Middle East

Women’s bodies have long been a site of cultural, religious, legal, and political struggles. Recognized as a potent medium of ideological communication, women’s clothing has interested both conservative and liberal states. Historical accounts have often presented women as passive objects of these political struggles waged through and on their bodies. Filtering these histories through a feminist lens we see that women have adopted, adapted, resisted, or subverted imposed regulations of their dressed bodies, asserting their autonomy and fighting for social and political rights.

BY NOORJAHAN AKBAR

Oct. 13, 2015

The murder of Farkhunda Malikzada, an Afghan religious scholar who had dedicated her life to fighting superstitions within the religious community, shocked the world in March 2015. She was killed by a group of more than 100 men who beat her to death, ran her over with a car and then set her on fire. She was killed because a senior religious cleric falsely accused her of burning the Quran, according to the BBC.After her death, protests were held to demand justice in Afghanistan and around the world. Despite global and national efforts, the trial for Malikzada was called a failure by many activists because several killers and policemen who watched the murder were recently acquitted.