Female Iranian Climber Elnaz Rekabi, Who Competed Without Hijab, Hauled Back To Islamic Republic For Arrest: Report
New
Age Islam News Bureau
19 October 2022
•
Actress UrvashiRautela Prepared To Face Backlash For Supporting Iranian Women
•
MikaeilAlizadeh, Iranian Dancer In Turkey Says She Believes Protests Will End
Tehran's 'Cruelty'
•
UAE-Based Pakistani National MashalWaqar Journey To Serial Entrepreneurship
•
Saudi Women All Set To Drive Marine TourismIn The Red Sea And Arabian Gulf
•
What Does Remission in BilkisBano Case Mean to Gujarati Muslim Women?
•
In Iraq, Divorce Rates Soar Even As Stigma Persists For Women
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Female
Iranian Climber Elnaz Rekabi, Who Competed Without Hijab, Hauled Back To Islamic
Republic For Arrest: Report
October
18, 2022
A
woman looks at a screen displaying a video of an international climbing
competition is Seoul, South Korea, during which Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi
competes without a hijab, in the Cypriot capital Nicosia on October 18, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)
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A
female Iranian climber who competed in a South Korean championship without a
hijab has reportedly gone missing and is expected to be placed under arrest
upon her return to the Islamic Republic.
ElnazRekabi,
who went viral for competing without the Islamic headscarf at the International
Federation of Sport Climbing's Asian Championships in Seoul on Sunday, has not
been heard from.
Her
friends told the BBC's Persian service, which has extensive contacts within
Iran despite being banned from operating there, that they had been unable to
contact Rekabi. The outlet quoted an unnamed "informed source" who
said Iranian officials seized both Rekabi's phone and passport.
BBC
Persian also reported that Rekabi was to be arrested upon her return to the
Islamic Republic.
A
later Instagram post on an account attributed to Rekabi said not wearing a
hijab was "unintentional," though it wasn't immediately clear whether
she wrote the post or what condition she was in at the time.
The
Iranian government routinely pressures activists at home and abroad, often
airing what rights group describe as coerced confessions on state television,
according to the Associated Press.
Rekabi,
33, didn’t put on a hijab during Sunday’s final at the International Federation
of Sport Climbing’s Asia Championship, according to the Seoul-based Korea
Alpine Federation, the organizers of the event. Federation officials said
Rekabi wore a hijab during her initial appearances at the one-week climbing
event.
She
wore just a black headband when competing Sunday, her dark hair pulled back in
a ponytail; she had a white jersey with Iran's flag as a logo on it. The video
of Rekabi competing without the headscarf went viral as protests sparked by the
September in-custody death of MahsaAmini, a 22-year-old woman detained by the
country’s morality police for wearing the hijab too loosely, have entered a
fifth week in more than 100 Iranian cities.
Rekabi
left Seoul on a Tuesday morning flight, the Iranian Embassy in South Korea
said. Her departure was initially scheduled for Wednesday, but the flight was
moved up.
In
a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul denied "all the fake, false news and
disinformation" regarding Rekabi’s departure. But instead of posting a
photo of her from the Seoul competition, it posted an image of her wearing a
headscarf at a previous competition in Moscow, where she took a bronze medal.
IranWire,
another website focusing on the country founded by Iranian-Canadian journalist
MaziarBahari who once was detained by Iran, reported that Rekabi was somehow
tricked by Reza Zarei, the head of Iran's Climbing Federation, to enter the
Iranian embassy in Seoul and hand over her passport and phone in exchange for
her guaranteed safe return to Iran.
According
to the outlet, Zarei was instructed to do so by Mohammad Khosravivafa, Iran's
Olympic Committee chairman. Khosravivafa had been ordered by Iran's
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to move Rekabi into the embassy. The quick
flight was reportedly to avoid protesters gathering outside the embassy in
South Korea.
IranWire
reported that once Rekabi arrived at Imam Khomeini international airport, she
was to be immediately transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison. The prison was the
site of a massive fire that killed at least eight prisoners.
Rekabi
reportedly made the decision to compete without the hijab about a month ago but
did not opt to seek asylum in South Korea because her husband is back in Iran
and she, therefore, wanted to be able to return to her home country after the
competition.
Source:FoxNews
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Actress
UrvashiRautela Prepared To Face Backlash For Supporting Iranian Women
Oct
19, 2022
By
SyedaEba Fatima
Urvashi
Rautela is known for working in Bollywood films
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UrvashiRautela,
who recently shared pictures of herself getting her hair cut in support of
Iranian women, feels that as a public figure, it is her responsibility to voice
her opinion on important issues.
“As
global personalities, we have to speak up when needed to not only offer our
support, but also to educate others and spread the word. This is a very
sensitive issue, but is extremely important for woman empowerment,” shares the
actor, who previously compared herself to the late MahsaAmini in a post.
Amini
died in police custody in September after being arrested for allegedly
violating Iran’s strict dress code. Her death triggered widespread
anti-government protests in Iran and across the world. Calling these protests
“extremely moving”, Rautela says, “People need to stop oppressing women and
start respecting and recognizing them. Feminism will regain its strength once
women come together and consider one woman’s issue as an issue of the entire
womankind.”
Rautela
is not the first person to express solidarity with Iranian protesters.
Previously, actors Priyanka Chopra Jonas, ElnaazNorouzi, and MandanaKarimi also
raised their voices in support. However, each one of them was thrashed by a
section of people on social media. Ask Rautela, if she is prepared for the
backlash that comes with being opinionated, she says, “Given the sensitive
nature of the situation, I know I am going to receive some backlash but as long
as I am able to spread the severity of this to all those young girls, I will be
okay. As we all know that social media is very powerful, I feel it must be used
for the betterment of society.”
To
the women, who are still silent on the issue, Rautela says, “I know it takes
courage to speak up but when it’s for a cause as important, please do. It’s
going to be a long tough road, but we are strong. We can bring change. Our
voices won’t be unheard.”
Source:
Hindustan Times
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MikaeilAlizadeh,
Iranian Dancer In Turkey Says She Believes Protests Will End Tehran's 'Cruelty'
By
DilaraSenkaya and Ali Kucukgocmen
October
19, 2022
Mikaeil
Alizadeh, also known by her stage name Leo, an Iranian belly dancer living in
Turkey, performs at a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey October 14, 2022.
REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya
-----------
ISTANBUL,
Oct 18 (Reuters) - MikaeilAlizadeh decided to move to Turkey from Iran in 2015
after receiving threats for being gender-fluid and fearing she would be jailed
for being a dancer. Now she believes the anti-government protests will lead to
the end of Tehran's "cruelty."
Alizadeh,
33, who goes by the stage name Leo, is one of hundreds of Iranians who have
attended protests in Turkey triggered by the death last month of a 22-year-old
Kurdish Iranian woman while in the custody of Iran's morality police.
The
protests over the death of MahsaAmini, who had been detained for violating
strict codes requiring women to dress modestly in public, spread rapidly.
Attending
a rally in Istanbul on Monday marking one month since Amini's death, Alizadeh
said protesters in Iran were encouraged by support from abroad.
"The
people in Iran have become very strong...thanks to our protests, the support
from the world," she said among a crowd of around 100 people on a street
opposite the Iranian consulate.
"We
are going to win this time. This government is cruel, this government is a
killer. Cruelty is not sustainable. Its end has come," Alizadeh said.
The
unrest has become one of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical rulers since
the 1979 revolution, with protesters calling for the downfall of the Islamic
Republic. However analysts say the chances of a political change in Iran remain
slim anytime soon.
Alizadeh
said she had to give dance lessons and perform in secret in Iran. She finally
moved to Turkey in 2015 after a neighbour called the police and made
prostitution accusations over the dance classes.
"I
felt the danger in my heart after that day. I had to stop dancing if I lived in
Iran or would have had to spend the rest of my life in prison," she told
Reuters.
PERFORMING
IN TURKEY
Alizadeh,
who identifies as gender-fluid, said she got a hysterectomy and mastectomy in
Iran. She had been receiving threats in her own country as she briefly
underwent hormone therapy.
"They
asked me why are you dancing with women as a man? I was really tired of that
country at that time because our protests were going unanswered," she
said.
Alizadeh
later decided to reverse the mastectomy.
Turkey
was once seen as a safe haven for the LGBT community in the Middle East and
Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue was the scene of large Pride marches, with tens of
thousands attending.
Homosexuality
is not a crime in Turkey, but hostility to it is widespread. President
TayyipErdogan's conservative AK Party and their nationalist MHP allies have
toughened their anti-LGBT stance in recent years, with a minister referring to
the LGBT community as deviants.
Alizadeh
said she got married in Turkey and now gives private lessons and performs at
cultural and private events.
"At
least Turkey does not ban dancing. It is a sin and is forbidden to even think
about dancing in Iran," she said, speaking at an Istanbul restaurant where
she performs.
"I
put on shows here. People look me in the face as I dance and smile. That moment
is a huge gift for me," she said.
Source:Reuters
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UAE-Based
Pakistani National MashalWaqar Journey To Serial Entrepreneurship
October
18, 2022
RupkathaBhowmick
Now
an avid speaker at global leadership conferences, mentoring fellow young
entrepreneurs has become UAE-based Pakistani national Mashal Waqar’s second
nature. The serial entrepreneur’s success also got her on the ‘Forbes 30 under
30’ list in 2018.
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Long
before becoming a serial businesswoman, UAE-based Pakistani national
MashalWaqar recalled first working as a librarian in her teens when growing up
in Saudi Arabia.
“In
fact, I decided to start university a semester late to continue working as a
librarian in Saudi Arabia to earn enough money and support my parents to cover
my airfare when travelling to the US for my studies,” shared Waqar.
A
self-confessed “sponsorship kid” during school and college, Waqar was keen to
become financially independent as quickly as possible. This is why she started
working as an intern at the age of 17 while at university.
“It
was a huge privilege for me to be able to study abroad and I wanted to earn it.
In university being part of the student government council further enabled me
with financial and leadership skills. During my final year, these skills helped
me immensely when I took up internship and part-time jobs at start-ups,” she
added.
It
was at age 22, the Pakistani expat first ventured into entrepreneurship when
she joined a women-centric educational blogging platform as a co-founder. But
her business journey didn’t end there.
Five
years on, at age 27, she has helped build a couple of more businesses –
including a FemTech start-up called ‘My Lily Box’ (which she has now exited) –
and consults with tech-based businesses and companies focused on start-up
growth.
Now
an avid speaker at global leadership conferences, while also hosting talks at
platforms like Tedx, mentoring fellow young entrepreneurs has become Waqar’s
second nature. The serial entrepreneur’s success had also got her on the
‘Forbes 30 under 30’ list in 2018.
Here
are four financial lessons Waqar learnt in her journey as a businesswoman.
Lesson
#1: Be smart about earning money
Being
an voracious reader, Waqar would receive books as gifts on her birthday and
festivals such as Eid. Since that wasn’t enough for Waqar who wanted to buy
more books during the year, she had to be smart about earning money. She would
tear out pages from magazines and sell cut outs and posters to her classmates
for one to two Saudi riyals. “When I managed to save around 25 riyals, I’d buy
books with the money. My siblings and I didn’t grow up as privileged children
and a lot is owed a lot to my mother who encouraged us to save money as opposed
to overspending.”
However,
Waqar candidly admitted being “financially broke” despite earning a decent
amount of money. During the pandemic as the first start-up that she is
associated with was financially impacted, Waqar faced a lot of challenges.
“While I’d take up part-time gigs to sustain financially there were difficult
days. At a certain point I even went down to a three-digit budget and had to
seriously reassess a lot of decisions and lifestyle choices.”
Lesson
#2: Be clear about financial implications
Waqar:
“I loved the work I did in the first start-up where I’m still a co-founder with
equity share. But when we ran into rough waters around the pandemic it taught
me some crucial lessons. The foremost being understanding financial
implications of starting or working with a start-up to be prepared for
challenging times. I realised the importance of cash liquidity to sustain a
business. For instance, in our region there are certain annual costs including
license renewal that must be met to continue operating making cash liquidity
non-negotiable. Importantly, it’s not prudent to plan current expenses based on
future earnings. I also understood the importance of always allocating a salary
for the founder/co-founder.”
Waqar’s
next endeavour was building traction for a venture backed FemTech start-up.
“Besides earning a stable salary that helped me to save and invest, I joined
the start-up at the growth stage and the learnings were immense.”
Lesson
#3: Save and invest consciously
Waqar:
“While I spend a lot of my earnings to support various causes I’ve now started
saving consciously. I’ve realised that savings and investments can be made
simultaneously and in small chunks, it doesn’t always have to be a large sum of
money. Even if you save Dh100 per month at the end of the year you’d have saved
Dh1,200. For instance, I was bullish and had invested some money in
cryptocurrencies, which sustained me during the difficult months. Now I
consciously put away a chunk of money [roughly 20 per cent of my monthly
earnings] into a savings account that I don’t touch. It’s also important to
keep ourselves in check because when we earn more there might be a tendency to
spend more too.”
Currently
Waqar is working with a US-based Web3 venture studio alongside her other
ongoing commitments. As the world is gradually becoming more decentralised and
workplaces flexible, working across regions is not impossible, something that
Waqar does quite efficiently. Splitting up work commitments as per time zones
is Waqar’s hack that helps her to meticulously plan her workdays while
allocating “me-time”.
“Thankfully
the work that I do helps me to learn a lot. It drives me to read, which I’m
naturally fond of. For instance, currently I’m reading a lot about
decentralised economy which is relevant to the work I do. As a result, I don’t
feel as if I’m struggling to juggle between commitments. I’m also very mindful
about setting aside me-time to do things that I really enjoy such as watching
food & reality shows and spending time with family and friends.”
Lesson
#4: Time management is key
Waqar:
“It’s important to build everyday rituals. Three things that I do without fail
are journaling while having my coffee. I work out for half an hour regularly,
if required even in between calls and commitments. And I make it a point to not
work over weekends unless it’s necessary. In addition, I like to put in
everything from work to social commitments in my calendar so that I’m mindful
of creating work-life balance.”
All
set to make her first angel investment, based on her experience of being part
of the start-up ecosystem for a few years now, Waqar shared a few tips for
first-time entrepreneurs.
Source:GulfNews
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Saudi
Women All Set To Drive Marine Tourism In The Red Sea And Arabian Gulf
October
19, 2022
MAKKAH:
The government has begun to provide Saudi women with funding to secure their
own boats and training to operate tourism businesses in the Red Sea and Arabian
Gulf.
The
Border Training Guard Program in Yanbu with the support of several government
departments issued marine driving licenses to 11 Saudi women recently. An
organization named “Riyada” is also supporting the program by providing loans
to enable women to own boats.
Hamed
Al-Juhani, president of the board of directors of the Yanbu Cooperative Society
for Fishermen, said that specialists were assigned to train women in navigating
a boat. In addition, tourism professionals have helped prepare intensive 10-day
practical and five-day theoretical training programs.
“We
have hired experienced leaders in boat driving, fishing, and going on trips,
who know all the tourism areas in Yanbu by heart,” he said. The course covers
navigation, safety and other aspects of a marine-focused business.
Al-Juhani
said his organization was committed to providing young women the opportunity to
develop entrepreneurial skills, as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 program.
“There
are now more than 100 women wishing to join the course, and our specialized
training cadre are 100 percent Saudis.”
Rahma
Al-Majnouni, one of the 11 women who obtained a marine driving license from the
Yanbu cooperative, said: “The border guards tested our abilities to make sure
we deserve our licenses.”
While
Al-Majnouni wants to operate trips in her own boat, she is also passionate
about teaching others how to navigate marine vessels.
“We
will be representing Saudi women and girls in the best way possible, since we
were the first to obtain our marine driving licenses. I am keen to actively
participate in the achievement of (these) aspects of the program’s vision,” she
said.
SafaaFallata,
a certified international diving instructor, who has participated in coral reef
farming in the Red Sea, praised the Yanbu cooperative and the government for
their support.
May
Qandil, another trainee who recently joined the program, said: “I had a passion
and love for the sea since early childhood … Women are able to achieve their
dreams now and we live in an unprecedented era, where we are empowering women
in several fields.”
Qandil
encouraged women to participate and benefit from the specialized training
courses.
Another
successful participant, Malak Al-Juhani, who holds a diving license, said she
has “a strong relationship with the sea.” She wants to become an instructor for
women and children in Yanbu, considered the capital of diving in the country.
“When
the marine driving license program was first announced, I participated without
any hesitation whatsoever to invest in my dreams.
“The
course had many requirements including swimming, passing the theoretical and
practical tests, as well as receiving intensive training provided by a female
military cadre.”
Among
the skills learnt was how to pilot boats in varying sea conditions, using life
jackets, and adhering to other required international standards, said
Al-Juhani.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2183681/saudi-arabia
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What
Does Remission in BilkisBano Case Mean to Gujarati Muslim Women?
HasinaKhan
,UmaraZainab
18
Oct 2022
BilkisBano’s
defiant journey in search of justice is a milestone for the Muslim women’s
movement and Indian feminist movement. In May 2017, the Bombay High Court
vindicated her 15-year struggle by upholding the conviction of 11 men charged
with her gang rape and murdering her family members. The court also reversed
the acquittal of five police officers and two doctors charged with suppressing
and tampering with evidence. The judgment not only recognisedcommunalised forms
of sexual violence against Muslim women during the 2002 Gujarat pogrom but the
complicity of the State in covering up such crimes.
Bilkis’s
case does not conform with the standard formula required to secure a win within
the judicial system. She is from a working-class Muslim family in a small
village in Gujarat. She witnessed the murder of her family and three-year-old
child while pregnant during one of the worst communal episodes in Indian
history. She was forced to gather herself and rebuild her life after being
raped and left for dead by a crowd of men. She spent 15 days convincing the
police to register her case and record the details of the men, only for a
magistrate’s court to dismiss it.
The
fight for legal and social justice embodied in Bilkis’s journey was taken up
(and appropriated) in several ways by Muslim women in Gujarat. It took numerous
struggles to ensure the 11 men were arrested and convicted. Women from Godhra,
where Bilkis’s fight began, ensured she and her husband, YakubRasul, could get
a safe and supportive environment. Therefore, her legal victory had much
broader social implications, as women in Gujarat derived strength and
inspiration from her case. It was a monumental landmark within the narrative of
the Indian feminist movement’s long fight against sexual violence and police
brutality.
Therefore,
like the victory after Bilkis’s win, the disappointment and hurt following the
Gujarat government’s remission of 11 convicts have also been theirs to share.
While this remission has been challenged in the Supreme Court, it has recreated
the continued exclusion of Muslim women from the “Gujarat model” of
development. It has opened the wounds Muslim women have been trying to close
gradually. And it has stalled their effort to move on from the trauma of 2002.
The politics of communalism, based on the degradation and suppression of Muslim
women, has removed their voices from the public imagination and made them
invisible. It includes their responses and reactions to the attempts to reverse
the few steps towards justice and remedy taken for victims of the 2002 pogrom.
With
this history and perspective, recently, we spoke to several Muslim women from
Gujarat to understand their relationship with the Bilkis case and the
implications of the early remission for their struggles for equality and
justice. These were women from Godhra, Halol, Kalol and Vadodara, who had
either been victims of the Gujarat pogrom or helped with relief and
rehabilitation after the violence.
Bilkis
stayed in Godhra at the relief camp set up for victims of the Gujarat genocide.
Lamia and her husband, Javed, provided a space in their house to pregnant women
who had faced brutal violence in 2002. Bilkis was one of them. Battling ill
health, the atmosphere of fear instilled by the pogrom, and increasing
communalisation all over India, Lamia had to discontinue her efforts to provide
girls with sewing and tuition classes in Godhra. The closure ended the means for
Muslim women to come together in the town. The absence of social rights and
women’s organisations has helped ensure there is no space for Muslim women to
congregate and organise. According to Lamia, “2002 kadarrabhi logon se
niklanahihai—the people of Godhra have not recovered from the events of 2002.”
The
social geography of Godhra, comprising Godhra Jail and Asia’s largest
graveyard, evokes silence, a fitting metaphor for how the 2002 pogrom has
altered the area. “Dabbekamaamla,” a reference to the burning of the train
carrying pilgrims from Ayodhya on 27 February 2002, is an ongoing trauma for
Muslims in Godhra. People here experienced different forms of police brutality
in their homes. The local masjids still collect money from the community to
provide sustenance for the families whose members were wrongly imprisoned for
causing the 2002 arson. Locals recounted to us how, since 2014, the police have
continued harassing them, entering homes to check fridges for cow meat and
arresting people at random.
Amina
Shaikh, a local councillor in Godhra, who knew and had visited Bilkis as a
friend in 2002, was among the nine women arrested and brutalised by the police
in a case of cow slaughter in 2011. Gujarat Police, facing resistance to
RafiqHussain’s arrest for cow slaughter charges, had forced its way into many
homes and sexually abused and assaulted several women. The wrongful
imprisonment changed Amina, who felt her experience of facing violence had to
catalyse change in Godhra. She faced opposition when she decided to stand for
elections as a councillor. “Humein bola ki election ladne mat do isse, ye
gandakaamhai—People said I should not stand for elections, it immoral work.”
But Amina persisted and ultimately won with a considerable margin of votes.
Now,
Amina focuses on issues of the community. During the panic of implementing the
CAA, NRC and NPR, designed to deprive the marginalised of citizenship, Amina
and her husband helped people procure their government-issued documents. She
described the difficulties Muslim youth face in accessing education in Godhra
and her resolve to rectify the situation. She said girls are discouraged from
finishing their schooling, while many boys cannot transition from government to
private schools after the eighth grade. Moreover, parents are hesitant to send
children to the one diverse community college in Godhra, deepening social and
economic divides between communities.
The
state repression of activists who worked tirelessly after the Gujarat pogrom
has profoundly impacted the Godhra community. Lamia and Amina were disturbed by
the arrest of TeestaSetalvad, who had organised a rally against the arrest of
nine women in 2011. “Hum tohroye the news sunke—We cried when we heard the news
of TeestaSetalvad’s arrest”, said Amina’s husband.
Sumaira
Aziz, who lives in a resettlement colony in Kalol, is also a councillor and
works closely with Muslim women in her area. Having lost 22 members of her
family in the Gujarat pogrom and subjected to sexual assault while working at
the relief camp, Sumairaemphasises the need for Muslim women to be educated and
economically independent. “Meratohyahikehnahaikikal mere jaise ho gaye,
tohkyakaroge? Kitnashoshansahoge?—I ask the girls in my area what they will do
if they end up in my situation—how much injustice will they suffer?”) Her
influence within the neighbourhood, where people come to her with their
problems, and her consistent work to ensure Muslim girls continue their
education at the local school, are part of her learnings while working for the
survivors of Gujarat 2002.
The
resettlement colony in Halol we visited had the air of an abandoned and
forgotten place. The Muslim women complained about their financial situation,
expressed concerns about running their households and the daily struggle for
survival, and highlighted the precarity of their lives. Their stories confirm
the pattern of resettlement colonies built by Islamic charitable organisations
and NGOs without government assistance after the pogrom. They are typically
located far from cities or places with economic and educational opportunities.
These colonies stand at the periphery of the Gujarat model of development as
concrete examples of how the model of ‘growth’ has left Muslim women behind.
Whenever
our conversation turned to Bilkis, we found some women were familiar with her
case; others were not. Several were hesitant to revisit their memories of 2002.
“Aaj ye Bilkiskesaathhuahai, kal koi aurhoyega—Today this [remission of
convicts] has happened with Bilkis. Tomorrow, it can be some other woman,” was
the sentiment Sana, a local activist, echoed. Other women spoke about the
villages they left behind to come to the colony in Haloland how they never
returned to their villages. The refrain we heard was ‘2002
kophirseyaadnahikarnahumein—We don’t want to recall 2002 again.”
The
outrage against State impunity, continued sexual violence against women and
oppression of Muslims was acutely felt while talking to survivors in Baroda.
Shakeela, who saw her house burned down in 2002, expressed anger towards the
remission of the convicts. “Jo aisaapraadhkartahaiuskosazaatohmilnichahiye.
Humnebhiapnagharjalte hue dekhatha. Hum
itnaghut-ghutkerehtehaikiabkuchbhibardaashtnahihota—Those who commit such
crimes should be punished. We saw our house burnt and have been living in fear
and suffocation ever since. Now we can’t tolerate such incidents.”
The
fight against sexual violence that Bilkis took up—which the Gujarat government
defeated and undermined—has resonated deeply among Muslim women who were stakeholders
and participants in her struggle. The message from the Gujarat model and
naarisamman—respect for women narrative has excluded Muslim women. Indeed, the
narrative is being amplified at their cost. The State’s attempt to polarise
society is the reason why the voices of Muslim women are suppressed. After the
Godhra violence, Muslim women in Gujarat started to think and act collectively
in their interests against communal violence and the socio-economic
backwardness of their community. The communal agenda and steps of the
government have prevented this budding movement from taking root fully and
growing.
The
backlash against Muslim women and their struggles has been in the form of an
Islamophobic ideology that has enabled the popularity of Sulli-Bulli apps
(where Muslim women can be auctioned and objectified) and the celebration of
the 11 convicts granted remission. Women in Gujarat remember Bilkis and her
fight in different ways. Some have chosen to focus on their more immediate
concerns, while others have moved on from the pain and do not wish to revisit
it. However, the invisibilisation of their diverse voices has been due to the
fear instilled within the community. When their voices and perspectives are
stopped from reaching the mainstream, it denies Muslim women their
constitutional and social rights and prevents them from pushing forward
struggles for justice.
UmaraZainab
is a researcher and activist, and Hasina Khan is with the Bebaak Collective.
The views are personal.
Source:
NewsClick
https://www.newsclick.in/What-Does-Remission-Bilkis-Bano-Case-Mean-Gujarati-Muslim-Women
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In
Iraq, divorce rates soar even as stigma persists for women
OCT
19 2022
Just
a year into her marriage, Manal became one of the tens of thousands of Iraqis
every year who divorce in a deeply conservative nation where break-up rates
have risen.
For
Manal, like many other women, the reason was clear -- her husband's financial
dependence on his family's business meant that "he couldn't take any
decisions of his own".
Not
only did he depend on his family for money, but the couple also cohabited with
her in-laws.
"He
wasn't financially independent, which caused family problems," she said.
Her
reasoning echoes that of tens of thousands of Iraqis, according to data
published by the country's Supreme Judicial Council.
Iraqi
authorities cite wider economic difficulties, early marriages and infidelity
encouraged by new technologies as other key drivers of divorce rates.
More
than 73,000 divorces were pronounced in 2021 by the courts in the country of 42
million people, largely the same as the number in 2018.
This
is up from an average of just below 51,700 per year over the period 2004 to
2014, a decade that saw one in five marriages end in divorce, according to the
council's website.
A
study published by the Supreme Judicial Council on the causes of divorce cites
"living with the spouse's family, leading in many cases to negative interference
in the relationship", in tandem with "the spouse's financial
dependence on his family".
It
also cites difficulties finding employment and "infidelities due to the
internet".
Premature
-- often child -- marriages are also a driver of divorce. A total of 4,092
adolescent girls were
"This
creates a psychological burden and problems," she said.
And
Iraq was not spared the surge in domestic violence that came with the
coronavirus pandemic -- though Edwar salutes women for increasingly finding the
courage to leave.
"There
is an awareness among women that if violence persists in their lives and their
children's lives, then it's better to divorce."
But
in a deeply patriarchal society like Iraq, a divorced man and a divorced woman
are not equal.
On
top of the often arduous battle to gain custody over their children, women are
frequently exposed to "sexual harassment" by men who believe they
have the right to make sexual advances towards divorced women, Edwar lamented.
Some
families even refuse to allow divorced women to work or go out freely, for fear
of the "stigma" and what people will say.
"As
for men -- socially, everything is acceptable. Today, he divorces, tomorrow he
remarries."
But
statistics show that this has left many women undeterred.
"Courts
have registered a rise in divorces, particularly over the past decade," a
magistrate was quoted as saying in 2019 on the judicial council's website.
A
social worker who sifts through divorce cases filed in courts so as to try to
re-establish common ground between couples likewise acknowledges that
"divorce has become much more common".
Speaking
on condition of anonymity at a Baghdad court, she said that "only in 10
percent of cases are we able to find a solution" and abandon the divorce
proceedings.
Manal
now lives back in her parents' home and works for a feminist organisation. Her
nine-year-old son Adam sees his father from time to time.
Despite
the letdown of her first marriage, she has not written off the possibility of
remarrying, but says conditions must be met.
A
future husband would have to accept her son, for one, but also her professional
ambitions.
Source:DeccanHerald
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