Girl Students In Burqa (Islamic Veil) Stopped From Entering Mumbai College, Allowed After Protest
New Age
Islam News Bureau
03 August 2023
Girl
Students In Burqa (Islamic Veil) Stopped
From Entering Mumbai College, Allowed After Protest
Grave
Fears For Missing Women, Girls In War-Torn Sudan
Group
Launches Project to Address Employment Barriers for Muslim Women
More Prison
Time, Huge Fine: What Iran’s Harsh New Hijab Law Could Look Like
Sunderland
Project Wants To 'Remove Barriers' And Encourages Muslim Women To Attend
Life-Saving Breast, Cervical And Bowel Cancer Screening
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/burqa-islamic-veil-mumbai-college/d/130372
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Girl
Students In Burqa (Islamic Veil) Stopped
From Entering Mumbai College, Allowed After Protest
Women in burqa/ File picture
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The
Muslim girl students said they were ready to remove the burqainside but will
wear scarves in the classroom, an official said
August
03, 2023
A
college in Mumbai stopped female students from entering the premises while
wearing a burqa but relented after a protest by parents and students and
intervention by senior police officials.
The
security guards at the Chembur-based college asked students to remove their
burqas (Islamic veil) before entering on August 2 as the college has its own
uniform, a police official said.
It led
to a row as parents of the students also reached the college and videos of
scenes outside the gate began to circulate, he said.
Senior
police officials rushed to the spot and discussed the issue with the parents
and the college authority.
The
Muslim girl students said they were ready to remove the burqa inside but will
wear scarves in the classroom, the official said.
Tension
was defused after the college management agreed to this. The girls shall take
off the burqa in the washroom before attending classes, he said.
Source:
thehindu.com
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/girl-students-in-burqa-stopped-from-entering-mumbai-college-allowed-after-protest/article67152775.ece
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Grave
Fears For Missing Women, Girls In War-Torn Sudan
Sudanese women ride their donkeys as they move away from violence in
Sudan's capital Khartoum. (AFP/File)
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August
02, 2023
WAD
MADANI, Sudan: Desperate to check on her elderly mother amid the chaos of Sudan’s
war, Amal Hassan left her family home in the capital Khartoum on May 30.
She has
yet to return.
Her
husband and three children in Omdurman — part of greater Khartoum — are among
the hundreds of Sudanese families desperate for news of loved ones who have
disappeared.
At least
3,900 people have been killed since war broke out in mid-April between the army
and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Hundreds
more have simply vanished, leaving their families anxiously guessing whether
they have died in the fighting or been abducted by combatants.
Many
anxious families have turned to social media, desperate for news of missing
relatives, in many cases girls and women, in the war that has seen repeated
reports of sexual violence.
The
online support project Mafqoud (Missing) lists the names of the disappeared
together with their photos and a family member’s phone number.
Just one
of the many listed is Saba Baloula Mokhtar, a 17-year-old girl who was last
seen in Omdurman on May 18.
Human
rights groups and Sudan-based activists say many have been taken by the RSF.
One
woman who made it back to her family in north Khartoum, Heba Ebeid, said
paramilitaries held her for three months, forcing her and other women and girls
to cook for them.
Some of
the missing are feared to have died in gunbattles, artillery and air strikes in
the war between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed
HamdanDaglo.
Others
have been kidnapped, sometimes for ransom of up to 30 million Sudanese pounds
(around $54,545), according to a report by the Strategic Initiative for Women
in the Horn of Africa (SIHA).
A
relatively lucky few have been freed, sometimes left by the side of the road
after days, weeks or months of captivity.
The
Sudanese Association for Victims of Forced Disappearance said it had filed
“reports of 430 disappearances during the war.”
It has
given the names of missing men, women and children to police stations in Wad
Madani, a town 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Khartoum where many of the
displaced have fled.
“According
to survivors, these abductions are the work of the RSF,” Othman Al-Basri, a
lawyer with the association, told AFP.
SIHA has
also collected testimonies from women who say they were kidnapped by
paramilitaries and forced to cook for them or wash their clothes.
“We have
so far counted 31 missing women and girls,” the group told AFP in a written
statement.
“But we
think the real number is much, much higher. Families avoid reporting cases of
missing women, for fear of stigma.”
In the
back of everyone’s mind is the same fear: that the disappeared have been
subjected to the sexual violence that has been rampant in both the current and
past Sudanese conflicts.
Since
April 15, the governmental Combatting Violence against Women and Children Unit
has recorded 108 sexual assaults in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur.
The unit
stresses that the true number, like overall casualty figures, may be far
higher, as their count includes only those who have received treatment and
chosen to report the assaults.
Many
more are thought to be suffering at home in silence.
Most
Sudanese hospitals are out of service, and police have mostly disappeared from
the streets as their stations have been attacked and looted by the RSF.
Families
have turned to resistance committees, the neighborhood groups that used to
organize pro-democracy demonstrations and which now provide assistance.
Sometimes
they help dig out survivors from the rubble of bombed buildings, at other times
activists have stood up to RSF fighters wo have been accused of terrorizing
neighborhoods and looting property.
On July
3, civilians successfully stopped two young women from being abducted by RSF
fighters, the Al-Halfaya committee in Khartoum said.
In other
cases, relatives and neighbors secured the release of four girls abducted in
three separate incidents, the committee said.
Far from
the capital, women and girls have also been reported missing in Darfur and the
states of Sennar and White Nile.
“My
daughter Najwa Mohammed Adam is 16 years old — we haven’t heard from her in 45
days,” said Halima Haroun, speaking to AFP from Chad after fleeing the West
Darfur capital of El Geneina.
“We
don’t know anything about her, if she’s dead or alive.”
A
paramilitary source, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied accusations of
abductions, saying “the RSF is not holding anyone.”
The
source added that the RSF “is only holding one person, and that is because he
is accused of a crime.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2348546/middle-east
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Group
Launches Project to Address Employment Barriers for Muslim Women
02
August, 2023
Advocating
for Muslim women in all aspects of their lives, a Canadian Muslim group has
launched a new project to address employment barriers for them in the labor
market.
The new
“Addressing Barriers to Employment for Muslim Women” multi-year project was
launched by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), Muslim Link reported.
It aims
to address barriers to employment for Muslim women, by focusing on developing
tools and strategies to increase Muslim women’s recruitment, retention and
advancement in non-traditional and/or growing economic sectors in Canada.
“CCMW is
honored to receive a multi-year grant from WAGE to better understand employment
barriers that Canadian Muslim women face and to develop key strategies and
tools in order to address these barriers and inform employment-related policies
and practices; thereby improving employment access and equity,” says Nuzhat
Jafri, Executive Director of CCMW.
“We look
forward to working with key partners and stakeholders in the employment sector,
as well as diverse Canadian Muslim women to make this happen,” adds Jafri.
Founded
in 1982, CCMW is dedicated to the empowerment, equality and equity of all
Muslim women in Canada.
Its
mission is to affirm the identities of Canadian Muslim women and promote their
lived experiences through community engagement, public policy, stakeholder
engagement and amplified awareness of the social injustices that Muslim women
and girls endure in Canada.
Source: aboutislam.net
https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/n-america/first-african-born-muslim-city-councillor-runs-for-portlands-mayor/
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More
prison time, huge fine: What Iran’s harsh new hijab law could look like
August
03, 2023
An
Iranian woman walks on a street amid the implementation of the new hijab
surveillance in Tehran in April. The country is planning to bring in stricter
laws after last year's anti-hijab protests. Reuters
Two
weeks ago, Iran’s infamous “mortality police” started patrolling the streets to
reinforce the controversial hijab rules. Now the country, which saw
unprecedented protests last September after the death of Mahsa Amini in police
custody, is mulling another draconian new bill to enforce wearing the veil.
The
hijab is mandatory in Iran and authorities crack down on women whose head
covering is not deemed appropriate. Those who have breached the rules are
arrested and taken to what the police call re-education facilities.
The
rules are already stringent so what will a new bill entail?
What are
the new hijab rules Iran is mulling?
According
to experts, Iran is expected to introduce even harsher punitive measures into
the law, reports CNN.
The
hijab and chastity bill is aimed at detaining and penalising women who do not
observe the strict dress code in the Islamic Republic. Failure to cover the
head would be considered a more severe offence, which would attract stiffer
penalties – five to ten years prison sentence and fines of up to 360 million
Iranian rials (Rs 7 lakh).
As of
now, Article 368 of the Islamic penal code is considered the hijab law. It
states that those who defy the dress code face between 10 days to two months in
prison and a fine of anywhere between 50,000 to 500,000 Iranian rials (Rs 97 to
Rs 977).
Hossein
Raeesi, Iranian human rights lawyer and adjunct professor at Carleton
University in Ottawa, Canada, told CNN that the new fine is far beyond was the
average Iranian can pay, as millions live below the poverty line.
Iranian
women attend a pro-hijab rally in Tehran in July. Wearing the headscarf is
mandatory in the country. AFP
Apart
from longer prison sentences for women who refuse to wear the hijab, the new
draft law also proposes harsher penalties for celebrities and businesses who flout
the rules and the use of artificial intelligence to identify defiant women.
Businessmen
who do not enforce the mandatory hijab rule for women employees will be fined
about three months of the profit they make. They might also face bans on
leaving the country and participating in public or cyber activity for two
years.
Celebrities
who break the rules will have to pay up to a tenth of their wealth as a fine.
They are likely to be excluded from employment and professional activities for
a specified period and banned from international travel and social media
activities, according to a CNN report.
Article
50 of the bill says that anyone who appears in public in a state of nudity or
seminudity or in clothes that are too revealing will be apprehended by authorities
and handed over to the judiciary. They will face imprisonment or a fine.
The new
rules also spell out punishment for those who have insulted the hijab, promoted
an improper hijab, or promoted immodesty or nudity. They will be sentenced to a
fine and, at the discretion of the judicial authority, will be banned from
leaving Iran and prohibited from public activity on the internet for six months
to two years.
An
Iranian woman walks on a street in Tehran. If the new law comes into force, it
will use AI to detect women flouting norms. Reuters
The
draft law also calls for broader gender segregation in universities,
administrative centres, parks, tourist hubs, and hospitals.
The bill
empowers three intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Revolutionary
Guards Intelligence Organisation, and the Intelligence Organisation of the
Judiciary to take action against women breaking the rules along with the
police, the Basij paramilitary forces, and the Command of Enjoining Good and
Forbidding Wrong, reports RFE/RL.
When
will the law come into force?
The
judiciary submitted the bill to the government earlier this. It was forwarded
to the parliament and has received a nod from the judicial and legal committee
of the legislature.
On
Sunday, it will be submitted to the Board of Governors before it is introduced
on the floor of parliament, reports CNN, quoting the state news agency Mehr.
In the
next two months, Iran’s parliament will finalise the text and vote on the bill.
After
the death of Mahsa Amini last September, Iran saw unprecedented protests
against the regime. File photo/AP
Why is
Iran tightening its hijab laws?
After
Amini’s death, the country was gripped by never-seen-before protests, where
women and students poured into the streets against the Iranian regime. The
anti-hijab demonstrations soon spread to other parts of the world.
Following
the protests, the mortality police (Gasht-e-Ershad) was pulled back but never
officially disbanded. Now as the demonstrations have taken a backseat, the
police are back patrolling the streets.
“The
police will take legal action against those who, unfortunately, continue to
break the dressing norms regardless of the consequences of doing so,” said
Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, spokesman of the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic
Republic, last month.
The new
bill is seen as a response to last year’s protests.
An Iran
police official is asking a woman to wear a hijab even when inside a car. File
photo/AFP
How have
Iranians reacted?
Legal
experts are saying that the new hijab bill violates civil rights.
Lawyer
Sara Bagheri told Tehran-based Tejarat News that the proposed legislation is
against individuals’ rights including their right to security and will hurt
individuals’ reputation and dignity on account of their chosen style of
clothing.
ShimaGhousheh,
a law expert, wrote in the reformist Etemad newspaper, “The country’s whole
budget should be used to build prisons for women because many Iranians will not
be able to pay these [heavy] fines and should be sent to prison.”
When was
the hijab made mandatory in Iran?
In 1936,
the hijab was barred during the leadership of Reza Shah. However, the ban was
lifted by his successor in 1941. It was only in 1983 that the hijab was made
mandatory after the last shah was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Since
then, the laws to restrict women have only become more stringent.
Iran’s
morality police, formally known as Gasht-e-Ershad (Guidance Patrol), was
established under hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to “spread the
culture of modesty and hijab”. They began patrols in 2006.
Source: firstpost.com
https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/iran-new-hijab-law-protest-mahsa-amini-12952472.html
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Sunderland
Project Wants To 'Remove Barriers' And Encourages Muslim Women To Attend
Life-Saving Breast, Cervical And Bowel Cancer Screening
3 AUG 2023
A
Sunderland University project hopes to encourage more Muslim women in the
community to attend life-saving breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening
tests.
Backed
by Muslim scholars in Sunderland and public health experts at the university's
medical school, the idea is to work with communities to demystify cancer
screening and remove barriers that might prevent Muslim women from coming
forward. Now the project, being run jointly by universities in Sunderland and
Glasgow, has been backed with almost £350,000 from Cancer Research UK.
Project
lead Dr Floor Christie-de Jong, associate professor in public health in
Sunderland, said it was vital to tackle inequalities in cancer screening
uptake. The professor added: "One size does not fit all and to allow women
to make informed decisions about cancer screening we need to use targeted
approaches.
"Working
in partnership with the community and using assets from that community in a
positive way, can help to tackle these inequities."
Cerysh
Sadiq. - an Alimah, Muslim scholar, at the medical school explained what some
of the barriers to attending screening appointments can be. She said:
"Women can be uncertain as to how screening fits in with their faith, and
it will be a great privilege to help guide women and assist with any religious
concerns they may have about cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening."
Cerysh
delivers a religious perspective on the importance of cancer screening as part
of the project - which will run for three years and also includes workshops and
a survey designed to help tackle fears about screening. The scheme has been
piloted in Glasgow and seen issues such as feeling shy or the fear of having to
see a male doctor identified as potential issues.
Researcher
Dr RawandJarrar added: "This new phase of the project takes what we’ve
learned from the pilot and expands it across a wider geographical area, so we
can reach more women and share knowledge about early screening.
"This
project is ultimately about saving lives and early detection through screening,
which in turn leads to better success of the cancer treatments available for
these women. We are creating a path to early diagnosis and treatment."
Michelle
Mitchell, Cancer Research UK Chief Executive, said: "Tackling inequalities
is absolutely crucial to ensuring everyone, regardless of where they live or
their ethnic background, has the best chance against cancer.
“We know
people from ethnic minorities may be less likely to respond to cancer screening
invitations and hopefully this project will encourage more people to take up
such opportunities, and to find out what barriers prevent them doing so."
Source: chroniclelive.co.uk
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/health/cancer-screening-muslim-women-sunderland-27375400
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/burqa-islamic-veil-mumbai-college/d/130372