Female genital mutilation (FGM) remains illegal in Gambia — for now. A decision in Gambia's National Assembly on whether to overturn the ban on FGM has been postponed for at least three months.

The divisive issue led MPs to ask for more consultation on the matter, referring the bill to a parliamentary committee which will examine it for at least three months. The bill will then be returned to parliament.

According to the AFP news agency, hundreds of people were seen protested outside parliament on Monday, with most supporting a repeal of the ban on FGM.

The tiny West African nation had explicitly criminalized FGM, also called cutting or female circumcision, in 2015, making the practise punishable with up to three years in prison or a fine of 50,000 dalasi ($736 or €678), or both.

In cases where FGM causes death, the law calls for life imprisonment.

FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia, often involving the removal of the clitoris or labia. It has no health benefits and is proven to harm girls and women in many ways.

The private bill to scrap the law outlawing FGM, which was proposed by individual members of parliament, argues that the current prohibition violates citizens' rights to practice their culture and religion.

Renewed debate around criminalizing FGM

The debate around FGM in Gambia flared up in mid-2023 after three women were convicted of the practise under the law. They were ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 dalasi or serve a year in jail for carrying out female genital mutilation on eight infant girls, aged between four months and one year. However, an imam paid the fines for all three women,

These were the first convictions under the law. Prior to this, only two people had been arrested and one case brought to court, according to UNICEF, and no convictions or sanctions had been handed down.

This is despite nearly three out of four girls and women, or 73%, having undergone female genital mutilation in Gambia, according to official figures.

Parliamentary reporter Arret Jatta told DW that she wasn't surprised that the pro-FGM bill has come before parliament, given the heated discussions in recent months:

"Almost all the National Assembly members are in support of the law being repealed, especially the female National Assembly members," she said.

Different interpretations of Islam

Most of the small African country's population are Muslim, and many believe that FGM is a requirement of Islam. The Gambia Supreme Islamic Council issued a fatwa (religious decree) last year, declaring FGM "one of the virtues of Islam."

However, Isatou Touray, former vice president and founder of the anti-FGM organization GAMCOTRAP, strongly refutes this interpretation.

"Who has the right to interfere in what Allah had created, and who has the right to define how a woman should look?" Touray told Gambian media organization Kerr Fatou.

Supporters of FGM meanwhile believe it can "purify" and protect girls during adolescence and before marriage.

"When it comes to the social aspect, they'll even tell you, 'Oh, it is to ensure that you stay a virgin because if you have the clitoris then … you would want to have sex,'" woman's rights advocate Esther Brown said in an interview on DW's AfricaLink radio program earlier in March.

Human rights violation

The practice of FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women, finds the World Health Organization. 

As well as severe bleeding, FGM can cause a variety of severe health problems, including infections, scarring, pain, menstruation problems, recurrent urinary tract infections, infertility and complications in childbirth.

One study on the health consequences of FGM in Gambia found women who were cut are four times more likely to suffer complications during delivery, and the newborn is four times more likely to have health complications if the mother has undergone FGM.

But for Fatima Jarju, an FGM survivor who sensitizes women in Gambia to the harms of the procedure, the ongoing debate on the issue is causing further damage to women's rights:

"I think it's a big setback ... looking at our human rights standards as a country and also the commitment from the government to protecting the rights of women and girls of this country," she told DW.

Legislation not always effective against FGM

The Gambia is among 28 sub-Saharan nations where FGM is practiced. Six of these nations lack a national laws criminalizing the procedure (see map below). The Gambia could soon join them.

Many anti-FGM activists stress, however, that legislation alone is insufficient to tackle FGM, especially when it lacks enforcement, as is the case in Gambia.

Rugiatu Turay in Sierra Leone, one of the six African nations without a law against FGM, has gained international recognition for her work combating FGM.

The strategies she uses include the development of rites of passage for girls that don't involve cutting, finding alternative livelihoods for the cutters and intense community engagement.

She isn't convinced that legislation is the best way to tackle the issue.

"Generally, in Africa, people make laws to satisfy their donor partners. But when it comes to implementation, they are not implemented," she told DW.

To change cultural attitudes, she says, more community-based initiatives are needed that involve everyone from regional chiefs, local headmen and religious leaders to the cutters and the mothers making decisions for their daughters.

"If every sector in our country speaks about the cut and the scar — and its consequences — I tell you, we will end FGM," she said.

Sankulleh Janko in Banjul, Eddy Micah Jr. and George Okach contributed to this article.

This article was first published on March 7, 2024 and was updated on March 19, 2024 to reflect the postponement of a vote to repeal the FGM ban.

Edited by: Rob Mudge

It has been more than 100 years since German suffragists won the right for women to vote. That was back in 1918, during the Weimar Republic era in Germany.

So women in post-World War II democratic Germany have always had an equal right to participate in elections. Today, voter turnout among women is virtually the same as men's.

Which parties do women vote for?

Women's party preferences have changed quite a lot since Germany's first postwar parliamentary elections, then held in only West Germany.

For many years, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, was more popular among women than men. In the 1950s and 1960s, more than half of all female voters chose the party. This might be due to its focus on Christian and family values, Elke Wiechmann, who researches the representation of women in politics at Hagen University, told DW.

"As religion, family and home life became less central to women's lives, this changed," Wiechmann said. "We think that for a while, Angela Merkel might have still given the CDU a bonus with women, despite the party's policies. When Merkel's era ended, that was over."

When Angela Merkel didn't run for office again in the most recent, 2021 election, the CDU almost entirely lost its edge with female voters.  

What if only women had elected the German parliament?

"In the last election, women voted more progressive," Wiechmann said. If only women had had their say in 2021, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz would have had one percentage point more, as would the environmental Greens. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) would have lost seats.

This is down to the parties' political programs, Wiechmann told DW.

"Women's lives still look different to men's," she said. "They still carry more responsibility for children, for the home, in addition to work and career."

"Women might be more likely to, for instance, value better public transport over a new highway," she said, leading to their voting for progressive parties — like the SPD, Greens or Left — which tend to promote gender equality, even without the explicit label.  

However, with their votes, women in the broader population can only hope their chosen party will implement the changes they would like to see. Female representatives in parliament wield more direct power.

Are there enough women in Germany's parliament?

In past decades, the share of women in the German parliament, or Bundestag, has hovered at only around a third, even though women make up a little over half of the German population.

"In order to represent the breadth and diversity of women's experiences and perspectives, you need a certain number of women from different backgrounds in parliament as well," says Elisa Deiss-Helbig, a research fellow at the University of Konstanz who focuses on party politics and political representation, particularly the representation of politically marginalized groups.

Women might introduce topics into the political agenda that could be overlooked by a male-dominated parliament, she told DW.

This is particularly relevant when it comes to women's rights: In 1957, when fewer than 10% of parliamentarians were women, Germany voted on whether husbands should continue to have the last say in all marital affairs (the so-called "Stichentscheid" of the husband). It was women's votes that ended this discriminatory law: A majority of male parliamentarians would have kept the law, while 74% of the women voted to repeal it.

Some changes required a much larger share of women. For example, it took Germany until 1997 to criminalize rape during marriage. That was the result of a decades-long, cross-party effort led by female legislators. Multiple draft laws brought to parliament since the early 1980s had been rejected. 

Ulla Schmidt from the SPD, one of the initiators of the reform, said in an interview: "We finally had more women in parliament. With fewer than 10% of women, any cross-party campaigning lacks the basis needed to exert pressure"

More than 90% of female parliamentarians voted in favor of the new law. Among the men who voted against it were multiple prominent politicians, including current CDU party leader Friedrich Merz.

Which parties do female legislators belong to?

Of the 736 seats in the current parliament, just over a third (263 seats) are held by women. Most of them belong to parties on the political left: 70 are from the Green Party alone, while the far-right AfD only has nine female representatives in the Bundestag.

"There is definitely a difference in ideology behind this," Deiss-Helbig told DW. "Left-leaning parties tend to place greater emphasis on gender equality. So they were the first to introduce quotas."

The Greens, for instance, self-imposed a mandatory quota of 50% women on all political mandates in the 1980s. The SPD currently has a 40% quota. The CDU recently introduced a gradually rising quota as well, while the FDP and AfD still reject gender quotas entirely.

What if only the female parliamentarians voted?

In Germany, members of parliament typically adhere to strict party lines when voting, which is known as "Fraktionsdisziplin," or party discipline. This makes it difficult to determine how women legislators would vote if they followed only their own conscience.

However, there have been some historical decisions made without party discipline being exerted, particularly on morally challenging issues. These show that female parliamentarians can hold different opinions than their male counterparts, even within the same party.

• Marriage equality: In 2017, only 54% of male MPs voted to open marriage to couples of all genders, compared to 76% of women.
• In 2023, reforms aimed at regulating and decriminalizing access to assisted suicide failed, with 375 against to 286 in favor. If it had been only up to female parliamentarians, the law would have passed with 105 against to 128 in favor.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, parliament was debating whether to mandate vaccination for people aged 60 and above, with compulsory vaccination counseling for anyone over 18. The law would have passed with 62% of valid votes if only female parliamentarians had voted. As it stands, it failed with only 44% in favor. Vaccination remained voluntary in Germany, with the exception of certain health care professions.

Research by a Swiss-German research team also found that female MPs tend to advocate more for gender equality issues throughout their whole careers, making significantly more parliamentary inquiries related to gender than their male counterparts.

Edited by: Timothy Jones and Nancy Isenson

Data and code behind this story can be found in this repository.

More data-driven stories can be found here.

This article is part of the Towards Equalityprogram, a collaborative alliance of 16 international news outlets highlighting the challenges and solutions to reach gender equality, which is led by Sparknews.

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has been actively campaigning for women's rights in the war-devastated country.

"The Taliban's edicts are systematically erasing millions of women and girls in Afghanistan from public life, and we all must do more to hold the Taliban to account," Yousafzai told DW. "First and foremost, I am calling on all governments to make gender apartheid a crime against humanity."

On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) discussed the increasingly dire situation in Afghanistan.

At the start of December, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), established by the UNSC in 2002 to support Afghan institutions in areas such as human rights, the rule of law and equality, published its latest report. 

In it, UNAMA refers to the Taliban administration as "de facto authorities" as it lacks international recognition.

"The de facto authorities continue to restrict the rights of women and girls."

Since the Taliban takeover, women and girls have been increasingly confined to their homes. They are barred from education beyond sixth grade, including university, public spaces like parks, and most jobs. They must take a male chaperone with them on journeys of more than 72 kilometers (45 miles) and follow a dress code.

The UNAMA report states that in some provinces, like Khost and Sabul, women and girls are prohibited from even visiting local markets or stores without a male companion.

A Taliban decree in July also ordered the closure of all women-run beauty salons, one of the few remaining places that women could go to outside the home or family environment.

No improvement despite awareness

The international community has been aware of the situation for a long time, Niloufar Nikseyar, a former lecturer at Herat University, told DW.

"At every opportunity, a new report has been published about the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. Each time, we have hoped that the world will hear our voice and that the situation will change for the better," she said.

"But we haven't seen any improvements in the past two years. Still, as a woman, I always strive to be the voice of the victims in Afghanistan. We don't want to give up hope."

Nikseyar, who still lives in Afghanistan, belongs to a group of women who organize reading sessions at home for women and girls. Even for these all-female gatherings, they have to inform the Taliban and seek permission.

The Taliban's broken promises

When they seized power, the Taliban initially promised to respect women's rights under Islamic law, or Shariah. However, the Islamic fundamentalist group has gradually introduced a slew of restrictions and policies denying women and girls even their basic rights — solely because of their gender.

Sahraa Karimi, an Afghan film director, described Taliban policies as "gender apartheid" and stressed that they are "a crime against humanity."

Fearing for her life, Karimi fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. She now lives in the United States.

"In the past two years, reports from Afghanistan and the restrictions on women and girls have shown that the Taliban have not changed their attitude at all," she said.

"Unfortunately, the international community is supporting the Taliban by remaining silent. This allows them to continue suppressing women's basic rights."

How to support women and girls?

Karimi is worried about the future of Afghanistan. She fears that Afghan society will become even more regressive under Taliban rule and serve as a base for radical forces, which ultimately pose a serious threat to the entire world. 

It is time for the international community to actively work to abolish gender segregation in Afghanistan and ensure that the Taliban are held accountable for their actions, she underlined.

"Western countries, as well as regional powers, can change this situation, but I don't see any political will to do so," said Shaharzad Akbar, a rights advocate who was head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission from 2019 to 2021.

Akbar, now living in the United Kingdom, received an award from Germany's Friedrich Ebert Foundation in November for her efforts promoting human rights. 

"Afghanistan must not be forgotten," she told DW on the sidelines of the award ceremony. "It is our duty to be the voice of women in Afghanistan. Human rights activists and the media must not allow the Taliban's lies to become the truth about Afghanistan."

Malala Yousafzai stressed the need to "send a clear signal to Afghan women and girls that we see them, we hear their call to action, and we stand ready to offer our solidarity. We also need to help girls continue their studies while the ban on school remains in place."

"Philanthropists and investors can scale up their funding to the Afghan and international organizations who have been providing creative, alternative and digital learning programs to reach Afghan girls in their homes."

Additional reporting by Wadud Salangi.

The article was originally written in German.

Stars of David sprayed provocatively on the walls of buildings, reports of antisemitic chants at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, an attack on a synagogue: Since the attack by the militant Islamist terror group Hamas on Israel on October 7, antisemitism has returned in force to Germany. 

"I'm surprised by the social coldness and the lack of empathy among many people," Andrei Kovacs, the head of the association "1,700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany"told DW. "There's a long silence in the German cultural scene and very little moral courage in society. The situation is worrying."

'Not an exclusively German problem' 

The conflict in the Middle East is complex, Kovacs says, adding that he is open to political debate.

"But October 7 was a turning point for Jewish life, [it was] a pogrom, a bestial massacre," he says. "You can't use historical or political context to relativize these actions." 

His association organized several informative events on Jewish traditions and culture in 2021 to mark 1,700 years of Jewish communities in Germany. 

"We designed low-threshold concepts and were particularly focused on rural areas where Judaism is not so widespread, and little is known about it," Kovacs, who is also a musician, points out. 

In the wake of current events, does he feel such efforts are futile? 

"Antisemitism has a long tradition and is not an exclusively German problem," he responds.

Fighting it takes perseverance, he says. 

The number of antisemitic crimes in German has risen sharply since the Hamas attack on Israel. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) says it has registered 680 antisemitic offenses, more than 550 of which were connected to the current crisis in the Middle East.

That's well about the national average, said BKA president Holger Münch, who warned there was a grave danger of escalation. 

Igor Levit stages concert for solidarity

Star pianist Igor Levit is also shocked by what he calls an "explosion of antisemitism and hatred of Jews" as well as a "lack of empathy" in German society. 

"I have lost my basic trust in what society means in Germany," he told Die Zeit weekly in a recent interview.

Levit said that hatred of Jews was not just a personal threat to him but to the "fundament of this federal republic."

He said he felt rage and would like to scream: "Don't you realize that it's directed against you? 'Death to the Jews!' really means 'Death to Democracy!'"

The pianist, who is Jewish and who emigrated from Russia to Germany with his parents in 1995, will not let these words stand. He has organized a concert of solidarity with the Berliner Ensemble, one of the German capital's most acclaimed theaters, on Monday.

On his Instagram account, he called on everyone to attend as "a sign, a statement against antisemitism. Because there can be no neutrality, no indifference when it comes to hatred of Jews, when it comes to hatred of people in any form. Ever."

The concert, which has been titled "Against Silence. Against Antisemitism," will be followed by a public discussion with DW moderator Michel Friedman, ZDF journalist Dunja Hayali, climate activist Luisa Neubauer, the actor Ulrich Noethen, the pop star Sven Regener, and the actor and theater director Katharina Thalbach. 

Some two weeks ago, Levit surprised patients and staff at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv with a spontaneous concert. Many of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack have been treated there. The German ambassador to Israel posted a video of Levit's performance on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Beforehand, the pianist had performed for a small group of people whose relatives had been taken hostage by Hamas.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the European Union, the US and others.

A packed suitcase

In his Die Zeit interview, Levit said he was considering leaving Germany but had not yet come to that decision. 

By contrast, Deborah Middelhoff, editor-in-chief of the culinary magazine Feinschmecker, said she and her husband are emigrating. 

"Considering my membership of the Jewish religious community and due to the current developments in Germany, I have decided to move the center of my life abroad," she said in a statement via Jahreszeiten Verlag, which publishes Feinschmecker.

Are many Jews in Germany packing their bags?

"I am concerned that they are, but fear is the wrong reaction," said Kovacs, whose grandparents survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

He explained that the question of whether Germany was his home had always been present.

"I always have one eye on my suitcase," he said, adding, however, that he felt emboldened by the broad support he'd received from Germany politicians and parts of civil society: "That gives me courage."

This article was originally written in German.

Women comprise 54% of Zimbabwe's population, but one can hardly tell from the country's new cabinet.

President Emerson Mnangagwa appointed his new cabinet earlier this week, retaining many of his old members and including several young members of his ZANU-PF party, including his son, Kudakwashe. More significantly, he gave men the lion's share of ministerial positions — out of the 26 ministers, only six are women.

Madrine Chiku, the chairperson of the Women's Coalition in Zimbabwe, told DW that women remain underrepresented in decision-making.

"I am not very pleased with the [cabinet] outcome," Chiku said, stressing that there were very few women appointments. "When we look at the presidium, we do not have any representative."

She pointed to Section 17 of Zimbabwe's constitution, which calls for the state to promote full gender balance and rectify gender discrimination in Zimbabwean society. She said having a woman in the presidium and more women in the cabinet would have been ideal.

"But we don't see this happening, and we continue to experience the suppression of women in occupying decision-making portfolios."

No female vice president for Zimbabwe

Linda Masarira, the founder of the opposition Labour, Economists and African Democrats (LEAD), told DW she is concerned about the absence of a female vice president.

"Section 17 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe has been violated yet again as the women appointed only constitute 26% of the cabinet ministers," Masarira said, adding that this happened even though women constitute 52% of the voting population in Zimbabwe.

"As a pan-African feminist transformation leader, I demand 50-50 in all organs of the state as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Arise, women of Zimbabwe, arise!"

Mnangagwa shrugs off critics

Mnangagwa, declared winner of August's disputed general election, wants the cabinet to stir Zimbabwe from its economic crisis as he serves his full second and final term.

When asked if he felt any pressure from gender activist organizations to increase the number of women in his cabinet, the 80-year-old responded with laughter.

"Some names can be female, some can be surnames. Some can be male or female," Mnangagwa mused. "So I am just making it very clear: No pressure, clarity. The demand is that of clarity."

According to Alexander Rusero, a politics professor at the Africa University in Zimbabwe, the cabinet is nothing short of power consolidation.

"That is serious in issues of gender equality and gender equity. Politics in Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular is still pretty much patriarchal," Rusero told DW.

"The women that are appointed are actually men's women. They are not women appointed or married or on their own terms."

Rwanda leads the world in women's representation in politics

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organization of national parliaments, collected data in 2023 showing that women are underrepresented at all levels of decision-making worldwide and achieving gender parity in political life is far off.

Nevertheless, over 60% of the seats in Rwanda's national parliament were held by women as of December 2022. The country is ranked first globally, with the highest proportion of women in parliament.

Other African nations, such as Senegal, South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique, have a progressive record regarding women's political representation.

In 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was praised for appointing a 50-50 gender-balanced cabinet. However, the number of seats held by women in parliament as of 2022 dropped to 41.3%.

Women tend to lead policy areas related to gender equality, human rights, and social affairs, while men dominate policy areas like defense and economy.

Eunice Wanjiru contributed to this article

Edited by: Keith Walker

While you're here: Every weekday, we host AfricaLink, a podcast packed with news, politics, culture and more. You can listen and follow AfricaLink wherever you get your podcasts. 

Several attacks on memorial sites within a timespan of only two weeks have shocked Germany: A suspected antisemitic attack on a mini library at the "Platform 17" memorial in Berlin on August 12. An attack on the tent at the Ohlsdorf Peace Festival held in a cemetery where the victims of Second World War bombings in Hamburg are remembered. An arson attempt on the monument in Berlin's Tiergarten park, which commemorates the homosexual persons who were persecuted during the Nazi regime. Smashed windows at the headquarters of the Foundation for Memorials in Lower Saxony. Vandalism of the offices of a lesbian women's group in the Berlin district of Neukölln.

"When I first learned of the attack on our BücherboXX (book box), I cried for a whole hour," Konrad Kutt told DW. "It felt as if it were a physical attack on me," he added, close to tears.

Kutt had the idea for the book boxes, which are located throughout Berlin, about 15 years ago. They are disused telephone boxes that have been transformed into mini streetside libraries. The BücherboXX closest to the "Platform 17" memorial is especially significant, in his view, because of its historical location and the box's contents. The books that were burned in the August attack – about 300 of them – focused on the deportations and systematic murders of Jews during the Nazi era.

About 50,000 Jews were deported to concentration and extermination camps from Platform 17 of the Grünewald train station as part of the Holocaust, the Nazis' campaign to exterminate Jewish people and many other minorities. The recent attack is particularly chilling as it carries echoes of the book burning at Berlin's Bebelplatz public square, where the Nazis set fire to more than 20,000 books that they considered "un-German" and "degenerate" on May 10, 1933 as they prepared to carry out the Holocaust. At that site now stands an underground memorial by sculptor Micha Ullmann and a nearby plaque with a quote from 18th-century German writer Heinrich Heine, reading: "That was just a prelude. Where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people too."

'A problem for the whole of Germany'

There are no official nationwide statistics on the number of such attacks in Germany. However, according to historian Karsten Uhl, there is a feeling that they are increasing. It is no longer about isolated cases: "Now I would say that we have a new situation: The extent of the attacks which we have had is surprising and shocking," the researcher told DW. For several months, he has been working for the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centers Commemorating the Victims of Nazi Crimes.

Until May, Uhl oversaw the memorial sites at the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps and had worked for years in the eastern German state of Thuringia. The fact that attacks are now being reported this frequently throughout western and eastern Germany demonstrates above all that "these attacks are a problem for the whole of Germany, not only an eastern German one."

What role does the Alternative for Germany (AfD) play?

"We have a right-wing extremist scene that feels emboldened by the AfD," researcher Uhl said. The far-right populist, and in parts right-wing extremist, anti-immigrant and homophobic political party, is polling at more than 20% Germany-wide. In some eastern German states, they could become the strongest party.

Uhl speaks of a sociopolitical climate in which an increasing number of people with far-right views are expressing them openly: "This climate, which the AfD and its supporters create, perhaps also leads to the situations where verbal aggression escalates into actions. Not against people yet, but to severe damage to property."

First violence against property, then against people?

BücherboXX initiator Karsten Kutt echoes this analysis: "I already have the feeling that the AfD has emboldened the perpetrators to carry out such attacks." He has observed an increasingly misanthropic attitude in which people harboring racist and bigoted views think it is, as he puts it, a good thing that perpetrators of such acts are "showing it" to Jewish people, queer individuals, and homosexuals.

The attackers are currently focusing on cultural and memorial sites, not people, researcher Uhl said. But that could change. The "bogeymen as portrayed by the right" could be attacked. That includes people who work towards equal rights, Uhl explained. "Or also minorities such as Jews or queer people, and antifascist groups that clearly take a stand." Acts of violence against homosexuals or Jews are increasing, especially in Berlin.

In the German capital, at least 105 crimes or offenses with antisemitic motives have been recorded in the first half of this year. That includes 72 crimes classified as politically motivated violence from right-wing extremists, said the Berlin Senate Administration. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has already recorded about 960 antisemitic crimes so far this year, including 25 acts of violence against people.

Antisemitic confession letter

In the meantime, the suspected perpetrator of the three attacks in Berlin between August 12-14 has been caught. The 63-year-old German was already known to authorities in relation to incitement to hatred. He had allegedly left behind a crude, antisemitic letter of confession at the scenes of the crimes, which DW has seen.

For Konrad Kutt, founder of the book box mini library at the Platform 17 memorial, the perpetrator's arrest brings a certain "satisfaction." However, he is increasingly worried about the "conspiracies in circulation against diversity, against Jews, against homosexuals." However, he refuses to be discouraged: "We have experienced a great amount of solidarity and received many donations. We will rebuild the box!"

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing. 

Holding hands with the person you love and share a life with can get you thrown into jail in Uganda. Even penning this article would carry a penalty, as journalists also face imprisonment for publishing, broadcasting or distributing any content that might be deemed to advocate the rights of LGBTQ+ people. 

This is the nature of the far-reaching, draconian  "anti-gay law" which Uganda enacted in late May. 

The most immediate victims of the law are gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans individuals in Uganda, who now feel even more persecuted in their own country.

DW spoke to several members of the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda on the condition of anonymity. They all said they have had to go into hiding, with one saying he already felt like a refugee.

"Is it a crime to embrace my identity? I am even scared for my life like a refugee. I am scared for my life, and I am scared for my friends. I am scared for my family," he told DW.

Meanwhile, a lesbian in Uganda said: "We are now just going to ask for asylum and leave the country because now it seems like everyone is against us. If the president has signed, we have to look for asylum in countries that will allow us."

Another gay man, Francis, said he would probably "flee for safety elsewhere as it remains a tall order to have LGBTQ+ rights fully accepted in Africa."

As is the case in many other countries with severe punishments against same-sex relations, many members of Uganda's LGBTQ+ community, like Francis, will likely seek to start a new life elsewhere.

Others, however, cannot imagine leaving their country even against the backdrop of homophobia being encouraged on all levels by the law.

In 2014, gay rights activist Kelly Mukwano had to be hospitalized after being attacked for his sexuality. However, he told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper at the time that he "cannot leave this country."

"It is my home, and still I love it. But I worry now that I cannot be a Ugandan and a gay man and survive."

Western countries snub Uganda

The enactment of thelaw against homosexuality in Uganda attracted condemnation around the globe, from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to US President Joe Biden.

The White House commented that the move was "shameful," also highlighting in particular that it "jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country."

In June, the US imposed travel restrictions on Ugandan officials in response to the legislation.

Just recently, the World Bank said it would suspend further lending and budget support to Uganda, citing human rights concerns.

According to the bank, no new public financing to Uganda will be presented to their Board of Executive Directors until authorities there provide adequate policy to protect minority groups, including homosexuals.

Some of the affected projects will include the Uganda Social Action Fund, which was designed to tackle poverty and development ventures in Eastern Uganda, covering over 50 districts.

The governments of the US, the UK and Germany have announced they will assess imposing sanctions on Uganda, including the freezing of foreign accounts, which effectively would plunge one of the poorest countries in the world deeper into crisis.

Questionable constitutional grounds

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took several months to sign the new act into law, possibly considering the repercussions that the African nation might suffer.

However, same-sex relationships were already illegal in Uganda even before the new law, which was passed with the support of 341 out of 389 members of parliament.

In fact, Uganda passed a similar law criminalizing same-sex relationships in 2013, dubbed the "Kill the Gay Act." However, one year later, Uganda's Constitutional Court rejected the law on a technicality.

There may be legal challenges to the 2023 Act as well. Ugandan human rights lawyer Adrian Jjuuko said the law was clearly unconstitutional, as it violates Ugandan's right to dignity "under article 24 of the constitution."

"By criminalizing what we call consensual same-sex activity among adults, [the law] basically goes against key provisions of the constitution, including violating the rights to equality and non-discrimination under articles 20 and 21 of the constitution," he added.

The UN also believes that the new law needs "urgent" review.

No protection guarantee in the EU

For those Ugandans looking to migrate to the European Union, sexual orientation is not a guarantee for succeeding with an asylum application.

Most general asylum applications from Uganda are typically rejected, according to figures from Germany's Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). However, it is unclear to what extent this changes in cases where someone's sexual orientation means that they would suffer persecution in Uganda, as BAMF does not collect statistical information on sexuality.

Some people seeking asylum from other African countries on grounds of sexuality have previously been rejected by Germany.

Even the application process for protection in the EU might be an uphill battle for many LGBTQ+ individuals from Uganda.

Calls for more action

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has appealed for better protections to be given to people fleeing persecution on account of identifying as being LGBTQ+.

Uganda isn't alone in criminalizing homosexuality — 66 countries worldwide have laws against consensual, same-sex sexual activity.

Capital punishment, meanwhile, remains on the books against same-sex relations in 11 countries: Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the UAE, and Yemen.

This article was originally published on InfoMigrants

Additional reporting by Okeri Ngutjinazo

The general election in India is around the corner, and the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has once again found its way back into debates. The idea is simple: instead of the current legal framework which allows various religious groups to follow specially tailored laws, India's central government could impose a civil code for everyone and enforce it regardless of religion.

Many Muslim women are calling for just that. They hope the UCC would help their community leave archaic and patriarchal personal laws behind.

"It will be beneficial for Muslim women if there is uniformity, there will absolutely be gender justice with the Uniform Civil Code," said constitutional expert Shireen Tabassum, commenting on the law currently considered by the Indian government.

Women's rights activist Zakia Soman agrees that, ideally, the UCC should promote gender justice and equality.

"Concerns about rights for Indian women were uppermost in the minds of our founding leaders when they envisaged the UCC," she said. "A good code should be affirmative and inclusive to adopt gender-just practices and root out discriminatory ones."

What is the Uniform Civil Code?

The UCC is a set of personal laws which would be common for all Indian citizens regardless of religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

These laws govern matters such as marriage, divorce, succession, and inheritance. Women often find themselves discriminated against under the current system, which allows distinct personal laws for different religious communities. The UCC would bring those laws on par with the country's criminal law, which already applies to everyone.

This concept has been envisioned many times since India's independence in 1947 but was never enforced.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reignited the discussion last month, asserting that India shouldn't have "separate laws for separate communities." But imposing a universal code is easier said than done in a country of 1.4 billion people, which the home to many religious and ethnic groups.

Why is the idea of universal laws controversial?

While proponents of the UCC argue it will promote equality, its critics fear the erosion of religious and cultural autonomy.

The resistance has been particularly staunch within the Muslim community. India boasts a Muslim population of nearly 200 million people, and many of them feel a uniform personal law would impede their right to freedom of religion.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a non-governmental organization, likened the implementation of the UCC to Muslims losing their identity. They advocate for Muslims to be governed by Shariah law, although the religious code has been interpreted differently even in Muslim-majority countries.

What would change for Muslim women?

Muslim women have borne the brunt of patriarchal interpretations of the Shariah laws in India. Experts say patriarchy has denied the rights women have been empowered within Islam.

"Muslim women badly need legal protection in marriage, divorce and family law matters," said activist Zakia Soman. "Unfortunately, the clergy has miserably failed to reform Muslim personal law. This has resulted in discrimination and denial of justice to Muslim women. A genuine and affirmative UCC can address this anomaly substantially."

Under the interpretation of Shariah laws practiced in India, Muslim men are allowed to marry four wives and have the upper hand when it comes to divorce, as well as spousal and child support. In the case of inheritance, under traditional norms, daughters get only half of what sons inherit. Sharia laws are also not very clear about inheritance rights of adopted children.

Also, while the legal age of marriage in India is 21 for men and 18 for women, Muslim personal laws say those who have attained puberty are eligible to be married.

Amana Begam Ansari, a columnist who has written extensively about the Uniform Civil Code, says these norms need to change.

"Polygamy absolutely needs to go," she said. She also said the age of marriage should be common for all and "any marriage of underage girls should be considered rape."

What's the way forward?

Tabassum acknowledged that any reforms would spark resistance, but argued that the government must proceed regardless. She pointed out that "customs like Sati (burning widows with their husband's body), child marriage, and triple talaq (instant divorce) were eventually abolished only due to the collective efforts of successive governments and the Supreme Court."

"Radical social reforms never come from the society itself, governments have to push such reform," she said.

Some critics of the UCC say that it would be better to reform personal laws rather than imposing a common law for all. While Ansari agrees this reform would be welcome, she also warns it would allow religious communities to claim authority and resist any change.

"It's far better to have a common law based on universal human rights," Ansari said. "If criminal law is the same then why not personal law?"

What are the pitfalls?

Although some Muslim women are advocating for the Uniform Civil Code, there are also apprehensions within the Muslim community the solutions that may be pushed by Modi's right-leaning government. Neither Modi or his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have a great reputation for protecting women and minority rights.

Tabassum also pointed to other laws that appear to be brute-forced by the ruling block — including the highly-disputed Farm Act or changes in legal status for the Kashmir region — as examples of the government refusing to seek consensus.

"The government has poor record on women's rights," she said, pointing to last year's release of a group of rapists who had assaulted Muslim woman Bilkis Bano in 2002 and this year's scandal triggered by harassment of women wrestlers.

"UCC is part of BJP's election manifesto but a collaborative approach involving all communities is called for. It cannot become yet another step against minorities," she said.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic

Ignorance to women's health and its potential to dramatically enhance sporting performance is holding back women's sport, according to a leading sports scientist.

Dr. Emma Ross, who helped devise health and fitness plans for the British Team in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, told DW that health inequalities are even more acute in sports than in society.

"Sport is this perfect storm, because you've got women who don't understand their bodies and are normalizing a lot of things that aren't normal; you've got a lot of men who don't even have the experience and perspective, however well-intentioned they are; and then you've got a system, which is pushing people's bodies to the limit.

"It's very competitive and high pressure, and you absolutely don't want to appear fragile. But there are stigmas attached to some of these issues and sport compounds all of those things. That's why we're having to work quite hard to change the system to be able to acknowledge and support women's health."

Ross identifies menstruation and reproduction, breast support, appropriate kit and nutrition as areas where most female athletes need to be provided with much better education and understanding.

'Systemic inequality'

The explosive growth of women's football in England since the Euros in 2022 has seen a little more light cast on some of these issues.

Chelsea and soon to be USA manager Emma Hayes has discussed menstrual cycles at press conferences, more players have returned to the top level after giving birth and a glut of anterior cruciate ligament injuries to high profile players has led to discussions about footwear, playing on poor pitches and the overloading of the women's football calendar.

That systemic inequality is not just within sports.

"Women and girls often face greater barriers than men and boys to accessing health information and services," reported the World Health Organization in 2021.

"These barriers include restrictions on mobility; lack of access to decision-making power; lower literacy rates; discriminatory attitudes of communities and healthcare providers; and lack of training and awareness amongst healthcare providers and health systems of the specific health needs and challenges of women and girls."

More support needed

It is those needs and challenges that Ross is trying to address through a newly-expanded partnership between the English football assocation (FA) and health business The Well HQ, of which she is a founder.

While some obstacles and attitudes may take years to overcome, others should be easier to address, Ross said, pointing to breast support as an underreported issue which makes a big difference. Studies show that women with larger breasts do 37% less exercise and, at the top level, not accounting for that with the right sports bra can make an enormous difference.

"It's significant physiologically. You increase the energy cost of an exercise. If your breasts are moving, you increase perception of effort – if you're running at exactly the same speed, if you haven't got good breast support, it feels harder. You also might have more pain, which then has a knock on effect to performance, your stride length changes if you haven't got good enough breast movements, so it shortens and you cover less ground with every stride.

"When we did a big sports bra project ahead of the Tokyo Games (held in 2021) in my previous role, 50% of the athletes weren't in the right style of bra to support them optimally. So we normalize it. I think everyone thinks if you're born in a female body, you know how it works and how to get the best out of it. And unfortunately, that's just not the case."

Nutritional risks

Another issue that concerns Ross is nutrition. Her experience has been that societal attitudes to body shapes often means women eat much less than men, particularly where carbohydrates are concerned. Given the amount of energy that athletes expend, this often leads to their reproductive cycle stopping, something Ross said is seen as "normal" but which can affect bone, muscle and brain health, as well as immune function.

"What we see in girls who under-fuel is that if you fast forward three, four or five years, they start to develop osteoporosis because they haven't got the hormones to help them build bone strength. So lots of girls will present with a bone stress injury, like a stress fracture. And that's the first time the underfueling will get picked up because your bones are now not growing strong."

Ross adds that there is also a  mental health risk that accompanies underfueling, which impacts performance and career longevity.

"We need to do much better with that, because the burden of that on sport at the moment, I think, is much more than we know, in terms of how many females don't achieve their potential because they didn't get that bit right."

That lost potential also applies to girls who don't pursue sport even at grassroots level because their periods are too heavy, their breasts are not adequately supported or their pain levels are too high.

The understanding and study of women's health has a long way to go in broader society, but sport may have a pioneering role to play, even if that means framing progress as vital to performance, rather than improved wellbeing.

Edited by Jonathan Harding