Ghanaian-British journalist Afua Hirsch reports on the disastrous effect of the Islamist takeover on women’s rights in Mali. Prior to the Islamist takeover, under Tuareg rebel control, women suffered greatly fromsexual violence and forced marriages. When Islamists forced out the Tuareg rebels,conditions for women became even worse; the sexual violence continued and Shariah law was declared, resulting in the spread of cruel methods of punishment for women. For Hirsch, this conflict highlights the exclusion of women from power, a trend that is all too common throughout West Africa.