Hijab at Work Rekindled Debates on Discrimination in the Multicultural Singapore
New
Age Islam News Bureau
24
September 2020
• Saudis Ready for Kingdom’s First Women’s Soccer League
•
In Conservative Kandahar, New Gym Creates Safe Space For Afghan Women
•
Has COVID-19 Destroyed The Case For Banning The Burqa In Europe?
•
Egyptian TV Host Sparks Controversy after Saying There Is 'Devil' In Unveiled
Women
•
'Afghan Women Worry That They Will Be Marginalized'
•
Women's Rights in Yemen: Making the Most of the Space Available
•
Turkish Men Emerge As the Most Eligible Bachelors for Russian Women
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Hijab at Work Rekindled Debates on Discrimination in Multicultural Singapore
September
22, 2020
By
Beh Lih Yi
Representational
image. REUTERS
-----
Every
day before she starts her shift at a government hospital in Singapore, Farah
removes her hijab – the Islamic veil she has worn since she was a teenager.
Although
minority Muslim women can freely wear the hijab in most settings in Singapore,
some professions bar the headscarf – and a recent case has triggered fresh
debate on diversity and discrimination in the workplace.
Now
Ms. Farah has joined a growing number of Muslims – who account for about 15% of
Singapore’s 4 million resident population – calling for the ban to end, with an
online petition gathering more than 50,000 signatures.
“They
told me I can’t work here if I wear the tudung,” said Ms. Farah, using the
local Malay term for hijab, as she recounts her job interview two years ago for
a physiotherapist position.
“I
felt a sense of helplessness, it’s unfair. Why has the tudung become a barrier
for us to look for jobs?” asked Ms. Farah, who used a pseudonym for fear of
reprisals at work.
She
accepted the job eventually, but has to remove her headscarf whenever she is at
work.
Farah’s
case is not an oddity.
There
was outcry last month when a woman was asked to remove her hijab to work as a
promoter at a local department store.
Halimah
Yacob, the country’s first female president who herself wears the hijab, said
there is “no place” for discrimination when asked her view of the case.
The
store reversed its policy, but many took to social media pointing out
restrictions remain on wearing the hijab for some civil servants, including
policewomen and nurses.
Workplace
discrimination is ‘disturbing’
The
debate surrounding the hijab is not new in Singapore, a modern city-state which
takes pride in its multicultural and multiracial background. The country is
predominantly ethnic Chinese, many of whom follow Buddhism or Christianity.
In 2013, then Muslim affairs minister Yaacob
Ibrahim said wearing a hijab at the workplace would be “very problematic” for
some professions that require a uniform.
The
following year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the hijab issue was about
“what sort of society do we want to build in Singapore,” according to local
media reports.
Singapore’s
police force and the health ministry did not respond to repeated requests
seeking comment.
Referring
to the department store case, Singapore’s president said discrimination in the
workplace was “disturbing” as it deprives a person from earning a living.
“People
should be assessed solely on their merits and their ability to do a job and
nothing else,” Ms. Halimah wrote on her Facebook page, which attracted more
than 500 comments.
“During
this COVID-19 period when concerns over jobs and livelihoods are greater,
incidents of discrimination exacerbate anxieties and people feel threatened,”
she added.
To
wear or not to wear the hijab
The
hijab has been a divisive issue for Muslims worldwide.
Many
Muslim women cover their heads in public as a sign of modesty, although others
see it as a sign of female oppression and in the Middle East women face jail
for eschewing it.
In
Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province, women without a headscarf have been
censured. In Malaysia, Islamic authorities have probed a book about Muslim
women who refuse to wear the hijab.
But
women’s rights campaigners in Singapore say they want Muslim women to have
freedom of choice.
Such
restrictions have hindered women’s job prospects, especially when the
coronavirus pandemic has pushed Singapore into recession and companies are
laying off workers, they say.
About
these ads
“Women
should be able to practice their religion freely without having to choose
between having a job or to practice their religion,” said Filzah Sumartono, a
writer who helps run Beyond the Hijab, a website focused on Singapore Muslim
women.
“This
issue in Singapore is only being faced by Muslim women, it’s a strong
discriminatory policy against Muslim women,” she told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation.
The
hijab as a part of an identity
Others
urge consistency, noting that the turban – headgear worn by Sikh men – is
allowed at work in Singapore.
“Why
the double standard?” asked Nur, a Muslim law student who signed the petition
posted online in June. She requested not to use her full name to protect her
privacy.
Ms.
Nur said her mother and sister, who work as a nurse and in a private security
company, respectively, are both banned from wearing a headscarf at work.
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2020/0922/Singapore-debates-Muslim-women-wearing-the-hijab-at-work
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Saudis
Ready for Kingdom’s First Women’s Soccer League
Mostafa
Al-Grtly
Sep
23, 2020
A
Saudi woman arrives for the Supercoppa Italiana final soccer match between
Juventus and Lazio at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
Dec. 22, 2019. Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images.
-----
Saudi
Arabia’s first female soccer league is set to launch in October, after being
put on hold in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. This comes two years
after Saudi women were allowed for the first time into stadiums.
On
Feb. 24, the Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) launched a female soccer
league, which was postponed in March as part of the precautionary measures to
stem the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Arrangements
are underway to launch the first season of the league in the second week of
October. The tournament will be reserved for women aged 17 and above. The league
will play its matches in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Other cities will be added
to the tournament should they have four registered teams of no less than 20
players. The registration is open until the end of September, according to the
official website of the tournament, where women can register to join teams.
Saudi
Arabia had previously organized a championship that included six women’s soccer
teams in Jeddah, under the name of “Jeddah Women’s League” in October 2019. The
games were played as per the 9 versus 9 formations, which will be applied to
the upcoming tournament.
The
creation of the league comes as part of the increasing support offered to women
in Saudi Arabia over the past few years under King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al
Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On Jan. 12, 2018, women were allowed
for the first time into stadiums in the kingdom to attend soccer matches.
Mashael
al-Harbi, a player of the all-female Storm Team, which was founded at the end
of 2017 and participated in the Jeddah championship, said that she has been
playing soccer from a young age either in fields they rented or at their
friend’s house.
“When
we grow older it is no longer appropriate for young women to play soccer with
young men in the streets. I used to stick with my female friends who share the
same passion for soccer,” she said.
Harbi,
who is one of the seven co-founders of the Storm Team, told Al-Monitor, “My
parents do not have a problem with me playing soccer. The society’s view has
also changed. Our coach is a married woman, and she was training us even when
she was pregnant. She returned to the team after her maternity leave, and her
husband is very supportive. Some less fortunate young women quit, as they did
not find the support they needed from their families.”
On
its official website, the SFA states that it will not provide financial support
to teams to rent stadiums nor cover transportation costs. It will, however,
support teams by appointing coaches and provide suitable spaces for training.
This
does not seem a problem for the Storm Team.
“Our
teammates pitch in to rent stadiums. We already played in three or four
stadiums. The first one was a bit small. We later rented a larger field for a
year so it could be exclusive for us,” Harbi, who graduated from the Arab Open
University in Saudi Arabia with a degree in information technology, explained.
According
to the SFA, the women’s league games will not be broadcast on TV and the
tournament will be managed by female staff only. No teams are allowed to have male
members onboard.
The
league does not require a specific weight for the participants and players can
register from across the kingdom, provided that they hold a valid resident
identification card or a passport.
Azza
Jawdah, Storm’s playmaker, used to train and play soccer when she visited
Egypt, which does not have the same restrictions on female players as in Saudi
Arabia. Then she moved with her parents to the city of Jeddah.
“Everyone
used to tell me that soccer was a waste of time and that I should be focusing
more on my studies. I wanted to start practicing basketball, but a friend had a
women’s soccer team. I was so surprised that I did not believe her until I
joined the training,” Jawdah told Al-Monitor.
“We
are so fortunate to have witnessed the kingdom’s Vision 2030. Many of my
friends have told me about their attempts back in 2010 and 2012 to push for the
creation of a female league but to no avail. I think this generation is the
first of Saudi female soccer players,” said Jawdah, who is a big fan of the
Spanish professional soccer player Andres Iniesta.
Samira
Faisal, Storm’s defender, faces the same stigma within her community.
“Everything at the beginning is difficult to accept. But we persisted and we
stuck to our ideas until society became more accepting of us,” she told
Al-Monitor. “On the bright side, I did not have any problem with my family.
Soccer and sports in general are in our blood; we play tennis and basketball
too.”
Faisal
and her sister first joined the Jeddah Eagles soccer club, before switching to
Storm in January 2020, its competitor. Before that, she had been playing
basketball and tennis for the past eight years.
Rahaf
al-Sharif is a co-founder of the Tiger Academy for women’s soccer in Saudi
Arabia, and the captain of its team. “I really do not know what to say, but the
society’s view of women playing soccer at the beginning was very bad. The
ugliest comments were made on social media,” she told Al-Monitor.
The
Tiger Academy was founded in October 2019 by a group of young women who formed
a soccer team and decided to turn it into an academy with the increasing
interest in soccer, namely among women, and the launch of the Jeddah Women’s
League in the same year.
Sharif,
who started playing soccer at the age of eight, told Al-Monitor, “I faced many
hardships to be able to form a team. There are many talents at home but they do
not have the necessary expertise and the basics of playing. Many female coaches
received training via the internet. This is why at first we had to hire male coaches
to start somewhere, as they have more professional experience.”
SFA’s
president, Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, said in a televised
statement back in February when he announced the women’s league that this step
is a quantum leap in the kingdom and is in line with Vision 2030, aiming at
empowering women and creating jobs.
“We
have a training program for women to become coaches and referees,” he said.
On
April 25, 2016, the Saudi government approved the kingdom’s Vision 2030 for
economic and social development.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/09/saudi-arabia-women-football-league-coronavirus.html
--------
In
Conservative Kandahar, New Gym Creates Safe Space for Afghan Women
Sep
24, 2020
In
Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar, rights activist Maryam Durani has
found a fresh outlet for her decades of advocacy – a new fitness centre for
women.
------
KANDAHAR,
Afghanistan (Reuters) - In Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar, rights
activist Maryam Durani has found a fresh outlet for her decades of advocacy - a
new fitness centre for women.
Durani,
36, is a fierce campaigner for women’s rights in the conservative stronghold
where the Islamist Taliban militant group have major sway and take a
conservative stance on the position of women, who mostly wear the burqa in
public.
She
runs a radio station for women, has served on the provincial council and was
presented with the International Women of Courage Award by Michelle Obama for
in 2012. Last year, Durani switched tack to open a female-only gym, which draws
about 50 women attend each day.
“The
reaction of the ladies was very positive because they needed it,” she said,
shortly after working out with a group of clients. “What bothered me was the
reaction of the men...who reacted negatively to our club and even insulted me
because they thought our club was in opposition to Sharia.”
With
a troop withdrawal signed between the United States and the Taliban, who have
fought a bloody war for 19 years, many women in Afghanistan worry the militant
group may exert its influence through formal political channels.
When
the Taliban ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, they banned education for
females and barred women from leaving the house without a male relative.
The
group says it has changed but many women remain sceptical.
“My
only concern is about their view of women’s rights and what freedoms and
restrictions they will impose on me,” said Durani.
For
now, her focus is on serving the dozens of women who attend the club, whom she
describes as a cross-section of society including housewives and women who work
outside the home.
“My
only wish is to be seen as a human in this society,” she said.
https://in.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-women-fitness-gym/in-conservative-kandahar-new-gym-creates-safe-space-for-afghan-women-idUSKCN26F03G
--------
Has
COVID-19 Destroyed The Case For Banning The Burqa In Europe?
23/09/2020
The
coronavirus pandemic has thrown up an interesting paradox in European countries
that have banned the full-face veil.
In
some French cities, for example, failure to cover your face and protect against
COVID-19 can land you a €135 fine.
Yet,
officially at least, you could also be fined as much as €150 for covering your
face in public places if the covering is a full-face veil.
In
2011, France became the first European country to ban the full-face veil in
public. Other European countries have followed by introducing total or partial
bans of the burqa, including Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Latvia and Norway.
Now,
with many Europeans told they must wear face masks to combat the spread of
COVID-19, some are highlighting the apparent contradiction.
“What's
the difference when you cover your face for religious reasons or when you cover
your face for health reasons?” said Moana Genevey, gender policy officer at
Equinet. “And when is it acceptable?”
The
new ‘living together’
In
2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) dismissed France's arguments to
ban the wearing of the full-face veil in public on the grounds of public
security and protection of gender equality.
However,
it upheld the ban by accepting it constitutes an infringement of the French
principle of “living together” ('le vivre ensemble').
Three
years later, two Belgian women also took their case to the ECHR, arguing the
so-called burqa ban was breaching human-rights law. Samia Belcacemi had stopped
wearing the veil in public, fearing jail or a fine, while Yamina Oussar chose
to stay at home.
Likewise,
the ECHR ruled that Belgium did not violate any right to freedom of religion or
discrimination law as it had the right to impose restrictions to ensure the
principle of “living together”.
In
the French case, the violation of the concept of “le vivre ensemble” was
defined as “a denial of fraternity, constituting the negation of contact with
others”.
However,
the pre-COVID "living together" has little to do with the current
coexistence in European countries based on safety distance.
“The
discourse has completely changed and people are asked to cover their faces to
be able to live together in a democratic society,” said Dr Jone Elizondo
Urrestarazu, legal and policy officer at Equinet. "Living together doesn't
mean what it used to, so maybe it's time to rethink the volatility of this
argument."
Genevey
said COVID has raised the issue: “Some women were asking whether or not the ban
would apply to them in the context of the pandemic. Now the question is: will
we go back to normal afterwards?”
COVID-19
and public safety
Belgium
is one of the European countries where covering one’s face with a piece of
cloth is banned, but wearing a face mask is now mandatory.
The
so-called "burqa ban" was first implemented in Belgium in 2011,
forbidding any face-covering clothing in public that could conceal someone’s identity.
One
of the main justifications was that “people in public spaces should be
‘recognisable’ and ‘identifiable’ on the grounds of public security”.
Exceptions are allowed for labour regulations or festivities, but not for
health reasons.
But
because of the health emergency, this public safety principle seems to have
been put to one side.
“In
the short term, we might experience an increase in common criminality, as they
go unrecognised wearing face masks,” said Professor Kenneth Lasoen, an
intelligence and security expert.
“To
offset the situation, municipalities are investing in CCTV cameras to monitor
those wearing a face mask in the streets."
But,
in the longer term, there are concerns the coronavirus pandemic has weakened
the argument against banning full-face veils.
"We
are very likely to face a constitutional challenge, as the current situation
sets a precedent for people who want to wear any kind of face-covering in
public,” added Prof Lasoen.
But
on the streets of Brussels, some people question the link between the
coronavirus pandemic and the ban on other types of face-covering, including the
burqa.
“I
see why some would say that, but we are talking about two different levels,”
says Vanessa, a 21-year-old student. “Wearing a mask now has nothing to do with
the fact that people could cover their faces with a burqa”.
Her
friend Victoria, 20, agrees.
“It
is different, we are experiencing a world health crisis and face masks are for
everybody’s health, it’s not just about someone’s religion,” she said.
Stephanie,
a 40-year-old teacher, thinks “some people might find it disturbing, or even
scary if they do not see a face”.
”Back
in Tunisia I used to feel a bit unsettled when I saw women wearing a burqa, as
I couldn’t see their features,” said Samia, a Brussels expat.
“I
also had a sense of guilt, because maybe they felt unsettled by the fact that I
didn’t wear a veil at all."
Samia
doesn’t think the comparison between masks and full-face veils is fully valid,
because “with a mask, you can still see the features, and whether the person is
female or male”.
“The
[main] principle should be not to repress people’s rights on [the] grounds of
public security,” she said.
“European
countries should find ways to minimise the security issues without stigmatising
part of the population and prevent them from wearing whatever they want.”
A
question of women's rights?
“If
the burqa ban is only justified on religious grounds, it is a discriminatory
law,” said Genevey.
“And
we cannot ignore that this is something that is affecting an intersectional
group, which is women of a certain religion,” said Dr Elizondo.
The
ban affects a minority in Europe: less than 1% of Muslim women wear a burqa or
a niqab.
“It’s
ironic how these measures were supposed to liberate and empower Muslim women
who chose to wear a niqab yet it ended up limiting them,” said Dr Sanja Bilic,
operations and policy manager at the European Forum of Muslim Women.
“Some
women are still going out and paying fines. Others decided to stay home. Prior
to the ban, they were active citizens, participating in the life of their
community and they had to stop doing that after the niqab ban was implemented”.
For
Dr Bilic, the issue is not the niqab or the hijab per se, but the fact that
these bans “criminalise a piece of clothing and no other piece of clothing is
criminalised in Europe. This is problematic and it leads to Islamophobia, a
gendered Islamophobia because it only targets Muslim women”.
She
also sees that the ban leads to the growing intolerance towards women wearing a
hijab, as was the case of French MP Anne-Christine Lang who walked out of an
inquiry meeting because a student union leader wore a hijab.
Some
argue these women are pressured to wear a niqab or a burqa by their families or
communities. And that the decision to stay at home because they cannot wear a
burqa it’s not theirs.
“There
is always a component of societal pressure, even if not driven by religion”
argues Dr Bilic. “We would have to interview each woman to know their motives,
but I believe that here in Europe if they were to be forced to wear a burqa or
niqab, they have the tools and freedom to seek help”.
“In
the European context, no other group of women, particularly those coming from
the minority and non-Christian background, would be questioned on their ability
and capacity to choose yet Muslim women's choices are always treated as
suspicious."
Genevey
argues the burqa ban is the opposite of feminism: “Pretending to free women by
not allowing them access to the public space is a fundamental
contradiction."
https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/23/has-covid-19-destroyed-the-case-for-banning-the-burqa-in-europe
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Egyptian
TV Host Sparks Controversy after Saying There Is 'Devil' In Unveiled Women
Marwa
Al-A’sar
Sep
23, 2020
CAIRO
— Recent remarks by a well-known Egyptian TV presenter on women’s Islamic
headgear have stirred up a heated debate between secular and ultraconservative
Egyptians.
Radwa
el-Sherbiny, who is known for her controversial views, has come under fire
because of her statements on women's Islamic veil during her show “Heya w Bas”
("Only Her") on the private CBC satellite channel on Sept. 13.
Commenting
on a female viewer who called the show to say that she wanted to remove her
hijab, Sherbiny said women who wear the hijab are “100,000 times better” than
those who do not. She claimed that there is a “devil” inside unveiled women
that is more powerful than their faith.
The
remarks of Sherbiny, who is unveiled herself, stirred up mixed reactions and
provoked many who criticized her as someone promoting hate speech and
segregation.
Nevertheless,
ultraconservative Egyptians viewed her as a supporter of Muslim women’s rights.
Sherbiny’s
comments were fiercely criticized by women’s rights advocates as well.
“There
is a difference between opinion and judgement. Voicing a judgement and
stigmatizing unveiled women can open the door for exercising social
guardianship … and inciting crimes, such as sexual harassment, under the
pretext that those women were not wearing the hijab,” said Nehad Aboul-Komsan,
a women’s rights defender.
“There
is a difference between a presenter and an analyst. A TV presenter should be
unbiased. She could have brought the two sides of the argument — one for and
another against the Islamic veil. What she said, indeed, was against the law as
it was a form of bullying, which has been recently outlawed,” Aboul-Komsan,
also a lawyer, told Al-Monitor.
Such
criticism has apparently paid off. On Sept. 13, the Supreme Council for Media
Regulation (SCMR) — an independent entity loyal to the regime — decided to
question Sherbiny.
“The
Complaints Committee at the … council [will open] an immediate investigation …
into the complaints it has received over what she said … [about] unveiled
women,” the regulator said in a post on its official Facebook page.
Social
media fiercely responded to Sherbiny's remarks. The conversations online were
quickly divided in two camps: users denouncing her comments and others
supporting her narrative on the hijab and denouncing the council’s move;
creating the hashtag “#SupportRadwa.”
Even
though the TV station removed the clip in question from its online channel, it
has since resurfaced on social media.
One
day after her controversial comments, Sherbiny apologized during her show,
admitting that she may have “overreacted.”
“I
meant … that women wearing the hijab have done their duty [toward God] better
than myself and others who are not wearing it,” she said, adding that this does
not mean that unveiled women “are not good.”
Islamic
preacher Abdullah Rushdy, who appears on TV regularly, released a video on his
YouTube channel in support of Sherbiny.
“She
did not say anything wrong … she was talking about a specific subject — a
person’s commitment to obey God Almighty who loves the obedient person more,”
Rushdy argued.
“There
is a secular, enlightening bogeyman that attempts to frighten any person
wishing to revive the right religious thoughts in society. … Be strong and
righteous … and remind people of the right thing,” he added sarcastically.
On
the other hand, freedom of expression advocates considered the SCMR’s move
against Sherbiny an attack on media freedom, regardless of her comments that
may have offended unveiled women.
Khaled
el-Balshy, former head of the Freedoms Committee at the Journalists Syndicate,
considered the situation “a real dilemma.”
“At
the same time, if we talk from the perspective of free speech, I don’t think
she should be investigated for what she said,” Balshy argued.
“I
personally disapprove of what she said … as it encourages people to antagonize
unveiled women,” he told Al-Monitor. “But the idea of having an authority that
judges the media or the press for what they say is quite alarming.”
This
was not the first time that Sherbiny spoke highly of the hijab. She has
frequently expressed her constant wish to put it on herself.
“Oh,
God … oh God … May I [put on] the veil,” she said during an episode of the same
show in November last year, while showing her viewers how to wear the headscarf
in a stylish way.
However,
she has never explained why she has not fulfilled her wish.
In
July, Sherbiny criticized the management of tourist sites that do not allow
veiled women in, including resorts banning burkinis.
SCMR
officials eventually decided to take no action against her. “We questioned
Sherbiny, and she explained the situation. She said she meant no offense to
unveiled women. That’s why we thought there was no ill-intent, especially since
she apologized in her show for what she said,” SCMR head Karam Gabr told
Al-Monitor.
Sherbiny
could not be reached for comment on the raised controversy.
Hijab
as a principle in Islam has been subjected to several interpretations. Some
intellectuals argue it is not obligatory in the first place.
Last
year, a female writer’s life was threatened by fanatics after she published a
book documenting the lives of women who took off their veils.
Dena
Anwer’s book — “Those Taking Off the Hijab: The Silent Revolution” — was a
bestseller at the latest Cairo International Book Fair.
In
2015, prominent journalist and writer Cherif Choubachy called on women to join
a protest in Tahrir Square — which witnessed the 2011 uprising — and take off
their veils there. His call was met with uproar from Islamic scholars and
ultraconservative Egyptians.
The
phenomenon of the hijab returned to Egypt after hundreds of thousands of
Egyptians were influenced by Salafist ideologies when they worked in oil-rich
Gulf countries during the 1970s and 1980s, especially Saudi Arabia, the home of
extremist Wahhabism. A hijab-wearing female was a rarity on the streets of the
capital Cairo and Egypt’s main cities before that time. Even the wives and
daughters of several high-profile Islamic scholars during the second half of
the 20th century did not cover. Currently, it has turned into a social dress
for some social segments, especially among the poor, rather than a religious
duty.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/09/egypt-tv-host-criticize-women-hijab-freedom-of-expression.html
--------
'Afghan
Women Worry That They Will Be Marginalized'
By
Sumitra Nair
September
23, 2020
On
September 18, President Ashraf Ghani signed a law amendment that will allow
Afghans to have their mother’s names printed on their national identity cards.
There has been a campaign to bring about this change for a long time.
Until
now, only fathers names were allowed to be recorded on ID cards and using
women’s names is traditionally frowned upon. The move comes at a time when the
Taliban and the Afghan government have initiated peace talks. And during the
talks, four Afghan women made sure their voices were heard.
While
under the Taliban regime, women were threatened with dismemberment for wearing
nail polish or lipstick; they were publicly flogged for breaking the dress code
and weren’t allowed to leave their homes without a male companion. There is
fear that these regressive norms could return if the Taliban takes a seat of
power. What do women make of the peace talks? What is to be the expected
outcome and how will it affect women?
“The
Taliban had taken over when I was six years old. We had our fall-winter break.
I was waiting for the spring semester to begin. After three weeks, I asked my
father to take me to school. When we went, we saw that the school was shut
down— everything was empty— I cried a lot. My father moved us to Pakistan,
where I finished middle school and came back to Afghanistan in 2002,” says
Mariam Atahi, a women’s rights activist based in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Atari,
who holds a masters degree in Peace and Reconciliation, says, “I could continue
my education because we were lucky and could move to Pakistan. But, there are
tens of thousands of girls who haven’t be able to do so.”
Atahi
says she is concerned about the outcome of peace talks between the Afghan
government and Taliban. According to her, considerable progress has been made
in women’s rights. But she hopes that “women’s political participation
increases and that there is the participation of various ethnic groups that
live in Afghanistan,” even after talks between the government and the Taliban.
Hikmat
Noori an independent journalist and an advocate of women’s rights said, “Twenty
years ago if you were a woman in Afghanistan, you could be beaten for laughing
in public or flogged publicly for leaving your home without a male guardian.
But since the fall of the Taliban regime and the establishment of the new
government, Afghan women's rights have become a symbol of progress and
development. let’s not forget the positive impact of the international
community's efforts in Afghanistan. Over the past two decades, many laws,
policies and strategies have been developed by the Afghan women such as the
National Action Plan for Afghan Women, National strategy for combating violence
against women. More recently they secured the rights to include mothers' names
on children's National ID. So these changes do improve the situation of Afghan
women and help move towards equality among Afghans.”
According
to Atahi, the government letting people include their mothers name in IDs is a
huge achievement as this works in favour of widows, who might want to take
their children abroad. This also changes many other things like, when a woman
is married, her name does not appear on her wedding invitations. If she falls
ill, her name does not appear on her prescription, and when she dies, her name
does not appear on her death certificate.
As
per a randomised controlled trial of 932 women in February 2019, 14 per cent of
women experienced violence from their mother-in-law, while 23 per cent
experienced physical violence from their husbands in the last 12 months. As per
the Afghanistan Women Affairs Ministry, there have been more than 6,500
instances of violence against women in the country between 2018 and 2019. And
in most cases, the violence is inflicted upon by family members in form of
sexual abuse in forced marriages to honour killings. Women are also denied
rights like inheritance and education, which are guaranteed to them by the
government.
Noori
however feels, and Atahi agrees, that many issues still need to be worked on,
including domestic violence and certain regressive practices that hold women
back or discriminate against them. Atahi hopes after the talks conclude, no
youth or children would need to face violence or grow up in the face of
violence.
According
to Atahi, there are women in high-ranking positions in President Ashraf Ghani’s
cabinet. But, women’s involvement in politics needs to increase.
“I
personally think one of the most important things that women have been able to
do alongside men in the last two decade is joining in the Afghan security
forces in fighting for security and stability of Afghanistan, Noori says.
About
fears surrounding what will happen to women’s freedom if the Taliban does
become part of the government, he says, “I am personally very sceptical about
their arrival. I am scared of my sisters being beaten for something as trivial
as going to the hospital by themselves. I am scared for my niece who may not
get access to proper schooling and education. Although there are optimisms
about peace agreements between the Taliban and the Afghan government, I also
see and hear many concerns. Afghan women worry that they will be marginalized
in the agreement and that the Taliban will re-establish their old ways as soon
as they reach an agreement with the government. They worry that women will not
be allowed to work or get outside the house without a male guardian.”
The
Taliban has indicated that they will adopt a less draconian stance toward women
and women’s rights than before. The militant group has said that they would
protect women's rights under Islamic Sharia law. And while details on the same
aren’t available, they have indicated that the system will be different than
ones in place in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
On
Wednesday, US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad faced tough questioning
from Democrats on women’s rights amid talks between Taliban and the Afghan
government. Stephen Lynch, chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee asked
Khalilzad, “How do we demonstrate to the Taliban that the status of women and
girls is a major priority in restoring that country's stability...when we don't
list it as a priority in our negotiations but instead, leave it to the Afghans
to fight that fight?”
Khalilzad
assured Lynch that women’s rights were a top priority for the US, but
acknowledged that the country’s political future would be determined by talks
between the Taliban militants and an Afghan government-led delegation.
Khalilzad
also said that the US hadn’t abandoned the cause of women’s rights in
Afghanistan. The US-Taliban agreement that stipulates that American troops will
withdraw from Afghanistan as long as Taliban renounced terrorism and agreed to
have direct peace talks with the Afghan government had not discussed women’s
rights.
Atahi
on the other hand feels that the situation may not be completely reversed if
the Taliban does become part of the government. And if personal freedom is
attacked, “women in Afghanistan won’t give up without a fight,” she says.
Talking of personal freedom she says, “even something as simple as wearing a
hijab or not, is a personal choice— it has never been enforced by a family
member or the police. But this wasn’t the case when the Taliban was powerful.”
While
both the Afghan government and the Taliban follow the Hanafi school of
jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, their interpretation of Shari’a are vastly
different and this could pose a possible problem for both sides to agree on
matters regarding civil as well as women’s rights.
https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2020/09/23/afghan-women-worry-that-they-will-be-marginalized.html
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Women's
Rights in Yemen: Making the Most of the Space Available
Afrah
Nasser
23.09.2020
During
my early childhood in Sana'a in the 1990s, the idea of gender equality was
confusing to me. On the one hand, my mother was teaching me how women must
fight for their rights. On the other hand, outside of home, concepts like
"gender equality" or "feminism" were portrayed in a
negative light.
I
recall that, in secondary school, our female teacher told our class how
"equality" between the sexes was a notion manufactured by the West to
destroy Arab and Muslim communities. I also recall how my religious neighbour
urged me to accompany her to a women-only Koran study group in the nearby
mosque. We would go and listen to a sheikha (female religious leader)
explaining how "gender equality" and "feminism" were
against Islam, and how Allah wanted men and women to have different and unequal
roles and responsibilities.
When
I started college, however, I became exposed to a different kind of discourse
about women's rights. Both the independent press and events about women's
rights, organised by pro-democracy local civil society organisations (CSOs),
opened my eyes to Yemen's feminist women.
Women's
rights advocates in political positions or leading CSOs, such as Radhya
Shamsheer, Amat al-Alim Alsoswa, Raufa Hassan or Amal Basha, speaking
eloquently about women's activism in Yemen, have all been crucial in shaping my
feminist consciousness. They were working on issues like child marriage,
gender-based violence, discriminatory laws and women's political participation,
among many other things.
Resistance
from the political and religious spheres
The
word feminism, though, was not always explicitly used because it was dangerous
and antagonising.
For
instance, in 1999, leading feminist figure Raufa Hassan was subjected to an
aggressive religious attack over her work and was eventually forced to leave
the country. The anti-feminist backlash from some influential religious members
of parliament and conservative clerics compelled most feminists to adopt a more
pragmatic approach to their activism and to use less antagonising labels, such
as women's empowerment advocates. Only a handful would fearlessly continue to
call themselves feminists. They were all involved in the same feminist
struggle, to be sure.
Yemen's
modern history has never seen a coherent and consistent women's movement, but
rather temporary and fragmented movements with different priorities, such as
women's struggle against human rights violations, and feminists' focus on
combating patriarchal tribal structures that discriminated against women. They
all stemmed from genuine concerns for human rights and democracy.
In
the country's modern history, three major events have influenced these
struggles and women's political rights: 1) the unification of North and South
Yemen in 1990, 2) Yemen's uprising in 2011, and 3) the war that has been
ongoing since 2015.
When
the two Yemeni states unified in 1990, a reform of the family law took place
that was considered an advancement for Northern and a setback for Southern
women, as the South had already introduced more progressive women's rights than
the North, for instance legal equality in family affairs.
Then,
in the wake of the 2011 uprising, women fought hard for greater and more
effective political participation, eventually achieving an unprecedented 30-per
cent quota for women in parliament.
Women
also took part in the Constitution Drafting Committee for the first time in the
state's history.
Where
women's political rights stand today
Yet,
today, all these advancements in the name of women's rights have been eroded.
As the four-year-long war rages on, the political system as a whole has
descended into chaos and the push for women's representation has shifted from
political institutions to diplomacy and advocacy.
During
the time from the Houthis' takeover of Sana'a in September 2014 to the
Saudi-led military intervention in 2015, the formal political process has
ground to a halt. Militarisation has meant a significant loss for women's
political voice and role in decision-making. In fact, the discussion of women's
political rights in Yemen right now, in its current apocalyptic state, seems an
extravagant thought.
Women
and girls bear brunt of conflict
The
conflict has made Yemen the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Millions of lives are threatened by famine; but the heaviest toll is taken on
women and girls of childbearing age. Females are facing a rise in child
marriages and a 63-per cent increase in violence against them.
With
dozens of women detainees held in Houthi rebel prisons, facing torture and
abuse, the conflict has destroyed some of the tribal safeguards that protected
women from abduction or imprisonment. In Taiz, women activists are a target of
Houthi bullets. Across many cities, women agonise over their missing male
relatives and are barely able to feed their starving children.
What
I lament the most is that pre-war Yemen, with all its institutional injustices
against women, had nevertheless overtaken Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) in its advancement of women's rights – a progress that today is
basically undone. Over the course of the Yemeni war, women in Saudi Arabia and
the UAE have witnessed some positive developments, such as the lifting of the
driving ban in Saudi Arabia and an increase in women's political representation
in the UAE, while Yemenis are facing the decline of their rights and freedoms.
This is a very important comparison as the disastrous bombing of Yemen is
carried out by none other than its neighbours: Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Independent
press and CSOs have disappeared as a venue to raise awareness about women's empowerment.
Journalists, activists and aid workers have been harassed, attacked, and/or
made to disappear by all warring parties. The space for civil action has shrunk
drastically. Voices that dare to speak out in support of women's rights are
effectively being silenced.
Women
are fighting back
Meanwhile,
women are pushing back. At the grassroots level, with some 12,000 men arrested
and more than 3,000 forcibly disappeared, mothers, sisters and daughters of
those abducted have begun to gather in front of the central prison or police
stations across major Yemeni cities in search of their sons, fathers or
brothers. They have organised themselves as a collective named "Mothers of
Abductees Association". At the political level, UN Women has supported the
establishment of the Yemeni Women's Pact for Peace and Security, which calls
for women's inclusion in the political dialogue and peace process.
In
addition, Yemeni women's political activism has been supported by the three UN
Special Envoys for Yemen – Jamal Ben Omar, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and currently
Martin Griffiths – over the past eight years. In accordance with UN Security
Council Resolution 1325 – on the full involvement and equal participation of
women in conflict resolution processes – Griffiths has ensured the presence of
women in the Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait, Geneva and Stockholm through
consultancy groups.
Women's
future
Even
though Yemen has not witnessed a strong women's movement in recent history,
women have become an important pillar in the formation of a new democratic
Yemen since the 2011 uprising. Their activism under the difficult circumstance
of continuing conflict has played an important role in shedding light on gross
human rights violations and in peace advocacy.
The
future of Yemeni women depends on the future of Yemen. Women activists will
therefore not rest until the country is back on its feet and peace prevails.
Within the space available to them, Yemeni women are looking to achieve
something that is worth the world's solidarity.
Afrah
Nasser
©
Goethe-Institut Perspectives 2020
Afrah
Nasser is an independent Yemeni journalist, living in exile in Gothenburg,
Sweden. Her reporting on Yemen's political affairs has been published in
numerous international publications, such as the Huffington Post, CNN, Al
Jazeera English and The National. Nasser was also mentioned as the 15th most
powerful Arab by Arabian Business. In 2017, she won the International Press
Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. She is also the
recipient of the Pennskaft Award 2016 and the Dawit Isaak Prize 2014.
https://en.qantara.de/content/womens-rights-in-yemen-making-the-most-of-the-space-available?nopaging=1
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Turkish
men emerge as the most eligible bachelors for Russian women
24
Sep 2020
Russian
women have married 81 Turkish men just in Moscow since the beginning of the
year, according to the capital's civil registry office.
Among
the pool of foreigners, Turkish men have been in demand in Russia throughout
this year. More than six thousand marriages between Russian women and foreigners
have been registered in Moscow, according to the capital’s civil registry
office, and Turkish men have emerged as the most eligible bachelors in the eyes
of Russian women.
At
least 81 Turkish men have married Russian women in Moscow since the start of
this year. They are followed by Nigeria (63), Vietnam (54), USA (47), England
(42), Italy (41), Israel (40) and Germany (32).
International
weddings in Moscow have increased compared to last year, from 10 percent to 15.
“Since
the beginning of 2020, more than 6 thousand marriages have been concluded with
foreign citizens. Marriages with citizens of near and far abroad make up about
15 percent of the total. There are more grooms among foreign citizens than
brides,” the report said.
According
to the statement, foreign grooms hail from about 100 different countries, and
women from 60 diverse countries have married Russian men, too.
In
the statement, which stated that 'Overseas Princes' come from roughly 100
different places, and foreign brides from 60 countries, the most frequent
marriages are made to Turkish men.
The
women who wanted to marry Muscovite men were listed as follows: Greece (66),
Vietnam (50), Nigeria (15), Latvia (9), Estonia (9), Germany (8) and Cuba (8).
High
number of tourist exchange
It's
not just Turkish men who end up moving to Russia to achieve nuptial bliss.
Russian women move to Turkey for the same reason. Despite a lack of data, it is
expected that more than 200,000 Russian brides live in Turkey, mostly in
tourist cities such as Antalya.
Since
the early 1990s, the number of Russian tourists in Turkey has dramatically
increased. In 2019, most incoming tourists, at least seven million people, were
flying in from the country. The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya hosted
over 5.5 million Russian tourists last year.
On
the contrary, the number of Turkish tourists visiting Russia were below 100,000
in 2018.
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/turkish-men-emerge-as-the-most-eligible-bachelors-for-russian-women-39993
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