5 Worst Countries for Women

More than 120 students, three teachers hospitalized

(NEWSER) - One hundred and twenty-two Afghan school girls and three teachers were sprayed with poison and hospitalized today, the latest in a long string of poisonings designed to deter girls from going to school. The poison induced dizziness, vomiting, and headaches, and made some girls pass out, but "generally they are not in critical condition," a hospital doctor said, according to CNN . "They are more traumatized." Forty are still at the hospital, but the rest have been released. More»

Militants suspected of striking again

(NEWSER) - About 150 Afghan girls were poisoned today after drinking the water at their Takhar province school, in what officials believe was a deliberate attack by Islamist militants opposed to educating girls. "We are 100% sure that the water they drunk … was poisoned," an education department spokesperson tells Reuters , speculating that it could be the work of "irresponsible armed individuals." More»

Karzai government not making progress, rights groups says

(NEWSER) - More than a decade after the Taliban regime was ousted, Afghanistan is still imprisoning hundreds of women for "moral crimes" like running away from their husbands, according to Human Rights Watch. The group interviewed scores of women in Afghan prisons, and found that many were there because they had attempted to flee abusive relationships or forced marriages, AP reports. Adultery is a crime in Afghanistan, and the women were often assumed to have cheated on their husbands. More»

Iceland, Rwanda, and Norway top the Independent's 'best' list

(NEWSER) - With International Women's Day coming up Thursday, should we weep or rejoice? While British women will likely face 14 more elections before women equal men in Parliament, women in Qatar are far more likely to attend university than men. That said, the Independent picked its best and worse nations for women to live:

1. Overall. Best: Iceland, where equality is high in health, education, politics, and employment. Worst: Yemen. Most dangerous: Afghanistan.

'Baad' is illegal, but prevalent in lawless regions

(NEWSER) - When she was 8 years old, Shakila was abducted by men with AK-47s, who beat her, starved her, put her to work, and intended to force her to bear children. Why? Because her uncle had run off with the wife of a local strongman, and that strongman had demanded payment. Handing over girls into de facto slavery, a practice known as "baad," is technically illegal in Afghanistan, but it's still widely used as a way to resolve disputes between families, in part because people avoid corrupt official courts, the New York Times reports. More»