- On Syrian TV dramas and their portrayal of women.
- Two women are holding a workship for aspiring writers of Arabic children’s books in Sharjah, U.A.E.
- IslamOnline covers the recent submission to parliament of a headscarf ban in Danish courts.
- In an attempt to attract more women to use public transportation, Dubai will soon launch pink buses for women. Seriously.
- A new book discusses the space that women are making for themselves in Iran.
- WLUML reports that there is worrisome political interference in Mukhtar Mai’s case against her rapists. More from Bitch.
- Several countries called for an end to human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, urging the country to give women more rights.
- Farzana Rahman has created Islamic-themed dolls to go on sale in British markets.
- Why choice is important for all women in India.
- Princess Amira al-Taweel is down with getting into the driver’s seat in Saudi Arabia. More from the Daily Mail, via The Huffington Post. And more from Al Arabiya.
- A mother and her three daughters have been held in detention illegally in Pakistan.
- The Iranian Women’s Tennis team wins battles large and small in the Australian women’s cup. Of course, the newspaper still had to use the eyerollingly-overplayed phrase, “lifing the veil”. Scoff!
- Brazilian jiu-jitsu lessons in the Emirates struggle to keep girls (and their families) interested.
- More gossip about Rachida Dati’s baby daddy.
- Negative attitudes toward women’s participation in sports are rapidly changing in Qatar.
- Benazir Bhutto’s children will decide for themselves if and when to enter politics, says the Pakistan People’s Party chairperson.
- The outlawing of female genital cutting has driven the practice underground in West African countries, not stopped it.
- Saudi Latifa Al Shaikh won Bahrain’s women’s racing competition last weekend.
- Boston.com profiles basketball star Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, who also gets some play from ESPN!
- More women are chewing qat in Yemen.
- Iran’s civil rights movement isn’t about race. According to Vermont Public Radio, it’s about gender.
- A prominent Kuwaiti women’s group has attacked a draft law to protect women’s rights as “not going far enough.”
- WLUML reports that marriage of young girls in Ethiopia leads to early pregnancies that often result in death, disability, and lifelong health problems.
- Al-Nisah, a new online Islamic clothing store based in the U.K., has just opened.
- The prevalence of religious laws over women’s lives creates problems for women of every faith in Syria and Jordan.
- Danish police will not follow other Scandinavian countries’ examples in allowing headscarves in police uniforms.
- One daring woman explores Saudi culture as a man.
- The Coastline Pilot profiles basketball star Ahllam Berri.
- Electronic blackmail using images of women from their cell phones or online accounts is increasing in Saudi Arabia.
- An Afghan woman sets out to find the man who wronged her and bring him to justice. Get ‘im, sister!
- Observations of Jordanian discusses the alarming rise of honor killings in the kingdom. Via Global Voices Online.
- Despite several special incentives offered for the job, the Karachi police department has failed to attract women.
- A Qatari woman goes on trial for passing the HIV virus to three men, who are also on trial.
- Yemen’s Minister of Human Rights says that women should be guaranteed 21 seats in Parliament.
- The UN CEDAW committee reports that women’s human rights were seriously violated during the Gaza attack.
- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown discusses her fear about anti-terror legislation in the U.K.
- Nzingha’s Soapbox relates the difficulty that Saudi women have in finding jobs during the worldwide recession. Via Global Voices Online.
- Payvand News puts together an essay reflecting on Iranian women on the Islamic republic’s 30th anniversary.
- According to a study by Freedom House, women in the Gulf are making small but notable gains in freedoms.
- The Telegraph reviews Shades, a British play that feels like a “Muslim Bridget Jones’ Diary.”
- A woman who survived a horrific torching takes her perpetrator in court. May Allah give her justice.
- The Toronto Rape Crisis Center is holding a charity bowl-a-thon (FUN!) at the end of February.
- Self-defense classes are popping up in Egypt. More from the Chicago Sun-Times. Via ifeminists.
- Shirin Ebadi writes on efforts to legally mislead Iranian women.
- Part Two of Aaminah Hernández’s interview with Izzy Mo.
- The University of College Dublin holds a women-only fashion show, showcasing Muslim women’s fashions. Via Islam in Europe.
- Abeer Mishkhas writes about Saudi opinion of underage marraige.
- PressTV interviews Fatemeh Eshraqi about her grandfather.
- The delay in the construction of the Friendship Causeway that would link Bahrain and Qatar has also put on hold plans for Bahraini and Saudi women to travel on their own.
- A man has been arrested in Holland on suspicion of having his daughter circumcised. Via Islam in Europe.
- A young woman was murdered with her father’s blessing. May Allah give her peace and justice.
- Qatar launches its first women’s cycling tour.
- Hamida Ghafour asserts that we should not blame the victims in Iraq.
- Saudi Arabia is considering legislating laws aimed at tackling sexual harassment.
- Hamidah Osman, Malaysian assemblywoman, apologizes for the recent use of a racial slur that offended the Indian community.
- Islam in Europe reports that integration minister of the Netherlands, Eberhard van del Laan, says that gyms should not ban headscarves.
- The Times Online says that British Muslim mothers are being trained to spot extremism through their childrens’ internet use. Via ProgressiveIslam.
- A new Saudi campaign to encourage university staff and students to lead healthier lives does not target men and women equally, says Arab News.
- A man tortures and kills his wife. May Allah give her peace and justice.
- Nesrine Malik writes for The Guardian about how women are often the enforcers of patriarchal structural oppression.
- OneWorld.net describes the brave battles Afghan women continue to fight for their rights.
- Japanese women experts in business administration will train young Saudi women how to start small and medium-size enterprises this week in Riyadh.
- While this Daily Mail article is disgustingly biased, the story itself is disgusting enough. May Allah protect this woman and give her justice.
- Islam in Europe discusses the Norwegian debate around headscarves in police uniforms.
- The recent resignation in protest by the Iraqi Minister of Women’s Affairs raises questions about the Iraqi government’s sincerity when it comes to women’s issues.
- In France, the man who married a 14-year-old girl in a religious ceremony has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.
- Dr. Fatimah Abdullah Al-Saleem has been appointed cultural attaché at the Saudi Embassy in Canada by the Ministry of Higher Education.
- A woman in suing a college in Sweden for not allowing her to wear a niqab to class.
- The Yemen Observer notes that, while early marriage is harmful to society, the Yemeni parliament has struck down an amendment raising the minimum marriage age to 18.
- The South Asian Times interviewed Dilara Hafiz and her family. You can download the issue here or just expand the pic below:
Tags: Muslim women, News
pink buses for women in Dubai? I give up, man.
Re: the Daily Mail article “Saudi judge sentences pregnant gang-rape victim to 100 lashes for committing adultery” … WTH? She was gang-raped, it’s not her fault! (unless, you blame her for accepting the ride from the man) … I don’t understand the logic in blaming the victim.
The story about female genital cutting does not surprise me, unfortunately. I was always weary of the efforts to ban FGM, precisely because I was worried it would drive the practice underground.
and another horrid one for the list:
http://www.buffalonews.com/437/story/578644.html
good blog
agha amin
I know the Daily Mail is biased most of the time but what do you mean by ‘disgustingly biased’ in the article? Yes the first comment is so I did not read any more of them but what is unacceptable in the article precisely? I have no wish to defend the Daily Mail just a wish to recognise what I am missing.
Surely you do not mean there a two sides to a story about violence against women?
The South Asian Times also profiled Zila Khan – Sufi singer.
@tom: No, I definitely didn’t mean that there are “two sides” to this. My irritation was aimed at the last few sentences, particularly the sentence about the KSA practicing a form of “medieval law,” which is often read as “the Saudis are backward.” The bias is in the language.
@ Roberta: Thanks for posting this story; it’s dumbfoundingly horrific. May Allah grant this woman peace and justice.
[...] women thirty years after the Revolution, review a new Middle Eastern lifestyle magazine, and LINK IT UP! [...]
Thanks Fatemeh, I missed it by assuming it was so. That is what propaganda does to us. Reading Muslimah Media Watch helps me check my assumptions.
I suspect that intention is also involved as the Daily Mail intended to portray Saudi Arabia negatively and has never been a genuine supporter of women’s rights.
It is difficult not to fall into the trap as I might use intemperate language when attacking my own government (UK) whose record on human rights is worse than most.
I wonder how the press in another country might have portrayed this bit of British nastiness -it is truly ‘medieval’ just as ‘waterboarding’ techniques are:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/sep/26/children.law
[...] few weeks ago, we featured a story in our Friday links about the introduction of Muslim dolls in the U.K., created to teach Muslim children about Islam. [...]