Women attending the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting in New Delhi have been advised to avoid wearing short skirts since they could lead to sexual harassment, according to a website notice Thursday. The Manila-based ADB, whose board of governors is meeting this weekend in the Indian capital to discuss the global economy, advised delegates from nearly 70 countries to dress modestly in the sexually conservative nation.

India's new sex crime laws do not go far enough to protect women or tackle gender inequality, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women said on Wednesday. The legislation was passed following the fatal gang rape of a student on a Delhi bus in mid-December that sparked nationwide demonstrations over the lack of safety for women. New measures passed by Indian lawmakers in March increased punishments for sex offenders to include the death penalty if a victim dies, and broadened the definition of sexual assault.

A five-year-old Indian girl was battling for her life on Friday after being kidnapped and brutally raped, in the latest incident of violence against women and girls which has triggered protests. The girl was attacked inside a locked room in New Delhi over a 48-hour period, police said, after being abducted as she played outside on Monday. A neighbour is alleged to have taken her and locked her in a room close to her house in a lower-middle class area of the capital city, a police spokesman said.

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday hit out at "homophobic" acts by opponents of a same-sex marriage bill following violent protests that included an attack on a gay bar. The interior minister asked protest organisers to throw out members of far-right organisations who have been involved in the violence, as opposition intensifies ahead of the bill's expected final approval. "Homophobic acts, violent acts have been committed. The right to protest is recognised by our constitution and accepted by the French. But no protest must degenerate," Hollande said.