Pakistan Investigator Says Woman Raped in Front of Her Children Shouldn’t Have Driven Alone
New Age Islam
News Bureau
12 September
2020
• Women to Discuss Business with Arab Countries in Webinar
• Pakistan Woman
Cyclist Groped While Riding on Islamabad Road
• Iranians Call
Out Education Ministry for Removing Images of Girls from Math Textbook
• Indian Mission
in Dubai Repatriates 112 Distressed Women In 2020
• As war and
coronavirus pandemic rages, Yemeni girls find strength in kickboxing
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/pakistan-investigator-says-woman-raped/d/122843
--------
Pakistan Investigator Says Woman Raped in Front of Her Children Shouldn’t Have Driven Alone
11 Sep 2020
Some of the protesters in Lahore. Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP
-----
The gang-rape of
a woman in front of her children after her car broke down on a motorway has
prompted outrage and protests in Pakistan, with anger further fuelled by
police, who appeared to blame the victim for travelling alone.
Fifteen people
have been arrested in connection with the gang-rape, which happened at about
1.30am by the side of a motorway in Lahore.
The woman had
called police when she ran out of fuel but, as she waited for help, at least
two men broke the windows of her car, dragged her and her two children out of
the vehicle and attacked and raped her multiple times in front of the children.
They then stole her jewellery, cash and bank cards.
Disgust around
the case increased when Umar Sheikh, the lead police investigator, told media
that the woman should have known better than to travel alone at night. He said
no one in Pakistani society would “allow their sisters and daughters to travel
alone so late” and she should have taken a safer highway and made sure she had
enough fuel for the journey.
The victim is a
resident of France, and Sheikh said she “mistook that Pakistani society is just
as safe”.
His comments
caused outrage, with many people citing them as yet another example of a
culture of victim-blaming in cases of sexual violence in Pakistan, where women
who report cases are often treated as criminals.
Shireen Mazari,
the minister for human rights, said the investigator’s remarks were
“unacceptable”, adding: “Nothing can ever rationalise the crime of rape.”
Protests were planned across Pakistan on Friday and women’s rights activists
called for Sheikh to resign.
The attack came
just days after the kidnapping, rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in
Karachi.
Imran Khan, the
prime minister, said in a statement on Twitter that he was following the case
closely and had asked investigators for the “arrest and sentencing of those
involved in the incident as soon as possible”. He added: “Such brutality and
bestiality cannot be allowed in any civilised society.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/11/backlash-in-pakistan-as-police-appear-to-blame-woman-motorist-for-gang
--------
Women to Discuss
Business with Arab Countries in Webinar
11/09/2020
Bruna Garcia
Fonseca
Hosted by the Arab Brazilian
Chamber’s Women’s Committee and the Women Inside Trade group, a free online
event
-----
São Paulo – In a
bid to demystify the business culture of Arab countries, the WAHI – Women Who
Inspire committee of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and the
Women Inside Trade (WIT) group are hosting, at 9 am on Wednesday (16), the
webinar “Challenges and Opportunities for Women Doing Business with the Arab
Countries.” Registration is open. The event is free of charge, and simultaneous
translation into English and Portuguese will be available.
WAHI Board
chairwoman and research firm H2R Pesquisas Avançadas commercial director
Alessandra Frisso (pictured above) will open the webinar. International NGO
Women Inside Trade (WIT) cofounders Veronica Prates and Monica Rodriguez will
respectively speak during the event’s opening and wrap-up.
According to
Frisso, the ABCC Women’s Committee works to connect Brazilian and Arab women
along three pillars – business, social responsibility, and culture. “We are
building bridges when it comes to business development. One of them is our
partnership with WIT, an international trade-oriented women’s group. Our
purpose is to relay some of the experiences of women who are used to working
with the Arab countries and who have been able to carve out opportunities, so
that we can share their stories,” Frisso said.
Lack of
knowledge is conducive to myth and distancing, Frisso said. “We wish to
encourage deal-making through the experiences of those that have done it
before, and who not only have overcome challenges, but managed to consolidate
business opportunities,” she explained.
The webinar is
intended to spread knowledge and awareness regarding business relations with
“We are all too often restricted to what we know. We intend to provide an
opportunity for us to get to know and get close to one another, so that in the
near future we can do busines based on cultural understanding,” she said.
WIT
Aside from being
the cofounder of Women Inside Trade, Monica Rodriguez is also an international
trade consultant with BMJ. The WIT works to empower women through a worldwide
network of professionals, as well as specialized training and leadership
development.
“The WIT is an organization
of women working together for the shared purpose of bringing together women
involved in foreign trade. International trade is a very masculine world, so
the idea is to carve out a space for women, in spite of the difficulties,” said
Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said
the partnership with the WAHI committee is designed to create synergy and
collaboration through the discussion of aspects of foreign trade. “The WIT is a
space for dialogue and knowledge-sharing,” the businesswoman said.
The
international group was established in Brasília in 2017. It has a website and
social media pages. The work is entirely pro bono, and there’s also a WhatsApp
group of some 250 women who share information on business-related events and
topics.
“We intend to
espouse the notion that yes, doing business with Arabs is possible. To
demystify misleading stereotypes and encourage businesswomen to make their way
into new markets and find new business possibilities,” she concluded.
The speakers in
the online event will be Karen Jones, Head of Operations for the Middle East
& North Africa at the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency
(Apex-Brasil); Grazielle Parente, chairman of the board at the Brazilian Food
Industry Association (Abia); Shamsa Al-Falasi, Cluster head of the Citibank
Global Subsidiaries Group for the GCC & Iraq; Heuda Farah Guessous; Heuda
Farah Guessous, cofounder of Morocco’s Foodeshow event; and Kellen Amorim, a
strategist on Personal Branding and Positioning, Communication and Female
Leadership.
The webinar will
be moderated by the ABCC’s Institutional Relations maanger, Fernanda Baltazar.
ABCC president Rubens Hannun will also be featured. Questions will be asked by
guests JBS Business director Janaína Azevedo; Julia de Biase, Al Ward/Royal
Queen partner and Date Crown representative for Brazil and Latin America.
https://anba.com.br/en/women-to-discuss-business-with-arab-countries-in-webinar/
--------
Pakistan Woman
Cyclist Groped While Riding on Islamabad Road
Sep 11, 2020
Lady-biker Samar Khan gets
‘grobed’ by stranger in Islamabad
-----
Cyclist Samar
Khan has said that she will not spare the man who harassed her while she was riding
her bicycle in Islamabad.
“I will not
spare anyone and we must make an example of such people [harassers],” she said
while speaking in a video uploaded on her Facebook page on Wednesday.
Khan, the first
Pakistani woman who has cycled on glaciers in the Karakoram Range and
Kilimanjaro in Africa, shared that she was riding her bicycle when a man in a
maroon shirt groped her.
“When I reached
the turning near Faizabad, I felt something on my back. At first, I thought it
was my bag but then I felt the movement go up and then down,” she said in
another video posted on Friday. “I turned around and saw a man smiling at me.
He was riding a motorcycle behind me. I started screaming at me but he grinned
and then sped past me.”
I could not
reach him in time because I was on a bicycle, she said. “I asked people to help
me but the man had fled by then.”
The cyclist said
that rather than questioning her clothes, people, specifically men, should
focus on making society better for me. “Men tell their wives and daughters not
to leave the house when it’s dark outside. I just want to know, do men turn
into beasts at night that they can’t control themselves and behave? Do you not
trust yourselves at all?”
She said she
doesn’t understand what thrill some men get from groping women. “I am not
trying to spread anything against men. I just want to know why other men don’t
do something when women are harassed on the road?”
After her video
was uploaded, the Islamabad police called her and inquired about the incident.
The Islamabad police said people’s security is of utmost importance to them,
adding that they will find the culprit and take him to task.
https://www.samaa.tv/news/2020/09/pakistan-harassment-law-samar-khan-islamabad/
--------
Iranians call
out education ministry for removing images of girls from math textbook
Tamara Abueish
Iran removed
illustrations of girls from the front covers of a third-grade math textbook,
prompting dozens of Iranians to take to social media platforms to call out the
Ministry of Education.
As schools in
Iran reopened following months-long closure due to the coronavirus pandemic,
Iranian parents noticed that the cover of the latest edition of a textbook was
different.
For all the
latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
In previous
years, an illustration of three boys and two girls playing under a tree was
sketched on the front cover. This year, however, only the three boys remained.
“I think I drew
this in the year [1992] for the third grade math textbook… it is unbelievable
to me that they would take [someone’s] drawing so easily and remove the girls!”
the drawing’s illustrator, Nasim Bahari said in an Instagram post of an earlier
version of the book alongside the latest copy.
According to
Bahari, the illustration was changed because one girl was drawn sitting on a
tree while another looked as if she was reaching out to hug one of the boys.
“Iran’s
Department of Education removed picture of girls from 3rd grade Math book
cover! Just a reminder that Iranian Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani who was the
first women in the world that received the highest award in math! You can
delete female pictures but not their success!” one Twitter user said.
Another Twitter
account, dedicated to reporting on Iran, wrote “#Iran’s Ministry of Education
said the pics of girls were removed from this year’s 3rd-grade math books due
to “artistic, aesthetic and psychological” reasons and because the front cover
was “too crowded.”
Under Iranian
law, the rights of women are limited and so much of their freedom is dependent
on whether they have their male relatives’ permission. Iran has also made hijab
compulsory for all women, punishing for all those who muster the courage to
defy the rigid laws.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/11/Iranians-call-out-education-ministry-for-removing-images-of-girls-from-math-textbook
--------
Indian mission
in Dubai repatriates 112 distressed women in 2020
September 9,
2020
Majority of the
women who wished to return were victims of illegal job scams.
A total of 112
distressed Indian women were repatriated since January this year, a senior
official at the Consulate-General of India in Dubai told Khaleej Times.
"Of these, 82 were sent from the consulate shelter, while 30 were
repatriated directly," said Neeraj Agarwal, Consul - press, information
and culture.
On Tuesday and
Wednesday (September 7 and 8), two women were repatriated to Hyderabad and
Amritsar.
The diplomat
said majority of the women who wished to return were victims of illegal job
scams. "Many others could not cope with the job requirements and some were
subjected to some form of trauma as well," said Agarwal.
"On
Tuesday, we had two cases. Rani was brought to the UAE by an illegal agent on
the promise of a better job opportunity, but was left stranded. We provided her
with shelter," he said.
The second
woman, Sandeep Kaur, arrived in the UAE with the promise of a lucrative job.
"She did not have a problem with her employer as such and had some medical
issues," Agarwal explained.
Don't bypass
e-migrate system
He stressed that
it was very important that women who come on housemaid visas not bypass the
e-migrate system. "The system ensures their safety and well-being. We do
not want them to fall into trouble once they arrive here," he added.
Roop Sidhu,
general secretary of the Indian Association in Ajman, said they have helped
repatriate 60 women. "Housemaid cases are a daily issue for us. The cases
are a mixed bag, but I can say a majority of the cases are women who come here
on a visit visa in search of a job as domestic helpers. They are mostly victims
of fraudulent recruitment agents.
"Once they
come here, they realise the situation is very different. They are kept in
various homes on a trial basis and if their work is satisfactory, they are
hired. Not everyone is comfortable with the process."
He said some of
them are not happy with the work, some are ill-treated, while others have a
language problem.
In such cases,
Chaya Devi, the distress cases in-charge at the Indian Association Ajman
intervenes, and with help from the consulate, repatriate them.
Hiring an Indian
housemaid via the e-migrate system requires individuals to deposit a refundable
amount of Dh9,200. "This is not an affordable amount for many. That is why
people end up going to independent agents since it is cheaper," he
explained.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/dubai/indian-mission-in-dubai-repatriates-112-distressed-women-in-2020
--------
As war and
coronavirus pandemic rages, Yemeni girls find strength in kickboxing
Posted by: Alfea
Jamal
Sep 11, 2020
At the centre of
Yemen’s capital Sanaa, a city battered by years of war and months of pandemic,
a row of young girls in red, white and black white uniforms pummel punching
bags and practice self defence. In the corner a mother looks on in pride as a
female instructor shows her daughter how to thwart an assailant with a gun. The
girls are all students at Academia gym, a project set up by champion Yemeni
kickboxer Seham Amer.
“In Yemeni
society, people fear for girls,” she said. “Many come to train to learn
self-defence, others train for fitness.” Amer set up the gym to empower women
and girls in the city in 2015, a year after the Iran-aligned Houthi group took
over Sanaa and most of north Yemen after ousting the Saudi-backed government of
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The Houthis are now engaged in a running
battle with a Saudi-led coalition - a war that has killed more than 100,000
people across Yemen and reduced large parts of the capital to rubble.
But the classes
have kept going through the fighting, and through the restrictions imposed to
contain the spread of the coronavirus. Parts of the programme have even
expanded, said Amer, who has won gold and silver medals in international
kickboxing competitions, and prizes and certificates in other martial arts.
“Before we had a problem with little girls who stop their training by 12 to 14
years as they could not continue with male trainers,” she said. “I feel that I
have changed that now, older women come to train with me in my gym.”
Around 50 women
and girls have signed up for kickboxing, karate, kung fu and other programmes.
“The first thing that happened when I started training was that I lost weight,
then my self-confidence had a boost and my personality got stronger,” one of
the students, Dhikra, said.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/as-war-and-coronavirus-pandemic-rages-yemeni-girls-find-strength-in-kickboxing/story-lDj9CjVaGnIIh8bRm2JG6H.html
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/pakistan-investigator-says-woman-raped/d/122843
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