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.

His Excellency

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

Office of the President

Al Ittihadia Palace

Cairo, Egypt

Fax: +202 2 391 1441

Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg

Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

31 March 2016

 

Your Excellency:

 

Introduction

The issue of Violence against Women in the public sphere has been a major source of concern over the past few years, especially in the four years following the January 25th Revolution in 2011. Discussion of what Women have to endure in the public sphere became commonplace on many platforms, including the media and social networking sites. It has also become a leading item on the agendas of many feminist organizations and various groups which seek to confront the exacerbating and increasingly frequent phenomenon.

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.

 

 MAY 28, 2015

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) are an important pillar of the human rights framework and the below average results in this area are a poor reflector on the general human rights situation in Pakistan.

Collected from dozens of interviews and reports from Iraqi feminists, labor organizers, environmentalists, and protest movement leaders, Against All Odds presents unique voices of progressive Iraqi organizing on the ground. Dating back to 2003, with emphasis on the 2011 upsurge in mobilization and hope as well as the subsequent embattled years, these voices belong to Iraqis asserting themselves as agents against multiple local, regional, and global forces of oppression.

The following words recount the aftermath of the murder of Farkhunda in Kabul, who was killed by a mob after being accused of burning the Quran.  The words come from a WLUML networker in Afghanistan, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Yesterday was our new year, the year that started with renewed fears and agony. 

WLUML is pleased to announce it has joined forces with the Women's Alliance for Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria, and will march with the Alliance on the 7th March to call for the liberation of all women under “IS” control on the occasion of International Women’s Day. We invite you to march with us and join the call to end violence against women.

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