East Africa: Violence Against Women Defies Laws, Education Campaigns

A decade after a landmark United Nations conference resolved to tackle violence against women head on, not enough has been done to put an end to this scourge, say female legislators from East Africa. The members of parliament (MPs) made the claim Tuesday, during a video conference with their counterparts in the United Kingdom, held to commemorate International Women's Day. Legislators from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda said political leaders in their countries had largely relegated violence against women - and other issues related to gender equality - to the back seat of policy-making and resource allocation over the past ten years.