According to a 2005 World Health Organization study, at least one in three women worldwide will be beaten, raped, or abused in her lifetime. The eradication of all forms of gender-based violence is integral to the struggle to achieve social justice and gender-equality. Violence against women permeates through every boundary, from the private to the public.
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) strongly condemns the attempted assassination on school girl and activist, Malala Yousufzai for promoting female education. Spirited and outspoken, Malala has been an advocate for girls’ access to education in her region from the age of 11 “dreaming of a day where education prevails”.
It is with deepest sadness we announce the loss of our dear friend and colleague Cassandra, who passed away peacefully on Thursday 12 July 2012. She will continue to live through her many writings and contributions to the realization of women’s human rights.
Cassandra Balchin was with WLUML for decades, from working at WLUML's Asia office, Shirkat Gah, to helping WLUML set up its London office where she assumed the position of Deputy International Co-ordinator, and later International Co-ordinator.
There has been much controversy over a piece written by journalist Mona Eltahawy in the most recent issue of Foreign Policy Magazine entitled "Why Do They Hate Us: The Real War on Women is in the Middle East". Here Eltahawy and renouned scholar Leila Ahmed discuss the controversy.
Zanan TV was launched on 25 November 2011, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day was chosen because Zanan TV is an alternative space for marginalized women who are violated by the state and silenced by mainstream media in Iran. It is a space for building the women’s movement and the democracy movement in Iran.
On Wednesday, Eman Al-Obeidi, the woman who attempted to tell foreign journalists of her abuse and rape by regime forces but was taken away by security, appeared on camera in a CNN interview. The interview was arranged by Saadi Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, but transmission was held up for 18 hours by Libyan officials who wanted to review the tape. The video --- unaltered, according to CNN --- was finally transmitted yesterday afternoon.
Riz Khan is joined by Rabab al-Mahdi, a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo; Frances Hasso, a professor of Women's Studies at Duke University; and Nadje al-Ali, a social anthropologist at the University of London. What role have Arab women played in the popular uprisings around the Middle East and what stake do they really have in their countries' political future?
We are pleased to announce that WLUML board member, Ms. Zarizana Abdul Aziz, has made it through the second round of Human Rights Council (HRC) consultations and is on the short-list for the Asian member of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice. WLUML would like to thank those of you who endorsed Ms. Abdul Aziz's nomination; WLUML is now appealing to you to contact your governments and urge your support for her candidature. Please do urge your governments regardless of whether they are members of the HRC. You can find embedded a list of the current member states of the HRC and the Report of the Consultative Group. For your country's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva click here.
