NEWS & ARTICLES

WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Women to Get Equal Nationality Rights in Bahrain
Call to Protect Women's Rights in Bahrain

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISM
New Humanitarian Project to Help Widows in Yemen
Financing Women Candidates in Muslim Countries
Women's Political Participation Critical to Addressing Developmental Issues

GENDER RIGHTS
No legal exemption for 'honor crimes' in Jordan
Contentious marriage law modified in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia: Arrests of 67 Men for Wearing 'Women's Clothing'
Draft Law Threat to Independence of Civil Society in Iraq
France: Ban the Burqa
Impact of Religion on Women’s Leadership Roles
Women's Sports Permissible if Follow Shari3ah – in Saudi Arabia

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Gender Perspective on Right to Food Violations
Women Who Wore Pants Are Flogged in Public in Sudan
Egypt Mourns 'Headscarf Martyr'
The words of God do not Justify Cruelty to Women
No Protection for Women from Spousal Rape in Bahrain
Spousal Rape, Marital Sexual Abuse - Divorce
UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women - Rashida Manjoo
Mehwar Centre for Women and Children in Palestine
Male Guardian Permission is Still Required for Saudi Women as for Surgery Travel
Stoning to be Omitted from Penal Laws in Iran
Honour Killing Law Amended in Syria

GENDER & PERSONAL STATUS LAW
Personal Status Draft Law Withdrawn in Syria

BOOKS & REPORTS

GENDER EQUALITY
Arab World - Strategies & Instruments to Tackle Discrimination Against Women
Disabled People - Targeted Violence & Hostility - Disabled Women & Girls
G8 Summit 2009 - Gender Equality?
Voices of Queer Women & Trans Persons in Lebanon

NEWS & ARTICLES

WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Women to Get Equal Nationality Rights in Bahrain
The agony of more than 2,000 families here with stateless children might be over soon with the decision of a state-run organisation to push for equal 
nationality rights for women and men. The Supreme Council For Women (SCW) held a meeting with representatives from all women societies in the country last week and decided to push for the removal of a clause in the Convention for the Elimination of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW), about giving the right to women to pass their nationality to their children of foreign fathers.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564932

Call to Protect Women's Rights in Bahrain
BAHRAIN needs to do more to further guarantee the effective implementation of a United Nations convention on protecting women's rights, say campaigners. The call follows a proposal by the Supreme Council for Women to lift one of Bahrain's reservations on granting women equal rights compared to men, with respect to the nationality of their children.
The article currently states that only Bahraini men can pass on their nationality to their wives and children, but campaigners want to see this right extended to women.
http://www.wunrn.com/news/2009/07_09/07_20_09/072009_bahrain.htm

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISM
New Humanitarian Project to Help Widows in Yemen
The project is called Milad Al-Amal Foundation Project for Humanitarian Services and helps women who cannot support themselves after their husbands have died or gone missing. Samira Assabahi has devoted herself to this project in order to help serve these poor women forgotten by society.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564950

Financing Women Candidates in Muslim Countries
Conditions of financial dependency complicate women’s participation in politics and make the funding of political campaigns extremely hard. In many Muslim countries, women are not financially independent and they have to rely on their husbands or male relatives, such as fathers and brothers, to provide for the family. In some Muslim countries, women are not even allowed to own land or property themselves.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564930

Women's Political Participation Critical to Addressing Developmental Issues
Egypt elected the first Arab woman to parliament in 1957, but in the half century since, the most populous country in the Arab world has gone from being a leader in women's political participation to a lagger. "Many Arab countries went ahead, but Egypt stayed behind," says Hoda Badran, head of the Cairo-based Alliance for Arab Women (AAW). Female parliamentary representation has declined since 1984, when women occupied 36 of the 458 seats in the People's Assembly, the lower house of Egypt's parliament. Women secured just nine of 454 seats in the last legislative election in 2005. Only four women were elected, the rest were appointed by the president.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564794

GENDER RIGHTS
No Legal Exemption For 'honour crimes' in Jordan
Legal experts and religious leaders insist that there should be no exemption for so-called honour crimes under the law. "A crime is a crime. There is no such thing as honour crimes. All people are equal before the law," Justice Minister Ayman Odeh said on Thursday. When they occur, honour killings are usually committed by one family member against another, supposedly in the name of defending the honour of the family, but in the eyes of the law, these crimes are perceived as crimes against humanity and dealt with accordingly, the minister said in an interview with The Jordan Times.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564936

Contentious Marriage Law Modified in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's government has revised a law that stirred an international outcry because it essentially legalized marital rape. The new version no longer requires a woman submit to sex with her husband, only that she do certain housework. The changes, which parliament is expected to approve, likely reflect a calculation by President Hamid Karzai that his reputation as a reformer is more important than support from conservative Shiites who favored the original bill. Presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said the revisions show that Karzai has followed through on a pledge made in April to expunge the offensive parts of the marriage law, which applies only to minority Shiite Muslims. http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564931

Saudi Arabia: Arrests of 67 men for Wearing 'women's clothing'
Criminal Charges for Choice of Clothing Violate Rights to Privacy and Free Expression. The arrests of the men in Riyadh on June 13, 2009, violate basic human rights to privacy and freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on Saudi authorities to drop charges against the men, most of them from other countries, and release any they are still holding. "If the police in Saudi Arabia can arrest people simply because they don't like their clothes, no one is safe," said Rasha Moumneh, researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564888

Draft Law Threat to Independence of Civil Society in Iraq
A hotly debated draft law to regulate the work of NGOs in Iraq will be discussed in parliament this month although its approval is not expected soon, a lawmaker told IRIN. Many NGOs have opposed the draft bill, saying it would hinder their activities. “We already gave the draft law its first read in parliament and the second read will be in the coming two weeks to kick off discussions afterwards,” Maisson al-Damalogi, deputy head of Parliament’s NGOs Committee, told IRIN on 4 July.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564877

France: Ban the Burqa
"I am a Muslim, I am a feminist and I detest the full-body veil, known as a niqab or burqa", writes Mona Eltahawy "It erases women from society and has nothing to do with Islam but everything to do with the hatred for women at the heart of the extremist ideology that preaches it. We must not sacrifice women at the altar of political correctness or in the name of fighting a growingly powerful right wing that Muslims face in countries where they live as a minority.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564803

Impact of Religion on Women’s Leadership Roles
Historically it has been sometimes assumed that secular and left-of-centre parties are more willing to promote women in politics, while conservative and religious parties limit women’s participation in politics and public life. Recent developments show that this is not always the case, since some religious parties started recruiting more women members to promote their political agendas. For instance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of religious political parties in Pakistan, despite its stated opposition to women’s participation in political and public life, promoted women candidates in the 2002 elections to the National Assembly. As a result, 12 MMA women candidates were elected to the National Assembly in Pakistan. According to Ashutosh Misra, by promoting women in the national elections, MMA gave priority to power over ideology. (Misra, A. p.201. 2003)
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564935

Women's Sports Permissible if Follow Shariah – in Saudi Arabia
Dr Ali Abbas Al Hakami, a member of the Board of Senior Ulema, said recently that exercise for women is not only permissible but a necessity according to Shariah. For more information:
http://www.wunrn.com/news/2009/07_09/07_13_09/071309_saudi2.htm

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Gender Perspective on Right to Food Violations
Although formal gender equality has been enshrined in international law and many national constitutions and legislations, the de facto enjoyment of the right to food is all too often gender biased. Where the human right to food is violated or threatened, women and girls are often specifically or more severely affected.http://www.wunrn.com/news/2009/07_09/07_13_09/071309_gender.htm

Women Who Wore Pants Are Flogged in Public in Sudan
The police arrested 13 women in a raid on a cafe in the capital, Khartoum, and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing trousers, one of those arrested said Monday. The women were detained Friday by officers of the public order police, which enforces Sudan’s strict Islamic law in public places. One of those arrested, Lubna Hussein, a journalist, said she was challenging the charges, which can be punishable by up to 40 lashes. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564948

Egypt Mourns 'Headscarf Martyr'
The body of a Muslim woman, killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion, has been taken back to her native Egypt for burial. Marwa Sherbini, 31, was stabbed 18 times by Axel W, who is now under arrest in Dresden for suspected murder. Husband Elwi Okaz is also in a critical condition in hospital, after being injured as he tried to save his wife. Ms Sherbini had sued her killer after he called her a "terrorist" because of her headscarf. The case has attracted much attention in Egypt and the Muslim world. German prosecutors have said the 28-year-old attacker, identified only as Axel W, was driven by a deep hatred of foreigners and Muslims. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8136500.stm

The words of God do not Justify Cruelty to Women
Discrimination and abuse wrongly backed by doctrine are damaging society, argues the former US president, Jimmy Carter. "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status ..." (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights). "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564957

No Protection for Women from Spousal Rape in Bahrain
Getting a divorce and custody of one’s children is very difficult in Bahrain, even in cases where a husband sexually attacks his wife. The issue was exposed to the public last year, when an Arab woman married to a Bahraini was granted a divorce by the courts after she lost part of her breast during a violent sexual encounter with her spouse. A medical report submitted during the case citing the need for corrective surgery was valid enough evidence for the judge to call off the marriage. Though such cases are rarely highlighted in the media here, the plight of this woman made top headlines in many regional newspapers. http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564891

Spousal Rape, Marital Sexual Abuse - Divorce
Getting a divorce and custody of one’s children is very difficult in Bahrain, even in cases where a husband sexually attacks his wife. The issue was exposed to the public last year, when an Arab woman married to a Bahraini was granted a divorce by the courts after she lost part of her breast during a violent sexual encounter with her spouse. A medical report submitted during the case citing the need for corrective surgery was valid enough evidence for the judge to call off the marriage. Though such cases are rarely highlighted in the media here, the plight of this woman made top headlines in many regional newspapers. http://www.wunrn.com/news/2009/07_09/07_06_09/070609_bahrain.htm

UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women - Rashida Manjoo
APWLD and various other women’s human rights organisations welcome the appointment by the United Nations Human Rights Council of Rashida Manjoo as the new UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
Rashida Manjoo is a South African legal practitioner as well as a member of Women Living Under Muslim Laws. She has been working in different capacities in various countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, including Algeria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, as well as South Africa.
http://www.wunrn.com/news/2009/07_09/07_20_09/072009_un3.htm

Mehwar Centre for Women and Children in Palestine
Mehwar is the first Palestinian centre providing integrative answers to domestic violence. At the centre they not only protect physically and sexually abused women, they seek "to empower" them to play a defining role in society. "Palestinians used to 'solve' cases of abuse through contacts with heads of family-based clans. We're against that patriarchal system. Going public is the best protection. But our laws are archaic. So, we're pressing for an overall personal legal and penal code against violence, and for its implementation. If not, we'll be trapped in a vicious circle." http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564909

Male Guardian Permission is Still Required for Saudi Women as for Surgery Travel
Saudi officials continue to require women to obtain permission from male guardians to conduct their most basic affairs, like traveling or receiving medical care, despite government assertions that no such requirements exist, Human Rights Watch said today. The government made its assertions most recently in June 2009, to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. "The Saudi government is saying one thing to the Human Rights Council in Geneva but doing another thing inside the kingdom," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "It needs to stop requiring adult women to seek permission from men, not just pretend to stop it."
http://www.wunrn.com/news/2009/07_09/07_06_09/070609_saudi2.htm

Stoning to be Omitted from Penal Laws in Iran
Head of the Majlis judiciary commission Ali Shahrokhi says stoning, heresy and cutting hands will be omitted from Iran's penal laws. “The Majlis judiciary commission studied the new Islamic punishment bill and decided that it is unnecessary to include some penalties, such as stoning, in the law,” Shahrokhi told IRNA on Monday.http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564793

Honour Killing Law Amended in Syria
Syria has scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences handed down to men convicted of killing female relatives they suspect of having illicit sex. Women's groups had long demanded that Article 548 be scrapped, arguing it decriminalised "honour" killings. Activists say some 200 women are killed each year in honour cases by men who expect lenient treatment under the law.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564800

GENDER & PERSONAL STATUS LAW
Personal Status Draft Law Cancelled
The draft would have incited religious and sectarian tensions and violated all the rights of woman and children in Syria, as well as the rights of the man, writes Bassam El-Kadi. This is what has been reiterated in the statement issued by the press office of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and published by the Syrian Arab News Agency – SANA: "The press office of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers clarified that some of the media outlets circulated information about Personal Status Draft Law, that is both baseless and not accurate. In order to provide the public with the accurate information and correct the misconception about this issue and show the procedures that will be followed, we feel the urge to clarify the following:" the press release added.
http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564869

BOOKS & REPORTS

GENDER EQUALITY
Arab World - Strategies & Instruments to Tackle Discrimination Against Women
“The disadvantages suffered by women in the Arab world are the result of a complex web of political, social, cultural and economic factors.
They are reflected in statistics which demonstrate, for instance, that women have a significantly lower life expectancy than men, that maternal mortality rates are high, that women have few opportunities to acquire knowledge and that the illiteracy rate among them is extremely high. In no other part of the world do women play such a marginal part in economic life.”
Direct Link to Full 56-Page 2008 Report:
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-on-the-way-to-improved-legal-reality-2...

Disabled People - Targeted Violence & Hostility - Disabled Women & Girls
The Equality and Human Rights Commission commissioned the Office for Public Management (OPM) to conduct a two-phase project looking into disabled people’s experiences of targeted violence and hostility. The research has taken a broad approach to targeted violence and hostility against disabled people. The terminology around targeted violence and hostility is ill-defined, and terms such as abuse and harassment are often used interchangeably. In this report we have used ‘targeted violence and hostility’ as an encompassing term to include incidents involving verbal, physical, sexual and emotional violence, harassment and abuse that is directed towards disabled people.
For more information please refer to the Direct Link to Full 171-Page Report:
http://edit.cehrtest.org.uk/en/publicationsandresources/Documents/Disabi...

G8 Summit 2009 - Gender Equality?
The G8 group's member countries are Canada, the Russian Federation, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, together with the European Union represented by the European Council's duty President and by the President of the European Commission.
Left to right: Japanese President Taro Aso, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and the EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso during the family photo taken on the first day of the G8 Summit in L'Aquila. G8website/Ansa photo by: Maurizio Brambatti
http://www.g8italia2009.it/G8/Home/Media/Foto/G8-G8_Layout_locale-119988...

Voices of queer women & trans persons in Lebanon
Lebanon's first and long-awaited book on the lives of queer women and transgender people in Lebanon is published by Meem. "Bareed Mista3jil" - which translates into English as "Mail in a Hurry" - is a collection of 41 stories from the experiences of lesbians, bisexuals, queer and questioning women, and transgender persons (LBTQ) from all over Lebanon. http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564901