women, 30% of seats in the upper house reserved for women, 16 of 51 delegates required to be women, registration to be a candidate is half as much for women compared to men). I appreciate that they are trying to get diverse representation, but did they go so far as to be a little patronizing? I don't know enough about Somalia to answer, but I'm curious what you think.

I was shocked (and horrified) to see that such a small group of men could harass and rape over 200 women, including an 80 year old, with UN peacekeepers located up the street. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

This spring I watched a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival called "Ruined". It was about women in the Congo: a "ruined" or raped woman runs a bar for soldiers and hires girls to show them a "good time". It was a really heart-wrenching play. I assume that "demolished", the word the woman uses, is, like "ruined", just another translation for "raped". It's interesting that they use a word that signifies total destruction, but also fitting. "Ruined" women often cannot find husbands, or are beaten or killed by their families out of shame. It is so bizarre and disgusting that rape has become such a common side-effect in the Congo. I wonder how accepted it is among the soldiers, or if they receive any punishment for their actions (I'm leaning towards no). I feel as though rape has by now become integrated into the military culture in the Congo. It's not just catching individuals, it's trying to thwart a whole mentality. Which will be very difficult to do, since they have much greater force than the UN presence. The description of how people try to stay as close to UN escort trucks as possible and camp outside the UN houses really illustrates the fear and feeling of defenselessness they must feel. It must be terrifying to live in the Congo right now, both as a villager and a UN worker. I understand why there are no women soldiers stationed there.

Should be interesting to watch how the Taliban will execute this vow, especially since their spokesperson gave a pretty vague answer as to how the respect for women's rights would look within the Taliban.

I also think it will be very interesting to see whether the Taliban follow through with the vow and what respect means to them. It seems like everyone is waiting to see if this vow is an indicator that the Taliban have changed their ways since their strict form of rule in the 1990s.

Now we're at September 29, and the Taliban has closed girls' schools and colleges, women have to wear the burka, and the restrictions grow. . .

Women in Afghanistan held a protest to demand inclusion and rights, but were brutally shut down by Taliban fighters. This is some of the first evidence of mistreatment of women by the Taliban, coming shortly after a representative from the Taliban promised to respect women's rights. Other resistance has faced similar outcomes, but neither the women protestors nor any other opposing forces want to surrender.

I think that this is an unfortunate sign that the Taliban will not keep their word when it comes to protecting women's rights. Also, the economic situation there looks dire. Maybe the West can trade cash for women's rights in some sort of deal.

Yup. A worrying sign.

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Oxfam, the Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA), and Cuban Americans for Engagement (CAFE) for a panel discussion about the impact of U.S. sanctions on Cuban women and vulnerable populations in the context of a global pandemic

This has been an ongoing event for Native families across America. Children as little as two have been reported missing. And there's been no further progress into their investigations.

Learned the term Missing White Woman Syndrome years ago, and, as the article mentioned, the contrast between the attention Gabby Petito was given as opposed to the thousands of MMIW is heartbreaking. It's a similar case in Canada, as well, where the Indigenous population is greater. I wonder what it will take for the country to invest more, not only into finding these missing women, but also into Indigenous communities at all. They were also hit hard by the pandemic, as well.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France sharply criticized on Monday a New York Times article in which French Muslim women described being ostracized by non-Muslims, discriminated against when they sought jobs and made to feel persecuted.

Hours before her prime-time moment Tuesday as Mitt Romney's best cheerleader, Ann Romney was energetically at work on her mission - doling out homemade pastries to the media, talking up her husband's "regular guy" love of Costco shirts and presenting an ever-smiling face to supporters.

It's really cool that the women referred to in the article (Dilma Rousseff, Michelle Bachelet, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Keiko Fujimori) are taking their countries by storm. These countries are obviously very forward-thinking, and I admire them for it.

It's amazing how much power women can have in countries that Americans often think of as less developed than the US. These women are really taking control, when here in America we have yet to elect a female president or vice-president.

I want to echo Shalina's point. It's surprising that in the United States we still have not had a female President or Vice President, whereas countries that we often consider inferior to ours, such as Argentina and Peru, have already had female leaders. Though not mentioned in the article, another influential country that has already had a female leader is England- which first had a female Prime Minister over thirty years ago!

A joint project of International IDEA and Stockholm University, the Global Database of Quotas for Women provides worldwide information on quota provisions for women in parliament.

I think the article powerfully explains the sad problem women are currently facing in Afghanistan. It is unfortunately not surprising but it is important to be well informed on what is happening.

I agree, Lexi, about the importance of being well-informed, even on this difficult topic. If all Afghan women were allowed to express their opinions on their own futures, I wonder what they would ask for. And if what they asked for was education and drivers' licenses and the opportunity to work for pay, would the men allow them these things?

An uncomfortable article about the UN in Congo. It talks about how the UN has spent billions of dollars and more than a decade on trying to keep peace, but they've accomplished very little.

These rapings are atrocious, and I'm surprised that its coverage on the media has been so meagre, considering the long history of the crisis in the Congo. While the U.N. has not been able to improve the Congo significantly, I'm wondering if the problems lie in the desolateness of the area (no lines of communication, etc) or in the management of the U.N. bases there. I believe that the U.N. could be doing more, but I don't think they should be the only solution; the local economy and infrastructure must improve as well so that better communication and control can be established.

What was most shocking to me about this article was the scale on which this is happening in Congo and how open the attackers are about it- raping an 80 year old woman, raping women with UN peacekeepers right up the street. The rapists have absolutely no limits. Scary and very sad. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

"FEBRUARY 21, 2003 GLASS CEILING No Way to Treat a Lady? As a sex discrimination suit unfolds, studies of Wal-Mart practices show a big gap in the status of men and women"