March 2011

Yemen: Communities Unite Against Child Marriage

Publication Date: 
February 11, 2011
Source: 
US AID
Two community educators prepare for a training session on the safe age of marriage.


Two community educators prepare for a training session on the safe age of marriage. Twenty men and 20 women were selected from a group of religious leaders, nurse midwives, and civic leaders. (Photo: Basic Health Services Project) 

Combating Early Marriage from the Ground Up

Publication Date: 
February 11, 2011
Source: 
US AID
Yeshi Alem, left, educates her village about the perils of making girls marry young. Right is one of the women she counsels.


At age 12, Loko, whose last name is withheld for privacy reasons, was forced to marry a man 50 years her senior. As with many child marriages in her home country of Ethiopia, it was a family member who made the decision that derailed her childhood. The 10th of 11 children, she was sold off by her older brother after their father died. Marriage brought a destitute life—her husband was too old to work, and they often went hungry.

Egypt: Women Protesters Forced to Take "Virginity Tests"

Publication Date: 
March 23, 2011
Source: 
Amnesty International
Women were often at the forefront of the recent demonstrations in Egypt © Demotix


Amnesty International has today called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate serious allegations of torture, including forced ‘virginity tests’, inflicted by the army on women protesters arrested in Tahrir Square earlier this month. 

After army officers violently cleared the square of protesters on 9 March, at least 18 women were held in military detention.

Middle East: Women and the Revolution

Publication Date: 
March 25, 2011
Source: 
Gulf Times


Among the most prevalent Western stereotypes about Muslim countries are those concerning Muslim women: doe-eyed, veiled, and submissive, exotically silent, gauzy inhabitants of imagined harems, closeted behind rigid gender roles. So where were these women in Tunisia and Egypt?

Lebanon: Protesters Take Aim at Family Law System

Publication Date: 
March 24, 2011
Protesters call for an end to "confessional" or sectarian system in Beirut, Lebanon. March 2011. Photo: Nour Samaha


In the third and latest major demonstration in Lebanon, protesters of the sectarian or "confessional" system took special aim at religious family laws that prevent civil marriages and discriminate against women in various ways.

Shirin Ebadi: who defines Islam?

Publication Date: 
March 21, 2011
Source: 
Opendemocracy
Shirin Ebadi


"Egyptian women are lucky in one way. They have witnessed the predicament of Iranian women and seen how the Islamic state has hijacked the Iranian revolution, changed the laws and reversed women’s gains. My advice to Egyptian women is “do not give way to a government that would force you to choose between your rights and Islam”. I believe that Iran was a lesson for the women in the entire region". Shirin Ebadi in conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti

Nepal: Custom & Dangers of Isolation of Women During Menstruation

Publication Date: 
March 21, 2011
Source: 
Women's News Network
Nepali girl and brother in western Chitwan district. (Image:Symmetry_mind/Flickr)


The centuries old practice of chhaupadi in Nepal can cause prolonged depression in girls and women. In extreme cases it can also cause death.

Chhaupadi pratha, or ritual practice, places Nepali women and girls in a limbo of isolation. In history it is a practice that has been largely accepted. The word chhaupadi, translates in the Achham local Raute dialect as ‘chhau’ which means menstruation and ‘padi’ – woman.

The Demise of “Defamation of Religions”? Human Rights Council Should Support Resolution On Religious Discrimination

Publication Date: 
March 22, 2011
Source: 
Article IX
Article 19 Press Release

ARTICLE 19 and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) urge Member States of the UN Human Rights Council to support the draft resolution on combating intolerance, discrimination, violence and incitement to violence based on religious grounds, which has been proposed by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Conference instead of one on “defamation of religions”.

Zainah Anwar - In search of what Islam really says

Publication Date: 
March 8, 2011
Source: 
The Star
The Quran, as the word of God, shows that Islam is a religion that treats both men and women with kindness, love and compassion.


The nation’s leading Muslim feminist activist explains what drove her to open the Quran and search for answers to what it means to be Muslim and feminist.

I AM an eternal optimist. I cannot believe that anyone would not want a world where everyone is treated as a human being of equal worth and dignity. I don’t understand why this should be a problem. I don’t understand how anyone can use God to justify injustice and oppression of half of the human race. And yet, religion, be it Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, is often used to justify discrimination against women.

Transnational Forced Marriage: From the UK to Pakistan

Publication Date: 
March 24, 2011
Source: 
IJMA


We recall that ‘marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses’ (Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Article 16(2)). Heightened media sensitivity surrounding the practice of forced marriage helped to lead to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, implemented in autumn 2008, incorporating the Act into a new Part 4A of the Family Law Act 1996.