- You’ve probably heard that France banned the niqab. Some people like it and some don’t. More here and here and here and here and here.
- Bangladesh bans local elders from meting out punishments according to religious law, which will make it difficult for them to order the flogging of rape victims.
- The USA Today examines a skateboarding school for girls in Afghanistan.
- Q & A with artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat.
- Some religious leader in Kuwait sticks his nose into a Muslim-Jewish couple’s business.
- A group of young Saudi men have launched a campaign to convince Saudi men of the unappreciated virtues of polygamy. Great.
- On the murder of Zakia Zaki, the founder of Radio Sada-e-Sulh in Afghanistan. May Allah give her peace and justice.
- Morocco and the United Nations Development Fund for Women signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the third phase of the Gender Responsive Budgeting. Related: Women in several Maghreb countries are welcoming the U.N.’s creation of a new body known as the Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
- The New York Times asserts that many working Egyptian women have burdens without privileges.
- A Canadian woman accused of stabbing her 19-year-old daughter multiple times with a kitchen knife has been found fit to stand trial.
- The National profiles Farida Mohammed Ali, a female maqam singer.
- A Lebanese woman talks about the late Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah gave her independence.
- On how women in the Gulf are gaining power through social and economic crossroads.
- The New York Times reports that Malaysia’s newly-appointed female judges still have an unclear role.
- The Guardian talks to Safia Jama, who runs the Somali Integration Team for women in Tower Hamlets.
- Sisters in Islam’s study on polygyny shows that 44% of first wives in polygynous marriages are forced to find another source of income after her husband married another woman.
- The Los Angeles Times reports that when Syria recently banned niqabs in schools, few activists paid attention.
- The Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation opened a thrift and consignment store to further serve victims of domestic violence.
- Elan profiles Farhana Kahera, the Executive Director of Muslim Advocates and the National Association for Muslim Lawyers.
- Golnaz Esfandiari writes about Fariba Davoodi Mohajer and her headscarf.
- The Canadian Council of Muslim Women opposes the addition of “honor killings” to the Criminal Code on the grounds “murder is murder” and a special category could stigmatize new immigrants and some ethnic or religious groups.
- A woman in North Carolina believes that she was fired from her job at the hospital because of her hijab.
- Faith-based organizations in Nigeria are being asked to “rehabilitate” sex workers.
- The Huffington Post writes about two women in Iran that are under threat of execution.
- Talking with the director of Salam Rugby, a movie about Iranian women who play rugby.
If there are any news stories about Muslim women that we’ve missed, please feel free to post them in the comments!