In-depth

In Spain, Law 12/2009* regulating asylum and subsidiary protection explicitly includes in the definition of a refugee, “persecution for reasons of gender or sexual orientation.” Rescate, an association supporting asylum seekers who have fled their countries for reasons related to gender, cared for them and hundreds of others who have endured gender-based violence, including sex trafficking.

Women in Turkey need more shelters so that those with-out financial means may find a way out of the violence they are exposed to. The violations against them by public officials are also increasing, and these are not unrelated to the government’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

Instead of receiving support, feminist groups must struggle against institutions to survive, as was the case of the “Casa Internazionale delle donne” and “Lucha y Siesta”. Threatened with eviction by the Municipality, these two symbolic places of the feminist movement celebrate together the end of a nightmare.

Legislators did not remain completely silent in the face of the constant struggle and activism of Algerian women, but the fair and equal legal arsenal today is either battling with regression or fighting for survival. Depriving divorced women who remarry of their right to their children’s custody is but one example of the injustice suffered by Algerian women.

Hijabistas, a neologism for fashionistas who wear the hijab, now dictate fashion trends. In Algeria, the many veiled bloggers are followed by thousands of subscribers. Sharing beauty tutorials and tips to seduce, they also give the hijab all kinds of styles, from the most classic to the sexiest…

Although abortion in Spain is allowed by law, it is a matter that is not yet read in terms of women’s rights and leaves huge gaps when it comes to exercising it. This gap is not one that the far-right is willing to pass up to impose its own agenda.

As the world celebrates International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September, we are publishing a comprehensive series of articles on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. For the drafting of this content, Medfeminiswiya journalists reported from Algeria, Egypt, Italy, Palestine, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain and Malta, countries where these fundamental rights are far from being achieved or remain very fragile.

Having a C-Section without being informed about the consequences and risks in a country where women have an average of 3 children is, to say the least, problematic. Caesarean sections carried out for the comfort of the practitioner and not the mothers are akin to gynecological violence. Here’s how.

Although abortion is legal in Turkey since 1983, access to it is not always guaranteed; a fact not unrelated to the condemnatory remarks by political leaders whose words may sometimes be more effective in practice than laws.

Malta is one of a handful of countries around the world to have an outright ban on abortion, criminalizing both women and doctors who perform the procedure. This article explores how a growing minority of voices across social, medical and legislative spheres are leading the charge in favor of a modern and inclusive system catering for reproductive rights.