A Turkish woman’s parents and husband are now on trial for child and sexual abuse charges after she was forced to marry her husband when she was six years old, bringing attention to religious sects in the Muslim-majority country.
Turkey begins child abuse trial that puts spotlight on the country’s religious sects (from @AP) https://t.co/5EFUx1x8UN
Religious organizations in the US defended a loophole allowing clergy not to report child abuse cases. In 2020, the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City heavily opposed House Bill 90 (HB90) in Utah.
The Catholic church argued that the “bill would violate the confidentiality of the confessional seal.” In February, the Catholic church gathered 9,000 signed letters from its parishioners and sent them to Rep. Angela Romero, the bill’s author.
A new children’s rights bill passed the lower house on September 19, but Jordan’s parliament is still divided over the bill that has been debated since 2015 and reintroduced this past July.
A kindergarten student was barred from attending her class because her parents are a same-sex couple.
According to parents Emily and Jennie Parker, Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, Louisiana, they were informed about the school’s decision days before the class started.
Muslim children in Houston, Texas, sang an Islamic religious song with lyrics swearing allegiance to Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.
Mohammad Hanif Jazayeri, a London-based journalist of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, tweeted a video of the children singing. According to Jazayeri, Iran is "recruiting child soldiers in the U.S."
An honor-based family murder in a small town in the Fars province of Iran has once again sparked debates on the lack of laws to prevent “honor-killing” in Iran.
On June 27, the father of Ariana Lashkari shot the sixteen-year-old girl in the chest with a hunting rifle for allegedly laughing with a boy at a park, which he considered a disgrace to the family.
The decision of the United Kingdom's Department of Education to prohibit a Salafi activist from spreading his hateful teachings was welcomed by the National Secular Society (NSS). This ruling notes that several harmful sermons were published. This decision prevents the former faith school proprietor from managing private or state school teachings.
On Saturday, January 29, 2022, advocates worldwide will be holding the 11th Annual International Day of Protest Against Hereditary Religion. One of the goals of the annual protests is to raise awareness about the handicap of forcing religion on children.
