The pro-Moscow Chechen government has started to demand that female state workers wear headscarves, women in the turbulent Muslim region have recently reported.
The law lords today overturned a court ruling that teenager Shabina Begum's human rights were violated when she was banned from wearing full Islamic dress at school.
In a move influenced by Egypt and the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) the two organizations were arbitrarily dismissed in a joint motion put to the NGO committee by Iran, Sudan and their newest ally, the United States.
AWID interviews Stephen Barris from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) - an organisation that was recently denied consultative status at the UN.
The Federal Government has approved a draft bill seeking to ban same sex marriages and relationships in the country. If enacted by the National Assembly, offenders face a five-year jail term without option of fine.
A national festival to promote Muslim culture which is being partly funded by the government has refused to stage an event designed to highlight the lives and experiences of gays and lesbians.
The Dutch government will announce over the next few weeks whether it will make it a crime to wear traditional Islamic dress which covers the face apart from the eyes.
