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14/12/2010
Egypt: The Fiction (and Non-Fiction) of Egypt’s Marriage Crisis

In August 2006, a 27-year old pharmacist started blogging anonymously about her futile hunt for a husband in Mahalla al-Kubra, an industrial city 60 miles north of Cairo in the Nile Delta. Steeped in satirical humor, the blog of this “wannabe bride” turned into a powerful critique of everything that is wrong with how middle-class Egyptians meet and marry. The author poked fun at every aspect of arranged marriage -- from the split-second decisions couples are expected to make after hour-long meetings about their lifetime compatibility to the meddling relatives and nosy neighbors who introduce them to each other. She joked about her desperation to marry in a society that stigmatizes single women over the age of 30. She ridiculed bachelors for their unrealistic expectations and inflated self-images while sympathizing with the exorbitant financial demands placed on would-be husbands. Thirty suitors and four years later, the pharmacist remains proudly single at 32, refusing to settle for just any man.

14/12/2010
Somalia: Women promoting gender equality

According to a recent study carried out by Transparency International, Somalia was deemed to be the most corrupt nation in the world. The economic and political instability of Somalia has made it the site of many human rights violations, particularly against women. Females are underrepresented in the workforce as well as education. In fact, slightly over 1/3 of the students at the primary school level are girls, and very little progress has been made in this regard.

14/12/2010
Sudan: SUWEP statement on women's vision of the referendum scenarios

We members of SuWEP from both sectors North & South met at Afhad University for Women in Khartoum during the period from 12th to 13th of December, 2010 to discuss issues that affects women in the pre’ during and post referendum periods.

13/12/2010
UPDATE: Iran: Jailed Lawyer on Hunger Strike calls for “annulment of all unjust laws devised after the June 2009 election”

Reza Khandan, the husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist illegally jailed in Evin prison, reports on the recent conversation he had with his wife during the last visit.Nasrin Sotoudeh is currently on hunger strike. She is demanding the annulment of the unjust laws devised after the 2009 Iranian Presidential election. She needs all your support so her voice can actually matter behind prison walls. Please do all that you can for Nasrin Sotoudeh. She needs you and we need her. Thank you!

13/12/2010
Sudan: Case of woman seen being flogged on YouTube clip

Sudan's judiciary has launched an investigation into the public flogging of a woman after footage of her being whipped by laughing policemen was posted to the internet.The YouTube video shows an unidentified woman in a long black dress and a headscarf being ordered to sit down in a parking lot (Warning: Video contains graphic images of violence some may find disturbing).A uniformed policeman proceeds to whip her all over her body as she screams in pain. A second officer laughs when he realises he is being filmed, before joining in the punishment, which lasts a minute and a half.

10/12/2010
UPDATE: Gambia: Trial of Dr. Isatou Touray & Amie Bojang-Sissoho adjourned to 22 December

Lamin Manneh, a security officer, yesterday testified in the trial of Dr. Isatou Touray, the Executive Director of Gambia Committe on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Girls, and Amie Bojang-Sissoho, Programme Coordinator of the same organisation at the Banjul Magistrates' Court.

10/12/2010
Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani 'confession' condemned

Human rights campaigners have condemned the announcement of an Iranian television programme showing Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning, at her home apparently discussing her part in the murder of her husband. The release last night of photographs of Mohammadi Ashtiani at her home in Osku prompted speculation that she had been freed. But hopes for her release were dashed when Iran's state English language channel said she had been taken home to make a television programme on her alleged crime. 

10/12/2010
Afghanistan: Harmful practices against women pervasive

Harmful traditional practices violating women’s rights, including honour killings, child marriage and giving away girls to settle disputes, are pervasive in Afghanistan, says a United Nations report released today that calls on the Government to implement a new law aimed at ending the scourge. Based on research and interviews in nearly all 34 provinces with women, men, Government authorities, religious leaders and community groups, the human rights unit of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) found that the practices occur among all ethnic groups, in rural and urban areas, and that the most harmful among them violate not only Afghan law but also Islamic Sharia law.

9/12/2010
UPDATE: Iran: Nasrin Sotoodeh resumes hunger strike as her detention is extended

Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoodeh’s husband, said that the judge presiding over her case has extended his wife’s detention. He added that no sentence has been disclosed to her lawyer as of yet. Reza Khandan told Radio Farda on December 7 that Sotoudeh resumed her hunger strike because her demands have not been met. He said that in violation of assurances given by the judge when she first appeared in court, her temporary arrest has been extended and her request for release on bail rejected. Update on Iran: WHRD Call for Iranian authorities to release Nasrin Sotoudeh and other lawyers

9/12/2010
Lebanon: Men Endorse “Protection of Women from Family Violence” Law

On November 25, 2010, Lebanon joined over 55 countries around the world by organising the first White Ribbon Campaign in the Middle East. The campaign carried out by KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation, the National Coalition for legislating protection of women from family violence, & Oxfam GB, started on November 25 and will last 16 days.