Iran Bans 12 Women Actors Including Taraneh Alidoosti Over Hijab Violations
New Age
Islam News Bureau
26 October 2023
·
Iran Bans
12 Women Actors Including Taraneh AlidoostiOver Hijab Violations
·
Women Take
To Karachi Streets Against Israeli Atrocities In Gaza
·
UN Special
Rapporteur: Situation for Women, Girls Worsened Drastically Over Past 2 Years
in Afghanistan
·
Surging
Conflict In Congo Drives Sexual Assault Against Displaced Women
·
Bangladesh
PM Set To Visit Jeddah For International Conference On Women In Islam
·
Iranian Women
And Girls Face Further Violations Of Their Rights Under Compulsory Veiling Bill
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-bans-taraneh-alidoosti-hijab/d/130978
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Iran Bans 12 Women Actors Including Taraneh
Alidoosti Over Hijab Violations
A woman
holds a placard with a picture of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini during a protest
against her death.(AP)
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October 25, 2023
Twelve female actors have been banned
from working by Iranian authorities for violating the country's strict dress
code, which includes wearing a headscarf at all times, an official said on
Wednesday.
"Those who do not follow the law,
will not be allowed to work," Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister
Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.
On Tuesday, Iranian media reported that
a dozen actresses who were found to be violating the hijab law — among them
Taraneh Alidoosti, Katayoun Riahi and Fatemeh Motamed-Aria — "will not be
allowed to play roles in movies".
Alidoosti and Riahi were among the
public figures who were briefly detained during last year's widespread protests
over the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish girl Mahsa Amini.
Amini had previously been arrested for
allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.
Her death triggered months-long
demonstrations which the authorities labelled as "riots" fomented by
foreign governments.
Since last year´s mass protests, women
have been increasingly flouting the dress code which requires head coverings
and modest clothes.
Covering the neck and head has been
compulsory for women since 1983, following Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran has stepped up measures over the
past few months against women and businesses who breach the hijab rules.
In September, lawmakers voted in favour
of toughening the penalties, which include jail sentences of up to 10 years,
for women who violate the dress code.
Source: thenews.com.pk
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1122696-iran-bans-12-women-actors-including-taraneh-alidoosti-over-hijab-violations
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Women Take To Karachi Streets Against Israeli
Atrocities In Gaza
Sporting
Palestinian flags and placards, the JI’s women-only rally passes through a road
in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Wednesday. — Shakil Adil / White Star
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October 26, 2023
KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami organised a
women-only rally to express solidarity with the people of Palestine and condemn
Israeli atrocities against unarmed civilians in Gaza and demanded the Muslim
world to take a united stand against the Zionist regime.
The participants in the women-only march
that was taken out in Gulshan-i-Iqbal urged the federal government to play its
due role for Palestinians to stop the Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
A large number of women belonging to all
walks of life participated in the march.
The participants carrying placards and
banners chanted slogans against the Zionist regime and their facilitators
across the world.
JI-led march urges Islamic bloc to take
bold stance against Zionist regime
A large number of children were carrying
placards showcasing artworks that depicted miseries of Palestinians and
brutalities being committed by Israel. Addressing the march, JI Karachi chief
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said that while Karachiites could not join Hamas freedom
fighters, at least they could raise their voice for the people of Palestine.
He questioned the role of western states
over the issue and hailed the role of saner voices across the world in favour
of people of Palestine.
Lambasting the United States and other
western countries over their hypocrisy and dual standards, he said that parents
were arrested in the West if they slapped their children, but it was okay for
the Western countries and supporters of Israel if Muslim children in Palestine
were massacred.
He said that hearts of Muslim Umma beat
with the people of Palestine but the rulers imposed on the Muslim bloc of the
world did not reflect the aspirations of the Umma in this regard.
“Women march demands rulers to show some
spine and take a bold stance against Israel.”
He said that Israel had been committing
crimes against humanity in Palestine. Men and women without discrimination of
age were arrested and kept in small cells of 1.5 meters. It is only Hamas that
took steps and put pressure for their release, he said.
Source: dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1783700/women-take-to-karachi-streets-against-israeli-atrocities-in-gaza
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UN Special Rapporteur: Situation for Women, Girls Worsened Drastically Over Past 2 Years in Afghanistan
October 25, 2023
The UN special rapporteur on human
rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, at the UNGA78 session, criticized what
he considers to be the deterioration of the human rights situation in
Afghanistan.
Speaking at the session, Bennett said
that in addition to the demands of the world to reopen schools and
universities, female students are still deprived of education in Afghanistan.
According to the report,
"Afghanistan is facing a convergence of challenges, including a
deteriorating human rights situation due to the Taliban's repressive policies
and practices, a culture of impunity, an ongoing humanitarian and economic
crisis, recent deadly earthquakes, and the possibility of massive involuntary
returns, all of which require urgent action to avoid further suffering and
potential instability in the country and the region.”
“I have reported repeatedly, as have
others, that the situation for women and girls has worsened drastically over
the past two years, in a step-by-step manner. For example, we are witnessing a
continued narrowing of the permitted economic activity of women outside the
home. As time goes by, more girls and women are missing out on education above
sixth grade at school, and university.
The de facto authorities continue to claim that the suspension is
temporary, however, it has already been in place for more than two years. They
should meet their obligations under international law and reopen schools and
universities for girls and women forthwith – with curricula in line with
international standards,” the report reads.
In a part of his report, Richard Bennett
also called for the canceling of restrictions on girls' education in
Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Chargé d'Affaires of the
Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, at the Third
Committee, 78th UNGA session, expressed his concerns regarding the violation of
human rights in Afghanistan.
“The deliberate suppression and
systematic discrimination against the fundamental human rights and freedoms of
women and girls in Afghanistan, including the right to education and the right
to employment by the Taliban, represent a grave violation of human rights,
amounting to gender persecution and gender apartheid,” Faiq said.
In the meantime, the Georgetown
Institute for Women, Peace and Security in a report ranked and scored 177
countries on women’s status and ranked Afghanistan the last country on the list
and Denmark at the top.
According to the report, “Of all country
groups and regions, the Fragile States group performs worst. On average in
these countries, 1 woman in 5 has experienced recent intimate partner violence,
6 women in 10 live in proximity to conflict, and maternal deaths stand at
approximately 540 per 100,000 live births, more than double the global average
of 212.”
"World’s concerns that there are
violations of human rights in Afghanistan, this is a true, yes, the Islamic
government has violated human rights in Afghanistan,” said FazelaSurosh, a
women’s rights activist.
"They should create a standard
government that has a constitution and acts according to the charter, the rules
and the laws of the UN, so that a humanitarian crisis in our country can be
prevented,” said Ahmad Khan Andar, international relations expert.
The Islamic Emirate considers the
extension of the mission of the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard
Bennett to be antagonistic.
According to the Islamic Emirate’s
spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, Richard Bennett’s reports do not reflect the
realities of Afghanistan.
Source: tolonews.com
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-185716
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Surging Conflict In CongoDrives Sexual Assault Against Displaced Women
October 26, 2023
Hundreds of thousands of women and girls
have been displaced over the past year in the east of the Democratic Republic
of Congo amid fighting by more than 130 armed groups.
As drawn-out conflicts continue to
spiral, instances of sexual violence by armed men against displaced women, many
living in camps, are climbing rapidly, according to French aid group Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors without Borders).
MSF says more than twice as many women
in recent months have sought treatment for sexual assault in some displacement
camps outside the eastern city of Goma, where shelters are little more than
plastic sheets.
One survivor of sexual violence is a
42-year-old mother of four, who was abandoned by her husband after she became
disabled in a motorcycle accident several years ago.
She recounts how a hooded man burst into
her tent while her children were out searching for food, raping her in the
displacement camp where she had fled to from the country's east.
Now, she says, she hesitates to let her
children leave her side, and lives in fear of the same thing happening again.
The frightening trend underscores the
consequences for women and girls of the perpetual state of war in the east of
the African nation, where conflict has simmered for nearly three decades.
The United Nations estimates that more
than 130 armed groups are active in the country's northeast, each vying for
land or resources while some have formed to protect their communities.
More than four million people were
displaced within Congo because of conflict in 2022, the most in Africa and
second in the world only to Ukraine, according to the Internal Displacement
Monitoring Center.
And of the nearly 100,000 people who
arrived at displacement sites near the northeastern city of Goma in July,
nearly 60% were women and girls, according to the International Organization
for Migration.
Sexual violence has long been used as a
weapon of war by armed fighters in the region and in Bulengo and nearby
displacement sites, an average of 70 sexual assault victims each day visit
clinics run by MSF.
MSF treated 1,500 female victims of
sexual violence in July across just three displacement camps outside Goma,
which is more than double the number in May, the organization said in a report
released on September 18.
Survivors and aid workers say
displacement rips people from their livelihoods and leaves women and girls
susceptible to assault, while conditions at the camps leave them more
vulnerable to abuse.
Shelters are little more than plastic
sheets, with no way of securing them from intruders, while armed men often lurk
outside the camps, where women and girls are forced to venture out to find
firewood and other necessities.
Another rape survivor says she worries
for the safety of her children and is afraid to see them venture outside the
camp, worried that they may become the victims of sexual violence too.
Celine Luanda, a community women's
outreach worker, says it is important to raise awareness of the problem and
inform people they could seek help at a health centre.
MSF, along with United Nations agencies
and other local organizations, help provide medical services, psychological
treatment, latrines, and other measures to improve conditions for victims of
sexual violence.
But their role as providers of medical
assistance and community sensitization is limited.
For hundreds of thousands of other
displaced women, the escalating armed conflict stands in the way of a return to
normal life.
The two women interviewed by The
Associated Press said they thought each day about how they could go back to
farming in their village.
And each night they fear for their
safety.
Source: africanews.com
https://www.africanews.com/2023/10/25/surging-conflict-in-drc-drives-sexual-assault-against-displaced-women/
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Bangladesh PM set to visit Jeddah for International Conference on Women in Islam
October 25, 2023
Dhaka: Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina is set to travel to Saudi Arabia next month for the International
Conference on Women in Islam, her office said on Wednesday, as the government
hoped her presence would inspire more women to take up leadership roles.
The conference, hosted by the Kingdom in
coordination with the general secretariat of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, will take place in Jeddah between Nov. 6 and 8.
According to the OIC, the event will aim
to clarify “women’s rights and responsibilities in Islam, especially women’s
right to education and work.”
Shakhawat Moon, deputy press secretary
at the Bangladeshi Prime Minister’s Office, told Arab News that Hasina “has
verbally agreed to join the Women in Islam Conference” and details about her
trip to Saudi Arabia were expected to be finalized soon.
The participation of the PM, named on
Time’s 100 most influential people list in 2018 and the daughter of the
founding father and first president of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, is expected to be focused on women’s leadership.
“Historically, Muslim women have
acquired excellence in different sectors, and it’s being continued at the
present time also,” Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdul Momen told Arab News
earlier this week.
Momen was also expected to join Hasina’s
delegation to the conference together with State Minister for Women and
Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira.
“Our prime minister is one of the best
women leaders of the world at the moment. And she is a woman and a Muslim. She
will be present there (at the conference), and it will encourage other women
across the world to come forward to take up leadership roles. That’s why she
will attend the event,” Momen said.
“The main focus of this visit will be on
women’s leadership and issues concerning their prospects and problems.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2397391/world
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Iranian women and girls face further violations of their rights under compulsory veiling bill
October 25, 2023
Armita Garawand, a 16-year-old
schoolgirl, remains in a coma after falling unconscious on 1 October 2023 at a
Tehran metro amid reports that a confrontation with somebody enforcing Iran’s
degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws led to her
hospitalisation. Her hospitalisation comes against a backdrop of Iranian
authorities’ intensified oppression against women and girls in recent months.
If I was still in Iran, leaving the
house every day would come with a choice: my bodily autonomy and my freedom, or
risk of harassment, violence, fines and imprisonment. If I left the house unveiled,
I would also fear losing my car, my job and my freedom.
It is with nothing but admiration,
therefore, that I watch women and girls in Iran who continue to bravely defy
Iran’s compulsory veiling laws on a daily basis. They continue to do so in the
face of the Iranian authorities’ intensified assault on women’s rights, which
includes introducing harsher draconian penalties to further punish unveiling
and silence dissent.
Just over one year ago, 22-year-old
Mahsa/Zhina Amini died in custody days after her arrest by the so-called
“morality” police, amid credible reports of torture. She was arrested for not
complying with Iran’s discriminatory compulsory veiling laws. Her death sparked
an unprecedented popular uprising across Iran, in which demonstrators chanted
“Woman Life Freedom”. Tens of thousands of people also marched across the world
including in Europe in solidarity with women and girls in Iran. European
leaders expressed strong statements of solidarity with Iranians, condemning the
crackdown by the Iranian authorities. As we saw statements of solidarity and
support pouring in from Europe and beyond, Iranians felt emboldened.
Since Mahsa/Zhina Amini’s death in
custody, Iranian authorities have with unspeakable cruelty, inflicting violence
on people in Iran to stifle protests and crush dissent. The authorities have
committed a litany of crimes under international law with impunity, including
hundreds of unlawful killings, the arbitrary execution of seven people in
relation to the protests, tens of thousands of arbitrary arrests and systematic
torture, including rape and other sexual violence, against detainees, and the
widespread harassment of victims’ families.
Despite this, women and girls in Iran
have continued to bravely defy the Islamic Republic’s discriminatory and
degrading compulsory veiling laws. For daring to do so, they have faced severe
punishments and violation of their human rights. Countless women have been
suspended or expelled from universities and denied access to banking services.
Women have also been prosecuted and sentenced to imprisonment and degrading
punishments, such as washing corpses.
To this day, not a single Iranian
official has been held accountable for ordering, planning and committing
widespread and systematic human rights violations against women and girls
through the implementation of compulsory veiling.
Iranian officials, emboldened by
impunity, have ruthlessly crushed protests and targeted those who attempted to
mark the anniversary of the uprising.
I was happy to see EU leaders
reaffirming their support for Iranian women and girls in the face of Iranian
authorities’ repression. However, the ‘Bill to Support the Culture of Chastity
and Hijab’ poses a serious test to their stated commitment.
This bill, which is at its last
procedural stage before final approval, further codifies the Iranian
authorities’ oppressive methods of policing women and girls and punishes those
who dare to stand up for their rights. If approved by Iran’s Guardian Council,
it will impose a vast array of penalties severely violating the rights of women
and girls, and further entrench violence and discrimination against them. It
also equates unveiling to “nudity” and provides for prison terms of up to 10
years for anyone who defies compulsory veiling laws. It would also expand the
powers and capabilities of intelligence and security bodies, including the
Revolutionary Guards, the paramilitary Basij force and the police, allowing
them to further surveil and oppress women and girls. The enforcement of this bill
by various political, security, and administrative arms of the Islamic Republic
would further violate a host of social, economic, cultural, civil and political
rights — and intensify the kind of violence that resulted in the death in
custody of Mahsa/ Zhina Amini.
I know that the EU is not the perfect
champion for women’s rights. In fact, some member states, such as France, are
guilty of policing what women can wear. Since September, children in France
have been prevented from attending classes in school if they wear Abayas or
Qamis – loose-fitting over garments traditionally worn in Maghreb and Gulf
countries, as well as West Africa. EU countries must do better on women’s and
girls’ rights and uphold their right to bodily autonomy, no matter where the violations
occur. UN experts have expressed concern that Iran’s new bill on compulsory
veiling could amount to “gender apartheid” as the “authorities appear to be
governing through systemic discrimination with the intention of suppressing
women and girls into total submission.”
EU leaders must urgently call on the
Iranian authorities to revoke the ‘Bill to Support the Culture of Chastity and
Hijab’ before it becomes law and abolish all degrading and discriminatory
compulsory veiling laws and regulations. They must also urge them to quash all
convictions against women and girls for defying compulsory veiling, drop
charges against those facing prosecution, and unconditionally release any in
detention. The EU must also ensure that human rights are publicly and clearly
articulated in their engagement with Iran, including in the mandate of the
newly appointed EU Special Representative to the Gulf.
Crucially, EU member states must also
pursue legal pathways at the international level to hold Iranian officials
accountable for ordering, planning and committing such widespread and
systematic violations of women and girls’ rights.
Source: amnesty.org
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/iranian-women-and-girls-face-further-violations-of-their-rights-under-compulsory-veiling-bill/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-bans-taraneh-alidoosti-hijab/d/130978