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