Women Are Being "Erased From Public Life" by Taliban: Activist Malala Yousafzai
New
Age Islam News Bureau
24
December 2022
•
Activist Narges Mohammadi Details 'Abuse' Of Detained Women In Iran
•
Yemen's Women Chafe Under Tightening Huthi Restrictions
•
Taliban Fighters Point Guns At Afghan Women, Tell Them To Go Home After
University Ban
•
Violence Against Women And Girls In Libya Must End: UN Expert
•
Women Of All Backgrounds Invited To Wear Hijab On Feb. 1 To Mark World Hijab
Day
•
New WhatsApp Service To Quicken Response To Abuse Reports Received By Dubai
Foundation For Women And Children
•
SCIRF Condemns Sentencing of 2 Iranian Baha’i Women
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/taliban-activist-malala-yousafzai/d/128707
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Women
Are Being "Erased From Public Life" by Taliban: Activist Malala
Yousafzai
Activist Malala Yousafzai
-----
By
Analisa Novak
DECEMBER
23, 2022
Nobel
Prize laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai told "CBS Mornings" that
she is not shocked that the Taliban banned women and girls from attending
universities and from getting higher education in Afghanistan.
She
said that ever since the Taliban captured power over 15 months ago, conditions
for women are getting worse and years of change are being erased in front of
the world's eyes.
"It
was their activism that made it possible for them to get access to education,
to get jobs, to be part of the parliament, to be part of everyday public life.
And suddenly that public life is taken from them. That women are erased from
public life," Yousafzai said.
Yousafzai
was shot in the head in Pakistan in 2012, when she was 15, after being targeted
by the Taliban for speaking out on education for young women. She became the
youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, at 17, for her
work in education advocacy.
The
hardline religious Taliban ruled over Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, before
U.S.-led armed forces removed the group from power, before the group retook the
country following the U.S. withdrawl in May 2021. They have since deprived
girls of their fundamental rights by banning secondary education for grades six
and above.
"They're
failing in the cultural justification, the religious justification, as well.
And it's really about the future of the Afghan people. It's up to the Afghan
people to decide how they want to live their life. It's not up to men to decide
their futures for them," said Yousafzai.
In
a statement Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S.
"condemns in the strongest terms" the Taliban's decision to ban women
and girls from attending universities in Afghanistan.
Yousafzai
is calling on more world leaders to address the issue and to be allies for
Afghan women who have been leading mass protests for months.
"The
truth of protests will be when leaders respond and hear their call to
action," she said.
Source: CBS News
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Activist
Narges Mohammadi Details 'Abuse' Of Detained Women In Iran
Ms Mohammadi, pictured here in 2007, is serving a
lengthy sentence in Evin prison
------
24
December, 2022
A
leading human rights activist in Iran has written from prison to give the BBC
details of how women detained in recent anti-government protests are being
sexually and physically abused.
Narges
Mohammadi said such assaults had become more common in recent protests.
She
is serving a lengthy sentence in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
The
protests were triggered by the death in custody in September of 22-year-old
Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating strict dress codes.
She
was detained by morality police in mid-September for allegedly wearing her
hijab, or headscarf, "improperly".
More
than 500 protesters, including 69 children, have been killed, while thousands
of others have been arrested, human rights activists say. Dozens of Iranian
security personnel are also reported to have been killed.
Many
of those arrested have allegedly been subjected to torture and other
ill-treatment in custody.
Ms
Mohammadi is deputy head of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's Defenders of Human
Rights Center. She has received several jail sentences since 2011 and is
currently in prison for "spreading propaganda".
This
year she was also included in the BBC's 100 Women - a high profile list of 100
inspiring and influential women from around the world.
'Hands
and legs tied to hook'
Ms
Mohammadi says in her letter that some of the women arrested during the recent
demonstrations were transferred to the women's ward in Evin prison.
That
gave her a chance to hear shocking details of the abuse they suffered.
She
says that one well-known activist had her hands and legs tied to a hook above
her head in the vehicle taking her to prison - and was then sexually assaulted
by security officers.
Ms
Mohammadi says she saw bruises and scars on her body.
She
says another woman who was arrested in the street was taken on a motorbike by
two security officers - one in front and one behind - and was repeatedly
assaulted.
Ms
Mohammadi says that even though reporting such abuse may intimidate the families
of women in detention, she believes it's necessary to expose what's happening -
in order to try to put a stop to it.
"Not
revealing these crimes would contribute to the continuation of application of
this repressive methods against women," she says.
"Therefore,
it seems that the assault on women activists, fighters, and protesters in Iran
should be widely and powerfully reported at the global level."
She
added that this was especially important given the pressure on civil society in
Iran.
"In
the absence of powerful independent civil organisations, the attention and
support of the media and international human rights organisations and global
public opinion is essential," she said.
Ms
Mohammadi ended the letter by expressing the belief that Iran's "brave, resilient,
lively and hopeful women" would attain victory.
"Victory
means establishing democracy, peace and human rights and ending tyranny,"
she added.
"We
will not back down."
The
Iranian authorities have not commented on the latest allegation but in the past
have vehemently denied that abuses are occurring.
But
Iran also continues to heavily repress domestic reporting of the protests, with
one recent report suggesting it was now the third largest jailer of journalists
in the world.
Source:
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64084709
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Yemen's women chafe under tightening Huthi restrictions
22/12/2022
Yemeni
student Abir al-Maqtari dreamt of studying abroad but amid a tightening of
restrictions on women echoing religious regimes in Iran and Afghanistan, Huthi
forces blocked her from leaving.
The
Iran-backed Huthis, who have controlled swathes of the Arab world's poorest
country since seizing the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, have increasingly
enforced travel restrictions on women over the past eight months, residents and
activists say.
Maqtari,
21, from Yemen's southwestern city of Taez, was ready to study in Egypt -- but
she was barred from leaving Sanaa airport without a male guardian.
"I
got a scholarship in Cairo, but the Huthis didn't let me travel through (Sanaa)
airport," she said.
"I
then thought I could try to travel via the airport in (government-held) Aden,
but the Huthis also stopped me from reaching it," she added.
Yemeni
society, although deeply conservative, has traditionally allowed space for
individual freedoms. But this is changing under the Huthi movement, which was
founded with the aim of pushing for a theocracy.
Recently
the Huthis clamped down on women travelling without a "mahram" -- or
male relative -- even within the country. Women in the rebels' northwestern
stronghold of Saada are denied contraception if they don't have a prescription
and their husband isn't present.
In
Saada and some small towns, women cannot travel alone after dark, even for
medical emergencies, while an all-female police force called the
"Zainabiyat" enforces discipline.
However,
there are numerous examples of women complaining and pushing back, especially
in the big cities.
"As
a Yemeni woman, I feel that all my rights and my freedoms are being stolen from
me," Maqtari said.
'Dangerous'
precedent
The
Huthis, from Yemen's mountainous north, belong to the Zaidi minority, an
offshoot of Shiite Islam that makes up more than a third of the fractured
country's Sunni-majority population.
The
hardline force emerged in the 1990s, rising up over alleged neglect of their
region.
It
has been fighting a pro-government coalition led by powerful neighbour Saudi
Arabia since 2015, a conflict that has left hundreds of thousands dead and
millions on the brink of famine.
Restrictions
on female freedoms, which parallel decrees issued by the fundamentalist Taliban
in Afghanistan, are not part of Yemeni law and are enforced arbitrarily through
rebel directives.
Radhya
al-Mutawakel, co-founder of Yemeni rights group Mwatana, said the travel
restrictions set a "very dangerous" precedent and disproportionately
affect women who have jobs.
"This
is the first time that a decision limiting the freedom of movement of women has
come from an official authority," Mutawakel said.
Bilqees
al-Lahbi, a gender consultant at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies think
tank, said the restrictions are aimed at satisfying the most extreme branch of
the Huthi movement and exerting political control.
"They
are inspired by both the Iranian model and that of the Taliban to silence all
opposition and subjugate society," she said.
'Talibanise
society'
But
in major cities, residents are resisting "attempts to Talibanise society",
Mutawakel said, highlighting Sanaa's younger and more defiant population.
Aicha
Ahmed was forced to close her beauty salon and gym in Sanaa for months after
the Huthis shut down swimming pools, fitness facilities and other businesses
catering exclusively to women over the summer.
After
repeated complaints and lobbying on social media she was permitted to reopen
her salon, but not the gym.
"Eight
employees lost their jobs," she said.
In
the western city of Hodeida, also under Huthi control, the owner of a cafe for
women had to fight to stay in business.
"We
told them that we were ready to respect all their conditions," the
38-year-old said, requesting anonymity over security concerns.
In
Sanaa, an outcry over prohibitions on men and women mixing at graduation
ceremonies and in restaurants, as well as a ban on music during certain events,
has forced the authorities to backtrack.
"But
it's a long-term battle," Mutawakel said.
"We
don't know who will win... because in the end, the population is
exhausted."
Source:
France24
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Taliban
fighters point guns at Afghan women, tell them to go home after university ban
Dec
23, 2022
Taliban
fighters are pointing guns at young Afghan women and telling them to go home
after they enforced a country-wide university ban this week. The university ban
is the latest edict cracking down on women's rights and freedoms, drawing
strong international condemnation.
Despite
initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women and
minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their strict interpretation of
Islamic law since seizing control of the country last year.
They
banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most
employment, and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women were
also banned from parks and gyms and prevented from travelling without a male
relative.
If
this image doesn’t break you, I don’t know what will.
Despite
Taliban banning female university education, this young woman stood outside
Kabul University today, hoping that they may still let her in. The Taliban
barbwired the main gate & only allowed male students to enter.
pic.twitter.com/TawZk8iFE6 — Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) December 22, 2022
Now,
Taliban fighters are taking to the streets and pointing guns at young women and
forcing them to walk back home from universities, The Independent reported.
“A
female student told me this morning that as she was heading to Kardan
university in Kabul, the boys were allowed to enter the gates but the Taliban
pointed their guns at the girls and told them to go home,” said Shabnam Nasimi,
the former policy special adviser to the minister for Afghan resettlement and
minister for refugees.
The
minister further said that Taliban fighters have barbwired the main gate and
only allowed male students to enter Kabul university.
However,
many brave young women have taken to the streets against the latest Taliban
order with the chant: Either for everyone or for no one. One for all, all for
one.
Human
Rights Watch has called the Taliban move "a shameful decision" that
makes clear the lack of respect for "the fundamental rights of
Afghans."
Source:
India Today
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Violence against women and girls in Libya must end: UN expert
EPHREM
KOSSAIFY
December
23, 2022
NEW
YORK: A Jordanian human rights expert working for the United Nations has called
on Libyan authorities to take urgent action to protect women and girls in the
country from what she called a “continuous cycle of rampant violence and
mistreatment,” compounded by “complete impunity” for those responsible.
The
UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Reem Alsalem, said on Friday
that she was “deeply disturbed at the widespread, systematic, and grave levels
of violence faced by Libyan women and children, including girls.
“Femicide,
or the killing of women on multiple grounds, is rife; as are acts of physical,
economic, political and domestic violence in the private and public sphere,”
Alsalem said in a statement.
Her
comments followed an eight-day visit to the North African country during which,
she said, she also received reports detailing “profoundly discriminatory and
dehumanizing treatment endured by non-Libyan women and children, including
girls, as well as horrific levels of torture, sexual violence, abduction for
ransom, detention, trafficking in persons, forced labor and unlawful killings.”
While
she described the invitation from the Government of National Unity to visit the
country as encouraging, Alsalem lamented the many obstacles that she
encountered on her trip, including delays in entering the country, her
inability to visit prisons and detention centers where women and girls are
being held, and being prevented from traveling to the east of the country to
conduct visits she had planned prior to her arrival.
Special
rapporteurs are independent experts who serve in individual capacities on a
voluntary basis at the UN’s Human Rights Council. They are not staff members of
the UN and are not paid for their work.
Alsalem
put the lack of legal retribution for crimes committed against women and girls
down to the “political deadlock, insecurity, instability, governance and
rule-of-law challenges and problematic legal frameworks that are not in line
with Libya’s international human rights obligations.”
The
proliferation of armed groups and weaponry in Libya is feeding complex
cross-border criminal enterprises, she added, and making an already “appalling
situation” worse. She also expressed concern about the “increasing
restrictions” imposed on civil society and international organizations trying
to operate in Libya.
Alsalem
called for the protection of women and girls to be a priority in “all dealings”
with Libyan authorities. To better tackle the issue, she said the authorities
must prioritize legislative reforms, including the adoption of a 2021 Draft Law
on violence against women. She also recommended that they end impunity and
boost support for governmental institutions and women’s organizations, and for
the economic empowerment and political participation of women.
The
UN expert also called for an end to “the pushback of migrants and refugees at
sea to Libya, where their lives are at risk.”
She
added: “Opportunities for access to fair asylum procedures, evacuation
opportunities and voluntary returns to their countries must be scaled up.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2220926/middle-east
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Women
of all backgrounds invited to wear hijab on Feb. 1 to mark World Hijab Day
December
24, 2022
DUBAI:
Feb. 1, 2023, could become a day to remember as women of all ethnicities worldwide
are invited to wear the hijab in solidarity with Muslim women experiencing
discrimination.
The
World Hijab Day (WHD) Organization, through its annual initiative, has called
on women across the globe, regardless of their religious backgrounds, to wear
the Islamic headscarf (hijab) and show unity with Muslim women who experience
discrimination, on Feb. 1.
Muslim
women are being forced to remove hijabs to “show solidarity” and make political
statements while some countries ratify laws that disallow veiled women from
participating in society. The organization is fighting discrimination against
Muslim women through awareness and education.
WHD
says that the community should stand in solidarity in its fight against
systemic hijabophobia.
“With
your support, Muslim women and girls who choose to do so can wear their hijab
without fear, intimidation, or hesitation,” said the organization in a
statement.
The
organizers of the global hijab-awareness event have invited women worldwide to
mark the 2023 initiative in a new bid to dismantle hijabophobia.
World
Hijab Day, celebrated each year on Feb. 1, and the non-profit organization
behind it, were founded in 2013 by Bangladeshi American Nazma Khan with the aim
of educating people and raising awareness about why many Muslim women choose to
wear the hijab, and to encourage women to wear and experience it for a day. The
annual event has grown into a global phenomenon.
Feb.
1, 2022 marked the 10th annual WHD when thousands of women worldwide, of all
religions and backgrounds, participated by posting selfies on social media with
the hashtag #DressedNotOppressed.
WHD
has a long list of ambassadors who are an integral part of the organization in
fighting discrimination against women in hijab.
With
ambassadors from Argentina, the US, Canada, England, Australia, Ghana, Iraq,
Ethiopia and Spain, among others, the organization searches for individuals who
possess leadership qualities and are passionate, talented and dedicated to join
their global team of ambassadors.
The
organization says: “All we want is our freedom to wear what we want and be safe
doing so.”
Ridwana
Wallace-Laher, a British Indian hijabi from Bradford in England, said earlier
it was important that Muslim women did not allow themselves to be affected by
the stereotypes and stigmas attached to wearing the hijab.
In
a message to women who have never worn a hijab, she has previously said: “You
don’t really understand somebody until you put yourself in their shoes … it
might be an opportunity to try it and see how you feel and, quite often, it’s
actually quite liberating.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2221141/world
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New
WhatsApp service to quicken response to abuse reports received by Dubai
Foundation for Women and Children
December
24, 2022
Dubai:
Victims of violence and abuse can now reach the Dubai Foundation for Women and
Children (DFWAC) through WhatsApp on the number 971800111.
They
can also request for psychiatric, social, or legal advice. The new service,
which aims to upgrade the Foundation’s services, facilitate and speed up the
provision of services, can be obtained by texting the Foundation on WhatsApp.
In
addition to its website and a 24-hour helpline, the DFWAC also offers its
services through its social media channels.
DFWAC
said the move comes in line with its keenness to diversify communication
channels with customers and target audiences, promote its smart services, and
make the most of the latest technological developments to meet the demands of
target clients through a unified phone number.
Faster
response
Shaikha
Saeed Al Mansouri, Acting Director-General, DFWAC, said the Foundation adopts a
digital services development strategy to develop its digital channels, adding
that the recently introduced WhatsApp service will shorten the Foundation’s
response time and ensure the timely provision of services.
She
added that the foundation is committed to constantly developing its digital
services, efficiency and service quality in order to ensure that victims of
domestic violence, bullying, or human trafficking receive the best assistance
possible.
Source:
Gulf News
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SCIRF
Condemns Sentencing of 2 Iranian Baha’i Women
December
23, 2022
The
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has condemned the 10-year
prison sentences given two Baha’i women in Iran.
Both
women, 69-year-old Mahvash Sabet and 60-year-old Fariba Kamalabadi, had already
served 10-year sentences between 2008 and 2018, along with five other members
of Iran’s Baha’i community. The commission says the arrests of the seven
stemmed from the women’s “social and spiritual work in the Iranian Baha’i
community.”
Sharon
Kleinbaum, U.S. commissioner for international religious freedom, said,
"The Iranian government's relentless persecution of Mahvash Sabet and
Fariba Kamalabadi is the latest in the government's decadeslong campaign
against Baha'i religious freedom."
"The
Iranian government is targeting the women of the Baha'i community,” Kleinbaum
said, “as part of a larger attack on the religious freedom of Iranian women by
trying to frustrate and control the demands of the Iranian people for
freedom."
She
also called on the U.S. government to support the efforts of Iranians fighting
for greater religious freedoms and other rights.
Kleinbaum
said the U.S. “should leverage the full force of its economic power against
Iranian officials complicit in egregious religious freedom violations and continue
to support the efforts of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Independent
International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran to document
and investigate Iran’s gross violations of human rights against those who
peacefully assert their freedom of religion or belief.”
Source:
VOA News
https://www.voanews.com/a/scirf-condemns-sentencing-of-2-iranian-baha-i-women-/6888665.html
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