You read this sort of thing...For women and girls across Afghanistan, conditions are worsening - and those women who dare to publicly oppose the traditional order now live in fear for their lives. ..... Afghan women are feeling increasingly vulnerable...

What have Lewisham, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire got in common? According to a report commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society, they are places where women are best treated by council planners. Dr Gemma Burgess, from Cambridge University’s Centre for Housing and Planning Research, found that many local authorities fail to take into account the different needs of women when it co...

Am I the freest woman in the world? I feel none of the constraints of religious morality that so affected women, especially women of little education, in earlier times. I live by my own code, partly informed by the law, and partly by my upbringing and experiences. But I don't feel that free.

Today, all men and women, of any political allegiance remember the end of the First World War and the men and women who died in that conflict, and every war since. Let us take a minute in our otherwise busy day to think about the sacrifice made for us to live as we do.   Daniel Cole

An excellent organisation that keeps an eye on how women are faring in politics. This year there will be over 70 elections in various countries around the world this year, and the CFWD will be keeping an eye on them to consider how these elections will affect women.

Who’d want to live in a world where women can wear what they want but men are never allowed to woo or whistle?

The new BBC Service Democracy Live is great and one that I am sure to use often. It offers live and recorded debates from eight UK parliamentary chambers, including the Assembly's Senedd. It is also possible to embed proceedings from the chamber into blog posts. As the service is available it must be used! Here is the discussion on the Welsh language eLCO held yesterday:

If the two Swedish women who went to bed with Julian Assange reproached themselves for their gullibility a few days later, it must be – unless they are made of very stern stuff – as nothing to their regret now. They have become, in the online world where their identities are discoverable almost instantly, the most vilified women on the planet.

The prime minister will tell both Houses of the United States Congress today that now more than ever the rest of the world wants to work with America. Now that Barack Obama appears to be on side, Gordon Brown will seek to woo the men and women whose support the new president needs if he is to live up to his promise to make globalisation work for ordinary men and women. Mr Brown is only the fifth B...

Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are at greater risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, traffic accidents, war and malaria, says the UN. It says violence against women has been reported in every international or non-international warzone and that half of all women murdered are killed by their current or former partner. You can read more on the BBC here