Global News- Grooming bans could stop child sex abuse says council

Local authorities should be able to apply for banning orders on men suspected of grooming children for sex, say councillorsCouncils in England and Wales want new powers to combat predatory men suspected of grooming children for sex.They want the government to introduce so-called child sexual exploitation disruption orders which councils could apply for through magistrates.Sanctions to prevent the grooming of vulnerable children are too limited, says the Local Government Association.It says orders could be used against anyone suspected of grooming, banning them from certain places or activities.

Preventing child bride in Kvemo Kartli

"The man thinks that she is still a child, she doesn’t know anything, and that is a good thing for her,” says Samira Bayramova, a women’s rights activist in Marneuli working to prevent young girls from becoming child brides.“Mothers-in-law support this as well, because they hope to raise those girls their way and teach them what they want,” she continues.Bayramova, 26, is an advocate for gender equality, and travels from school to school explaining to the youth why early marriage creates problems for them.Georgia as a whole has one of the highest rates of underage marriage in Europe.

Malawi bans child marriage, lifts minimum age to 18

 Malawi has passed a law banning child marriage, raising the minimum age to 18 in a country where half of girls end up as child brides.Women rights campaigners hailed the move as "a great day for Malawian girls" and said the law would help boost development in one of the world's poorest countries.But they warned Malawi would not end child marriage without concerted efforts to tackle poverty and end harmful traditional practices like early sexual initiations."This law is extremely crucial because child marriage is a big, big problem in our country," said parliamentarian Jessie Kabwila who helped push for the new legislation.

Child brides take Zimbabwe govt to court over marriage laws

 Two former child brides have taken Zimbabwe's government to court in a ground-breaking bid to get child marriages declared illegal and unconstitutional.Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi say child marriage, which is rife in Zimbabwe, is a form of child abuse which traps girls in lives of poverty and suffering."I've faced so many challenges. My husband beat me. I wanted to stay in school but he refused. It was very, very terrible," said Tsopodzi, a mother of one, who was married at 15."I want to take this action to make a difference," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Harare on Tuesday. "There are a lot of children getting married.

Congo hospital sees rise in rape of girls as young as18 months

 Girls as young as 18 months are being raped and left with horrific injuries in eastern Congo after being stolen from their homes at night, a charity said on Tuesday.The children, many of them under five, have been treated at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu province, which has helped thousands of women and girls raped during 15 years of conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.Naama Haviv, executive director of Panzi Foundation USA, said 34 infants and young girls from Kavumu had been treated at the hospital in the last two years."While we've seen very significant violence against women and girls in Congo, what's new and particularly devastating about this crisis is that it is centred in one community.