We The Women

Recently, archaeologists have discovered that the amount of female remains outnumber the remains of men in the majestic 11th-century ruins in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Talking about the issue, archaeologists Tim Kohler and Kathryn Kramer Turner says, ‘Warfare is common in small- and intermediate-scale societies all over the world, now and in prehistory. Capturing women was often either a goal, or a by-product, of such conflict.’ On further examination, they discovered that synchronously in the Mesa Verde region in Southwest Colorado, the number of women were less comparatively. The reason could be the non- coercive movement, like women drifting towards elites or the employment of women as particular maker of esteemed stuff, such as jewelry or pottery. However, the increase in number of women in one particular region could point the arrow towards adult mortality that further signifies violence. Excavations in the same region also exposed that some women were not buried in the customary fashion. Many of the women’s remains also show marks of abuse.

International marriage agencies in Korea are working as advertisers for women. These so-called agencies hook up women from Southeast Asia through video files and pictures on Internet sites as if advertising products in the market. Not only this, they also provide surety in their ads like, ‘we guarantee that these will never go away.’ Similarly, the Southeast Asian girls are priced according to their wealth and education background. International marriage agencies propose diverse marriage packages for South Korean men at a price of 10m won. And the girls offered to them as their wives are from Vietnam. The young women are exposed to false information about the person regarding his job and financial stability. They are left with no option except to get hook on to the person at one go otherwise they are reprimanded severely for rejecting the ‘chosen one.’ In Vietnam, local brokers at lodgings provided by them for a stipulated period supervise the recruited women. In case they end up staying longer, they are forced to marry handicapped Korean men in order to pay for their debts. Once the women reach Korea after marriage, they become victims of violence and often face harsh treatments at the hands of their ‘husbands’.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that its government is looking forward to pass more legislation to protect women’s rights. He said that PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had proposed the draft of another bill with the National Assembly Secretariat that dealt with the issue. He further said that the government was discussing laws regarding the right of inheritance for women and reforming the divorce procedure. He said that the government would never introduce any law that was against the holy Quran and Sunnah. He said ‘The objectives of the legislative process in parliament are to benefit people, resolve their problems and strengthen Islam and Pakistan.’ Adding further, he said that the government has fixed 10% job reservation for women in the federal civil services. Since the native women have started to work in Pakistan Air Force and PIA as pilots. He further stressed the issue of women educating themselves and acquiring skills for economic independence.

Some of the so-called ‘conservative Islamic lawmakers’ of Pakistan stormed out of the parliament in response to the controversial bill regarding rape and adultery. The bill has been passed by the lower house of the parliament according to which, women are not entitled to procure four male witnesses for proving that they were sexually assaulted. The proposal has been hailed by the Human rights organization however, Pakistani women’s rights activists are of the view that they will continue to insist for more laws protecting the native women.

In a conference at Manama, 17 Arab states participated. Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the first lady of Bahrain and the chairperson of the Arab Women’s Organization said that if Arab countries want ‘sustainable’ development then it would have to give rights to its native women and to migrants as well. She further said that the nations should provide women with equal rights so they can live in dignity, peace and prosperity, free of hunger, poverty and disease. She said, ‘We cannot have development without all sides working in partnership and trust. Women must play a full role in society and this cannot happen if women are not given their full rights.’ The participants of the gathering were Sudan’s Widad Babaker, Syria’s Asma Al Assad, Lebanon’s Andrea Lahoud, Egypt’s Suzanne Mubarak and Mauritania’s Um Kalthoom bint Al Nat. The conference culminated with recommendations of the participants to their respective countries to ensure that the development programs should be formulated for the women folk including strategies to help young generations. In addition, the government should encourage the use of technology by women in the Arab world.

Women lawyers led by Mussarat Hillali, S. Naz Mohammadzai and Shehnaz Hameed Khattak, staged a rally in response to the acceptance of the Hasba bill and insisted the NWFP governor not to sign it. They also offered a memorandum at the Governor’s House. The lawyers are not in favor to pass the bill, as it would mean a parallel judicial system. Ms Hillali, former vice-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says, ‘This bill is aimed at imposing the clerics’ version of martial law. The provincial, district and tehsil mohtasibs will all be clerics and they will curb civil liberties in their areas of jurisdiction.’ She further said that although the bill includes all the required laws but it overshadowed other laws as well like, the Local Government Ordinance, adding that who could guarantee that the ‘anti-vice police’ would not limit the civil liberties.

With the coming up of the elections, the Dutch government has decided to propose ban on the burqua as it disrupts public order, citizens and safety. Rita Verdonk, the Immigration Minister is of the view that in order to promote integrity and harmony among the people its essential to see and identify each other which otherwise is not possible with the envelope of burqua. She said, ‘the Cabinet finds it undesirable that face-covering clothing – including the burqa – is worn in public places for reasons of public order, security and protection of citizens.’ Approximately, 6% of 16m people in Netherlands are Muslims. And among those, there are less than 100 women who prefer to wear the clad their traditional Islamic form of dress. Not only the burqua but also other form of face covering including helmets would come under the preview of legal prohibition. The issue of traditional Islamic dress, that is, burqua has become the matter of controversy in many European countries. France has come up with a law than prohibits Muslim headscarves in schools. Germany too is moving on the same tracks. Italy has banned face-coverings, reviving previous laws passed to fight domestic violence, while quoting new safety doubts. The issue is also figured out in UK, where former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said women should not wear the veil.

Domestic violence, spousal abuse, woman abuse – different terms, translated into many languages, are used ubiquitously across the world. Even as many developing countries begin to experience improved economic and political conditions, violence against women continues to spiral at alarming rates. This time the grey clouds of domestic violence have been shed over the sky of Korea. Native women today are increasingly likely to dissolve their marriage when they discover their husbands are violent. But conditions in the rural areas are not same. Women are not in a position to ask for divorce. Figuratively: 1. 40% to 60% of married women have been physically abused by their spouse 2. 9% have been beaten badly enough to need medical treatment 3. one out of six married people has suffered from domestic violence 4. the Korean Women’s Hot Line revealed that 42% of those interviewed had been assaulted more than once a week Bottom line: The concerned authorities are in urgent need of seeking drastic measure to stop the violence. Home violence after all should be dealt as a crime which however is not the part of the criminal code. In addition, certain measures should be made that would disseminate awareness on domestic violence. Ensuring that victimized person must receive adequate help, protection and support. We must understand that hierarchical relationships in a family often lead to domestic violence and that it is very important to build family relationships based on equality. After all, a healthy society, free of domestic violence, rests on both society and each member of a family. Image Read

The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Egypt is a signatory, prohibits the auction of children and marriage under the age of 16 is outlawed. However, this law is not fully implemented. Recently a case has come up which reveled how a teenage girl was sold into a short-term marriage by her father to a Saudi tourist and in return received a huge some of money, which the girl was not aware of. And the most gruesome aspect of such an outcome is that, the girls actually happen to become ‘street girls’. However, the irony of the situation is that, the offender is not prosecuted as it comes under the arena of legality. When young girls are set up to be sold for sex, the couple sign a civil marriage contract and are divorced upon the departure of the male party, or no marriage contract is signed at all. Nihad Abul Qumsan, director of the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights revealed that the rules can be twisted according to ones own advantage like forging birth certificates or not registering the marriage at all. According to Malaka al-Kurdi, director of a campaign combating violence against women at Cairo-based NGO Alliance for Arab Women holds that money is driving force behind all these menaces. An estimated quarter of Egypt’s approximately 80 million inhabitants live just on or below US $2 per day, the United Nations-defined poverty line. He added, ‘The phenomenon is simply inhuman, in that a girl who undergoes such an experience is bound to lose out on her childhood.’ Image Read

Lately a women council called, the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, or WISE has come into being, aim of which would be to construe Koran in the feminist point of view and to shed the conventional belief about their religion, which states that Muslims are terrorists and Islam, oppresses women. Zainab Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian organization working on women’s rights within the Islamic framework asserted, ‘In our societies men hold power and they decide what Islam should mean and how we can obey that particular understanding of Islam. I can’t live with a God that is unjust. The law is progressive, but those men controlling the law aren’t.’ Daisy Khan, director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, or Asma, held that for Islamic women she would provide funds for scholarships so that they could study Islamic law. The founder of the Asma Society, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said that the women would like to do away with certain myths (Muslims are terrorists and Islam, oppresses women) that survived especially in the West. The religious leaders, human rights activists, scholars, politicians are of the view that it is only through education that barrier among genders and generations could be melted down. The first Muslim woman to enter the House of Lords in Britain, Baroness Uddin, asserted that it is desirable on the part of women to take charge of their own destiny and empower other women as well. She said, ‘If Tony Blair and George W. Bush can get together and go to war, just imagine the power of peace that women can bring.’ Image Read