michelle
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Post by michelle on Dec 4, 2006 7:46:08 GMT 4
RIGHTS: Will FGM Fatwa Make a Difference?Emad Mekay CAIRO, Nov 29 (IPS) - Om Samar didn't believe the news. "Muslim scholars banning (female) circumcision? This must be a joke," she said. Samar, a mother of four who works as a maid cleaning apartments and houses for a daily rate, was planning to circumcise her five-year-old daughter, Shaimaa, when she turns eight or nine. But an international conference on female circumcision funded by the German government and sponsored by top Islamic scholars here last week brought tidings she didn't expect. "Eliminating the Violation of Women's Bodies", as the conference was publicised in Arabic, was attended by some of Islam's most senior and influential scholars. Most of them spoke against the common practice. The main message was that "female genital mutilation was never mandated in Islam ". "I thought Islam told us to do so," said Samar, one of many Muslims who believe that the practice is Islamic. She is not the only one who has been mistaken about what the religion says about circumcision. Anti-circumcision activists say many parents actually believe the practice prevents their daughters from being unfaithful to their future husbands and draw links between Islam's emphasis on chastity and their own cultural beliefs. Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious university, said at the conference that "circumcising girls is just a cultural tradition in some countries that has nothing to do with the teachings of Islam." "During my studies and research in Islam, I didn't find anything that I can trust as beseeching female circumcision," said the scholar, whose fatwas, religious edicts and words are followed by millions of Muslims around the world for direction in their lives. The conference was attended by other heavyweights, whose endorsement of the public denunciation of the practice was seen as a landmark. Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Goma'a, considered the most senior judge of Islamic law, was a patron of the conference. Others included Hamdi Mahmoud Zakzouk, minister of religious affairs in Egypt, Sultan Abdelkader Mohamed Humad of Djibouti and Sultan Ali Mirah Hanfary of Ethiopia. Participants also came from countries where the practice is prevalent such as Somalia, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Eritrea, Nigeria, Djibouti, Morocco, Turkey and even Russia. German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, who addressed the gathering, said the statement issued from al-Azhar University, one of the most renowned theological academies in the Islamic world, "cannot be estimated highly enough in its significance for religious policy and with regard to the positive consequences for the inviolability of young girls and women." The general perception here among Muslims is that female circumcision is required under Islamic law. But the scholars argued that this does not explain why female genital mutilation, or FGM, is also so widespread among Egypt's Christian community. It also fails to account for why the practice is nearly non-existent in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region. The World Health Organisation puts the number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation at between 100 and 140 million. It says that each year, two million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM. The procedure, which some experts say dates back 5,000 years, can cause massive and fatal bleeding. It can lead to chronic infections, sterility and serious complications in childbirth, doctors say. Performed mainly in Africa but also in some Asian and Middle Eastern nations, FGM is often practiced without anesthetic on infants and girls by medically unqualified persons. A 2004 report funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development found that the incidence of FGM in Egypt, for example, was as high as 97 percent, while it was 45 percent Cote d'Ivoire, 89 percent in Eritrea and 34 percent in Kenya. In their statements, the Muslim scholars said "some Muslims were practicing female genital mutilation without any backing or evidence in the Quran or an authentic tradition of the Prophet (Mohammed)". The Quran and the Prophet's teachings and sayings are the two main sources for Islamic law. Taking a rare proactive approach, the clerics collectively called upon international, educational and media institutions to "explain the damage and the negative effect of this practice on societies". But while the clerics' call carries much weight, it is not clear if it will be sufficient to discourage parents from the practice. An official ban on circumcision enacted in 1996 remains ineffective in stopping it in this country. "What will produce change is not just a fatwa or an opinion from clerics. What will change things is an alteration of the economic and social conditions that lead people to believe in the importance of circumcision," Ahmed Abdallah, a professor of psychology at Zagazig University, told IPS. Abdallah appeared to fault the approach by the German human rights group that organised the conference because it assumed that religion was behind the practice. "Fatwas will help but they will not do the whole thing," he added. "In this case, parents practicing circumcision didn't do it because they received a religious edict asking them to do it in the first place. When they stop it they will not do so because of a religious edict either." For Om Samar, this seems to make sense. "All women are circumcised and we do not see too many problems because of that," she said. "Nobody cares about my daughter like me. I will do what's best for her and I know what it is." (END/2006) Source: ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35651 Related IPS Articles RIGHTS-CAMEROON: Finally, a Law Against Female Genital Mutilation? ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33811 HEALTH-KENYA: Changing Tradition Through Talk ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33407 JAPAN: In Solidarity Against Female Genital Mutilation ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=32774
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Dec 7, 2006 13:43:52 GMT 4
IRAQ: It's Hard Being a WomanDahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (IPS) - Once one of the best countries for women's rights in the Middle East, Iraq has now become a place where women fear for their lives in an increasingly fundamentalist environment. Prior to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, Iraqi women enjoyed rights under the Personal Status Law since Jul. 14, 1958, the day Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy. Under this law they were able to settle civil suits in courts, unfettered by religious influences. Iraqi women had many of the rights enjoyed by women in western countries. The end of monarchy brought a regime in which women began to work as professors, doctors and other professionals. They took government and ministerial positions and enjoyed growing rights even through the dictatorial reign of Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party. "Our rights had been hard to obtain in a country with a tradition of firm male control," Dr. Iman Robeii, professor of psychology from Fallujah told IPS in Baghdad. Iraqi women have traditionally done all the housework, and assisted children with school work, she said. On top of that about 30 percent of women had been engaged in social activities. "But a tragic collapse took place after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the so-called Islamists seized power to place new obstacles in the way of women's march towards improvement," she said. A significant event was the Dec. 29, 2003 decision by the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) to pass a bill which almost cancelled the Personal Status Law, 45 years after it had been passed. Under Resolution 137 Iraqi women would rely on religious institutions for personal matters such as marriage and divorce, as opposed to recourse to civilian courts that they could access before the invasion. Women across Iraq saw the IGC move as one of the first hazardous steps towards implementation of a fundamentalist Islamic law. The bill did not pass, but the slide into Sharia (Islamic law) had already taken root through much of Shia-dominated southern Iraq and also some Sunni-dominated areas of central Iraq. Resolution 137 was defeated in March 2004. A new Iraqi constitution has been introduced, but the adoption of the constitution has not helped protect women's rights. Yanar Mohammed, one of Iraq's staunchest women's rights advocates, believes the constitution neither protects women nor ensures their basic rights. She blames the United States for abdicating its responsibility to help develop a pluralistic democracy in Iraq. "The U.S. occupation has decided to let go of women's rights," Mohammed told reporters. "Political Islamic groups have taken southern Iraq, are fully in power there, and are using the financial support of Iran to recruit troops and allies. The financial and political support from Iran is why the Iraqis in the south accept this, not because the Iraqi people want Islamic law." Mohammed believes the drafting of the Iraqi constitution was "not for the interest of the Iraqi people" and instead was based on concessions to ethnic and sectarian groups. "The Kurds want Kirkuk (an oil-rich city they consider the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan), and the Shias want the Islamic Republic of Iraq, just like Iran's," she said. "The genie is out of the bottle in terms of political Islam (by Shias) and the resistance (by Sunnis). America will tolerate any conclusion so they can leave, even if it means destroying women's rights and civil liberties.They have left us a regime like the Taliban." A woman judge told IPS that she and her female colleagues could not go to work any more because the current system does not allow for a female judge. Iraqi NGO activists have also criticised the new constitution for depriving women of leadership posts in the country. "The constitution mentions some rights for women, but those in power laugh when they are asked to put it to practice," she said. Like the woman judge, she too did not want to be named. The key element in the Iraqi constitution that is dangerous for women's rights is Article 2 which states "Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation." Subheading A under Article 2 states that "No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam." Under Article 2 the interpretation of women's rights is left to religious leaders, and it provides for implementation of Sharia law which can turn the clock back on women's rights in Iraq. The social environment in Iraq has become acutely difficult for women already. Many women now fear leaving their homes. "I try to avoid leaving my home, and when I do, I always cover my face," Suthir Ayad told IPS at her house in Baghdad. "Several of my friends have been threatened or beaten by these Shia militias who insist we stay home and never show our faces." In southern Iraq, the situation seems even worse. "My cousin in Basra was beaten savagely by some of the Mehdi Army (the militia of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr) because she tried to attend university," said a woman who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Now she never leaves her home unless fully covered, and then only to shop for food." (END/2006) Source: ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35718
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michelle
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Post by michelle on Dec 12, 2006 15:20:58 GMT 4
Stoning for Adultery - More a Women's Issue By Kimia Sanati Inter Press Service Monday 04 December 2006 Tehran - Currently, in Iran, there are nine women sentenced to death by stoning on charges of adultery, compared to two men for the same offence - highlighting the fact that this barbaric mode of execution is primarily a women's issue. Whether these 11 unfortunate people can be saved from the brutality and humiliation involved depends on the success of a campaign, launched two months ago, by a group of lawyers and women's rights activists to have the stoning law abolished altogether from the Islamic Penal Code of this country. Stoning is more a women's issue because, according to Islamic laws, a man can have four permanent wives and any number of temporary wives. When caught in adulterous relationships, men can always claim to have been in a temporary marriage contract with the woman involved -provided she is not already married to someone else. Temporary marriage contracts, for hours or months or years, can be easily made between the partners. A married woman cannot escape stoning in the same way. "The stoning law affects women more than men. So, as feminists, we naturally have to address it as well as other issues, such as polygamy, lack of right of divorce for women, forced marriages, domestic violence and poverty that greatly contribute to situations leading to stoning. We also hope that the campaign to abolish stoning can mobilise the women's movement," Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a feminist activist and advocacy group member of the 'Campaign to Stop Stoning Forever', told IPS. "The nature of the feminist movement in Iran is political because feminists have to target the laws, like (those on) polygamy and stoning, that sustain the patriarchal view of the society. They have to challenge the religious and political establishment that supports those laws," Abbasgholizadeh added. Most women sentenced to stoning are those found guilty of being accomplices in the murders of their husbands. In a few cases married women have been found guilty of prostitution. If not married and found guilty of illicit sex, one is sentenced to lashes the first three times. A fourth occasion can lead to the death penalty as happened to Atefeh Sahaleh, a 16-year-old girl from Neka in Northern Iran who was hanged in August 2004. Proving adultery is difficult under Islamic laws. For a stoning sentence to be passed, there must be four confessions on four separate occasions by the accused in front of a judge, or testimony by four eye witnesses, or 'knowledge of the judge'. Confessions can be retracted at any stage by the accused. In most cases the knowledge of the judge serves as the basis for meting out the sentence. Hajieh, 35, from north-western town of Jolfa, has served five years in prison for aiding the murder of her husband and has two more years to go before facing a stoning sentence. Out on bail now, she claims that the man who killed her husband, had attempted to rape her before the murder took place. The man was sentenced to retribution-in-kind (qisas) for the killing. When interrogated by the police, he accused Hajieh of being an accomplice to the killing as well as having an affair with him. As an unmarried man, he received a hundred lashes for illicit sex. Hajieh spoke only the Azeri language and no Farsi at the time of her arrest. She claims she did not understand the technical term used by the judge to refer to adultery so she accepted the charge and discovered the error only after the court ordered her to be stoned. In 2004, Hajieh's stoning sentence was almost carried out. Invitations to the public to participate were distributed in her small town, but the execution was stopped in time when the executive judge realised the flaws in her case. Chief Justice Ayatollah Shahroudi then stayed the execution of the sentence. Hajieh has been tried once again and hopes to be acquitted of all charges soon. Iran made a verbal pledge to the European Union to stop stoning more than a decade ago and there was a moratorium by the Chief Justice, in December 2002, on execution by stoning. The Chief Justice has himself on several occasions intervened to stay sentences from being executed. Judiciary spokesman Mohammad Karimi Rad recently denied execution by stoning and said such sentences were passed by courts but were not carried out. But there are reports by eye witnesses of the secret stoning of Zahra Gholami in Tehran's Evin prison in 1999. News of the stoning of a man, Abbas, and a woman, Mahboubeh, in the north-eastern city of Mashad, in May, have also emerged recently. According to news reports the Mashad stoning was carried out in a cemetery. The two were first ritually washed as for corpses being prepared for burial and then wrapped in shrouds from head to toe. The woman was buried in the ground up to her chest and the man up to his waist. A secretly congregated crowd pelted them with pebbles until they were dead. "We are campaigning against stoning because of the brutality of the act. This kind of punishment is against human dignity. We are not against legal punishment for people committing crimes, but no human being in his right mind should take another person's life so ruthlessly," Abbasgholizadeh said. Officially launched on Oct. 1, the campaign works through collecting signatures to support abolition of stoning. Campaigners say even if the Chief Justice intervenes in every single case, without a complete abolition, it will always be possible to reverse an order and carry out a sentence. "Stoning is regarded as a highly sensitive issue by the regime and the religious and political establishment. There is so much reaction from the international community and human rights organisations to stoning news. This has made it taboo for journalists and news on the campaign is not given coverage by the press as they have been repeatedly warned to avoid it," a journalist told IPS. In the face of such censorship, most publicity for the campaign is made through websites and blogs. Women's Field (meydane zanan), the campaign website in the Farsi and English langauges, was recently filtered by authorities. A change of address was the campaigners' response. "Campaigners have a hard way ahead of them. The response from the society as a whole to the issue of stoning is not so unified. Activists are campaigning to abolish it but there are many, not only religious and political hardliners, who don't mind the law," a social observer who did not want to be named told IPS. "In some areas, traditions hold very strong and the stigma against the family of an adulterous woman is compelling. There is little opposition to the idea of stoning in these places because people think a law like that may prevent adultery and stabilise family life. In some cases the families of the accused women might even take the matter into their own hands and try to wipe off the shame by killing the guilty even before the law takes up the matter. In men's case, if they are not involved with married women, there is much greater toleration," he said. "Taking personal action is what the family of Shamameh (Malek) Ghorbani did last year in a village in Western Iran. The man was killed by her brother and husband, but the woman herself survived stab injuries - only to be sentenced to stoning in spite of her denial of adultery," the observer said. Source: www.truthout.org/issues_06/120706WA.shtmlNote from Michelle: I can't let this one go by without a comment. Immediately what comes to mind is: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." This article brings to light such an ugly side of male society: total domination of the female, and do as I say, not as I do.
I've been reading a book, The Bookseller of Kabul, where a Norwegian woman, Asne Seierstad, is invited to live with an Afghan family, complete with wives, sisters and sons. They were not a typical family; a kind of middle-class, if one can use that expression in Afghanistan. Some were educated, several could read and write. They had enough money and never went hungry. As a Westerner, Seierstad could mingle with both the men and women when separated into different rooms. Some of the women had held jobs when the Taliban was not in control. Still, the women in the household never talked unless spoken to, were unable to go anywhere on their own, and were subservient to the men. And when they did go out, Steierstad wrote:" I also wore the burka to discover for myself what it is like to be an Afghan woman; what it feels like to squash into the chockablockback rows reserved for women when the rest of the bus is half empty, what it feels like to squeeze into the trunk of a taxi because a man is occupying the back-seat, what is feels like to be stared at as a tall and attractive burka and receive your first burka-compliment from a man in the street.
How in time I started to hate it. How it pinches the head and causes headaches, how difficult it is to see anything through the grille. How enclosed it is, how little air gets in, how quickly you start to perspire, how all the time you have to be aware of where you are walking because you cannot see your feet, what a lot of dirt it picks up, how dirty it is, how much in the way. How liberated you feel when you get home and can take it off."In many ways the head of this household was a liberal. When in Iran, he bought one of his wives Western clothes. He often referred to the burka as an oppressive cage, and was pleased that the new government included female ministers. One can see that in his heart he wanted Afghanistan to be a modern country, and he spoke openly about the emancipation of women. But at home he remained the authoritarian patriarch, lording over his family. Steierstad had been told Afghan women did not know any better, that they were happy with their lives. However, spending time with the mother, wives, and sisters told her otherwise.
Now I know that conditions in other Muslim countries are much better for women, but I wonder are women under this faith truly happy, are they permitted to be complete as a human being, permitted to express themselves in a myriad of ways through speech, a profession which gives life to their passions and interests, can they express their creativity through dress, literature, or artwork? Are all women living under the Islamic faith under the rule of their husbands, fathers, or brothers, at least to some degree? I don't know; someone, please enlighten me! Are all Islamic societies at a standstill in the mud and dust of tradition? I cannot understand nor accept a society that paralyzes half the population to any degree. I would bet that the women who are Muslim and who are living complete and full lives are married to men who do not squash their passions, see and treat them as equals, and consult with them on all family matters, who live in a country which allows them to follow whatever profession they wish, and dress as they please. Is this the norm for many Muslim women? Tell me; I want to know!
I'd also like to add that, as a Western woman, I am well aware of the more subtle ways in which my society looks down on women. We still haven't reached equal pay or equal representation as leaders in government and corporations. Abuse of women in my society is shameful. I am also aware of how 'cupcake' women are used to promote the selling of goods, especially to men, and what a skewed image of women is seen and promoted as desirable to both men and women. Ladies, we're ALL beautiful; to be a woman is a wonderful thing.
You know, people talk of the sleeping giant in humanity yet to awaken; I say this sleeping giant is female. And when she awakens, she will rise up with a Kali like force and smash any systems and institutions which continue to hold her in bondage. All done in a nonviolent way, of course!........Michelle[/b][/color]
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Dec 21, 2006 10:26:15 GMT 4
Iraqi Women's Bodies Are Battlefields for War VendettasBy Kavita N. Ramdas, Global Fund for Women. Posted December 19, 2006. The United States' so-called "liberation" of Iraqi women has made them less free than they were under the Baathist regime, with abduction, rape, and "honor" killings now a daily reality. Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) recently issued a frightening report documenting the growing practice of public executions of women by Shia Militia. One of the report's more grisly accounts was a story of a young woman dragged by a wire wound around her neck to a close-by football field and then hung to the goal post. They pierced her body with bullets. Her brother came running trying to defend his sister. He was also shot and killed. Sunni extremists are no better: OWFI members estimate that no less than 30 women are executed monthly for honor related reasons. Almost four years into the Bush Administration's ill fated adventure in Iraq, Iraqi women are worse off than they were under the Baathist regime in a country where, for decades, the freedoms and rights enjoyed by Iraqi women were the envy of women in most other countries of the Middle East. Before the U.S. invasion, Iraqi women had high levels of education. Their strong and independent women's movement had successfully forced Saddam's government to pass the groundbreaking 1959 Family Law Act which ensured equal rights in matters of personal law. Iraqi women could inherit land and property; they had equal rights to divorce and custody of their children; they were protected from domestic violence within the marriage. In other words, they had achieved real gains in the struggle for equality between women and men. Iraqi women, like all Iraqis, certainly suffered from the political repression and lack of freedom, but the secular -- albeit brutal -- Baathist regime protected women from the religious extremism that denies freedom to a majority of women in the Arab world. The invasion of Iraq, however, changed the status of Iraqi women for the worse. Iraq's new colonial power, the United States, elevated a new group of leaders, most of who were allied with ultra conservative Shia clerics. Among the Sunni minority, the quick disappearance of their once dominant political power led to a resurgence of religious identity. Consequently, the Kurds, celebrated for their history of resistance to the Iraqi dictator, were able to reclaim traditions like honor killings, putting thousands of women at risk. Iraqi sectarian conflict has exacerbated violence against women, making women's bodies the battlefields on which vendettas and threats are played out. My organization, The Global Fund for Women, and the humanitarian community has long known that the presence of military troops in a region of conflict increases the rate of prostitution, violence against women, and the potential for human trafficking.While many believed that interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq would result in greater freedoms for women, international women's rights organizations like the Global Fund for Women were highly skeptical of the Bush administration's claims from the start. US representatives in Iraq failed to even listen to, much less validate, the voices of independent and secular Iraqi women leaders like Yana Mohammed during the process of drafting the constitution. As a result, the Iraqi constitution elevated Islamic law over constitutional rights for matters pertaining to personal and family matters. For the first time in over 50 years of Iraq's history, Iraqi women's right to be treated as equal citizens has been overturned. This disgrace has happened on the watch of the United States. In many ways, it is no less shameful than the human rights abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib. If left unchallenged, it has the potential to affect many thousands of innocent lives in the years to come. Since the US has failed to protect Iraqi women's rights, a new Secretary General of the United Nations must demonstrate the courage and conviction to take action. The women of Iraq deserve nothing less. We owe them at least this much. Kavita N. Ramdas, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Global Fund for Women, has won numerous awards for her vision and advancement of an inclusive philanthropy in which donors and grantees are treated as equal partners.Source: www.alternet.org/waroniraq/45540/
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Anwaar
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Post by Anwaar on Apr 3, 2007 17:06:49 GMT 4
A welcome rulingThe Council of Islamic Ideology has unanimously ruled that rape (zina bil jabr) and consensual sex outside marriage (zina bil raza) are two distinctive crimes, endorsing an important element of the recently passed Women's Protection Act. The ruling by the country's highest Islamic constitutional body, comprising a group of eminent scholars, should be welcomed as it removes a legal anomaly that has caused a great deal of suffering to victims of rape. A large number of women have been languishing in prison because of this law, and have suffered the double punishment of rape and prosecution for adultery for not providing four witnesses to the act. According to the CII ruling, a rape victim will no longer be required to produce four male witnesses to file a complaint as required under the controversial Hudood Ordinance promulgated by General Ziaul Haq. Under the previous law, a woman filing rape charges could herself land in jail if she failed to present four witnesses. According to the CII, a woman will now be a complainant in such cases rather than a defendant as in the past. "In this case, the woman will be a complainant and the state will be bound to investigate, arrest the rapist and punish him if the crime is proved," the CII stated. In another move, the council has ruled that a woman accused of adultery will no longer be prosecuted unless four witnesses can be brought before a court. The CII ruling is a welcome step as it endorses the changes brought about in the Women's Protection Act of 2006 which amended the section relating to rape and brought it under criminal law. While a number of Islamic parties and some religious scholars opposed the amendment to the Hudood Ordinance, a wide segment of the public, including human rights and women's groups and some religious scholars, welcomed the change in the law. After the CII ruling on this issue, it is hoped that this bitter controversy will be finally laid to rest. Source : tinyurl.com/3delbm
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jun 15, 2007 13:21:09 GMT 4
Leading the Way for Women in AfghanistanHappy belated Mother's Day, Women of Afghanistan! [sorry I'm late on this; I've been busy with my own brand of mothering: children, friends, pets, and gardens!]....Michelle Leading the Way for Women in Afghanistan The Center for Development and Population Activities Tuesday 12 June 2007 On June 14, 1,000 prominent Afghani mothers will celebrate Mother's Day in Kabul. Dr. Massouda Jalal, an alumna of the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) and the first woman to run for president of the country, wishes that women in Afghanistan had a better chance of surviving childbirth, raising healthy families and living to achieve their fullest potential. Though the situation for Afghanistan's women has improved since the fall of the Taliban, there is still a long road ahead. Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. More than one mother out of every 20 will not survive pregnancy and childbirth. In fact, northeastern Afghanistan is the worst place in the world to be an expectant mother, because it has "the highest [maternal mortality] rate in the world," Dr. Jalal says. "The reasons behind this tragedy are a high fertility rate, health and nutritional problems, transportation problems due to bad roads or no roads, lack of access to health facilities and services, poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness on maternity care, traditional beliefs, and lack of female medical staff," explained Dr. Jalal. The constant struggle of women in Afghanistan prompted Dr. Jalal, a medical doctor by profession, to launch the Jalal Foundation, the first women-led initiative of its type in Afghanistan's history. The Jalal Foundation seeks to promote, empower, educate and inform Afghani women by building their capacity in human rights, gender issues and leadership. Foundation programs educate and train women, help develop life and professional skills to heal from post-war trauma, create a platform for women's self-expression in the media, and promote peace and women's rights. Dr. Jalal has been a long-time leader in women's human rights and was most recently Afghanistan's Minister of Women's Affairs. She may be best known for her presidential bid, running against Hamid Karzai in the country's last two presidential elections. She is employing the skills she learned at CEDPA's Institution Building Workshop in 2002 to build the Jalal Foundation. Dr. Jalal and the directors of the Jalal Foundation will mark Mother's Day in Afghanistan by increasing attention on the status of women in their country and the need to do more to make safe motherhood a reality. The day's events will include a June 14 conference that will bring 1,000 prominent Afghani mothers from around the country to Kabul. If the Foundation achieves the funding it needs, they hope to publish 10,000 copies of posters and brochures to reach more women with critical safe motherhood information, and provide clips for the media to run public announcements on that day. The theme of the events will be the role of mothers in Afghanistan's families and the communities. Women will be encouraged to raise their voices, take part in peace and reconstruction efforts, and raise awareness surrounding reproductive health and family planning. Source: www.truthout.org/issues_06/061307WA.shtml-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To learn more about the Jalal Foundation and their Mother's Day events you can e-mail Dr. Jalal at jalalfoundation@hotmail.com. Learn about how other CEDPA Alumni are improving lives around the world: Alumni For more than 30 years, CEDPA has trained developing-country women, men and youth to become change agents for effective international development. These CEDPA alumni, more than 5,000 strong, are leading change in over 150 countries. CEDPA alumni are improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people each day. They are also leading change at the highest levels of their nations, including as vice presidents, ministers and parliamentarians. Go To: www.cedpa.org/section/alumni
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michelle
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Post by michelle on Jun 28, 2007 14:56:48 GMT 4
IRAN: Temporary Marriages Just a Way to Degrade WomenBy Kimia Sanati TEHRAN, Jun 26 (IPS) - A key Iranian minister calls ‘temporary marriages’ a pragmatic way to deal with young people’s sexual needs and to prevent prostitution, but a wide range of critics lambasts them as little more than ways to give religious sanction to practices that degrade women. The debate about temporary marriages, called ‘sighe’ or ‘mot'e’ and which can last a few hours or decades, continues weeks after Iran’s interior minister, Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, called them ‘’God’s decree for the young people" on May 31. "Temporary marriages must be bravely promoted. Islam is in no way indifferent to the needs of a fifteen year-old youth in whom God has placed the sex drive," Mohammadi was quoted as saying by the media. Angry criticism about these marriages, done to allow sexual relations within a supposedly acceptable religious context, immediately poured in from women's rights activists, sociologists, and even from women officials known to be hardliners. "Unmarried people are not interested in temporary marriages at all and it is mostly married men who take temporary wives," Fatemeh Ajorlou, a conservative female member of parliament, told the Iranian Students News Agency. "Many women are hurt seriously by entering temporary marriages and the harm affects not only the women themselves but also their families," she said. According to the latest statistics, the average age of marriage in Iran has risen to 26.7 for men and 22.4 for women. The legal age for marriage is 18 for men and 15 for women in this country of 70 million people. Some young people are finding it increasingly difficult to start families, and are attracted to the idea of temporary marriages in spite of the huge stigma attached to it. But for others, it remains taboo. "A lot of young people have premarital sex of some sort nowadays. Virginity can be restored (through a surgical procedure that is illegal but quite often carried out) if a girl breaks up with her partner and wants to marry someone and she can afford a few hundred dollars," Elnaz, a 26-year-old office worker from a middle-class family here, told IPS. "Birth control is readily available everywhere so there is much less inhibition than before." "Many families, including mine, are now quite tolerant of their daughters having boyfriends if there are any prospects of marriage later, but temporary marriage is another story," she said. "My father would rather die than let me enter into a temporary marriage, even with my boyfriend of three years, because it clearly speaks of the intention to have sex. He won't even allow my brother to do this, because he considers any girl or woman who accepts to be temporarily married a prostitute," she said. More traditional families do not allow premarital relations. Fatemeh, a 24-year-old theology student from one of Iran's western provinces, told IPS her father and brothers would kill her if they found out that she had a boyfriend, let alone go into a temporary marriage. "They are very religious, but even so, they are not prepared to even hear of temporary marriage," said Fatemeh. "I'm religious myself and don't want to have sex out of wedlock. But maybe a temporary marriage can be a good way to get to know the person I want to marry better." Under temporary marriages, practiced largely by Shiites and banned by most Sunni sects, there are no limits as to the number of temporary wives a man can take. Unlike in Sunni communities, having multiple permanent wives is quite rare among Iranian Shiites. A temporary marriage does not have to have witnesses or be registered anywhere, although it is always possible to register a marriage with a notary. Just an agreement between the parties involved and a few sentences uttered in Arabic, or even in one's own language, are enough for the temporary marriage to be done. The husband has the exclusive right to terminate the marriage at any point he wishes, even before the term is over and without the wife's consent. Widely practised in Iran by married and more rarely by single men, temporary marriages are largely looked down upon by traditional Iranian society, even among the very religious. In nearly all cases, women who enter into temporary marriages are divorcees or widows. Virgin women need have permission from their father or paternal grandfather to enter into such a marriage, and temporary marriages involving young unmarried women are quite uncommon except among the extremely needy. Unlike the usual marriage, a temporary marriage does not create any financial obligations for the man, who is only obliged to pay an agreed amount of money as dowry to the woman at the time of marriage, upon being asked during the marriage or at the time of its termination. "The reason many religious women oppose the idea of temporary marriages in spite of strong religious sanctioning is that to marry second (or more) permanent wives men are required to have the consent of their other permanent wife (or wives), but this is not needed in the case of taking temporary wives," Fatemeh added. "They take this as a threat to the foundations of the family and they are quite right. Temporary marriage has always been exploited by men who can afford it to give religious cover to having mistresses," the theology student said. In Iran, prostitution and illicit sex are serious crimes. Offenders can be flogged and jailed. A person found guilty of illicit sex four times can be punished by death, and adulterers will face death by stoning. "Prostitution made look 'religiously clean' is an age-old practice here. Very short- term temporary marriages for sex, in return for the 'dowry' that the man pays, have long been used for the purpose," said a sociologist who asked not to be named.
"Prostitution can't be officially recognised due to religious reasons in a religious state like Iran. One of the reasons they are promoting temporary marriage is that they want to give religious cover to prostitution to be able to deal with the problems associated with it without having to name it what it really is," she pointed out. (END/2007) Source: ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38316------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DEATH PENALTY-IRAN: U.N. Slams Scheduled Public Stoning By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Jun 20 (IPS) - The United Nations Wednesday lashed out at the scheduled public stoning of a man and woman charged with adultery in Iran. The stoning, which was to have taken place Thursday in a public square in a town in the north central province of Ghazvin, has been postponed, perhaps due to a storm of protests worldwide, including a global campaign online. "International law clearly prohibits stoning as a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told IPS. This prohibition, he pointed out, is contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Under international law, the death penalty can only be imposed for the most serious crimes, widely understood as limited to crime taking life alone," Haq said.
Bearing a child out of wedlock does not, by any view, satisfy those strict standards, he added. "As a matter of policy," he said, "the United Nations encourages the worldwide trend towards the abolition of the death penalty." According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Ghazvin Municipal Security Council in Iran publicly announced that Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, a 43-year-old woman, and the father of her 11-year-old child were to be executed by public stoning. The two were sentenced to death by a criminal court about 11 years ago. The charge was bearing a child out of wedlock. "The Iranian government is about to kill a mother and father in the most brutal manner," said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East division of Human Rights Watch. The judiciary must take immediate action to save the lives of this couple and end barbaric punishments, such as death by stoning, he noted. Human Rights Watch has said it opposes the death penalty in all circumstances "because of its inherent cruelty." Last year, Amnesty International issued an urgent appeal to the government of Iran to overturn the death penalty on nine women facing public stoning for adultery. "The sentence of execution by stoning for adultery breaches Iran's commitment under article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that death sentences will be imposed only for the most serious crimes," Amnesty International said. In a statement released Wednesday, HRW said that in December 2002, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, the head of Iran's judiciary, ordered a ban on stoning. "Yet this form of punishment continues, and it is disproportionately applied to women," HRW added. As a follow-up to the ban, Iranian women's rights activists and human rights organisations have launched a "Stop Stoning Forever Campaign". "These impending executions show that the government isn't enforcing its ban on stoning, nor is it acting in accordance with its international obligations," HRW's Stork said. He pointed out that Iran's judiciary can no longer credibly deny that stoning takes place in the country. "The authorities should act without delay to ban this shameful practice once and for all," he said. A petition that has been circulating online, and which has been sent to legislators in the Iranian parliament, says the very act of punishing people by stoning them to death in today's world is such "an unacceptable and inhuman act of brutality that even the members of the government are ashamed of admitting to doing it, and have publicly denied that this merciless practice takes place in Iran." Despite the government's denial, the petition said, this penalty is a sanctioned part of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran and it is being carried out without any legal obstacles. The petition, initiated as part of the "Stop Stoning Forever Campaign", also says that in May 2006, in the city of Mashhad, a woman, Mahboubeh M., and a man, Abbas H., were both stoned to death. Prior to carrying out the stoning, prior to their death, these two people were treated as if they were dead. "In accordance with the Islamic tradition, their bodies were washed as if they were lifeless corpses, and wrapped in the kafan or white shroud. Then their wrapped bodies were buried in the ground, Mahboubeh's body was buried up to her shoulders, and Abbas was buried up to his waist." The crowd, who had gathered to stone the two to death slowly as specified by law, then targeted them with their stones. All this took place without any mention of it in the public media of the country, the petition continued. Currently, at least 11 people, nine women and two men have been condemned to be stoned to death. "Their situation is grave. It is also possible that there are other people who have been condemned to death by stoning and we are not aware of it," the petition said. Human Rights Watch also condemned the use of the death penalty against children Wednesday, noting that Iran is known to have executed at least 17 juvenile offenders since the beginning of 2004 -- eight times more than any other country in the world. (END/2007) Source: ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38304
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michelle
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Post by michelle on May 17, 2008 13:25:48 GMT 4
FEATURE-Death in childbirth: A health scourge for AfghanistanWow, it sucks to be a woman in Afghanistan. Much blame can be put on war and poverty. On the other hand, what you also have here are the effects of keeping women down...preventing women from empowering themselves. I would ask my male readers here to ask yourselves: 'Is this what I would want for my daughter, sister, or wife?' Of course you wouldn't!....So I would now ask the male reader, during his meditation or prayer time, to think with clearness and precision, and to put himself into a certain attitude of sympathy and love toward all the women affected in Afghanistan. And then think of the men of Afghanistan with the same attitude in order to draw them upward toward the high ideal which shines so clearly before your eyes. Thank you for Your Attention, MichelleFEATURE-Death in childbirth: A health scourge for Afghanistan 30Apr 2008 12:03:26 GMT Source: Reuters By Tan Ee Lyn FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, April 30 (Reuters) - A woman haemorrhages to death as she lies screaming in agony in a spartan hut in a remote region of Afghanistan. There is no doctor or midwife to help and the hospital is several days journey away. Women die this way every day in Afghanistan, a country with one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. About 1,600 Afghan women die in childbirth out of every 100,000 live births. In some of the most remote areas, the death rate is as high as 6,500. In comparison, the average rate in developing countries is 450 and in developed countries it is 9. Virtually everyone in Afghanistan can recount a story about a relative dying in childbirth, often from minor complications that can be easily treated with proper medical care. Sharifa's sister, a mother of six, bled to death after giving birth at home. "There is no clinic, no cars, no proper roads. It is a remote village, we could not take her to hospital. She remained at home for one day and one night, then she died," recalled Sharifa, who identified herself only by her first name. Afghanistan's government aims to reduce maternal mortality by 20 percent by 2020 but there are many obstacles to overcome such as a reluctance by women to be examined by male doctors and a lack of female doctors, nurses and midwives. Then there are the vast distances in this war-torn country where hospitals are generally poorly equipped and medical help is inaccessible to those living in remote locations. HOME BIRTHSIt is an age old practice for Afghan women in rural areas to deliver babies at home. Trained midwives are rarely in attendance. If there are complications, it might take hours, even days to reach the nearest clinic. Even when women with labour complications get to hospital alive, there are often no doctors or medical equipment to perform caesarean sections and other life saving procedures. "In some places, there aren't even operating theatres and women just wait for their death," said Rona Azamyan, who coordinates the Midwifery Education Programme in Faizabad. Among the prime complications of childbirth in Afghanistan are bleeding, infection, hypertension and obstructed labour. It is not uncommon for girls as young as 13 to marry in Afghanistan and there are often complications when they give birth. "The mothers are very young, so their (pelvic) bone development is immature," said Karima Mayar, a family planning team leader at the Ministry of Public Health. Poor and malnourished, many pregnant women in Afghanistan are severely anaemic. "If they get post-partum haemorrhage, they will die 100 percent of the time," said Mayar. Women's access to healthcare has generally been poor in deeply conservative Afghanistan. Afghan men prefer their women to consult only women doctors, but that is easier said than done in a society where there are few female doctors and nurses and little emphasis is placed on educating girls. The problem got worse during the Taliban regime, when girls were banned from schools and there were severe restrictions placed on women leaving their homes. During those years, from 1996 to 2001, there were only around 1,000 female healthcare workers in the whole country, staffing female-only hospitals. But the situation is still far from ideal now, more than six years after the fall of the Taliban, even in places such as the northeastern province of Badakhshan where the town of Faizabad is located. The area is far from fighting with Taliban insurgents. Only 66 percent of basic healthcare centres have at least one female health worker. Women make up only 23.5 percent of the country's healthcare workforce and 27 percent of its nursing staff. MATERNAL DEATH"One woman dies every 27 minutes in Afghanistan due to complications in childbirth &; and the tragedy doesn't stop with the mother's death," said Mayar. "When the mother of a newborn dies, 75 percent of these babies die. Who will feed them, keep them warm? There's an Afghan saying: 'When the mother dies, the child is sure to die'." The government plans to distribute the drug misoprostol to pregnant women in 13 provinces this year. "We will distribute this to women in their seventh month of pregnancy and they must take it right after delivery. It will remove the placenta and prevent haemorrhage," Mayar said. In the pipeline are plans to set up more midwifery schools and assign more female students to medical and nursing schools. "To reduce maternal mortality, we need 8,000 midwives by 2010 to cover needs of all pregnant women," said Mayar. There are 2,143 midwives in the country of 26 million people. But years of neglecting girls' education is taking its toll. "In the provinces, the maximum level of education is the 10th grade, but the minimum requirement for entry into nursing school is 12th grade," said Fatima Mohbat Ali of the Aga Khan Foundation, an aid group in Afghanistan. Some progress has been made in recent years, owing to government and NGO efforts to improve rural healthcare. In Badakhshan's Eshkashem district, which borders Tajikistan, Afghan women have been frequenting the health clinic, the most modern looking facility in a town where most of the 13,000 residents live in mud houses. From headaches to prenatal checkups, childbirth and advice on contraception, women have been bringing their complaints to the clinic's female doctor for the last three years. "Ever since we got an ambulance, a lady doctor, two midwives and an operating theatre three years ago, we have not had a single case of maternal mortality," said Abdi Mohammad, head of the Eshkashem health clinic and an obstetric surgeon. (Editing by Megan Goldin) Source: www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL318136.htm
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michelle
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Post by michelle on Aug 11, 2008 3:08:40 GMT 4
Muslim Sportswomen Gain Standing in BeijingThis is so cool to see happening. As a younger woman, I participated in various sports myself...I was good too. I ran track in highschool; 50 & 100 yard dash, relay race, hurtles, and broad jump. I loved to run! I also played tag football, but my favorite sport was softball.
Playing left field, I could scoop up a ball before it hit the ground, Willie Mays style, between 2nd and 3rd, and peg a runner from third base out at home. Man, that felt exhilarating! The competition's one thing, but when you're 'in the zone,' the body can perform fantastic feats.
All women who are inclined to do so should be able to participate in sports. I can't understand why women should be held back in this way. When I was in grade school, they hadn't yet allowed girls to play on Little League teams. This was so unfair to me; I played as good as some boys or better. I come from a family with 5 brothers and they showed no mercy when we played ball as a family or with neighbors. I started out playing catch with a baseball; my brothers and dad would wail that ball right towards my face...I had to catch it. I had a good arm too. If alone, I would spend hours chucking rocks just to see how far I could throw. At bat, I was put in the starting lineup...no one could throw me out at first base!
And Ladies, I'm not a mannish or big woman. I'm 5''7", slender and small boned, also 'well endowed'.....I like men too...a lot! I just happened to grow up a tomboy with a body which gave me great joy at play. Playing women's softball provided me with some of my most memorable moments. At local outings, even the men were quick to pick me during coed games. Am I proud of this?....Heck yaha.
Get out and play, women! Enjoy the thrill of the game....Mums and Dads, look for abilities in your daughters; give them the support and encouragement they need and you will see them grow into confident well-adjusted women.
Thanks for sharing my memories with me. And Here's to a Fabulous Showing This Year From the Muslim Women! MichelleMuslim Sportswomen Gain Standing in BeijingThursday 07 August 2008» by: Aline Bannayan, Women's eNews The Beijing Olympics starting Friday will showcase the varying degrees to which Muslim countries are warming up to women's sports. The United Arab Emirates and Oman are sending women for the first time. Amman, Jordan - Even before the Beijing Summer Olympics begin on Friday, Habiba Hinai is tasting victory. For the first time, her country is sending a female Olympian to the games. Buthaina Yaqoubi, 16, will compete in the 100-meter dash and either the long jump or the triple jump. Hinai, one of three women to represent Oman by bearing the Olympic torch during the relay earlier this year, is vice-chair of Oman's Volleyball Association, the highest position for any woman in the country's sports scene. For 18 years she has advocated for the advancement of women's athletics in her country, seeing it expand from an activity only available in schools in 1993 to the formation of national women's volleyball, tennis and table tennis teams in 2004. Now that her country is sending female competitors to the games, Hinai says she can start looking forward to the day when more Muslim women join the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Asian Committee. "That's the only way to develop sports in the Muslim world." The 135-member International Olympic Committee, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has 15 female members. Two are former Olympians from Arab Muslim countries: Morocco's 1984 track-and-field 400-meter star Nawal El Moutawakel, the first Arab woman to earn a gold medal, and Egyptian swimmer Rania Elwani, who competed from 1992 through 2000. Nine men from Arab and Muslim countries also serve on the committee, which organizes the games and represents its 205 national members. Warming Rates Vary Muslim countries are warming up to women's Olympics by varying degrees. North African nations dominate in Muslim women's representation. Among them, Tunisia is a particular standout, with women competing in track and field, canoeing, fencing, judo, table tennis, tennis, tae kwon do and wrestling. The 11 women in Morocco's 38-member delegation include 30-year-old Olympic 800-meter track champion Hasna Ben Hassi. The country's many promising young competitors include 24-year-old Meriem Alaoui Selsouli, a potential gold medalist in the women's 5,000-meter event, who faces fierce Ethiopian competition. The country is also sending Khadija Abbouda, the Olympics' first Moroccan female archer. Algeria's female volleyball players, All Africa Games champions, will compete in that sport for the first time. "It's extraordinary. We can meet the world's best teams. And we're setting an example for women's sport in Algeria," said team captain Marimal Madani. Algerian women will also compete in judo and athletics, where Nahida Touhami will compete in the 1500-meter event. Jordan's seven-member delegation includes four women. Among them Nadine Dawani, a tae kwon do competitor, and Zeina Sha'ban, a table tennis champion, have the honor of carrying their nation's flag in the Aug. 8 opening ceremony. First Women From Oman and UAE Among the socially conservative Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates joins Oman in sending its first women to the games. Sheikha Maitha Mohammad Rashed Al-Maktoum, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammad, will compete in tae kwon do. Her cousin and another member of the ruling family, Sheikha Latifa Bint Ahmad Al-Maktoum, will take part in equestrian show jumping. Muslim Women in Olympic History 1964: Iran sent its first female athlete to Olympics. 1984: Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel became the first Arab woman to win a gold medal when she came in first in the women's 400 meters at the Los Angeles Games. She is now minister of sports. 1992: Hassiba Boulmerka of Algeria won a gold medal in 1,500-meter race. She often trained in Europe after being castigated in her own country for competing in a vest and shorts. That same year Susi Susanti became the first Olympic athlete to win a gold medal in badminton for Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. 2000: Jordan's Princess Haya, the sister of King Abdullah, became the first female Arab flag-bearer at an Olympic Games, the first and only Arab woman to compete in equestrian events and the first member of an Arab royal family to compete in the Olympics. In 2006, she became the first Arab woman to lead an international sports federation when she was elected president of the International Equestrian Federation. 2004: Women from Iran won medals in pistol shooting. That year Afghanistan-which had ended Taliban rule only three years earlier-sent two female athletes to compete; one in track and field and one in judo. Bahrain sent Ruqaya Al-Ghasra as their first-ever female competitor. Iran, Pakistan and Bahrain, which usually have predominantly male delegations, are sending a limited number of women. Iran's 53 athletes include three women, who will compete in rowing, archery and tae kwon do. Two women are among Pakistan's 21 athletes. They are 22-year-old Sadaf Siddiqui running the 100-meter dash and 18-year-old swimmer Kiran Khan. Pakistan first sent female athletes to the games in 1996. Bahrain is also sending two women, including Ruqaya Al-Ghasra, 24, who won the 200-meter event at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the 100-meter dash at the 11th Pan-Arab Games in 2007. She has qualified for both the women's 100-meter and 200-meter races in Beijing. Her countrywoman, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, will compete in the 800-meter. Iraq has one female sprinter, Dana Hussein, 21, among its four qualifiers. Somalia's Samiyo Yusuf will run in the 400-meter and 800-meter events as the only female athlete representing the war-torn nation. Brunei and Saudi Arabia will not be sending any women. Both countries bar women's sports for "cultural and religious reasons" and do not allow women to participate in the Olympics. Qatar and Kuwait will also not be sending any women to Beijing. Both countries allow women's sports, but are opting to send male athletes with what they consider better competitive chances. Post-Barcelona Push Women's participation in the Olympics has been a particularly sensitive subject since 1992. That year, 35 countries - half of them Muslim - sent no female athletes to the Barcelona Games. To lower those numbers two French advocates, Annie Sugier and Linda Weil-Curiel, founded a group called Atlanta Plus to work on requiring countries to include women in their Olympic delegations. Weil-Curiel, a lawyer, says all-male delegations contravene the Olympic charter's prohibition against all forms of discrimination. She has been lobbying the International Olympic Committee for years to impose sanctions on nations that bar women from competing. Based in Paris, her organization now calls itself Atlanta-Sydney-Athens Plus and can happily point to the shrinking supply of all-male delegations. Thirty-five all-male Olympic teams competed in Barcelona in 1992 compared to 26 in Atlanta in 1996, 10 in Sydney in 2000 and five in Athens 2004. There are at least four all-male delegations sent to Beijing, but a tally is not yet available. Women came closer to parity during 2004 when they competed in 135 events and represented 44 percent of all participants. Sports officials in Arab countries contend that women's limited participation is not restricted to their countries and point to the limited number of women in the International Olympic Committee's decision-making bodies. In March 2008, during the fourth International Olympic Committee conference on women and sports, held in Jordan, 600 participants endorsed the Dead Sea Plan of Action. It calls for gender equality in national teams, their leadership and technicians, and also encourages female sports reporters to actively cover the events. Attendees included the world's top sporting officials, including International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, many Olympic medalists and King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan. Women were barred from competing in the first modern games in 1896 but four years later they were permitted to participate in the "ladylike" sports of tennis, golf and croquet. In Beijing, female athletes will compete in nearly every Olympic sport, including wrestling, which was opened to women for the first time at the Athens Games. The Japanese are expected to be the dominant force with the Americans, Bulgarians and Chinese expected to pose a threat in their quest for Olympic gold. -------- Aline Bannayan is a reporter and editor based in Amman, Jordan. A former national basketball team player, she has covered sports for the Jordan Times as well as the AP in Amman since 1991. Source: www.truthout.org/article/muslim-sportswomen-gain-standing-beijing
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michelle
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Post by michelle on Aug 19, 2008 15:13:40 GMT 4
Ending Domestic Violence in Muslim Families As stated previously, I will be running as many articles as I can to combat violence against women [not just Muslim women] here and at other threads. Hopefully, this will spread out to the addressing the larger question of violence between all humans, individually and in groups and/or nations. But first, we must look at what happens in families where the seeds of global violence are planted. I will comment only on one item here, from the perspective of a Western woman who has been the victim of abuse herself from a number of men I was involved with, and that is this:Should those measures fail, the last instruction is often translated as "hit her," (or "lightly tap her," when the sunnah of the Prophet is considered). Some translators assert that it is incorrect to translate the word "hit" at all, based on the Prophet's lifelong abhorrence of hitting women, seen in his statement, "Never hit the handmaids of Allah" (found in the hadith collections of Abu Daud, Nasa'l, Ibn Hibban, and Bayhaqi), and in his instructions in his last sermon where he restrict striking to a light tap (ghayr muharrib - without causing pain) only if the wife has become guilty of nushooz, obvious immoral conduct. The term nushooz is applicable to men as well (4:128).The direction to "lightly tap her," brings up all kinds of warning bells in my self preservation system. Here, I am reminded of the common statement from men when they state, "I never hit you/her with a fist, only an open hand." Well, excuse me but that open hand has broken my nose and also has set my head ringing where I feared permanent damage to my hearing, nerve endings, and facial structure/workings. And yes, you do see stars when hit in the face! That said, here's the article...MichelleEnding Domestic Violence in Muslim Families By Sharifa Alkhateeb To every gathering of Muslim women, Maria* added a smile. She came to Islam early, marrying a Muslim man and accepting the religion at 13 years old. She embraced it wholeheartedly, learning from the sisters as she went along. By age nineteen, she became the mother of a much-beloved baby boy. She and her son attended Jumu'ah prayers every Friday. When the women decided to gather in one another's homes two Saturdays a month, Maria made an effort to come to each meeting. By this time, her son was nearly two years old, and Maria was separated from her husband and living with her non-Muslim mother. Often, the talk turned to the difficulties of marriage. Maria listened, sympathized, and smiled. One day, the sisters decided to organize a retreat to discuss family issues. At the retreat, Maria and the 15 or so other women talked, laughed, and shared a potluck brunch. They began to discuss the topic of marriage. Maria had a question. She wanted to know how a woman knows when her divorce is final. As the women focused on Maria's question, she told them her horror story of suffering, abuse, being divorced, taken back, divorced again, lied to, and finally stalked by her husband. He told her the divorce was final one day, and the next day that it was not final, and that it was her Islamic duty to obey him in everything. She remained Muslim, but did not know enough of her new religion to assert her rights. Her tires had been slashed, her home watched, her peace threatened, and she was afraid. The sisters were shocked. They should not have been. According to a survey of the 63 Muslim community workers, leaders, and individuals done in 1993 by the North American Council for Muslim Women, domestic violence (including everything from hitting to incest) against Muslim women and children occurred in ten percent of the population of Muslims. If verbal and psychological abuse were added to this, the figure would rise considerably. By comparison, seven percent of American women in general were physically abused, and 37% were verbally or emotionally abused in 1993, according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund. A comprehensive study in 1993 by the Commonwealth Fund found that in one year alone nearly four million American women suffered abuse at the hands of their husbands or male friends, and that a woman is abused every nine seconds. The Family Violence Prevention Fund also reports that 34% of men and women have directly witnessed an act of domestic violence. This number is higher than the combined numbers of adults who have witnessed robberies or muggings! Maria continued to attend the sisters' meetings as the sisters began to focus on the problem of domestic violence in their community. She was not the only victim. The sisters protested to their Imam when they discovered that a community leader involved with their children had used violence against his wife. It became obvious to them that some community education was in order. Meanwhile, Maria's ex-husband had begun to frequent another Muslim community in the area, but continued to alternately harass her and then to entice her to continue her relationship with him. He began to use their son as a way to gain access to her, and he continued to disturb her sense of security and to assess his control over her. Authoritarian Family Structures Lead to Abuse and Violence An authoritarian family structure predisposes many Muslims in America to be abused in some way and possibly to become the victims of violence. Generally, husband's dominance's in the family structure, the more likely wife and child abuse become. In the most abusive homes, the father believes and socializes his wife and children to believe that whatever he wants the family to do is the same as what Allah wants them to do. He, in effect, makes himself into something of a god. Of the eight to ten million Muslims in America, more than half are African-American, a small but growing number are European American, and the rest are immigrants (first, second, or third generation) from Middle Eastern, Southwest Asian, and other countries. African American Muslim families suffer from the influence of the overwhelming incidences of abuse and violence in the general society and from the historical experience of slavery, which encouraged fractured families. While African-Americans who have been Muslim for many years are as self-directed as any community, new Muslim families who are searching for stability and morality often look to the immigrant communities for leadership and mentoring. Unfortunately, the most negative behavioral common denominator between the African-American and the immigrant Muslim communities is a socialization process which presents the parents, particularly the father, as having the last word on everything, and teaches children to be unquestioningly obedient as part of their devotion to faith. The overwhelming majority of immigrant Muslims come from repressive countries where political power is held by officials who secure or maintain their leadership through unethical, un-Islamic, and sometimes brutal means. These tyrannical governments tend to produce extended families and societies where only the man at the top can pronounce what is right or wrong, what is acceptable or unacceptable, and who is good or bad. Muslim American immigrants fleeing oppressive governments may not yet have realized that their own family dynamics are a microcosm of the tyranny and despotism they so actively oppose, and mistakenly think a tyrannical family structure is an Islamic one. The atmosphere in too many of these families is repressive, non-communicative, top-down, and male-dominated, where the leadership title that is worn is primary and which never allows or plans for asking why or how the family functions. Surprisingly, in the homes of most Muslims, focusing on the rules and desires of the parents almost always takes precedence over any focus on Allah. Most Muslim parents do not give their children any Qur'anic proof behind their opinions, do not allow themselves to be questioned, and no not invite discussion or reflection on ideas even though Allah continuously instructs Muslims to think and to reflect. Parents rarely see the connection between parents (instead of Allah) as the focus of the family structure, and shirk associating partners with Allah. What, Exactly, Constitutes Abuse or Violence? In order to end domestic violence, we must understand what it is that we are dealing with. The Family Violence Prevention Fund described abuse as "a pattern of purposeful behaviors, directed at achieving compliance from or control over, the victim." When these escalate to violence, creating "domestic violence," the definition becomes, "a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partner." According to the US Department of Justice report in 1991, men against women commit 95% of assaults on spouses or ex-spouses. (Abused females may also abuse their children, and are sometimes the primary abusers.) Most of the control mechanisms used by potential batterers that can escalate to violence are so common among Muslim families that they are not seen as threats to the family's existence; minimizing the victim's complaints, denying the abuse, and blaming the victim, isolating the victim from family and friends, intimidation, so-called "joking" about marrying a second wife, and emotional abuse such as name calling and degrading remarks in the presence of her children or guests. While none of this behavior is consistent with the teachings of the Qur'an or the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, few parents ever make the mental connection between this behavior and abuse. In fact, many abuse parents will say they are just "maintaining the discipline of the family." In most cases, after an episode of violence, the abuser says he is sorry, may ask for forgiveness, and promises not to repeat the behavior. Women may stay because they hope for change, still love the person, or are afraid of losing their children; they often leave only when they perceive imminent danger to their children. Sadly, all research proves that children from abuse homes are equally affected permanently whether or not they are victims themselves. Maria continued to be confused about her relationship as she tried to sort out her Islamic duties, what was best for her son, and her own feelings. The Imam pointed out that Islamically she should stay away from her ex-husband, and said that he did not know what she expected from him, since she had not followed his advice. When an incidence of abuse or violence is reported to someone in the Muslim community, the general response is to avoid "interfering" in family affairs. Some Muslims believe it is the man's Allah-given right to abuse his wife and children in any way he sees fit. Others, like the Imam in Maria's community, recognize the behavior as Islamically unacceptable, but have no training in the areas of domestic violence counseling, and do not know how to intervene effectively and legally. Many Imams, though, blame the situation on the wife. Most people just hope the problem will go away. When it does not, the entire Muslim community suffers; the existence of abuse convinces a community that they are ineffective and unable to protect women. Maria fell back into silence about her own experiences, but presented the sisters with information about Sisters of Peace, a group of Muslim women in Philadelphia organized to combat domestic violence in their community. What is the Islamic Stance on Violence Against Women? Under no circumstances is violence against women encouraged or allowed. The holy Qur'an contains tens of verses extolling good treatment of women. Several specifically enjoin kindness to women (2:229-237; 4:19; 4:25). These verses make it clear that the relationship between men and women is to be one of kindness, mutual respect, and caring. Some verses, where Allah calls men and women "protecting friends of one another," refer to the mandated atmosphere of mutual kindness and mercy in the marital home (30:21; 9:71). Others show disapproval of oppression or ill treatment of women. Surah two, ayah 231 condemns taking women back after a separation in order to hurt them; Surah four, ayah 15 specifies taking an oath against a wife rather than doing violence to her if a husband suspects adultery; Surah four, ayah 19 prohibits forces marriages; Surah four, ayah 29 prohibits deliberately causing a wife suspense or insecurity; Surah five, ayah 92 removes the legal effect from oaths against wives made in anger; and Surah 17, ayat 90-91 require the fulfillment of oaths, verbal agreements, and commitments. Even in the case of divorce, spouses are instructed to bring an arbiter from each side of the family to attempt reconciliation (4:35). If this fails, the instruction is to get back together with dignity and fairness, or to part on good terms (2:229 and 231). Anyone who violates the limits set by Allah is labeled a "transgressor" in the Qur'an. Added to these verses is the inescapable fact that the Prophet vehemently disapproved of men hitting their wives, and that he never in his entire life lit any woman or child. In the Prophet's last sermon, he exhorted men to "be kind to women-you have rights over your wives, and they have rights over you." He also said, "Treat your women well, and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers," and at a different time, he said, "The strong man is not the one who can use the force of physical strength, but the one who controls his anger" (Bukhari). Very important are those verses that give women the right to self-supervision. Surah five, ayah 44 instructs believers to, "Have no fear of people; fear Me." Surah 33, ayah 35 promises heaven to men and women who individually guard their chastity (or modesty)." In the abusive mindset, all of these verses and hadith are ignored, and males misquote two specific verses and one hadith to justify complete control of females. The worst interpretations go so far as t assert that a woman is mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually permanently disabled, and is prone to immorality, putting her in constant need of male supervision. The most abused verse is ayah 34 of Surah four: "Men are the protectors and maintainers of women because Allah gave them more to the one than the other, and because they support them from their means. So devout women are extremely careful and attentive in guarding what cannot be seen in that which Allah is extremely careful and attentive in guarding. Concerning women whose rebellious (nushooz) you fear, admonish them, then refuse to share their beds, then hit them; but if they become obedient, no not seem means of annoyance against them. For Allah is Most High, Great." This translation charges men with the task of financially and physically protecting and caring for their wives and families, since Allah has made men physically stronger than women, which is the interpretation of most scholars. Women, in return for that care, should be careful in guarding their fidelity and morality at all times when no one can see them in obedience to Allah. Instructions are then given regarding women who rebelliously ignore Allah's commands about sexual fidelity and become sexually disloyal to their husbands. The husband is instructed first to admonish his wife (talk to her), and then to refuse to share her bed. Should those measures fail, the last instruction is often translated as "hit her," (or "lightly tap her," when the sunnah of the Prophet is considered). Some translators assert that it is incorrect to translate the word "hit" at all, based on the Prophet's lifelong abhorrence of hitting women, seen in his statement, "Never hit the handmaids of Allah" (found in the hadith collections of Abu Daud, Nasa'l, Ibn Hibban, and Bayhaqi), and in his instructions in his last sermon where he restrict striking to a light tap (ghayr muharrib - without causing pain) only if the wife has become guilty of nushooz, obvious immoral conduct. The term nushooz is applicable to men as well (4:128). The wording of this verse emphasizes the woman's obedience to Allah's desires, and not to those of another human being, but those who misinterpret this verse would assign men the duty of being eternal surveillance police over their wives. This verse has been so misunderstood that it is not uncommon for husbands to prevent their wives from going to the corner store, to attend births, deaths, or marriages, to see doctors, seek education, or even to visit their parents without express permission. This verse has also been used to underpin the mistaken belief that the qawwama of men as protectors and maintainers of their wives not only implies unquestionable obedience to men as individuals but also that only men may lead women in any aspect of life whatsoever on any level. In short, this verse has been used as a tool of control and abuse completely opposed to the Islamic foundation of marriage and family. Another misused verse is ayah 53 of Surah 33: "O you who believe, enter not the dwellings of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time...and when you ask of them (his wives) anything, ask of them from behind a curtain. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts...it is not for you to cause annoyance to the messenger of Allah, nor may you ever marry his wives after him. That in Allah's sight would be an enormity." The verse is obviously directed at Muslim men describing their property conduct only with the wives of the Prophet. It continues, however, to the main reason that some Muslims believe that men and women must be separate in all spaces, and an excuse for some men to claim that all public space belongs to men alone. This is erroneous. The instruction relates only to the wives of the Prophet, and to proper behavior in the Prophet's house. Those who want to apply this verse to all Muslim women never assert that all Muslim women may not marry after the deaths of their husbands (although in practice, that is exactly what is expected of women in some Muslim societies according to their un-Islamic customs). Confining women to the kitchens of their houses during dinner parties, relegating women to back rooms with inadequate or absent audio hookup in most mosques, or worse, banning women from mosques, and bans by political authorities in some countries against women going to school, all come from warped interpretations of the previously mentioned verses. A hadith often used in the control of women reads: "Women, when they travel a far distance, should have a muhrim with them." At the time of the Prophet, traveling even 40 miles could be very dangerous since roads were full of bandits and law consisted of each tribe's different rules and regulations. Rule of law that crossed tribal boundaries, and was consistent with a new concept in 7th century Arabia introduced by Islam. Today a women can travel halfway across the world by airplane in 19 hours, and remain safely among large groups of people at all times. Yet this hadith continues to be sued, even by a few Muslim leaders in large US cities, to prevent Muslim women from going from one city to another, from one part of the city to another, or from leaving the doorways of their apartments, alone. The real question is, did the Prophet practice, encourage, or even condone surveillance and control behaviors towards women? He never did. Knowing this, it is up to each individual Muslim, as husband and wife, as extended family member, or as community member, to shape morally, ethically, psychologically, and physically sale and healthy society where families can raise happy and contributing members of society. Ending the Violence: Where Do Muslims Begin? Let there be zero tolerance for abuse and violence against women! The words of a famous ad campaign state, "There's no excuse for domestic violence." If we hold this in mind, the future for battered women will be a positive one. Research shows that the more we are exposed to violence against women, the less we are upset by it. Muslim women need to improve their knowledge of their own faith, and then reclaim their right to define themselves in the light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, instead of by customary practices, traditions, extremist viewpoints, or those who believe Muslim women need to be saved from themselves. Families need to maintain open lines of communication between all of their members; regular family meetings where everyone is allowed to express themselves without any recriminations are helpful. Marriage must be seen as a partnership, and marriage contracts should specify a commitment to an abuse, free and violence-free family. The parents must ask of their children only that which is good and which conforms to Qur'anically based concepts. Extended families must stop covering up abuse, violence, and incest in the name of "preserving the family honor." Above all, the family, like the individual must keep Allah as its focus. The Family Violence Prevention Division in Canada this year published a full report on family violence. Of great significance to Muslims is the need they identified to "reconceptualize power in a way that distinguished between creative and violating power and that more directly expands the focus on power to move beyond power dynamics in individual relationships to power structures." This thinking should be taken from the personal level to the global level. Communities need to see individual cases of family violence in the light of the nature of the global power structure, and that of the community as a whole, to discover whether the community power structure is actually promoting a license to batter. Imams must be protectors of women's safety by example, avoid blaming wives, and recognize when they do not have the expertise to truly help women who are battered. Community members should be encouraged to obtain profession training and degrees in counseling. The community is responsible to develop protocols for handling problems of domestic violence, network with existing Muslim and non-Muslim agencies that can provide training or referrals, and set up safe houses for battered women and children. At least twice a year, each mosque or community center should present an Abuse and Domestic Violence Awareness Program for Muslim Families that will teach risk identification, abuse and violence identification, safety planning for possible situations, safety planning for unsupervised visits by a batterer, problem solving techniques, and information on counseling available for battered women and their families. Muslim community activists, lawyers, and counselors should meet in each city to develop protocols addressed to their specific community which will allow for early identification of abuse and a willingness to deal with the situation in order to protect the victims from further abuse or victim blaming. Wherever possible, shelters and Muslim family service agencies should be put into place. In 1993, the North American Council for Muslim Women was the first national Muslim organization of any kind to discuss Abuse and Violence Against Women and Children during a national convention. In 1995 in Plainfield, Indiana, and the following year in Chicago, the Islamic Society of North America held conferences for social service providers that addressed several subjects including family counseling, divorce and children's issues, and the last one was attended by over 200 providers. (Rafia Syeed coordinates this work, telephone 317-839-8157.) Source: www.themodernreligion.com/women/dv-ending.htmNote From Michelle: I've taken on a rather ambitious stream of consciousness today in response to the 5 women buried alive in Pakistan. Actually, I started thinking about relationships between men and women last month, when I read an article where women are being beaten by male family members in Gaza due to stresses men are feeling because of the overwhelming conditions they are living under. Negative encounters between the sexes around the globe are being fueled by all kinds of conflicts such as war, religion, authoritarian family structures, sexism, loss of/lack of employment,.and so on. Rather than readers viewing today's posts from me separately, I'd like them to be seen in context as to their relationship to each other and would ask the reader to take some time to read them as a unit. Today's posts and other posts which are tied together here at the FH Forum include:Re: Pitiable Plight of Pakistani Women « Reply #1 on Aug 14, 2008, 3:04am » PAKISTAN: Five women buried alive, allegedly by the brother of a minister airdance.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=muslim&action=display&thread=122&page=1#3036 Re: Pitiable Plight of Pakistani Women « Reply #2 on Aug 17, 2008, 7:25pm » WOMEN ARE FALLING BEHIND IN PAKISTAN airdance.proboards50.com/index.cgi?board=muslim&action=display&thread=122&page=1#3044Re: Female Topics « Reply #9 Today at 3:13pm » Ending Domestic Violence in Muslim Families airdance.proboards50.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=muslim&thread=117&page=1#3045Re: We, The Men « Reply #25 Today at 3:45pm » Gaza Siege Batters Womenairdance.proboards50.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=anwrart&thread=62&page=2#3046WOMEN'S ISSUES « Thread Started Today at 4:24pm » WOMEN'S ISSUESairdance.proboards50.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=195&page=1#3047Re: My God is Bigger and Better than Yours! « Reply #1 Today at 4:41pm » Personal Freedom and Religionairdance.proboards50.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=solutions&thread=193&page=1#3048
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Sept 6, 2008 6:10:49 GMT 4
Keep Her Under Control: Law's Patriarchy in IndiaThe following video is offered for courses in women's and gender studies. I don't know if universities in Islamic societies even offer such studies. I would dearly appreciate any type of response concerning the issues I've been posting here and elsewhere; I'm working from a limited understanding of how and if dialogue is promoted in your countries. Are women speaking out at significant levels in your societies? And if not, how come?
Are any men speaking from a platform of gender equality...the real issues, I mean, not just lip service disguised as concern in a system of oppression.
Look, I'm not just some Western woman busybody; I really care about this, not just in your societies. There is a myth cultivated in my country, and from my reading, in your countries also, that women aren't safe on our streets. This is a deception and steers us away from the reality of the situation. It also adverts attention away from the one big taboo in all societies. In the U.S., according to the FBI, women are nine times safer on the street than they are in the family. That's where you're most likely to be beaten, most likely to be raped. 67 percent of all rapes are under the age of 18. About 29 percent of the girls under the age of 11 -- these are taking place in the home. Eleven percent of all rapes are rapes by a father or step-father. At a manufacturing plant I worked at, there were 12 women who worked in the offices; I know that three of these women were sexually abused by their fathers. One who was in therapy for supressed images that were surfacing after her father's death was 4 years old when the abuse began; her sister was free game too....The mum, well her husband beat her and I guess she turned a blind eye when the heat was off her.
In Muslim countries, many people who talk about family values, it's really a code word for a racist, sexist enforcement of family values, gender inequality, the idea that women and children are the property of the father. These are the values. It's really about control.
Violence against women can also turn into a sporting event for some. What causes men to be violent then is basically an enforcement. That if you have a system of oppression, one group is being subordinated, in this case we're talking about women, and in some way you can propagandize and brain wash the subordinated group into agreeing to this. Well, I really am more passive, I really am subordinate. You know, we're given those messages all the time through the mass media, through religion, in which we're told that women are premordally evil, etc. But obviously, that's not going to work completely, we're going to resist. And we're not going to buy into all that ideology so the second level of enforcement is violence, actual violence. So I see the whole gamut from sexual harassment on the streets, in the office, through rape, through battery, through incest, through sexual murder, through a level of enforcement, to keep women in our place, to tell us that we can't speak out against atrocities and to serve as a lesson to all of the women. This is what will happen to you. You are prey in this culture, you are an object, you be obedient or you're off basically, so I see that violence serves an absolute function. It's not a deviation, it's not a monster from Mars. We have to look at it as absolutely functional to keeping the status quo going, to keeping the system of male supremacy working.
In conclusion, if anyone is interested in seriously discussing women's resistance, might I offer the following video for group discussion; it's expensive but freedom never comes cheap... Yours in Service, MichelleKeep Her Under Control: Law's Patriarchy in India Produced by Erin Moore. 52 min. Color. 1998. Available as: VHS and DVD Captioned: No Catalog #: 0129 Order this title Sale Price: $250.00 Apply for Discount This provocative documentary, which explores the role of women in a Muslim-dominated village in Rajasthan, in northern India, is original, compelling, and instructive, and it is sure to stimulate discussion and analysis in any course that studies gender roles, Islam, India, or cultural anthropology.The film focuses on the dramatic story of a woman, named Hurmuti, who refuses to live by the moral and legal codes of the village's Islamic patriarchy. Hurmuti is the eldest wife in an extended family, but she has had a long-term -- and well-known -- affair with another man in the village. The film examines her conflicts with her extended family and with the all-male Islamic Village Council over her own conduct and over her insistence on the right to arrange the marriages of her pre-pubescent daughters. As Hurmuti's fascinating story unfolds it is interwoven with scenes that illustrate the process of growing up female in the village: the play of children; the talk and the duties of adolescent girls; marriage customs; dowry issues; relationships with mothers-in-law; rights to land ownership; and even spirit possessions. Viewers will experience a wide range of emotions, grapple with an array of stimulating questions, and in the end be forced to consider how Hurmuti's life options would have been different if she had been born male.The film is based on ethnographic research carried out in Rajasthan over the past two decades by the producer, Prof. Erin Moore, of the Dept. of Anthropology, Univ. of Southern California. An in-depth Instructor's Guide sheds additional light on the issues covered in the film and provides background information on Indian and Muslim social and legal customs. Reviews"Brings a social drama vividly to life.... Infused with a profound understanding of the dynamics of social conflicts and the predicaments of Indian women, this film will captivate students and scholars of anthropology, gender studies, and South Asia." -- Isabelle Nabokov, Asst. Prof. of Anthropology, Princeton Univ. "An engaging depiction of an unusually independent village woman's resistance to the constraints of family control. It will be sure to provoke discussion on women's roles and options in rural India, the intersection of multiple legal systems, and the dynamics of change." -- Serena Nanda, Prof. of Anthropology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice "A fascinating ethnographic document of one courageous Rajasthani woman's agency and resistance. The film has the immediacy of visual field notes and it will provoke discussion in courses on cultural anthropology, South Asia, women's studies, and law." -- Kirin Narayan, Prof. of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison "Offers a vivid portrait of family, community, and gender relations in a Muslim-dominated Indian village. The film succeeds in demonstrating the ways that patriarchal hegemony is reproduced through custom, socialization, and ritual, in addition to sometimes being directly resisted by women. Courses in women's and gender studies will benefit from the ways that the film portrays the dynamic process of 'patriarchal bargains' in the village: the film explodes the myth of the passive 'traditional third-world woman,' while at the same time demonstrating the stubborn persistence of patriarchy." -- Michael Messner, Prof. of Sociology and Gender Studies, Univ. of Southern California AwardsSociety for Visual Anthropology Award American Anthropological Assn. selection Assn. for Asian Studies honoree Source: tinyurl.com/5e6l5b
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Nov 6, 2008 16:10:43 GMT 4
Syrian Case Tests Tolerance on Killing Kinswomen The following article is a month old; I'm sorry I didn't post it sooner, but I'm just beginning to find some decent sources for posts here; one's without a Western slant on them. The opening of the first shelter for battered women in Syria is a start. Real progress can only begin when laws are changed. Syria has made some reforms, but much much more is needed....MichelleSyrian Case Tests Tolerance on Killing Kinswomen Run Date: 09/07/08 By Dominique Soguel WeNews correspondent Syria just opened its first official shelter for battered women and has enacted reforms favorable to women in recent years. But safety activists can't rest as long as authorities tolerate families who consider it honorable to kill their kinswomen. DAMASCUS, Syria (WOMENSENEWS)--Oasis, Syria's first shelter for battered and abused women, opened its door the first week of August. "The importance of our shelter is that we are the first shelter to be officially authorized," says Youmn Abou Alhosn, board member of the Association for Women's Role Development, which supervises both the Oasis shelter and a juvenile detention center it founded earlier. "This allows us to push for more shelters and provides a basis for changing the laws. But our main purpose is to protect. We don't want to provoke the governmental bodies we are working with or our societies." Abou Alhosn says violence against women here is typically treated as a private family matter that goes unrecorded and unprosecuted. According to a 2005 study prepared by the Syrian Federation of Women, 1 in 4 Syrian women suffered domestic violence at the hands of male relatives. While that's comparable with levels around the region and the world, the country's response to the problem has so far been lagging. Before the Oasis shelter--which opened with 30 beds and plans 50--the main refuge for battered women in Damascus was the Christian Sisters of Good Shepherd convent, which operates a shelter, runs a daily hotline and offers free legal counsel. The convent declined a visit request from Women's eNews, citing its wish to keep a low profile. Muna Al Assad, a lawyer volunteering at Good Shepherd, says its counseling--for both Muslim and Christian women--often focuses on reconciliation because divorce has such negative consequences in Syrian society. Few battered women, she said, choose to take their cases to court. "Even if the woman considered going to the legal system, where she might get partial fairness, people around her will resent her if she is strong enough to do it," Al Assad says. "They will outcast her because normally the person who committed the violence is her husband, father or brother." Al Assad has worked on 13 domestic violence cases in 17 months. Of these, only one resulted in divorce. In that case the victim's family supported her. Laws Called DiscriminatoryAl Assad says many of Syria's personal status laws discriminate against women, including those seeking divorce, and break the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW, which Syria signed in 2003 after making some provisions to accommodate Islamic law. But she and others reserve their strongest criticism for Syria's failure to revoke Article 548 of the penal code, which exempts a domestic killer from standard punishments, as the most serious flouting of CEDAW. "He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister committing adultery, (flagrante delicto) or illegitimate sexual acts with another and he killed or injured one or both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty," the article says. Those who commit honor crimes rarely serve more than a few months in jail, while other types of crimes--including murder, treason and membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, one of Syria's primary political opposition groups--can carry the death penalty. In early 2007, the Syrian Women Observatory and other women's rights organizations based in Damascus lobbied against honor killings after Zahra Al Ezzo was murdered by a brother in reprisal for her elopement. Killing Sparks OutcryThe case sparked a national outcry, prompting Syria's grand mufti, Ahmad Badr Eddin Hassoun, to declare honor killings un-Islamic in 2007 and call for a change in the law. The Syrian Women Observatory estimates over 200 honor crimes are committed a year in Syria, a country with a population of almost 20 million people. Bassam Al Kadi, director of the Syrian Women Observatory, says honor killings need a cultural not just a legal solution. "Honor crimes are committed by Christians and Muslims, those who live in the countryside and the cities, the uneducated and the literate, the rich and the poor." Maha Al Ali, a Damascus-based women's rights lawyer and activist, has been working to prosecute Al Ezzo's case as a first-degree murder instead of an honor crime so the accused will face a harsher sentence. She hopes a victory will give pause to any families thinking about ordering their male relatives to kill in the name of honor. Canceling article 548 and 549, she adds, would also help. Al Ezzo died of four stab wounds to the back and one to the neck. Her brother confessed to the crime and her husband, whom Ali represents, took the case to court. Up to a few months ago, she says, the family of the accused pressured her with phone calls to drop the charges. Laws Privilege MenSyria's personal status laws--based on Sharia religious law--privilege men in matters of marriage, custody and divorce. While men and women can file for divorce on the basis of simple accusations of adultery the burden of proof, for example, is heavier on women. Women must produce a confession from the husband or testimony from a third witness. Also missing from Syria's legal landscape is a woman's right to choose her family name and pass on nationality to her children. While women in neighboring Lebanon face the same restriction, Egypt in 2003 allowed women married to foreign men to pass on their nationality to their children and Morocco made a similar change in March 2008. The country, however, has watered down some of its male bias. In 2003 it revised child custody laws, granting the mother custody for daughters under 15 and sons under 13, up from ages 11 and 9 respectively. In 2004 it extended paid maternity leave in the public sector. Women are now entitled to four months' paid leave for the first child born, three months for the second and 72 days for the third and all subsequent children. But the new measures--approved by at least 75 percent of parliament and endorsed by President Bashar al-Assad--do not satisfy Al Assad. "All of that," she says, "touches the surface but does not tackle the deep changes that need to be addressed. We need to radically change Syria personal status laws and change it to a modern family law. But above all we need to stop the excuse for honor crimes." Dominique Soguel is Women's eNews Arabic editor.
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.Source: www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3732/context/cover/
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