Record 13 Women Ministers, Including the First Female Muslim, In Australia's New Government
New
Age Islam News Bureau
01
June 2022
• Nurulhidayah,
Daughter of Umno President: 'Woman Is Not Born To Be a Leader’
• KAUST
#HeretoLead Campaign Opens New Horizons For Saudi Women
• GCAM
bans Arab female Snapchatter from advertising in Saudi Arabia
• Pakistani
Woman Fights Prejudice, Becomes First Deaf Doctor In Balochistan
• Dubai
Women’s Run, Largest Sporting Event for Women in the Arab World, Returns for
Its 9TH Edition
• Turkish
Women’s Groups Rally behind Anti-Femicide Platform
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/women-ministers-australia-muslim/d/127149
---------
Record
13 Women Ministers, Including the First Female Muslim, In Australia's New
Government
Of
the 30 ministers appointed to the new government, nearly half are women. Women
also hold a record 10 spots out of 23 in core Cabinet roles. (Twitter/@AlbonMP)
----
June
1, 2022
A
record 13 women, including the first female Muslim, were sworn in as ministers
in Australia's new government on Wednesday.
The
ceremony conducted by Governor-General David Hurley in the capital, Canberra,
came 11 days after new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led the center-left
Labor Party to an election victory over the incumbent conservatives.
Proud
to lead an inclusive government that is as diverse as Australia itself,
Albanese wrote on Twitter.
Welcome
to all these new Labor members.
Anne
Aly was sworn in as Australia's first female Muslim minister while Ed Husic
became the first Muslim to serve in Cabinet.
Linda
Burney became the first woman, and only the second Indigenous person, to serve
as Indigenous Affairs minister.
Albanese
and Foreign Minister Penny Wong were sworn in early last week so they could fly
to Tokyo for a summit with President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio
Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Of
the 30 ministers appointed to the new government, nearly half are women. Women
also hold a record 10 spots out of 23 in core Cabinet roles.
With
some votes still to be counted from last month's election, the Labor Party has
secured enough seats to hold an outright majority in the 150-seat House.
Albanese's
Cabinet includes some new faces as well as some lawmakers who served in the
previous Labor government that last held power nine years ago.
We
have an overflow of talent on our side of the parliament," Albanese said,
adding that "it's the most experienced incoming Labor government in our
history since federation.
Albanese
has been getting support from an unusual source: British singer-songwriter
Billy Bragg.
Bragg
wrote on Twitter that he'd awoken to find that "the new prime minister of
Australia had quoted my lyrics in his first press conference.
Bragg
went on to say he wasn't surprised as he's been friends with Albanese for more
than 20 years after they met at a theater in Sydney and bonded over a shared
love of music and compassionate politics.
The
challenges he faces are daunting and I don't envy him his success, Bragg wrote.
Some of us just sing about making the world a better place he now has the
responsibility of delivering on that promise.
Source:
Business Standard
---------
Nurulhidayah,
Daughter of Umno President: 'Woman Is Not Born To Be a Leader’
Nurulhidayah
appeared to suggest that leadership was unique to only men who are somehow born
with a natural aptitude. — File picture by Yusof Mat Isa
----
By
Justin Ong
01
Jun 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, June 1 — Women are not natural leaders, argued Datuk Nurulhidayah Ahmad
Zahid, the daughter of Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Speaking
in a video excerpt of her unpublished interview with Sinar Harian, Nurulhidayah
appeared to suggest that leadership was unique to only men who are somehow born
with a natural aptitude.
“I
think... I think woman is not born to be a leader, tahu (you know)” she said in
the video with a smirk, before pausing to consider her argument.
“Yeah,
women are not born to be a leader. A man are born to be a leader, so... I think
for human rights, for woman rights, I think semua patut ada ‘the rights’,
because we are all human.”
The
context of her response is not immediately clear as the video did not include
the question to which the former deputy prime minister’s daughter was
responding.
However,
her remarks have bewildered Malaysians on the internet, including some who
noted that Nurulhidayah appeared to hold corporate leadership positions in apparent
contradiction to her own views about gender roles.
Source:
Malay Mail
---------
KAUST
#HereToLead campaign opens new horizons for Saudi women
GHADI
JOUDAH
May
31, 2022
JEDDAH:
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has launched a nationwide
awareness campaign #HereToLead to promote gender equality and reinforce women’s
advancement in Saudi Arabia.
As
part of the initiative, a survey carried out at KAUST among Saudi women, both
staff and students, showed that participants regard the university as a
fostering environment with pioneering initiatives to encourage women’s
professional development and empowerment.
The
campaign is expected to run throughout the year to showcase the success stories
of Saudi women at KAUST, highlighting their achievements, as well as their
contributions to the Saudi community and economy.
Vice-Chair
of the Institutional Biosafety and Bioethics Committee at KAUST, Dana
Al-Sulaiman, said the university “has been instrumental in my professional
advancement, providing me with a wealth of opportunities and a vibrant
environment that respects equity and inclusion. As a Saudi female faculty
member, I have the chance to play a major role in educating the next generation
and advancing the roles of women in the workplace.”
Linda
Al-Zaben, a Ph.D. student in applied mathematics and computational sciences,
said that the university gave her the opportunity to practice leadership
skills, and acquire and develop coaching techniques.
“It
also made me a better researcher because of the wide exposure it has,” she
said.
KAUST
is acclaimed for the opportunities to gives women to pursue graduate degrees.
It is the first campus university offering Ph.D. degrees in engineering for
women in the Kingdom and has allowed gender integration since opening in 2009.
The
Saudi women who took part in the survey agree that KAUST supports their goals,
bolsters their confidence and offers a path to greater possibilities.
“KAUST
is an institutional role model in encouraging every woman to seek all
opportunities even in male-dominated fields,” one respondent said.
Another
said that “KAUST is supporting women’s advancement by running programs such as
the KAUST Gifted Students Program targeting young Saudi women and other
initiatives that celebrate women’s talents. Hiring women in leadership and
faculty positions within KAUST inspires this generation.”
Vice
President of KAUST Strategic National Advancement, Najah Ashry, said: “We have
seen tremendous interest from women in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics. Our firm belief is that through the #HereToLead platform, we will
be able to give them a voice to empower and encourage more women to embark on
this professional journey.”
KAUST
President Prof. Tony Chan said that 40 percent of the university’s students are
women, “and we remain steadfast in creating innumerable opportunities for
them.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2093881/saudi-arabia
---------
GCAM
bans Arab female Snapchatter from advertising in Saudi Arabia
May
31, 2022
RIYADH
— The General Commission For Audiovisual Media (GCAM) banned a famous Arab
female Snapchatter from advertising in Saudi Arabia after she violated several
laws in the Kingdom by promoting smoking.
GCAM
slapped a fine amounting to SR400,000 on the female Snapchatter for practicing
work without a license, according to Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The Ministry of
Commerce seized the violating facility that was promoted and imposed legal
penalties on it.
The
Arab female violated several regulations, including: the audio-visual media
law, the e-commerce law, and the anti-smoking law by practicing advertising
without a license, and publishing videos and promoting tobacco through her accounts
on social media.
Regulations
in the Kingdom prohibit promoting, marketing or advertising tobacco and smoke
products directly or indirectly, GCAM said.
The
violation was also referred to the committee of penalties of the e-commerce
system to impose legal penalties on it and the commercial establishment for
committing a violation of promoting tobacco products online.
The
authority issued a circular calling on not dealing with the advertiser or
advertises with it, and to notify the visitor to stop advertising in the
Kingdom or in content directed to the Saudi audience.
GCAM
and the Ministry of Commerce stress the obligation to adhere to the laws and
regulations in force in the Kingdom.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
---------
Pakistani
woman fights prejudice, becomes first deaf doctor in Balochistan
May
31, 2022
QUETTA:
As Dr. Mahwish Sharif enters the tuberculosis ward at the Fatima Jinnah Chest
Hospital in southwestern Pakistan, she reaches up to her ears to make sure her
hearing aid is in place.
This
is a routine check for Sharif, the first doctor in Balochistan with a hearing
impairment, who overcame years of prejudice to finish medical school and be
appointed as a doctor at the Fatima Jinnah Chest Hospital, the only health
facility in the provincial capital, Quetta, for the treatment of respiratory
and viral diseases.
The
29-year-old doctor comes from a remote village in the central Balochistan
district of Kachi and dreamt of becoming a doctor as a child, even after she
lost hearing at aged 4 due to eardrum damage.
“I
used to act like a doctor while playing with my brothers when I was a little
girl,” Sharif told Arab News at her office, smiling. “The white coat that
doctors wear and the stethoscopes always inspired me.”
But
though her family supported her, Sharif’s graduation from Bolan Medical College
in 2021 came after many long years of discrimination and insensitive comments,
including from faculty members.
“I
found my teachers often complaining about my hearing disability,” she said.
“Even in my last medical exams, they did not allow me to use hearing aids since
they thought they were headphones.”
She
recalled another instance of discrimination when she was required to submit a
permission letter to use a hearing aid for an exam she had sat for at the
Balochistan University.
“I
got the letter and when I went to the professor, who was also head of the
department of surgery, he saw me and asked my name,” she said. “I told him my
name and he said ‘you can hear, you have submitted a fake letter’.”
“Even
after asking me all the questions, he failed me in the final,” Sharif said.
Sharif’s
experiences are not uncommon in a country where people with disabilities have
to live with prejudice and lack of opportunities. In the absence of reliable
data, estimates of the number of people living with disabilities in Pakistan
vary from 3.3 million to 27 million, according to Human Rights Watch.
In
January 2020, Pakistan passed the Disability Rights Act to provide a
comprehensive legal framework to protect and promote the rights of people with
disabilities.
In
July of the same year, Pakistan’s Supreme Court directed the federal and
provincial governments to implement the new law which requires that 2 percent
of people employed by an establishment be persons with disabilities.
But
despite the passage of the law and the top court’s support, those with
disabilities remain underrepresented in higher education and in the workforce
in Pakistan.
Sharif
had “worked very hard” to overcome all obstacles, said Dr. Sadiq Baloch, the medical
superintendent at the hospital, adding that he had never received any
complaints about the doctor from her patients or their attendants.
“Mahwish
has become a role model for our society where persons with disabilities are
even marginalized by their own family members,” he told Arab News. “She has set
a new precedent that people with disabilities can also fulfill their dreams.”
Haji
Basit, who had brought his mother to the hospital from Harnai district for the
treatment of tuberculosis, said he did not face any communication problems with
Sharif. “She is very caring and loving with her patients and my mother feels
more comfortable with Dr. Mahwish than any other doctor,” he said.
For
Dr. Noor Qazi, the director general of the provincial health department of
Balochistan, Sharif is an inspiration.
“While
we have allocated a specific quota for persons with disabilities in the medical
profession, Dr. Mahwish has fulfilled her dream of getting this job on merit
and set a new precedent for others,” he said.
She
is now planning to work to achieve equality for people with disabilities and
wishes more parents would allow their children to face “the challenges of the
outside world.”
“Parents
should allow them to develop other skills to live an independent life rather
than a life of dependency,” she said. “I am disabled myself and I want to give
a message to all disabled people that they don’t lose hope, rather accept the
challenge. Society will not let us excel until we strive for ourselves.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2093871/world
---------
Dubai
Women’s Run, Largest Sporting Event for Women in the Arab World, Returns for
Its 9TH Edition
June
1st, 2022
Dubai
Women’s Run, the largest sporting event for women in the Arab world, is
returning for its 9th edition on 06 November 2022 at Bluewaters Island in
Dubai.
Organised
by Plan b Group, in collaboration with the UAE Athletics Federation and Dubai
Sports Council, Dubai Women’s Run is being held
This
year’s edition will have over 6,000 runners who are expected to register for
the event in a 10km and 5km race with a 3km fun run/walk that will be open to
women and girls from 14 years and up.
Major
General Dr. Mohamed Abdullah Al Murr, President of the Emirates Athletics
Federation said "The level of the race will have a special character, and
it is expected to elicit a great level of excitement and strong competition, in
line with the vision of the Athletics Federation to reach the game's horizons
of development that translates the desired aspirations, because the winner in
the end is the woman who enhances her prestigious position in the society, and
that women’s sport embodies the commitment of women to ensuring the integrity
of the mind and body, achieving a productive and happy life for herself and the
community around her, enriching life and developing society and people, and
achieving communication, coexistence and peace in society and in the whole
world.”
This
year’s route will take runners around Bluewaters which is a vibrant island
destination and home to some of the city’s most original retail concepts and
attractions. Participants can soak in views of Dubai’s iconic skyline and the
Arabian Gulf as they soar through the stylish district and past quintessential
experiences. Entertainment activities for the entire family will be taking
place alongside the event that will include cultural performances, kids’
activities, food and beverage kiosks, as well as a DJ to liven up the atmosphere
for the entire duration of the event.
A
regular fixture on the UAE’s sporting calendar since 2010, Dubai Women’s Run is
returning for the first time since the Covid pandemic hit. It aims to encourage
women of all ages and from all walks of life to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Popular Bollywood actor Sunjay Dutt has confirmed his support for the event,
along with other socio-civic organizations who will be running the race to
support charitable causes in the UAE.
His
Excellency Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary-General of the Dubai
Sports Council, welcomed the attendees, and said: "Today we announce the
organization of the ninth edition of the Dubai Women's Run next November, which
is the most important event in the world of women's running that brings
together amateurs and professionals of various categories, which will be
organized this The year is in a unique tourist area that shines in Dubai and
grabs the attention of the world, which is Blue Waters Island, where the
contestants will take place in various streets of the island, and the start and
conclusion will be next to “Ain Dubai” the largest of its kind in the world.
The event has reached the ninth edition after achieving great successes in the
eight editions. In the past, where the number of participants in the eighth
edition reached nearly 5,000, and it is expected that the number in the ninth
edition will reach more than 6,000 participants from various categories.
He
added, "We are pleased that women of various nationalities, including amateurs
and professionals, will participate in the race, and that among the
participants are female runners from our national team in the 10 km category,
where they will compete with international runners and be an opportunity to
develop the level and continue to compete in different competitive races."
Since
taking over the reins of the race in 2017, Plan b Group has made the event the
biggest race for women in the Arab world and has taken it to a stature that has
placed it among the more popular running competitions in the international
sporting scene.
Dr.
Harmeek Singh, Chairman and Founder of Plan b Group said “Being a part of the
ninth edition is an achievement for Plan b and speaks volumes for Dubai which
has been the frontrunner for equality and undoubtedly Dubai Women's Run stands
tall as a resilient message not only regionally but globally. I stand by the
vision that our able leaders have infused in all of us and in my personal
capacity backed by a passionate team, we are here to revive the initiative of
Dubai Women's Run on a bigger and better platform. This platform will
contribute towards a strong social fabric with values associated with Dubai and
UAE in general.”
Source:
Al Bawaba
---------
Turkish
women’s groups rally behind anti-femicide platform
Nazlan
Ertan
May
31, 2022
Turkey’s
opposition politicians, bar associations and rights groups are set to make a
joint show of force in front of Istanbul’s main courthouse on June 1 to protest
the lawsuit that threatens to shutter Turkey’s oldest and most vocal
anti-femicide group.
The
We Will Stop Femicides Platform, which provides legal advice and advocacy to
women who need protection from violence, is fighting for survival as it faces
half a dozen charges that range from “undermining the family” to “insulting the
president.”
“We
are very unclear on just what the charges are,” Leyla Suren, one of the
organization's lawyers, told Al-Monitor. The indictment, seen by Al-Monitor,
cites complaints that date back nearly six years and claim that the platform
has deviated from its aims in a way that violates Turkish law and morality.
The
public prosecutor calls for the closure of the award-winning nongovernmental
association, which has more than 700 members and a wide network of
collaborators and volunteers. The
platform was founded 12 years ago after 17-year-old Munevver Karabulut was
killed and cut to pieces by her boyfriend. The platform’s online tally, updated
daily to count the women who fall victim to domestic violence and what it calls
suspicious deaths, tells a very different story from what the government
agencies share. It reports that there have been
159 femicides so far this year. Last year, it recorded 280 femicides and 217
suspicious deaths.
The
lawsuit is founded on a complaint made in 2016. Ahmet Eliacik, a man outraged
at spending two nights behind bars for failing to pay alimony, wrote an angry
letter to the Interior Ministry, the prosecutor’s office and a hotline that
allows citizens to air their grievances and opinions. Eliacik told HalkTV’s
Ismail Saymaz that the platform has broken up many families, his own included,
under the guise of protecting women and children. “What they do is to undermine
the family structure of our country and set the country one against the other,”
he said. “It supports jailed [Kurdish] deputies and has links with FETO,” in a
reference to the alleged crime gang of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which
Ankara holds responsible for the 2016 coup attempt.
Eliacik,
who allegedly escaped jail only after the local AKP branch paid his alimony for
him, was not alone. “Several others had similar complaints, all reading as if
written by the same hand,” Suren said. However, none of them — nor their
estranged spouses — had any previous contact with the platform.
All
the complaints bore the fingerprints of the conservative camp, with allegations
that family is under attack, resentment over alimony (which, under Turkish law,
is only paid if the woman has no income, though courts do ask for child
support), and references to “immorality” — which may refer to LGBTI Turks or
female musicians wearing revealing clothing.
When
served with the lawsuit in April, the platform’s first reaction was disbelief,
saying in a statement, “Trying to make up crimes against us with these unlawful
and baseless allegations is deplorable even in terms of the current legal
order.” Saymaz pointed out during his show that even Eliacik was surprised that
his complaint six years ago had led to a lawsuit.
Suren
said that while the investigations may appear to have been going on since 2018,
the platform members were never invited to testify or respond to the claims
made. “What we have seen so far in the indictment is several social media posts
by our volunteers, not the staff, criticizing the attack against the Cumhuriyet
newspaper or criticizing some statements of the president. They have also put
in the indictment the police reports — not criminal records because there is no
conviction — about some of our members during a Women’s Day march,” she said.
The
indictment hints that the platform — which also advocates for the LGBTI+
community — has deviated from its original aim of protecting women. “This
simply is not true,” said Suren. “Our founding charter makes it clear that we
support the LGBTI.” Various LGBT groups said they would also be present at
court.
Suren
and other lawyers think that the case could drag on, as many human rights cases
do. “If the court dismissed these flimsy charges in the first trial, I would be
very happy for my country’s justice,” she told Al-Monitor. “But given the
recent moves against nongovernmental groups, it is likely that the case will be
prolonged.”
“You
will not be able to stop us,” Gulsun Kav, the platform's chair, said in a
video, pledged to fight the charges. “But we, through our determined efforts,
will stop femicides.”
“We
shall all be in front of the courthouse to support the platform,” tweeted Aylin
Nazliaka, the head of the CHP women’s branch. The government, she said,
"should be working on stopping the femicides, not the women who fight to
end them.”
The
lawsuit follows Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the landmark
Council of Europe accord that holds states responsible for protecting women
from gender-based abuse and violence, prosecuting abusers and promoting
policies to prevent harassment. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who scrapped the
accord with a midnight decree in March, said that Turkey’s laws were sufficient
to protect women from violence.
But
Human Rights Watch, which has carried out a series of interviews with Turkish
domestic violence victims and their lawyers as well as police officers, judges
and prosecutors after the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, reported
that the government has failed to enforce Turkish courts’ restraining orders.
“While
police and courts in Turkey are responding to women’s complaints of domestic
violence by issuing more restraining orders, the failure to enforce them leaves
dangerous protection gaps,” Emma Sinclair-Webb, Human
Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division associate director, said last
week when the report was released. “The lack of enforcement has meant that
women on the authorities’ radar have been killed by their abusers or subject to
recurrent violence over years.”
The
85-page report, “Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey: The Deadly Impact of
Failure to Protect," cites the case of
Yemen Akoda, shot dead by her husband Esref outside her home in the central
Anatolian town of Aksaray in 2021. Before the murder, courts had
on four separate occasions issued preventive orders directing Akoda to stay
away from his wife after he harassed her when she filed for divorce. Though he
repetitively violated them, the court had not taken any of disciplinary sanctions due to what it said
was a “lack of evidence.”
The
report says that lawyers and women’s rights groups expressed concerns about the
withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. While Turkey still has its own low on
protecting families and preventing violence against women (Law No. 6284), one
lawyer describes it as “like a building whose foundations have been removed.”
Conservative
groups in Turkey, giddy with the withdrawal from the convention, have stepped
up their attacks on the law, saying that swiftly issued restraining orders
break up the family unit before giving it a chance for reconciliation.
Moreover, the alimony lobby, highly organized and vocal with its online
supporters tweeting hashtags like #notolifelongalimony and #alimonyvictims, has
pushed the ruling Justice and Development Party to draft a new law.
The
platform and other women’s groups have objected to the bill, saying that
limiting the period of alimony or child support would be another way to trap
women in violent marriages. “The draft aims to please a small group of men who
have been promoting propaganda against alimony. It is just like the
government’s move to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention to please the same
people,” read the platform's statement.
Source:
Al Monitor
---------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/women-ministers-australia-muslim/d/127149