Iran Women Cut Their Hair to Protest against Death of Mahsa Amini, In Custody for Not Wearing a Hijab Properly
New
Age Islam News Bureau
19
September 2022
• In
A First, SP Shazia Sarwer A Policewoman from Balochistan to Head District
Security in Punjab
• Bengisu
Avcı Becomes First Turkish Woman To Swim Through The Catalina Channel
• UN:
Exclusion of Afghan Girls from High Schools ‘Shameful’
• Turkish
First Lady, Emine Erdoğan, Awarded In US For Humanitarian Efforts
• Morocco’s
Aziza Nait Sibaha Wins Arab Prize for ‘Best Sports Journalist’
• Quranic
Circles for Women Launched in Four Governorates of Egypt
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-mahsa-amini-hijab/d/127981
--------
Iran
Women Cut Their Hair to Protest against Death of Mahsa Amini, In Custody for
Not Wearing a Hijab Properly
Many
Iranian women are cutting their hair to protest against the country’s strict
“hijab rules”.
-----
September
19, 2022
Ever
since the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, allegedly in police
custody for not wearing a hijab properly in Iran’s capital Tehran, there have
been widespread protests on the streets. To oppose the repression, Iranian
women have also come up with new ways of protest.
They
are cutting their hair and posting their videos on social media to protest
against the country’s strict “hijab rules”. Iranian women are also burning
their hijab. Mahsa Amini died on Friday following her arrest earlier in the
week by the country’s ‘morality police’. She went into a coma and suffered a
heart attack following her detention, according to media reports.
Videos
on social media show women cutting their hair in anger and burning their hijab.
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist, shared a compilation video of many
Iranian women cutting their hair and it has received more than four million views.
“Iranian
women show their anger by cutting their hair and burning their hijab to protest
against the killing of #Mahsa_Amini by hijab police. From the age of 7 if we
don’t cover our hair we won’t be able to go to school or get a job. We are fed
up with this gender apartheid regime,” she captioned the video.
“THIS
is what ‘stunning and brave’ looks like,” commented a Twitter user.
“This
is due to the regime who is selling religion for political purposes. It is not
about the religion itself. It is true that in islam it is compulsory for women
to wear hijab, but there is no order to kill women because they are not wearing
hijab,” said another.
Under
Iran’s sharia (Islamic) law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are
obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise
their figures. Violators face public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Source:
Indian Express
--------
In
A First, SP Shazia Sarwer A Policewoman from Balochistan to Head District
Security in Punjab
SP
Shazia Sarwer
------
Asif
Chaudhry
September
19, 2022
LAHORE:
A female police officer from Balochistan has broken the glass ceiling to head
the security of a district in Pakistan’s largest province, where women account
for only 2.25 per cent of total police strength.
The
Punjab government has posted SP Shazia Sarwer as District Police Officer (DPO)
of Layyah against an existing vacancy, giving a positive message to those
joining the federal services from the less privileged province.
SP
Sarwer was the fifth policewoman to serve as DPO in Punjab and the first
officer with Balochistan domicile, a police official said.
Earlier,
he said, SP Shaista Rehman (from 36th common) has served as DPO Bhakkhar, SP
Amara Ather (36th common) as DPO Bahawalnagar and DPO Sargodha, SP Maria
Mahmood as DPO Pakpatan and SP Nida Umar (36th common) as DPO Layyah during the
last four years or so.
In
a similar development, Faisalabad City Police Officer (CPO) Omer Saeed Malik
posted Farah Batool as Station House Officer (SHO) the first policeman to serve
at the position in the history of the district.
Policy
shift encourages gender mainstreaming in law enforcement agencies of Punjab
The
step was taken keeping in view the growing number of women visiting police
stations in the one of the most populated cities where women representation was
negligible, Mr Omer confirmed to Dawn.
He
said there was a proposal to increase number of female SHOs in the city in near
future.
‘A
major shift’
The
official source said the Punjab police witnessed a major change in policy when
incumbent IGP Faisal Shahkar held a series of meetings to increase
representation of female officers to end male-dominance in all ranks.
Initially,
he had found some resistance from within the male-dominated department when a
few senior police officers clearly opposed the policy. They were of the opinion
that he should abandon the practice of supporting women in field postings,
because they believed women facing multiple challenges were unable to command
police force.
He
said they also “advised” the Punjab police chief that if he wanted to increase
the strength of the female officers, then they could be given administrative
positions or other non-field assignments.
IGP
Shahkar, however, rejected such suggestions and issued directions to the field
police officers to increase the percentage of police officials in their
respective districts and regions.
The
official said the police chief also improved the role of ‘women police
councils’, established in all law enforcement agencies, besides adding two
senior female officers to the Punjab police executive board encouraging policy
decision to enhance gender mainstreaming in law enforcement agencies.
Recently,
the IGP had recommended names of three policewomen, Shazia Sarwer, Amara Athar
and Shaista Nadeem, to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi for three
positions of DPOs.
The
officers were subsequently called for interview at CM Secretariat, where IGP
Shahkar was also present. Of them, the chief minister accorded approval to post
SP Sarwer as DPO of Layyah, the official said, adding that there were reports
that appointment of more policewomen to head district police was in process.
2.25pc
of total strength
Of
the total strength of nearly 200,000 personnel, there are only 4,500 female
officers serving in the Punjab police department and of them few could reach
the high rank of DIG or above, the official said.
He
lamented that policewomen often find it too hard for themselves to adjust in
the male-dominated department. No one could get posting as a Regional Police
Officer due to the prevailing culture that has been supporting the male
dominance, he said.
Some
female officers faced a tough time even from their high-ranking male colleagues
who tried to mislead the provincial police chiefs by tarnishing their image,
the source said.
Lobbying
A
BS-18 police officer, Dr Anoosh Masood Chaudhry, had been kept away from the
field posting due to the ‘lobbying’ against her by a few male officers, the
official confided.
Referring
to the matter of her appointment that surfaced recently, he said, her name was
recommended for posting as SSP in Lahore during the tenure of former IGP Rao
Sardar Ali Khan. But some senior officers opposed her appointment and
influenced the then IG police, the official said, adding that the matter led to
a heated debate in the Central Police Office with the result that her
appointment was delayed ‘deliberately’ for a certain period.
Her
appointment notification as SSP (Operations) Lahore was later issued at the
time when the Election Commission Office had already imposed a ban on all kinds
of transfers/postings in the wake of the by-elections in various parts of
Punjab.
Consequently,
her appointment order was cancelled. She is currently serving on a non-field
assignment.
Investigations
Also
in Lahore, the official said, six policewomen who were serving for the ‘first
time’ as officer in charge of investigations were facing some serious issues
due to negative propaganda launched by their male colleagues against them.
They
were trying to mislead the higher authorities, giving a reason that the ‘male
investigation officers’ were far better at performing the risky job of
identifying and rounding up criminals as compared to the female colleagues, he
said.
Source:
Dawn
--------
Bengisu
Avcı Becomes First Turkish Woman To Swim Through The Catalina Channel
September
19 2022
Bengisu
Avcı has become the first Turkish woman to swim through the Catalina Channel,
one of the seven ocean tracks in the world, making the country proud.
“When
I went there, I knew that I would fight to the end to achieve it, become
Turkish women are like that. We do whatever we put our mind too sooner or
later,” said Avcı, who also became the fastest Turkish female to cross the
English Channel three years ago.
From
Santa Catalina Island off Los Angeles to San Pedro Long Beach, the 26-year-old
covered a distance of 34 kilometers (21.1 miles) with whales and sharks in 11
hours and 59 minutes, swimming seven hours in the pitch black.
“Sharks
don’t wait for you as in horror movies. If they get too close, the referee may
cancel the attempt,” she said.
Noting
that the water temperature varies between 10-18 degrees Celsius (50-64 degrees
Fahrenheit) and some very cold streams pass through it, Avcı said no shark
attacks have been reported so far in Catalina crossings.
“I
have been preparing for this for three years,” Avcı said. “I jumped into the
water with confidence, believing that I would reach the opposite shore as I
trained for the worst.”
“When
it was nine hours, I was unable to progress though I was going at the right
pace.”
Stating
that the fog after the sun came up challenged her the most during the swim,
Avcı said, “I calmed myself saying, ‘Don’t look back. Do what you know best,
just keep swimming.’ When I looked up, I was out of the fog and three
kilometers [1.8 miles] away.”
She
also pointed out that her next goal may be another track in the U.S.
While
preparing for this attempt, Avcı also collected donations for girls who do not
have access to education within the body of the Koruncuk Foundation.
The
Catalina Channel in the U.S. is one of Ocean’s Seven, a marathon swimming
challenge comprising seven channel swims.
The
track is the second jewel in the “triple crown of open water swimming,” along
with the English Channel and Manhattan Island.
In
1927, a 17-year-old Canadian swimmer, George Young, became the first person to
complete a crossing from Catalina Island to the mainland of California in a
time of 15:44.30.
Source:
Hurriyet Daily News
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/woman-becomes-first-turk-to-swim-across-catalina-channel-177036
--------
UN:
Exclusion of Afghan girls from high schools ‘shameful’
September
18, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The United Nations on Sunday called for Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to reopen
schools to girls in grades 7-12, calling the anniversary of their exclusion
from high school “shameful.”
The
UN said it is increasingly concerned that the policy, together with other
restrictions on basic freedoms, will contribute to a deepening of the country’s
economic crisis in the form of greater insecurity, poverty and isolation.
“This
is a tragic, shameful, and entirely avoidable anniversary,” said Markus Potzel,
acting head of the UN mission in Afghanistan.
A
year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, hard-liners appear to hold
sway in the Taliban-led government. Teenage girls are still barred from school
and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with
only their eyes showing. The religious group has failed to deliver on various
promises to enable girls’ return to the classroom. The ban targets grades 7-12,
primarily impacting girls age 12 to 18.
The
Taliban re-opened high schools to boys while instructing girls to remain at
home. The UN estimates that more than a million girls have been barred from
attending high school over the past year.
“The
ongoing exclusion of girls from high school has no credible justification and has
no parallel anywhere in the world. It is profoundly damaging to a generation of
girls and to the future of Afghanistan itself,” said Potzel, who is also the UN
secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan.
To
mark the Sunday anniversary, 50 girls sent a letter entitled “A Year of
Darkness: A Letter from Afghan girls to heads of Muslim countries and other
world leaders.” The girls hail from the capital Kabul, eastern Nangarhar
province and northern Parwan province.
“The
past year, we have been denied human rights, such as the right to attain an
education, the privilege to work, the liberty to live with dignity, freedom,
mobility and speech, and the right to determine and decide for ourselves,”
Azadi, an 18-year-old 11th-grade student from Kabul, said in the letter. The
girls named in the letter gave only their first names.
The
UN said the denial of education violates the most fundamental rights of girls
and women. The world body said it increases the risk of marginalization,
violence, exploitation and abuse against girls and is part of a broader range
of discriminatory policies and practices targeting women and girls since the de
facto authorities assumed power in the summer of 2021.
The
UN again called upon the Taliban to reverse the slew of measures they have
introduced restricting Afghan women and girls’ enjoyment of their basic rights
and freedoms.
Since
taking power, the Taliban have struggled to govern and remain internationally
isolated. An economic downturn has driven millions more Afghans into poverty
and hunger as the flow of foreign aid has slowed to a trickle.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2164731/world
--------
Turkish
First Lady, Emine Erdoğan, Awarded In US For Humanitarian Efforts
SEP
19, 2022
First
lady Emine Erdoğan was among the recipients of the "Outstanding
Humanitarian Award" in the United States. Erdoğan received the award in a
ceremony on Sunday in New York from a leading Muslim coalition for her
humanitarian efforts.
The
U.S. Council for Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of national,
regional and local Muslim groups, honored the first lady along with five other
Muslim women who were given the Outstanding Achievement Award for their work in
science, the empowerment of women's role in society, journalism and the
COVID-19 response.
"I
am happy to be with you on the occasion of this very meaningful award ceremony.
I accept this award on behalf of my country, which is the conscience of the
world," said Erdoğan in her remarks at the ceremony. "Our religion
tells us that the best competition among people is to compete in good deeds. In
this sense, our record is full of examples of a charity race that astonishes
people," she said.
Erdoğan
recalled that Türkiye continued to be the most generous nation according to the
Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2022, saying "we have worked to be
the first ones" to reach locations to aid those in need regardless of
their religion, language or race. She said Türkiye is continuing its
humanitarian aid not only via the bilateral level with nations but also through
the United Nations and disbursed $7.7 billion in aid to 122 countries including
Syria, Somalia and Palestine in 2021. Türkiye is also working to meet the
medical needs of those in need in "fragile" areas, said Erdoğan,
citing hospitals built in Sudan, Somalia and Bangladesh.
"Türkiye's
humanitarian aid experience is much more than a foreign policy," she said.
Erdoğan
helped national projects encourage girls' and women's education, launched
health care projects for children, women and refugees, and initiated the Zero
Waste Project in 2017 to highlight and combat climate change and pollution.
The
first lady said the number of refugees in the world now exceeds 100 million
with the Ukraine war, which the report marks as a "dramatic
milestone." "As you know, our lands throughout history have been a
safe haven for people fleeing war and persecution. We have opened the doors of
this shelter to our Ukrainian brothers and sisters as well," she added.
The
first lady also traveled to Myanmar in 2012 and visited the Rohingya refugee
camps in Bangladesh in 2017 despite the challenging situation back then.
Erdoğan has also been in support of women's empowerment in Africa. She visited
more than 20 African nations between 2014-2020 including Algeria, Ethiopia,
Somalia and Tanzania. The first lady believes that if women become stronger,
then families and children will too.
Other
recipients include Aisha al-Adawiya, the founder of Women in Islam, Inc., an
organization of Muslim women that focuses on human rights and social justice,
who was awarded for her activism in human rights and social justice. She
received her award from Erdoğan. Ayesha Mustafaa, who has served as editor of
the Muslim Journal weekly newspaper since January 1989, was awarded for
enhancing the role of women in society. Dr. Uzma Syed, who is chair of the
COVID-19 Task Force at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in New York,
received the award for her COVID-19 pandemic response. Tahani Amer, the program
executive for the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at
NASA, was awarded for her contribution to science. Tahera Rahman, a Muslim
woman journalist, was awarded for inspiring young Muslims to pursue journalism.
Source:
Daily Sabah
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/turkish-first-lady-awarded-in-us-for-humanitarian-efforts/news
--------
Morocco’s
Aziza Nait Sibaha Wins Arab Prize for ‘Best Sports Journalist’
Aya
Benazizi
Sep.
18, 2022
Casablanca
- The Moroccan journalist Aziza Nait Sibaha has won the sixth “Fatima Bint
Mubarak” Women Sports Award, crowning her as the Arab world’s “best sports
journalist.”
Presented
on September 17 in Abu Dhabi, the award is the region’s first of its kind aimed
at empowering women and celebrating their sports achievements.
The
“Fatima Bint Mubarak” Prize was awarded to different winners in several
categories, including sports management, training, research, sports
sponsorship, and women of determination.
The
value of the prizes totaled AED 1,700,000 ($462,824).
Different
trophies were awarded to nine competitors, individuals and teams, including
Egypt’s Giana Farouk Mahmoud, who was named the “best Arab sportswoman,” and
Shamma Yousef Al Kalbani, who won the “best Emirati athlete” award.
Egyptian
Ahmed Gouda won the prize for the “best young athlete,” while his compatriot
Rehab Ahmed Radwan was awarded the prize for the “best Paralympic athlete.”
The
“best coach” award went to Faris Al-Assaf from Jordan, while the Jordanian
Women’s Football Association took the award in the “Youth Development Programs”
category.
Read
also: Documentary Pays Tribute to Morocco’s Women’s Football Team
The
Egyptian Weightlifting Federation won the award for “best team,” while the
“Emirates International Endurance Village” earned the prize for “best
innovative sports initiative.”
The
celebrated Tunisian tennis player Ons Jaber won the award for “Sports
Personality of the Year in the Arab World.”
In
her speech at the award ceremony, the representative of Fatima Bint Mubarak
Ladies Sports Academy, Maryam Al-Mansouri, said that all categories of the
award have seen strong competitiveness in recent months. This proves the
talent, willingness, and ambition of Arab sportswomen, she stressed.
Al-Mansouri
concluded: “We hope to see Arab women continue to take the lead in local and
international sports events, and this award will contribute to the birth of new
achievements in the Arab women’s sports career.”
Source:
Morocco World News
--------
Quranic
Circles for Women Launched in Four Governorates of Egypt
September
18, 2022
Women
Quran memorizers chair the Quranic events in the governorates of Gharbia,
Alexandria, Menofia and Al-Sharqia governorates.
Also
attending are women Quran reciters, preachers and religious propagators,
according to Cairo24 website
The
programs are held in line with the ministry’s efforts to support Quranic
activities for women and enhance the role of women in society.
Moe
such Quranic events are planned to be organized in other governorates,
including Cairo, the ministry said.
Since
the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic were eased earlier
this year, the Awqaf Ministry has organized various Quranic activities in the
country.
They
include Quranic circles for students, summer Quranic programs, and scholarly
events with the participation of Quran experts.
Egypt
is a country in North Africa with a population of around 100 million.
Muslims
account for around 90 percent of the country’s total population.
Quranic
activities are very common in the Muslim-majority Arab country and many of the
Muslim world’s top qaris in the past and present have been Egyptian.
Source:
IQNA
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-mahsa-amini-hijab/d/127981
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism