3 million British women are assaulted by husbands every year.

New figures have revealed that one-in-ten women become victims of domestic violence every year in Britain.
Human rights watchdogs found the scale of wife beating to be extremely shocking. They want a huge increase in help for such victims, ANI reported.
According to the report, 3 million women every year were assaulted by husbands.
Also BBC reported, in June, the overcrowding crisis in Britain’s prisons forced the government to take drastic action by allowing some inmates to be released early.
The End of Custody License (ECL) Scheme means offenders can be let out up to 18 days early if they are serving sentences of between four months and four years.
At least initially, it did ease the pressure on prisons, but the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) says it has transferred that strain to them.
They say the scheme has failed to ease overcrowding as the prison population has crept back up. And they fear that insufficient monitoring of some of those released is putting vulnerable women at risk of domestic violence.
The Ministry of Justice says local police ought to be warned when a prison believes that an offender is likely to be a threat to his victim after release.
Harry Fletcher, NAPO’s assistant general secretary, said: “Our main concern was that men who were convicted of domestic violence would be able to return to their partner’s address.“
“And indeed we know there have been a number of occasions where men have returned, violence has been committed and the police have been involved.“ “We warned the government it would happen and it has.“
The cause of this problem, Fletcher says, is that like any others released early after a sentence of less than 12 months, domestic violence offenders are not referred to the probation service.
He says this means no risk assessment is done on them and their address--that to which they will return once released--is not checked either.
In effect, Fletcher says this means they can go back unchecked to the home of their victim. Neil Blacklock, development director of Respect, an organization that works with perpetrators of domestic violence, said he was not surprised at the revelation.
“It’s one more failure by the system and it’s putting victims at risk,“ Blacklock said.

The latest report of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), “Exported and Exposed: Abuses Against Sri Lankan Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates,“ documents the serious abuses domestic workers face at every step of the migration process. The report is based on 170 interviews with domestic workers, government officials, and labor recruiters conducted in Sri Lanka and West Asia.
Abuse and violation of basic rights of women workers are a serious issue as legal systems in the island nation as well as in the countries, where they are employed, offer little or no protection.
As per government statistics, there are 660,000 Sri Lankan women employed as domestic workers, nearly 90 percent in Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the UAE--countries that lack standard legal protection for domestic workers. In addition, an estimated 125,000 women migrate every year to different parts of the world, mainly West Asia, to land menial jobs, Hindu.com reported.
The remittances by migrant laborers are a crucial source of foreign exchange for the Sri Lankan government. In 2006, they brought in foreign exchange worth $2.3 billion, accounting for nine percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Next only to apparel, remittances are the largest source of income for the government. Yet every single day, according to the HRW, at least 50 women return home “in distress.“
As per the HRW research, Sri Lankan women domestic workers faced a range of abuses and exploitation, many of which were gender-specific. “Research shows that they face pervasive workplace abuses: they generally work excessively long hours, get no rest days, and are paid discriminatory wages, including earning less than their male migrant counterparts. In these four labor-receiving countries, Sri Lankan women domestic workers also suffer physical, psychological and sexual abuse; non-payment of wages; food deprivation; confiscation of their identity documents; forced confinement in the workplace; and limitations on their ability to return to their home countries when they wish to do so.“
“In some cases, the combination of these pervasive workplace abuses creates a situation in which women workers are trapped in forced labor. Countries of employment in the Middle East [West Asia] admit migrant domestic workers as short-term contract laborers and accord them few rights. The labor laws of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE categorically exclude migrant domestic workers from protection.
The governments of those countries deny migrant domestic workers equal protection under their country’s laws and limit their ability to change employers, even in cases of abuse,“ says the report.

The first World AIDS Day was staged by WHO in 1988, at a time when the world was waking up to this disease and its multiple catastrophic impact. Since then, the face of the epidemic has changed in significant ways, and better insight are gaining every day.
Some trends have been positive. Leaders in most countries are fully awake to the threat. Awareness has brought commitment, and resources continue to increase, including for the development of new tools, WHO.int reported.
This year’s report on the epidemic, jointly prepared by UNAIDS and WHO, indicates that HIV incidence peaked in the late 1990s and prevalence has been level since 2001. Data set out in this report further suggest that prevention efforts are leading to fewer new infections, especially in young people, and that greater access to treatment is contributing to fewer HIV-associated deaths.
These positive trends mask some alarming changes in the epidemic. My main message today is straightforward: do not forget Africa, and do not forget women.
Today, HIV/AIDS is overwhelmingly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where it thrives on and traps people in poverty. This region accounts for over two thirds of people living with HIV and over three quarters of HIV-associated deaths.
In all regions, the proportion of women living with HIV is growing. In sub-Saharan Africa, it now approaches 61 percent, the highest in the world. The infection of women amplifies the tragedy. These are wives, mothers, caregivers, and often the backbone of family and community cohesion.
In 2007, an estimated 1.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 1.6 million individuals died. That is 1.6 million personal and family tragedies.
In countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya, prevalence has peaked and declines are now being registered year after year. Leadership can change the tide. This can be leadership at the highest level of government, or leadership by a public figure who sets an example by speaking openly about AIDS and the need to fight stigma.
We need to do several things. The 2007 report uses a more robust methodology, which allows a better assessment of the dynamics of this epidemic.
We need to strengthen delivery systems. The weakness of health systems limits the ability to reach those in greatest need with sustainable prevention and treatment services. Under-resourced services cannot effectively prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, perpetuating an avoidable epidemic in infants and children.
We need to give more support to women. Improvements in the social status of women, in their control over household income, in education, also for girls, take time. But better access to sexual and reproductive health services is an achievable goal right now.
Weak systems may also not be able effectively to reach out to those at high risk of infection--including people in conflict and crisis situations.
We need to press forward with care and antiretroviral treatment programs to ensure the impressive achievements made continue and expand, and millions can return to health and productivity. We need to understand how to maximize the impact of treatment on HIV prevention, starting with pregnant women and uninfected partners.
For a mother to pass on infection to her child is a cause of unspeakable grief. Under-resourced services cannot effectively prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, perpetuating an avoidable epidemic in infants and children. We must seize every opportunity for women to learn their infection status.
Finally, another thing we can do right now is manage the co-epidemic of tuberculosis. Without access to antiretroviral therapy and proper TB treatment, most people living with HIV who develop tuberculosis will die quickly, sometimes in a matter of weeks. Effective joint interventions exist for TB and HIV, and these need to be scaled up in an integrated fashion to prevent these unnecessary deaths.
By Dr Margaret Chan
WHO Director-General

Alinush Tarian, graduated from Paris Sorbonne University, is the first Iranian female physics professor. She was born in 1930 in Tehran.

Although mood disorders and depression may occur at any age during a woman’s life, women seem to more vulnerable during times of hormonal fluctuations such as the menstrual period, pregnancy and perimenopause, according to a report released by the Society for Women’s Health Research in November.
During times of hormonal flux, many women are able to emerge relatively unscathed. But for others, a normal hormonal transition can trigger mild to severe mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorder, ScienceDaily reported.
“Science has revealed clues as to why these changes may occur in some women,“ says Peter Schmidt, M.D., an investigator in the National Institute of Mental Health’s Reproductive Endocrine Studies Unit, “but further research is needed to definitively show what causes depression and mood disorders in women during hormonal transitions.“
The Society for Women’s Health Research and the National Institute for Mental Health convened a thought leaders’ roundtable in June to discuss current efforts to understand the effects of hormonal transitions, specifically pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause, on the occurrence of mood disorders in women. The report outlines the participants’ views.
Roundtable participants observed that postpartum depression affects roughly 10 to 15 percent of women up to one year after childbirth, but the exact cause is not known.
Some scientists believe that chemical changes in the brain may be caused by the shifts in hormone levels during pregnancy and the post-partum period, leaving women vulnerable to depression.
Other life cycle changes in a woman’s life such as perimenopause where hormones are shifting may produce similar emotional disturbances.
Scientific research conducted by Schmidt, David Rubinow, M.D., at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and their colleagues illustrated the effect of hormones on human mood by shutting down the ovarian cycle in an attempt to eliminate the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.
After two to three months of ovarian suppression, the study participants’ problematic mood symptoms were greatly reduced. The researchers concluded that when reproductive hormones are removed, premenstrual symptoms or PMS disappears.

Indonesian women lead by first lady Ani Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono started a campaign Saturday to encourage women to plant 10 million trees, ahead of next week’s climate conference summit in Bali.
“We have experienced so many disasters; it is our joint responsibility to avoid it to happen in the future. I encourage Indonesian women to plant trees in December,“ first lady Ani Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, reported News.monstersandcritics.com.
The effort Saturday follows Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s announcement of a campaign to plant 79 million trees to reduce the effects of carbon-dioxide emissions.
Delegates and ministers from more than 180 countries are expected to gather at the Indonesian resort island of Bali to kick off negotiations on a new treaty to battle climate change after 2012, when the current Kyoto Protocol ends.

Amnesty International said in a report, the two-decade-old civil war in northern Uganda has receded but sexual violence against women is still widespread and going unpunished, .
The London-based rights watchdog said the criminal justice system in northern Uganda is systematically “ignoring, denying and tacitly condoning“ sexual violence and letting the culprit walk free, reported AFP.
“The spotlight on northern Uganda is usually on crimes committed in the context of the conflict,“ the report said.
“However, Amnesty International’s recent research reveals that despite the cessation of hostilities, violence against women remains high, in part due to state inaction in ensuring accountability of suspected perpetrators.“
The report said those perpetrators ranged from close family members to Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, the Ugandan military and police.
Amnesty charged that police services and legal provisions were grossly inadequate, urging the Uganda government to fulfill its obligation and bring those responsible to justice.
It urged the government to give increased attention to sexual and gender-based violence in the “National Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda“ it launched in October.
The East African nation’s northern regions have been ravaged by two decades of one of Africa’s most violent yet largely forgotten civil conflicts, pitting the Ugandan army against a notoriously brutal rebellion.
Both sides are currently involved in internationally-sponsored peace talks and a ceasefire reached in August 2006 has been largely respected.
LRA rebels are currently touring areas of northern Uganda affected by the fighting to apologize to their victims for past crimes, as part of a national reconciliation process.