Several School Girls Poisoned With Toxic Material in Kabul

Air hostesses banned from wearing red, pink lipstick by Turkish Airlines

May 01 2013

Ankara : Turkish Airlines has banned air hostesses from wearing brightly-coloured lipsticks such as red or pink, a move which has sparked fierce debate as the government is accused of trying to Islamise the country, local media reported today.

Numerous women posted pictures of themselves wearing bright red lipstick on social media websites to protest at the measure, part of a new aesthetics code for stewardesses working for Turkey's main airline.

The lipstick ban is the latest in a string of conservative measures adopted by the airline, which have parked the ire of fiercely secular Turks.

"This measure is an act of perversion. How else could you describe it?" said Gursel Tekin, vice-president of the main opposition party CHP.

Turkish Airlines defended the ban, saying in a statement that "simple make-up, immaculate and in pastel colours, is preferred for staff working in the service sector."

In recent months the booming airline -- 49 per cent state-owned -- has also stopped serving alcohol on internal flights.

In February, images of proposed new uniforms for flight attendants bringing in ankle-length dresses and Ottoman-style fez caps were criticised as too conservative. The skirts of Turkish Airlines stewardesses once came in far above the knee.

However the more conservative new uniforms have not been adopted.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyin Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, in power for over a decade, is often accused of creeping efforts to coerce the country to be more conservative and pious.

Turkey is a fiercely secular state, despite being a majority Muslim country. Under Erdogan's rule headscarves – banned in public institutions -- have become more visible in public places and alcohol bans are more widespread.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/air-hostesses-banned-from-wearing-red-pink-lipstick-by-turkish-airlines/1110170/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/air-hostesses-banned-from-wearing-red-pink-lipstick-by-turkish-airlines/1110170/

-------------

Jordanian Kills Sister to ‘Cleanse Family Honour’

30 April 2013

A Jordanian has confessed to slitting his sister's throat and stabbing her 20 times in the face and chest because she was rarely home, apparently “to cleanse the family honour,” police said Tuesday.

“People last night found the body of a girl in her twenties. She had been stabbed 20 times in face and chest before she had her throat slit,” a police spokesman said.

“Police arrested her brother, who confessed to committing the crime because his sister spent so little time at the family home. His confession indicates that he sought to cleanse the family honor.”

On April 15, police said they found the burned body of a pregnant woman whose throat had been slit and belly cut open showing her four-month-old foetus, in an apparent “honour killing”.

Between 15 and 20 women die in so-called “honour” murders each year in the Arab kingdom, despite government efforts to curb such crimes.

Murder is punishable by death in Jordan, but in “honour killings” courts can commute or reduce sentences, particularly if the victim's family asks for leniency.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/04/30/Jordanian-kills-sister-to-cleanse-family-honor-.html

-------------

In Bangladesh 13-Year-Old Girl ‘Sold To Circus Party’ a Year Ago Rescued

April 30, 2013

A 13-year-old girl, allegedly sold off to a circus party by the chief security guard of Barisal Training and Rehabilitation Centre for Socially Disadvantaged Women and Girls (TRCSDWG) under the Social Welfare Department, was rescued on Saturday night.

The authorities concerned closed the accused security guard to Barisal social welfare office and formed a committee to investigate the matter.

Asaduzzaman, manager of the centre, said Pirojpur Sadar Police Station handed over a 10 -year-old girl to them on April 17, 2010. “As the girl went missing from the centre on November 8, 2012, I filed a general diary with Barisal Kotwali Police Station the same day,” the manager said.

The girl told journalists yesterday that Jasimuddin, chief security guard of TRCSDWG, sold her to Arun Das, owner of Royal Bengal Circus Party of Gournadi for Tk 20,000, saying that she would lead a better life there.

“Arun Das tortured me both physically and mentally many times. I searched for a way to get rid of the agony and managed to escape from the circus party Saturday morning,” the girl said.

Shahidul Islam Jewel, a human rights activist of Agorpur area under Babuganj upazila, said the girl boarded a passenger bus from a place in the upazila on Saturday morning and requested the bus conductor to drop her near Bhuterdia bus stop under the upazila. As she narrated her agonising odeal to Shamima Begum, a passenger of the bus, she took the girl to her home at Jahapur under Agorpur union under Babuganj upazila and sought help from local human right activist Shahidul Islam Jewel, who later brought the girl to Gournadi Press Club.

Being informed by local journalists, Barisal social welfare office sent a team and female Ansars led by TRCSDWG Manager Asaduzzaman to Babuganj. The team brought the victim to Barisal at night.

Mahbubul Islam , deputy director of Social Welfare Department, Barisal, said a three-member team comprising Deputy Superintendent Rosy Begum and Administrative officer Humaun Kabir of TRCSDWG and upazila social welfare officer Shahjadi Begum interrogated the victim at the centre on Saturday night.

“We have already closed the security guard Jasim to the district office. Necessary actions will be taken against him on the basis of the investigation report,” the deputy director said.

Refuting the allegations, Arun Das said he did not purchase any girl from TRCSDWG for his circus party.

http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/little-girl-sold-to-circus-party-a-year-ago-rescued/

-------------

Breaking The Silence: Alternative Means Of Reporting Rape In Pakistan

By Sarah Munir

April 30, 2013

KARACHI: For most rape victims in Pakistan, filing an official report is as emotionally taxing as the crime itself.

The trauma of lodging an FIR with the police, getting sampled for DNA evidence, and endless rounds of questions followed by lengthy trials all add up as reasons that discourage a significant number of victims from bringing this injustice into the limelight.

However, with the advent of technology and multiple social media outlets, alternative forums of reporting crime, including rape, have now begun to take shape.

One such example is a reporting and mapping initiative by Bytes for All Pakistan – an organisation that focuses on using information and communication technology for development, democracy and social justice.

According to Bytes for All Country Director Shahzad Ahmad, the idea for a map documenting violence against women using official reports, media reports and crowd-sourcing, was born in October last year at an Innovation Lab.

The interface of the website maps out violence according to clearly defined categories, encompassing everything from someone taking photos/video without consent to sexual assault and rape. Incidents can be reported directly by victims via SMS, email, Facebook and Twitter. Cases reported by mainstream media are also included.

Once a case is reported, a small team verifies the authentication of the claim. The victim has a choice of publicly stating their identity or remaining anonymous.

As of now, the initiative is still in its nascent stages. And yet, while only 19 cases have been reported in the past four to five months, Ahmad has high hopes for this project.

This hope of his is based on ground realities.

Today, Pakistan enjoys a burgeoning digitally active population that comprises over 20 million people with Internet access, 5.5 million with Facebook accounts, 1.9 million with Twitter accounts and 1.7 million as registered bloggers. Additionally, the percentage of Internet users in Pakistan is more than 11% of the total population, much higher than that of any other country in South Asia.

However, not all statistics are positive.

Nearly 66% of Pakistanis have access to a cell phone but, according to the Pakistan Institute of Public Opinion’s 2010 Media Report, only 28 % of women own cellphones as compared to 72% men.

Sana Saleem, director at Bolo Bhi, a non profit organisation that works in areas of gender rights, legislation and Internet freedom, says that access to reporting tools, such as SMS, is not the challenge –  the real key is to ensure its effective usage by people.

“It’s crucial that these projects take a step further than data visualisation and gear up for some activism on the streets, as well,” she elaborates.

Ahmad is well aware that the project needs mobilisation from the grass-root level. For this purpose, the organisation has partnered with 13 NGOs and conducted training activities in several areas, including Swat and Mardan.

“If a woman needs legal help, we should be able to connect her to a lawyer. If she needs shelter, we should be able to provide her that,” explains Ahmed.

Dr Ambreen Ahmad, founder of Rozan, an NGO working on the issues of gender, emotional health, and violence against women and children, states that one of the primary reasons rape victims do not report the crime is due to the lack of support mechanisms in its aftermath.

“Once you break the silence, then what happens? Providing them with the support they need afterwards is critical for the success of such programs,” she says, adding that the violence maps will also be used for research purposes. “We want to look at the map after a year and analyse trends. For example, right now we have found out that things are getting worse in Southern Punjab.”

She, too, is hopeful that change will come eventually.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/542405/breaking-the-silence-alternative-means-of-reporting-rape/

-------------

As Gender Equity Rises, More Ugandan Women Divorce

 01 May 2013

KAMPALA — More women are initiating divorces in Uganda, a conservative East African country where women are becoming empowered to leave a bad marriage in a way their mothers could not, rights activists and legal experts say.

Has your marriage broken down beyond repair? That’s the question Ugandan magistrate David Batema asks women in divorce proceedings against men who often are reluctant to let their wives go. Whatever the husband has to say, according to Batema, a woman who wants to leave a failed marriage shouldn’t be encouraged to linger.

“I usually turn my court into a learning classroom,” he said in an interview. “In this age of gender equality we are saying that ... if marriage can’t be a bed of roses, it shouldn’t be a bed of thorns. The major aim of the lesson should be to point out to the man that marriage, as of now, is a partnership of equals.”

Women’s rights activists say Batema’s position is a sign of changing times in Uganda, where it used to be extremely difficult for a woman to get a divorce. Such proceedings almost always were initiated by men, a legacy of traditional beliefs that strees women should be submissive and of a now-unconstitutional divorce law.

Full report at:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130501163819

-------------

Conference on 'Fatima al Zahra, Leader of the Women of the Worlds'

01 May 2013

On the auspicious anniversary birth of Fatima al-Zahra the institute of Labbayk Ya Zahra leading by a group of Pakistani Muslim women in England held a conference on 'Fatima al Zahra the Leader of the Women of the Worlds' at Islamic Centre of England on Saturday 27th April 2013.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - On the auspicious anniversary birth of Fatima al-Zahra the institute of Labbayk Ya Zahra leading by a group of Pakistani Muslim women in England held a conference on 'Fatima al Zahra the Leader of the Women of the Worlds'  at Islamic Centre of England on Saturday 27th April 2013.

The conference which lasted for 5 hours, a large group of Muslim women and girls and a group of Ulema and religious scholars from different cities of UK participated in the conference.

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=414757

-------------

Afghan women rock out at ladies-only concert

1 May 2013

More than 400 Afghan women and girls jumped from their seats, screaming and even head banging to rock and rap music at an all-female music festival in the capital of Kabul, which organizers say was the largest such event in the country’s history.

It may also be one of the last. In ultra-conservative Afghanistan, women’s rights remain precarious.

Afghan women have won back hard-fought rights such as education and work since the Islamist Taliban was toppled 12 years ago, but there are fears these freedoms could shrink once NATO-led forces withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of next year, ending their fight against a Taliban-led insurgency that began in late 2001.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/entertainment/2013/05/01/Afghan-women-rock-out-at-ladies-only-concert.html

-------------

Pakistani Women Hit The Campaign Trail To Ensure Their Voice Is Heard

By Abubakar Siddique

April 30, 2013

Election Day is approaching in Pakistan, and women in one violence-wracked province are working hard to ensure they have a voice.

Tens of millions of women are expected to refrain from voting during the May 11 general elections due to societal restrictions, failures in the electoral system, or the very real threat of violence.

In Pakistan's 2008 general elections, only 38 percent of registered women voters cast ballots, according to the Free and Fair Election Network. That compares to 50 percent of male voters, says the independent watchdog of the Pakistani polls.

Full report at:

http://www.rferl.org/content/pakistan-election-women-campaign-trail/24973180.html

-------------

Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury Elected Speaker of Bangladesh's Parliament

 01 May 2013          

Bangladesh's parliament has for the first time elected a woman, Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, as speaker.

Mrs Chowdhury is a member of the governing Awami League party and was formerly the minister for women and children's affairs.

She was instrumental in writing policy to promote women's development, which has been denounced by Islamist groups.

Her appointment means that Muslim-majority Bangladesh has women in three of its four top political posts.

Full report at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22355383

-------------

Women Win Major Victory in Jerusalem Court

01 MAY 2013

BY ARIELLA HAVIV

The Jerusalem District Court handed down its decision on Thursday, April 25 in The State of Israel, Israel Police vs. Lesley Sachs, Bonnie Riva Ras, Sylvie Rozenbaum, Rabbi Valerie Stessin, and Sharona Kramer, the five women from the “Women of the Wall” group who were arrested on April 11, 2013 while praying at the Western Wall. Judge Moshe Sobell decided against the police appeal, supporting fully the Hashalom Court decision by Judge Sharon Larry-Bavly, which stated that there was no cause for arrest and that the women did not disturb the public order. The women were released with no conditions and the police’s request for a restraining order from the holy site was once again rejected in no uncertain terms.

Full report at:

http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4002:women-win-major-victory-in-district-court&catid=107:israel&Itemid=290

-------------

Hiring Of Filipino Maids in Saudi Kingdom Streamlined

 1 May 2013

Filipino maids are now arriving in the Kingdom normally, according to Ezzeddin Tago, the Philippine ambassador in Riyadh.

He said that the new contracts for the Filipino maids entitle them to a SR 1, 500 ($ 400) salary.

Tago urged all the employers to provide their maids with bank accounts where they should receive the salary. He said that the Filipino labor minister will visit the Kingdom on May 18 to sign the new recruitment agreement with the Saudi labor minister. She will apprise herself about the Filipino workers' status after the recent decisions taken by the Kingdom to correct the labor market conditions.

About the Filipino workers gathering in front of his country's embassy, Tago said they numbered 5,000, of which many of them were reported as runaway by their employers. He asked the expatriate division in the passport department to finish their papers so they could leave the country at the soonest.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/450034

-------------

Hijab Fashion Contest Wraps Up In Chicago    

1 May 2013

A fashion design contest in Chicago, challenging designers to create an American style of Hijab, wrapped up this week in front of a star-studded line up of judges.

Panellists included Rhymefest, a Kanye West collaborator; Shireen Soliman, who teaches at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, Aminah McCloud, director of DePaul University’s Islamic World Studies program, Derek Khan, who guest-judged “America’s Next Top Model” and designer Nailah Lymus, who founded a modelling agency for Muslims called Underwraps.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/fashion-and-beauty/2013/05/01/Heading-for-the-catwalk-hijab-fashion-contest-wraps-up-in-Chicago.html

----------

Indian-origin Asha Patel gets the 'best job in world'

 April 30, 2013

One for the taste buds! An Indian-origin woman in the UK has been shortlisted out of 600,000 applicants for the post of Western Australia taste master, described as one of the "best jobs in the world". Asha Patel, who grew up in Rushegetsy Mead, Leicester, has been shortlisted along with

24 other people for the job that involves "eating your way round the state, foraging out the finest produce and uncovering the best bars and restaurants".

The Australian state's tourism website has described it as "one of the best jobs in the world".

Patel said, landing the job would be "a dream come true".

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/europe/Indian-origin-Asha-Patel-gets-the-best-job-in-world/Article1-1052854.aspx

-------------

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam,-women-and-feminism/new-age-islam-news-bureau/several-school-girls-poisoned-with-toxic-material-in-kabul/d/11377