One year ago, Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head for speaking up for the education of girls and this week she received the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize, which is award by the EU, for her work. A spokesman from the Taliban stated that she has done “nothing” to deserve this prize, and once again they vowed to kill her, where ever she might be. She is also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced on October 11. Meanwhile the first anniversary of her attack has gone by quietly in the Swat valley; the school she attended remains closed.
A viral video which shows a young man sexually harassing a woman at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza, has people worried that phenomenon of sexual harassment experienced in Egypt might spread to Gaza.
Last Sunday, Sudan has released the women detained during the recent protests; one woman shares her experience about joining a silent protest by women in Khartoum, Sudan, which was asking for the release of female protesters a few days earlier.
EurasiaNet.org speaks to a group of Shi’a women in Azerbaijan, who have become regulars at local demonstrations, mainly those pertaining to religious freedom, but lately also election-related protests by the opposition.
A radio presenter at Gargaar Star FM in one of the Dadaab refugee settlements in Kenya, prepares to go live with an on-air interview. Gargaar means help in Somali; the radio station aims to give Somali refugees in the camps a voice. Image by Siegfried Modola/Reuters
Two undercover reporters found that eighteen imams in the UK agreed to marry underage girls, despite it being illegal in the country.
During a women’s film festival in Gaza, many of the movies featured dealt with topics that are usually considered to a taboo in the conservative Gazan society, such as harassment and sexuality.
Three female members of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura council have filed a recommendation that ban on women driving should be lifted. The Shoura council has refused to discuss the issue.
Activists in Pakistan are calling for better (girl) child protection laws, after series of incidents in which infant girls were killed and a young girl raped.
Al Jazeera features an article on Kashmir’s “half widows”, women whose husbands have disappeared, but were not declared deceased.
Two Moroccan teenagers were held for violating public decency, after they posted a picture of themselves kissing outside their school on Facebook. The teen making the picture was arrested as well. Last Tuesday the three were released to their parents, but have to appear in court this Friday and may face up to two years in prison.
Sex changes are allowed in Iran, but those who have undergone this procedure find that they still have to combat stigma.
Lebanon has banned the screening of two movies at the Beirut International Film Festival; one of the movies is I Offered You Pleasure, which tells the story of a middle-aged Shi’ite woman who is coerced into a “pleasure marriage” with her teen neighbor.
Rape is still used as a tool to control the population in Somalia, even though the situation is fragile, but stable in most regions.
The Guardian features an article on the alleged murder (and possible rape) of 16-year-old Shakila by a local MP in Afghanistan last year.
A new labor report on a factory in Bangladesh, which sews for The Gap and Old Navy, claims that pregnant workers in the factory are illegally fired, denied maternity leave and abused.
According to sources within Saudi Arabia, a Saudi court order demands an investigation in the alleged marriage of a 12-year-old girl in the south of the country.
Norway says it will be slightly cutting aid to Afghanistan, signaling the country hasn’t done enough to combat corruption and violence against women.
For days Suad has been a lone protester outside the headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Syrian city of Raqqa, demanding the release of all the kidnapped people under the new regime.
Last Tuesday, Turkey lifted the ban on headscarves in state institutions, a ban that dated back almost 90 years.
Saudi preacher Fayhan al-Ghamdi has been sentenced to eight years in prison and 600 lashes for torturing his five-year-old daughter and beating her to death.
Al Jazeera features a documentary which follows two Turkmen girls in Afghanistan as they get a chance to go to school.
The controversial law in Iran, which allows fathers to marry their adopted daughters, has received a lot of negative attention and critique in Iran.
US student Melona Clarke says that she had to prove that she was Muslim in order to be able to obtain a university ID, because of her hijab.
After the Egyptian revolution in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments have risen significantly.
The Star profiles Fanta Ongoiba, who has been honored for her work as a Muslim AIDS activist in Canada.
Last Sunday, four Saudi women have been licensed to work as attorneys in Saudi Arabia; a first for the Gulf country.
In India, 16 Muslim women have been trained as photographers, despite a recent fatwa by the Dar Uloom Deoband which stated that photography is not from Islam.
In the Malaysian state of Kelantan, hair salons are warned that they may lose their license to practice if they continue displaying pictures of women modeling hairstyles.
Saedah Haroun, a Muslim woman from the Palestinian West Bank has married an Israeli Jew, after he converted to Islam and registered himself as a Muslim with Palestinian Authority.
A Texas Muslim woman claims that she was tricked into consuming bacon at a local restaurant.