Child rape epidemic in Zimbabwe

"Tens of thousands of children have been sexually abused in Zimbabwe in a growing epidemic that has shocked human rights activists. A single clinic in the capital, Harare, says it has treated nearly 30,000 girls and boys who were abused in the past four years ‑ an average...

Prostitution: a crime of purchasing

"Peers have been debating the policing and crime bill. Their deliberations mean that the government will take a historic step: instead of controlling prostitution by punishing women, it will penalise the purchasers – the men." This is an unpredictable development. (And one...

Women worked to death in Lebanon

"Four Ethiopian domestic workers are thought to have killed themselves in three weeks. Lebanon must protect these women. They mop floors, take out the rubbish, walk the dog, buy groceries and care for the children, the elderly or disabled. Many a well-to-do and lower middle...

Doctors are apparently being paid more if they're male

"Can it be true that male doctors earn an average of £15,000 more a year than their female colleagues?" And if it is true, what pray tell, could explain the difference in salaries? "After factoring out differences due to age, experience and area of specialism, it seems that...

Universities are not there to spoon-feed

"The assumption that lies behind the contact hours issue is a deeply mistaken one. It is that universities are a simple extension of school, and that as at school, students should be given as much attention as possible. University is emphatically not about spoon-feeding and...

Sex education will help gay children

"As a gay child, and in common with many gay children, I was terrified for most of my school life. My earliest sexual encounters – which all occurred before the age of consent (21 at that time) – were unsafe and I constantly felt that I could somehow be "in trouble" for...

Kate Moss' motto gives comfort to 'pro-anorexic' community

"When the supermodel Kate Moss, in a rare online interview this week, told readers that one of her mottos was "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels", the fallout was instant, vitriolic and damning." How horribly ill-conceived was this remark by Kate Moss? (Let's face it,...

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu hit's UK

"Health officials say a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu has spread between hospital patients. Five patients on a unit treating people with severe underlying health conditions at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff were infected. "Erk. But as I understand it,...

Somali woman stoned for adultery

"A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people." Is this a sign of the patriarchy hard at work? Or is it evidence of the age-old practice of ritually humiliating 'wayward...

New warning on 'perfect vaginas'

"Women are undergoing surgery to create the perfect vagina amid a "shocking" lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure, a report says. Research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology also questions the very notion of aesthetically...

Early life stress 'changes' genes

"A study in mice has hinted at the impact that early life trauma and stress can have on genes, and how they can result in behavioural problems. Stressed mice produced hormones that "changed" their genes, affecting their behaviour throughout their lives. " This has to be a...

Claims of sex abuse by women grow

"A huge rise in the number of children calling to report sexual abuse by women has been revealed by ChildLine. Over the past five years, the charity says the number of such calls has risen five times faster than youngsters reporting abuse by a man. Of 16,094 children who...

Warning of extra heart dangers from mixing cocaine and alcohol

"Drug addiction clinics say they are becoming increasingly concerned by the health risks associated with the chemical – the only known example of the body forming a third drug following the ingestion of two others. For not only is cocaethylene toxic in the liver, it is also...

Tough love 'is good for children'

"Children brought up according to "tough love" principles are more successful in life, according to a study. The think tank Demos says a balance of warmth and discipline improved social skills more than an laissez-faire, authoritarian or disengaged upbringing. " We were...