U.N. Meeting Equates “Women’s Rights” with Abortion, Sexual Rights
New Age Islam News Bureau
3 Apr 2013
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• Mumbai Police Memo on Girls Islamic Organisation Irks Muslims
• Foetus, Not Mother, Was Main Focus, Says Savita’s Death Report
• ‘Women Are Systematically Educated Into Domesticity’
• Reserved Seats for Women Challenged In Lahore High Court
• Saudi Ministry Urged To Grant Housewives Work Permits
• Mother Smuggles 2 Children to Bahrain across Causeway
• Hospital Guard, Nurse in Jeddah Accused of Harassment of a 14-Year-Old Girl
• Four Toddlers to Spend 5 Months in UAE Prison after Mums Jailed
• Dubai Unveils New Fostering Rules for Care of Abandoned Children
• Salon Owners in Dammam Seek Permits to Open Women’s Gyms
• White Ribbon Holds Training Session for Women Journalists
• Question, Answer Session Clears Misconceptions about Women's Rights in Islam
• Yemeni Filmmaker Uses Her Tortured Past To Help Women
• Why One Woman Is Shunning Tradition to Run For Pakistani Parliament
• Nigerian Physicist Wins UNESCO Awards for Women in Science
• Madonna Accused of Snubbing Malawi's President
• WAM, Jeddah Encouraging Ambitious Women to Develop Projects
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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U.N. Meeting Equates “Women’s Rights” with Abortion, Sexual Rights
Grace Melton
April 2, 2013
Once again, this year’s U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)—ostensibly themed on the prevention of violence against women and girls—actually focused on expanding so-called sexual and reproductive rights for women and girls, including abortion.
Prior to negotiations even beginning, media coverage pre-emptively pointed a finger at religion and culture for a supposed lack of consensus on the need to protect women and girls from violence. A New York Times editorial singled out “conservative hard-liners,” including American Christian groups and Muslim states, as well as the Vatican, Iran, and Russia for blame, suggesting they employ traditional values to justify the violation of women’s basic human rights. (The editorial board of The New York Times might be surprised to learn that sociological evidence and Christian theology alike argue against that accusation.)
Sadly, albeit ironically, delegations from the United States and European Union countries were the ones who seemed willing to sacrifice women’s genuine human rights in pursuit of expanded abortion rights when they pushed for references to “the inherent right to life, liberty, and security of persons,”—taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—to be removed from the negotiated text.
The U.S. and EU were not alone in calling for more expansive language on abortion and reproductive rights; several U.N. bureaucrats, such as Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, were outspoken in support of the same goal. A coalition of feminist organizations and abortion advocates circulated a statement highlighting their concerns over the outcome document negotiations, claiming:
[T]here should no longer be any contention on any issues related to the definition and inter-sectionality of women and girls experiencing violence against women, including in relations to sexual and reproductive health and rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, harmful practices perpetuated in the context of negative culture and traditions, among others. (Emphasis added.)
Abortion wasn’t the only hot-button issue that fuelled the debates over the CSW outcome document; numerous debates ensued over the inclusion of the phrase “gender identity” and expanding “gay rights.” The U.S., which under the Obama Administration has been aggressive in promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights as a priority of its foreign policy, took a leading role.
Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., conveyed the Obama Administration’s disappointment that the final document “did not explicitly recognize that women and girls should not suffer violence or discrimination based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” and promised that “the United States will continue to fight relentlessly to ensure equality for all people regardless of who they are or whom they love.”
In the final outcome, pro-life delegations and their pro-family allies effectively held the line against further expansion of so-called reproductive rights; abortion advocates succeeded only marginally in some of the language battles, but failed in their efforts to define access to abortion as a human right. Liberal activists were stymied in their attempt to create any new “gay rights,” as their efforts to include references to “gender identity” and “women who love women” in the negotiated text fell flat.
These battles over negotiated language, like the greater ideological ones that give rise to them, are far from over. Indeed, this year’s season of U.N. Commissions has just begun. One can hope that in future meetings U.N. delegates will engage sincere policy proposals to tackle concrete problems, step away from a monomaniacal focus on so-called reproductive and sexual rights, and seek to promote and protect the natural human rights of all men, women, and children.
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/04/02/another-u-n-meeting-equates-womens-rights-with-abortion-sexual-rights/
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Mumbai Police Memo on Girls Islamic Organisation Irks Muslims
02 Apr 2013, IANS
Mumbai, April 2 (IANS) Irked by the police's alleged attempt to malign the Muslim community through an internal circular, a social organisation will lodge a complaint with Mumbai Police later Tuesday before taking legal action, an official said.
The complaint by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JeIH), to be handed over in a day or so, will seek to know from police on what evidence did they point a finger of suspicion at Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO), which imparts Quran teachings and self-development training to Muslim girls, said JeIH secretary Aslam Gazi.
"If they have any such material, they must prove it, otherwise tender a proper apology. If they don't, then we shall initiate legal action against the police department," Gazi told IANS.
Gazi's objection is to an internal memo sent to all police stations asking them to keep tabs on the girls' schools run by the JeIH and the activities of its affiliated organisation, GIO.
The memo was sent out last week, but it was leaked to the media, creating a furore in the minority community, which accused the police of harassing Muslims in the name of security and intelligence gathering.
While Additional Police Commissioner (Special Branch) Naval Bajaj has tendered a verbal apology and ordered a probe into how the sensitive memo leaked out, the JeIH is not satisfied.
"This has happened earlier with madrassas. Innocent Muslim youths picked up for alleged terror connections never stood before courts. Then police give oral apologies and said they would not repeat the mistakes, but they continue. This time we have decided not to take this lying down," Gazi said.
Among other things, the police internal memo hinted at the possibility of GIO surreptitiously trying to train women students for "Jihadi activities".
Attempting damage control, Bajaj made a verbal apology to a delegation of Muslim leaders which met him here Monday and also promised to issue a clarification over the memo.
Officials claim that the "intelligence input" on GIO was received from outside sources and it was the duty of the police to verify it, as a normal routine.
Gazi said that the GIO is over a decade old and has hundreds of local units all over India which are involved in imparting Quran teachings and self-development techniques to the young girls.
Besides, the JeIH runs over three dozen schools in Maharashtra and is engaged in other social activities, he added.
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/04/02/243--Police-memo-on-Girls-Islamic-Organisation-irks-Muslims-.html
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Foetus, Not Mother, Was Main Focus, Says Savita’s Death Report
Apr 03 2013
London: Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, who died in Ireland last year after being denied abortion, may have been saved had the hospital staff not paid "overemphasis" on the welfare of the unviable foetus and "underemphasis" on her deteriorating health, according to an inquiry report.
The report by the Health Service Executive on 31-year-old Savita's death at Galway University Hospital found that her "vital signs were inadequately monitored; she was seriously ill, but that this was not acted on... she had further deteriorated, and still this was not acted on adequately".
"The investigating team considers there was an apparent overemphasis on the need not to intervene until the foetal heart stopped, together with an underemphasis on the need to focus an appropriate attention on monitoring for and managing the risk of infection and sepsis in the mother," the Irish Times yesterday reported, citing the inquiry report draft.
Savita, hailing from Karnataka, died from blood poisoning on October 28 after doctors refused to terminate her 17-week long pregnancy, telling her that the foetal heartbeat was still present and "this is a Catholic country".
Ireland's abortion laws are the strictest in Europe. Savita's death caused widespread outrage in India and re-ignited protests and debate on abortion laws.
Savita's husband Praveen Halappanavar, an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, was dissatisfied with the report, which was delivered to his solicitor on Friday.
"No he is not satisfied because it doesn't answer why. It doesn't answer the question why was the request for the termination not acceded to even when she became ill and her life was in danger, why wasn¿t it acted upon then," the paper quoted Halappanavar's solicitor Gerard O'Donnell as saying.
"He wants to find out why this happened, why she was not treated, why she did not get treated. It is very clear from the report there was an overemphasis on the foetus and an underemphasis on the patient. That is what all this is about."
O'Donnell said his client believed that Savita died because she was refused abortion. O'Donnell will meet the chairman of the inquiry team later this week.
The HSE inquiry was established on November 20 under the Chairmanship of Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at St George's Hospital, University of London.
The inquiry team had initially included three staff from Galway University Hospital although they were later removed and replaced following objections by Halappanavar.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/foetus-not-mother-was-main-focus-says-savita-halappanavars-death-report/1097044/
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‘Women are systematically educated into domesticity’
April 3, 2013
KARACHI: Despite the fact that women are systematically educated into believing their place is at home, an overwhelmingly female audience gathered to listen to four women talk on Tuesday.
St Joseph’s College for Women’s principal Dr Bernadette Dean, senior journalist Zubeida Mustafa, Aurat Foundation’s director Mahnaz Rahman and National Commission for the Status of Women’s former chairperson Anees Haroon were present at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist) to speak about ‘Women in a changing society’.
“Thousands of girls in our country will never see the inside of a classroom,” said Dr Dean. “There is a very high dropout rate of women in schools and colleges because they are systematically ‘educated’ into believing that a woman’s role is in the home.”
Dean went on to speak about the increasing awareness among women of men and masculinity being promoted unfairly in our society.
“I am told time and again that ‘he’ encapsulates ‘she’ in text books and in everyday use of language, but that is simply not true,” she said, adding that every ‘she’ has its own identity and should be recognised as such.
“In textbooks, men are shown as being invincible, just because they are men,” she pointed out. “They are shown without relationships with their wives and children except as breadwinners of the family. Then where do these children come from?” she asked.
Dean added that textbooks depict the old reality and deny the new one. “They fail to acknowledge the rising number of women entering the public sphere. We need to be able to imagine new realities in order to see them come true.”
Women through the ages
Rahman took a trip down memory lane when she spoke about the relative independence offered to women since 1947. “When we were in school about 60-plus years ago, people had a modern outlook on life,” she said. “We wanted Pakistan to follow in the footsteps of the Western world and educated men wanted to take their women along with them.”
She recalled that women went as far as presenting a charter of their rights to the government in late October, 1955.
“Our generation also saw and tolerated the first martial law. Every martial law pushed us behind and every dictator was bad for women,” she believed. “Under Ziaul Haq, it seemed as if history had begun to move in reverse.”
Rahman recalled how women’s clothes became a point of debate under that regime. “Irrational values, such as forcing women to have their dupatta on their heads at all times, became the norm.”
She felt allowing democratic governments to complete their terms would be instrumental in improving the status of women.
Mustafa, one of the first female journalists in Pakistan who joined Dawn as an assistant editor in 1975, spoke about Pakistan going through a state of transition on a number of fronts, including women’s rights.
“Maintaining traditions is easy. Going against them is difficult,” she said. “There will be fluctuations. We will find ourselves moving forward and then backward on women’s rights just like on every other area of development.”
She added that Pakistanis must be very clear in their heads about what we want. “And that is an equal Pakistan.”
“We cannot educate a woman and then prevent her from working or from choosing who she wants to marry.”
According to Mustafa, one of the reasons why women in developing countries didn’t get their rights was because of poor health and nutrition. “Even today, men eat first in some households and women eat whatever is left.”
http://tribune.com.pk/story/530270/women-are-systematically-educated-into-domesticity/
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Reserved Seats for Women Challenged In Lahore High Court
Apr 3, 2013
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday admitted a petition for regular hearing, challenging election procedure for women in parliament and Punjab Assembly. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah sought replies from the Election Commission of Pakistan, law secretary and others within two weeks. Petitioner, lawyer Tariq Aziz Malik submitted that there were 188 reserved seats for women in the parliament and provincial assembly. He stated that it was illegal and unconstitutional under article 226 of the Constitution, that states all elections should be held by secret ballot. The petitioner stated that the reserved seats for women cost a billion rupees in salaries annually to the national exchequer. He said that there was no justification to allocate these seats to women, and instead the same seats could be allocated to technocrats and experts from different fields, who can play a better role in the country’s progress. He submitted that the Supreme Court full bench in 18th amendment judgment had already held these elections on reserved seats as ultra vires of the constitution. He requested to declare the women election on reserved seats as unconstitutional.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\04\03\story_3-4-2013_pg7_13
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Saudi Ministry Urged To Grant Housewives Work Permits
3 April 2013
The Ministries of Labour and Education’s assurance that the present campaign against illegals will not target schools has relieved private school authorities as well as expatriate parents.
Education Ministry spokesman Muhammad Al-Dakhini said reports about the closure of some private and foreign schools were not true, adding that all schools have been operating normally. “Relevant government departments have informed us that no raids on schools have taken place. The press reports are based on rumours. The ministry wants to ensure the stability of education process and protect interest of students,” he said.
Syed Masood Ahmed, principal of the International Indian School in Jeddah, said IISJ has taken steps to legalize all its workers. He hoped the Labour Ministry would cooperate to expedite the transfer of some of its employees’ sponsorships.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/446903
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Mother smuggles 2 children to Bahrain across Causeway
April 03, 2013
DAMMAM — The Saudi Embassy in Bahrain has contacted the Ministry of Interior after two children were allegedly smuggled into Bahrain by their mother, Al-Madinah newspaper reported Tuesday.
Their Saudi father was married to a Bahraini woman who traveled to the Gulf country across King Fahd Causeway and was able to smuggle her two children without any identification documents.
The children’s father said his wife managed to smuggle the two boys through the bridge’s diplomatic access. He claimed that a woman helped facilitate their escape.
The father said he would not take any action against his wife, and his only demand was for anyone who helped her to be held accountable for their actions.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130403159667
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Hospital Guard, Nurse in Jeddah Accused of Harassment of a 14-Year-Old Girl
April 03, 2013
JEDDAH — Police are investigating the alleged sexual harassment of a 14-year-old girl at a hospital in south Jeddah. The girl notified police that the private security guard lured her to the archives room to sign some papers. He then allegedly phoned the nurse, and they both began sexually harassing her. The nurse and the private guard were detained pending further investigations.
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130403159671
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Four toddlers to spend 5 months in UAE prison after mums jailed
Salam Al Amir
Apr 2, 2013
DUBAI // Four children aged between one and two years old will spend the next five months of their lives in prison after their mothers were found guilty of immigration offences.
The mothers of Princess, Angel, Sofia and Angel-Joy, were arrested on December 13 last year after police received a tip-off they were living illegally.
Upon their arrest police discovered the four girls, each of whom had been born out of wedlock.
Full report at:
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/courts/four-toddlers-to-spend-5-months-in-uae-prison-after-mums-jailed#ixzz2POIaHMN1
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Dubai unveils new fostering rules for care of abandoned children
Wafa Issa
Apr 3, 2013
DUBAI // Abandoned children will be cared for by professional foster mothers in family environments as a part of changes to the emirate's surrogate-parenting system.
And welfare authorities are calling for de-facto foster parents caring for children without telling the Government to come forward.
Under the new system, groups of up to six children will be looked after by a paid foster mother in settings as close as possible to those of a normal Emirati family.
The children will stay in these homes for as long as is needed, until permanent surrogate families can be found for them.
Full report at:
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/dubai-unveils-new-fostering-rules-for-care-of-abandoned-children#ixzz2POIUNCbe
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Salon Owners in Dammam Seek Permits to Open Women’s Gyms
April 03, 2013
DAMMAM — A number of owners of beauty salons in Dammam applied to the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW) for licenses to open gyms inside their salons.
They were reacting to reports on social networking sites that the Interior Ministry has approved procedures to issue licenses for women’s gyms.
It was impossible in the past for the owners of such salons to open a section inside their salons where they could provide relaxation massage, sauna and other workout equipment.
Nora Al-Dhwaihi, who owns a salon in Dammam, said herself and a few women went to the Dammam Mayoralty and the GPYW to inquire about licenses.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130403159661
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White Ribbon Holds Training Session for Women Journalists
Apr 3, 2013
ISLAMABAD: White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan (WRCP), in collaboration with the Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS) of Germany, organised a training workshop for women journalists under the Continued Professional Education (CPE) programme here on Tuesday.
Britta Petersen, the Country Director HBS, instructed the journalists on different aspects and issues of ‘Conflict Sensitive Journalism’ like journalism’s unconscious role, reliable journalism & democracy, newsroom culture and good journalism. She gave insightful tips to the women journalists on how they can cope with the challenges of professional life by keeping their dignity intact.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\04\03\story_3-4-2013_pg11_2
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Question, answer session clears misconceptions about women's rights in Islam
Haley Davis | April 2, 2013
Self-identified as Muslim by religion, Arab by race and American by culture, an OU alumna cleared misconceptions about Islamic women’s rights at a question and answer session Monday.
Malaka Elyazgi is an Islamic woman activist who researches women’s rights, said Ersin Ozbenli, aerospace and mechanical engineering graduate student and member of the Interfaith Dialogue Student Association, which held the event 5 to 7 p.m. Monday in the Physical Sciences Center.
“There are some misconceptions about women’s rights in Islam, and as an Islamic woman, Elyazgi was able to clear up those misconceptions,” Ozbenli said. “Any and all questions were welcome regarding this issue.”
As a young woman, the way people viewed Elyazgi affected the way she viewed herself, and she had some struggle finding her identity, she said.
Full report at:
http://www.oudaily.com/news/2013/apr/02/women-islam-coverage/
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Yemeni filmmaker uses her tortured past to help women
3 April 2013
Khadija Al-Salami, Yemen's first female filmmaker, had a tough struggle growing up. The 47-year-old had to endure betrayal, torture and other abuses in her formative years.
“I had a very painful childhood. My father was a doctor, but then he became mentally ill because of the war going on at the time, making him extremely violent toward my mother."
When she turned 11, she was forced by her uncle into an early marriage. “At one point, I tried to commit suicide to escape from it. However, with my mother’s support I was able to withstand this appalling phase of my life and get a divorce.”
Putting that dreadful chapter far behind her, she found a job with the only television channel presenting children’s programs. She also went to school in the mornings. “It wasn’t easy for me because I had to work and support my mother at the same time because we were disowned by the family.”
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/446894
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Why one woman is shunning tradition to run for Pakistani parliament
BY WOMEN'S AGENDA / APR 03, 2013
In a country where young girls incur the wrath of militants by campaigning for their right to an education, one women has stunned her local community by announcing she is running for a seat in parliament.
In Pakistan's ultra-conservative tribal region, women are discouraged from voting. But Badam Zari, who kicked off her political career over the weekend, is shunning tradition by announcing that she will stand as a candidate in Pakistan's Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) May 11 election.
Full report at:
http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/world-of-women/why-one-women-is-shunning-tradition-to-run-for-pakistani-parliamen/201304021918
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Nigerian Physicist Wins UNESCO Awards for Women in Science
By JohnThomas Didymus
Apr 2, 2013
A Nigerian physicist Professor Francisca Okeke is one of the four winners of the 2013 L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science.
Okeke won the award for her contributions "to the understanding of daily variations of the ion currents in the upper atmosphere which may further our understanding of climate change."
According to UNESCO, Okeke's academic career has been dedicated to the study of the ionosphere and she has made outstanding contributions in her field.
The four other recipients were women scientists from Europe, Latin America, North America and the Asia/Pacific regions.
Full report at:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/347042#ixzz2PNupoMDY
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Madonna accused of snubbing Malawi's president
Madonna appeared to snub Malawi's first female president as she visited the country for the first time in two years, amid a row over the pop star's charitable work building schools.
Erin Conway-Smith
02 Apr 2013
The singer arrived in the capital Lilongwe over the long weekend by private jet, accompanied by children David and Mercy, who were both adopted from the tiny southern African nation.
The family was feted by villagers on Tuesday as they visited one of the 10 schools recently built by Madonna's Raising Malawi charity in partnership with the non-profit group BuildOn.
Senior Malawian officials however said Madonna and her team had not contacted President Joyce Banda.
Full report at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/madonna/9967443/Madonna-accused-of-snubbing-Malawis-president.html
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WAM, Jeddah Encouraging Ambitious Women to Develop Projects
April 03, 2013
JEDDAH — Women Appreciation Month is a campaign that was launched for the third consecutive year on March 1 by Femi9 stores, a Saudi brand for women’s apparel.
Each year, the goal of the campaign is to recognize and celebrate the great achievements and widespread influence of prominent women in Saudi society, whether she is a doctor, journalist, businesswoman, computer programmer, mother, or university student.
This year, WAM took one step further in its support of women as it announced the Growing Initiatives Award, an initiative which entails sponsorship of developing projects and start-up businesses owned by ambitious women who are seeking personal growth, community involvement, and expansion of their projects.
Full report at:
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130403159650
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