Iranian anti–Hijab Activist Sotoudeh Arrested During the Burial of Armita Garavand, On Hunger and Medicine Strike
New Age
Islam News Bureau
31 October 2023
·
Iranian anti-Hijab Activist Nasrin
Sotoudeh Arrested During the Burial of Armita Garavand, On Hunger And Medicine
Strike
·
Hamas Releases Video It Says
Shows Gaza Women Hostages
·
Educate, Empower Girls to
Prevent Child Marriage: Speakers at A Seminar in Bangladesh
·
Gender Disparity Continues In
Afghanistan’s Education And Employment
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-hijab-nasrin-sotoudeh-armita/d/131019
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Iranian anti-Hijab Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh
Arrested During the Burial of Armita Garavand, On Hunger And Medicine Strike
The human
rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, seen here in 2013, was imprisoned in 2018 for
demonstrating against the compulsory headscarf in Iran. Photograph: Abedin
Taherkenareh/EPA
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OCTOBER 31, 2023
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian
human rights lawyer and activist, has been on a hunger and medicine strike
since her arrest on October 29, her husband says.
Sotoudeh was arrested during the burial
ceremony of Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old girl who was assaulted at a Tehran
metro station a month ago for not wearing a headscarf.
Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, told
IranWire that his wife was severely beaten during her arrest at Tehran’s
Behesht-e Zahra cemetery and that her glasses were broken.
He also said that the activist was
transferred to Qarchak prison, a women's prison known for its harsh conditions.
Sotoudeh is a well-known human rights
lawyer who has defended many political prisoners in Iran.
Armita died on October 28. The teenager
had been in a coma in Tehran’s Fajr Military Hospital since October 1, when she
lost consciousness on the city’s metro.
The authorities said Armita had fallen
and injured her head after suffering a sudden drop in blood pressure, but
reports suggest that she was physically assaulted by a hijab enforcement
officer.
Source: iranwire.com
https://iranwire.com/en/women/122062-jailed-iranian-activist-sotoudeh-on-hunger-and-medicine-strike/
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Hamas Releases Video It Says Shows Gaza Women
Hostages
Israel says
at least 239 people were kidnapped in the raids launched on October 7
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October 30, 2023
GAZA: Hamas on Monday released a video
it said showed three women from the more than 230 people Israel says were
abducted by militants and taken to Gaza during the October 7 attacks.
The Palestinian Islamist group referred
to the women in the 76-second video as “Zionist detainees” but it was not
immediately possible to verify their identities.
Sitting on plastic chairs against a
white tile wall, one of the women urges Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to agree a prisoner exchange for the release of all captives.
Speaking in Hebrew, she becomes very
agitated and starts shouting, almost screaming by the end, as the other two
sitting either side of her remain silent.
The hostages were seized when hundreds
of Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into southern Israel and attacked
kibbutz communities, towns and military bases. Their ages range between a few
months and more than 80 years old.
Authorities believe they are being held
in a giant network of underground tunnels built by Hamas in the besieged
territory.
Israel says 1,400 people, mainly
civilians, were killed in the worst attacks in Israel’s history, prompting its
forces to unleash the current Gaza war.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza
says more than 8,300 people, mainly civilians — and more than half women and
children — have been killed in Israeli air and ground strikes.
The Israeli government made no immediate
comment on the video.
Facing growing domestic pressure over
the detainees, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday accused the militants of
playing “psychological games” over the hostages’ fate.
On October 16, Hamas released a video
showing Israeli-French hostage Mia Shem.
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2400181/middle-east
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Educate, Empower Girls to Prevent Child Marriage: Speakers at A Seminar in Bangladesh
Oct 31, 2023
Education, empowerment and awareness are
essential to mitigate early marriage, said speakers at a seminar yesterday.
They said in the char areas of Jamalpur,
child marriage, premature birth and high maternal mortality used to wreak havoc
on the lives of adolescent girls. However, due to awareness and various
initiatives, this has reduced significantly.
The speakers were addressing the seminar
on adolescent and youth friendly sexual and reproductive health. The event was
organised by Pathfinder International and ESDO at The Daily Star centre in the
capital.
To help adolescents in 20 unions of
Jamalpur, ESDO initiated Project Shukhi Jibon in 2018. The USAID-funded project
has established 198 satellite clinics in 22 remote areas and facilitated
sessions on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) rights for young girls to
prevent early marriages, said Santosh Kumar Tigga, head of monitoring at ESDO.
Under this project, 1,496 learning
sessions on SRH have been provided and a 24/7 hotline number has been launched
to provide medical facilities by a certified physician.
Additionally, 2,033 beneficiaries
received capacity building sessions on the importance of using clean and safe
water, he added.
"Due to fewer education and
facilities in the remote chars, I saw many girls being married off at an early
age. However, this project helped raise awareness and lessen such incidents in
the region," said Amena Rokshi, a volunteer under the project.
Rafiqul Islam Selim, joint secretary of
health ministry, said, "Such projects are contributing to the
psychological and physical wellbeing of young girls in rural areas."
Around 24 percent women in the country
are under 18, which increases maternal mortality rate by two and a half fold,
said Md Manzur Hossain, programme manager (MCH services unit) at Directorate
General of Family Planning.
"Besides, 40 percent of maternal
mortality is caused by adolescent pregnancies. So, it is essential to educate
and empower girls," he added.
Sharmin Sultana, the project's technical
director, said, "The achieved progress can be sustained through continued
support."
Source: thedailystar.net
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/accidents-fires/news/road-accident-tk-10-lakh-demanded-each-killed-3449036
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Gender Disparity Continues In Afghanistan’s Education And Employment
Fidel Rahmati
October 30, 2023
Two years after the Taliban rule in
Afghanistan, there is a stark contrast in opportunities between boys and girls.
Boys can freely go to school, get an education, and look for well-paying jobs.
However, girls must hide their schooling, can’t attend universities, and often
work in low-income jobs like carpet weaving.
Gender inequalities and challenges that
existed before have significantly worsened with the emergence of the Taliban.
Some of these challenges, including poverty and the unemployment crisis that
affects over 90% of Afghanistan’s population, have also had a profound impact
on girls. They must work strenuously to support their families, exacerbating
their hardships.
Nadia, a mother of four daughters, used
to encourage her daughters to pursue education and dream of a better future
despite economic challenges. However, with the ban on girls’ education and the
closure of girls’ schools under the rule of the Taliban administration, her
hopes for her daughter’s future have been shattered.
The stories of mothers and daughters in
Afghanistan, despite their desires for their daughters to experience different
destinies, are becoming increasingly similar with each passing day. Twenty
years ago, Nadia and her family migrated to Pakistan during the Taliban rule.
There, like most Afghan refugees, she started working in carpet weaving to make
ends meet. She was a teenager but learned carpet weaving to help support her
family.
Nadia later married in Pakistan and, in
recent years, returned to Afghanistan so that her daughters could receive an
education, study, and have better income opportunities. However, she never
imagined that her daughters would follow a path she had taken out of necessity.
Marwa, Nadia’s second daughter, was in
ninth grade when the Taliban took control, and girls’ schools were closed.
Marwa says economic difficulties and the lack of educational opportunities have
forced her into carpet weaving. She spends her days weaving carpets, a job
she’s doing at an age when her mother was doing the same.
According to Nadia, “People with good
economic conditions can have online businesses and study online, but most
people in Afghanistan do not have a good economy and cannot even afford to eat
properly, especially when men are also unemployed, let alone online education.”
Nilofer, a 16-year-old girl deprived of
education, bears the burden of her family’s economic hardships. She says, “I
work nine hours daily and earn five thousand Afghanis. It’s not a lot of money,
and my family and I struggle to make ends meet.”
When Nilofer goes to the carpet weaving
workshop, she doesn’t feel alone because, as she puts it, “Every day, I see
other girls in the workshop who face the same problems as me. They are deprived
of education, their families are impoverished, and now they are weaving
carpets.”
She says, “This is the story of all
girls in Afghanistan.”
Source: khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/gender-disparity-continues-in-afghanistans-education-and-employment/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-hijab-nasrin-sotoudeh-armita/d/131019