Violence Against Women, Global

Rape-aXe is a latex sheath containing sharp barbs that latch onto the penis when a man tries to rape a woman. The device can only be removed surgically.

In South Africa, which has been dubbed the rape capital of the world, women are begging for access to the device, its creator says. A 2006 Interpol study found that a woman is raped every 17 seconds in South Africa. A separate study found that of more than 20,000 reports of rape across South Africa, only 8 percent led to a conviction, according to a 2009 Amnesty International report.

A NEW fund dedicated solely to women’s causes was launched yesterday in Dublin by President Mary McAleese.

The Women’s Fund for Ireland aims to address problems facing women and girls in Ireland including poverty, violence and improving access to healthcare and education. It will also support grassroots projects in areas such as the arts, literacy and support for carers.

Violence against women is a widespread phenomenon in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority nation of 175 million where most people are poor, only half the adults can read and extremist ideologies, including the Taliban's, are gaining traction.

But a new bill banning domestic violence has come before Parliament.  The bill lays out a broad definition of domestic violence beyond assault, including emotional abuse, stalking and wrongful confinement. Depriving a spouse of money or other resources needed to survive is also considered a violation.

The bill strives to cover everyone in a household, including elderly parents, children and husbands. It also sets up local "protection committees," which are required to include women and empowered to file complaints on behalf of victims.

Abusers can face months or years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines if they violate court protection orders, the bill says.

At the start of Women's History Month in March, Margot Wallstrom began her two-year assignment to stop sexual violence from being used as a tactic in war--as a matter of global security.

Her job calls on her to implement U.N. Resolution 1888, passed by the Security Council in September, one of the major milestones in women's history that her appointment culminates.

Wallstrom has said she will focus immediately on conflict and post-conflict situations in three African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Sexual violence in conflict zones, however, isn't an "African issue," Wallstrom is quick to point out, describing gender-based violence as a global "human rights issue, a security issue."