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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 6 Apr 2023, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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Saudi Arabia, UAE Top List Of Best Countries For Solo Female Travelers

New Age Islam News Bureau

06 April 2023 

• British Embassyin Riyadh Hosts Ramadan Event Celebrating Women In Kingdom

• Egyptian Women Arrested After Trying To Sell Child On Facebook

• UN: Ban On Afghan Female Staffers By Taliban Unacceptable

• Families Of Murdered Women Defend Anti-Femicide Group In Turkey Court

• Canada Repatriating Women And Children From Syria – Lawyer

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-arabia-uae-female-travelers/d/129504

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Saudi Arabia, UAE top list of best countries for solo female travelers

05 April ,2023

General view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Unsplash, Ekrem Osmanoglu)

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Saudi Arabia and the UAE have topped the list with some of the best places to travel alone as a woman in terms of safety, things to do, and equality, a report has found.

After two years of restricted travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers across the world are eager to return to exploring.

For solo female travelers, some of the main concerns when choosing a city to travel to is safety and gender equality.

Leading online travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip ranked 65 global cities based on date points relating to cost, safety, gender equality, and the quality of tourism.

Medina

The safest city in the world is Saudi Arabia’s Medina, according to experts from InsureMyTrip.

The city’s overall safety score was 9.29, with a rank of 9.3 out of 10 for “absence of worry about attacks based on gender” and a score of 82.75 for “feeling safe walking alone at night.”

It is ranked seventh in the list of best places for solo female travelers.

Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh saw the biggest increase in ratings in just one year, moving from 60th place in 2022 to 24th place in 2023, according to the data.

All data points for Riyadh increased in the past year, but more specifically “gender equality.”

The Kingdom’s capital also came in at 23 out of 65 for the quality of tourism.

Dubai

The UAE’s Dubai ranked first for the world’s best city for solo female travelers, with an overall score of 8.12 out of 10.

The city, which welcomes millions of travelers year-round, ranked 8.95 for safety and had the highest score on the company’s list for “feeling safe walking alone at night” with a rank of 10 out of 10.

Dubai also overtook New York for the best tourism spot, coming in at 9.78 for the “quality of things to do” and a 5/5 star ranking for “TikTok popularity.”

Lowest ranking cities

The least safe cities on InsureMyTrip’s list were Johannesburg, South Africa with a score of 0.55 out of 10 for overall safety, and Kuala Lumpur with an overall safety score of 3.36 out of 10.

Paris came in as the third least safe city in the world with an overall safety score of 3.62 out of 10.

According to the data, the three countries with the lowest equality scores are Malaysia with 6.75 overall, Russia with 7.31 overall, and Indonesia 7.56 overall – all out of 10.

Source: Al Arabiya

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2023/04/05/Saudi-Arabia-UAE-top-list-of-best-countries-for-solo-female-travelers

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British Embassy in Riyadh Hosts Ramadan Event Celebrating Women In Kingdom

Lama Alhamawi

April 05, 2023

The British Embassy hosted a Ghabga, a women’s Ramadan event for UK alumni to network, share experiences and celebrate Saudi women. (AN Photo/Lama Alhamawi)

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RIYADH: The British Embassy in Riyadh recently hosted a Ghabga, a Ramadan event for female UK alumni to network, share experiences and celebrate Saudi women.

“Women’s networks anywhere in the world are incredibly important. I think women have a special responsibility to other women to support them, to empower them, and to help them progress their careers,” Eilidh Kennedy McLean, the country director of the British Council, told Arab News.

The event saw the alumni and guests have poetry readings and open discussions.

The word Ghabga translates to gathering in Arabic and is an event that takes place late in the evenings during Ramadan.

“We wanted to have an event during Ramadan because it is a very special time for us and all of our Saudi alumni in the country. We wanted to reconnect with all of our female friends and celebrate this special time together,” said McLean.

The event opened with McLean highlighting the gathering’s importance. “One of the strongest networks we have as women is the support of other women,” she said.

“I think this is a fantastic opportunity for us all to meet new friends, build our networks and benefit from the kinship of other women,” McLean said.

The women’s event also served as a celebration of the Saudi Year of Poetry.

Wedyan Al-Madani, a Saudi staff member of the UK embassy, read out two poems about the year of poetry and the Kingdom’s women.

Several discussions were held including on challenges in the workplace. A talk on health was led by Dr. Amina Butt, a consultant in obstetrics and gynecology.

The participants tackled misconceptions and challenges women face around health, with topics including contraception, treating menstrual pain, and menopause.

“Support groups are really helpful to raise the awareness among women on certain problems plus it’s also important that women can share their experiences and their stories with each other and they are learning,” Butt said.

During her discussion, many women in the audience highlighted the health challenges they face, and the need for more support groups on miscarriage and menopause.

To ensure inclusivity and accessibility Butt said these support groups “need to be multicultural and multilingual so that everybody can share. Saudi is expanding and we do need to work as a big society and not in small pockets.”

Source: Arab News

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2281771/saudi-arabia

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Egyptian Women Arrested After Trying To Sell Child On Facebook

By Mohammad Ayesh

5 April 2023

The Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre in Badr city, 65 km east of Cairo, during a government-guided tour for the media on 16 January 2022 (AFP)

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Egyptian offers her child for sale on Facebook

An Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced two women - a mother and grandmother - to three years in prison for offering a newborn baby for sale on the social media site Facebook, according to the London-based newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed.

According to the case details, the two women offered the child for sale because he was the "result of a relationship outside the framework of marriage" and they asked for a price of 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,600).

The court also fined the two women 200,000 Egyptian pounds (about $6,400). Public Prosecutor Hamada el-Sawy referred the two defendants in the case to the criminal court on charges of human trafficking after the incident spread on social media.

The referral decision stated that the two women offered the child for sale and commercially exploited him by agreeing to offer him for sale through the personal account of the first defendant (the mother) on Facebook.

The referral decision confirmed that they exposed the child's life to danger by offering him for sale for money.

Jordanian sentenced to read Quran

A court in Jordan has sentenced a university student to recite the Holy Quran and memorise parts of it rather than serve a jail term, after convicting him of assaulting another young man and threatening him, according to the Jordanian Petra news agency.

The young man assaulted and threatened another person and caused him harm, but the victim later dropped the charges.

The court also found that the defendant was a university student and the sole breadwinner for his family, and therefore decided to give him a chance to reform himself through an alternative punishment by sending him to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

The court said in its decision that it had proved that the defendant had committed the crimes attributed to him, which warranted punishment.

However, given that the defendant was still young, it said it was necessary to give him a chance to reintegrate into society away from the sentence of imprisonment or a financial penalty.

Algerian officials' properties seized

Algerian judicial authorities have begun confiscating the assets of former officials and businessmen involved in corruption cases during the term of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, according to a report published by the London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

One of the most prominent cases dealt with by the Algerian judiciary is the file of former health minister, AbdelmalekBoudiaf, in which the court issued a decision to punish him with seven years of imprisonment and a financial fine of 4 million dinars ($30,000).

The court also sentenced his son to four years in prison with a financial penalty of 3 million dinars ($22,000), while his daughter was sentenced to 18 months of suspended imprisonment, with the seizure of all movable properties and bank accounts belonging to the family.

Algerian authorities also decided to confiscate all properties of the former minister of solidarity and family, Djamel Ould Abbas, after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal against charges of embezzlement and squandering of funds of terrorism victims.

The Supreme Court's rejection of the appeals submitted by the former minister means that two previous judgments against him have become final and effective, one being a six-year prison sentence and another being a four-year prison sentence, in addition to immediately initiating the confiscation of his immovable and movable properties and bank balances that were not declared.

Source: MiddleEastEye

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-arrested-sell-child-facebook-arabic-press-review

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UN: Ban on Afghan female staffers by Taliban unacceptable

Apr 5, 2023

ISLAMABAD: The UN said Wednesday it cannot accept a Taliban decision to bar Afghan female staffers from working at the agency, calling it an “unparalleled” violation of women's rights.

The statement came a day after the UN said it had been informed by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban that Afghan women would no longer be allowed to work for the world body. That announcement came after the UN mission in the country expressed concern that its female staffers were prevented from reporting to work in eastern Nangarhar province.

The Taliban decision is “an unparalleled violation of women’s rights, a flagrant breach of humanitarian principles, and a breach of international rules,” Wednesday's statement said.

The Taliban have not commented publicly on the ban and have not released a statement.

The UN statement said several UN national female personnel have already experienced restrictions on their movements, including harassment, intimidation and detention.

“The UN has therefore instructed all national staff – men and women – not to report to the office until further notice,” the statement said.

Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during its previous stint in power, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since taking over the country in 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan after two decades of war.

Girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade. Women are barred from working, studying, traveling without a male companion, and even going to parks. Women must also cover themselves from head to toe.

Afghan women were already barred from working at national and international non-governmental organizations, disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid, but the ban did not previously cover working for the UN

That changed this week. On Wednesday, the UN mission said that according to the Taliban order, no Afghan woman is permitted to work for the UN in Afghanistan, and that “this measure will be actively enforced.”

The ban is unlawful under international law and cannot be accepted by the United Nations, the statement said.

The secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, is engaging Taliban authorities to convey the UN's protest and to seek an immediate reversal of the order. The UN said it is also engaging member states, the donor community and humanitarian partners.

“In the history of the United Nations, no other regime has ever tried to ban women from working for the Organization just because they are women," said Otunbayeva. “This decision represents an assault against women, the fundamental principles of the UN, and on international law.”

Otunbayeva is a former president and foreign minister of the Kyrgyz Republic. She was appointed by the secretary-general in coordination with the UN Security Council. A UN spokesman said Tuesday there’s been no Taliban action regarding the UN’s senior leadership.

The UN has about 3,900 staff in Afghanistan, including approximately 3,300 Afghans and 600 international personnel, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The total also includes 600 Afghan women and 200 women from other countries.

Dujarric wouldn’t speculate when asked Tuesday if the UN can continue to operate in Afghanistan if the Taliban don’t reverse the ban on Afghan women. The UN contingency plan “is almost too tragic to contemplate,” he added later.

Taliban restrictions in Afghanistan, especially the bans on education and NGO work, have drawn fierce international condemnation. But the Taliban have shown no signs of backing down, claiming the bans are temporary suspensions in place allegedly because women were not wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, correctly and because gender segregation rules were not being followed.

Source: Times Of India

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/un-ban-on-afghan-female-staffers-by-taliban-unacceptable/articleshow/99276049.cms

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Families of murdered women defend anti-femicide group in Turkey court

Apr 5, 2023

Istanbul: The families of women murdered by men demonstrated Wednesday in defence of a prominent Turkish anti-femicide campaign group accused of activity against law and morals.

Prosecutors had filed a lawsuit in April against We Will Stop Femicide Platform, one of the country's leading feminist organisations. If convicted, it could be shut down.

The group has been campaigning against the murder and abuse of women since its foundation in 2010.

Protesters gathered alongside the families of murdered women outside Istanbul's main court ahead of the third hearing in the case, unfurling a large banner, "The platform will not stop. Women's murders will stop".

"We will defend the rights of everyone whose lives were stolen in this country. And those days are close," group representative GulsumKav told reporters.

The 'We Will Stop Femicide Platform' was founded a year after a high-profile murder case of 18-year-old MunevverKarabulut, whose body had been dumped into a waste container in Istanbul.

The grisly murder sparked widespread uproar and repulsion, especially after the suspect managed to evade justice for more than six months.

In the early days, the platform brought attention only to femicide trials, but now they track all types of violence against women as well as LGBTQ individuals and children.

The group says 69 women have been killed in Turkey since January this year, after 397 last year and 427 in 2021.

FigenYetiskin, a mother whose daughter was murdered, said the platform supported her in more than a dozen court hearings and provided legal assistance, including hiring a lawyer.

"They always stood by me in court. Contrary to its shutdown, I believe that the platform should be bolstered and supported more," she told the court.

"They taught me I am a woman and I have rights, they supported me in 16 hearings for the arrest of my daughter's murderer," she said.

"They walked together with me and I will walk together with them forever".

'Make our voice heard' - Saadet Irem Karlidag told the court the platform gave her family huge support in shedding light on the murder of her aunt.

"My aunt was killed in daylight before our eyes. We could make our voice heard thanks to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform," she said.

"They didn't leave us alone. And today I stand by them. I believe this case is unlawful."

The judge adjourned the hearing on Wednesday and it will resume on September 13.

The association was a vocal critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision in 2021 to pull Turkey out of the Istanbul Convention, which requires countries to set up laws aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women.

Social conservatives in Turkey say the convention promotes homosexuality and threatens traditional family values.

"This case is aimed at civil society, and will deeply affect human rights defenders as well as LGBTQ advocates," PolatYamaner, a lawyer for Turkey's Human Rights Foundation, told the court.

"If this unjust case is dropped, I will feel I am a lawyer again on this symbolic day," said another lawyer, NazanMoroglu, referring to the April 5 marking of Lawyers' Day in Turkey, in comments that received applause from the audience.

Source: Times Of India

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/families-of-murdered-women-defend-anti-femicide-group-in-turkey-court/articleshow/99270851.cms?from=mdr

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Canada Repatriating Women And Children From Syria – Lawyer

By Madeline Halpert

Canada is repatriating a group of women and children who have been held at least three years in Islamic State camps in Syria, their lawyer says.

The federal government agreed in January to bring back six women and their 13 children, but pushed back on repatriating four imprisoned men.

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said on Wednesday the women and children were "en route" to Canada.

Ottawa has yet to confirm they are in transit.

"I've talked to their various family members here in Canada and they are absolutely delighted that some three-and-a-half years after we started this process of trying to bring the women and children home, their loved ones are on their way," MrGreenspon said.

He declined to comment on when or where they would arrive in Canada.

It is unclear whether one woman, from the Canadian province of Quebec, and her six children are among the group being repatriated, though MrGreenspon told the BBC that his " information is that she is not on the flight".

Canada offered to repatriate her children without her, as officials are still conducting a security and risk assessment for the mother, said MrGreenspon, who represents the family.

He said Canada's department of foreign affairs, Global Affairs, told the mother last week that she could either send her children home without her or keep them in the camp with her.

"Her choice was that she wants the children to be repatriated and her to be with them at the same time," he said.

The BBC has reached out to Global Affairs for comment.

Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether Canada was breaking government policy by asking a mother to send her children back to Canada without her, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was "engaged with all of our responsibilities".

"The situation in north-eastern Syria is incredibly volatile," he said. "Canada is watching very, very closely."

He declined to comment any further.

The repatriation could be the biggest so far for Canada after the so-called Islamic State caliphate was destroyed in 2019.

Last October, the RCMP, Canada's federal police force, arrested a 27-year-old Canadian woman returning from Syria and charged her with terrorism-related offences. Another woman, who returned to Canada after marrying an Islamic State fighter, was also arrested and released on bail while officials seek a peace bond in her case.

It is unclear if any of the women being returned this week may face charges. The BBC has reached out to the RCMP for comment.

A federal court has also ordered the Canadian government to repatriate four men who have not been formally charged with crimes but are imprisoned in camps in Syria. British-Canadian dual national, Jack Letts, whose British citizenship was revoked, is one of the four.

Canada has appealed the court decision to repatriate the men, arguing it had no obligation to bring back citizens from Syria because it had closed its embassy there in 2012.

Human rights campaigners have pushed the government to repatriate its citizens.

Over the past four years, only a handful of women and children have been brought back to Canada.

More than 42,000 foreign nationals, most of whom are children, are being held in dangerous conditions in Islamic State camps across Syria, according to non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch.

Source: BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65196882

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