By Amat Al Alim Alsoswa Arab women have fought bravely over the last year to demand dignity and new freedoms. And their courage has been noted: In December, my Yemeni sister Tawakkol Karman became the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, in recognition of her principled democratic activism. But launching transitions was …
By Ines Bel Aiba / AFP CAIRO: They were on the front line during last year’s Arab uprisings, but women now fear for their rights as Islamists reap the fruits of revolt, winning elections in Egypt and Tunisia and gaining influence in Libya. In Tunisia, the dominant Islamist Ennahda Party has said it wants to fortify …
By AFP UNITED NATIONS: The Arab Spring uprisings last year brought no increase in the number of women in the region’s parliaments, a UN report said Friday. At the end of 2011, women accounted for only 10.7 percent of lawmakers in Arab states, barely the same number as before the protests which brought down leaders …
By Bianca Jagger Under Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the mistreatment of women has triggered unspeakable outrage. Salwa Hosseini told Amnesty International that she was detained, stripped and searched in a room with two open doors and a window, through which male soldiers looked and took pictures of the naked women. According to Amnesty, …
By Bianca Jagger January 25, 2012 marked an historic date for Egypt. On this day last year millions of people stood in the now iconic Tahrir Square, peacefully demanding ‘Bread, Freedom and Dignity’. The number of protesters gathered in Tahrir, asking for their basic human rights, was unprecedented in Egypt’s history. It was not only the …
CAIRO: Virginity tests, sexual assaults, brutal beating, stripping and the continuous violations of the military police against women will not hinder their perseverance in going out and demanding their rights, victims and activists asserted on Thursday. “SCAF, we will strip you. I’m from Upper Egypt and I’ve set my mind on it,” said Samira Ibrahim, …
By Rana Moussaoui /AFP BEIRUT: An Egyptian woman beaten by soldiers, a Syrian blogger detained for her work and the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize highlight the central role played by women in the Arab Spring uprisings. From Tahrir Square in Cairo to Pearl Square in Manama, women joined mass demonstrations, distributed …
