Many Countries Have Wrong Ideas About Women In The Arab World: Sheikha Bodour, President IPA
04
December 2022
• Many Countries Have Wrong Ideas About Women In The
Arab World: Sheikha Bodour, President IPA
• Reducing Child Marriage Is Crucial For Reducing
Violence Against Women
• Indiana Judge Rules For Jewish, Muslim Plaintiffs
Against Abortion Ban
• Muslim Groups: Withdraw Kudumbashree Pledge On
Property Rights For Women
• Paediatricians Urges Authorities To Provide
Reproductive Education, Prevent Unintended Teen Pregnancies
• Pakistan Women's Football Team To Play In
Four-Nation Cup
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/arab-world-sheikha-bodour/d/128558
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Many Countries Have Wrong Ideas About Women In The
Arab World: Sheikha Bodour, President IPA
Sheikha Bodour during the
panel discussion at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico.
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04-12-2022
Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the
International Publishers Association (IPA), called on women of the world to
appreciate what distinguishes them and celebrate their unique energy and
strengths. She stressed the need for equal opportunities for women, not
equality with men, urging parents to raise their daughters to believe in
themselves to achieve their aspirations.
Her comments were made during a panel discussion
titled 'East and West: Women in the World' held at the ongoing 36th edition of
the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) in Mexico, where she shared her
inspiring journey in the publishing industry and as president of the IPA.
Speakers in the session moderated by Marisol Schulz, Director-General of FIL,
included author Ana Maria.
Sheikha Bodour spoke about her journey in publishing,
tackling inequality head-on, and about how traditionally, women had been able
to make little progress in the industry. She mentioned that while running for
the vice presidency of the IPA in 2018, she was astonished to find out that
only one woman had presided over the institution since its inception in 1896,
and on numerous occasions, she was the only woman in meetings and forums that
brought together cultural institutions and publishers.
Sheikha Bodour said that these realities of the
publishing sector prompted her to establish PublisHer, a networking body that
seeks to increase the number of women in leadership roles within the publishing
world.
The president indicated that many cultures and
countries have an unrealistic perception of women in the Arab world, noting
that the perception needed to be corrected; Sheikha Bodour recalled a story of
a female journalist she met during a meeting at the Rome Book Fair. The
journalist was surprised that Sheikha Bodour was the president of IPA and the
first Arab woman to hold the position. She was also astonished that Al Qasimi
was the only woman among the participants.
During the session, Sheikha Bodour pointed out that
talking about empowering women should not be done by highlighting the struggles
of women in all societies, but rather by presenting stories of success and role
models to aspire to. The IPA President recalled her childhood when she heard
inspiring stories about female leaders from Islamic and Arab history, noting
that she is considering presenting these stories in various languages to
re-establish a better image of Arab women globally.
Highlighting the importance of the publishing sector
and empowering women, Sheikha Bodour pointed out that through her establishment
of Kalimat Group in 2007, she wanted books to be the bridge between
communities, and to highlight the values shared by women worldwide. She also
wanted, as a publisher, to provide Arab women’s voices a platform so there
would be less misconceptions about them.
Sheikha Bodour also noted that Kalimat Foundation
provides refugee children with books to ensure equality in receiving knowledge
sources between males and females in refugee camps where this has often proved
to be an issue.
As for the other panellist, author Ana Maria discussed
the reality of women in Mexico, regarding career opportunities, appreciation of
competencies, and access to leadership positions. She shared with the attendees
a comprehensive picture of the Mexican society's view of women over the past
half a century by recalling her father's response when she was born, stating
that when her father found out that she was a girl he was disappointed, proving
the importance of correcting social concepts about women.
Speakers in the session pointed out that the first
step towards overcoming challenges women face in the business place, home, or
school is to be able to talk about their challenges and find effective ways to
overcome and correct unjust stigmas.
Source: Gulf Today
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Reducing Child Marriage Is Crucial For Reducing
Violence Against Women
Photo: Reuters/ Daily Star
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Eshrat Sharmin
Dec 4, 2022
Despite strong performances on socioeconomic and
population fronts, the incidence of child marriage and associated adolescent
fertility rate in Bangladesh is among the highest in the world and the highest
in Asia. This is despite the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2017, and the
Ministry of Women and Children Affairs' National Plan of Action to End Child
Marriage (2018-2030). It is clear that these efforts have been mostly
ineffective in fighting child marriage.
In Bangladesh, the median age of first marriage was
16.3 years in 2018. More than half of women aged 20-24 years were first married
before the age of 18, whereas 15 percent were married before turning 15 years
old. This scenario has now been exacerbated by the pandemic. According to
Manusher Jonno Foundation, during six months of 2020, almost 14,000 girls
became victims of child marriage. Around half of them were 13-15 years old.
Against this backdrop, achieving the national target
to end child marriage by 2041 will require political will and stronger actions.
According to Unicef calculations, the country has to move eight times faster
than the rate observed over the past decade to meet this target. In the case of
the SDG target to eliminate child marriage by 2030, the country has to move 17
times faster than the present rate of reduction.
There are a number of factors leading to child
marriages in the country. Girls with lower education levels, experiencing
poverty and having less educated mothers are more likely to be married at a
younger age. Similarly, lack of birth documentation, lax enforcement of laws,
lack of awareness of rights, gender inequality, and emergencies such as
violence and climate change result in child marriage. Child marriages also tend
to be concentrated in rural regions and urban slums.
Research has found strong links between child marriage
and increased violence against women and gender inequality. Only 0.6 percent of
women who married before their 18th birthday were found to be engaged in decent
occupations, and it has been suggested that reducing child marriage by 50
percent could get 0.45 million more women employed in high-skilled occupations.
Married girls are over four times more likely to be dropouts, and child brides
are more likely to say that wife-beating is justified than their peers.
Globally, girls who married before the age of 15 were
almost 50 percent more likely to have experienced physical or sexual violence
from their partners than those married after 18, disproving the present
societal perception that early marriages can protect girls from gender-based
violence. Married girls are also more likely to experience multiple
pregnancies, recurrent miscarriage, termination of pregnancy, delivery-related
complications, and higher rates of child and maternal mortality.
Child marriage is associated with large income and
welfare effects as well. According to World Bank analysis from multi-country
data, the largest impacts of child marriage in terms of their economic costs
tend to be related to fertility and population growth, education and earnings,
and the health of the children born to young mothers. For instance, ending
child marriage could result in USD 4 trillion in additional income globally due
its impact on reducing population growth, under-five mortality and under-five
stunting. It will also be accompanied by a 12 percent rise in income and
productivity, and a 1.7 percent gain in GDP.
In Bangladesh, averting child marriage would lead to
similar economic benefits through a reduction in maternal mortality, infant
mortality, child mortality, hospitalisation and inability to work – the total
economic benefits in this connection could be USD 33.9 billion.
According to a 2019 UNFPA-Johns Hopkins study, ending
90 percent of child marriages by 2030 would cost USD 35 billion in total,
amounting to roughly USD 600 to spare each child from becoming a bride. Various
compositions of cash, in-kind payments, and community-based approaches have been
moderately successful in preventing child marriages in quite a few countries.
Research has also pointed towards the need for complementary interventions to
improve quality of schooling, since empowering girls with information, skills
and support networks can be a vital strategy in increasing the age of first
marriage.
In Bangladesh, the persistent occurrences of child
marriage indicate the necessity of an institutionalised approach to address
social norms that perpetuate child marriage, in addition to direct
interventions. At the same time, there must be effective implementation of the
law that makes these marriages illegal. Also, reliable and updated data on
child marriage is crucial to ensure timely interventions and informed
policymaking.
Reducing child marriage will not only benefit girls
and women by saving them from missed education and earning opportunities, pre-
and post-natal health risks, and infant mortality rates and malnutrition. It
will ultimately lead to enhanced decision-making authority of women in the
household and reduce intimate partner violence, which in the long run will
benefit the entire country by lowering fertility rates, population growth, and
poverty.
Source: The Daily Star
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Indiana judge rules for Jewish, Muslim plaintiffs against
abortion ban
By TOM DAVIES
3 December 2022
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Republican attorney
general can keep investigating an Indianapolis doctor who spoke publicly about
providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio, a judge
ruled Friday.
An attempt to block a probe by Attorney General Todd
Rokita’s office was rejected by Marion County Judge Heather Welch. She also
ruled Friday in a separate lawsuit that Indiana’s abortion ban adopted in
August violates the state’s religious freedom law signed by then-Gov. Mike
Pence in 2015. The Indiana abortion ban, however, has been on hold since
mid-September as courts consider a challenge from abortion clinic operators who
argue the ban violates the state constitution.
In Welch’s ruling on the state’s abortion ban, the
judge sided with five residents — who hold Jewish, Muslim and spiritual faiths
— who argued that the ban would violate their religious rights on when they
believe abortion is acceptable.
“The undisputed evidence establishes that the
Plaintiffs do not share the State’s belief that life begins at fertilization or
that abortion constitutes the intentional taking of a human life,” Welch wrote.
“To the contrary, they have different religious beliefs about when life begins.
… Under the law, the Court finds these are sincere religious beliefs.”
Rokita’s office, which has been defending the abortion
ban in court, did not immediately comment on the religious freedom lawsuit
ruling.
The judge’s ruling on the investigation into Dr. Caitlin
Bernard came two days after the attorney general’s office asked the state
medical licensing board to discipline Bernard, alleging she violated state law
by not reporting the girl’s child abuse to Indiana authorities and broke
patient privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl’s
treatment.
That account sparked a national political uproar in
the weeks after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, with some
news outlets and Republican politicians suggesting Bernard fabricated the
story. The girl had been unable to get an abortion in Ohio after a more
restrictive abortion law took effect there.
Bernard filed a lawsuit against the state attorney
general last month, arguing Rokita’s office was wrongly justifying the
investigation with “frivolous” consumer complaints submitted by people with no
personal knowledge about the girl’s treatment. Bernard and her lawyers maintain
the girl’s abuse had already been reported to Ohio police before the doctor
ever saw the child.
Source: Times Of Israel
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Muslim Groups: Withdraw Kudumbashree Pledge On
Property Rights For Women
04th December 2022
KOZHIKODE: More Muslim organisations have come up with
the demand that the government withdraw the pledge administered on the
Kudumbashree volunteers, which says there will not be any gender discrimination
while sharing the family property.
Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen- (Markazudawa) said that
according to the civil laws existing in the country, it is the fundamental
right of Muslims and other minorities that they can decide on matters related
to succession as per their beliefs. The content of the pledge cannot be
accepted because it is against the civil laws of Muslims, a press release
issued by the Markazudawa secretariat said.
“The government should show vigil not to make
controversies while implementing policies in the public domain,” it said.
Source: New Indian Express
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Paediatricians urges authorities to provide
reproductive education, prevent unintended teen pregnancies
03 Dec 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — The Malaysian Paediatric
Association (MPA) has called on the relevant authorities to provide a
comprehensive life and reproductive education and information programme to
adolescents to prevent unintended teen pregnancies.
It said research has shown that such a programme could
decrease high-risk sexual behaviour and increase the age when a person becomes
sexually active.
Resorting to punitive measures, instead of education,
would discourage unwed teenage mothers to seek help, resulting in them getting
rid of the problem by abandoning their babies, it said in a statement today.
It said pregnancies out of wedlock, often teenage
pregnancies, are a consequence of multiple factors, including on the belief
that they cannot get pregnant the first time they have sex.
“Our youth resort to these resources of sex
information due to the paucity of a comprehensive life and reproductive
education programme to educate these sexually active boys and girls,” it said.
The statement was issued in response to the Terengganu
State Assembly’s move in passing the Syariah Criminal Offences (Takzir)
(Amendment) Enactment 2022 yesterday which included the criminalisation of
out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
According to the association, the act of
criminalisation of pregnant unmarried woman fails to grasp the bigger picture
of the social ill which would impact adversely the fate of the women concerned
and their unborn child.
It urged the relevant authorities to organise
awareness campaigns on the harmful impact of teen pregnancy on health, academic
pursuits and social well-being.
"Besides that, the authorities should provide
non-judgmental services, compassion and support for girls and their partners
faced with unintended pregnancies, irrespective of age, race, religion or
marital status, while protecting their physical and mental health through the
provision of safe and empathetic antenatal services.
"Most importantly, adolescents need to be
prevented from dropping out of school. Keeping them till secondary education
has been proven to reduce high-risk behaviours, including teen pregnancy,"
it said.
Source: Malay Mail
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Pakistan women's football team to play in Four-Nation
Cup
Dec 03 2022
Pakistan's national women's football team will
participate in the Four-Nation Cup in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, the Pakistan
Football Federation (PFF) announced Saturday.
Details about the development were released by the
national football governing body which shared that the women's side will visit
Saudi Arabia to participate in the sporting event from January 11 to 19.
Remaining three teams playing in the tournament
include Saudi Arabia, Comoros, and Mauritius. Meanwhile, announcement regarding
the national team's training camp will be made soon.
It is worth mentioning here that this will be the
second international assignment of the Shaheens after the charge of the
Pakistan Football House was handed over to the normalisation committee (NC)
appointed by FIFA.
According to FIFA, the mandate of the normalisation
committee includes managing of PFF’s daily affairs, ensuring the proper
registration and scrutiny of the clubs in Pakistan, draft and ratify, with the
assistance of FIFA and the AFC, an electoral code for the PFF, organise the
elections at district followed by provincial levels and conduct the elections
of a new PFF executive committee.
Source: Geo.Tv
https://www.geo.tv/latest/456359-pakistan-womens-football-team-to-play-in-four-nation-cup
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/arab-world-sheikha-bodour/d/128558