In This Issue

NEWS & ARTICLES
WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Musawah – Global Movement for Equality in the Muslim Family

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISM (focus on Gaza conflict)
Alice Walker and Medea Benjamin in Gaza for International Women’s Day
Feminists Organizing Against the Gaza Conflict
… and Women Uniting Against War and Occupation
Sawt el-Amel Celebrates Milestones of Women's Activism - Photo Exhibit

GENDER RIGHTS
Debates on Human Rights and the Hijab in Europe
Threat to Legislation Outlawing Child Marriage in Yemen
Iraq's Women's Minister to Withdraw Resignation
Egyptian Women Learn Self-Defense Against Sexual Harassment

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Mother Jailed in Dubai for Adultery, Loses Custody Fight for Children
Court Sentences 75-year-old Woman to Lashes in Saudi Arabia
Two Women Flogged in Iran for Celebrating May Day
Family Threatened by police in Egypt for Complaining of Torture of Woman

GENDER & CONFLICT
Iraq’s War Widows Face Dire Need With Little Aid
… AND Many Iraqi Women & Girls, 'Internally Displaced' Means Homeless

CITIZENSHIP & SECTARIANISM
Discrimination and Sectarian Oppression on the Rise in Bahrain

BOOKS & REPORTS
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
UN Tracks Rising Violence Against Women in Gaza

GENDER EQUALITY
The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality
Women and Right to Livelihood

GENDER & CONFLICT
Surveys Unveil the Mental Scars of War in Iraq, Especially Among Women

GENDER & HEALTH
HIV Vulnerabilities of Migrant Women from Asia to the Arab States
Women’s Health in Muslim Majority Countries

GENDER & PERSONAL STATUS LAW
New Discussion Booklet on the Marriage Contract in Maghreb

GENDER RESOURCES
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Article 6 – Women with Disabilities

DONORS’ PROFILES
Global fund for Women

NEWS & ARTICLES
WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Musawah – Global Movement for Equality in the Muslim Family
Musawah global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, was launched at a Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 13-17 February 2009.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISM (focus on Gaza conflict)
Alice Walker and Medea Benjamin in Gaza for International Women’s Day
"Our purpose was to connect with the women for International Women’s Day to show our support and to educate ourselves so that we can go back to the United States and work hard on our policies."
Alice Walker is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and activist. Her most recent book is We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness. Medea Benjamin is a longtime peace activist and founder of CODEPINK. She helped organize the women’s delegation to Gaza. For more information

Feminists Organizing Against the Gaza Conflict
Throughout the seemingly intractable Israel-Palestine conflict, civil society has been active in responding to crises and advocating for peace and justice. AWID interview with Eilat Maoz of the Coalition of Women for Peace, an Israeli organization that works for peace in Israel and Palestine. More information

… and Women Uniting Against War and Occupation
The empowering story of the ‘Women in Black’ movement: An organization set-up by Israeli women, but now joined by women the world over, all trying to bring peace through non-violent direct activism.
In this documentary, we see ordinary women from all sides going to extra-ordinary lengths to help and highlight the plight of the Palestinians. And we witness first hand the struggle to maintain normal life surrounded by tanks and snipers. More information

Sawt el-Amel Celebrates Milestones of Women's Activism - Photo Exhibit
 Sawt el-Amel is a grassroots membership organisation of Arab workers and unemployed in Israel, not affiliated to any political party or other ideological or religious entity. In its collective actions, Sawt el-Amel also targets Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestinian territories and all economically disadvantaged Israelis. Direct link to International Women's Day photo exhibit

GENDER RIGHTS
Debates on Human Rights and the Hijab in Europe
Excluding Muslim women who wear headscarves from the public sphere does nothing for gender equality or peaceful integration reports Gulik a researcher and advocate for Europe and Central Asia in the women's rights division of Human Rights Watch. Abbas: "Women’s clothing is perceived as completely tied to their sexuality, and their sexuality is considered firmly in the public domain, to be exploited or policed." More information

Threat to Legislation Outlawing Child Marriage in Yemen
Although Yemen's parliament has agreed to set the minimum age for marriage at 17, there are concerns the decision may be rescinded as some members of parliament (MPs) say the amendments violate Sharia (Islamic) law. For more information

Iraq's Women's Minister to Withdraw Resignation
An Iraqi woman holds a banner that reads 'Stop violence against women' - during a rally in Najaf, Iraq, …
Iraq's state minister for women's affairs said she plans to withdraw her resignation after receiving pledges from aid organizations to help improve women's lives. For more information

Egyptian Women Learn Self-Defense Against Sexual Harassment
In a dojo, or martial arts training area, in a poor working class suburb of Cairo, women in karate uniforms and tracksuits are learning to fight off an assailant.
In this male-dominated society it is unusual to see these women in their headscarves sparring with men, but such is the concern here at the rise of sexual harassment cases that the number attending this class grows every month. For more information

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Mother Jailed in Dubai for Adultery, Loses Custody Fight for Children
Marnie Pearce, 40, has not seen her sons – Laith, seven, and Ziad, four – since she was imprisoned in the Arab emirate last month.
Pearce, originally from Bracknell in Berkshire, was found guilty of adultery by a Dubai court in November after her former husband, Ihab el-Labban, accused her of cheating on him. Pearce, who denies the charges against her, has lost two appeals against the conviction but has had her prison sentence cut from six months to three by Dubai's appeal court. For more information

Court Sentences 75-year-old Woman to Lashes in Saudi Arabia
Khamisa Sawadi, who is Syrian but was married to a Saudi, was convicted and sentenced last week for meeting with men who were not her immediate relatives.
The sentencing of a 75-year-old widow to 40 lashes and four months in prison for mingling with two young men who were reportedly bringing her bread has sparked new criticism of Saudi Arabia's ultraconservative religious police and judiciary. For more information

Two Women Flogged in Iran for Celebrating May Day
Two Iranian women labor activists, convicted for participating in May Day celebrations, have been punished by flogging, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.
"These inhumane and barbaric floggings demonstrate an utter disregard for the rights of Iranian citizens by a hardliner clique inside the Judiciary, who are determined to drag Iran’s human rights record to new lows,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson. For more information

Family Threatened by police in Egypt for Complaining of Torture of Woman
Mona Said Thabet went to a police station north of Cairo after she was assaulted by two men at her sister's home. The men were reported to have been police informers.
When she made her complaint at Shobra al-Khayma police station No. II, Mona Said Thabat was spat on, slapped on the face and had a cigarette put out on her cheek by the head of the police station. For more information

GENDER & CONFLICT
Iraq’s War Widows Face Dire Need With Little Aid
 Ahmed Hassan Sharmal, and his extended family of 30, including three war widows, are forced to share only two trailers
Her twin sisters were killed trying to flee Falluja in 2004. Then her husband was killed by a car bomb in Baghdad just after she had become pregnant. When her own twins were 5 months old, one was killed by an explosive planted in a Baghdad market. For more information

… AND Many Iraqi Women & Girls, 'Internally Displaced' Means Homeless
"We only want a normal life," says Um Qasim, sitting in a bombed out building in Baghdad. She and others around have been saying that for years.Um Qasim lives with 13 family members in a brick shanty on the edge of a former military intelligence building in the Mansoor district of Baghdad.
Five of her children are girls. Homelessness is not easy for anyone, but it is particularly challenging for women and girls. For more information

CITIZENSHIP & SECTARIANISM
Discrimination and Sectarian Oppression on the Rise in Bahrain
The percentage of Shiite representatives in the country's institutions is on the decline. In the year 2003 the figure was 18%; it now stands at 13%.
The current dispute in Bahrain is not a sectarian Shiite - Sunni dispute or an ideological dispute, reports the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR): "the dispute is between the Shiite sect, and they are the largest portion of the indigenous people in Bahrain, and the regime because of its policy of sectarian discrimination, segregation and apartheid." For more information

BOOKS & REPORTS
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
UN Tracks Rising Violence Against Women in Gaza
An unpublished UNIFEM survey of male and female heads of 1,100 Gaza households conducted between 28 February and 3 March indicates there was an increase in violence against women during and after the 23-day war which ended on 18 January.
The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Gaza, local Palestinian NGOs and mental health professionals are reporting increased incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault against women in Gaza since the beginning of 2009. For more information

GENDER EQUALITY
The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality
A new publication discusses entry points and opportunities for engaging men in work on gender equality, focusing on issues of violence, health, fatherhood, the workplace and the need to engage youth. (UN)
Gender equality is not a women’s issue; it concerns men and boys as well as women and girls. Garnering sufficient support for the profound social changes required by the gender equality agenda cannot be achieved by women alone. It also requires the active involvement of men, all the more so as they often control the resources needed for this work. For more information

Women and Right to Livelihood
PWESCR, in collaboration with Habitat International Coalition (HIC), organised this lively event, with input on diverse issues of livelihoods and the ways in which development and displacement have violated women’s rights to livelihoods. For more information  Full report

GENDER & CONFLICT
Surveys Unveil the Mental Scars of War in Iraq, Especially Among Women
In Iraq, as security improves, only now are the full effects of the violence on the Iraqi people emerging. Two studies being released, one on mental health in Iraq and the other on the status of Iraqi women, paint a sobering portrait of the enormous difficulties that lie ahead as the country tries to recover from years of war and state-sponsored terrorism under Saddam Hussein and the more recent sectarian and ethnic strife that followed the American invasion. For more information

GENDER & HEALH
HIV Vulnerabilities of Migrant Women from Asia to the Arab States
Shifting From Silence, Stigma and Shame to Safe Mobility with Dignity, Equity and Justice

Women’s Health in Muslim Majority Countries
The need to advance the empowerment of women in Muslim majority countries is globally recognized. A keen interest has been taken in the fundamental right to health for women in Muslim majority communities. This paper is downloadable here

GENDER & PERSONAL STATUS LAW
New Discussion Booklet on the Marriage Contract in Maghreb
The Global Rights Maghreb field office, in collaboration with fifteen local NGOs and lawyer partners in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, announces the publication of a Discussion Booklet on strategic use of the marriage contract to promote women’s rights.
Designed as a practical tool for grassroots mobilisation by local NGOs and facilitators, the Discussion Booklet contains information on clauses that can by stipulated into the marriage contract, reasons for drafting a detailed contract, simplified explanations of national laws and marriage procedures, a Model Marriage Contract, and three human rights education program sessions to use in awareness-raising among women.
Available in Arabic and French, Discussion Booklets specific to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia may be consulted in PDF format.

GENDER RESOURCES
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Article 6 – Women with Disabilities
1. States Parties recognize that women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discriminations, and in this regard shall take measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by them of all their human rights and fundamental freedoms. All articles can be found here

DONORS’ PROFILES
Global fund for Women
The Global Fund for Women is a nonprofit grantmaking foundation that advances women's human rights worldwide. We are a network of women and men who believe that ensuring women's full equality and participation in society is one of the most effective ways to build a just, peaceful and sustainable world. We raise funds from a variety of sources and make grants to women-led organizations that promote the economic security, health, safety, education and leadership of women and girls. More information