Political violence in Kenya

Kenyan MP Flora Tera recovering in hospital

Kenya is heading towards parliamentary elections in December, but campaigning has been overshadowed by news of a savage attack on one aspiring female MP, Flora Tera.

 

She was brutally beaten and tortured outside her home on September 7, and she says it was an attempt to stop her from running for a seat. It was a particularly vicious attack and she was tortured by a gang of five men.

During the attack they attempted to choke her. Then they scored her wrists with thorns. She was then beaten with iron bars, dislodging a disc in her spine. They finished off the attack by shaving and tearing the hair from her head, mixed it with feces, stuffed it into her mouth, and then forced her to swallow it.

All the while, they repeatedly warned her against running in the forthcoming elections. Before this, Tera had suffered another assault, a few weeks ago, by unknown assailants who burned her knuckles with cigarettes.

Of 222 members of parliament in Kenya, only 18 are women and it seems clear that this attack was politically motivated. Our East Africa correspondent, Yvonne Ndege spoke exclusively to Tera who told us of her ordeal from hospital.

Sarkozy’s France 

Samira and her two sons fled Armenia and now live in France

Staying with politics, the French pesident, Nicolas Sarkozy, is cracking down on illegal immigrants. He wants 25,000 of them deported from France by the end of the year and tensions are mounting as the crackdown begins to take its toll.

Critics say his policy will jeopardize the ideals of a nation that prides itself on upholding human rights and the principle of asylum.

In recent weeks protesters have gathered across the country in an attempt to protect illegal aliens. But with three months left in the year, police have only managed to catch around 11,000 immigrants – less than half the target set by Sarkozy.

Reliable estimates of the number of illegal immigrants in France are hard to come by. The Immigration Ministry puts it at 200,000 to 400,000, many from former colonies in Africa.

 

Everywoman reporter Sue Ellicott went to Lyon to meet Samira Babaian, an Armenian living illegally in Lyon. A single mother, Samira knows she and her two sons could be deported at any moment. The boy’s faces have been hidden at Samira’s request.

 

Shiulie is joined from Paris by Stephen Suffern a French immigration lawyer to discuss what this means for France society.
 
Fasting in Ramadan

It is of course the holy month of Ramadan and Muslims everywhere abstain from eating and drinking between the hours of sunrise and sunset. But what effect does fasting have on your body? And at Iftar, when the fast is broken, how does gorging on food often high in fats and sugars actually affect you?

Siama Qadar is an exercise and nutrition advisor who tells people how to eat and exercise during Ramadan, and joins Everywoman from London.

Stories from the Chinese city

Everywoman meets one of China’s top models

We continue with our series from China this month – and the new breed of smart, sexy women who deliberately challenge the views of a still conservative society.

 

This week, we meet one of China’s top models; a young woman who reached the heights of success in a job not many do in China, only to give it up to go back to school.
  

Watch this episode of Everywoman here:

Part 2:

This episode of Everywoman aired from Friday 28 September 2007.

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