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Female
Ministers Question Stoning Law
11 female ministers have been demanding a change in the law
that poses stoning as punishment for adultery claiming that
this law has been harmful to Iran’s image abroad. The ministers
have sought the approval of leading religious clerics who
must endorse the change before its implementation.
(The Daily Star Jan. 15, 2003)
Female
Judge
A female judge was appointed in one of Asfahan’s courts triggering
a roaring debate among conservative and reformist clerics.
Unlike conservative clerics, reformist clerics maintain that
there is nothing in the Sharia’a law that prevents women from
assuming such a role.
(Al Mostaqbal Feb. 27, 2003)
AFGANISTAN
First Female General
Khaton Zati was appointed the rank of General in the Afghani
army making her the first woman to take on this title. Khaton
had joined the air force before the Taliban regime came to
power, but had to quit during their rule. Her return to the
army has generated varying responses among women themselves,
where some see her as a role model while others still maintain
that the rightful place for women is the home.
(Al Ahram Jan. 8, 2003)
Radio
Station for Women
The first radio station run by women for women started broadcasting
in Kabul for several hours a day. The station is funded by
UNESCO and the French NGO for the Development of Independent
Media.
(Al Hayat March 9, 2003)
KURDISTAN
Honor Crime Law
Local parliament has agreed to a new law that bans the validation
of the murder of women for reasons of ‘honor’. The assailant
will no longer get any decrease in the penalty allotted for
murder.
(Al Mostaqbal Jan.3, 2003)
UNISTED
STATES
Debate over Women’s Sexual Rights
The debate over female sexual rights and especially abortion
30 years after the Supreme Court issued a ruling legalizing
it is raging. Ever since Bush assumed presidency, he has been
an ardent supporter of abstinence programs geared towards
teenagers. He has also stopped any financial support to international
health programs aiming at population control.
In 2002, fetuses were declared deserving of federal health
care meaning that their life officially starts at the moment
of conception and not with birth, a notion that clearly supports
anti-abortion activists. With this deduction the fetus has
now become an individual in itself with rights that conflict
with those of women.
(Al
Mostaqbal Jan.17, 2003)
FRANCE
Writer and Journalist Francoise Giroux Passes Away
French
journalist Francoise Giroux, 86, has passed away. Throughout
her life, Giroux had been a fierce supporter of women’s rights
be they political, social, legal, or sexual. She has presented
a reform program concerning the condition of women to the
French government during her term as Minister of the Affairs
of Women, and many of the recommendations in her program had
been implemented. She has several successful publications.
(Al Mostaqbal Jan.21, 2003)
GREAT
BRITAIN
Man Sues for Equality
A public sector employee has filed a legal suit demanding
equality with women regarding the uncomfortable dress code
at the workplace. Formal wear is required for men in the sector
while it is not compulsory for women. The plaintiff claimed
that this poses obvious discrimination meaning that men were
apt to financial compensation!
(Al Mostaqbal Feb.27, 2003)
FINLAND
2
Women in Power
Finland now boasts two female leaders, the President of the
state and the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister’s party had
won 55 seats out of a possible 200, and had campaigned issues
like economic reform and the decreasing of unemployment levels.
(Al Hayat March 18, 2003)
Activities,
Committees and Associations
LEBANON
Women’s Network
14 legal, research, and women’s associations and committees
have come together to form a Lebanese women’s network with
a particular understanding of the feminist cause in Lebanon
and with work plans underway. This collaboration came at a
time when the ‘Woman and Child Committee’ had been calling
for Lebanon to join the world protocol to prevent the trade
of humans, particularly women and children. This protocol
is complimentary to the UN agreement to fight organized crime.
(Assafir July 9, 2003)
Workshop
on ‘Gender and Development’
The
Center for Research and Training on Development, has organized
a workshop around the issues of women, gender and development
with participation of interested NGOs for the benefit of the
Rene Mouawwad Foundation and active NGOs in North Lebanon.
The workshop, a part of a series of training sessions organized
by the center, aimed at explaining and elaborating on the
concept of gender and its relation to the process of social
development.
(Al Mostaqbal Feb. 26, 2003)
Regional
Meeting on Violence Against Women
The Middle East council of Churches (MECC) and the Lebanese
Council for Resisting Violence Against Women held a conference
under the title of ‘Elimination of Violence Against Women’
under the patronage of the Lebanese first lady. The meeting
stressed the necessity of modernizing family laws in general,
and especially those pertaining to women status.
(Assafir June 7, 2003)
‘Association
of Kurdish Women'
The ‘Association of Kurdish Women’ has been finally declared
active after years of preparatory effort. The Arab Woman Organization
launched earlier this year (see below) has agreed to provide
it with the needed skills and expertise in the domain of human
and women’s rights. The main endeavor of the association is
to follow up on the condition of Kurdish women in Lebanon
and to work towards the general goals of women in Lebanon,
in collaboration with other machineries.
(The Daily Star May 24, 2003)
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