abdullah-oblongata:BAD GURLS ✿ DO IT WELL on Flickr.
November 17th
3:48 PM EST
3:48 PM EST
Yemen is experiencing two revolutions, says female activist, Afrah Nasser (x)
I wanted it to be a double revolution; a political one to topple Saleh and a feminist one to assure that women have equal rights.
Only speaking about my experience, but I think we’re so far away from a feminist revolution in Yemen (and definitely in the Yemeni-American community). I see the way Yemeni men admire and talk up Tawakkul Karman, but it’s as if she is the exception not the rule. When you bring up including their wives, daughters, sisters in political events, most of these dudes brush it off. I dunno. BUT THIS:
Bearing in mind that freedom for women in Yemen is usually subject to numerous limitations; their participation in the uprising is extraordinary.
October 26th
2:57 PM EST
2:57 PM EST
Egyptian Women peasants form historic union
The first union for women in the agriculture sector was formed in Imbaba’s Werdan village, in Giza governorate, in a step which promises to empower female agriculture workers.
The Egyptian agriculture sector employs approximately four million women.
The historic initiative for women peasants came after Minister of Manpower Ahmed El-Borai acknowledged the right to form unions, as it had been illegal for women in the sector to form any sort of association or union before the January 25 Revolution.
According to a press release on 23 October, the new union said it hopes to expand membership as it spreads across the country, promising to defend women’s rights within the sector and ensure equal treatment between women peasants and their male counterparts.
According to a 2008 study on the economic participation of women in Egypt by the American University in Cairo, women in the agriculture sector suffer from unequal wages, and their role in agriculture is viewed by men as merely part of their cultural duties as housewives.
via (3arabawy)
October 13th
2:41 PM EST
2:41 PM EST
Women display their hands which are painted red, symbolizing bloodshed, and blue, symbolizing peace, during a demonstration demanding the ouster of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa 28 September, 2011. (Photo: REUTERS - Mohamed al-Sayaghi) (x)
October 7th
12:41 PM EST
12:41 PM EST
"This is a transformative moment for our society and the revolution — a woman has become its most prominent figure."
— Yemeni analyst Ali Seif Hassan, “Yemen Nobel laureate a figure of hope, controversy” (x)
10:11 AM
EST
Leymah Gbowee - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian president - Tawakul Karman (from left to right)
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded on Friday to three campaigning women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s first elected female president — her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.
They were the first women to win the prize since Kenya’s Wangari Maathai, who died last month, was named as the laureate in 2004 (via the NYTimes)
October 6th
6:08 PM EST
6:08 PM EST
I can’t find anything - does anyone know if it’s true?
Saudi woman driver saved from lashing by King Abdullah
Update on that case. but come on, “saved”?
July 13th
3:32 PM EST
3:32 PM EST
Maria:
“Ninety-five days ago, I was sitting in the federal prison … you never forget that. I had lost faith in the judicial system, I have lost faith in the US government, I have lost faith in people in general, with the exception of my parents and very few friends. I have been disappointed in awful, awful ways. I lost respect for myself, for other people and all I needed was to be treated like a human again … you need somebody to tell you: you are going to be fine, you need somebody to believe in you, because starting over is absolutely terrifying.”
IN PICTURES: Formerly incarcerated women (AlJazeera English)
2:19 PM
EST
Zandononi:
“I am a single mom, I have a substance abuse history, I am convicted felon and on top of that, I am a Muslim. When I go out in the society people have already prejudged me and they don’t even know me, all they do is look at my face. I think it is so, so important that somebody knows we are real people, we are human, we have real feelings … because what you read about us in the paper it’s true, but we change just like anybody else!”
IN PICTURES: Formerly incarcerated women (AlJazeera English)
June 10th
8:43 PM EST
8:43 PM EST
Tunisian film on virginity stirs debate at Cairo screening
The one-hour documentary walks viewers through the reasons behind hymen surgery becoming more common in Tunisia. As the age of marriage rises, more young people are engaging in premarital relationships, yet only women suffer the consequences. They know that they would be judged and their reputation tainted should it become known that they had lost their virginity before marriage.
