Maoist toll on women

The United Nations has expressed concern at how the Maoist insurgency is taking its toll on the women in Nepal. Violence against women has risen at an alarming rate in the kingdom that witnessed a flare-up following a four-month ceasefire. In the past few weeks, a considerable number of women have been raped and beaten to death by insurgents, blown up by landmines and abducted from all corners of the country, says a UN representative in Nepal. Moreover, since the insurgency has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade, women are often left to fend for themselves as their husbands flee to neighbouring countries to start a new life, says a study. Such women are almost always sexually harassed by rebels or army personnel. According to the World Health Organisation, Nepal has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates in the world. The rate is likely to remain high while the conflict continues because strikes and road blockades at such times make it difficult for pregnant women to access hospitals, says the study.

Top choices

The IBM, Colgate-Palmolive, Marriott International and Merck feature among the top 10 companies in the US, listed by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), which have come up with innovative ways of facilitating career advancements for their women employees. According to the NAFE, these are the firms where women are succeeding in securing senior positions, thanks to a slew of tough measures like succession planning and compensation for gender equity. They even reward managers who help them advance their careers.

All ye unfaithful

Infidelity by men is a form of abuse of women and violates the law on monogamy, says a section of the lawmakers in China. Asserting that extramarital affairs are an infringement of a woman’s dignity and harmful for the younger generation, they are demanding that legal penalties be imposed on men who are unfaithful to their wives. The National People’s Congress workers have also criticised government officials, 95 per cent of whom, they say, keep one or more ‘mistresses’. It will be interesting to know how they are planning to stop men from cheating on their wives!

First of its kind

Thank god it’s not just another women and child care clinic! Apollo Hospitals has opened the country’s first exclusive integrated healthcare centre for women in Chennai. The Apollo Centre of Excellence for Women is a super-speciality centre that will deal with women-related symptomatic medical problems as well as ailments such as AIDS, cancer and geriatric phase problems. The centre will boast of more than 45 leading practitioners in these fields who will provide a holistic approach to treating diseases. The Apollo group has plans to open 100 such clinics across the country.

So far so Good?

There’s more to this fitness icon and movie legend than meets the eye. In her candid autobiography, My Life So Far, released last week, Jane Fonda, 70, lets people share the agonies and ecstasies of her life as a child in a dysfunctional family, as a star dominated by her first husband Roger Vadim and as a much-reviled anti-Vietnam protester. Of Vadim, she says, “Unless we do what the man wants, he is going to abandon us. It shows how deep misogyny goes, this sense women have of being worthless.” She attributed her eating disorder to her father, Henry Fonda, who always thought she was fat. There are contradictions too. Though she had been a feminist, she seemed happy to be a trophy wife to Ted Turner later in her life. But that’s Jane for you.

The Daily Telegraph

Overheard: The highest percentage of women binge drinkers in the European Union can be found in Ireland, a report says. Sixteen per cent of the women surveyed admitted that they binge drink at least once a week. Bottoms up, ladies!