How TikTok Became Egypt's Latest Battleground Against Women
New Age Islam News Bureau
25
Jul 2020
• In Sweden,
Female Priests Now Outnumber Male Ones
• KAUST Trains
Saudi Women in Cybersecurity
• Lisa
SmithAccused of Financing Terrorismas Well as Being A Member of ISIS
• Saudi Arabia
Allows Raunchy Vogue Arabia Photoshoot In Madina Province
• These 10
Women In UAE Made A Difference By Distributing 10,000 Food Kits
• Amid Coronavirus,
Kenyan Women Risk Their Lives To Give Birth
• UK Politicians
Switch from Vilifying Burqas to Mandating Masks
• 64,577 Saudi
Women Employees Benefit From ‘Wusool’ Program
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/how-tiktok-became-egypt-latest/d/122468
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How TikTok
Became Egypt's Latest Battleground Against Women
24 July, 2020
(L-R) Mawada
al-Adham, Menna Abdul Aziz and Haneen Hossam have all been arrested. [Twitter]
-----
The arrest of
two women in Egypt's Nasr City last week for their activity on social
networking site TikTok comes as no surprise, given they are the latest in a
string of a dozen so-called TikTok girls accused of using the platform to
violate Egypt's "family values", a crime punishable by six months' in
prison and a hefty fine.
Just as those
arrested before them, the public prosecution has charged the pair with
"immoral practices", a vague term implying prostitution by way of the
video platform.
However, a
petition circulated by a group campaigning against what it calls a
"systematic crackdown" against women influencers on the highly
popular video platform reveal their real crimes may be as innocuous as posting
selfies in fashionable clothes or taking part in the latest dance craze. In
other words, normal teenage online behaviour.
The
"immoral behaviour" charge has even been levelled against women using
the site to make a call for help about a rape and blackmail ordeal, as in the
case of Menna Abdul Aziz, who was arrested, detained, and charged after doing
so in April.
Last
Thursday's incident takes the tally of TikTok arrests to at least 12 in the
past four months. Those facing punishment have several things in common: they
are young, female, and from middle or lower-class backgrounds.
Justice for
some women
As the
campaign group has underscored, the crackdown comes at a watershed moment for
combatting sexual assault in Egypt, making it not only a crackdown on women by
the civilian and state moral policemen, but an open show of the prosecution's
hypocrisy and a telling judgement on which women it feels it must police the
most.
In a landmark
development for women's rights in Egypt, the public prosecution has taken
action against alleged serial rapist and former American University in Cairo
(AUC) student Ahmed Bassem Zaki. Zaki's arrest was prompted by a deluge of
victim testimonies and evidence uploaded onto social media, with over 50 women
accusing the 22-year-old of rape.
Known as the
#ABZ case, the public prosecution took action based upon these allegations made
over social media, not formal complaints lodged with the judicial body. The
National Council for Women (NCW) - a nominally independent but state-aligned
organisation - praised this action. The law was also changed to allow victims
of sexual assault to remain anonymous. These were all highly commendable and
long-awaited developments for many.
But Zaki's
status as a luxury-compound dwelling, son of a telecoms mogul, prestigious
university attending young male also bought him opportunities to prey on,
assault and silence women. The victims were largely from these same wealthy
circles
Despite their
huge popularity on the app, the TikTok girls lack the wealth or connections to
influence Egypt's decision-making bodies.
Their videos
are not like highly polished and curated Instagram feeds of wealthy
influencers, but fun and carefree content, singing along to popular songs
against the backdrop of their more modest neighbourhoods.
The NCW has
not yet come out to support them despite the viral social media campaigns in
their defence.
Menna Abdul
Aziz is just a teenager, while others, including Haneen Hossam who was arrested
in April, are university students. Some wear the hijab, others choose to sport
crop tops and ripped jeans. Mawada al-Adham and ManarSamy, arrested in May and
June respectively, have budding careers as influencers across TikTok and other
platforms.
Nearly all
have been accused of trying to use the platform, albeit in "immoral"
ways, to build a large following and make money.
Herein lies
another of the regime's duplicities: it cracks down on women for allegedly
earning money from social media, but increasingly cuts off this demographic
from well-paid jobs, and sits by as living standards continue to decline.
Meanwhile it jails women for prostitution for posting a selfie on social media,
but supports a niqab ban at university.
Who gets to
define family values?
Since its
establishment in a clause of Egypt's 2018 Cybercrime Law, "Egyptian family
values" has been a bone of contention with rights campaigners in the
country, who argue that the term is left undefined and deliberately vague in
order to adapt to the whims of the public prosecution.
Article 25 of
the law, which gives the state increased powers for online surveillance,
blocking websites, and monitoring internet users, punishes anyone who attacks
these unspecified values with six months in prison and/or a 50,000 EGP ($3,100)
fine.
As the
petition reads: "If Tik Tok women are being punished for their content
that 'violates the Egyptian Family Values', could we at least know what [those
values are]? Which family do we mean?"
The hashtag #بعد_اذن_الاسرة_المصرية -
"if the Egyptian family allows" - has also been circulating social
media, encouraging people to speak out against the hypocrisy of the law.
According to
Egyptian journalist and researcher Nourhan Fahmy, the scope of cyber monitoring
was further expanded in 2019 with the appointment of the new Public Prosecutor,
Hamada al-Sawy, who established a new monitoring unit dedicated to social
media.
"While
this unit does have a positive impact in monitoring complaints like what
happened recently with sexual predator Ahmed Bassam Zaki's case, there are
countless other cases including journalists, human rights defenders and most
recently, the Tiktok girls, who have been targeted as well," Fahmy told
The New Arab. "Therefore, there is an apparent expansion in the pool of
suspects as a result of this increased social media monitoring."
How the TikTok
case has played out also exhibits how this law works in the favour of men.
"Some
citizens, who also happen to be males, [are willing] to act as 'guardians' of
these purported societal values and go on to track and report women vloggers,
or simply any woman or girl who broadcasts videos that they deem are
inappropriate and file a complaint," said Fahmy. "The receiving end
here, which is the prosecution, take such claims seriously and go on to
investigate."
This is of
course provides another jarring contrast with Menna Abdul Aziz reporting her
ordeal on the site, while other alleged victims of harrowing assaults,
including a group of women who took to social media in 2018 to accuse Egyptian
footballer Amr Warda of rape and harassment, are also ignored.
Fahmy argues
this unofficial cooperation between male civilians and the authorities to
police women is a tool to optimise the control of female bodies and behaviour.
This "reflects the conservative, patriarchal hegemony embodied in state
laws and regularly reinforced by the state and its media," Fahmy added.
Egyptian
activist Salma El Hosseiny agrees. "It really has to do with the fact that
women's bodies are not theirs, they're always considered as their relation to
their brother, their family, the state," she told The New Arab.
In the TikTok
case, this effect is compounded by the fact that even if these women also
complained themselves, the prosecution would never act on their accusations,
however serious. These women's definition of the violation of "family
values" does not matter.
"Just
because someone files a complaint doesn't mean that the prosecution follows it
up," said Hosseiny. "Victims of torture file complaints all the time
and the prosecution never follows it up."
"Regardless
of whether [these men] do this to rich women or not, the prosecution is also a
patriarchal structure," says Hosseiny. "They think the state has a
role to manage morality. But the problem is what kind of morality? It depends
on who you ask. Some families would say FGM is part of Egyptian family values.
The reason it got used against these women is because they have no one to back
them up."
Why TikTok?
Moreover, this
makes these women the first in the firing line on Egypt's ever-expanding
demolition of civil society.
"They are
the weakest in the ecosystem," said Hosseiny. "If their plan is to
shut down TikTok, they'll start with those who they know neither society, that
also has these prejudices, nor their parents, are influential and can defend
them."
Fahmy called
it a continuation of the crackdown on rights and freedoms that began in 2013,
"first with the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters, then expanded to
encompass civil society more broadly to include journalists, lawyers, human
rights defenders, political opposition and now, individuals, especially girls
with a large following on social media."
Ironically,
and tragically, this crackdown also delineates the potential these enterprising
and popular women have, and why they are thus considered so threatening to
Egyptian society, as judged by men.
"Everything
is a threat to them," says Hosseiny. "These women are not talking
about politics, but what about if one day, one of them decides to use that
platform? And then that's a threat," she said, citing the example of
Mohamed Aly and his videos that led to a rare outbreak of mass anti-government
protests in 2019.
The same
effect was witnessed during the 2011 uprisings, which were facilitated by the
mass mobilising power of new social media platforms, empowering legions of
young people from Egypt's working-class neighbourhoods.
Egypt's
campaign against civil society will no doubt continue, but the untapped
potential of these young and resourceful women will remain, if for the mean
time under the surface.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2020/7/24/how-tiktok-became-egypts-latest-battleground-against-women
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In Sweden,
Female Priests Now Outnumber Male Ones
July 22, 2020
Jonathan
NACKSTRAND AFP
----
Of the 3,060
priests currently serving in Sweden, 1,533 are female
For the first
time in history, Swedish female priests outnumber their male counterparts,
sixty years after they were first allowed to don the clerical collar, the
Church of Sweden said on Wednesday.
Of the 3,060
priests currently serving in Sweden, 1,533 are female, or 50.1 per cent,
according to Cristina Grenholm, secretary for the Church of Sweden.
"From a
historical perspective, this parity happened faster than we earlier imagined. A
report from 1990 estimated that women would be half of the total clergy in
2090. And it took thirty years," Grenholm told reporters.
Unlike the
Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church of Sweden has allowed female priests since
1958 and first ordained three women in 1960.
In 1982 the
Swedish parliament also scrapped a "conscience clause" that allowed
members of the clergy to refuse to cooperate with a female colleague.
Women have
been over-represented on theological courses, especially since the separation
of church and state in 2000, and accounted for 70 per cent of those training
for ordination in a study in 2013.
"Many
parishes during the Sunday service try to have both a man and a woman at the
altar," Grenholm said.
"Since we
believe that God created human beings, both men and women, in God's image, it
is essential that we do not only speak about it, but that it is also
shown," she added.
However, there
is a wage gap between male and female pastors - averaging 2,200 Swedish kronor
($248 or 215 euros) per month according to the church's newspaper
KyrkansTidning.
Grenholm said
this was due to more men being in higher positions of authority.
In Sweden,
ministers in the Church of Sweden have the title of priest, while those serving
in parishes outside the former State Church are referred to as pastors.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/in-sweden-female-priests-now-outnumber-male-ones
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KAUST Trains
Saudi Women in Cybersecurity
24 July, 2020
Saudi
cybersecurity graduates
----
The King
Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) announced that it will
provide cyber-security training to Saudi female graduates in partnership with
RSA and the support of the Early Career Accelerator Program, which the
university established to engage more women in IT and in the national digital
transformation and equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to obtain
jobs in the local market.
Speaking about
the program, Samer Samman, Chief Human Resources Officer at KAUST, explained,
"Opportunities in cybersecurity in the Middle East were limited in the
past for women."
“It is time to
change that. The initiative was launched by the National Cybersecurity
Authority during the Global Cybersecurity Forum at the beginning of this year,
in order to support the women working in this field through a series of
initiatives, emphasizing the Kingdom's commitment to increasing women's
participation in the labor market within the framework of (Vision 2030).”
Four female
graduates from the University of Prince Mugrin in Madinah who had finished
their holistic risk management training took part in the inaugural program.
KAUST and RSA
will continue to provide graduates with consultation guidance and support for a
year and a half after they complete the program, as they apply the skills they
garnered during their training in the workplace.
Those in
charge of the KAUST program expect to accelerate career development and become
a continuous initiative held every year, with between two and four female
graduates participating in each, to give participants the opportunity to work
in different areas of digital risk management.
“We believe it
is imperative that cybersecurity companies such as RSA support initiatives that
bridge the cyber skills gap, presenting the broader technology sector with a
model to replicate,” says Gennaro Scalo, director of the Group's Risk Committee
at RSA in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“It is a
source of pride that my RSA team has equal representation of both genders, and
I am glad to see these young Saudi women pave the way for this becoming the
rule, not an exception.”
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2408956/kaust-trains-saudi-women-cybersecurity
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Lisa Smith
Accused of Financing Terrorism as Well as Being A Member of ISIS
24 July 2020
Lisa Smith
pictured arriving at Dublin District Court on Friday morning
-----
A former
member of the Irish Defence Forces who is accused of membership of the group
calling itself Islamic State (IS) is facing an additional charge.
Lisa Smith,
who is originally from Dundalk in County Louth, is now accused of financing
terrorism as well as being a member of IS.
The
38-year-old appeared before Dublin District Court on Friday.
The new charge
relates to the transfer of €800 (£728) via a Western Union account in 2015.
Ms Smith
travelled to Syria more than eight years ago and was deported back to Ireland
late last year.
The hearing at
Dublin District Court was told that she will be tried at the non-jury Special
Criminal Court.
However, her
solicitor said the defence would challenge this decision because Ms Smith was
being denied her fundamental right to a jury trial.
A Garda (Irish
police) sergeant from the Republic's Special Detective Unit told the court that
officers charged Ms Smith with the new offence at the courthouse on Friday
morning.
The sergeant
said she made no reply when the charge was put to her.
The judge
remanded Ms Smith on continuing bail for another week.
She is due to
appear again in court next Friday when the book of evidence is expected to be
served.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53528298
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Saudi Arabia
allows raunchy Vogue Arabia photoshoot in Madina province
July 9, 2020
Saudi Arabia
has stoked controversy after it was revealed that it gave permission for Vogue
Arabia to conduct a raunchy photoshoot of international supermodels within the
historical site of Al-Ula in the province of Madina.
Vogue Arabia,
the Arab edition of the renowned US-based fashion magazine, released its
24-hour campaign photoshoot for the New York-based label Mônot yesterday, which
featured models such as Kate Moss, MariacarlaBoscono, Candice Swanepoel,
Jourdan Dunn, Amber Valletta, Xiao Wen and Alek Wek.
In the
photoshoot, named ‘24 hours in AlUla,’ the models were seen wearing tight
dresses with thigh-slits while they posed and walked around the UNESCO World
Heritage site, known as the world’s largest open air museum consisting of
carved rock structures similar to Jordan’s Petra.
The Lebanese
designer Eli Mizrahi, who organised and directed the shoot, said: “I convinced
the talent that they would look back on this moment — 24 hours in AlUla — as
something special. Kate Moss not only came, but she was the first one on set at
5 a.m. and the last to leave.”
The nature of
the shoot and the dresses worn in them are classed as immodest by many Muslims,
and despite the fact that the distance of the site is around 300 kilometres
from the holy city of Madina, it is within the same province which many see as
inappropriate for the Saudi authorities to have allowed.
The
controversial photoshoot is part of a series of reforms that the kingdom has
been implementing in recent years in order to open up its economy to
international tourism and modernisation. Such reforms, which include the
decrease in authority of the religious police, the lifting of restrictions in
gender mixing, and the stripping of the requirement for women to wear the abaya
or loose gown, are also part of the Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200709-saudi-arabia-allows-raunchy-vogue-arabia-photoshoot-in-madina-province/
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These 10 women
in UAE made a difference by distributing 10,000 food kits
July 25, 2020
'Since
February, we have distributed over 10,000 food kits and 37 air tickets to
individuals and families in need'
A community
group consisting of 10 Indian ladies have distributed over 10,000 food kits to
distressed individuals and families amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The informal
group, Community and Social Work (CAS) Ladies formed in 2008, is spearheaded by
a small, tight-knit group of working women and homemakers.
The group,
with support from the PravasiBharatiyaSahayata Kendra (PBSK), a welfare initiative
for providing support to Indian expatriates in need, and the Consulate-General
of India in Dubai, has also distributed 37 free air tickets to stranded Indian
expats. Formerly known as the Indian Ladies Association (ILA) in Dubai, the
group has been actively involved in resolving issues of distressed Indians and
running awareness campaigns in the UAE.
Kusum Dutta,
social worker and member of the group, told Khaleej Times: "Since
February, we have distributed over 10,000 food kits and 37 air tickets to individuals
and families in need. We have a wish list for the grocery kits. Each bag
contains basic amenities to keep a family or individual running for a few weeks
to a month at least." The bags contain lentils, rice, flour, oil, spices,
biscuits, noodles, tea, sugar, and canned milk for example.
The kits are
distributed to labour accommodations and homes of couples and families in need.
She explained: "We receive recommendations of families in need from the
consulate as well as the PBSK. We have a simple screening process and those
with genuine need are given these food kits as well as the air tickets."
Members of the
group have said they were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community during
these hard times. Samita Khanna, another member, added: "People in the UAE
have been excellent. The Indian community came forward in large numbers to help
those in need."
She said the
demand for food kits have drastically reduced. "We purchase the food
packets from wholesalers, who pack them into smaller bags which can be easily
distributed. Initially, we were also packing the kits."
Khanna added:
"We have also distributed hot food packets. However, food kits seemed to
be the more logical choice. This is going to be an ongoing process, as we will
continue to provide food and tickets to those who need help."
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus-pandemic/these-10-women-in-uae-made-a-difference-by-distributing-10000-food-kits
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Amid
coronavirus, Kenyan women risk their lives to give birth
25 July 2020
Veronica
Atieno remembers feeling her way through the dark alleys between the shacks
that make up Nairobi’s slums, picking her way past raw sewage and rusty,
razor-sharp metal roofing with trepidation.
Her labor
pains had crescendoed during Kenya’s coronavirus dusk-to-dawn curfew, and there
were no public or private means of transport to the hospital where she had
planned to give birth. Fears of heavy-handed police enforcement of the curfew
kept possible helpers away.
With time
running out, her only option was to reach the home of a traditional birth
attendant nearby, Atieno said. But she was scared.
For all the
latest coronavirus updates, visit our dedicated section.
“I had many
concerns about the health of the baby if she was delivered by the traditional caregiver.
How hygenic is her place? Does she have personal protection gear to prevent the
spread of COVID-19? What if I need surgery?” she worried as her spasms
intensified.
Her plight has
played out every night for pregnant women across Kenya, putting some at deadly
risk. That has inspired a local doctor to create an emergency service, Wheels
for Life.
Kenya already
had one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world, and though data are
not yet available on the effects of the new curfew, experts believe the number
of women and babies who die in childbirth has increased significantly since it
was imposed mid-March.
The concerns
drove obstetrician and gynecologist Jemimah Kariuki at the government-run
Kenyatta National Hospital to attempt a solution.
“When the
curfew started we had open hospitals but no women, and we would hear reports of
women delivering at home with very dire consequences: Women would come in the
morning with babies who passed in the night or they had ruptured the uterus or
had significant tears,” she said.
When one
mother was reported to have died while in labor, Kariuki felt she needed to do
something.
She shared her
phone number on Twitter, asking women who needed to consult about their
pregnancies to reach out. The tweet quickly went viral.
“The response
was overwhelming, I was getting 30 to 40 calls from women telling me, ‘I was
anxious, I did not know what to do.’ In one week I had five mothers calling me
like, ‘I am in labor and I don’t know what to do,” she said.
Kariuki started
to track down vehicles to provide transportation to health facilities, but few
were on the road because of multiple reports of police brutality while
enforcing the curfew. Human rights groups have reported at least 23 curfew
violators allegedly killed by police, and videos have circulated of
baton-wielding officers whipping people.
Kariuki
reached out to companies and state organizations for support in providing free
services such as transportation and medical personnel. The response was
overwhelming, leading to the formation of Wheels for Life.
The Health
Ministry, Nairobi University, taxi service Bolt and others pitched in to
provide the free services.
“It is really
amazing when you can see that people are willing to go beyond the economic gain
so that they can help the less privileged in society, especially at a time of
COVID when everyone is thinking about cutting costs,” Kariuki said.
Wheels for
Life has a toll-free number which pregnant mothers call to be triaged and
connected to a doctor. If a mother needs medical attention but it’s not an
emergency, a taxi is dispatched to take her to hospital. If it’s an emergency,
an ambulance is dispatched.
According to
the United Nations’ Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group, maternal
deaths in Kenya had fallen from 9,100 a year in 2000 to 5,000 in 2017. That
translates to 13 recorded maternal deaths daily, down from 24.
Still, the
East African country remains among the top 21 in the world for maternal deaths.
Louisa Muteti,
chair of the Midwives Association of Kenya, fears that mother and child deaths
during childbirth have increased under the curfew.
Muteti said 68
percent of mothers who give birth in Kenya have access to skilled personnel.
Others give birth at home using traditional birth attendants or by themselves,
and when deaths occur they are not officially recorded.
Transport and
security are the biggest challenges under curfew, Muteti said, especially in
dimly lit informal settlements.
“That’s why
some mothers may die at home or struggle and go to hospital in the morning,
only to die,” she said.
According to
the World Health Organization, women die as a result of mostly treatable
complications during pregnancy and following childbirth such as severe
bleeding, infections and high blood pressure.
WHO emphasizes
the importance of skilled assistance during childbirth, saying “timely
management and treatment can make the difference between life and death for the
mother as well as for the baby.”
Kariuki said
Wheels for Life has handled 10,950 calls in the last 100 days while 890 women
have been taken to hospitals for various issues with their pregnancies.
She envisions
the service continuing beyond the curfew, targeting low-income residents and
moving beyond Nairobi county. Most users are from informal settlement or
low-income areas, she said.
“It’s just
given me perspective of just how many women are in dire need out there even
without the curfew,” she said. “Because if a lady tells you they have $5,
curfew or not, they were not going to make it to hospital.”
Atieno, 23,
knows how lucky she is to have survived the birth of her second child without
reaching the hospital as planned. After eight hours of labor, she gave birth to
a beautiful, healthy baby named Shaniz Joy Juma at the hands of the unskilled
traditional birth assistant.
She continued
bleeding after birth but managed to reach the hospital in time to treat it.
“Some things
is just God’s will. I could have died,” she said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/07/25/Amid-coronavirus-Kenyan-women-risk-their-lives-to-give-birth.html
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UK Politicians
Switch from Vilifying Burqas to Mandating Masks
July 23, 2020
People in the
UK will be soon be required by law to wear masks in shops to prevent the spread
of coronavirus. This follows the introduction of mandatory face coverings on
public transport in June.
There is
evidence that supports the public health benefits of wearing face coverings in
public. But the UK government and public have been slow to accept masks as a
pillar of the country’s coronavirus strategy. This should perhaps come as no
surprise after two decades of negative messaging about face coverings, largely
targeting Muslim women.
Since 9/11,
Muslims in the west have endured constant scapegoating and vilification for their
religious and lifestyle choices. This includes the wearing of the hijab, burqa,
and niqab – different types of hair and face covering.
These garments
have been attacked by politicians, including the UK prime minister himself,
often characterised as impeding communication, being non-British and
representing an anti-western patriarchal culture.
Banning the
burqa, mandating the face mask
The fact that
Boris Johnson is now calling for face coverings to be imposed is particularly
ironic given his past comments on the subject.
When he was
foreign secretary in 2018, Johnson wrote in his column in the Telegraph
newspaper that while he opposed a ban on Muslim face coverings, he nonetheless
felt “entitled” to see the faces of his constituents, and likened women who
wore the niqab to letterboxes and bank robbers. “Human beings must be able to
see each other’s faces and read their expressions,” he wrote. “It’s how we
work.”
These beliefs
are not restricted to the Conservative Party. In 2006, Labour foreign secretary
Jack Straw wrote about his encounter with a Muslim couple, including a woman
who covered her face, describing the “incongruity between the … entirely
English accent, the couple’s education (wholly in the UK) - and the fact of the
veil”. In doing so, he further cemented the notion that face coverings cannot
be English.
For at least a
decade there have been calls to ban Muslim face coverings in the UK. In the
aftermath of the Brexit referendum in 2016, more than half the British
population said they supported a burqa ban. Many countries across Europe have
done so despite negligible numbers of people who are affected by such a policy.
In an act of
arguable hypocrisy, France, the first country to ban face coverings in 2011,
made them mandatory this month to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Face masks
are now required in all indoor public spaces in France from August, but the
burqa remains banned.
This means
fines can be imposed for those who are not covering their face, but also for
those whose face coverings are deemed to be religious in nature. In the UK,
however, religious clothing can be used as the mandatory face covering in
shops.
Face coverings
and ‘freedom’
The evidence
for wearing a face mask in public to prevent the spread of coronavirus is
clear, and research has shown that most face coverings, including the niqab, do
not impede communication.
But the
repeated association of Muslim women’s dress with lacking freedom and being
controlled seems to have resulted in a psychological barrier around the use of
masks. In a recent viral video, an American woman screams, “We don’t cover our
face in America. They don’t control us. We’re Americans!”
There are also
echoes of the association between face coverings and stereotypes of
“submissive” Muslim women. A recent preprint study – which has yet to be
peer-reviewed – shows that men are less likely to wear a face mask, with some
believing it to be a “sign of weakness”.
In a bizarre
act of parallel solidarity, many anti-maskers are protesting with the phrase,
“My body, my choice” – a feminist slogan about bodily autonomy that Muslim
women have used to demand their right to cover their face or hair.
The truth is
that Muslim women have always had agency in their choice of what they wear, and
the reasons for their choices are manifold, as my research has shown. Some
women may well be pressured by their husbands to wear the hijab, just as some
western women are pressured to dress in ways they don’t want to by their
partners. This is an issue of misogyny, not one of religion.
Now we find
ourselves in a situation where politicians, who have sought to use the personal
dress codes of Muslim women to portray them as pitiful and controlled, have a
battle on their hands to convince the population that masks do not restrict
communication, are not a sign of coercion, and are actually a marker of being
part of an integrated community where people care for each other.
As we move
towards face masks becoming more widely accepted, we can only hope the positive
messages of unity that are associated with preventing coronavirus infection now
can persist in the longer term and be extended to all who cover their faces, no
matter the reason.
https://theconversation.com/about-face-politicians-switch-from-vilifying-burqas-to-mandating-masks-143151
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64,577 Saudi
women employees benefit from ‘Wusool’ program
July 13, 2020
RIYADH — A
total of 64,577 Saudi women employees have benefited from the transportation
program “Wusool” since its launch in November 2017 until the end of June this
year.
In a statement
carried by Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi Human Resources Development Fund
(Hadaf) said that the Riyadh region has the highest number of beneficiaries
from the program with 28,308 employees, Makkah region with 19,463
beneficiaries, and the Eastern Region came third with 9,186 beneficiaries.
It is worth
mentioning that the program aims to empower females working in the private
sector, raise their participation rate in the labor market, and support their
job stability.
The fund made
amendments and updates to the program in order to provide benefits to the
maximum number of applicants and to facilitate the procedures for registering
Saudi workers.
The enrollment
mechanism in the program included registration in the General Organization for
Social Insurance (GOSI), where the total GOSI subscription period shall be less
than 36 months and the monthly salary should be SR8,000 or less. It also
included the amount of monthly financial support provided by the fund fixed at
80 percent of the cost and a maximum of SR800 per month.
The program
contributes to finding solutions that reduce the burden of transportation costs
for Saudi women working in the private sector. It also aims to improve and
develop the transport environment for commuting by providing a safe service
with high quality and safety for working women, in partnership with companies
using licensed smart apps to guide private cars being operated as taxis.
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/595450/SAUDI-ARABIA/64577-Saudi-women-employees-benefit-from-Wusool-program
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/how-tiktok-became-egypt-latest/d/122468