This ongoing series highlights women’s news and information about foreign policy. This week’s post covers May 01 to May 06.

Burkina Faso

Father Wenceslao Belem, a priest, reported to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that despite a decrease in jihadist violence since 2015, extremist groups are still terrorizing the Christian people and pressing them to convert to Islam.

The priest claims that Catholic nurses disguise themselves as Muslims while visiting patients and that Christian girls must wear full face coverings to school to prevent being attacked or abducted.

Read more here.

Peru

In Peru, public officials have documented at least 51 femicide cases since January. In March alone, a woman was killed every three days.

According to the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, there were 21,194 reported cases of violence against women and girls in January and February, with girls between the ages of 12-17 accounting for 16 per cent of the cases.

Read more here.

Iraq

Women convicted of being members of Daesh and serving long jail terms in a high-security prison in Iraq have reportedly been on hunger strike since April 24.

At least 400 female prisoners, jailed for between 15 years and life in Baghdad’s notorious Rusafa prison, are said to be refusing food in protest against their convictions and poor prison conditions, the BBC reported on Friday.

The women, originally from several countries including Russia, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Syria, France, Germany and the US, say that they were not given fair trials.

Read more here.

Nigeria

Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, both 26, were among 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants in April 2014 from the government girls’ secondary school in the village of Chibok.

Both women have been rescued, according to the Nigerian Army. One had a one-year-old baby, while the second gave birth to her second child days after being freed.

Read more here.

Global

The Fédération Internationale de Football (FIFA) is threatening a TV blackout for the Women’s World Cup after deeming offers for television rights from the “Big 5” European countries as “disappointing” and a “slap in the face” to the players and women around the world.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that the football body is committed to growing the women’s game by extending the event to 32 teams, increasing the prize money to $150 million and pledging to equalize it with the men’s tournament by 2027.

Read more here.