The French Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill barring women from wearing the full facial veil anywhere in public. If the law is approved by France’s constitutional council, it will go into effect next spring and set a range of fines for women, including tourists, who wear the full veil. It also provides criminal penalties for those who force women to wear it. The vote was 246 to 1, with many abstentions from left-wing legislators; the bill passed the lower house in July.
Critics say that the measure stigmatizes one sex of one religion, but the law is very popular with the public and proponents say it defends traditional French values like women’s rights and secularism.
Dedicated to the women who have graced the pages of history, from ancient to modern times.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
France: Bill On Veils Passed
UK: Virginity For Sale
Four members of a child prostitution ring are facing jail in the UK after they attempted to sell the virginity of young girls to wealthy Arab businessmen for up to STG150,000 ($A247,000).
The gang were caught in an undercover Scotland Yard sting after offering their services in a hand-written letter to the owner of the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge, central London.
A police officer contacted the gang by telephone posing as a potential client and was told they could provide girls from Iran, England and Eastern Europe aged between 14 and 20 for sex.
"This case highlights the fact that trafficking is not just a crime that involves foreign nationals being brought in the UK. It is something that happens within the UK as well.
Bachelet Heads Up UN Women's Agency
Michelle Bachelet, famous for breaking gender barriers by becoming the first woman elected president of Chile, will head the new global United Nations agency created to advance women’s rights, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday.
Mr. Ban said he chose Ms. Bachelet, 58, from 26 candidates for her political skills and ability to create consensus. She had been a front-runner from the start.
It took four years of wrangling among member states to create the agency, which consolidates four smaller agencies whose work on women’s issues often overlapped. It has been given the rather unwieldy title of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, but in diplomatic shorthand it is often called the “Gender Entity.”
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Egypt: Suicide or Honor Killing
Officially, Egypt has no "honour" killings. Young women may commit suicide, yes, but they are never murdered. This is the government line – and of course, it is a lie. The files in Azza Suleiman's Centre for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance office – and in those of other NGOs in Cairo – tell the truth. In May of 2007, a farmer in southern Egypt decapitated his daughter after discovering she had a boyfriend. In March of 2008, a man identified only as "Mursi" electrocuted and beat to death his 17-year-old daughter because she had received a phone call from her boyfriend. "Mursi", a farmer from Kafr el-Sheikh in the Nile Delta, admitted he "beat her with a large stick" before finishing her off with electric shocks; the murder was only discovered when the body turned up at the local hospital.
Azza Suleiman's work provides much bleaker material. Incest is a major problem which no one will discuss, she says. Recently, an Egyptian man admitted killing his daughter because she was pregnant. But he was the father of his daughter's unborn child. It was a case of incest. But he killed her to protect the family's "honour". Four other women have recently been murdered by their families because they were raped. The Christian Coptic community – perhaps 10 per cent of the Egyptian population – has closed itself off from any "honour" killing investigations even though Christian girls have been murdered because they wanted to marry Muslim men. "Christians cannot talk about this outside the church," Azza Suleiman complains. "We have tried to open up shelters, but the government will not allow it. They say: 'Please, no talk of incest.' And 'honour' crimes are often also related to inheritance."
Politics & Afghan Olympian Robina Jalali
Amid the warlords, ex-mujahideen fighters, hard-line clerics and shady businessmen running for a seat in the Afghan parliament, Robina Jalali, a 25-year-old candidate from Kabul, offers a more inspiring biography.
Raised during a Taliban regime that was brutal toward women, Jalali nevertheless trained as a sprinter and, after the Taliban fell, followed her passion to the Olympics. No matter that she finished second-to-last in the 100 meters in Athens in 2004 and last in Beijing in 2008. In Afghanistan, a conservative Muslim nation where many women still wear the identity-shielding burqa, Jalali's story is like a fairy tale.
Now comes the sequel: Jalali is running again - for a seat in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan parliament. Though interest among women was initially sparse, a recruitment drive from the Independent Election Committee has resulted in a record 406 female candidates standing in the Sept. 18 elections for at least 64 seats reserved for women under the Afghan constitution, which guarantees them 25 percent of the 249 seats. (More than 2,000 men are running.)
The Politicisation of the Female Breasts
The employment of the female breasts and sexuality in Nigerian politics has shown that nothing is too sacred to be involved. The erstwhile cultural implication of the female anatomy is beginning to lose its relevance as it has been railroaded into the mainstream of Nigerian politics.
Isle of Man: Angie Aire
Angie Aire, a women who has inspired many on the Isle of Man for raising thousands of pounds for breakthrough breast cancer has been short listed for a prestigious national award.
The annual Inspirational women awards, celebrate Britain's most exceptional women.
Angie has beaten off breast cancer and dedicated her time to take on numerous fund-raising like starting up the Island wide bra dash.
She said it would be amazing to get the support and votes from the Manx public
Angie is in the final four for the Most Inspirational Fundraiser Award.
Book: A Legacy of Hope and Triumph
Filipino women have figured prominently in history, and an exquisite coffee-table book chronicles their achievements.
Entitled A Legacy of Hope and Triumph, the book details via text and images how members of the National Federation of Women's Clubs in the Philippines (NFWCP) led in shaping Philippine history as we know it.
NFWCP, a non-stock, non-profit organization, was formed in 1921 by Filipino and American members of the Manila Women's Club to unite Filipino women through the promotion of their general welfare, for mutual understanding and cooperation, and to prepare and equip them to become more effective participants in national development efforts.
Saudi Arabia: Women Defy Tradition ... and Drive!
There have been continuous calls to overturn the Kingdom’s ban on women driving. While women’s rights activists in the country have been openly campaigning for the right to drive, many high ranking officials maintain it is a societal issue and will be resolved only when Saudis feel the time is right.
Earlier, a group of more than 100 Saudi women signed and sent a petition to Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, asking that the ban be overturned.
However, this controversy does not seem to affect people living in remote desert villages. They are of the view that women driving is a necessity when taking into account their living conditions.
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