Cambodia to host women's meeting

Cambodia to host women's meeting

CAMBODIA: Some 200 women from different religious faiths and
civil society groups will gather in Cambodia next week for the
first regional conference to challenge the lack of governmental
action in tackling violence against women, officials said on
Sunday.

The Nov. 19-Nov. 23 meeting in Phnom Penh will bring together
women of Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim faiths from
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

It is being organized by the World Conference of Religions for
Peace, said Yi Thon, acting secretary-general of the Inter-
religious Council of Cambodia, an affiliate of the New York-based
group. Participants plan to address "the lack of action regarding
sexual violence against women" and the role women of religious
faith can play in ending abuse against females in the region and
the world, the organizer's statement said.

"While domestic violence is more difficult to document due to
cultural acceptance, it is estimated that, around the world, at
least one in every three women has been beaten, raped or suffered
other abuses -- most often by someone she knows," it said.

"One in every four of these women were abused during
pregnancy, endangering the lives of their unborn children as well
as their own." -- AP

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Lifestyle-Thailand-AIDS
Thai teenagers shunning condoms
JP/11/ASEAN2

Thai teenagers shunning condoms

THAILAND: Thailand's teenagers are shunning the use of condoms in
an alarming trend, the health ministry warned on Sunday as it
called for more campaigns to encourage their use for protection
against diseases like HIV-AIDS.

A survey of 350 teenage boys in northeastern Kalasin province
found that only 24 percent of them regularly used condoms as they
believed it was safe to sleep with someone they knew, it said in
a statement.

Thailand was hailed in the 1990s for an unabashed national
publicity drive encouraging condom usage, which slashed infection
rates of HIV-AIDS.

But the three-year survey demonstrated that most teenage boys
today are only using condoms when they sleep with sex workers,
which occurs relatively rarely, Nittaya said.

The survey also found that the average age of boys having sex
for the first time had dropped from 16 years of age in 1998 to 14
years, due at least partly to their exposure to a more permissive
society. -- AFP

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Malaysia-pilgrims
KL to buy plane to cut haj cost
JP/11/ASEAN

KL to buy plane to cut haj cost

MALAYSIA: Pilgrims in Malaysia can look forward to cheaper
flights as the government plans to buy an aircraft to transport
them to Mecca, reports said on Sunday.

Second Finance Minister Jamaludin Jarjis was quoted by the
Sunday Star as saying that the Pilgrimage Board was currently
leasing aircraft from international airlines, and the costs were
passed on to passengers.

But expenses for every pilgrim heading to Mecca could be cut
by one-third if the board has its own aircraft, he said.

"We are aware that a pilgrim has to pay up to 20,000 ringgit
(US$5,263) ... which is a great burden especially for those from
the lower-income group. If the board can have its own plane, it
can offer cheaper airfares," he said.

The move will also encourage younger Muslims to go for their
pilgrimage, he said. -- AFP