Women rise against rape

Mauritanian Women A feminist movement took action in the Mauritanian capital on Tuesday, as the association organised a campaign to raise awareness about physical and sexual abuses women suffer in the country. Mauritania has seen occurrences of rapes increase in the last decade, the main victims being underage girls and maids.
Head of feminist association Fatema Bint el-Trad said: "We will do our best to achieve our projects and to reduce sexual violence against women.
"The association was founded in 2000 and we've already had great results. We've organised many campaigns against sexual abuse and violence against women and children in Nouakchott, where it happens very often. We've also managed to convince almost 1000 people to work towards this campaign.
She also praised the support granted by the United Nations Fund for Childhood and Motherhood.
She called several Mauritanian women including the activist Amena Bind el-Mokhtar "to change the law regarding women in society and marriage. The present law doesn't preserve women's rights and doesn't respect their desires, which is why there are so many divorces."
UN representative Sally Mata said that she focused on "the importance of prevention and protection program against woman violence, and fighting sexual abuse against a main category in the society."
She called for talks and debates about this issue to solve it.
Activist and head of association Amena Bint Mokhtar said to Arabstoday that  "her organisation is aiming at revealing the unfair practices which Mauritanian women are facing and supporting victims against social injustice."