Six days after the devastating terror attack that killed fifty people in two Christchurch mosques, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced an immediate ban on all military-style semi-automatic (MSSA) weapons. This includes assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, as well as parts that are able to convert any semi-automatic […]
On International Women’s Day, thousands of Pakistani women and men rallied across Pakistan in the “aurat march” (women’s march) to call for political action on women’s rights and equal access to justice. The aurat march began in the city of Karachi in 2018 when a group of women decided to […]
Last week, refugees and migrants, including minors, were reported to have been tortured in Libya for escaping and protesting the inhumane conditions of their detainment under Libya’s Department of Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM). Most detained Libyan refugees and migrants were returned to Libya by the E.U. funded Libyan coastguard after […]
Last Tuesday, the European Parliament congregated in Brussels to listen to Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of the murdered Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Cengiz had been invited by the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights to give evidence on the human rights abuses occurring within the Gulf Cooperation Council states. During […]
2018 has been a ground-breaking year for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) with female scientists winning the Nobel Prize in both Chemistry and Physics. Dr Donna Strickland won the Nobel Prize in Physics, and Dr Frances H. Arnold won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, marking the first […]
Despite one billion people worldwide having a disability, persons with disabilities are among the most forgotten and marginalized groups in any crisis or any armed conflict. On 3 December 2018, The United Nations Security Council Open Arria Formula Meeting addressed the alarming situation of persons with disabilities who live in war-stricken countries. […]
What was once considered as science fiction is now a reality as Chinese Professor He Jiankui has claimed to have edited the DNA of twin girls, resulting in the world’s first genetically edited babies. Current laws allow scientists to do gene editing on discarded IVF embryos that must be destroyed […]
Australia’s remote detention policy has developed a notorious reputation for an ‘offshore processing procedure’ that uses remote Pacific islands such as Nauru as a ‘dumping ground’ for people seeking asylum and protection by boat to Australia. This policy has recently come under mounting pressure as new evidence shows the serious […]
In Iran, the right to education is being stripped from activists. Iranian authorities have been preventing student activists from receiving a graduate education by placing a “star” on their applications, which specify that their application is “missing documents.” Zia Nabavi, an activist and student who was ranked ninth out of over […]
On September 19, 2018, New Zealand celebrated the 125th anniversary of women suffrage. The Electoral Act was signed into law in 1893 and thereby, gave women over the age of 21 the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Therefore, making New Zealand the first country in the world to enact […]
