Afghanistan

Global coverage of women's rights abuses in Afghanistan is critical to raising awareness and changing this reality. But what is being done on the ground and at the policy level? What is the good news? The picture is often larger, and more complex, than we see. 

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Acts of self-immolation have been used as a tool for political protests around the world. In Saigon, a Buddhist monk set himself on fire to protest his government’s intolerance of Buddhism.  In Tunisia, a young man also used self-immolation in protest which jump started the 2010-2011 revolution in this region. What would drive a 10 year old girl to set herself on fire in Afghanistan?

The first same-sex fertility center, Arizona Senate passes race and sex-based abortion ban, women still being given as crime compensation in Afghanistan, lawsuit filed over New York's CPC law, and Rep. Mike Pence likes what Title X does for "inner cities."

How did you celebrate International Women’s Day? Did you “celebrate good times?” or Were you a victim of violence?

Pelosi speaks out on the anti-choice assault on women's rights, a Thai airline seeks to hire transgender women as flight attendants, women use less epidural anesthesia during labor when they control their own pain relief, and a heart-breaking attack on women's shelters in Afghanistan.

When discussing female leadership and the military its easy to pin point the reason for the lack of leadership roles for women while serving in the military. Female roles in combat have been dictated by the restrictions that government places on what they can and cannot do while serving their country; for instance females have long been banned from direct ground combat

"Fetal pain" will be the state anti-choice legislation goal of the year; the search for child care in one of the nation's most expensive markets; HIV is spreading in Afghanistan; and a conservative app gets the ax from Apple.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell falls temporarily - and with it the hopes of a repeal of the military abortion ban; the U.S. fails on almost all measurable goals for improving women's health; Afghan women get a hand from the UN and a new report and more.