Shama Nisha’s Human Rights Victory Paves Way For Women In New Zealand Muslim Communities
New Age Islam News Bureau
21 December 2024
· Shama Nisha’s Human Rights Victory Paves Way For Women In New Zealand Muslim Communities
· US Envoy, Rina Amiri, Warns Of Global Impact If Afghan Women Are Abandoned
· Blinken Calls For Immediate End To Taliban’s Ban On Women’s Education And Work
· Envoys From G7+ Nations Urge Taliban To Tackle Terrorism, Restore Women’s Rights
· Iranian Women’s Team Runner-Up At 2024 Asian Roll Ball Championship
· Women Have 'Critical' Role To Play In Rebuilding Syria: UN
· The Torture, Sexual Violence And Social Stigma Faced By Syria's Women Prisoners
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/human-rights-women-new-zealand-muslim/d/134098
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Shama Nisha’s Human Rights Victory Paves Way For Women In New Zealand Muslim Communities
21 Dec, 2024
An Auckland woman says her successful challenge against a Muslim association will create more opportunities for Muslim women in New Zealand.
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A woman who successfully challenged a New Zealand-based Muslim association’s treatment of women says the fight came at great personal cost.
But Shama Nisha says the path has now been cleared for greater participation by women in this country’s wider Muslim community.
In a decision released this week, the Human Rights Review Tribunal found the South Auckland Muslim Association Incorporated (Sama) breached the terms of a settlement deed after it failed to uphold an agreement to promote female participation within its upper ranks.
Nisha told NZME the decision was significant because it provided a platform for women to actively participate in the Muslim community, which allowed them the confidence to participate in the wider community.
“As women, we work, we are mothers, we go out and we face racism and discrimination daily,” she said.
Nisha, a Fiji-born Muslim, came to New Zealand in the mid-1990s for what she said were “greener pastures”.
“After the coups, Fiji wasn’t the best place, so my family decided to move.
“My grandmother brought me here and New Zealand has been home since.”
She said the tribunal case had been a “very long journey” which had taken its toll.
“I haven’t been welcomed in the Muslim community very much because, you know, they’ve classed me as a bad woman.
“They’ve made it like I’d taken the mosque to court, which is bringing shame to them.”
Sexual discrimination claim
Nisha is a member of Sama and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (Fianz), which is the national body for Muslims in New Zealand.
Sama operates the Masjid-Al-Mustafa [mosque] in Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland, as well as a convention centre at the same site. Its administration is managed by an executive committee.
In late 2020, Nisha attended the association’s annual meeting and left feeling treated less favourably than men, including not being afforded the same opportunities to participate in the meeting.
She lodged a claim with the tribunal in March 2021 alleging sexual discrimination which was resolved by a settlement in December that year.
She then challenged an aspect of the contract under the Human Rights Act that arose from that settlement, ahead of the association’s annual meeting in mid-2022.
Nisha sought clarification on how the association might uphold an agreement that Sama provide support and mentoring to its female members to encourage and support their participation at an executive and representative level.
This included an annual gathering for a women’s chapter dedicated to such matters, which Sama felt it had complied with but acknowledged that its actions in this regard were “essentially a work in progress”.
The Sama women’s chapter was formally established in November 2022.
After receiving notice of the date of the association’s annual meeting, Nisha nominated herself for the Sama executive and again sought clarification about how it intended to implement the clause contained in the settlement deed.
A meeting was held, and then in March 2022, she received a phone call from the Fianz president at the time, Ibrar Sheikh, who asked her if she wished to withdraw her nomination.
Nisha declined and on the same day, long-serving Sama member Umar Mohammed asked her to speak with incoming vice-president Rizwan Khan about withdrawing her application.
It was during a subsequent phone call that Nisha was told her nomination and that of one other woman were being withdrawn, but again, Nisha refused and her nomination was then accepted.
The other woman withdrew hers.
Angry and hurt
Nisha said she was angry and hurt by the requests, but not entirely surprised.
“It was kind of expected that that’s what the men would do.
“I was put under a lot of pressure, and my family was put under a lot of pressure to withdraw, but I stood by it and my husband stood by me.
“He was basically my rock.”
At the AGM Nisha received eight votes, whereas the two male candidates each received between 75 and 82.
The tribunal said in its decision that in Nisha’s case, rather than being encouraged and supported, the “undisputed evidence” was that she was discouraged from an attempt to seek nomination.
“The Sama executive offered no support or encouragement but rather remained silent after being made aware that Mr Khan had actively encouraged Ms Nisha to withdraw,” the three-member tribunal panel said.
Nisha said in her submission to the tribunal that the breach had occurred in a space which was of “utmost importance to her religious identity, which exacerbated her humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to her feelings”.
The tribunal awarded damages of $5000, which it said did not necessarily reflect the impact on Nisha but her primary focus was on seeking support and encouragement for women, therefore only modest damages, as sought, were awarded.
“I would ask myself often, is this worth it? But yes, it is, because it’s not for me, it is for women - women at large, women of colour, because I know it happens to everybody.
“This acknowledges that women are part of the community and part of society and they have the right to participation.”
The tribunal also ordered that Sama convene an annual gathering of the women’s chapter in 2025 and 2026 with the sole purpose of providing support and mentoring to its female members to encourage and support their participation at an executive and representative level.
Attempts have been made to reach the association for comment.
Source: nzherald.co.nz
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/shama-nishas-human-rights-victory-paves-way-for-women-in-nz-muslim-communities/6WTQDS45XNCVBE2A5KLM7DDG7M/#google_vignette
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US Envoy, Rina Amiri, Warns Of Global Impact If Afghan Women Are Abandoned
By Siyar Sirat
Dec 21, 2024
WASHINGTON — On the second anniversary of the Taliban’s ban on women’s university education and employment in nongovernmental organizations, Rina Amiri, the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, issued a passionate plea for global solidarity, warning that failure to support Afghan women could undermine women’s rights worldwide.
In an open letter marking the occasion, Ms. Amiri denounced the Taliban’s enactment of over 80 gender-discriminatory policies that have deprived women and girls of their “agency, mobility, education, livelihood, voice, and access to life-saving medical institutions.”
“The world is being tested,” Ms. Amiri wrote. “If we fail Afghan women and girls, we fail women and girls everywhere and set a dangerous precedent that will be replicated elsewhere, far beyond Afghanistan.”
“Afghanistan will remain in darkness so long as the dreams of Afghan women and girls are dimmed,” she added.
A history of resilience
While lamenting the Taliban’s oppressive measures, Ms. Amiri expressed confidence in the resilience of Afghan women and girls. She pointed out that this is not the first time Afghan women have faced setbacks, noting their historical role as leaders in society despite past challenges.
“They will do so again,” she stated. “And to ensure they prevail, we must collectively support them.”
Ms. Amiri outlined specific actions needed to empower Afghan women and girls:
Domestic Advocacy: Afghan men, both inside and outside the country, must stand with the women of Afghanistan — their wives, daughters, and sisters — to support a viable and hopeful future for the nation.
International Pressure: The global community must prioritize human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, in any engagement with the Taliban. Diplomatic and economic progress with the Taliban must be tied to tangible steps to reverse their extreme policies targeting women and girls.
Material and Educational Support: Member states, donors, academic institutions, and the private sector must provide Afghan women with the tools they need to rebuild their lives. These include resources, technology, education, employment training, and economic opportunities.
Ms. Amiri stressed that these measures are crucial to equip Afghan women and girls to reclaim their rights and dignity.
The Taliban’s ban on women’s participation in education and NGOs is part of a broader campaign to erase women from public life, a move that has sparked outrage and condemnation globally. However, Ms. Amiri warned that the consequences of inaction extend far beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
“Afghanistan will remain in darkness so long as the dreams of Afghan women and girls are dimmed,” she wrote. “The road ahead will be long, but hopelessness and resignation are not an option.”
Her call to action highlights the need for an unwavering commitment to Afghan women, whose plight she described as emblematic of the global struggle for gender equality.
Source: amu.tv
https://amu.tv/145247/
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Blinken calls for immediate end to Taliban’s ban on women’s education and work
By Siyar Sirat
Dec 21, 2024
WASHINGTON — Marking two years since the Taliban barred Afghan women and girls from universities and women from working in NGOs, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the immediate reversal of these restrictions, emphasizing their critical role in Afghanistan’s future.
“Afghan women and girls are the lynchpin to a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous Afghanistan,” Mr. Blinken said in a statement on Friday. “We call on the Taliban to immediately reverse these edicts.”
The bans, imposed by the Taliban in December 2022, have drawn widespread international condemnation, with human rights advocates and governments warning of severe repercussions for Afghanistan’s social and economic stability.
Experts and activists have repeatedly cautioned that these policies not only violate fundamental human rights but also undermine the country’s ability to recover from decades of conflict.
In a recent move earlier this month, the Taliban banned women from medical education as well, a decision that faced national and international condemnation.
Source: amu.tv/
https://amu.tv/145249/
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Envoys From G7+ Nations Urge Taliban To Tackle Terrorism, Restore Women’s Rights
By Siyar Sirat
Dec 21, 2024
GENEVA – Special envoys and representatives for Afghanistan from G7+ nations convened this week to address the escalating challenges facing the country. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the envoys called on the Taliban to intensify counterterrorism efforts, reverse oppressive policies against women, and commit to inclusive governance to stabilize the nation.
Representatives from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, and Switzerland, along with other stakeholders, participated in the discussions. The group emphasized the need for urgent action to tackle Afghanistan’s worsening humanitarian crisis and to ensure regional security.
Addressing the terrorism threat
The envoys expressed grave concern over recent terrorist attacks in Kabul and the broader region, warning that terrorism remains a significant threat to Afghanistan’s security. They acknowledged the Taliban’s limited actions against ISIS-K but stressed that more robust measures are needed to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2593.
“Some terrorist organizations continue to enjoy safe haven in Afghanistan, planning and executing both internal and cross-border strikes,” the statement read. The envoys called on the Taliban to take concrete steps to eliminate these threats, which they warned could destabilize not just Afghanistan but also neighboring nations and the wider region.
Reversing policies against women and girls
The representatives strongly condemned the Taliban’s December 2024 decision to ban women and girls from attending medical training institutions. They described the ban as part of a broader pattern of more than 80 repressive edicts designed to exclude women and girls from education, public life, and economic participation.
“These policies have devastating consequences for all Afghans, particularly mothers and children, and undermine the stability of the healthcare system,” the envoys said. They called for the immediate reversal of these discriminatory practices, emphasizing that women’s participation is critical to the country’s recovery and long-term stability.
The group highlighted the urgent need for an inclusive national dialogue to establish a representative political system in Afghanistan. They called for a constitutional order with accountable leadership that upholds the country’s international obligations.
“Achieving sustainable peace and stability requires credible and inclusive governance that represents all segments of Afghan society,” the statement said.
The envoys reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the United Nations’ role in facilitating peace and stability in Afghanistan. They urged the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2721 (2023) and called for the swift appointment of a UN Special Envoy to lead discussions between Afghan stakeholders and the international community.
They praised the UN-led Doha Process and recognized the efforts of UN agencies, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and NGOs working to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan population.
Humanitarian and regional cooperation
The statement underscored the indispensable role of international NGOs in addressing Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, particularly for vulnerable populations, including women-led households, children, and ethnic and religious minorities. The envoys stressed the importance of a united humanitarian response that brings together international and local organizations, alongside UN agencies.
Recognizing the regional dimension of Afghanistan’s challenges, the envoys called for deeper collaboration with neighboring countries to address shared concerns, including terrorism and illegal migration. They also commended Muslim-majority nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for advocating for women’s rights, particularly access to education, and encouraged continued leadership on these issues.
The envoys expressed their gratitude to Switzerland for organizing and hosting the Geneva meeting. They reiterated their commitment to meeting again in the near future to assess progress and continue their coordinated efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.
The joint statement by the G7+ representatives made clear that Afghanistan’s path to peace and stability depends on decisive action by the Taliban. The group urged the Taliban to eliminate terrorist threats, reverse oppressive policies, and engage in meaningful dialogue with all Afghan stakeholders.
“The international community remains committed to supporting the Afghan people as they navigate these immense challenges,” the statement concluded.
The envoys have held various meetings on Afghanistan so far, but their last joint statement ahead of today’s statement was issued in October 2023.
Source: amu.tv
https://amu.tv/145220/
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Iranian Women’s Team Runner-Up At 2024 Asian Roll Ball Championship
Dec 21, 2024
In the highly anticipated match, host India secured a 3-1 victory over Iran, remaining unbeaten in the fourth edition of the championship.
Roll Ball is a sport played between two teams that uniquely combines elements of roller skating, basketball, handball, and throwball.
The 2024 Asian Roll Ball Championship took place in Goa, India, from December 16 to 19.
Source: mehrnews.com
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/225757/Iranian-women-s-team-runner-up-at-2024-Asian-Roll-Ball-C-ship
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Women have 'critical' role to play in rebuilding Syria: UN
2024-12-20
Women must be empowered to play a full role in building a new society in Syria and to bring stability to the shattered nation, the U.N. said Friday.
"We... are strongly urging the caretaker government to continue to empower and enable women because they are going to be critical to the rebuilding of the country," said Amy Pope, the head of the United Nations' migration agency, following a visit to Syria.
Source: lbcgroup.tv
https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/middleeastnews/825516/women-have-critical-role-to-play-in-rebuilding-syria-un/en
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The torture, sexual violence and social stigma faced by Syria's women prisoners
20 December 2024
Women's undergarments lay on top of a pile of clothing stacked outside a massive freezer where the bodies of dead prisoners had been stored.
Not long ago, the undergarments had most likely been stripped off women prisoners killed in Syria’s notorious Sednaya prison, known as the “human slaughterhouse”.
“Here, there was very brutal cruelty, in every sense,” said Khaled Mohammad al-Khan, an opposition fighter from the country’s southern governorate of Daraa. “It was disgusting, slaughter, hanging, and rape,” he said, as he showed Middle East Eye around the prison compound.
Khan was at Sednaya prison on 8 December, when hundreds of inmates were released following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s administration. Among those released were dozens of women and girls, he said.
The rebel fighter recalled an unmarried 16-year-old girl, with five young children, whom he spoke with briefly just as she was leaving. “They didn’t believe they were leaving the prison, they were afraid. ‘Who are you? Who are you?’ they asked us,” he said.
Khan said when he first arrived he saw about 50 women on the prison’s surveillance cameras, in the compound’s underground cells.
Before the downfall of Assad, thousands of women were being held in an infamous network of prisons, where inmates were known to be subject to ruthless forms of torture, beaten, and deprived of food, water, medicine and basic sanitation.
Female prisoners face a unique set of challenges, including rampant sexual violence and social stigmatisation upon their release.
‘Women as a weapon of war’
Since the start of the 2011 revolution, women have had a strong voice calling for political change across Syria.
The Assad government arbitrarily detained many of these activists, subjected them to torture and sexual abuse, and sometimes kept them longer to exert pressure on their families or deter their relatives from joining anti-government protests, EuroMed Rights, a human rights protection group, said in a 2015 report.
“Like other conflicts, Syria's protracted turmoil has seen the gradual instrumentalisation of women as a weapon of war and terror,” the rights organisation said.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported in February 2024 that at least 10,197 women were still detained or forcibly disappeared by parties to the conflict and controlling forces in Syria.
The vast majority - or at least 83 percent - of these women were arrested by Assad's forces. Others had been arrested or kidnapped by armed opposition groups such as the Syrian National Army (SNA), Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
SNHR also recorded 115 women who died of torture, 95 at the hands of Assad government forces. Former female detainees interviewed in the report detailed multiple forms of torture, such as electric shock, heavy beating, harassment and being hung from the ceiling for long periods of time.
Psychological toll
In her small office in Jaramana neighbourhood of Damascus, Milana Zin Aldin spoke of her efforts to provide psychological services to hundreds of women who were incarcerated in Assad’s prisons and then released - work she had done secretly until just about two weeks ago when Assad fell.
The 37-year-old therapist pulled out a small agenda, where she had recorded the names and schedules of her patients. The names of those who had been detained were absent.
She motioned to her forehead, noting that she had memorised these patients’ schedules or recorded them in a secret notebook kept hidden at home.
“Keeping information in my office would have been dangerous for me and my patients,” Zin Aldin told MEE. “You were viewed as interacting with an opposer and a terrorist, and so consequently, you’d be under suspicion as well,” she said.
“Health workers didn’t always have the courage to receive these cases or provide them with help because simply a lot were arrested just because they were providing a medical service,” she said.
Now, even though the Assad government is gone, the fear of speaking up still lingers. Zin Aldin leaned over her desk and in a faint whisper said: “My patients still speak like this.”
“Currently, there is nothing that should make them whisper. Nothing that forbids them from talking, at least in this room,” she said.
“But the feeling of being watched, the fear, the worry, and the mistrust between one another is sadly still present. It’s buried so deep and even deep in us as individuals.”
‘I don’t know if I’m a good woman or a dirty woman’
Zin Aldin said that all of her women patients who had been detained were subjected to at least one form of sexual violence.
One young woman - who was one of those released from Sednaya on 8 December - was raped, got pregnant and miscarried during the seven years she was imprisoned.
“When they raped her, she lost herself,” Zin Aldin said, “She told me, ‘I don’t know if I’m a good woman or a dirty woman’. These words are stuck in my mind.”
She now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic depression, the therapist said.
The woman was just 22, a university student from a suburb in Damascus, when government forces arrested her at a checkpoint and accused her of “working against the state” and “conspiring with terrorists”.
She was then transferred between multiple prisons, including Syria’s notorious intelligence jail, known as the “Palestine Branch”.
Zin Aldin is currently treating three women who were recently released from Sednaya and their cases are all unfortunately similar, she said.
SNHR documented no fewer than 10,060 incidents of sexual violence against women in detention between March 2011 and the end of December 2023, including 7,576 perpetrated by Assad government forces.
‘I worry they will become victims again’
After being released, women and girls often face immense stigma from their communities, related largely to the chance that they had fallen victim to sexual violence.
“The biggest fear for me is what the community and family’s reaction will be to this girl who was in jail,” Zin Aldin said. “I worry they will become victims again.”
“Men [detainees] are heroes, but women, they are not, they are dirty,” she said. “There is great tension within our society over women’s modesty, body, maternity, and dignity.”
In some cases Zin Aldin is aware of, families have killed their daughters as a result of their sexual assault in prison, claiming the victim has brought “dishonour” to the family name.
In other cases, husbands have divorced their wives following their release, or abandoned them.
Sometimes, in fear of these repercussions, women avoid returning to their families altogether, Zin Aldin said.
State media also publicly denounced women activists and detainees as “terrorists”, “saboteurs” and even “sex slaves” for “terrorist groups”, contributing to the negative image of female prisoners.
“Sadly, these perceptions lead to dangerous behaviours and negative attitudes that affect former women detainees’ reputation and relationships with the environment, and for that reason it can be seen as a form of violence,” SNHR said in its report.
“The arrest of women is a real horror,” said Shireen Saeed, 40, a lawyer who works with the Prisoners Care Association based in the coastal Syrian city of Latakia.
“Today, we need justice and support for these women. The ones who left [prison] have huge psychological scars, and need rehabilitation in order to live again. This is one of the challenges we face today in Syria,” she told MEE at a busy Damascus cafe.
Under the close watch of the regime, Saeed said her work with the Prisoners Care Association was limited to helping families locate loved ones who had been forcibly disappeared. Anything beyond that would put herself and the organisation in danger, she said.
However, locating the disappeared was extremely difficult. Saaed said the costs were exorbitant - up to hundreds of thousands of dollars - for lawyers to enter the prison facilities and access information on detainees.
“There are people who sold their homes and all of their belongings just to get any information, not even for [their loved ones] to get released, just to know if they’re present, or not,” she said.
Justice for the disappeared
After the conversation, MEE left the cafe with Saeed to attend the funeral ceremony for Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada. Hamada’s body was found on 9 December among others killed in Sednaya prison.
During the procession, hundreds gathered to celebrate the fall of Assad, but also to call for justice for those still missing.
Posters with portraits of forcibly disappeared people floated above the crowd. Saeed said she knew two of them, human rights defenders RazanZaitouneh and Samira Khalil, who were kidnapped in Douma in 2013 by the armed rebel group Jaysh al-Islam.
As the crowds gathered, demonstrators simultaneously raised the posters in the air, and tears welled in Saeed’s eyes .
“The Syrian people are one! Free Syria,” the crowds chanted, and Saeed joined in.
Source: middleeasteye.net
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/torture-sexual-violence-and-social-stigma-faced-women-prisoners-syria
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/human-rights-women-new-zealand-muslim/d/134098