Iran To Seize Cars Of Women Caught Without Hijabs In New Crackdown
04 June 2023
• Iran To Seize Cars Of Women Caught Without Hijabs In
New Crackdown
• Former European Judo Champion Sabrina Filzmose Urges
Pakistan Women To Take Up Sports
• From Upcycled Burqas To Traditional Embroidery,
Afghan Women Are Sewing New Lives In Australia
• National Council For Women In Egypt Honours The
Egyptian Female Stars Of The Ramadan 2023 Drama Season
• Women in Nigeria Lead the Charge in Plastic Waste
Innovation
• South Africa’s Agri Minister Lauds ICNW’s Nandini
Azad For Empowering Women Farmers
• Women’s Platform Urges Turkish MPs To Defend Women’s
Rights After Elections
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-hijabs-crackdown/d/129921
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Iran To Seize Cars Of Women Caught Without Hijabs In
New Crackdown
A young woman wearing a
loose veil and sunglasses drives past a mural of Iranian leaders Ayatollah
Khomeini (right) and Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran, Iran CREDIT: Kaveh
Kazemi/Getty Images
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By Ahmed Vahdat
3 June 2023
Iran has ordered police to seize the cars of women who
do not wear a hijab in a strengthening of the law that even senior clerics
admit will be impossible to enforce....
Source: Telegraph.Co.Uk
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Former European Judo Champion Sabrina Filzmose Urges
Pakistan Women To Take Up Sports
Sabrina Filzmose
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By Abdul Mohi Shah
June 04, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Former European judo champion Sabrina
Filzmose has called on Pakistan women athletes to follow martial arts,
especially judo, as it would help them not only make a name for themselves and
for the country, but also be beneficial for their health.
The four-time Olympian during a press conference
Saturday at a local hotel said that now when she had already called it a day
from active judo, her efforts have been to face even more demanding challenges.
“I am here to scale K-2 and ride on a bicycle to the
base camp of the world’s second highest peak via Skardu before starting
climbing K-2,” she said.
Flanked by President Pakistan Judo Federation Co (rtd)
Junaid Alam, Austrian diplomat Christian Siegl and Kazakhstan Embassy second
secretary OlzhasAlipbayev, the former Olympian said she would feel happy to
help Pakistan’s young athletes make a name for themselves and for the country
in the game.
“It is just a matter of starting your efforts to
attain perfection in martial arts. You need hard work and consistency and
coaching to become a world-level athlete. I would suggest Pakistan women youth
to make the best of their talent and opportunities coming their way.”
“After consulting my Embassy I decided to start the
journey from Islamabad. I intend to start my ride Sunday from Islamabad to K2
Base Camp via Skardu before climbing K2,” she said.
She is the winner of the Super World Cup Tournoi de
Paris 2006 and 2008 and winner of the Grand Slam in Paris twice. She was a
bronze medalist at the Grand Prix in Cancun in 2017. In 2019 she took bronze at
the Grand Prix in Budapest and participated in Tokyo 2020, her fourth Olympics.
She did Judo for peace project in 2022 from sea level
in India to the top of the Mount Everest widely covered and appreciated by
world media.
The European champion has also established the world’s
highest judo club named Everest Club in Nepal supported by International Judo
Federation.
Speaking earlier, President PJF Col Junaid Alam
announced the launching of a unique judo club by the newly affiliated unit
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
“Takbeer Judo Club is a club for all. Any talented
judoka doing a job in any private or public organization can be taken care of
by the club. Only he/she has to sign up with the club. The club administration
will scrutinise the credentials and his future prospect,” he said.
“Two times Olympian, two times Commonwealth Games
medalist, Asian medalist, South Asian Champion and son of our boxing legend
Hussain Shah, Shah Hussain Shah has consented to be the representative of
Takbeer Judo Club,” he said.
“Pakistan Judo Federation is grateful that Sabrina
chose our beautiful country for this peace mission. She has consented to hold
talent hunt and training sessions before the expedition, during the expedition
as well as after the expedition. Takbeer Judo Club has requested her to accept
the post of Brand Ambassador of TJC which she has kindly accepted,” the PJF
president said.
Source: Geosuper.Tv
https://www.geosuper.tv/latest/25051-sabrina-filzmose-urges-pakistan-women-to-take-up-sports
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From upcycled burqas to traditional embroidery, Afghan
women are sewing new lives in Australia
By Claudia Taranto
04-06-2023
Samira Yama was sweating under a blue burqa as she
stood in the long queue to cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. It
was October 2021, and for the first time in her life the 28-year-old Afghan
fashion designer and feminist had been forced to cover her face and body.
"I was very angry, I was very uncomfortable, it's
heavy and it's hot. You can't see to the side, so when you cross the street
it's very dangerous," she told ABC RN'S Blueprint for Living.
"[But I thought] if I burn it here, the history
will finish here and be forgotten here. I should do something that will be like
a voice for other women," says Yama.
At first he laughed at her request, but when she
explained that it was a form of protest, he told her she was brave for breaking
taboos.
Yama's final designs were stylish cocktail dresses
that contravene all the modesty rules of the Taliban regime: one is sleeveless
and the other ends well above the knees.
The exhibition, which was developed by Yama alongside
curators Alissa Coons and Katrina Gulbrandsen, was inspired by the hashtag
#DoNotTouchMyClothes, which was spawned in the wake of the Taliban's return to
power in August 2021. As a strict dress code was enforced, Afghan women around
the world posted photos on social media wearing their colourful traditional
dresses.
Coons explains: "[This protest] was a way to say,
'Here I am, as an individual' and was a way to push back against the public
erasure of women by the Taliban."
The Social Fabric exhibition was envisioned as more
than just a showcase of Afghan women's fashion; the curators also hoped it
would be a vehicle for forging connections between women in the local
community.
As part of Social Fabric, the organisation has been
running embroidery and storytelling workshops with women who recently arrived
from Afghanistan, as well as those who have been living in Australia for years.
Seema (who didn't want to share her last name), one of
the workshop teachers, told ABC: "[In Afghanistan] I had nine
sisters-in-law and they sat with my mother-in-law doing embroidery work, and
when I saw them I wanted to learn that as well."
The workshops have been especially important for Seema
– although she is highly skilled at embroidery and design, this is the first
job the mother-of-four has ever had.
"That really hit us hard. For her to actually
say, 'This made me feel empowered as a woman. I can do something, I've got
something to give', that was really special."
Seema grew up during the first Taliban rule
(1996-2001), when women were not allowed to gain an education. Confined to
their homes, one of their few sources of income – and connection – was
embroidery.
Gulbrandsen says Afghan women in the workshops told
her: "[We also embroidered] to keep us busy, to keep us occupied, to keep
us sitting in our circles and sharing.
The current Taliban regime has reinstated its ban on
education for girls and has circumscribed the kinds of paid work women can
undertake, so many women in Afghanistan have again been forced to return to
embroidery to earn money.
Najia — another workshop facilitator who didn't wish
to share her last name — was able to come to Australia because her husband and
brother worked for the Australian Defence Force. But her sister, who's a
doctor, is stuck in Afghanistan and cannot work.
"[My sister would say:] 'When I get married and
finish my education I will have my own job, why should I do this embroidery? I
have my pen, I have my computer, I have my mind, I don't like to do
needlework.'"
"She can't go to work, she can't go to her
clinic," says Najia, who explains that the Taliban are "hunting"
her sister because of the family's links to the ADF and their father's
progressive views on women's rights.
"Just a few months ago they kidnapped one of her
co-workers and cut her head off and just threw it in the street, which was very
stressful for my sister."
Gulbrandsen says: "There's mixed feelings around
the ethics of this sort of handwork, and when it's freely done and when it's
culture and it's something special, or when it's like, 'we have to do this
because there's no other options for us'."
The Taliban have assured women their rights would be
respected "within the limits of Islam", but what does that mean in
practice and how does it compare to the rights women have in Australia?
While embroidery work was key to women's economic
survival during both Taliban regimes, in the period in between the tradition
had started to die out, as girls went to school and women were able to work
outside the home.
One mother and daughter who took part in the Shared
World Collective workshops demonstrated this skills gap: The mother had done
some embroidery, but the daughter, who was in her early 20s, hadn't.
"[The daughter had] been at school, which has
been wonderful, but she's never actually had the chance to learn that
[embroidery] skill. So she was very proud," says Gulbrandsen.
It's not just Afghan women who are learning to
embroider through the workshops: Additional events are open to the wider
community, who can learn traditional Afghan embroidery while sitting on Afghan
rugs and sipping Afghan green tea.
"I have worked with Australian ladies. When I saw
them drinking green tea, it was a very happy moment for me. It makes me feel like
I'm in Afghanistan with my Afghan ladies," she says.
Source: Abc.Net.Au
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National Council For Women In EgyptHonours The
Egyptian Female Stars Of The Ramadan 2023 Drama Season
June 3, 2023
The National Council for Women in Egypt honoured the
Egyptian female stars of the Ramadan 2023 drama season for their roles which
shed light on important issues related to Egyptian women and received wide
praised by critics and the public alike.
Titled “Women in Ramadan Drama”, the ceremony was
organized by the NCW to honor dramas highlighting Egyptian women’s issues
during the Ramadan drama season.
It honored Mona Zaki for her role in the series “Under
Guardianship” (Taht al-Wesaya) alongside other members of the cast including
rising child star Omar Sharif, who played Mona Zaki’s son.
Nelly Karim was honored for her role in “OmlaNadra”
(Rare Currency), Donia Samir Ghanem for “Get Salima,” Rogina for “Sitohom,”
Reham Hajjaj for “Jamila,” and Amina Khalil for the series “The Seventh Year
Itch”.
The President of the National Council for Women Maya
Morsi back in March praised the the series “Hadrat al-Omda” for its stance
against female genital mutilation.
Morsi wrote on Facebook: “A salute to the mayor, who
stands in the face of the crime of female genital mutilation, with dialogue
written very professionally.”
The show’s writing reflects the law’s current stance,
she said, adding that she hails all efforts by similar shows to spread
awareness of the cruel nature of these crimes.
“Greetings to the writer Ibrahim Issa, greetings to
United Media Services, and greetings to Ruby, Hadrat Mayor …. It was a very,
very honest scene,” she added.
Source: Egypt Independent
https://www.egyptindependent.com/ncw-honors-the-women-of-the-ramadan-2023-drama-season/
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Women in Nigeria Lead the Charge in Plastic Waste
Innovation
June 3, 2023
Nigeria is putting women and people from disadvantaged
communities front and centre in the fight against plastic pollution choking its
cities, waterways and rural communities. This is a seismic shift from the way
the plastics crisis has been approached until now. Earlier this year, a group
of researchers in Nigeria, commissioned by the Government through the Global
Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), conducted a national gender, equity and
inclusion analysis of plastic pollution in Nigeria. The researchers concluded
that supporting women and disproportionately affected communities to lead as market
actors will strengthen efforts to realise a circular economy for plastics,
considering the essential role they already play in the value chain.
Source: Africa
https://www.africa.com/women-in-nigeria-lead-the-charge-in-plastic-waste-innovation/
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South Africa’s agri minister lauds ICNW’s Nandini Azad
for empowering women farmers
June 3, 2023
by BK Jha
In May 2023, in the vibrant land of South Africa, the
World Farmers’ Organization General Assembly (WFOGA2023) was in full swing.
Farmers and their representatives from all corners of the world gathered to
share their experiences and discuss the future of agriculture. Dr. Nandini
Azad, the President of the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW) –
Working Women’s Forum presented her views so strongly that drew the serious
attention of all delegates including African Farmers Association of South
Africa (AFASA); McebisiSkwatsha, the Deputy Agriculture Minister of Agriculture
& Rural Development of South Africa. Skwatsha lauded the vision and actions
of Dr. Azad for empowering women farmers, once he heard from the women Head of
AFASA from Cape Town.
The WFOGA2023 took place in Sun City Convention
Center, near the city of Rustenburg, South Africa, from May 21 to 24, 2023. The
event, with the theme- “Investing in Farmers’ Solutions for Resilient Food
Systems with a Positive Impact on Nature”- was organised in collaboration with
the WFO Members Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI), AFASA and the Wildlife
Ranching South Africa (WRSA).
The WFO 2023 annual meeting focused on the nexus
between agriculture and nature, highlighting the critical role farmers and
their local solutions on the ground can play to address the global challenges
of transitioning to resilient food systems generating a tremendous and positive
impact on nature.
Dr. Azad took to the stage and captivated the audience
with her inspiring words on climate-smart agriculture. She shared a remarkable
story of empowerment from her organisation, highlighting the experience of a
woman named Padmavathy. Padmavathy’s journey symbolised the transformation
brought about by the ICNW, as it helped bring land ownership to the landless
through financial inclusion. From meagre millet wages to become proud owners of
their own land, the women of ICNW had achieved something remarkable.
Dr. Azad also shared the stage with representatives
from farmer organisations around the world, including Italy, Malawi, Denmark, Chad,
the USA, Australia, Vietnam, and Europe. The exchange of ideas and experiences
enriched the discussions, showcasing global unity in finding innovative
solutions for agricultural challenges.
On 22nd of May, Dr. Nandini Azad presented a detailed
Annual Report of the WFO Global Cooperative Working Group on Cooperatives to
the General Assembly. Her report shed light on the progress made by
cooperatives worldwide and emphasised the importance of collaboration and
support for these grassroots organisations.
Impressed by Dr. Azad’s expertise and dedication, Mme.
Sheela Hean Jima, the Deputy Chair of the Africa Farmers Association of South
Africa (AFASA), extended an invitation to Dr. Azad to visit Cape Town. They met
to explore potential collaborations and learn from each other’s experiences.
During this meeting, she commended the Indian
Cooperation Ministry’s focus on the digitalisation of primary cooperatives and
providing seed capital, which had significantly boosted the cooperative sector.
McebisiSkwatsha expressed his deep appreciation for
the opportunity to connect with colleagues like Dr. Nandini Azad, who were
working towards creating a better globe for all. He was particularly interested
in the ICNW’s approach to land ownership through financial inclusion and
expressed his intention to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a
delegation from South Africa to visit South India. The goal was to see, learn,
and discuss the modalities and possibilities of replicating the ICNW-Working
Women’s Forum model in South Africa, thereby empowering women farmers and
promoting inclusive agricultural practices.
Source: AgriCultu Repost
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Women’s platform urges Turkish MPs to defend women’s
rights after elections
03/06/2023
“The 14 May 2023 elections formed the most misogynist
parliamentary majority in Turkey’s history, initiating a period of serious
setbacks to the secular legal system and women’s rights,” the Women’s Platform
for Equality (EŞİK), a prominent women’s rights organisation in Turkey, said in
a statement released on Friday.
The platform called on women and egalitarian male MPs
to defend women’s hard-fought rights, reminding them that as representatives,
it is their constitutional obligation to reject any attempts that may arise in
the upcoming parliamentary sessions to undermine women’s rights.
EŞİK raised concerns regarding the ruling bloc’s
support for policies that undermine gender equality, citing the case of an MP
with multiple wives as an example. They highlighted the imminent threat to the
secular legal system and women’s rights, drawing attention to the targeting of
laws safeguarding women from violence and the promotion of practices such as
polygamy and child marriages.
The platform stressed the intertwined issues of male
polygamy and child sexual abuse, pointing out the potential consequences of
legitimising early marriages. Additionally, they drew a connection between
child marriages and the troubling practice of “taking” daughters from
impoverished families and asylum seekers as additional wives, often as second,
third, or fourth spouses.
EŞİK has urged MPs to prioritise the preservation of
current laws, specifically Law No. 6284, which aims to combat violence against
women, instead of dismantling them. This law has faced opposition from the
Islamist New Welfare Party (YRP) and the Sunni extremist HÜDA-PAR, both of
which gained parliamentary representation on 14 May through the Justice and
Development Party’s (AKP) electoral lists.
Source: Medya News
https://medyanews.net/womens-platform-urges-turkish-mps-to-defend-womens-rights-after-elections/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-hijabs-crackdown/d/129921