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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 11 Apr 2022, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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Over 1000 Women Volunteers Serve Visitors To Grand Mosque Makkah

New Age Islam News Bureau

11 April 2022

• Three Iranian Women Arrested For Dancing In Cemetery

• Muslim Women Protest After Bajrang Muni’s Calls For Rape in UP

• Women Face Chronic Violence In Syria’s ‘Widow Camps’, Report Warns

• Human Rights Watch Calls For Inquiry Into Fate Of Female Protestors Detained By Taliban

• Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Reopens in Herat

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL:  https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/women-volunteers-grand-mosque-makkah/d/126774

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Over 1000 Women Volunteers Serve Visitors To Grand Mosque Makkah

 

Muslims, keeping a safe social distance, perform Umrah at the Grand Mosque after Saudi authorities ease coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, October 4, 2020. Marwa Rashad, Reuters

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April 11, 2022

MAKKAH — The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques has approved 1018 female volunteers to serve in the Grand Mosque in Makkah during Ramadan.

The women were recruited through the National Platform for Voluntary Work, which is run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD). They work in translation, aiding the elderly by driving electric vehicles, and providing other mobility services.

Bayan Al-Hadhali, Director of the Department of Social Services and Women's Voluntary Work at the Grand Mosque, said: "Volunteer work is rewarding from various perspectives. By assisting female visitors to the holy mosque, the volunteers can gain many cultural and linguistic skills. The volunteer program is in implementation of the wise leadership's aspirations in serving the pilgrims of the Grand Mosque in accordance with the highest quality standards for worshipers and pilgrims."

The Saudi Vision 2030, according to Al-Hudhali, empowers women working at the Grand Mosque to employ all of their resources, as well as their scientific and professional abilities, to serve pilgrims and visitors. All of this is done with the aim of establishing local and international leadership in the field of volunteers, along with making access to worship more easily available to both men and women.

During the holy month of Ramadan, she stated, the number of charities cooperating with the project increased to 14, which includes government and women's charities. This indicates that the Grand Mosque's maximum capacity is being reached.

Volunteer work in the Grand Mosque continues for 24 hours spread out across four shifts on

all days of the week.

Source: Saudi Gazette

https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/619233/SAUDI-ARABIA/Over-1000-women-volunteers-serve-visitors-to-Grand-Mosque-Makkah

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Three Iranian Women Arrested For Dancing In Cemetery

 

Reuters file for illustrative purposes only

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9 Apr 2022

Iranian police arrested three young women after a video online showed them dancing in a cemetery, the prosecutor in the northeastern city of Neyshabur said Saturday according to media.

“Following the publication of a video on the internet of three girls dancing in the cemetery of the martyrs of Neyshabur in Razavi Khorasan province, the prosecutor ordered the identification and arrest of the defendants,” the Tasnim news agency reported.

“The emotions of the families of the martyrs were hurt," prosecutor Mohammad Hosseini said, adding that the three women had been arrested.

The trio expressed “remorse and apologies for committing an act against social norms," he added.

Dancing in Iran is not a crime, but legal experts say that if some someone dances in public or on the internet in a manner seen as offending public decency, they can face prosecution.

Source: Khaleej Times

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/mena/three-iranian-women-arrested-for-dancing-in-cemetery

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Muslim Women Protest After Bajrang Muni’s Calls For Rape in UP

11th April 2022

Angered by religious leader Bajrang Muni’s call for rape threats, Muslim women in Khairabad town of Uttar Pradesh came out and protested against him on Monday.

Raising slogans, “Baba Ki Goondagardi Nahi Chalegi“, the women along with children marched on the road demanding immediate arrest of Bajrang Muni who is still at large.

On April 2, on the occasion of Hindu New Year Hindutva seer Bajrang Muni threatened sexual assault on Muslim women in a rally in Uttar Pradesh. He is the mahant of Maharshi Shri Lakshman Das Udasin Ashram in Khairabad town of Sitapur district.

“I am explaining this to you with a lot of love. If any Muslim guy pursues Hindu ladies, I will abduct and brazenly rape Muslim women in public,” threatens the seer, in the presence of police personnel.

So far, the UP police have registered a case over the issue, and investigations are underway. His comments were largely criticized by the netizens with many calling for his arrest.

Activists of the All India Students Association (AISA) and Campus Front of India (CFI) also held a joint protest outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan in New Delhi on April 9.

Source: Siasat Daily

https://www.siasat.com/up-muslim-women-protest-after-bajrang-munis-calls-for-rape-2306715/

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Women face chronic violence in Syria’s ‘widow camps’, report warns

Saeed Kamali Dehghan

Mon 11 Apr 2022

Women and children living in some of the hardest-to-reach camps in north-west Syria face chronic and high levels of violence and depression, with some women forced to engage in “survival sex”, a new report has revealed.

Children in so-called “widow camps” have been found to be severely neglected, abused and forced to work while mothers are at “breaking point” psychologically. More than 80% of women say they do not have adequate healthcare and 95% expressed feelings of hopelessness.

About 34% of children said that they have experienced one or more forms of violence and 2% said they married young. Child labour is a big problem with 58% of boys and 49% of girls aged 11 or older forced to work.

Of the 419 people interviewed by the NGO World Vision in 28 camps, home to tens of thousands of single women – including those who are divorced or whose husbands are missing – and their children, approximately one in four women said they had witnessed sexual abuse in the camp on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. About 9% of respondents said they themselves had been sexually abused.

Women are not allowed to freely leave the camps, said the NGO. Unable to seek paid employment or support their families, some find they have “no choice” but to engage in so-called survival sex with male guards and camp managers.

Alexandra Matei, a lead author of the report, said: “We are seeing the world, rightly, express solidarity with the victims of the conflict in Ukraine and governments generously committed to do whatever it takes to meet the humanitarian needs there. But Syrian widows and their children deserve the same level of empathy, compassion and commitment. Their pain, their desperation, their need is no less than anyone else who is fleeing conflict.”

Fatima (not her real name), a mother of three in one of the camps, suffers from severe back pain but is unable to access healthcare.

“We do not even have bread and water,” she said. “When [children] ask for bananas, I ask them to be patient. There is nothing we can do. Water and bread are more important.”

She said it was not safe for women and girls to go to the mountain to fetch wood to heat themselves or cook.

“It is not safe at all. I have to take my neighbour or anyone with me just to not go alone. I cannot send my children on their own either, because it is not safe. I do not have anyone.”

Nearly 7 million Syrians have been displaced internally since conflict erupted in 2011. About 2.8 million are living in an estimated 1,300 camps for internally displaced people in the north-west of the country.

Widow camps in Idlib and Aleppo are managed by the Syrian opposition and the Turkish military. Conditions there are deemed “drastically” worse than in general camps. There is little or no delivery of essential services for residents, who are experiencing what aid workers have described as “a shocking crisis within a crisis” and “the worst of the worst’’ protection challenges. Access has been restricted to local NGOs.

World Vision’s report comes before the government pledging conference on Syria in Brussels in May. Funding has dropped to its lowest level since 2015 due to what the report said was “donor fatigue and Covid-19”. Less than half of the Syria humanitarian response plan was met last year. More than 14 million Syrians were in need of some form of aid as of last month, according to the UN.

Source: The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/apr/11/women-forced-into-survival-sex-in-syria-widow-camps

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Human Rights Watch calls for inquiry into fate of female protestors detained by Taliban

10 April, 2022

Kabul [Afghanistan], April 10 (ANI): Expressing concern over the detention of the women protesting against the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for an inquiry into the fate of these protestors, reported local media.

The development comes as more than 10 female protestors were detained in the Bamiyan province of Afghanistan, Tolo News reported citing some reports.

According to the reports, the Taliban invited female students to a gathering to discuss the reopening of schools for girls beyond grade six, however, the gathering only focused on frozen assets of Afghanistan, which incited a strong reaction from the female participants.

“We are very concerned to hear that some of the women involved in the incident and in the event in Bamiyan may have been detained by the Taliban. This of course reminds everyone of the incident over months ago when the Taliban detained women protestors and denied having them in custody and held them in abusive conditions for several weeks,” the media outlet quoted Heather Barr, associate director of the Women’s Rights Division at the HRW as saying.

Calling for clarification over the fate of the women, she said”We have called on the international community, particularly the United Nations and other embassies to enquire urgently about what the situation is.”

A few female rights activists in Bamiyan have claimed that the female protestors were arrested after they protested against the gathering.

“Three of the student protestors, who were detained last week on charges of tearing the banner of the Taliban, have been freed, but there is no information about the fate of another seven,” said Somiya, a women’s rights activist, according to Tolo News.

“It is not important that the Taliban accepts this issue or not–takes responsibility for it or not— what is important is that the detentions are contrary to Sharia and all types of human rights for the people of Afghanistan (as determined by the) international community as well as international organizations,” said another women’s rights activist Monisa Mubariz.

However, provincial officials have dismissed the arrest of women protestors as rumours.

Earlier, the Taliban regime issued a decree banning female students above grade six from attending classes. The girls were further told to stay home until the Islamic Emirate announces its next decision.

The decision by the Islamic Emirate has drawn severe backlash across the world with the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America condemning the Taliban’s decision to deny so many Afghan girls the opportunity to finally go back to school. (ANI)

Source: The Print

https://theprint.in/world/human-rights-watch-calls-for-inquiry-into-fate-of-female-protestors-detained-by-taliban/910660/

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Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Reopens in Herat

11th April 2022

After months of delay, the Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry resumed its activities in the western province of Herat. 

Officials at the chamber said they will attempt to provide facilities for women’s activities. 

“Since the chamber is now reopened and it has resumed activities, other women are encouraged. The women who suspended their business activities, they will resume them again,” said Bahnaz Saljoqi, a member of the chamber. 

According to the Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the activities of women traders has increased. 

A female entrepreneur in Herat called on the government and international organizations to provide support as they have suffered severe economic challenges.

“Every woman you see here is the breadwinner for her family,” said Aqila Rahimi, a female entrepreneur. 

Local officials in Herat said that they have provided all types of facilities for women entrepreneurs. 

“We are announcing any type of possible assistance including visas and the exporting of products,” said Mohammad Zubair Deen Parwar, head of the provincial department of Commerce and Industry.  

There are a total of 130 members in the Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Herat. Based on available figures, dozens of women entrepreneurs left Afghanistan following the recent political changes in the country.   

According to the department of Commerce and Industry, more than 1,500 women are engaged in business in Herat.

Source:  Tolo News

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-177520

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