Women denounce honor killing

International Women’s Day marked its 100th year Tuesday with protests against “femicide” in its various forms around the world — from honour killings in Turkey to wanton violence in Guatemala to the deadly crushing of a women’s rally in Ivory Coast.

In Turkey, thousands of women marched to denounce honour crimes despite a 2005 law that carries jail terms of up to life imprisonment. (more…)

Nasawiya: Gathering on March 8 to protest women’s rights in Lebanon

On this year’s very special 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Nasawiyas is organizing a Take Back the Night March to protest sexual harassment and call for safe streets for women.

The primary goal of the protest is to honor all the gender justice struggles that have passed and those that are ongoing – To take back the night, metaphorically and literally, and raise the voices loud against sexual harassment and for having safe spaces for women to be in regardless of time of the day. (more…)

Saudi women protest angers authorities

Authorities in Saudi Arabia were angry because several women protested outside a government office without permission and without male guardians, officials said. (more…)

Men disguised as women attacked STL investigators, report

According to MTV most of the attackers of STL investigators in the Dhahiya clinic were men dressed in women clothes.

Saudi scholar calls for Panda boycott over women cashiers

A Saudi scholar has broken the official rule restricting the issuing of fatwas to senior clerics and called for a boycott of a supermarket chain that has hired female cashiers, local media reports on Wednesday.

A YouTube video clip, which was taken from Al-Usra TV, shows Yousuf Al-Ahmad saying it is dangerous and hypocritical to hire females to work as cashiers, the Saudi Gazette reports. (more…)

Composer, singer take on ‘sexist’ Arab pop in new song

The backlash rages on over “Metlak Mesh Ayzin” song by a Lebanese singer that beckons women back to domesticity

Women banned from smoking water pipes by Hamas

Gaza’s Hamas rulers have banned women from smoking water pipes in cafes, calling it a practice that destroys marriages and sullies the image of the Palestinian people.

The ban marks the Islamist militant group’s latest effort to impose their harsh Muslim lifestyle in the seaside strip on an often resistant public.
While Muslim law does not technically ban women from smoking the traditional tobacco-infused pipes, Argeeleh in arabic, tradition frowns upon the habit. Hamas frequently mixes its strict interpretation of Islamic law with conservative Gaza tradition, and over the weekend, the two dovetailed to produce the smoking ban. (more…)

Iran soccer girls banned from Youth Games over hijab

The Iranian girls’ soccer team have been kicked out of this year’s first Youth Olympics because of a FIFA ban on playing in Islamic head scarves.

Iran’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) had refused to let the team play at the August 14-26 Games in Singapore without the hijab and they have been replaced by Thailand, according to the Asian Football Confederation website (www.the-afc.com). (more…)

Mothers Day and Honour Killings

By Ghassan Karam
Last Sunday Lebanon and all the Arab countries recognized March 21, the first day in spring, as Mothers Day.

Women married to foreigners want equal rights

Lebanese State minister Mona Ofeish who had followed the issue of women’s rights for over 25 years, asked :“How can a woman who has carried a baby in her womb for nine months, and then raised it, not have the right to give the baby her citizenship?”