Muslim Women Are Having Their Hijabs Torn Off by Police All Over America
New Age Islam News Bureau
25 Jun 2024
· Muslim Women Are Having Their Hijabs Torn Off by Police All Over America
· Fatima Bhutto, Niece of Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto, Appeals to Barnard College to Stop Punishing Students Protesting for Palestine
· Pak Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz: Govt Committed to Empower Women, Promote Gender Equality
· Iran’s Onerous Hijab Law for Women Is Now a Campaign Issue
· Celebrating Egypt’s Pioneering Women Leaders on the International Day of Women in Diplomacy
· Muslim Women, Others Get Tips to Scale Up Business at Kolkata Event
· BuhariGovt ‘Lavished’ $100m World Bank Women Empowerment Loan On Meetings — Minister
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
Muslim Women Are Having Their Hijabs Torn Off by Police All Over America
JUNE 24, 2024
NYPD officers arrest a Pro-Palestine
protester during a rally at Baruch College on June 05, 2024 in New York City.
(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
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On the morning of April 25, SumayaHamadmad, a research scientist at Ohio State University, was sitting in the center of campus when she was arrested for “criminal trespassing.”
Students had formed an encampment to call for the university to divest from Israel earlier that morning, before being dispersed by campus police. When Hamadmad and a friend arrived at the campus Oval—not to protest, but simply to enjoy the sunny morning—there was no crowd left. But the Ohio State Police Department targeted Hamadmad and accused her of attempting to form another encampment. When she started questioning the officers’ false assumptions and orders for her to leave, she was arrested. And when her friend questioned Hamadmad’s arrest, she too was arrested.
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Hamadmad was then transferred to a Franklin County jail. There, she was strip-searched and ordered to take off her hijab, a religious head covering worn by Muslim women. Despite making multiple requests to have her hijab returned to her, she was denied any sort of head covering for the 12 hours that she remained in custody. Tucking her arms and hair into her shirt, she did what she could to remain covered.
“I knew the system was broken, but I didn’t truly realize it until I experienced it,“ said Hamadmad, expressing shock at her treatment in jail. “As much as need to fight against our tax money going to fund genocide, we also need to fight against our tax money funding these broken systems of injustice in our own country.”
Hamadmad is not alone in having her religious freedom violated in this way. Multiple incidents of law enforcement officials taking off women’s hijabs against their will have occurred alongside sweeping arrests at pro-Palestine protests. Many of these incidents took place on college campuses. There have been verified reports from students and faculty at least four universities—Arizona State University, Columbia University, Depaul University, and Ohio State University—as well as alleged incidents at several others.
The influx of arrests of Muslim women at pro-Palestine protests highlights a critical flaw in the criminal justice system. The hijab is an expression of a Muslim woman’s faith, symbolizing modesty, privacy, and agency over one’s body, and depriving a woman of that coverage can be humiliating and traumatizing. Muslim women have a clear First Amendment right to keep their heads covered for religious purposes, including in spaces where others might have to remove head coverings. Reflecting this, the Bureau of Prisons allows for incarcerated Muslims to keep their hijabs on in federal prisons, and at least 17 states, including New York, specifically allow for religious head coverings to be worn throughout a prison. Yet there are no federal laws that explicitly protect a woman’s right to keep on her hijab while being arrested, in police custody, or in a temporary holding facility, either for a mug shot or otherwise.
The difficulty that Muslim women have experienced is also reflective of the general vitriol that Muslim women have been facing in activism spaces. (Just look at this video from the University of California, Los Angeles, where pro-Israeli counterprotesters chant at women, “Take off your hijab and get a job.”) And even before pro-Palestine solidarity encampments spread across American universities, many Muslim activists had already been experiencing violations of their religious liberties.
Jinan, a 27-year-old engineer from Maryland who requested to keep her last name anonymous, was arrested in March while protesting in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC.
While in custody, Jinan said she was ordered to take off her hijab for a mug shot. Confused and uncomfortable, she asked countless questions like “Who would be seeing the photos?” and “Do people normally resist here?” But Jinan eventually complied and took off her head covering, fearful that her resistance in the jail would impact the outcome of her charges.
“I felt awful, I felt violated, confused, stunned, naked. I felt the most important thing to me was taken away” said Jinan. “I’m worried about other women. There needs to be a system in place if a hijabi woman, or if a Muslim gets arrested. Where do they pray?”
Jinan was given her hijab back afterward but noted the lack of religious accommodations in prison overall. Since the hijab is typically observed in the presence of men, she wasn’t comfortable using the bathroom in front of male guards, for example, and didn’t have a proper space to pray.
Around the same time, police officers in the Dallas–Fort Worth area forced protesters at the General Dynamics facility in Garland, Texas, to take off their hijabs for a mug shot. In a separate incident in Dallas earlier this year, three women also protesting the US’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, were forced to remove their hijabs for mug shots in view of male officers and visitors, despite explaining to officers the religious significance.
“My arrests were before the encampments, I know it has only gotten exponentially worse,” Jinan said. “I’ve seen how the police have been taking advantage of protesters.”
Hamadmad was not even the only woman to suffer this injustice at OSU on the day she was arrested. Students at the campus eventually formed another encampment later that evening; police then broke up the encampment, arresting 36 people. MazenRasoul, an attorney who was present at the scene and is representing many of the students who were arrested, said he saw another woman’s hijab fall off during an arrest. “The violence applied in arresting her [caused her hijab] to fall off her head. But then they deliberately insisted on not putting it back on her head once she was in handcuffs,” he said.
Police ignored multiple requests from both her and witnesses to return her hijab, Rasoul said, until they eventually relented and pulled her hoodie on her head. “I witnessed her full arrest, from the moment she was on the South Oval back to the bus. She was not resisting.” He said that she later had her head uncovered again for a mug shot. Rasoul said the woman was considering pursuing legal action, but has not yet filed a lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the OSUPD told The Nation, “It is possible that some head coverings may have inadvertently come off while officers were attempting to arrest some individuals.”
Rasoul said that before law enforcement “attacked protesters in a very vicious way,” protesters were “peacefully singing, chanting, and praying.” In fact, he said, police began arrests after students lined up and began praying one of the five daily prayers practiced by Muslims. Similarly, the New York Police Department also took the moment that Muslim demonstrators at the New York University encampment started their prayer as an opportunity to make arrests.
DalalShalash, a Palestinian who was arrested at the OSU encampment, said at a Columbus City Council meeting on April 29 that she saw three women made to remove their hijabs for mug shots at a Franklin County jail. One did not have her hijab returned until Shalash “made a scene,” demanding that the officers do so.
Shalash compared this violation of the women to the humiliation tactics of the Israeli military. “We had women’s hijabs being forcefully removed, which is all too reminiscent of the humiliation tactics of the IOF, who regularly strip Palestinian women they arrest, for no other reason than to humiliate,” she said at the meeting. According to the United Nations. Countless Palestinian women have been subject to sexual assault by the Israeli Defense Forces, which includes strip searches by male officers.
A spokesperson for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office told The Nation that all detainees were processed in accordance with “constitutional, statutory, and administrative law.”
“Processing arrestees requires accurate identification of the arrestees as well as ensuring that the arrestees do not convey contraband into the facility. With respect to religious head coverings, every effort is made to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of detainees while also ensuring the safety and security of the facility, staff, and detainees,” the spokesperson said.
At Arizona State University, four women arrested at an encampment had their hijabs removed by male police officers before being transported to jail, in front of onlookers. One woman can be seen on video, her hands zip-tied behind her back as four male police officers surround her and remove her head covering before searching her. The women’s hijabs were not returned to them before they were brought to jail. Instead, they were made to wait in custody for 15 hours without a hijab until their attorney, Zayed Al-Sayyed, brought them new ones.
Al-Sayyed, who spoke to the four women about their experience, said they felt “dehumanized, belittled, and defeated,” after begging the officer to not take off the hijab as their hands were tied behind their backs. Their requests were ignored—the police told them it was necessary for “their safety and the safety of others” to take off their hijabs to conduct the search. Al-Sayyed noted that there were female officers nearby, who could have conducted the search in a private area.
Currently, Al-Sayyed’s law office is conducting a public records request to examine whether the Tempe Police Department has a policy in place regarding religious head coverings. Whether they have a policy in place or not, however, “their right to religious freedom was violated…the highest law is the US Constitution, and Arizona Constitution. Both have protections for religious freedoms; those were violated.” He said he’s heard that pressure from this incident has already led some local police departments in Arizona to begin changing their policy around the hijab.
Religious freedom is broadly protected by a number of federal and state laws. The federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act states, “No government shall impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution,” including state prisons and jails, unless this “is in the furtherance of a compelling governmental interest”—and is “the least restrictive means” of furthering that. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act also protects religious freedom on a federal level, and 28 states have adopted a version of the RFRA in their state Constitution (including Arizona and Illinois).
But the vague language in these laws has been demonstratively difficult to apply in the context of the hijab, especially for people under police custody in temporary holding facilities, where strip searches and mug shots are completed.
What freedom people have in jail differs across individual police departments, and many simply have no policies in place regarding religious head coverings. For example, it wasn’t until it lost a 2015 lawsuit that the city of Dearborn Heights—part of the area with one of the biggest concentrations of Muslims in America—changed its department’s policy to allow women who wear hijabs to be searched by female officers and keep their head covered for mug shots.
Even if departments institute policies to protect Muslim women’s religious rights, that’s no guarantee they’ll be followed.
Just this year, New York City agreed to pay $17.5 million in a settlement after being sued by two women who were forced to remove their hijabs under police custody. As a result of the lawsuit, the New York Police Department changed its policy in 2020 to allow people to keep their religious head coverings (including hijabs, turbans, and kippahs) for their mug shot and throughout their stay in custody (except under special circumstances). Thousands of people who have been made to take off their head coverings by the NYPD are expected to file claims and receive thousands of dollars in damages.
Yet the NYPD may have violated its own policy in at least one instance since the crackdown on Gaza solidarity encampments began. One woman who was arrested at Columbia University said law enforcement removed her hijab for a security search and did not return it to her, despite her pleas (The NYPD may request a person to take off their head covering, in private, for a search, with the condition that it must be returned afterward unless it poses a safety risk.) Corinna Mullin, a City College of New York faculty member who was arrested after a raid there, told me she saw a woman have her hijab taken off her head while in custody and heard people chanting to the police to return it to her.
An NYPD spokesperson told The Nation, “Other media outlets have also inquired about the removal of head coverings from protesters during these arrests. However, this is a false accusation. The actions of our officers are recorded through the use of body-worn cameras and are subject to review.”
Hamadmad echoes the need for legal pressure, on top of cultural education, to prevent her experience from happening to another woman. While in jail, she initially believed that it was the ignorance of the law enforcement personnel that led them to treat her and her religion with little respect, until an officer asked her directly if she needed her hijab, while still refusing to return it to her.
Jinan and Hamdmad said they met officers throughout their experience who had tried their best to respect the women’s wishes to be covered. But hijabi women like themselves need greater legal protection for this to be the norm, especially as they become more visible in organizing and thus more vulnerable to police force.
Hamadmad said her experience was an eye-opening moment of betrayal; her home country of Syria experienced one of the most “brutal dictatorships,” and her move to America over 20 years ago was impelled by the country’s promise of freedom. In jail, she coped by thinking of her uncle who was imprisoned for 10 years in Syria without trial or communication with the outside world, reminding herself that “it could be worse.” And although conditions here don’t quite match the brutal crackdowns of the Syrian regime against counter-government protesters, she says, her experience in jail and the overall censorship of activists is an all-too-recognizable form of tyranny.
“Dictatorship doesn’t happen suddenly. It’s chipped away piece by piece. That’s why we need to stop it at the beginning,” said Hamadmad, who remembers asking to be read her Miranda rights, to which the officer replied, “No, I don’t have to.” Unbeknownst to her at the time, the Supreme Court had silently rolled back many of the protections guaranteed by the famous 1966 Miranda v. Arizona case in 2022.
“You can sense dictatorship when you’ve been through it, and I could sense it in that moment.”
Source: thenation.com
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/muslim-women-hijab-protests/
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Fatima Bhutto, Niece of Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto, Appeals to Barnard College to Stop Punishing Students Protesting for Palestine
25 Jun, 2024
Fatima Bhutto, the granddaughter of
former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Image Credit:
Twitter/@BhuttoZulfikar)
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Writer Fatima Bhutto has made an appeal to Barnard College in light of the suspensions, expulsions and threats made to students for their participation in pro-Palestine protests on campus.
The columnist and activist recalled her own time at Barnard in a video shared on Instagram, recounting how she and other students were able to partake in protests on campus without facing disciplinary actions for exercising their rights.
Bhutto graduated from Barnard in 2004. She majored in Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures.
“When I was a student at Barnard the second Intifada had broken out and Israeli occupation forces then, as they are now, committed grave acts of violence,” she said in the video.
“I went to protests on the Barnard campus on the Columbia campus. I went to strikes, sit-ins, and teach-ins, and never once got expelled, suspended or threatened with disciplinary charges,” The New Kings of the World writer shared.
Bhutto said that Barnard students today are doing what they’re doing out of enormous moral courage and clarity. “They are standing up against the crime of the century. This is the crime of our lifetime. And all those students are acting, not out of just moral courage and clarity, but out of heart and a duty to social justice.”
She urged the college to pardon the students and drop all disciplinary actions against them in order to be on the right side of history.
“I’d like to ask Barnard, as a graduate myself, to grant amnesty to all student protesters, to drop the disciplinary charges, to reverse the suspensions, and to stop the expulsions. Barnard, if it wants to be on the right side of history has to protect its students and protect those students who are fighting for a just world for all people and all Palestinians,” she concluded.
In April, Bhutto shared a letter she wrote to the president of Barnard College after several Columbia University and Barnard College students were suspended for organising and participating in pro-Palestine protests on campus.
This also led to them being arrested for ‘trespassing’ after the Columbia University president issued a complaint to the NYPD.
The decision to suspend the students for exercising their right to peaceful protests, leading to many of them being locked out of their dorms and practically rendered homeless, garnered immense criticism online and from Columbia faculty, members of which walked out in solidarity.
The protests spread to other campuses, including Yale and MIT. Police arrested dozens of people at the demonstrations at Yale in Connecticut and New York University in Manhattan as well.
Source: images.dawn.com
https://images.dawn.com/news/1192541/fatima-bhutto-appeals-to-barnard-college-to-stop-punishing-students-protesting-for-palestine
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Pak Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz: Govt Committed to Empower Women, Promote Gender Equality
June 24, 2024
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that the provincial government is committed to empower women and promote gender equality.
In a message on international women's day in diplomacy, she said that this day is marked to credit women for their extraordinary services in the field of diplomacy.
She said that women' role in diplomacy is crucial to promote peace.
The Chief Minister said that Pakistan's renowned diplomat Dr. MalihaLadhi and other women played key roles in the country's diplomatic achievements.
Source: radio.gov.pk
https://www.radio.gov.pk/24-06-2024/govt-committed-to-empower-women-promote-gender-equality-punjab-cm
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Iran’s Onerous Hijab Law for Women Is Now a Campaign Issue
By FarnazFassihi and LeilyNikounazar
June 24, 2024
Iranian officials insisted for decades that the law requiring women to cover their hair and dress modestly was sacrosanct and not even worth discussion. They dismissed the struggle by women who challenged the law as a symptom of Western meddling.
Now, as Iran holds a presidential election this week, the issue of mandatory hijab, as the hair covering is known, has become a hot campaign topic. And all six of the men running, five of them conservative, have sought to distance themselves from the methods of enforcing the law, which include violence, arrests and monetary fines.
“Elections aside, politics aside, under no circumstances should we treat Iranian women with such cruelty,” Mustafa Pourmohammadi, a conservative presidential candidate and cleric with senior roles in intelligence, said in a round-table discussion on state television last week. He has also said that government officials should be punished over the hijab law because it was their duty to educate women about why they should wear hijab, not violently enforce it.
The hijab has long been a symbol of religious identity but has also been a political tool in Iran. And women have resisted the law, in different ways, ever since it went into effect after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
It is unlikely that the law will be annulled, and it remains unclear whether a new president can soften enforcement. Different administrations have adopted looser or stricter approaches to hijab. EbrahimRaisi, the president whose death in a helicopter crash in May prompted emergency elections, had imposed some of the harshest crackdowns on women.
Still, some women’s rights activists and analysts in Iran say forcing the issue to the table during elections is in itself an accomplishment. It shows that the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement of civil disobedience, which began nearly two years ago, has become too big to ignore.
Women and girls are walking on the streets, eating in restaurants, going to work and riding public transportation wearing dresses, crop tops and skirts, and leaving their hair uncovered. In doing so, they take great risks, as the morality police lurk on street corners to arrest women defying the rules.
FatemehHassani, 42, a sociologist in Tehran, said in a telephone interview that the fact that hijab and morality police had become an election issue showed that women, through their determination and resistance, had been “effective in influencing the country’s domestic policies and forcing the government to recognize their demands for more rights.”
Women represent about half of Iran’s 61 million eligible voters. Although voter apathy is high among critics of the government, opposition to the hijab law and the morality police is no longer confined to them. It has transcended gender, religious and class lines, and now some of the loudest complaints come from religious people and conservatives, the backbone of the government’s constituents.
During a live televised debate on Friday on social issues, women and the hijab dominated the four-hour event. The issue has also surfaced in campaign videos that appear to be targeting female voters and rallies in cities around the country.
In Isfahan, video from a rally for one candidate, Dr. MasoudPezeshkian, showed an 18-year-old girl, her long black hair flowing around her shoulders, taking the microphone. She said she represented the young generation and first-time voters, the generation that stands up for its demands, and asked, “Do you have the power to confront the morality police, the hijab monitors and the autonomous security forces?”
Dr. Pezeshkian is the lone candidate for the reform faction, which favors more social openness and engagement with the West. He has been the most forceful voice against the mandatory hijab and the morality police, and the only candidate to clearly say he opposes telling anyone how to dress.
“We will not be able to force women to wear the hijab,” he said during the debate on Friday. “Will arrests, confrontations and shameful behavior resolve this issue?”
Not all female voters are convinced that a change is coming. Even with the condemnations by the candidates, the morality police still patrol the streets around Tehran and other big cities daily with vans and police cars. They sometimes stop women and give them a verbal notice, and sometimes they arrest them. Several videos on social media have shown women being beaten and dragged into vans.
“I don’t believe them. The president has no authority over this issue because it’s a red line for the Islamic Republic,” Sephideh, a 32-year-old teacher from Tehran, said in a telephone interview, asking that her last name not be published to avoid possible retribution. “But in previous elections, the issue of hijab was abandoned, and now they are all talking about it,” she added, concluding that women’s struggle “will win.”
Iranian women who do not believe in wearing hijab have been fighting the law for as long as it has existed since after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Back then, clerics who toppled the monarchy imposed Islamic sharia laws on all aspects of social life, from women’s attire to mingling of genders and drinking alcohol.
The Women, Life, Freedom movement began in 2022 after the death of MahsaAmini, 22, in the custody of the morality police, who had arrested her on accusations of violating the hijab law. Outraged women and girls led nationwide protests burning their headscarves, dancing in the streets and chanting for women to be free. The uprising spread in scope, with demands for an end to clerical rule. The government ultimately crushed the protests with violence.
In December, Iran announced it had abolished the morality police but then put them back on the streets in April, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said that observing the hijab law was a moral and political obligation.
Iran’s Parliament has been working on legislation that would impose punitive damages on women who disobey the rules, including denying them social services, imposing travel bans and permitting the judiciary to withdraw funds from their bank accounts.
Mr. Pourmohammadi, the cleric candidate, said during one debate that if elected, he would repeal the legislation. Gen. Mohammad BaqerGhalibaf, the front-runner conservative candidate and current speaker of the Parliament, said in the debate that the legislation still needed work and that “you cannot achieve anything with violence, tension and without respect — all of this is condemned.”
In recent months, facial recognition software, both in traffic surveillance cameras and drones, has been used to identify hijab scofflaws, who then are texted a summons to appear in court, according to three women interviewed who had received such messages and a report by Amnesty International.
Nahid, 62, a resident of Tehran who did not want her last name published for fear of retribution, said that when she was summoned the judge showed her a photograph of her near a mall, her blond hair uncovered, and that she was fined.
Another woman, Minoo, 52, who wears hijab, said in an interview that her car had been confiscated for two weeks because traffic cameras caught her 20-year-old daughter driving while not wearing one. She said the police had also made her pay the parking fee for the impounded car.
Enforcement of the law has brought widespread condemnation abroad from right groups and Western countries.
A teenager on her way to school in October collapsed in the subway, after reports of an argument with a hijab police officer, and died in the hospital.
Fahimeh, a 41-year-old fashion blogger, said in an interview in Tehran that whoever becomes the next president would have no bearing on the fight for more rights. “We women don’t wait for their permission to remove our hijab; right now already, many don’t wear hijab.”
NargesMohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is the most prominent women’s rights activist in Iran and currently serving a 10-year prison sentence, issued a statement on Saturday describing the election as a sham.
“How can you, while holding a sword, gallows, weapons and prisons against the people with one hand, place a ballot box in front of the same people with the other hand, and deceitfully and falsely call them to the polls?” Ms. Mohammadi said.
Source: nytimes.com
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/world/middleeast/iran-hijab-election-issue.html
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Celebrating Egypt’s Pioneering Women Leaders on the International Day of Women in Diplomacy
June 24, 2024
On 24 June, the world celebrates the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, honoring the vital contributions of female leaders who have shattered glass ceilings and paved the way for greater gender parity in global affairs.
Diplomacy can encompass a wide range of activities, from promoting cultural and economic cooperation to playing a globally influential role on the world stage. In Egypt, this day holds particular significance, as the country has produced a remarkable group of pioneering women who have left an enduring mark on the realm of diplomacy.
These figures have not only achieved remarkable individual successes but have also inspired generations of young women to follow in their footsteps, challenging the traditional patriarchal structures that have long dominated the field.
Huda Sha’arawi: Igniting the Flame of Progress
No discussion on Egyptian women in diplomacy can begin without acknowledging the legacy of Huda Sha’arawi. A renowned feminist and social reformer, Sha’arawi played a pivotal role in advocating for women’s rights in Egypt during the early 20th century and founded the Egyptian Feminist Union on 6 March 1923.
Her fearless activism set the stage for future generations of female diplomats to assert their voices and influence on the global stage. Sha’arawi’s groundbreaking work, which focused on education, political participation, and the empowerment of women, laid the foundation for a more inclusive and equitable society, paving the way for women to take on leadership roles in the diplomatic sphere.
Nabila Makram: Championing the Cause of Expatriates
In the present day, Nabila Makram stands as a testament to the growing influence of Egyptian women in diplomacy. As the previous Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, Makram has been a tireless advocate for the rights and welfare of Egyptians living abroad, working to strengthen ties between the diaspora and their homeland.
Makram’s efforts have been particularly crucial in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as she worked to ensure that Egyptians stranded overseas were able to safely return home and receive the support they needed. Her dedication to serving the interests of the Egyptian diaspora has earned her widespread acclaim and recognition, both within Egypt and the international community.
One of her flagship programs was “Etkallem Arabi” (Speak Arabic), which aimed to promote the use of the Arabic language and cultural heritage among second and third-generation Egyptians living overseas.
She has also organized seven editions of the “EgyptCan” conference, providing a platform for Egyptians in the diaspora to engage with their homeland and explore opportunities for investment and collaboration. Additionally, she established the Ministry of Emigration Dialogue Center for Egyptian Students Abroad, fostering connections and facilitating the reintegration of Egyptian students upon their return.
Another prominent figure in Egyptian diplomacy is MoushiraKhattab, a former Minister of Family and Population who garnered international recognition for her bid to become the Director-General of UNESCO in 2017.
Khattab’s campaign, though ultimately unsuccessful, highlighted the formidable talent and expertise that Egyptian women bring to the diplomatic arena. Throughout her career, Khattab has been a passionate advocate for human rights, women’s empowerment, and global development, serving in numerous high-profile roles both within Egypt and on the international stage.
Anissa Hassouna: Champion of Women, Children, and the Environment
A graduate of Political Science and Economics from Cairo University, Anissa Hassouna was appointed in 2016 by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to a newly-formed Egyptian Parliament. As a member of Parliament, Hassouna played a significant role in advocating for human rights laws. She raised concerns regarding women’s rights and opportunities, children’s rights, and environmental law.
After her time in Parliament, Hassouna went on to take on other influential roles. She worked as a diplomat for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hassouna later joined the Council of Arab Economic Unity and served as the Director General of Egypt’s International Economic Forum.
Hassouna died, after battling cancer, on 13 March at the age of 69.
Rania Al-Mashat: Redefining Egypt’s Economic Diplomacy on the Global Stage
Rania Al-Mashat, the former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt and currently the Minister of International Cooperation, has emerged as a force in the field of economic diplomacy. Al-Mashat has championed the integration of sustainable and responsible tourism practices, working tirelessly to position Egypt as a global leader in the industry.
Her efforts have been instrumental in reviving Egypt’s tourism sector and strengthening its international economic partnerships.
Hala El-Saeed: Driving Sustainable Development
Hala El-Saeed, the former Minister of Planning and Economic Development has been a driving force behind Egypt’s sustainable development agenda. El-Saeed has played a pivotal role in aligning Egypt’s national development plans with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that economic growth is coupled with social and environmental progress.
As the world celebrates the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, it is essential to recognize the profound impact that Egyptian women have had on the field. From the pioneering efforts of Huda Sha’arawi to the contemporary achievements of figures like Nabila Makram and MoushiraKhattab, these women have not only shattered glass ceilings but have also inspired generations of young generations to pursue their diplomatic aspirations.
Source: egyptianstreets.com
https://egyptianstreets.com/2024/06/24/celebrating-egypts-pioneering-women-leaders-on-the-international-day-of-women-in-diplomacy/#google_vignette
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Muslim women, others get tips to scale up business at Kolkata event
24-06-2024
This was all women focused GLIIF, a unique initiative led by University of Calcutta, supported by US department of state and knowledge partner Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollings College at US consulate Kolkata.
With innovative spirits surging, the two organizations worked alongside each other, uplifting one another during a recent event. Awaz-the-Voice asked Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee how in particular Muslim women involved in entrepreneurship headed by the University of Calcutta with Alsisar Impact benefited.
She said, “My family members such as aunts and cousins married in the 60s and 70s and we saw many interfaith marriages in our family. We never felt our cousins were different from us, and always felt we were all the same, thus inclusivity runs in our family. In the context of having Muslim women in the program, my first interaction in the community for entrepreneurship was through a friend of mine, Professor Shabina Nishat Omar, working with the Department of Higher Education in the Government of West Bengal, and is a Professor of English Literature at Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose College affiliated with the University of Calcutta in Kolkata who introduced me to Taajira.”
She said, “Taajira brought in a large number of working women, many from very conventional Muslim families who are as open-minded as anyone else. Some of them overcoming stigmas are all entrepreneurs trying to do something for themselves. We do have some Muslim entrepreneurs such as Sana Khan who makes amazing jute craftwork, Alifia Rahman, who also was with Taajira and started her scrumptious cloud kitchen at that time, and Arshia Ahmed with her delicious chocolates who has been working closely with us, and we are especially trying to develop their businesses into expansive levels. In a spirit of inclusivity, we have Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and other entrepreneurs networking together and we all celebrate our business groups together.”
Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee, who has been teaching for more than 30 years says that over the years she noticed the proportion of female students in the business management class had started increasing. “I feel that girls are more empathetic towards social causes and concerned about the environment. This was a simple observation. When I started reading up, I saw the world over with evidence and statistics revealing that where there were a higher number of women on company boards, these companies are more environmentally and socially responsible.
"Also, in the marginalized rural sections, it was the women who played a primary role in ensuring that the environment was also protected widest over the world. The rationale that I found on reading this literature was that the women absorbed this strategy due to their instincts for the long-term protection of the future of their children, so they protected forests, ponds, or rivers from degenerating so that their children would be in the safer hands of nature.”
She explained, “With this information, I started searching for avenues to try to work on it and I got this opportunity In 2015 during a program in the USA where I learned about social empowerment, and I realized that is not being practiced in India. While in India, the roots of Indian business and the Indian economy have been very socially and environmentally responsible, somewhere we left behind some of our indigenous ways of taking care of the environment.”
“At the same time, my training and professional education required me to bring about corporate stakeholders. Social entrepreneurship opened my eyes to profit-making alongside being socially and environmentally responsible, so I look at business opportunities that are impactful in terms of society, environment, solving social problems, yet gaining profit, so it was a deviation of my prior understanding of the non-profit sector, which was not into making profit which was grant dependent.
"This grant-dependence model is not something that can be sustained for very long; therefore, I embrace the social entrepreneurship model and want my students to actively hands-on participate in this. We tried to collaborate with women entrepreneurs so that the students would grow developing their businesses in a meaningful way.”
With the collaboration of the American Consulate twice a year, at the end of the year, the students are given a funding opportunity to go for training in the USA, and the entrepreneurs are given part funding where 30 to 40% is paid by the entrepreneurs and the entire expense is covered by the program where they go for a training program to the USA. Students. So far students have gone seven times and entrepreneurs just once, the immersion program in collaboration with Bradford University, Illinois, with a lot of support from the American Consulate, so we have these programs twice a year.”
It may be stated that Alifia Rahman who started her exotic cloud kitchen with her unique Darjeeling Momos with the tagline, “Where Taste Meets the Myth” now supplies her healthy momos, salads, and chocolates not only to schools but is also immensely popular with the American Consulate.
When Awaz-the-Voice mentioned that with movements streamed by Taajira and Empowering Women Globally, the women in Bengal must be flourishing economically, Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee replied, “Unfortunately, the entrepreneurial mindset of Bengal is very low, so that is what we are trying to push, trying to build the ecosystem so that women who want to go on to business such as young girls get support from the business stakeholders. We try to bring all the stakeholders on a common platform on Caterfly to give the ecosystem a boost where one place offers funds, the other license, so try to put them all together.”
While RukhshiKadiri Elias founder of Taajira-The Businesswoman jokes “Empower the men to empower the economically empowered women,” Dr. Sharmistha Banerjee highlights, “Empowering Women Globally is a program that is operated by Caterfly to bring about an ecosystem in which women may find a one-stop business solution and a safe place for sisterhood. Besides teaching business over the last 30-plus years, this is my way of giving back to society what I preach can be practiced.”
”And these groups work together to complement and uplift each other’s work and as Professor Prof Shabina Nishat Omar says, “I believe we all should rise by lifting others.”
Source: awazthevoice.in
https://www.awazthevoice.in/women-news/muslim-women-others-get-tips-to-scale-up-business-at-kolkata-event-29563.html
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Buharigovt ‘lavished’ $100m World Bank women empowerment loan on meetings — Minister
June 24, 2024
Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye has revealed that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration lavished the initial $100 million of a $500 million World Bank loan for women empowerment on meetings.
According to the minister, Buhari’s government “lavished” the $100 million on meetings, advocacy and consultancy.
Recall that the World Bank on June 27, 2023 approved a fresh $500 million loan for Nigeria to help improve the livelihood of women in Nigeria.
Ohanenye commended President Bola Tinubu for his proactive involvement in the project, particularly his scrutiny of the initial $100 million expenditure.
The minister noted that the funds were a loan, not a grant, and stressed the importance of proper management to ensure repayment.
She said, “About the Nigeria for Women Project, let me first tell Nigerian women to clap for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who came in after the first $100 million had been expended.
“That was when he came in and when he came in, he looked at it with me and we were not satisfied with how the $100 million was used.
“Let me make it clear. This is not a grant, it is a loan and when some monies are loans, they must have to be managed well so that the loans can be paid back. If you don’t manage it well, how do we pay back the loan?
“And when money is a loan, we expect whoever you are giving loan to be allowed to utilise that loan properly in a way that it can yield back the money to be paid, so that Nigeria will not continue owing.
“The first 100 million, when I came in, I was not satisfied. It didn’t augur well with the vision of the new President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“It was mainly used for advocacy, meetings, consultancies and that was it. They shared it among the states.”
Source: vanguardngr.com
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/06/buhari-govt-lavished-100m-world-bank-women-empowerment-loan-on-meetings-minister/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/muslim-women-hijabs-america/d/132575