NEWS & ARTICLES
WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
Women's Agency Remains Politically Paralysed
CEDAW Weakened by Slew of Reservations
Interview with Karama founder

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISM
Women Are Seeking Greater Political Influence in Iraq
Women Rights Defenders Continue Undeterred by Prison Detention in Iran
Coalition of Women for Peace supports Global BDS Day of Action in Israel/Palestine
NGOs call on UN to help stop silencing of HR activists, journalists and bloggers in Bahrain
CSW draft resolution on situation of and assistance to Palestinian women

GENDER RIGHTS
Constitutional Court Supports Female Judges in Egypt
Female Circumcision Ban Urged in Iraq
Open All Judicial Positions to Women in Egypt
No law protecting children against early marriages in Yemen
New law will end male dominance in Saudi courts
Child bride gets her divorce in Yemen
Coalition of Women for Peace Supports EU Endorsement of Goldstone Report in Israel/Palestine
The Voice of Divorced Women in Egypt
Viewing the Islam Channel critically in UK
Failure of UK government recognition of threat to Iraqi LGBT leader in Iraq/UK
Amnesty International persists in suppressing dissent in UK/Algeria
Canadian government indifferent to plight of woman held captive in Saudi Arabia

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Female Journalists Face Worse Than Discrimination in Gaza
Women judges barred from influential court in Egypt
Why violence against women is widespread in Palestine
From an ex-Muslim, true Islamophobia in Canada
Islamic clerics oppose child bride ban in Yemen

GENDER & PERSONAL STATUS LAW  
Intersectionality of Freedom of Religion or Belief & Women’s Rights: Burqa Issue in the EU

BOOKS & REPORTS
GENDER RIGHTS
Palestine - Why Palestinian Women & Girls Do Not Feel Secure

GENDER AND SOCIETIES
Muslim Women's Global Magazine MBM

NEWS & ARTICLES
WOMEN’S RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

Women's Agency R mains Politically Paralysed
A longstanding e proposal for the creation of a special U.N. agency for women – officially called a “gender entity” – is apparently moving at the sluggish pace of a paralytic snail. The proposal – originally conceived by a high-level panel of U.N. experts back in 2006 – has remained a theoretical exercise for so long that a coalition of women activists is spoofing it in a fake electronic newspaper being circulated at a U.N meeting on gender empowerment here. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6021

CEDAW Weakened by Slew of Reservations
A landmark U.N. treaty on women’s rights, which will be 30 years old next week, is in danger of being politically undermined by a slew of reservations by 22 countries seeking exemptions from some of the convention’s legal obligations. “A reservation must not defeat the object and purpose of a treaty,” Ambassador Palitha Kohona, a former chief of the U.N. Treaty Section, told IPS. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6063

Interview with Karama founder
Questions for Hibaaq Osman, founder and director of Karama: 1. How have efforts to implement the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) in the Arab region evolved since Beijing? Has this been satisfactory? Since the adoption of the BPFA, there has been considerable progress throughout the region in meeting international standards that reinforce gender equality. In particular, the civil society sector has expanded, proliferating local organizations whose mission it is to address key issues that have prevented governments and other authorities from enacting, implementing and enforcing laws that protect women from discrimination and violence. This NGO component had been largely missing and now acts to directly respond to the needs of the local community and communicate these to national and international authorities. In particular, a renewed focus on empowering women and increasing their role in decision-making has been demonstrated. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6022

WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISM
Women Are Seeking Greater Political Influence in Iraq
For women in Iraq, the coming national elections offer both a promise and a reminder of the difficulty of change in this male-dominated culture. The Constitution calls for at least 25 percent of Parliament’s seats to go to women. But the first women elected in 2005 have had little effect, analysts and women who are members of Parliament say. Now, as the campaign begins for the country’s second post-invasion parliamentary vote, on March 7, some women say a new female political class is starting to emerge. In one sign of this development, 12 women from outside the political system have formed their own party, with a platform built on women’s rights and a jobs program for Iraq’s more than 700,000 widows. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/5998

Women Rights Defenders Continue Undeterred by Prison Detention in Iran
Today on a daily basis, personal memoirs of ongoing encounters of dictatorship and resistance in Iran are being written in print and in cyberspace by countless Iranian civil rights activists, scholars and women human rights defenders, writes Elahi Amani. In the process of finding a new transitional global identity, Iran state authorities have steadily continued in the use of legislative delays, reversal of legal means and arrests of dissidents, activists and journalists. Younger, as well as older, women human rights defenders, are now finding themselves victim to increasing intelligence policies of non-disclosure, intimidation and repression. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6023

Coalition of Women for Peace supports Global BDS Day of Action in Israel/Palestine
Call for Action on Global BDS Day, March 30:  The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) has issued a call for action to mark the second Global BDS Day of Action on March 30 2010, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli institutions and corporations. This Day of Action coincides with Palestinian Land Day, which marks the struggle against the expropriation and colonization of Palestinian lands and commemorates six Palestinian demonstrators killed by Israeli security forces on the first Land Day in 1976. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6106

NGOs call on UN to help stop silencing of HR activists, journalists and bloggers in Bahrain
Dear Ms. Navanethem Pillay, The undersigned non-governmental organisations (NGOs) express their grave concerns about the ongoing media and legal campaigns being carried out by Bahraini authorities to stifle freedom of expression and deter the activism of human rights defenders (HRDs). Many HRDS have also been subject to harassment, prosecution, indictment and imprisonment. In addition, independent journalists have been taken to court for critical writings, and blogs and websites have been censored. As such, we are pleased to hear of your upcoming country visit to Bahrain in April, and request that you include the following cases and information in your assessment. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6091

CSW draft resolution on situation of and assistance to Palestinian women
The Economic and Social Council, Having considered with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women, Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in particular paragraph 260 concerning Palestinian women and children, the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6083

GENDER RIGHTS
Constitutional Court Supports Female Judges in Egypt
Egypt’s Constitutional Court backed the right of women to sit on the bench in the state’s administrative courts, despite conservatives’ opposition, state media reported Monday. The ruling follows a dispute in the State Council, the top administrative court, over whether women should be appointed to the courts. The Constitutional Court’s ruling, issued Sunday, said that all citizens were equal before the law. For more information plz follow the link http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/world/middleeast/16briefs-Egypt.html?r...

Female Circumcision Ban Urged in Iraq
New survey reveals that majority of women in Kurdistan have undergone genital mutilation. Mariam Nadr, 77, has a fine home in an upscale neighbourhood of Erbil and is a prominent member of the community. She has a bright smile, a calm demeanour and wears the white shawl of a respected Kurdish matron. Part of Nadr’s social standing stems from her past: for many years mothers came to her to perform genital mutilations on their daughters. For these women, the act was a cultural and religious rite. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/5970

Open All Judicial Positions to Women in Egypt
The Egyptian government should act to end discrimination against women in judicial positions in all courts, Human Rights Watch said today.  The Supreme Judicial Council on February 22, 2010, overruled a vote taken on February 15 by an administrative court, known as the Council of State, to bar women from its judicial positions. Despite this important ruling, women are still barred from serving as judges in other state bodies, including criminal courts, Human Rights Watch said. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6002

No law protecting children against early marriages in Yemen
It was every little girl’s dream - she was to get a new dress, jewellery, sweets and a party for all her friends. What 10-year-old Aisha* did not know was that after the wedding party she would have to leave school, move to a village far from her parents’ home, cook and clean all day, and have sex with her older husband. “He took out a special sheet and laid me down on it,” Aisha told IRIN, wringing her small plump hands. “After it, I started bleeding. It was so painful that I was crying and shouting, and since then I have seen him as death.” For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6000

New law will end male dominance in Saudi courts
Saudi Arabia's justice minister says his department is drafting a law that would allow female lawyers to argue legal cases in court for the first time. Mohammed Al-Eissa told reporters on Saturday the bill will be issued in the coming days as part of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s “plan to develop the justice system.” The law would mark a major step for female lawyers in the Kingdom. Currently, women law graduates can work in government offices and in court offices, but cannot argue cases before court. Under the new law, women would be allowed to argue cases on child custody, divorce and other family-related issues. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6004

Child bride gets her divorce in Yemen
Throngs of journalists pushed forward to get a picture of 12-year-old Sally al-Sabahi as she signed her divorce papers in the Yemeni capital on 27 March. As she dipped her thumb in dark ink and pressed it next to her name on an official document, she became Yemen’s fourth child bride divorcee. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6108

Coalition of Women for Peace Supports EU Endorsement of Goldstone Report in Israel/Palestine
The Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel) endorses the European Parliament's resolution defending the Goldstone Report. The Coalition supports the call for follow-up investigations into war crimes committed by both sides (Israeli and Palestinian) during Operation Cast Lead. It additionally requests that the European Parliament take diplomatic and legal measures to ensure that the Israeli government will cease all attempts to restrict the work of civil society organizations in the region. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6056

The Voice of Divorced Women in Egypt
Mahasin Saber wants her "Radio for divorced women" to put the spotlight on the serious deficits in the male-dominated Egyptian society, and to make people aware of the discrimination suffered by women. So far, she's succeeding. Nelly Youssef visited her in Cairo. Motakalat Radio confronts social taboos and men's assumptions about women | "Welcome! You're listening to 'Radio for divorced women' in Cairo ... a new life listening to what your heart tells you … a space to speak and to listen." Those were the words with which Mahasin Saber went on air for the first time at the beginning of the year. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6059

Viewing the Islam Channel critically in UK
For the last seven years, since its launch in 2004, the London-based Islam Channel has been hugely influential in the British Muslim community, where it has played a pivotal role in the development of a British Islam. Every night, thousands of British Muslims, many of them young, tune into the channel to watch programmes dealing with news, current affairs and religion from a distinctly Islamic angle. In addition, every few years, the channel organises a conference called Global Peace and Unity, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors, both Muslims and non-Muslims, as well as a smattering of senior politicians. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6103

Failure of UK government recognition of threat to Iraqi LGBT leader in Iraq/UK:
The UK government through its Border Agency has decided not to give priority to the asylum application of Iraqi LGBT leader Ali Hili, in exile in London. The application has been outstanding for nearly three years and while it is outstanding, Ali cannot travel. This decision directly impacts not just on Ali but on harshly persecuted Iraqi lesbians and gays through the reduced ability of their sole visible leader to raise their profile internationally. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6096

Amnesty International persists in suppressing dissent in UK/Algeria:
On February 7, 2010 Gita Sahgal, head of Amnesty International’s Gender Unit, was suspended from her job. This was hours after the publication of an article in The Sunday Times, UK, where she made public her concerns about Amnesty International’s legitimisation of Moazzam Begg, a former Guantلnamo Bay detainee, as a human rights defender. This is not the first time that Amnesty International’s policies towards fundamentalists have been confronted from within and this is not the first time that AI has taken action, drastic action, against those who dare to voice their dissent, even if internally, about such policies. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6089

Canadian government indifferent to plight of woman held captive in Saudi Arabia
A Canadian woman being held against her will in Saudi Arabia says the Canadian government is not taking her plight seriously. Nazia Quazi was taken to Saudi Arabia by her father in November 2007. Because of that country’s archaic gender laws, women of any age are subject to male “guardianship.” In the 24-year-old Quazi’s case, her father has taken her passport, and refuses to sign an exit visa allowing her to leave the country. Nazia Quazi speaks of her quest for freedom. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6084

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Female Journalists Face Worse Than Discrimination in Gaza
Female journalists worldwide complain about discrimination on the grounds of gender. However, their colleagues in Gaza also face death threats, the dangers of working in a war zone and the struggle for daily necessities as the Israeli siege on Gaza drags on. Last year a shadowy group in Gaza calling itself 'Swords of Islam' threatened to slit the throats of female journalists who appeared on TV with their heads uncovered, calling them "shameless and immoral." The Hamas authorities took the threat seriously enough to offer the women protection. However, the Hamas security forces have themselves on occasion been part of the many problems that Gaza’s small number of female journalists faces. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/5970

Women judges barred from influential court in Egypt
Judges voted on Monday to bar women from ruling in an influential court which advises Egypt's government, official media reported, in a move slammed by human rights activists. The Council of State's association voted by an overwhelming majority against appointing women as judges in the council, Egypt's MENA news agency said. "Three-hundred and eighty judges took part in the general assembly and voted, with 334 rejecting the appointment of females to judicial posts and 42 agreeing, with four abstentions." For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/5984

Why violence against women is widespread in Palestine
Nahla*, aged 30, from Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said she was physically and mentally abused for more than 10 years by her husband before being granted a divorce three months ago. Fear and cultural factors prevented her from seeking help from women’s organizations. “I never tried to go to the police to complain about my husband's criminal acts, because he threatened to kill me if I did,” Nahla told IRIN. “And I never went to complain to any women’s rights organizations because I didn’t think they would be able to solve my problem - and I was also scared that my husband would find out.” For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6061

From an ex-Muslim, true Islamophobia in Canada
The words stung me like a jolt of electricity: "Muhammad was a child rapist." As if the slur were not sufficient, the speaker then insinuated my Islamic faith was filth. "I am 'clean' of Islam," she sneered to her Toronto audience. As far as hate speech goes, the shoe was suddenly on the other foot. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6069

Islamic clerics oppose child bride ban in Yemen
Some of Yemen's most influential Islamic leaders, including one the U.S. says mentored Osama bin Laden, have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates. The religious decree, issued Sunday, deeply imperils efforts to salvage legislation that would make it illegal for those under the age of 17 to marry. The practice is widespread in Yemen and has been particularly hard to discourage in part because of the country's gripping poverty — bride-prices in the hundreds of dollars are especially difficult for poor families to pass up. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wluml.org/node/6085

GENDER & PERSONAL STATUS LAW  
Intersectionality of Freedom of Religion or Belief & Women’s Rights: Burqa Issue in the EU
The intersectionality of freedom of religion or belief and women’s rights is one of the most complex human rights issues faced by the world today. Down through the centuries, religious extremism and interpretation of holy books have shaped traditions and cultural stereotypes in a number of patriarchal societies. Some of these traditions and stereotypes have been detrimental to women, and have survived until the 3rd millennium. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wunrn.com/news/2010/03_10/03_15_10/031510_burqa.htm

BOOKS & REPORTS
GENDER RIGHT
Palestine - Why Palestinian Women & Girls Do Not Feel Secure
This report presents the perspectives of Palestinian women and girls on issues related to security as well as their assessment of the services provided by local authorities and/ or the international community to address their security needs. It concludes with a series of recommendations made by Palestinian women and girls for improving these services.
The findings of this report are based on focus group discussions and in-depth interviews conducted by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) with Palestinian women and girls between June and November 2009 in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. DCAF hopes that the report’s findings will encourage stakeholders to integrate the perspectives of women and girls into the national security debate within the Palestinian Territories. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wunrn.com/news/2010/03_10/03_01_10/030110_palestine.htm

GENDER AND SOCIETIES
Muslim Women's Global Magazine MBM
MBM Magazine is for every non-Muslim seeking to discover what Muslim women are really about.
We are not oppressed. We are not terrorists. We are women that enjoy life. We are women that live our life morally and ethically, always keeping our Creator (SWT) in our mind. We are children. We are mothers. We are students. We are employees. We are volunteers. We are of all different colors, accents, backgrounds, and nationalities. We are independent. We are outspoken. We are caring. We are modest and beautiful women - because you can't have one without the other. For more information plz follow the link http://www.wunrn.com/news/2010/03_10/03_08_10/030810_muslim.htm