Afghan Women Speak Out On University Ban: "Beheading Would've Been Better"
25 December 2022
• Afghan Women Speak Out On University Ban:
"Beheading Would've Been Better"
• “I Miss Being In The Open Air”: Leila, Civil Rights
Activist And Grassroots Organizer of Mahsa Amini Protest, Told CNN
• The First-Ever Female Boxing Club Recently Opened In
Gaza
• Afghanistan’s Taliban-Run Administration Orders NGOs
To Ban Women Employees
• UN Officials, Afghanistan NGOs To Meet Over Taliban Ban
Of Women Staff
• Islamic Emirate’s Ban on Women’s Jobs Faces
Widespread Reactions
• Pakistani women who made us proud in 2022
• Revisiting an Afghan woman's experience of being a
student under the Taliban
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Afghan Women Speak Out On University Ban:
"Beheading Would've Been Better"
December 25, 2022
Girls have also been banned from secondary schools in
most of the country.
------------
Kabul: Marwa was just a few months away from becoming
the first woman in her Afghan family to go to university -- instead, she will
watch achingly as her brother goes without her.
Women are now banned from attending university in
Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where they have been steadily stripped of their
freedoms over the past year.
"Had they ordered women to be beheaded, even that
would have been better than this ban," Marwa told AFP at her family home
in Kabul.
"We are being treated worse than animals. Animals
can go anywhere on their own, but we girls don't have the right even to step
out of our homes."
The 19-year-old had recently passed an entrance exam
to start a nursing degree at a medical university in the Afghan capital from
March.
"I wanted my sister to achieve her goals along
with me -- to succeed and move ahead," said Hamid, 20, a student of
business administration at a higher education institute in Kabul.
The ban by the hardline Islamist government, which
seized power in August last year, has sparked global outrage, including from
Muslim nations who deemed it against Islam.
Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban's minister for
higher education, claimed women students had ignored a strict dress code and a
requirement they be accompanied by a male relative to campus.
But the reality, according to some Taliban officials,
is that the hardline clerics that advise the movement's supreme leader
Hibatullah Akhundzada remain deeply sceptical of modern education for females.
Women have been slowly squeezed out of public life in
recent months, pushed from government jobs or paid a fraction of their former
salary to stay at home.
They are also barred from travelling without a male
relative and must cover up in public. Women are prohibited from going to parks,
fairs, gyms and public baths.
With dreams of becoming a midwife, Marwa had planned
to visit remote areas of Afghanistan where women remain deprived of health
services.
Instead she will now stay home to teach her six
younger siblings, while her father, the family's sole breadwinner, earns money
as a vegetable vendor.
"They were dressing like they were going to a
wedding. Those girls who were coming to universities from home were also not
following instructions on the hijab," he said in an interview on state
television.
"They (girls) were not allowed to enter unless
they wore a mask and hijab. How then can they (the Taliban) say they were
without hijabs?"
After the Taliban seized power, universities were
forced to implement new rules, including gender-segregated classrooms and
entrances, while women were only permitted to be taught by professors of the
same sex, or old men.
"I'm happy that my son is able to pursue his
goals, but I'm also heartbroken that my daughter is unable to do the
same," said Zainab, 40.
Source: Ndtv.Com
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“I Miss Being In The Open Air”: Leila, Civil Rights
Activist And Grassroots Organizer of MahsaAmini Protest, Told CNN
By Hannah Ritchie
December
24, 2022
An
anonymous network of concerned citizens are supporting Iran's protest movement
by offering their homes to activists in need.
----------
For months, Leila has barely seen sunlight.
“I miss being in the open air…I miss being able to
walk freely,” she told CNN. “I miss my family, my room.”
Her life now is largely confined to four walls, in a
house that is not her own, with people who – until a few weeks ago – she had
never met.
Leila has been in the crosshairs of Iran’s government
for years due to her work as a civil rights activist and grassroots organizer.
She was forced into hiding in September, when a warrant was issued for her
arrest following the outbreak of nationwide protests over the death in custody
of MahsaAmini, a young woman accused of flouting the country’s compulsory hijab
laws.
Since then, while security forces stalk her house and
family, Leila has taken refuge in the homes of strangers. An anonymous network
of concerned citizens – “ordinary people” connected by a shared mission to
protect protesters – who quietly support the movement from afar by offering
their homes to activists in need.
It’s impossible to know exactly how many protesters
are being sheltered inside Iran, but CNN has spoken to several people who, like
Leila, have left behind their homes and families to escape what has become an
increasingly violent state crackdown.
Leila says her own story, and the stories of those
bravely hiding her, show that as well as the extraordinary displays of public
anger unfolding on Iran’s streets, “the struggle against the regime continues
in different forms.”
“I came here in the middle of the night. It was dark.
I don’t even know where I am and my family doesn’t know either,” she said of
her current location.
CNN has verified documents, video, witness testimony
and statements from inside the country which suggest that at least 43 people
could face imminent execution in Iran in relation to the current protests.
Using only a burner phone and a VPN Leila continues
her work today, communicating with protesters in jail, as well as families with
loved ones on death row – sharing their stories on social media, in an effort
to help keep them safe, and alive.
“The comments and messages I receive are very
encouraging. People are feeling good to see that I am active now and that I am
with them [during this uprising].”
“Every day a car with two passengers is constantly
stationed out front of my family home…They have repeatedly arrested several of
my family members and friends. In their interrogations, they ask, “Where is
Leila? Where is she hiding?”
To speak with her loved ones, Leila relies on third
parties to pass on notes through encrypted messaging services, using code words
in case Iran’s security forces are monitoring their conversations.
For years, Leila’s life has been on pause –
interrupted by periods of imprisonment and prolonged interrogation – all at the
hands of the Islamic Republic’s notorious security apparatus.
Over the last five years, Iran has been gripped by
waves of demonstrations concerning issues spanning from economic mismanagement
and corruption to civil rights. One of the most visible displays of public
anger was in 2019, when rising gas prices led to a sweeping uprising that was
quickly met with lethal force.
Before the recent protests sparked by Amini’s death –
which many see as the most significant threat the regime has faced to date –
Leila was trying to rebuild.
She had set up a local business, enrolled in a
university course, and was working with a therapist to acclimate back to normal
life and deal with the trauma brought on by years of incarceration.
All of that changed within days of Amini’s death, when
Leila knew she needed to take an active role once more in the protests that
were filling streets across the country with chants of “Women, Life, Freedom.”
“They wanted to silence me as soon as the uprising
happened after MahsaAmini was murdered…I knew if I wanted to stay and continue
my activities, I would have to hide myself from their sight.”
Countless Iranians have been forced to cross borders
in order to flee Iran’s security forces. Leila, though, took a leap of faith
and decided to go underground, after a “trusted friend” she’d met through a
network of activists set her up with her first safe house.
Source: Edition.Cnn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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The First-Ever Female Boxing Club Recently Opened In
Gaza
2022-12-25
A Palestinian woman practices boxing at a women's
boxing club in Gaza City, Dec. 23, 2022. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
----------
GAZA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Challenging conventions and
gender stereotyping, the first-ever female boxing club recently opened in Gaza.
The club, which goes by the name Palestinian Center of
Boxing for Women, currently has dozens of women aged between eight and 29 who
receive 1.5 hours of training every day.
"We opened the club recently, but the idea of
practising the sport started a few years ago," Osama Ayoub, the co-founder
of the club and a boxing coach, told Xinhua as he supervised his students'
training in the boxing ring.
"I came up with the idea to create a female
boxing team six years ago when I participated in a boxing competition in
Algeria, where I saw the fantastic performance given by Arab women of various
ages," he recalled.
Yet when Ayoub told his friends and colleagues about
the idea, none of them thought it feasible as they live in a community where
people hold very conservative ideas about women.
However, many people later changed their ideas about
female boxing after they noticed the positive changes in the trainers'
psychological state, Ayoub noted.
"Our community traditions force women to stay
away from many kinds of sports under the pretext that they are limited to men
only," the coach lamented.
Hala Ayoub, a Gazan boxer, is one of the coach's
female students who joined the sport five years ago and has become a member of
the Palestinian National Team.
"I am so happy because I can represent my country
(Palestine) in any upcoming Arab or international competitions of boxing,"
the 17-year-old told Xinhua.
"This sport is not, as many people think, a
fierce and violent game. It helps us defend ourselves and enhance self-confidence,
and is also a way to get rid of the negative energy many people suffer
from," she said.
Jodi al-Nimer, another Gazan girl, joined boxing three
months ago in hopes to help herself get rid of her inner fears of strangers,
even her classmates.
"I came here to know how can I fight those who
would harm me somewhere, (because) all the time, I feel that I am under
threats, mainly from strangers," the 10-year-old told Xinhua.
She said many of her friends described boxing as
"a shameful sport for girls," adding she would prove to them such
stereotypes are wrong.
"We are heading to the year 2023, so it is normal
for girls and women to practise any kind of sports," Mohammed al-Jaro, a
Gazan man in his 30s, told Xinhua.
But Ibrahim Hassan, a 25-year-old man in Gaza, adopts
a different position. "I cannot imagine getting married to a woman doing
boxing. If I ask her to prepare a cup of tea and she does not like to do so,
she might box me," the young man said with a laugh.
Source: English.News
https://english.news.cn/20221225/1ad9678cd45344ab9b92916f13ef3c74/c.html
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Afghanistan’s Taliban-Run Administration Orders NgosTo
Ban Women Employees
By News desk
December 25, 2022
Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration on Saturday
ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations to stop women
employees from coming to work, according to an economy ministry letter, in the
latest crackdown on women’s freedoms.
The letter, confirmed by economy ministry spokesperson
Abdulrahman Habib, said the female employees were not allowed to work until
further notice because some had not adhered to the administration’s
interpretation of Islamic dress code for women.
It was not immediately clear whether the order applied
to United Nations agencies, which have a large presence in Afghanistan.
It comes days after the Taliban-run administration
ordered universities to close to women, prompting strong global condemnation
and sparking some protests and heavy criticism inside Afghanistan.
Source: Pak Observer
https://pakobserver.net/taliban-orders-ngos-to-ban-women-employees/
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UN officials, Afghanistan NGOs to meet over Taliban
ban of women staff
25-12-2022
Top officials from the United Nations and dozens of
NGOs operating in Afghanistan have decided to meet to discuss the way ahead
after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from
working, aid officials have said.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Economy, which issues these
licenses, said it had received "serious complaints" that women
working in NGOs were not observing a proper dress code.
"A meeting of Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is
scheduled later today to consult and discuss how to tackle this issue,"
Tapiwa Gomo, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Sunday.
The HCT comprises top UN officials and representatives
of dozens of Afghan and international NGOs coordinating aid distribution across
the country.
It said the order excluding women "systematically
from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward,
jeopardising efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the
country".
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
said the ban would be "devastating" to Afghans as it would
"disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions".
The ban comes at a time when millions across the
country depend on humanitarian aid provided by international donors through a
vast network of NGOs.
Afghanistan's economic crisis has only worsened since
the Taliban seized power in August last year, which led to Washington freezing
billions of dollars of its assets and foreign donors stopping aid.
The ministry said women working in NGOs were not
observing "the rules and regulations pertaining to the work of females in
national and international organisations".
Dozens of organisations work across remote areas of
Afghanistan and many of their employees are women, with several warning a ban
on women staff would hinder their work.
The latest restriction comes less than a week after
the Taliban authorities banned women from attending universities, prompting
global outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.
Women have also been pushed out of many government
jobs, prevented from travelling without a male relative and ordered to cover up
outside of the home. They are also not allowed to enter parks or gardens.
Source: Trt World
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Islamic Emirate’s Ban on Women’s Jobs Faces Widespread
Reactions
By Gulalai Hakim
25-12-2022
The Ministry of Economy in a statement on Saturday
ordered all national and international non-government organizations to suspend
their female staff members until the next announcement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a tweet
expressed deep concerns about the Islamic Emirate decision’s ban on women’s
jobs and said “this decision could be devastating for the Afghan people, women
are central to humanitarian operations around the world.”
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West
said the Islamic Emirate has forgotten its real responsibilities to its people.
“The Taliban’s decree barring women from working to
deliver humanitarian aid is profoundly irresponsible. It poses mortal risks to
millions who depend on life-saving assistance,” West said.
“The Secretary-General is deeply disturbed by the
reported order of the de facto Taliban authorities banning women from working
for national and international non-governmental organizations,” United Nations
said in a statement.
This comes as the suspension of higher education for
female students was announced late Tuesday by the Ministry of Higher Education,
a decision that sparked widespread reactions at national and international
levels.
“Women no longer allowed to work for NGOs; another
outrageous act against women, including all those that depend on them through
fundamental and self-sacrificing NGO work. The ones who suffer are, once again,
the helpers and their beneficiaries, i.e., the weakest and most in need,” said
Germany’s embassy for Afghanistan.
“I strongly condemn the ban on female employees of
NGOs in Afghanistan. This decision must be reversed immediately. Norway will
review the situation with its partners and issue an appropriate response,” she
said.
“We condemn the Taliban’s decision to ban women from
working for NGOs and international organizations. It goes against humanitarian
principles, further marginalizes women and girls, and impacts the poorest
Afghans. We call on the Taliban to reverse this decision,” Australia’s embassy
for Afghanistan
Source: Tolo News
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-181333
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Pakistani women who made us proud in 2022
24 Dec, 2022
As 2022 comes to an end, Pakistani women made
wonderful achievements in this year. Many made us proud with their strength,
dedication and effort in their areas of expertise.
So without further ado, let's know more about
Pakistani women who set new benchmarks in 2022.
Justice Ayesha Malik
In a landmark decision, Pakistan swore in Ayesha Malik
as its first female Supreme Court judge. Malik is known for her ground-breaking
ruling last January, abolishing the two-finger virginity test that was
previously performed on victims of sexual violence and assault during exams.
Prior to her elevation to the country’s top court, Malik had been serving as a
judge of the Lahore High Court since March 2012.
Dr.Tasnim Ahsan
Dr.Tasnim Ahsan became the first Pakistani woman to
receive the prestigious Endocrine Society's Laureate Award for 2023. The
Karachi-based doctor was selected for the “International Excellence in
Endocrinology Award” for her achievements and contributions to the field of
treating hormone-related diseases. At present, she is the secretary of the
faculty of endocrinology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Karachi.
Hina Rabbani Khar
Pakistan's State Minister of Foreign Affairs Hina
Rabbani Khar made headlines when she landed in Afghanistan to hold political
consultations with her Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Mutaqqi in Kabul.
Videos and photos of Khar’s trip received a lot of
appreciation on social media, particularly from the likes of foreign minister
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. In 2011, she became
the first female foreign minister of Pakistan as well as the youngest person to
hold the position at the age of 33.
Dr.Mahwish Sharif
Pakistan’s Dr.Mahwish Sharif became the first deaf
doctor in Balochistan and joined the tuberculosis ward at the Fatima Jinnah
General & Chest Hospital, Quetta, in May 2022. She lost her hearing at the
age of four and overcame years of prejudice to finish medical school.
Dr.Mahwish belongs to a remote village in the central Balochistan district of
Kachi.
Samina Baig
Mountaineer Samina Baig became the first woman from
Pakistan to summit the world’s second-highest peak, K2, in July 2022. Born in
Gilgit-Baltistan, Baig is the first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest and
the Seven Summits. She was awarded the government’s “Pride of Performance”
award following her successful summit of the Everest in 2013. The 31-year-old
reached the top of the 8,611-metre (28,251-foot) peak early Friday as part of a
seven-member local team, and was followed hours later by a second Pakistani
woman, Dubai-based NailaKiani.
BismahMaroof
Pakistani women’s cricket team captain BismahMaroof
was conferred the prestigious Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, the fourth-highest civilian
award in the country, on the 75th Independence Day of the country. In June
2022, she became known for scoring the highest number of runs for the women’s
cricket team across both ODI and T20I formats.
Shafiqa Iqbal
The 24-year-old data engineer, Shafiqa Iqbal, joined
Google Poland’s office in Warsaw this year. She was reported to be the only
Pakistani who was hired from a pool of 1,300 candidates. Iqbal graduated from
the Punjab University and was working as a data engineer in Lahore before she
was employed by Google through LinkedIn. The engineer also worked as a top-rated
seller at Upwork while representing Pakistan as the Global Ambassador of Women
in Tech.
Source: En.Daily Pakistan
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/24-Dec-2022/pakistani-women-who-made-us-proud-in-2022
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Revisiting an Afghan woman's experience of being a
student under the Taliban
By Scott Simon
December 24, 2022
The Taliban has banned women from universities. Girls
in secondary schools, too, are being turned away or finding their schools
closed indefinitely. That's a supposedly temporary measure the Taliban imposed
when it took power in September of 2021. In October last year, NPR spoke to
ZakiaMenhas, who was then a third-year medical student at Kabul University,
about how the atmosphere had changed under the Taliban.
ZAKIA MENHAS: Before, like, we were so confident when
we were out. Whenever we had a problem in one of our subjects or in anything,
we were able to just go to our friend if that is male or female. But now it's
all, like, weird. If you just talk to a male friend, they will just harass you,
or somehow, they will just punish you.
SIMON: Since that time, ZakiaMenhas has decided it was
just too risky to stay. She has left Afghanistan and her family to continue her
education here in the United States. ZakiaMenhas joins us now. Thank you so
much for being with us.
MENHAS: Thank you.
SIMON: And this news about women being banned from
universities and what we've learned about girls in secondary schools - are you
in any way surprised?
MENHAS: It really didn't because I knew that something
like this will happen because they didn't let teenage girls to go to school. So
how is it possible for them to let girls go to universities?
SIMON: When NPR last spoke to you, you were in
Afghanistan. May we ask how you got here?
MENHAS: I really wanted to continue my education. I
searched for a lot of scholarships in many countries. And then, finally, I
found out about Bard College, that they are having this hundred scholarships
for Afghan students. Fortunately, they accept me, and I just decided to change
my major because it is hard to take a scholarship to study medical here.
SIMON: So you're not studying medicine right now?
MENHAS: No, I don't. I'm just a freshman majoring in
computer science. So, yeah. All those - four years, just starting from the
beginning. It was very hard for me at first, but it was the only option. I was not
sure that - whether I'm able to leave my country or not. I faced a lot of
things to just get out of there. And I was lucky. There were 17 girls, and they
were trying to go to Doha and then, like, continue their education, but they
didn't let them.
SIMON: You still have friends and family there
including sisters who teach in high school, I gather. Have you been able to
speak with them, communicate with them?
MENHAS: Well, yeah. First, when I saw those news, I
just called to my friends. And they had just - one final exam was left. And
then, I talked to my sister, and she told me that, well, I went to school, and
they didn't let us in. And they told us, like, you have to just go home.
SIMON: May I ask what your sisters are doing at the
moment? Do you know?
MENHAS: Today, I called them, and they told me, like,
now we are home. They are not happy because they had a good job. They were
satisfied with teaching the girls. And, like, just - that one day, everything
changed. So they are not OK.
SIMON: Because you're in the United States, because
this interview will be heard, do you worry about what might happen to your
family?
MENHAS: Of course. Every second, I'm just thinking
about that. It's not like I'm here and I'm safe, that's it. I just thinking
about my family and - I'm sorry.
SIMON: That's all right. We understand entirely. Don't
worry.
MENHAS: And all the friends who are still there. And
they're suffering. So literally, everyone. The whole Afghanistan is my family,
and I'm thinking about them.
SIMON: Is there something the world can do?
MENHAS: I just want to say to the world that this is
the beginning. And if they don't stand with Afghan women, the future will be
the darkest. So just support them through media and, like, to raise their voice
for Afghan women. And that can help.
SIMON: ZakiaMenhas is a student from Afghanistan here
at Bard College in New York. Thanks so much for being with us, and our best to
you and your family.
Source: Idea Stream
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-women-speak-university-ban/d/128709