Egypt Ranks Worst For Women In Arab World In Thomson Reuter Poll

Believe it or not, Egypt tops the list as the worst Arab country for women, with Comoros coming in as the best, at least according to a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey.  I would have thought Saudi Arabia or Yemen would have taken top honors, but no, it's Egypt because of various factors including rampant and excessive sexual harassment, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking, the rise of Islamism (and the violence that has ensued) as a result of the Arab Spring,

The poll by Thomson Reuters' philanthropic arm surveyed 336 gender experts in August and September in 21 Arab League states and Syria, which was a founding member of the Arab League but was suspended in 2011.
[snip]
The poll assessed violence against women, reproductive rights, treatment of women within the family, their integration into society and attitudes towards a woman’s role in politics and the economy.

99.3 percent of Egyptian women have experienced some form of sexual harassment, per a UN report in April. At the height of the anti-Morsi protests in June, 91 women were reported as having been raped or sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square, according to Human Rights Watch.

“The social acceptability of everyday sexual harassment affects every woman in Egypt regardless of age, professional or socio-economic background, marriage status, dress or behavior,” said Noora Flinkman, communications manager at HarassMap, a Cairo-based rights group that campaigns against harassment. “It limits women’s participation in public life. It affects their safety and security, their sense of worth, self-confidence and health.”

Then there's the trafficking and forced marriage of women. Zahra Radwan of  Global Fund For Women claims:

“There are whole villages on the outskirts of Cairo and elsewhere where the bulk of economic activity is based on trafficking in women and forced marriages."

As for FGM, UNICEF says that a whopping 27.2 million women and young girls have been cut. That's 91% of the female population. Djibouti, though, beats Egypt by 2%.

Here's a list of how each country ranked (from worst to best):

22. Egypt
21. Iraq
20. Saudi Arabia
19. Syria
18. Yemen
17. Sudan
16. Lebanon
15. Palestinian territories
14. Somalia
13. Djibouti
12. Bahrain
11. Mauritania
10. UAE
9. Libya
8. Morocco
7. Algeria
6. Tunisia
5. Qatar
4. Jordan
3. Kuwait
2. Oman
1. Comoros

Ahram has more on why some of the others ranked worst.

But here's an article that discusses why ranking Egypt as number one is misleading.

They're all pretty pathetic when it comes to women's rights.

Egyptian Rights Activist: Things Better Under Mubarak

Egyptian rights activist Dalia Ziada talks about why things were better for women under Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Women are 'an integral part of Egyptian society' though they are suffering the most from the economic crisis which is getting worse every day in Egypt, said in an interview with ANSAmed Dalia Ziada, a human rights activist, blogger and the director of the Ibn Khaldum Center for Democratic Studies. Ziada is in Marseille to attend the Forum promoted by the Anna Lindh Foundation.

'Over 30% of women are 'caring women' like widows or divorcees who are working to support their families', said the activist. 'They work at a time when men are having a hard time finding a proper job'.

In the past, said Ziada, poor women benefited from measures supporting their businesses, which were sponsored by Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the president who was toppled in the January 25 revolution. Now 'they have no one sponsoring them', she said.

The activist, who was awarded a prize in 2010 by the Anna Lindh Foundation, told ANSAmed that 'it is sad to say that the situation for women was much better during the Mubarak era'. 'It was not the best possible but it was still better than today because there was a state which supported women's rights', she noted. 'Suzanne Mubarak was a women's rights activist before being the president's wife and a staunch supporter of new laws in favour of women', continued the activist. 'Now we have a regime which is very hostile to women, an extremist regime of the Muslim Brotherhood which doesn't like women, least of all in public life and the economy'. The regime is so hostile, the activist noted, that it accuses women of 'causing men's unemployment' based on the conviction that if they stayed home their jobs would go to men. 'However it's a problem of qualifications', noted Ziada, which has nothing to do with being women or men.

The rest here.

The Egyptians had a clean slate after they ousted Mubarak. There were plenty of non-Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidates running for office, but they overwhelmingly voted for Mohammed Morsi. They had a choice. They are now suffering the consequences.

Illiterate Pakistani Housewife Runs For Parliament- First Woman Ever

Badam Zari

53-year-old Badam Zari (the one in the colorful Islamic garb) is illiterate, even though her husband happens to be a teacher. Although that's not particularly surprising- considering she lives in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), a hotbed of Islamic militancy and home to the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other lovelies- what is surprising is that she's running for office. Yes, the brave housewife will be the first female ever to be approved to run for the upcoming parliamentary elections, even though everyone knows she won't win. She, however, is apparently hopeful.

“I am contesting the election with passion, with a clean heart and a clear conscience. My passion is to educate the future generation, girls and women, and to serve them,” she told AFP in a telephone interview from Bajaur district.

“I know I am the first woman to contest and I am hopeful that I will win.”

Bajaur is one of seven districts that make up Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The semi-autonomous region of mountains, valleys and caves is one of the most deprived, impoverished and ill-educated in the country.

It has been a stronghold for Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other Pakistani militant groups, and for years a battleground between the army and insurgents.

Thanks to reforms introduced by the outgoing government in a bid to lessen the grip of militancy, political parties can now contest elections for the first time in FATA.

But 53-year-old Zari, who comes from Arang, is standing as an independent.

She says she has nothing to fear but acknowledges she will not be able to campaign in public. Instead, she will stay in purdah -- either in her quarters or in the quarters of other women who are not allowed to gather in public.

“I have no fear, I have never been threatened by anyone,” she said.

I'm glad she has no fear, but a female running for office, bucking for education for women?  Has she forgotten about schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai? That's right, she can't read. And so she obviously hasn't heard about the Taliban threatening those who contest the elections, including voters. Democracy is un-Islamic, after all.

Poor woman, we'll see how long she lasts before she's the next Taliban target.

Afghan Women Fear Life After NATO Leaves- Don't Want Their Burqas Back

A depressing article about the fears Afghan women have regarding the NATO troop withdrawal in 2014. They fear having to go back to the burqa, though many never stopped wearing it. In the beginning they had high hopes, but those hopes have been dashed, even more so with the imminent departure of NATO. Even post Taliban, women have been marginalized, and those who fight for women's rights often live under the fear of death.  They fear losing the tiny bit of freedom they gained once the Taliban were no longer in power. And it's tiny. They feel totally abandoned.

The Guardian's Tracy McVeigh interviewed seven women who managed to make a life for themselves post Taliban, but they don't see much hope for their future.

The international community said the fall of the Taliban in 2001 would bring in a new era of rights. Afghanistan's women and girls would be returned to schools and workplaces and freed from the infamously fierce restrictions on their lives. It was a key political justification used by the British and Americans for their continued presence. That year US secretary of state Colin Powell declared that restoring women's human rights would "not be negotiable". Prime minister Tony Blair promised: "The conflict will not be the end. We will not walk away, as the outside world has done so many times before." Now, with the withdrawal of international forces and their caravan of international agencies, consultants and contractors looming in 2014, there is evidence that Afghan women have seen very few of the promised changes and are terrified of the future.

[snip]

A 2012 survey of women across Afghanistan by the charity ActionAid found that nine out of 10 feared the departure of the international community, believing that their lives will significantly deteriorate. And violence against women has never been higher: 87% of women report domestic abuse.

Their stories are depressing, if it's bad now, imagine what it will be like when we leave.

53-year-old Dr Monisa Sherzada Hassan, who escaped to Germany in 1994, returned in 2001 to sit on a government committee for peace and reconciliation is one of the lucky ones. Her two kids study in Germany, and she has a German passport so she can leave, but this is what she had to say about the situation.

"There are 70 members [on the committee], and nine are women. The women have just a symbolic presence. By voting they get nothing – committees only have functions to hear, not be heard. For women it's not that they are not tough or capable, but that their position is not equal. I see progress if a man says: 'Hello, how are you?' Otherwise they see a woman and they look over her head.

"The younger women are the most broken and depressed. We try to show them we are with them, but they see no future. They are dependent financially on their families.

"If the US and UK wanted, they could eliminate the Taliban in two days. They brought them and they can get rid of them. Now they are trying to leave Afghanistan isolated.

"I don't understand why the foreign forces would leave now, because they just ensure that the next Afghan crisis will be bigger. Our young people have never lived without bloodshed, and the hunger of youth is a great weapon for fundamentalists.

"When the conservatives come back they will shoot all these women who have been fighting for justice. Any fundamentalist knows the addresses of those who speak out for women's rights. The international community should support and protect these women, but they just think about their own departure. These women think about what will happen when the doors of these embassies are closed in their faces and when nobody at all will think about them.

"I am lucky in that I've got a German passport and can leave when I want, but I would beg the British and the American politicians who promised so much: please make one page in Afghanistan's history a lighter one. Before it's too late."

There was a time when women had rights in Afghanistan, ironically, during the late 1970s when the Marxists took control of the government. Even Vogue Magazine made a trip there in the 1960s when Kabul looked pretty much like any Western city.  How things have changed since then.

Read the whole Guardian article here, it's heartbreaking.

Syrian Women Upset With Rise Of Islamists In Opposition

It's the women of the Arab Spring- that turned into a civil war in Syria- that I most feel sorry for. At least those that truly did or do yearn for freedom. They were (and continue to be in Syria) instrumental in helping to oust the various dictators they believed held their freedom in shackles, only to discover that their battle for equality will continue under the Islamists that now lead their countries.

They're still struggling in Syria, and some women over there are running scared now that they see hardline Islamists in the opposition movement are gaining strength, which inevitably means they will have gained nothing when the battle against Bashar al-Assad's regime is finally won.

These men, they say, are extremists who are expanding control, waving the black flag of Jihad and excluding women in a way that mirrors the male domination of the autocratic regime that is still clinging to power.

"All opposing Syrian factions insist on marginalizing women," said Maya al-Rahbi, a human rights activist, "which means that these factions are not a true representation of the Syrian people. Half of the population is left out."

Rahbi, director of a Damascus-based women's research center, said "this indicates how patriarchal these groups are and how unbelieving they are in democracy, which can never be achieved without giving women their rights."

Another woman, Majida, is an anti-government activist who does not want to use her real name to protect her safety. She told Women's eNews in an email interview that only three of the 60 leading members of the new Syria National Coalition, which was established in November in Qatar, are women. That ratio overlooks the female momentum behind the opposition fighters and blatantly ignores their active participation in the Syrian conflict for the past 21 months.

Women's rank in the opposition, in fact, mirrors that of the Syrian establishment, where the few female ministers in the government are channeled into "female" ministries such as Social Affairs and Labor.
"We, women, have been fooled," Majida said. "How can such a weak representation be accepted? Do three women reflect the role of the female population in Syria? Did they forget what women died during the revolution by organizing protests themselves? How thousands of us were arrested and tortured just like men? It is men who chose the armed conflict, limiting the physical role of women to some extent. But our suffering was greater than theirs, because murder, rape and torture always affect women and children more than men in armed conflicts."

Rahbi echoed that outrage. "Where are all the mottos we've been hearing since the beginning revolution? Where did the calls for 'freedom, dignity and justice for all citizens' go?" she said.

She added that, "This reminds us of the same oppressive regimes and of their same policies against women. Why then did women take part in the revolution from the very beginning? Why did they sacrifice and lose their loved ones? Why were they killed, arrested, exiled and stranded? Why the revolution in the first place?!"

Indeed they've been fooled. In essence what they have done is unwittingly help their men folk pave the way for the re-emergence of Islamists which were outlawed in those countries. They realize they will have fewer freedoms under the Islamists than they had under their dictators, but it's too late now.

Almost 75% Of Pakistani Girls Are Not In School

According to a recent UN and Pakistani government report, a whopping 75% of girls in that country do not attend school.

“Nearly half of primary school age children are not enrolled in school and among eligible girls the out of school proportion is closer to three-quarters. In absolute numbers, out-of-school girls outnumber their male counterparts."

“Completion rates to the fifth year of schooling have actually declined in the past five years.”

Fifty-five percent of all Pakistani adults are illiterate and among women the rate is closer to 75 percent, it added.

“Females in Pakistan face discrimination, exploitation and abuse at many levels, starting with girls who are prevented from exercising their basic rights to education either because of traditional family practices, economic necessity or as a consequence of the destruction of schools by militants.”

The government is trying to change that by allocating funds to ensure that every female child is educated.

On Monday, President Asif Ali Zardari pledged $10 million to help educate all girls by 2015 as part of a global fund set up in Malala’s name.

Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala’s father, a former teacher and headmaster, has been appointed to help meet the global target.

The problem is, $10 million isn't going to accomplish much when what really needs to be addressed and dealt with is the chauvinistic,  misogynistic attitude of the Taliban and others who believe that women  should remain home, barefoot and pregnant, and that's not going to change any time soon.

Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary To Issue Fatwa Against Girl Shot By Taliban

What is Anjem Choudary still doing in England?  Yes, I know he was born there, but why is he allowed to freely roam the streets of London preaching hate and promulgating Shariah for England?  His Islam4UK website was eventually banned (although he does have his own website now), and there have been various Shariah4 sites that popped up thereafter, including Shariah4Holland.com, Shariah4Pakistan.com, Shariah4Belgium.com and Shariah4America.com, though it seems the only two still alive and running are the Pakistan and Holland ones.

Now Choudary and Shariah4Pakistan have targeted  Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani education activist teen who was shot in the head by the Taliban who then vowed to finish the job if she survived. Which she has.  Choudary is about to issue a fatwa against Malala for apostasy. It's scheduled to be announced at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, at an event on November 30. As we all know, the sentence for apostasy in Islam is death. Though Choudary claims he is not calling for her death, he might as well have, since the Taliban have already promised as much.

He told The Daily Star: "If someone apostatises like this woman did by allying with the Americans and saying her favourite person is (Barack) Obama and that she does not want the Sharia or hijab and wants to live under a secular state, she has put herself in a very precarious situation.

“It is no surprise what happened to her in Pakistan. Malala is mature Islamically, she is not immature, she has reached that period we say is adulthood.”


Featuring a video address from al-Muhajiroun's co-founder Omar Bakri, it is titled: "Declaration of Fatwa on Malala Yousafzai."

Bakri told the paper: "The only solution is the implementation of the Sharia. She (Malala) should face justice in an Islamic court.

“We are going to renew the Fatwa against the man-made law and systems in Pakistan – this is why women like this young girl are rejecting Islam. The system is not being implemented properly.”

Of course, Choudary is saying that it wasn't simply her fight for education rights for girls that caused her to be a Taliban target, it was the fact that she was a spy for the U.S. Yes, they actually believe that. According to Shariah4Pakistan:

It has also been reported that the Taliban had evidence of espionage by Malala and so targeted her as a tactical military operation,

“For this espionage, infidels gave her awards and rewards. And Islam orders killing of those who are spying for enemies,” the Taliban said in a statement.

“She used to propagate against mujahideen (holy warriors) to defame (the) Taliban. The Quran says that people propagating against Islam and Islamic forces would be killed.

“We targeted her because she would speak against the Taliban while sitting with shameless strangers and idealised the biggest enemy of Islam, Barack Obama.”

They also said,

“We did not attack her for raising voice for education. We targeted her for opposing mujahideen and their war,” said the Taliban.

So, it's totally cool to kill someone because they don't agree with your extremist violent ways. And, of course, she must be a spy since she loves Obama.  Idiots that they are, they fail to realize that Obama is one of the most Muslim-friendly presidents they could ever get.  Oh, and it's not just Malala they're condemning for apostasy, Choudary wants to make it perfectly clear that it's the whole darn Pakistani leadership. That's why they've created Shariah4Pakistan, because they want the glory days of Islamic repression under Shariah to return to the fatherland.

Recovering at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, Malala has many trying to get her nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Source: HuffpoUK

Iran Contemplating Law To Restrict Women's Travel

Iran is taking giant steps backwards when it comes to women's rights. Not that women have had much since the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 relegated them to third class citizens. Granted, up until recently they haven't had it as bad as some of their Muslim sisters in places like Saudi Arabia or hell holes like Afghanistan and Yemen- where women are non-entity's completely covered up and separated from the men folk- but they're being pushed in that direction.

Iran recently banned women from 80 university courses,  and is now trying to control their rights to travel outside of the country without the approval of a male family member. A law that is being considered by the 290-seat Majlis will require single women under 40 to get permission to travel abroad from either their father or male guardian. Currently, only single women (and men) under the age of 18 need  permission from their fathers to obtain a passport, while married women must get permission from their husbands. But that's about to change if the lawmakers get their way.

Since women were such a major part in pro-democracy, Green Movement a few years back, it seems the government is doing what it can to diminish the power of women by attempting to control and place further restrictions on their lives.  

Human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Iran's interpretation of Shari'a law puts girls and women at a distinct disadvantage.

"According to our laws, if a 9-year-old girl commits a criminal offense, she will be tried and punished exactly as a 40-year-old person would," Ebadi says. "But if she wants to leave the country she is required, until the age of 40, to get permission from her father [for a passport]. If her father is deceased, she has to get permission from a judge."

Iran's civil code overwhelmingly favors fathers and husbands in all personal matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody.

Girls may be legally married as early as 13, and some lawmakers argue the age may, under Islamic interpretation, drop as low as 9. All women require permission from a male guardian to marry, regardless of their age.

Under Iranian law, women are also strictly compromised in terms of rights to compensation and giving legal testimony.

They are also bound by a strictly observed Islamic dress and conduct code, which forbids casual contact with the opposite sex and ordains that a woman must keep her hair and body covered in public.

Such laws are often used as a pretext to crack down on political opponents.

There are rights activists who are trying to do their part to gain more freedom for women, but they often wind up in jail. But there have been a few small wins.

One campaign claims to have reduced the number of women facing death by stoning for convictions of prostitution or adultery.

Another, the 1 Million Signatures campaign backed by Ebadi, has helped call attention to the stark legal discrimination against women in Iranian laws.

Ebadi, who now works in London after fleeing Iran amid rising harassment, says the rights movement has caused discomfort among Tehran's ruling establishment.

If the people don't somehow manage to oust the ruling Mullahs, it's only going to get worse for women there.

Saudi Car For Women- Joke of the day

This is actually an Afghan burqa and Saudi women wear niqabs. It's still sad, but funny.

Saudi Woman Fights Back At Morality Police Harassing Her

There's something righteous about a harassed Muslim woman fighting back. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's terribly satisfying.

The Saudi woman who taped the following on her cell phone apparently was being harassed by the morality police (mutaween) in the Hayat Mall in Riyadh for wearing nail polish. She emphatically refuses to leave after they tell her to get out, and tells them she is posting the video on Twitter and Youtube, which she did. I guess those fingernails were just too darn sexy.

According to the Saudi Gazette, there will be an inquiry into the incident.

This Iranian woman fighting back, though, is a classic.

Gotta love social media.



UPDATE 6/4/12

Sheikh Abdullatiff Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, the somewhat 'moderate' chief of the Saudi Vice Police, has publicly criticized the agent who harassed the Saudi nail-polish woman. He said "...even if the girl had gone too far. He should have offered her advice and left instead of arguing with her and escalating.”

Oddities in Saudi Arabia: Body Piercing and an All Women's Village

There's always something bizarre and surprising going on in Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive, oppressive countries in the world. At least for women. But in spite of women having most of their freedoms restricted in the Kingdom, they do find ways of rebelling- like the women who are now getting body piercings. We're not talking about holes in the ears for those dangles or gold studs, we're talking lip, tongue, naval piercing and who knows what else. The trend is on an upswing, though there are differing views as to its attractiveness. I was actually rather surprised to read about this, since piercings are a mostly Western fancy. I'm sure it will eventually be banned for being un-Islamic.

Then there's that Saudi village that just banned women who  dress "indecently" (read- tart) and manly women (read- probably gay) from entering the Women's Village in Sakakah.   The women-only villagers want to make sure their hamlet remains normal (like an all-female village is normal.) They want women to dress like women and conservatively, to boot.  Though if there are no men around, why the need to dress modestly?  The abaya and hijab/niqab (veils) are supposedly worn to prevent men from lusting after them, because Muslim men have no control over their passions.  If there are no men there, what's the point? 

But the village administration wants to make sure that all Western, "alien" phenomena is curtailed, so the banning statement was texted to everyone's cell phone (isn't that a Western phenomenon?)  The ban came after some girls were discovered doing bad things at women-only parties, like dressing like men (probably wearing jeans), or dressing provocatively (maybe a little cleavage), and the worst part- engaging in some "provocative" dancing.

“Those phenomena are alien to our society and do not reflect its conservative character. That is why they need to combated and have their causes uprooted,” said the statement.

Earlier, there was a fatwa against bringing cell phones with cameras and noisy partying. And they have their own security force to ensure all the strict rules and regulations are adhered to.

Not sure what's with an all-female village, but it's pretty bizarre.

According to Al Arabiya, targeting masculine women and feminine looking/acting men (and those pesky 'punks') isn't anything new.  They've been banned from public schools and universities.

Unveiled Women In Yemen Being Attacked

According to Bikyamasr.com (which isn't always a trustworthy source of information), unveiled women are being attacked in Yemen, although this isn't at all surprising, if true.

SANA’A: Local residents in Aden told Bikyamasr.com that al-Qaeda militants in the region were now targeting unveiled women: harassing them, and at least one instance, physically abusing them as they are trying to enforce the full face veil.

Although the Qur’an only specifies that a woman should cover her hair, neck and ears, Ansar al-Sharia chose to understand this somewhat differently, arguing that since the wives of the prophet were covered, so should all Muslim women.

What the militants don’t mention, or don’t know, is that as with everything in Islam it is very much up to the individual to choose their path – as religion cannot be imposed by force.

Although Yemenis are considered traditional when it comes to Islam, and fiercely defensive of their faith and practice, the vast majority of southerners have said to be outraged by the recent spate of harassment.

“How can they dare attacks girls and women who do not wear the veil? It is a personal choice, which should not be imposed on anyone,” said Anessa Abdelaalem a school teacher in Aden.

According to reports from the local authorities several girls were sprayed with acid on their face by Ansar al-Sharia, for they refused to bow to their demands.

If only a few months ago, Yemenis did not feel threatened by al-Qaeda, assuming that the armed forces would end up crushing their advances, an insidious fear is slowly chocking Yemen as the dark cloud of extremism is gaining against the light.

Rumor has it there have been acid attacks, as well. However, according to one source, those attacks are merely rumors. Perhaps to intimidate women into conforming, or staying at home, which is what they seem to think women do best.

Who knew there were unveiled women in Yemen?

Religious Talk Radio Host Tells Saudi Man To Divorce Wife and He Does- Live On Air

Chauvinism is rampant in the Muslim world, particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia where women aren't even allowed to drive. Like children and animals, women are expected to be obedient or there are consequences. Severe, at times. Women have been beaten and divorced for as little as putting cheese instead of meat into a samosa. They are even killed for 'disobedience."

And divorcing a woman is as simple as texting from a cell phone or loudspeaker at a mall. So it's not really surprising to hear that a Saudi man divorced his wife over the airwaves, after calling in to a radio talk show hosted by religious scholar, Sheikh Ghazi al-Shammari.   Apparently the man was fed up with his wife disobeying him by working and traveling alone, and this "offended his manhood."

The man phoned the program to complain to that his wife disobeyed him by travelling without his approval from the Saudi port city of Jeddah to the capital Riyadh for a business conference.

He told Shammari that before his marriage he had accepted his wife’s demands to work on condition that work would not interfere with their marital life.

Shammari advised the man to divorce his wife as a punitive measure for “committing such a mistake against her home and husband.”
The husband immediately heeded the advice and divorced her during the live program although Shammari advised him to remarry her if she repents.

Yes, it's that easy.
Shammari defended his advice telling Al Arabiya that

“The husband called me in my program this afternoon and told me that he was financially capable and did not want his wife to work and that he is having problems with her about this issue for more than 10 years and that he has been patient for long. But the issue has developed to the extent that she would travel without his approval,” Shammari said.

“He was surprised that she sent him a text message from the airport telling him that she was traveling alone... and this is why I advised him to divorce her because she was not obeying her husband, a matter that is very important in Islam.”

“I did not make a mistake with my advice to the man, because what the wife did, travelling without his consent from Jeddah to Riyadh, is a serious matter and a cause for doubt,” He said.

“Such a wife is suspicious because she insisted to travel alone to Riyadh and without ample reason,” the scholar said. I did not rush with the advice because I saw that the issue was dangerous and we should not remain silent more about it.”

The woman is obviously better off without a husband that expects blind obedience, because Islam says that's what women should do. I think the Sheikh, as much of an idiot as he is, actually did her a favor. And more than likely, she feels the same way.

Egyptian Women Outraged Over Possible Sex-After-Death & Early Marriage Laws

UPDATE:  Apparently not true. Interesting story about how this rumor turned into fact.

Women in Egypt are getting quite worried about the Islamists who swept into power (overwhelmingly) after the Arab Spring. Along with their fundamentalism come some very bizarre edicts and laws, and females over there are very concerned about having them implemented.

Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) has appealed to the Islamist-dominated parliament not to approve two controversial laws on the minimum age of marriage and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death according to a report in an Egyptian newspaper.

The appeal came in a message sent by Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, to the Egyptian People’s Assembly Speaker, Dr. Saad al-Katatni, addressing the woes of Egyptian women, especially after the popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

She was referring to two laws: one that would legalize the marriage of girls starting from the age of 14 and the other that permits a husband to have sex with his dead wife within the six hours following her death.

It's not quite clear whether the issue of  'necrophilia' ('Farewell Intercourse' draft law) is actually up for vote in Egypt, or whether the women are just afraid that it might be. Apparently Zamzami Abdul Bari, some whacked out Moroccan cleric, in 2011 was the first to encourage husbands to have one last go with their newly dead wives, adding that it was okay for women to do the same thing.  This is the same guy who claimed women could drink alcohol while pregnant. So we can assume this is just some pervert's dream, since alcohol is forbidden in Islam, and I am going to assume so is necrophilia. Then again, there are some pretty bizarre things in the Quran.

Talawi is also concerned about other issues that could negatively impact women under an Islamist-led parliament including legislation that could rid them of their right to education and employment, among other things.

Many members of the newly-elected, and majority Islamist parliament, have been accused of launching attacks against women’s rights in the country.

They wish to cancel many, if not most, of the laws that promote women’s rights, most notably a law that allows a wife to obtain a divorce without obstructions from her partner. The implementation of the Islamic right to divorce law, also known as the Khula, ended years of hardship and legal battles women would have to endure when trying to obtain a divorce.

Egyptian law grants men the right to terminate a marriage, but grants women the opportunity to end an unhappy or abusive marriages without the obstruction of their partner. Prior to the implementation of the Khula over a decade ago, it could take 10 to 15 years for a woman to be granted a divorce by the courts.

Islamist members of Egyptian parliament, however, accuse these laws of “aiming to destroy families” and have said it was passed to please the former first lady of the fallen regime, Suzanne Mubarak, who devoted much of her attention to the issues of granting the women all her rights.

Check out the responses on the alarabiya link, it's quite clear many of the Muslims who commented were equally disgusted by the sex-after-death laws.

Who voted these Islamists in?!

Tunisian Group's Anti-Niqab Video Causes A Ruckus

Although there are some subservient fools who believe that the niqab (full Islamic face veil with just a slit for the eyes) makes them more pious, there are others who are rallying to make sure it doesn't become the norm in their country.  Some women with an organization called Egalité et Parité  (Equality and Parity) in Tunisia, a country that is battling to ensure Salafists don't impose their ultra conservative ways on what once was a secular nation, produced an anti-niqab video (see below) which is, naturally, causing a ruckus.

In their campaign, Equality and Parity used niqab-shaped stickers and put them in bathroom stalls, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, and dressing rooms in malls. They filmed the reaction of women to the niqab stickers on the mirror, and turned them into a short film that is making its rounds on the internet.

Equality and Parity hopes that through this sticker campaign they can educate women and Tunisians in general on the severity of being forced to wear a niqab.

Ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali banned the niqab when he was in power, and since his departure there have been protests, including one at Manouba University, advocating for the niqab.

Ben Ali treated those who were outwardly religious with extreme suspicion. During his time in power, it was not uncommon for police to stop women in the street and order them to unveil. The niqab has found itself at the epicenter in the Salafi-secularist debate.

Suspicious with good reason, considering the ultra religious want to establish Sharia law and force everyone to become as religious as they are.

Members of Equality and Parity stated in a press release that:

“We are fighting with and for all Tunisians from all regions, including those living abroad, who are also involved in our cause. We commit to define each of our goals based on a preliminary analysis of the current sociopolitical situation, which seems to exclude Tunisian women, especially in decision-making bodies, means of mass communication and the public space,”

They also stated that they will not hesitate to protest or plan sit-ins if women's rights are violated. Their mission statement on their Facebook Page says they will:

Fight to combat the weak representation of women in decision making bodies, be they political, social, economic or cultural.

Take action
to establish full citizenship (for women),
to eradicate all discrimination,
to ensure equality between men and women,
to make sure Tunisia joins all International Conventions favoring human rights, and in particular the lifting of reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW).

Not suprisingly, the usual suspects (both the religious Muslims and liberals) have been highly critical of the video.

Iran's Gender Apartheid- Video

It is oft quoted that Islam promotes women's rights- it's a fallacy of course, at least in most Muslim-majority countries.   
This interesting video about 'gender apartheid' in Iran proves the extent to which they lack rights.

Men Forcing Wives To Undergo Female Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the most horrifying rituals still practiced today. And it's not just Muslims chopping off the genitals of young girls, Christians in Africa are just as guilty, in spite of widespread efforts to ban the practice.  In fact, according to one report out of Kenya,  people are going out of their way to ensure that the tradition lives on by changing the season in which it's performed- from December to August,

...to avoid media spotlight and scrutiny from Government agencies.

FGM is performed on girls as young as a few days old and usually through puberty, but now per that same report, married women who were mercifully spared the knife as young girls are being forced to have the procedure done.

"Those who evaded the cut are now being forced to undergo the cultural practice or their husbands be denied land inheritance," said Women Rights Institute for Peace (Wrip) Executive Director Mariam Suleiman while releasing the report.

This was after Wrip undertook project activities geared towards preventing attempts to subject girls to the cut in November and December in Baringo County.

Suleiman said husbands force their wives to undergo the cut to avoid missing out on family inheritance.

Some chiefs and their assistants from the areas were accused of shielding FGM perpetrators from prosecution.

Circumcision period

"In East Pokot District the community in collusion with the Provincial Administration has changed the circumcision period from December to August to avoid the public, Government and media focus that comes at the end of the year," Wrip Executive Director stated.

She added that those who escaped the practice midyear are forced by their relatives to undergo the cut in December.

The report showed that only 99 girls underwent the cut in the months of November and December while 125 escaped and sought refuge in churches and at homes of relatives who are against the vice.

Suleiman further stated that lack of awareness of constitutional rights has made some girls not to seek legal action against perpetrators of the vice for fear of reprisals from their parents.

"There is need to educate them on laws, the court processes and the outcome especially on the fact that moving to court will not have their parents arrested," she said.

The Wrip boss urged anti-FGM stakeholders to let the campaigns be a continuous process to end the vice.

It's all about control. Shameful.

Saudi Woman Locked In Her Room By Her Father For 18 Years

According to Kabar, a local  daily paper, a 36-year-old Saudi Arabian woman has been locked up in her room for  18 years. 

To punish his daughter, for reasons unknown, her father locked her up when she was a teen, and she's been there ever since.

Police deny any apparent problems, however, the paper quoted neighbors and human rights activists as confirming the woman is still confined to her room in the eastern province of Qatif.

“Neighbors and human rights sources said the girl was apparently subject to family punishment and violence and was locked up in her bedroom when she was a teen ager,” Kabar reported.

“They confirmed the girl is still confined to her room and is not allowed out…the sources urged authorities to immediately intervene and free the girl as she has been deprived of education and all other needs in life.”

“What this father has done is totally unjustified and cruel…perhaps he is suffering from mental problems given the fact that he has not yet realized the consequences of this act against his own daughter all these years,” said Alia Al Fareed, a member of the Saudi Human rights Commission in the eastern area.

No apparent problems?  Just that she happens to be female. This is just how little women are regarded in countries like Saudi Arabia. Lock 'em up like animals.

18% of Young Asian Brits Support 'Honor' Based Violence

A poll sponsored by the BBC found that of the 500 young Asian Brits surveyed, 18% (1 in 5) think it's okay to beat the heck out of women if they've 'dishonored' their families. Killing them, not so much. Only 3% justified 'honor killings' for either

disobeying a father, rejecting a prearranged marriage, or marrying someone unacceptable by the family.

Not surprisingly, 6 percent of those were men as opposed to 1 percent of women.

A great majority of the 16 to 34-year-olds polled believe that 'honor' (as if violence is honorable) is a very important element in family life.  75% of those were men versus 63% of women. 

Violence against women is a huge global problem, but in a culture that devalues women and places more importance on 'honor' it becomes monumental.  And although Muslims aren't the only ones who participate in 'honor killings' and violence against women, it doesn't help matters that the Quran actually promotes wife beating for disobedience.

 Karma Nirvana,

...a charity that supports victims and survivors of honor based violence, reported on its Website that it receives “on average approximately 5,000 calls a year on our national helpline supporting all victims and survivors of forced marriage and honor based abuse.”

Jasvinder Sanghera, of the Karma Nirvana, fled her parent’s home when they attempted to force her into an arranged marriage at the age of 14.

She urged Asian community leaders in Britain to speak against the honor code, also known as “Izzat” in Urdu language.

“I’ve yet to see community leaders, religious leaders, politicians; Asian councilors give real leadership on this. They don’t because they know it makes them unpopular,” Sanghera told the BBC.

According to a spokesperson for the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organization (IKWRO), last year in the U.K. there were over 2,800  cases of  "‘honor’ based violence" reported to the police.

“These figures demonstrate that ‘honor’ based violence is not a minor problem but a very serious issue which affects thousands of people each year, many of whom will suffer high levels of abuse before they seek help,”

Many feel that 'forced marriage' is a major factor in honor based violence, so in an effort to thwart violence against young women who refuse to marry men that their families match them up with, Brit authorities are considering criminalizing it.

The Home Office has launched a campaign seeking public opinion on creating a specific criminal offence for forced marriages and how it should be formulated.

I sincerely doubt anything will come of it. Arranged marriages are a long standing tradition for many Asians, and laws won't prevent them from taking place, or the violence against a daughter/sister who refuses to comply.

Muslims and Others Balk At Proposed Dutch Burqa Ban

As expected, the response to the planned Dutch burqa ban  has not been positive.  But it's not just the Muslim community that has balked at the prospect of freeing women from the shackles of oppression, the usual liberal, PC suspects, have also chimed in.  You know, the ones who claim that banning the face veil is infringing upon a woman's religious freedom, whereas the opposite is true.  Most women are forced to wear the burqa or niqab by their controlling husbands, furthermore, it's a cultural not a religious prescript. Nowhere in the Quran is it mentioned that a woman must wear a burqa. So much for the 'freedom of religion' argument.

According to Aydin Akkaya, chairman for some Dutch Turkish organization (IOT), the ban would seriously affect the quality of life for burqa-wearing women.

“Women who currently only venture outside, or are allowed to go outside, wearing a burqa, will from now on stay home,”

"Allowed" is the operative word here. It's hard to believe that in the Netherlands, in the 21st century, there are women who are forced to go outside in full burqa regalia, and who will be forced to remain at home if the ban goes into effect.

Then you have the lefties perspective:

Green Left Party MP Tofik Dibi says he doesn’t understand why the government attaches such importance to the ban in the midst of an economic crisis: “Why track and fine a handful of people with a burqa, when people are deeply worried about their future and that of their children?”

I'm still trying to figure out what a burqa ban has to do with an economic crisis, but it seems to be a common concern with other political parties, like the social conservative, but centre-left Christian Union party that also criticized the ban.

Arie Slob, the parliamentary leader of the small Christian Union party, also questioned the ban’s wisdom at a time of deep budget cuts: “The way the government of Mark Rutte tackles the crisis: by banning burqas. That’s not going to do the job.”

You'd think women, of all people, would applaud the ban, but not so.  Leyla Çakir of Al Nisa (a Muslim women's group) is dead set against it.

“Self-determination is our top priority. Some women may now well decide to wear a burqa in defiance of the ban, but a number of women are now likely not to leave their home any longer.”

Okay, then those defying the ban will be fined and some will stay at home.  Those are choices too. It's not as if the Dutch are banning the hijab (head scarf), which is mentioned in the Quran, and would be a religious freedom issue. They're banning a non-prescribed symbol of oppression, but most importantly something that could pose a criminal threat or hazard to others. And since the burqa isn't the only face covering that is being banned, they shouldn't take offense. But, as always they do.

Source: Radio Netherlands