Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt to Employ Women for First Time
New Age Islam News Bureau
27
Aug 2018
Suhana Khan and AbRam, Twitter
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• Over One Million Women Face Domestic Violence In Egypt
• Shah Rukh Khan's Children Abram and Suhana Khan Celebrate Raksha Bandhan with a Promise to Respect All Women
• We Stand By Muslim Women In Quest For Social Justice: PM Modi
• UK-Iranian Woman Returns to Tehran Jail after Plea Rejected
• Massive Presence of Kurdish Women In The Funeral Of Martyrs In Marivan
• 70 Pct of Syrian Women in Turkey Cannot Speak Turkish
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/faisal-islamic-bank-egypt-employ/d/116209
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Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt to Employ Women for First Time
Amr Eltohamy
August 26, 2018
CAIRO — Ayah Azeb, a 26-year-old graduate of the Faculty of Commerce at Cairo University, is among several women to become employed Aug. 11 by the Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt (FIBE) in Egypt.
FIBE announced July 31 that it will start appointing women to all of its branches for the first time since the bank was established in 1979 as the first Islamic bank in Egypt by the late Mohammed bin Faisal al-Saud, son of the late Saudi King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
Azeb applied for a job at the bank after five years of working in different fields. She told Al-Monitor about the difficulties she faced in getting a job in the banking sector over the past five years. “I received a ‘Very Good’ assessment at the accounting department of the Faculty of Commerce where I studied. And I have received several training courses from various centers to further develop my skills. I applied to several banks but was never accepted, as banks tend to prefer males and believe they are more reliable and patient than females,” Azeb said.
During the interview at FIBE, Azeb said the questions were not gender discriminatory but rather were focused on her field of expertise.
“I dream of progressing in the banking sector like many women who have managed to overcome difficulties and reach high positions in the banking system,” she said, referring to Lubna Hilal, the first woman to be appointed as deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt.
Abdel Hamid Abu Moussa, the governor of FIBE, said in a press statement July 31 that the bank had for the first time approved the recruitment of females in all branches depending on the needs of each department. The announcement comes as the Egyptian state seeks to promote women’s rights.
Moussa added that the next couple of months would witness practical procedures for the selection of female candidates from among the applicants. He did not mention the number of applicants.
He further noted that the bank’s decision has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia’s latest campaign to end restrictions on women’s rights because the bank is Egyptian and operates in the local market.
When Al-Monitor asked Moussa about the reason behind the bank’s failure to appoint women over the past years, the bank’s governor did not respond. “This matter is subject to internal matters within the bank. We appreciate women, and they will be an important element [of the bank] in the coming years,” he said.
Egyptian member of parliament Inas Abdel Halim had submitted May 31 a briefing paper to then-Prime Minister Sherif Ismail about reports whereby “the FIBE does not employ women.” Abdel Halim stressed that the bank is violating Article 9 of the Egyptian Constitution, which stipulates that the state shall ensure equal opportunity for all citizens without discrimination.
She called on both the prime minister and the governor of the Central Bank to investigate the incident, “as it poses a great threat and is constitutionally and societally aberrant.”
Sahar el-Damaty, the first female vice president of Banque Misr — one of the largest Egyptian banks in the country — told Al-Monitor over the phone that women in Egypt occupy leadership positions within the banking sector, both in the public and private sectors, and there are no administrative restrictions on their promotions.
She said the FIBE and its relationship with its founders in Saudi Arabia is the main reason behind the strict rules relating to the appointment of women over the past years.
Damaty, who held high positions in foreign banks such as the Commercial International Bank, added that “the number of women working in the banking sector is low compared to other sectors. The reason behind such a low figure is that this sector is affected by religious fatwas, whereby working at regular banks [not Islamic banks] is sinful for both women and men.
She added that local banks in Egypt should follow the same policies followed by foreign banks in order to grant equal opportunities to both men and women, and efficiency should be the main criterion for promotion.
Damaty said that the recent positive step announced by the FIBE comes as part of the major changes taking place in Saudi Arabia concerning the easing of restrictions on women.
According to figures on government workers in 2016-2017 published by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the percentage of women employed in the financial and economic sector reached 29.8% of the total number of working women in Egypt. In turn, working women in general account for 22.9% of the total labor force in Egypt.
It seems the FIBE decision falls within a series of societal changes both in Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at granting women their full rights.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/08/egypt-islamic-bank-appoint-women-employees.html
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Over One Million Women Face Domestic Violence In Egypt
August 27, 2018
Women in Egypt are fighting to change attitudes about domestic violence.
A study by Egypt's National Council of Women found about 1.5 million women report being subjected to domestic violence each year.
It comes down to an average of 4,000 cases per day, though unreported figures may be much higher.
“He hit me while my children were asleep. While he was hitting me, he strangled me,” says Dalia Abdel Aal, a victim of domestic violence, who has filed for divorce after years of abuse at the hands of her husband.
https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/over-one-million-women-face-domestic-violence-in-egypt-19832?utm_source=GoogleNews&utm_medium=rss
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Shah Rukh Khan's Children Abram and Suhana Khan Celebrate Raksha Bandhan with a Promise to Respect All Women
August 27, 2018
DNA Web Team
Aug 26, 2018
Shah Rukh Khan, on Raksha Bandhan, shared an adorable picture of his daughter Suhana Khan celebrating the festival with her younger brother AbRam.
"Raakhi done...with a promise in the family to respect all women. Respect for women will make you inspired, make you tender hearted & morally strong. Happy Raakhi to all ye bros out there...and respect to all sisters," the actor wrote.
Shah Rukh Khan
✔
@iamsrk
Raakhi done...with a promise in the family to respect all women. Respect for women will make u inspired, make u tender hearted & morally strong. Happy Raakhi to all ye bros out there...& respect to all sisters.
7:31 PM - Aug 26, 2018
54.5K
7,592 people are talking about this
Just a few days ago, on the occassion of Eid, SRK and AbRam were seen waving to an ocean of fans from their house, Mannat. Meanwhile, Suhana was last in news for gracing the cover of Vogue. The magazine was hugely criticized for featuring a teenager on their cover, her only qualification being that she is Shah Rukh's daughter. In the interview, Suhana had extensively talked about online trolling and how she deals with all the hatred that comes her way.
She has always wanted to become an actor and now that she has made her magazine debut, speculations are an all time high that her first film might be announced some time soon.
Source: https://www.dnaindia.com/bollywood/report-shah-rukh-khan-s-children-abram-and-suhana-khan-celebrate-raksha-bandhan-with-a-promise-to-respect-all-women-2655105
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We Stand By Muslim Women In Quest For Social Justice: PM Modi
August 27, 2018
NEW DELHI: Ruing that the triple talaq bill could not be passed by parliament in the last monsoon session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the "whole country" stands by the Muslim women to ensure them social justice.
"Economic growth will be incomplete without social transformation. The triple talaq bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha although it could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha. I assure the Muslim women that the whole country stands by them to provide them social justice," PM Modi said in his monthly radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'.
Riding on its overwhelming majority, the government succeeded in getting the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill passed in the Lok Sabha on December 28, 2017 - the day it was introduced in the lower House of Parliament - despite opposition's reservation on some of its provisions.
However, in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP is not in majority, the opposition demanded the bill be sent to a Select Committee of the House comprising members from all parties for a closer scrutiny. The government has not agreed to this demand.
The bill proposes a three-year jail term for men who divorce their wives through instant triple talaq. The Supreme Court has already declared triple talaq invalid.
Dwelling on justice for women, PM Modi also mentioned how his government had ensured stricter punishment for rapists.
"No civil society can tolerate any kind of injustice towards its women. The nation will not tolerate those committing rapes. With this point in view, Parliament has made a provision of strictest punishment by passing the Criminal Act Amendment Bill. Those guilty of rape will get a minimum sentence of 10 years and those found guilty of raping girls below the age of 12 years will be awarded the death sentence," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister cited the recent example from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh where a court, after a brief hearing of two months, pronounced death sentence on two criminals found guilty of raping a minor girl.
Earlier, a court in Katni in Madhya Pradesh awarded the death sentence to the guilty after a hearing of just five days.
"This Act will play an effective role in curbing crimes against women and girls," he said.
PM Modi also expressed his "heartfelt gratitude" to all the lawmakers for the smooth conduct of the monsoon session of Parliament.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mann-ki-baat-pm-narendra-modi-we-stand-by-muslim-women-in-quest-for-social-justice-1906577
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UK-Iranian Woman Returns to Tehran Jail after Plea Rejected
26 August 2018
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman who has been held in Tehran for more than two years on sedition charges, returned to prison on Sunday after temporary release, dashing her family’s hopes of an extension.
“We have just heard the sad news that Nazanin’s extension has been refused and she has returned to prison,” said a tweet on the official “Free Nazanin” Twitter account.
“Here is the moment she said goodbye to a distraught Gabriella,” it added, along with a picture of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her four-year-old daughter.
She was unexpectedly released for a three-day furlough on Thursday, and was reunited with members of her family outside the Iranian capital.
Husband Richard Ratcliffe said they had received “mixed messages” from the Iranian authorities on Sunday, ahead of her return to Evin prison.
The charity worker had initially been told her request for an extension had been approved, but then received a call telling her to return to prison by sunset.
“She was shivering and shaking and crying - and said: ‘How can you take me away from my baby, when she needs me’?” he said in an email received by AFP.
“Gabriella was crying and sucking her thumb -- she didn’t want her mummy to go back.”
Ratcliffe said his wife, who has denied all charges filed against her in Iran, spent her time with her parents and daughter in Damavand, a mountain resort near Tehran.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation -- the media organization’s philanthropic arm -- was arrested at Tehran airport on April 3, 2016.
She is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2018/08/26/UK-Iranian-woman-returns-to-Tehran-jail-after-plea-rejected.html
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Massive Presence of Kurdish Women In The Funeral Of Martyrs In Marivan
27 August 2018
The massive presence of Kurdish women was significant in the demonstration and funeral of the martyrs of Marivan, Iran, on August 25 and 26, 2018.
Since Saturday, August 25, 2018, the people of Marivan began a protest against the forest fire caused by the explosion of undetonated projectiles and bombardment of the IRGC artillery. Kurdish women had a significant presence in the protest.
On Sunday morning, August 26, 2018, the bodies of Sharif Bajour and Omid Kohneh-Poushi were taken from the hospital to the mosque by a large number of people from Marivan and other cities. A large number of people, including Kurdish women from villages around Marivan and Sanandaj, and other cities, gathered in Marivan. The massive presence of Kurdish women at the funeral of environmental activists on Sunday morning was significant. The people of Marivan turned the funeral into an anti-government protest and chanted, “Martyrs do not die.”
The mass crowd who came from various cities to Marivan chanted, "The street is in an uproar, the blood of our hearts has been shed, the convenience of the oppressors, the exploitation of the poor."
The Internet of Marivan is said to have been cut off by government officials since August 25.
Bombings and the explosion of an undetonated projectile resulted by the IRGC resulted in a fire in Marivan forests. Subsequently, the people tried to tackle the wildfire. While battling the fire, four Iranian Kurdish environmentalists lost their lives. Mohammad Pajouhi and Rahmat Hakiminia, two members of the Natural Resources Force of Marivan, and Sharif Bajour and Omid Kohneh-Poushi (Hossein-Zadeh), environmentalists, died on Saturday, August 25, 2018, while trying to extinguish the fire in the dense woodlands of Marivan, Iranian Kurdistan.
https://women.ncr-iran.org/iran-women-news/5436-massive-presence-of-kurdish-women-in-the-funeral-of-martyrs-in-marivan
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70 Pct of Syrian Women in Turkey Cannot Speak Turkish
August 27 2018
Main problems Syrian women in Turkey face are access to better housing conditions, language and access to employment opportunities, according to a report.
“In Turkey, our assessment found that Syrian women generally feel secure, but they face challenges to overcome poverty, access affordable housing and jobs. To overcome these challenges, many Syrian women need Turkish language training, more knowledge about their rights to work and services and access to better housing opportunities,” Dr. Sabine Freizer, United Nations Women Policy Adviser on Governance, Peace and Security told Hürriyet Daily News.
The language barrier is a major obstacle that stands in the way of Syrian women from accessing rights and services, according to a needs assessment report undertaken by U.N. Women and the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM). The research, funded by the Government of Iceland, is based on structured and in-depth interviews with 1,291 Syrian women and girls across seven cities.
Syrians in Turkey may enroll in free state-supported Turkish language courses, but the study found 70 percent of Syrian women do not speak any Turkish.
Only 15 percent of women work in income-generating jobs. Almost half of all widowed women surveyed survive on monthly incomes of around 700 Turkish Liras, as do 36 percent of divorced women and 32 percent of single women. Since 2016, Syrians under temporary protection have been able to obtain work permits for formal employment, yet approximately 35,000 work permits were issued by the end of 2017. Very few were received by women.
Housing is one of the main problems for Syrian women in Turkey. They tend to settle in the same cities as their relatives, generally in the same house, with two to three rooms on average. Almost half (48.7 percent) are living in households with more than seven people.
Single Syrian women are prone to have a feeling of estrangement towards the host community, and for this reason, they tend to prefer living in neighborhoods where Syrians are densely populated. They are often in a house with another family or hosted by relatives. Unfortunately, the risks for gender-based violence, sexual abuse of girls and child marriage in crowded arrangements are high and hard to address. With the lack and inadequacy of women’s shelter services, there are few refugees from violence for Syrian women, according to the report.
Widows and young girls who must move to the houses of their male relatives are the most vulnerable to abuse under crowded conditions. For instance, a 49-year-old single woman without a child, who has been living in Istanbul for four years, said she experienced economic abuse when she stayed with her nephews in Adana.
“My nephews were working in Adana and I went there and worked with them. They beat me and made me suffer, they took my money and nothing happened when I complained. A woman, my previous neighbor from Syria, called me and invited me to Istanbul. Now, I live alone,” she said.
Syrian women in Turkey appear particularly satisfied with their access to medical services. Eighty-six percent report being able to access free primary health care in the cities where they live. About 14 percent claim facing discriminatory attitudes, prejudices and language and/or cultural barriers, resulting in low-quality or a lack of services.
“I am having problems because I cannot speak Turkish. For example, to the doctors, I mean to say ‘intestines,’ but the doctor understands it as ‘stomach.’ So, he gives me the wrong medication. Sometimes, we throw away the medicine because it is the wrong one. Neither side can understand each other because of the language barrier,” said another woman from Gaziantep, who is 30-years-old, married and with four children.
More than 17 percent of women interviewed said they live in substandard accommodation, such as basements with no sunlight and poor ventilation and shanty houses. Despite their housing problems, 87 percent of Syrian women claim they feel safe at home and 73 percent feel safe in their neighborhood.
Although Syrian women and girls face ill-treatment and discrimination in their daily lives, 73 percent do not know where to find and seek assistance related to violence or harassment.
Freizer said they believe the gradual integration of Syrian women into social and economic life in Turkey requires programs that target women, gives them services that meet their needs, empowers them and helps them build stronger ties with the community in which they live. U.N. Women has started implementing such programs through our SADA Women-only Center in Gaziantep, she said.
Funded by the European Union as part of the EU Regional Trust Fund to the Syria Crisis and the Government of Japan, Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women, Girls and Host Communities aims for a minimum of 5,000 women and girls to directly benefit from these protection and livelihood opportunities under the Turkey component by January 2020.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/70-pct-of-syrian-women-in-turkey-cannot-speak-turkish-136162
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