"Women in the
February 2004
Bulletin of Committee to Defend Women's Rights in the
Editor: Azam Kamguian
Assistant Editor:
Mona Basaruddin
In this issue:
·
Kuwait: The issue of enfranchisement & women’s low status
·
·
The Arab World: Girls from struggle for education
·
·
·
·
·
·
ICAS: One in
·
Letters to & Requests from CSWRME
"There are men who,
for physical reasons, cannot satisfy themselves with only one wife," one
Islamist deputy was reported as arguing during a month of parliamentary debate
that ended at the weekend. "In that case they should seek treatment,"
the religious affairs minister, Ahmed Toufiq, reportedly replied.
The changes to the
"mudawana" family code make polygamy acceptable only in rare
circumstances, and only with the permission of a judge and a man's first wife.
They also raise the age
of marriage for girls from 15 to 18 and give wives "joint
responsibility" with their husbands in family matters.
The change to the family
code came nine months after a resurgence of a radical Islamic violence, with
suicide attacks claiming the lives of 41 people in
"These reforms have
been elaborated in response to the desires of foreigners and the feminist
movement, but not to produce any real change in women's lives," said Nadia
Yassin, spokeswoman for
The
media celebration of girls’ academic success conceals the fact that in total
numbers, far fewer girls than boys are completing - or even going into -
education. In countries like
Some
still continue their education after marriage - but many of them do not,
especially if they have children. A girl's role in Jordanian society is heavily
stereotyped, and this is reflected in the education students receive. At one
Jordanian girl's secondary school, 80% of the girls I spoke to said that the
first role of the woman was to stay at home and bring up her children. While
teaching as a job is very popular to women in the Arab world - as is the case
all over the globe - teachers are not paid well, and rarely receive enough
training. Many also teach using very old-fashioned methods. I found that the
quality of education was affecting both girls and boys - but especially girls.
If the school environment is bad, if it is remote, unclean, and has no toilets,
it is the girls who tend to give up and go back home. If the teacher is bad and
is not qualified, the girls tend to simply fail at the end of the year.
The latest UNDP report stated that education
in Arab schools in the future is likely to be split into two parts - very
expensive private education, enjoyed by the better-off minority, and poor
quality government education for the majority.
Should this happen, it is likely it will be the girls who suffer more -
Egyptian sociologist Dr Abdel-Basset Abdel-Moti said such a split would be
"dangerous" for girl's education.
The
mix of religion and tradition for these societies means that parents are ready
to make payments to have extra help for their sons - even have them taught in
private schools - but simply do not bother with their daughters. One of the
results of these long traditions is a vicious circle whereby very few women
receive the education needed to become policy-makers - and therefore education
policy remains male-dominated. Further, some Muslims believe that there is
little point in paying for a girl's education, as they are destined only for a
life as a mother, and not a career where they could make money. All these
problems would make a gloomy picture. Meanwhile educated girls in
Passed in 1979, the
Hudood Ordinance was meant to provide
The three-year-old
government Commission on the Status of Women released its report saying the
Hudood Ordinance should be repealed. Commission chairwoman and former judge,
Majida Rizvi, says that when portions of the new report were made public last
September,
"If you, [go] back
maybe 10 years, this was a prohibited area to talk about. Now since my report
has come last year, it is being discussed openly. People are aware that there
are problems in this law," she said.
Four campaigns to raise
awareness about women's rights were designed at the end of a three-day workshop
organized by the Aurat Foundation. On the last day of the workshop about 30
participants, drawn from 13 districts, were divided into four groups who
developed campaigns and presented them to the audience, says a press release.
Every group presented its
plan for the electronic media campaign launched under the GTZ-funded Women
Advisory Centre (WAC) Project of the Aurat Foundation. The campaign had already
been launched on Jan 22 and would continue till September 2004. Under the
campaign special programmes would be presented on Radio
Earlier on the first day
of the workshop, Resident Director of the Aurat Foundation Rakhshanda Naz
shared with the participants the experience of Mera Ghar, a shelter home for
the women who suffered violence.
She dwelt on the concept
of crisis centres for violence-hit women, the need for such places in the NWFP
and how the Mera Ghar became an institution in the form of the Noor Education
Trust (NET). The second session was on women issues and underlined the problems
women faced at the family, community and state levels. The third session was on
women situation under the customary practices. Resource Person Zubaida Khalid
shed light on Swara, honour-killing, Walwar, Serpaisy and Toor (a social
stigma).
The second day of the
workshop witnessed a discussion on violence against women. Uzma Mehboob in her
address of welcome enumerated the objectives of the topic of the workshop. Ms
Saima of Rozan gave definition, concept and forms of violence in gender
perspective.
A former judge of the
Lahore High Court Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal pointed out loopholes in the
Hudood Ordinances and called for changes to the laws which were introduced by a
military dictator in 1980s. She also quoted statistics to bring to the fore the
rising incidents of violence against women.
·
Palestinian
women prisoners in the Israeli al-Ramla prison are being exposed to tough
repressive acts, and live under very difficult humanitarian conditions, as they
called on the Palestinian government and the Palestinian prisoner's rights
group to help them bring their plight to the international community.
In two separate messages addressed to the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat,
and the Palestinian prisoner group in al-Khalil, the women prisoners said that
they were exposed to torture, repression, isolation and other maltreatment.
Their room were broken in and personal belongings inspected. Moreover al-Ramla
prison administration continues preventing their relatives from visiting them.
The director of the prisoner's rights group in
Three brothers hacked
their two sisters to death in
The 27-year-old left her
family home nearly two years ago to marry a man without her family's consent. Her
20-year-old sister ran away three months ago to join her. It was a brutal scene - one victim's head was
nearly cut clean off. The older sister's 10-month-old baby and her husband
escaped unharmed. The killings bring to 12 the number of women reported killed
for reasons of "family honour" in
Under the existing law,
people found guilty of committing honour killings often receive sentences as
light as six months in prison.
·
When a group of Saudi
women appeared on a TV discussion programme to voice their grievances recently
they got a mixed reception from viewers. Many applauded their boldness. Others
complained that the participants in Saudi Women Speak Out had not gone far
enough.
The show was the first of
its kind. The fact that it was aired is an indication of the momentum for
change building up. The application of the Islamic Sharia prevents women from
driving, travelling without being accompanied by a guardian, working alongside
men or showing their faces in public.
These rules are now
starting to crumble as more women go out to work - either from choice or to
boost their family's declining incomes. The religious police who not so long
ago would have relished breaking up the fun are a demoralised bunch. Recently
they turned up to remonstrate with some youths holding a party on the beach. As
they trudged away after delivering their lecture the sound was turned back up. Women
are increasingly seen in offices, hospitals and shops. Some are running their
own businesses, though they are obliged to go through a legal sham that makes a
man the managing director.
But the activists who
appeared on the TV show are seeking more than an informal loosening of the rules.
They want the changes to be officially recognised and protected by law. At the
same time they are trying to persuade authorities to undo the social and
economic injustices done to women over the last quarter of a century.
Iran: According to a report in an Iranian
press on 8 January 2004, a woman and her husband, names are not disclosed, have
been sentenced to death in connection with running a brothel in the city of
Qazvin. Both are to be flogged and one
of them is to be stoned to death.
Last
year in the light of an international mass protest against the stoning law, we
were successful in forcing the Islamic regime of
Stoning
is the most brutal way of administering capital punishment; it is a way of
killing a human being by a gradual torture.
The fact is, in countries ruled by Islamic laws, men and women are
insulted, degraded, flagged and stoned to death for practicing their basic
rights and freedom. This is an insult to
all the achievements and gains of generation after generation of people who
have fought for the attainment of human liberties and freedom throughout the
history. No matter where we are, stoning a woman or a man to death is an insult
to humanity. This has to be
stopped. We must continue with our fight
to eradicate the cruel law of stoning and all other Sharia laws. Such inhumane
practices belong to the dustbin of history.
We
call upon all freedom loving oragnaisations and individuals to join our
campaign to stop the stoning of these two people in
Recommended
actions:
·
Write to the Iranian President Mohammad Khatami demanding:
- Immediate abolition of stoning and all other
forms of punishment for extra-marital relations and all other Sharia laws;
-
Immediate release of all those imprisoned for extra-marital relations;
Email: khatami@president.ir Fax: 0098 21 649 5880
·
Write to the Nigerian President Ousegun Obasanjo:
- Immediate abolishment of stoning law and all
other Sharia laws
-
Immediate annulment of Umaru ToriÂ’s stoning sentence and flogging sentence of his
15 years old step-daughter
Address:
The Presidency, Federal Secretariat,
Tel:
+234-9-2341010
Fax:
+234-9-2341733
Email: presidency@nopa.net
To
the President of
I/We
have been informed that on
I/We
express my/our strong protest against these medieval treatments and demand:
- Immediate abolishment of stoning law and all
other Sharia laws
-
Immediate annulment of Umaru ToriÂ’s stoning sentence and flogging sentence of his
15 years old step-daughter
Name
Signature
CC:
European Union: civis@europarl.eu.int
ICAS:
stopstoning@yahoo.com
To
Mohammad Khatami, the President of Islamic
I/We
express my/our strong protest against the medieval punishment of stoning and
demand:
- Immediate abolishment of stoning law and
all other forms of punishment for extra- marital relations and abolishment of
all Sharia laws;
- Immediate annulment of all stoning sentences
and immediate release of those
imprisoned for extra-marital relations;
Name
Signature
CC:
European Union: civis@europarl.eu.int
ICAS:
stopstoning@yahoo.com
Hello
I am currently conducting
research on the issue of honour killing in
Regards,
Laura
Laura Richards
Behavioural Consultant to
DCC4
Racial and Violent Crime
Task Force
Rm 930 ICAS, Tower Block
New Scotland Yard
Tel: 0207 230 3023
Dear Azam Kamguian
I have read your articles and books and have
learned a lot; I have found new perspectives in my life. I would like to thank
you for all your efforts and wish you the best and more victory in your life.
Sincerely yours,
Roya Darshad
Hello,
I have received your Bulletin and congratulate you on what you are doing. I wanted you to know there are a number of
places were the last line of the article was missing. Also, in the article titled *
Services
are not needed. Either way, all the best
to you and your mission.
Sincerely,
Hello
I
am writing to express gratitude and respect that you have the courage to form
the CDWRME. I have been tying recently to engage with
I
am presently exploring options at SOAS, in
With
respect
Ghazala
Y. Alam
Hello,
CDWRME
I
am a Freethinker. Please add me to your news list. You are very brave and you
must defend any freedom you may have and try to liberate your country from
religious oppression. Kind regards,
Ken
Partington
Hi
CDWRME, My name is Kim Harmon and I am an International Policy student in
Thank
you,
Kim
Harmon
(831)
643-2845
(864)
449-2273
I thank you so much for
these updates. I am shocked at what is happening. Thank you for opening up our
eyes and please keep the communications coming. I share them with many others
so all can aware of the struggles that occur on a daily basis by those who live
in oppression. We are emailing the addresses you have provided and hopefully
this will help.
Thank you for giving us
this opportunity.
Lee Ubell
Asset/Inventory
Accounting
Phone: 566-2581
Fax: 566-2607
Dear Azam,
My name is Maria Bexelius
and I turn to you by chance as I usually get your Bulletin re women in the
With best regards,
Maria Bexelius
Hello, I am a University
student struggling to find any literature on the subject of forced
marriages. I have ample Internet based
information but am seeking more conventional sources and hopped you may be able
to give me some titles of useful material.
Thank you for any help
you can give
Sabrina Aries
Hello,
I am a student at
Thank you for your help.
Tiare Rath
tcr212@nyu.edu
*********************************
Committee
to Defend Women's Rights in the
Coordinator
& Spokesperson: Azam kamguian
Email:
azam_kamguian@yahoo.com
Tel:
+ 44(0) 788 4040 835
Fax: + 44
(0) 870 831 0204
Web
site: www.middleastwomen.org