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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

 

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