Women empowerment

urmese women’s rights activists and government officials aim to finish drafting a bill by the end of the year to prevent violence against women, activists say.

“Once enacted, it would be the first law to ensure the protection of women from all forms of violence, including physical, mental, sexual and verbal violence,” May Sabe Phyu, a peace activist and coordinator of the Gender Equality Network (GEN), a large network of civil society organizations, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

This was discussed at the Fiji Women’s Forum Candidate Strengthening Workshop in the Holiday Inn in Suva, today. Representatives from Political parties met to discuss and support the women candidates that have been announced or with the intention of running through the political party. FemLink Coordinator, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls says the workshop is to also provide for spot for campaign organizers as well.

On June 23, a middle-aged male Japanese politician, dressed in the traditional dark suit and '80s-retro haircut, walked in front of a waiting line of news cameras, to where a younger female politician waited. As the cameras flashed, he apologized to the woman, and bowed deeply; she looked on gravely.

Turkey's first women-only party was established on June 26 after a group of women has submitted a petition to the Interior Ministry, allowing it to participate in parliamentary elections held in 2015.

The party demands the construction of democratic political parties, transparency in election laws and a reduction of the electoral threshold to 3 percent.

Benal Yazgan, the head of the Women Party Initiative stated that what they want is to take the initiative a step further and turn it into a political party.

Gender quotas have worked to increase the number of women getting elected in politics and should be looked at along with other measures to encourage women to become candidates, Northern Ireland MLA, Anna Lo of the Alliance Party told a Sinn Féin summer school at the weekend.

He was loved and admired all over the world for helping to end apartheid and heal the scars of a divided nation.

But in his fight for total freedom, the liberation leader also devoted himself to another cause -- the empowerment of women.

Here are five things Nelson Mandela did to advance female equality in his quest for justice.