The Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab: How gender dynamics, ideology, politics influenced their choices
New
Age Islam News Bureau
27
February 2021
Screengrab
via YouTube, from a 2016 NTV Kenya report titled 'Al-Shabaab women: the
changing face of terror'
----------
• Isis
women languish in dire conditions with nowhere else to go
• Muslim
woman targeted in racist attack says call to Edmonton police left her doubly
traumatized
• Turkey:
Woman Drops Kids from Window to Save them from Fire
• Employer
of minor girl booked for ‘torturing’ her in Islamabad
• Over
300 girls missing after gunmen raid dorm in Nigeria
• Saudi
envoy meets UN Women’s executive in New York
• An
exemplar of Saudi Arabia’s progress in women’s economic inclusion and
empowerment
• Pakistan-
Compensation cheques distributed among families of slain women aid workers
• Smartphone
campaign launched for domestic violence victims
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/the-kenyan-women-girls-joined/d/124414
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The
Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab: How gender dynamics, ideology,
politics influenced their choices
February
25, 2021
Screengrab
via YouTube, from a 2016 NTV Kenya report titled 'Al-Shabaab women: the
changing face of terror'
--------
By
Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen
The
direct involvement of women and girls in terrorism has attracted increased
interest as the nature of recruitment tactics has evolved. In Kenya, their
involvement in terrorist networks, such as the Al-Shabaab, is an emerging
trend. The recruitment of female members is most evident in Kenya’s coastal and
North Eastern counties but has also been reported in many other counties.
Women
and girls have been identified as recruiters for the terrorist group, logistics
planners, financial conduits, spies for terrorist activities and in some cases,
masterminds behind terrorist attacks or conveners of terror cells.
The
Al-Shabaab, or “the youth”, emerged in the mid-2000s as an offshoot of a
Jihadist movement that peaked during Somalia’s civil war in the 1990s. Driven
out of Mogadishu in 2006, it continues to pursue its main aim of establishing
an Islamic state in Somalia through violent means. It has carried out repeated
deadly attacks in Somalia but also in Kenya and Uganda. Both contribute troops
to the African Union force in Somalia.
In
one of my previous studies, I found that women may participate willingly
because the extremist ideology resonates with their religiously inclined
cultural values. They may also join due to the financial benefits that come
with belonging to or associating with the group. Also, women may be forced or
coerced to join through deception or intimidation.
In
my most recent study I looked at different ways in which recruitment occurs to
analyse the diverse motivations of women and girls to join Al-Shabaab in the
coastal region of Kenya. In particular, I sought to establish the
“voluntariness” of their decisions – in other words, did they sign up on their
own volition?
I
interviewed 36 women or girls who had returned home from terrorist camps or
defected from the network. I generated 16 case accounts of women and girls who
explained ‘voluntariness’ in Al-Shabaab recruitment.
The
study revealed that the gender-dynamics of submission and subordination within
families and the community contributes to Al-Shabaab recruitment. However,
there were political and ideological motivations too.
Volunteering
to the Al-Shabaab
But
what do we mean by voluntary?
Recruitment
was deemed to be voluntary if a woman or girl – without duress – elected to
join the Al-Shabaab network. Recruitment was viewed as involuntary if it
occurred through deceptive or coercive means.
However,
I must caution that voluntary and involuntary are not always mutually
exclusive. I found that depending on allegiances, social interactions,
ideological resonance, and changing circumstances within and beyond the
Al-Shabaab network, recruits may reverse their original views.
Furthermore,
there is need to examine different aspects of autonomous decision-making. Some
women who join terrorist networks do so to assert themselves within systems of
oppression and patriarchy, and to embrace the lure of emancipation within the
utopian caliphate.
In
my study four main circumstances emerged as the reasons behind decisions to
join Al-Shabaab.
Defending
the faith
Al-Shabaab
thrives on the narrative of Kenya as a Christian state oppressing Muslims in
Somalia and Kenya. This resonates with the global marginalisation of Muslims.
Political and religious motivations came up during our interviews, as well as
the expressed desire to support or defend fellow Muslims.
Two
women explained their motivations to be wives of martyrs and to play their role
to support the Muslim Ummah, or community. Nine interviewees explained how
ideology influenced their decisions to support the Al-Shabaab cause. These
decisions belie Kenyan media accounts of naive girls manipulated through
romantic notions of Jihadi brides or wives.
Aisha,
25 at the time, an Al-Shabaab returnee who defected after two years said:
I
read a lot of materials. I was sad at how Muslims were treated as a second
class group. I didn’t want my people to suffer, I needed to do something. I
wanted to assist them in Somalia.
Reacting
to a personal crisis
Al-Shabaab
recruitment thrives on revenge among individuals who see the state as the
perpetrator of the injustices suffered in their lives. A crisis event in the
life of women and girls – such as the police killing a loved one – was found to
be an important tipping point. Some women join extremist networks to avenge the
death of a husband, fiancé, or son at the hands of government security actors.
There’s
also evidence of recruiters penetrating existing networks of aggrieved women,
including relatives of fallen Al-Shabaab members. Peer influence is used to
influence or coerce women to follow the relative’s cause.
Close
interpersonal relations
Daily
interactions with family, friends and peers also shaped the decision to join
the network in 9 out of the 16 case studies. A woman’s autonomy in marital
relationships may be constrained in ways that push her to follow her husband or
other influential male relatives’ lead.
The
decision to join is autonomous if it is her choice. Nevertheless, her choice
may be coerced within marital and family relationships. This occurs when a
woman exhibits excessive deference to the wishes of her family members.
Ideology
rubbing off in camps
Some
women may have been recruited involuntarily. However, after a prolonged period
of time in the terrorist camp or association with terrorist fighters, three of
the 16 identified for this study accepted the ideology and subsequently
volunteered to join Al-Shabaab.
Mary,
a Muslim convert, was recruited by a friend in the guise of a job in Somalia.
She was 18 years old when she was recruited in 2015. In camp she was subjected
to work and religious indoctrination.
After
a few days, I was worn out. I was also learning the religion…I kind of started
to accept it. I felt it was right to fight for our [Muslim] freedom. It was
like a moral obligation. I wanted to be a part of the Al-Shabaab network.
Conclusion
An
examination of the political and ideological motivations behind women joining
the Al-Shabaab shows that in some cases, they do make autonomous decisions
based on their response to the grievances of the Muslim community.
But
other structural and cultural factors were at play such as the patriarchal
set-up in families and their communities. Some women’s decision making
conformed to subservient attitudes and roles. These women, mainly from the
coastal Muslim communities, revealed that they were subject to traditional
gender roles, suggesting deference to social norms.
But
not all women joining the Al-Shabaab lived lives of subjugation prior joining.
Some returnees had good family lives or were happily settled.The Kenyan women
and girls who joined AlShabaabHow gender dynamics ideology politics influenced
their choices
FathimaAzmiyaBadurdeen,
Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa
https://www.firstpost.com/living/the-kenyan-women-and-girls-who-joined-al-shabaab-how-gender-dynamics-ideology-politics-influenced-their-choices-9341101.html
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Isis
women languish in dire conditions with nowhere else to go
Bethan
McKernan
26
Feb 202
Women
buying food at a market in al-Hawl camp, Syria, in October 2019. Photograph:
Tessa Fox/AAP
---------
When
20-year-old Shamima Begum, heavily pregnant and alone, managed to escape the
US-led coalition bombing of Islamic State’s last stronghold two years ago, she
left behind a scene resembling hell and entered limbo instead.
Begum
was among an astonishing 64,000 women and children who poured out of Baghuz, a
tiny oasis town on the Euphrates river, deep in the Syrian desert. Many of
their husbands and fathers died defending the last sliver of the so-called
caliphate.
Whether
by accident or design, there was no plan in place for what to do with these
families. Al-Hawl camp, where Begum surfaced, quickly became the focal point of
a new humanitarian crisis starring unsympathetic protagonists. Set up in 2016
to house around 10,000 ordinary Syrians and Iraqis who had fled the group,
suddenly it had a huge influx of new, and in some cases dangerous, arrivals.
The
camp was already a dire place, with little healthcare provision and no
educational facilities. The overcrowding meant conditions deteriorated fast:
overwhelmed guards from the local Kurdish-led forces have struggled to keep order
as the women of Isis have set about recreating the strict rules of the
caliphate in their new home.
A
total of 12,000 women who were not Syrian or Iraqi and their 27,000 children
were separated from the rest of the camp in a gated annex in order to cool some
of the pre-existing tensions between the local and foreign Isis women.
Inside
the foreign section, a core of Tunisian, Somali and central Asian women began
to issue orders to the others. Knives were stolen from kitchen kits handed out
by charities and used to stab and kill guards, as well as any women suspected
of spying for the guards. Stories such as that of an Azerbaijani woman who
smothered her 14-year-old granddaughter to death for refusing to wear the niqab
outside her tent have become commonplace.
Begum,
who received clamorous media attention after telling the Times she wanted to
return home to the UK, was quickly denounced by the hardcore foreign women as a
traitor. After her three-week-old baby died of pneumonia – a fate that has
befallen hundreds of infants in the camp – she was moved to another camp called
Roj for her own safety.
Roj
camp, near the Iraqi border, and Ain Issa camp, closer to Raqqa, are also home
to women and children with links to the jihadists, although their numbers are much
smaller than at al-Hawl. The situation in all three, however, has deteriorated
since US-led forces declared victory over Isis in spring 2019. Almost nobody
has been able to return home.
In
al-Hawl, violence is also rife in the main section where Syrians and Iraqis
live. Local researchers reported 20 murders in the last month alone as anger at
the badly managed conditions continues to grow.
Cash,
mobile phones and guns are smuggled in; occasionally, people are smuggled out.
The same problems exist, to a lesser extent, in Roj and Ain Issa.
Hot
in summer, freezing in winter and unsanitary the year round, the use of the
Kurdish-run camps to detain women with links to Isis has become a rallying cry
worldwide for supporters across the jihadists’ networks.
Officials
from north-east Syria’s Kurdish administration and international analysts often
describe the camps as a timebomb. Every day children spend in al-Hawl is
another day of their childhood gone, making it harder to break the twin cycles
of radicalisation and deprivation.
A
handful of countries have taken back their citizens for investigation, trial or
rehabilitation at home, but according to Save the Children just 685 minors were
repatriated in 2019, and 200 last year.
Every
so often, Kurdish officials announce new plans to break up the camps into more
manageable sizes and send Syrian and Iraqi inhabitants home under an amnesty,
but little progress has been made so far. For foreigners like Begum there is
nowhere else to go.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/isis-women-languish-in-dire-conditions-al-hawl-shamima-begum
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Muslim
woman targeted in racist attack says call to Edmonton police left her doubly
traumatized
Feb
26, 2021
Wallis
Snowdon
A
Black Muslim woman who was threatened and subjected to racial slurs at a south
Edmonton LRT station says she has been doubly traumatized — by her assailant
and city police.
The
woman, a student in her 20s who wears a hijab, says she remains terrified after
the racially-motivated attack earlier this month.
She
said a member of the Edmonton Police Service discouraged her from filing an
official report on the attack, a rejection she feels was motivated by her race
and religion.
"I'm
dealing with two sets of trauma," the woman said Thursday in an interview
with CBC News. "I'm dealing with the trauma of the attack and I'm dealing
with the trauma of that EPS officer that day that I called, that kindly
rejected me."
Due
to the woman's concerns for her safety, CBC News has agreed to keep her
identity confidential and will only identify her as M.W.
She
was waiting for a bus at the Century Park LRT Station on the morning of Feb. 17
when she was approached by a stranger who was flailing his arms. He made a fist
and swore at her, threatening to physically assault and kill her, she said.
"I've
never, ever seen that type of violence. I was scared for my life," she
said. "I had nowhere to run to. I couldn't run away from this person. I
couldn't move."
The
EPS Hate Crimes and Extremism Unit is investigating. An EPS spokesperson said
city police have repeatedly condemned violent racism and are investigating the
possible "customer service issues."
CBC
News is awaiting an official statement from the hate crimes unit investigators
who have been tasked with reviewing the recorded call.
The
assault — the fifth such attack in Edmonton on Black women wearing head
coverings in a 10-week period — has been denounced by Mayor Don Iveson and the
National Council of Muslim Canadians.
The
woman said she has no doubt her hijab made her a target.
"This
is really sad, you know," she said. "I never thought that my
appearance would make me a vulnerable person."
She
said no security officers were present but that the assault was witnessed by
others.
"This
happened in broad daylight," she said. "Nobody offered to give me
help.
"The
perpetrator had ample opportunity to carry out those threats but by the grace
of God, I didn't suffer like some other women have suffered."
The
woman got help later from an ETS bus driver and peace officers.
'He
laughed at me'
Two
hours after the assault — upset, confused and seeking advice — she called the
non-emergency EPS line.
She
said an officer told her there would be "no point" in filing a report
and, as the conversation came to an end, laughed at her.
"He
told me in that phone call that I should be satisfied with what the peace
officers did. And he didn't want to help me.
"I
am just trying to do the right thing and be of the service to the city and
report it. You know, that's what we're supposed to do if we can do it. And he
laughed at me."
The
woman said peace officers at the LRT station told her police would likely
investigate her attack as harassment.
She
wanted to put her account of the incident on record.
"He
did not allow me to file a report," she said of the EPS member she spoke
to on the complaint line. "He discouraged me.
"I
told him that I wasn't satisfied with just the harassment charge that the peace
officers could file," she said. "I told him it was more than
harassment. Threats were uttered to me. My safety was put in jeopardy. And
that's not OK."
She
said the interaction demonstrates a lack of empathy toward people who
experience racism, and undermines efforts to root out Islamophobia in Edmonton.
She
wants a written apology from the EPS member and is calling on police to
publicly condemn the recent string of racist attacks against Muslim women. She
is also calling for increased security patrols on transit.
"Islamophobia
is at an all-time high and it needs to be addressed," she said.
"That
statement made by EPS, it's not going to suffice," she said. "They're
going to have to really, really work hard to mend the relationship back with
the Muslim community, because it's disintegrating."
The
woman said she finally received the support she needed after emailing her city
councillor's ward office.
The
mayor's office then put her in touch with an EPS official who helped her file a
report on Feb. 19. She has since been in contact with investigators and feels
her case is being taken seriously.
"I
do have compassion for my attacker, but I still want to stand up for myself and
I want to stand up for the other women that have gone through this."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/muslim-woman-attacked-lrt-edmonton-police-interaction-1.5930021
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Turkey:
Woman Drops Kids from Window to Save them from Fire
25
February, 2021
A
woman rescued her four children from a burning building in Istanbul by throwing
them out of a window, and all of them are doing fine, Turkish media reported.
The
mother threw the children from a third-floor window amid black smoke from the
fire on Wednesday. Video captured each child falling as volunteers stretched
out a blanket to catch them.
Bystanders
were heard screaming amid sounds of alarms, The Associated Press reported. Some
shouted at the woman not to drop the children.
The
children were carried to ambulances, and Turkish media reported they were
uninjured. The mother was hospitalized as a precaution and then discharged,
according to news reports.
The
fire, which began in an electrical panel, was extinguished. Two other children
and two older adults were also rescued.
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2827886/turkey-woman-drops-kids-window-save-them-fire
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Employer
of minor girl booked for ‘torturing’ her in Islamabad
February
27, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
On the direction of the Ministry of Human Rights, the Kohsar police have
registered a case against a citizen on the charge of torturing her 11-year-old
maid.
The
police said the girl was working in a house at F-7/4. About a month ago, her
woman employer tortured the girl after she broke a glass. The girl also
sustained burn injuries on her body.
Later,
she managed to reach her native town of Faisalabad. Her family then approached
the Child Protection Centre in Faisalabad and lodged a complaint, said the
police.
In
response, the centre brought the issue in the knowledge of the Ministry of
Human Rights.
In
a letter to the capital police, Mohammad Yousaf, an assistant director of the
ministry, asked for an investigation.
The
police said the girl was currently in her native town and police were
collecting details about her as well as her employer.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1609592/employer-of-minor-girl-booked-for-torturing-her-in-islamabad
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Over
300 girls missing after gunmen raid dorm in Nigeria
26
February 2021
Heavily-armed
gunmen have abducted hundreds of schoolchildren in northwestern Nigeria, the
second such kidnapping over a span of a week amid a surge in armed militancy in
the African country.
The
incident took place in Nigeria's Zamfara state in the early hours of Friday,
with witnesses saying the armed bandits had raided a school dormitory in the
area and abducted over 300 schoolchildren.
"More
than 300 girls are unaccounted for after a headcount of remaining
students," a teacher at the Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe, who
asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.
The
teacher said the abduction happened at 1:00 am (midnight GMT) but did not
provide further details on the number of students present in the school at the
time.
ZailaniBappa,
a spokesman for Zamfara's state governor, confirmed the report and said there
had been abductions at the Jangebeschool, without further elaboration on the
incident.
Nigeria
is beset by a dramatic breakdown of security after heavily-armed criminal gangs
in the country’s northwest and central regions have stepped up attacks in
recent years, kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging.
Nigerian
armed forces have deployed in the restive regions but attacks and mass
kidnappings persist.
In
an overnight attack on a boarding school in the north central state of Niger
last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student and kidnapped 42 people,
including 27 students. The hostages are yet to be released.
In
December last year, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara,
President MuhammaduBuhari's home state of Katsina, while he was visiting the
region.
The
boys were later released but the incident sparked outrage and revived memories
of the kidnappings of schoolgirls by Takfiri terrorists in Dapchi and Chibok
that shocked the world.
Members
of the Boko Haram terrorist group abducted 276 schoolgirls from the town of
Chibok in Borno state in April 2014. They were eventually rescued by security
forces or escaped.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/26/646107/Nigeria-gunmen-schoolchildren-Zamfara-state-kidnapping
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Saudi
envoy meets UN Women’s executive in New York
February
27, 2021
NEW
YORK: Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi,
held a virtual meeting with AsaRegner the assistant secretary-general of the UN
and deputy executive director of UN Women.
The
two sides reviewed the latest preparations for the upcoming session of the
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65), in which the Kingdom will take part.
They
also discussed a number of topics of common interest, and ways to enhance
cooperation in various fields.
Al-Mouallimi
also virtually met the newly-appointed permanent representative of Mozambique
to the UN, Pedro ComissarioAfonso.
During
the meeting, the two sides discussed topics of common interest and ways to
enhance cooperation in various fields.
Both
meetings were attended by the director of Al-Mouallimi’s bureau, Faisal
Al-Haqbani, and the head of public relations and information of the delegation,
Taful Al-Aqbi.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1816496/saudi-arabia
--------
An
exemplar of Saudi Arabia’s progress in women’s economic inclusion and
empowerment
February
26, 2021
DUBAI:
Saudi women are playing a pivotal role in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030
transformation strategy, seizing new opportunities in higher education,
traditionally male-dominated professions and, perhaps most importantly, in
leadership.
Furthermore,
it is Saudi nationals themselves who are taking the reins in the Kingdom’s big
industries and institutions — in place of the many foreign experts previously
relied upon to play these high-powered roles.
As
a Saudi citizen and the first woman to be appointed as country director for
Saudi Arabia for the international services company Serco, Makkah-born Mona
Althagafi embodies this transformative national agenda.
“Saudi
Arabia has changed,” Althagafi told Arab News. “In just a few years, the
Kingdom has made very significant progress at so many levels, from social and economic
to cultural, and what used to be taboo is now the new norm in the Saudi way of
life.”
As
country director, Althagafi has taken over responsibility for the operational
delivery of Serco Middle East’s core offering of data, asset and workforce
management and is driving new business growth in 2021 for both Serco Saudi
Services and Serco Saudi Arabia.
The
British outsourcing firm employs more than 4,500 people in the Middle East
across four countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Iraq, covering
transport, healthcare, citizen services, defense, justice and immigration.
Women are estimated to constitute 40 percent of Serco’s employees in the Middle
East.
Althagafi
is also playing an important role in establishing and growing the citizen services
business in the Kingdom, to support Vision 2030 with a commitment to service
excellence and customer experience, strengthened through the company’s
ExperienceLab division.
With
more than 20 years’ experience, Althagafi previously served at the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology in Riyadh, where she led the planning
of the Smart Government Strategy, as well as the planning and execution of the
e-government program strategy in line with Vision 2030.
“Mona
is a passionate Saudi national and government services expert who we are
delighted to have at Serco to lead our Saudi operations,” said Phil Malem, CEO
of Serco Middle East, shortly after Althagafi was appointed in November.
“She
has a wealth of local knowledge and experience supporting key businesses,
ministries and governments, and combined with our international expertise, she
will continue her excellent track record with Serco.”
The
Saudi government is working directly with companies like Serco to hire more
local staff and promote equal opportunities.
“Investing
in the leaders of tomorrow will be a big priority, with nationalization
continuing to be a priority across UAE and KSA,” Malem said in a company
statement last month.
“What
will be important in our role as leaders in the private sector, is how we can
support this, by creating a localized workforce, but with international
expertise.
“By
investing in training and development that has an international flavor and
focus, we are not only enhancing the skill-sets of our workforce, but we are
also helping to create global citizens that have the future skills we need from
the leaders of tomorrow.”
Althagafi
says she is thrilled to be playing a part in this transformation.
“I’m
excited to contribute to this important work and lead some of the best local
talent and teams in the region, to help shape the transformation of different
sectors,” she said.
“I’m
also looking forward to driving new business growth and supporting the delivery
of essential services in Saudi Arabia in 2021, which will make a positive
difference to the region.
“I
am also proud to be part of an organization that works to transform operations
while focusing on Saudization of those operations through the many
nationalization programs.”
Although
she is Saudi by birth, Althagafi spent most of her childhood in the US state of
Michigan. But, after graduating from the University of the Pacific in
California, she decided to move back to Saudi Arabia, where she spent a year
working in the management team of a private hospital in Jeddah.
“At
the time, in the 1990s, there were not many opportunities for women to work,”
she said. “From there, I pivoted into managing roles in the private sector,
semi-government and government institutions and, later on, in some NGOs as
well.”
Althagafi
always hoped she would return to the Kingdom someday, both for her own personal
development and to contribute something meaningful to her country of birth.
That contribution came in the form of citizen services.
“Throughout
my career, the projects and programs I worked on were mostly around citizen
services, whether it be through employment programs, designing and launching
government products or supporting NGOs,” she said.
Her
most recent work with the Saudi government focused on digitization, another Vision
2030 priority, and the expansion of e-government.
“The
challenge with e-government strategy is getting the entire government on board,
and this will be done through a governance model across our government, and
will be implemented hopefully soon by the e-government program,” she said.
Althagafi
believes her work is already making a significant impact on how the Saudi
population digitally engages with state and private institutions.
“This
will not only enhance their lives but enhance the lives of generations to
come,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of that journey in terms of improving
the lives of citizens, whether it’s the government or even in the private
sector.”
One
area she has given particular attention is the design and launch of a digital
platform for working mothers. She also worked on platforms designed to help
women find work during the period before 2018 when Saudi Arabia lifted the ban
on women driving.
“There
is still a percentage of women who don’t drive and still need that support to
go to work, so this facilitated the lives of women in the workforce,” Althagafi
said.
Although
Serco has only a small-scale presence in the Kingdom, it has ambitions to
develop the Saudi digital service sector.
“Our
goal is to support Vision 2030 with customer experience and operational
optimization,” Althagafi said.
“We
are looking to increase the footprint in Saudi Arabia and align our programs
with the Kingdom’s vision in different areas, such as general operations,
maintenance, data management, workforce management, digital asset management
and others.”
With
the growth of mega projects like Saudi Arabia’s NEOM smart city, Althagafi
expects customer experiences to improve rapidly over the next five years. In
the meantime, she plans to hold workshops with government ministries and
private sector leaders to identify opportunities.
She
is confident the best is yet to come for Saudi Arabia’s transformation. “This
is because things are progressing very fast,” she said.
As
for young Saudi women exploring their career options, Althagafi’s advice is as
clear-cut and logical as the programs she has spent part of her working life
designing.
“Planning
your future is the first step. Envisage where and what you want to be and put
an achievable plan towards it. Break your plan into a short-term monthly plan
as well as a long-term annual plan,” she said.
“Keep
the plan flexible to accommodate any changes. But your plan should put you on
track.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1816436/saudi-arabia
--------
Pakistan-
Compensation cheques distributed among families of slain women aid workers
2/27/2021
(MENAFN
- Tribal News Network) BANNU: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday
distributed compensation cheques among the families of slain aid workers in
North Waziristan tribal district.
TNN
correspondent reported that Commissioner BannuShaukat Ali Yousafzai provided
cheques of Rs500,000 each to the relatives of the slain women aid workers.
District
Police Officer (DPO) North Waziristan ShafiullahGandapur said the Counter
Terrorism Department (CTD) has filed a case about the murder of four women. He
said a mastermind of the attack has been killed in an operation, while further
investigations are underway. He said the investigation process is being carried
out with a rapid pace and soon the law enforcement agencies would unfold the
elements behind the attack.
On
February 22, four women aid workers were killed , while their driver was
injured in a firing incident in Mir Ali.
Armed
men ambushed four women as they were travelling in a vehicle through a village.
DPO ShafiullahGandapur said one woman survived the assault. He said the aid
workers were affiliated with a programme run by non-governmental organisation
(NGO) Sabawon to develop household skills for women. The deceased women and injured
driver hailed from Bannu. One of the women, Maryam Bibi, was lucky as she
jumped out of the car before the incident occurred and took refuge inside a
house in the village.
On
the next day of the incident, the security forces killed a terrorist commander
involved in killing of the aid workers.
According
to ISPR, the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in
Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan upon confirmation of presence of terrorists.
During exchange of fire, terrorist commander Hassan alias Sajna of
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hafiz GulBahadur group was killed.
The
military's media wing said the terrorist commander was involved in killing of
four female aid workers in Mir Ali. The killed terrorist was involved in terrorist
activities against the security forces and civilians including improvised
explosive device (IED) attacks, kidnapping for ransom, target killings,
extortion. He was also involved in recruiting terrorists for sabotage
activities.
The
civil society, social activist and other people held protests in different
areas of KP to condemn the killing of women in North Waziristan and demanded
arrest of the culprits.
https://menafn.com/1101670425/Pakistan-Compensation-cheques-distributed-among-families-of-slain-women-aid-workers
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Smartphone
campaign launched for domestic violence victims
February
27 2021
A
new social solidarity movement has been launched for women who are subjected to
domestic violence and have limited access to technological devices.
The
motto of the campaign, initiated by Teknosa, the Sabancı Foundation and the
Federation of Women’s Associations (TKDF), is “technology for women, solidarity
for all.”
As
part of the project, donors will be able to deliver their unused smartphones to
the stores of Teknosa, an electronics retailer in Turkey.
Smartphones,
which will be maintained and put into operation by Teknosa’s business partners,
will be delivered to women who are victims of violence through the support of
the Sabancı Foundation and TKDF.
Noting
that they have enabled more than 20,000 women to become “digital literate” with
the project, Teknosa General Manager BülentGürcan stated that they want to
amplify the voice of women who are subject to violence with the smartphone
donation campaign.
Sabancı
Foundation General Manager NevgülBilselSafkan noted that they observe with
concern the increase in domestic violence rates, which became evident during
the pandemic.
“We
continue to work for a society in which all individuals enjoy their rights
equally in this period when the rights acquired over many years are at risk,”
Safkan said.
Violence
against women and femicides are not uncommon in Turkey.
Some
35 women were killed across Turkey in 2021 so far, according to a report by
Kadın CinayetleriniDurduracağızPlatformu (We Will Stop Femicides Platform), a
women’s rights organization that monitors violence against women.
Women
who want to notify security forces without calling them can lodge a complaint
and ask for immediate help through a smartphone application, called Women
Immediate Support (KADES), which is monitored by the Interior Ministry and the
Turkish police forces.
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/smartphone-campaign-launched-for-domestic-violence-victims-162716
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