Saudi rape trial
The story of the woman gang-raped by seven men and then sentenced to be lashed.
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| Wajeha Al-Huwaider, a women’s rights activist from Saudi Arabia, talks to Everywoman |
This week the shocking story from Saudi Arabia of a 19-year-old woman gang-raped by seven men. Bravely, she went to court, and the rapists were jailed.
But in an extraordinary twist, the young woman was sentenced to 90 lashes for admitting to being in the company of an unrelated male shortly before the incident – the man she was with was also gang-raped.
When she appealed, her sentence was more then doubled to 200 lashes and six months in jail, and her lawyer was disbarred, because he says, he dared to challenge the decision.
Wajeha Al-Huwaider, a women’s rights activist from Saudi Arabia, tells Everywoman presenter Shiulie Ghosh why exactly the woman was punished with lashes even though she was the victim.
Paraquat Poisoning
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| Paraquat is still used in many palm plantations in Malaysia |
Paraquat is a powerful herbicide used by farmers to control weeds and increase productivity of crops. It is widely used in developing countries, such as Malaysia, India and South America. But it is also extremely toxic to humans, and as a result has been banned in many countries, including Syria, Kuwait and throughout the EU.
One of the countries still using paraquat is Malaysia. As the world’s top producer of palm oil, paraquat is still used in many of its palm plantations.
The government there had promised to start phasing out the use of paraquat last November, but then delayed that decision for another year.
Professor Lennart Romert is a toxicologist who was part of the Swedish team which helped ban paraquat in the EU. He tells Everywoman why it should be banned worldwide.
One night of freedom
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| Women dress up in men’s clothes and beat any men they find on the streets |
In the Indian city of Jodhpur there is one night of the year when women are allowed to behave like men.
They dress up in men’s clothes, stick on false moustaches, and run round with sticks, beating any poor unfortunate males they find out on the streets.
And why do they do this? Because they are re-enacting the legend of a domestic row between the Hindu god Shiva and his wife Ganwar.
Watch this episode of Everywoman here:
Part 1:
Part 2:
This episode of Everywoman aired from Friday November 23, 2007.
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