News

6/7/2010

Iraq: Best hope of eradicating FGM in Kurdish north appears to rest with Muslim clerics

The old Kurdish midwife's hands trembled alongside a bowl that she positions to catch dripping blood. She picked up a razor blade and sliced through a corner of paper, mimicking the ritual cut she has performed at least 500 times, on young girls' genitals. "In the name of God, the most compassionate and merciful," Naksheen Moustafa said. "That's it! It's simple. I have never had a problem with this procedure in all the time I have done it."

5/7/2010

Nigeria: Call for advocacy to see through passage of Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Bill

The first milestone has been achieved with the GBV Bill. On 30th June 2010, the GBV Bill entitled ‘Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Bill 2010’ went through its first reading at the House of Representatives. This is, therefore, a call from WLUML Nigerian networkers and allies to all stakeholders to lend their voices to the campaign by engaging in lobbying and advocacy activities geared towards sustaining the pressure on parliament to see through the passage of the bill in the present legislative dispensation.

5/7/2010

Iran: Majority of Iranians now opposed to compulsory veiling

As the Islamic Republic of Iran's domestic and international problems multiply -- courtesy of the democratic movement and its own myopic policies -- its myriad factions are shifting blame for the system's cascading ills. One of the pressing concerns, maintenance of the mandatory veil, is not finding many willing enforcers. The problem is compounded by the fact that, in sharp contrast to the early years after the Revolution, the majority of Iranians are now opposed to compulsory veiling of any kind.

5/7/2010

UN: General Assembly votes unanimously to launch new agency called UN Women

Some 65 years after it was founded, and after decades of reports on every species of sex discrimination and its wasteful effects, the United Nations has decided to set up a single, powerful body to promote equality for women around the world.

2/7/2010

Spain: IV International Congress on Islamic Feminism

Catalan Islamic Board and the Union of Muslim Women of Spain announce the Fourth International Congress on Islamic Feminism, Madrid, 22-24 October 2010. The event has become a global benchmark of the movement of Muslim women in pursuit of their rights. Among the participants will be Zahira Kamal, former Minister of Women Affairs in Palestine, Ziba Mir Hosseini (Iran), Omaima Abou Bakr (Egypt), Asghar Ali Engineer (India), and other leading activists and intellectuals working for the rights of Muslim women, for a total of eighteen speakers at the highest level.

2/7/2010

Pakistan: Suicide bombers kill dozens at Sufi shrine

Suicide bombers devastated one of Pakistan's most famous Sufi shrines last night, marking another vicious strike by violent extremists against the moderate form of Islam practised by most Pakistanis. At least 42 people were killed and 175 injured when two bombers ripped through the Data Ganj Baksh shrine in central Lahore where thousands of people had gathered to pray, dance and listen to devotional music. The toll is expected to rise.

2/7/2010

Israel/Palestine: How Is This Not Apartheid?

Nick Kristof observes ethnic cleansing and collective punishment first-hand: On one side of a barbed-wire fence here in the southern Hebron hills is the Bedouin village of Umm al-Kheir, where Palestinians live in ramshackle tents and huts. They aren’t allowed to connect to the electrical grid, and Israel won’t permit them to build homes, barns for their animals or even toilets. When the villagers build permanent structures, the Israeli authorities come and demolish them, according to villagers and Israeli human rights organizations.

2/7/2010

International: AI Review of the Stop Violence Against Women campaign

The Stop Violence against Women Campaign was Amnesty International's first long-term global thematic campaign. It lasted six years (from 2004 to 2010), was very ambitious in its scope, and required major shifts in Amnesty International's ways of working. We commissioned an external review of the campaign in order to identify key areas of learning and recommendations that can be used to strengthen our future work. Two independent consultants were commissioned to carry out this review, and to provide us with an objective, honest assessment of the campaign.

2/7/2010

Morocco: Reports on Women’s Political, Economic, and Social Status

A national survey of the political, economic, social and legal status of women in Morocco released today by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) shows a mixed picture of women’s status in the region.

2/7/2010

Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani faces imminent death by stoning

Another woman is on the verge of death by “stones” or, in more familiar terms, is awaiting news to confirm or abolish death by stoning. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was interrogated in 2006 for the murder of her husband. In the interrogation session, Sakineh confessed to committing adultery with Nasser and Seyyed Ali, the two men responsible for her late husband’s murder. In May 2006, branch 101 of the Criminal Court of Oskoo in the province of Eastern Azerbaijan (in northwestern Iran) sentenced Sakineh to 99 lashes for committing adultery. After serving her sentence, she was released. Four months later, branch 6 of the Criminal Court of Azerbaijan sentenced her to death by stoning for adultery while married. *