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Migrant expulsions from Tunisia to Libya fuel extortion, abuse – UN briefing

Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Tunisian border guards have rounded up migrants and passed them to counterparts in Libya where they have faced forced labour, extortion, torture and killing, according to a confidential UN human rights briefing seen by Reuters. The two nations are vital partners in the European Union’s efforts to stem the flow of migrants […]

Pope Francis urged to offer financial support for abused nuns

Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis needs to set up a fund for nuns who quit religious life after abuse from priests and prelates, activists say, calling for greater attention on a long-neglected issue in the Catholic Church. There are more than 600,000 nuns globally, and their exploitation and abuse has come to the fore in […]

French religious orders demand change over L’Arche abuses

Vatican CityAP The umbrella group of Catholic religious orders in France is demanding church authorities assume responsibility for horrific evidence of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse in L’Arche, once a pre-eminent lay community dedicated to people with developmental disabilities. Sister Veronique Margron, president of the conference of religious orders in France, issued a devastating analysis […]

Shame

Ireland church Jesus on the Cross

There’s something most of us fear more than death. Something we avoid at all costs. Something that makes our very souls shake: Shame. PICTURE: K Mitch Hodge/Unsplash Shame induces trauma in us. Those dark places we don’t want anyone to know about. Failure, divorce, abuse, addiction. How can we show our face again? How can […]

Updated: Pope seeks forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian residential schools

Canada Basilica of Sainte Anne de Beaupre Pope Francis

Updated: 11:45am (AEST) Sainte-Anne-De-Beaupre, Quebec, Canada Reuters Pope Francis on Thursday asked for forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian schools for Indigenous children run by Catholic orders, addressing a deep wound that many survivors wanted him to acknowledge during his apology tour in Canada. Pope Francis greets the faithful before presiding over a Mass at […]

“Appalling” abuse: Australia to push miners to set up register of offenders

Australia iron ore mining operations

Sydney, Australia Reuters Australia will push its mining industry to set up a register of sexual harassment perpetrators to help rein in abuse, a cabinet minister said, after a state government report detailed cases of “horrifying” and “appalling” behaviour against women. The inquiry by mineral-rich Western Australia, home to the bulk of the country’s iron […]

Wow!: Pakistan bus network gives women a ticket to work and study

Pakistan Peshawar BRT system1

ZOFEEN T EBRAHIM, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how Peshawar’s BRT transport system is helping women travel safely without fear of sexual harassment, opening up new opportunities for them to study and find jobs in the socially conservative city…