12-21-15 Sex, love and money: Nigeria's new Instagram agony aunt
Sex, love and money: Nigeria's new Instagram agony aunt
Unlucky in love? Husband cheating on you? Did you unwittingly sleep with your future father-in-law? Help is at hand from an agony aunt using Instagram to solve relationship problems in northern Nigeria. The scenarios above are just some of the problems that Ziya'atulhaqq Usman Tahir has come up against. "I think a lot of women in northern Nigeria think like that, if you have a problem with your husband you shouldn't say it, you should find a way to fix it, or pray for it. I'm all for prayers, but at times we have to speak," she says. Tahir says her love of Igbo culture inspired her Instagram handle "Fat Ibo Lady".
12-2-15 Forced sterilisation haunts Peruvian women decades on
Forced sterilisation haunts Peruvian women decades on
The programme, launched in 1996 by then-president Alberto Fujimori - who argued that a lower birth rate would drive down poverty - at first received much praise. But then more and more women complained about being sterilised without their consent. Most of them were poor, indigenous and spoke Quechua.
11-28-15 100 Women 2015: Return of a topless rebel
100 Women 2015: Return of a topless rebel
In 2013, Tunisian feminist Amina Sboui left the country after publishing a topless photograph that caused a scandal across the Arab world. After two years in France, Amina is back in Tunis - with a new plan to stir things up. On 8 March 2013, from her grandparents' house in the Tunisian capital, an 18-year-old activist called Amina Sboui uploaded a photograph to Facebook, took a deep breath, and hit "post". The photo showed Amina reclining on a leather sofa, reading a book and smoking a cigarette. She wore red lipstick and black eyeliner. She was naked from the waist up, and across her torso was a message written in Arabic: My body belongs to me; it is not the source of anyone's honour.
11-25-15 The trouble with saying you don't want children
The trouble with saying you don't want children
When Holly Brockwell spoke to the BBC about her decision not to have children, she knew she might be criticised on social media. But the attacks went far beyond what she had expected - accusations of selfishness soon turned into vitriolic abuse that made her deactivate her Twitter account. "The fact is, there's nothing about creating another human that appeals to me," 29-year-old Holly Brockwell wrote in a story we published at the weekend, explaining why she wants to be sterilised.
11-20-15 Parasitic worm 'increases women's fertility'
Parasitic worm 'increases women's fertility'
Infection with a species of parasitic worm increases the fertility of women, say scientists. A study of 986 indigenous women in Bolivia indicated a lifetime of Ascaris lumbricoides, a type of roundworm, infection led to an extra two children.
11-20-15 Different parasitic worms can raise or lower female fertility
Different parasitic worms can raise or lower female fertility
Amazonian women have three fewer children if they are infected with hookworms, but those afflicted by roundworms have two more. Can a parasite be good for you? Although some types of infection seem to lower a woman’s fertility, there’s evidence that women infected with roundworm have more children. But women infected with roundworm, a different kind of helminth, seemed to experience the opposite, with an earlier first pregnancy and shorter gaps between children. Projected over a lifetime, women infected with roundworm would be expected to have two more children than uninfected women, and those with hookworm three fewer.
11-12-15 Maternal mortality falls by almost 50% - UN report
Maternal mortality falls by almost 50% - UN report
Pregnancy-related deaths have fallen by almost half in the past 25 years, according to a report by United Nations agencies published in The Lancet. Around 303,000 women died of complications during pregnancy or up to six weeks after giving birth in 2015 - down from 532,000 in 1990. Officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the results showed "huge progress". However, only nine countries hit targets set by the UN. Women are twice as likely to die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth in the United States than in Canada, a new global survey of maternal mortality published by the United Nations and the World Bank showed on Thursday. The United States was also one of only 13 countries to have worse rates of maternal mortality in 2015 than in 1990 - a group that also includes North Korea, Zimbabwe and Venezuela. The United States and other developed countries are already far ahead of the target, but the U.S. average has slipped from 12 deaths to 14 per 100,000 live births over the past 25 years, while Canada's is where it was in 1990, at seven. Over the same period Belarus has cut its maternal death rate from 33 to four, making it one of the safest places to have a baby, just behind the world leaders - Iceland, Finland, Poland and Greece - where only three mothers die for every 100,000 births.
10-29-15 'Foxy' group brings sexual education to the Arctic
'Foxy' group brings sexual education to the Arctic
Did you hear about the Canadian girls who skidoo across frozen lakes teaching sex education with feather boas? Foxy (Fostering Open Expression Among Youth) won the $1m (£494,000) Arctic Inspiration Prize for their bold approach to traditionally taboo topics in sexual health. They held a demonstration class for the BBC Pop Up team during their visit to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
10-24-15 Menstruation adverts deemed too racy for NYC's metro
Menstruation adverts deemed too racy for NYC's metro
Adverts for Thinx, a brand of pants designed to absorb menstrual blood, have been deemed too racy for the New York City subway.
10-23-15 China professor's wife-sharing proposal sparks ire
China professor's wife-sharing proposal sparks ire
A Chinese professor's controversial suggestion that poorer men could share wives has sparked debate online on how to solve China's gender imbalance. Zhejiang University economics professor Xie Zuoshi's proposal has been met with heavy criticism that it is immoral. China has one of the biggest gender imbalances in the world, with about 118 boys born to every 100 girls. The imbalance is largely due to the one-child policy and cultural preferences for male children. Increasing wealth and population movement also means many women are leaving the countryside to work in cities, with men who stay behind struggling to find partners.
10-19-15 Maldives annuls death by stoning sentence for woman
Maldives annuls death by stoning sentence for woman
The Maldives' top court has overturned a sentence of death by stoning issued to a woman found guilty of adultery, local media report. The woman, who reportedly gave birth out of wedlock, was convicted by a magistrate's court on Sunday. However, the Supreme Court quashed the sentence late on Sunday, saying the ruling had violated legal procedures. The island nation has previously issued flogging sentences to those convicted of extramarital sex. (Webmaster's comment: The Islamic dark ages are still with us.)
10-18-15 Would you tell Apple when you've had sex?
Would you tell Apple when you've had sex?
Would you go around telling people when you've had sex? When Apple released its iOS9 mobile operating system it included a new feature - the ability for women to log their sexual activity alongside details of their menstrual cycles. An earlier version of its HealthKit software - which tracks everything from electrodermal activity to chromium intake - had lacked the facility.
10-17-15 In the October 23rd edition of The Week
Raised expectations, after a South Carolina man was arrested for calling 911 to complain that his girlfriend had refused to have sex with him. (Webmaster's comment: Only in America.)
10-16-15 The African series that's getting women talking about sex
The African series that's getting women talking about sex
What do you think of when you think of African women and sex? South African director and actor Mmabatho Montsho said she was tired of stereotypes around HIV/Aids, sexual violence and unwanted pregnancies, and wanted to broaden the conversation. Her YouTube series "Women On Sex" includes discussions on everything from virginity testing to sex education.
10-13-15 Making online dating a lot more female friendly
Making online dating a lot more female friendly
Women who use online dating websites often complain of receiving unwanted, unsolicited photographs of "crotch shots" from men. The practice has become so common that many women don't even consider it harassment - many consider it a mere annoyance, a necessary evil in the modern cyber quest for love. (Webmaster's comment: Men again completely miss what women are really interested in. All these crotch shot men are doing is showing what interests them, not women. What a bunch of ignorant losers. Women are far more intested in a man's character than in their dicks. Every man has one of those so what's the big-little deal?)
10-2-15 Amsterdam brothel owners must speak sex workers' language
Amsterdam brothel owners must speak sex workers' language
Dutch brothel owners must be able to communicate with sex workers in their own language to protect them from abuse, the EU's top court has ruled. The authorities in Amsterdam were right to refuse a brothel owner permission to operate because he could not speak Hungarian or Bulgarian, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said. Brothels are legal in the Netherlands and must be licensed locally. But the authorities are trying to tackle human trafficking and abuse. ECJ rulings are binding throughout the 28-member EU.
9-16-15 Sex worker Charlotte Rose on brothels and prostitution
Sex worker Charlotte Rose on brothels and prostitution
A former sex worker of the year claims her colleagues feel unsafe at work as she puts the case to decriminalise brothels. Charlotte Rose said prostitution was legal in England, Scotland and Wales, although the law had changed in Northern Ireland to criminalise men who use sex workers. She said police no longer turned a blind eye to the sex trade in London's Soho, but prostitutes should have the same rights as other workers.
8-28-15 Taiwan metro cards to show Japan porn star Yui Hatano
Taiwan metro cards to show Japan porn star Yui Hatano
Taiwan's capital is to introduce a pre-paid public transport card featuring the Japanese porn actress Yui Hatano, despite an outcry over using her image. "Just because I am an adult video porn star... does it mean that I cannot pay a debt of gratitude to my beloved Taiwan?" she said, in a statement quoted by the Focus Taiwan news website.
8-2-15 Can Ottawa really be the infidelity capital of Canada?
Can Ottawa really be the infidelity capital of Canada?
The capital of Canada has long been called the city that fun forgot. But is it really a hotbed of infidelity? "When I tell people I'm a sex therapist from Ottawa, they say, 'People in Ottawa don't have sex,' and I say, 'Oh, you have no idea,'" says Sue McGarvie, founder of The Ottawa Sex Therapy and Libido Clinic. Ashley Madison has competitors, such as European-focused Gleeden and traditional dating sites.
7-22-15 Semen has controlling power over female genes and behaviour
Semen has controlling power over female genes and behaviour
Seminal fluid alters gene expression in females, including humans. It can even alter behaviour in fruit flies, but does it do the same in women? In many animals, seminal fluid alters both the bodies and sometimes even the behaviour of females. Human semen, too, triggers changes in the uterus, and might have wider effects on women, aimed at just one goal. “It’s all about maximising the chances of the male reproducing.”
7-1-15 Viewpoint: Watching the lesbians in India
Viewpoint: Watching the lesbians in India
"This whole lesbian thing is not as new-fangled as people are making it out to be." Writer and humourist Shovon Chowdhury gives his perspective on a recent advert featuring lesbians in India, arguing that we shouldn't be surprised, given India's ancient liberal tradition, which accepted all forms of sexuality and sexual expression.
