(Iran) Stop the stoning of Sakine Ashtiani by barbaric Islamic Republic of Iran
— Petition
Category: Women’s Rights Matter
Afghanistan: Law Allowing Starvation of Shiite Wives Not Giving Sex Takes Affect
— BBC: “Row over Afghan wife-starving law”
— “An Afghan bill allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex has been published in the official gazette and become law.”
— “The original bill caused outrage earlier this year, forcing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to withdraw it.”
— “But critics say the amended version of the law remains highly repressive.”
— “The original version obliged Shia women to have sex with their husbands every four days at a minimum, and it effectively condoned rape by removing the need for consent to sex within marriage.”
— “Now an amended version of the same bill has passed quietly into law with the apparent approval of President Karzai.”
— “Women’s groups say its new wording still violates the principle of equality that is enshrined in their constitution.”
— “It allows a man to withhold food from his wife if she refuses his sexual demands; a woman must get her husband’s permission to work; and fathers and grandfathers are given exclusive custody of children.”
— AP: “Female activists condemn Afghan marriage law”
— “They accuse Karzai of sneaking through provision to appease Shiites”
Pakistan – ICC Report: “Pregnant Christian Dragged Naked through Pakistani Police Station”
ICC Report: “Pregnant Christian Dragged Naked through Pakistani Police Station”
— “Miscarries after Police Arrest Her for Theft without Evidence, Hold Her Three Days”
— “Washington, D.C. (August 17, 2009) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a pregnant Christian woman miscarried on July 26 after police beat her and dragged her naked through their police station in the Gujrat District of Punjab, Pakistan. Police had arrested her and a Muslim woman after their employer accused them of theft, but police did not even touch the Muslim woman.”
— “The woman, Farzana Bibi, worked as a maid in the house of a wealthy Muslim. During a wedding held at the house, some jewelry was stolen from some of the landlord’s female relatives. The police were called, and when they arrived at the scene they arrested two maids: Farzana and a Muslim woman named Rehana. Nazir Masih, Farzana’s husband, said, ‘Police registered a fake theft case against my wife and Rehana without any proof.'”
— “Nazir went on to say that the police tortured his wife even though she told them she was pregnant. He told ICC, ‘Sub-Inspector Zulfiqar and Assistant Sub-Inspector Akhter subjected her to intense torture. They stripped off her clothes and dragged her naked around the compound of Cantonment Area Police Station in Kharian. They humiliated and tortured my wife, but did not do anything to Rehana.'”
— “Although Farzana complained of severe pain, the police ignored her pleas and detained her for another two days. When her condition became critical, the police finally transferred her to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Kharian, where she miscarried.”
— “Nazir filed a report with the District Police Officer in Gujrat, detailing the abuse his wife received and her miscarriage. The District Office initiated an investigation after receiving the report, withdrawing the false accusations and suspending officers Zulfiqar and Akhter.”
— “The authorities have pledged to punish all those responsible. Please pray that God would comfort Farzana and Nazir and that justice would be carried out. Please also call your Pakistani embassy and ask them to defend the rights of Christians.”
— “Jeremy Sewall, ICC’s Advocacy Director, said, ‘While we were not able to confirm whether Farzana was innocent of robbing her employers, it is absolutely unacceptable for police to humiliate her and abuse her so severely that she lost her child. The fact that the Muslim woman accused of the same thing was at least treated like a human being just proves again that if you are not a Muslim in Pakistan, you have no rights. The government should go beyond suspending the two officers guilty of this crime and try them for manslaughter.'”
Canada: Prosecution wants father jailed for “honor crime” threats against daughter
(Canada) Crown wants taxi union boss jailed for ‘honour crime’
— Ottawa Citizen reports that court alleges: “Yusef Al Mezel’s threat of an honour killing was designed to ‘control and dominate’ his then-23-year-old daughter, Eman Al Mezel”
Jordan: “Honor Killing” – Man Charged with Killing Married Sister
— Strait Times: “Man charged for killing sister”:
— “A criminal prosecutor has charged a man with shooting to death of his pregnant sister to cleanse the family’s honor because she got married without their approval”
— “Violent Extemism al-Diridi filed the charges of premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons to the court Thursday.”
— “The prosecutor said the 23-year-old woman got married two years ago and had a baby boy.”
— “She later reconciled with her parents, who invited her to her brother’s wedding Wednesday.”
— “Al-Diridi said the man shot his sister in the head and abdomen after the wedding party.”
— “He said the woman’s husband was beaten by two other brothers, who were charged with assisting the crime.”
— “An average of 20 Jordanian women are murdered each year by male relatives in so-called ‘honor killings.'”
Egypt – AINA Report: “Abduction and Forced Islamization of Christian Coptic Girls Continues in Egypt”
Egypt – AINA Report: “Abduction and Forced Islamization of Christian Coptic Girls Continues in Egypt”
— “Another recent victim of abduction is 15-year old Marian Bishay, who went out on July 15, 2009 to get dinner for her mother and young brothers from a local restaurant, 50 meters away from where she lives in Omrania, Giza, but failed to return home. The local police succumbed to pressure and issued a missing person report after initially refusing.”
— “some reports said she was raped and forced to convert to Islam, while others said that she was kept in Alexandria against her will.”
— “The systematic abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic minor girls in Egypt is a frequent, dangerous and a rapidly escalating phenomenon, The problem was brought to light by the Coptic Pope Shenouda III as far back as December 17th, 1976, when he protested during a conference held in Alexandria that ‘there is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to embrace Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands’ and demanded that the abducted girls be brought back to their families.”
Iran: Report States Women Raped to Allow Execution
AINA report: “Executing Virgins, Iran Style”
— “Iran made it illegal to execute virgins, but created a legal loophole by ordering guards to ‘marry’ and rape their prisoners”
Sudanese woman in trouser case banned from travel
Sudanese woman in trouser case banned from travel
— “Sudan has barred Lubna Hussein, a woman who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers in violation of decency laws, from travelling abroad, she said on Tuesday.”
Florida: Ohio Girl Says Family Threatens to Kill Her for Converting from Islam to Christianity
— Muslim Teen Who Converted to Christianity Says Family Threatened to Kill Her
— Girl Says Family Wants To Kill Her For Being Christian
— “An Ohio girl ran away to Orlando because she said her family threatened to kill her for converting to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, said she was threatened by her family because she converted from Islam to Christianity.”
— “‘What did your father say to you?’ WFTV reporter Mary Nguyen asked.”
— “‘He said he would kill me!’ replied Bary.
— Channel 10TV reports: “Rifqa Bary, 17, says her father, a Muslim, has threatened to kill her because she converted to Christianity, 10TV’s Cara Connelly reported.”
— Florida: “Muslim Faith, Christianity Clash In Orlando Courtroom”
— “An Ohio runaway teenager, Christianity and the Muslim religion met head-on Monday during a custody dispute in an Orlando courtroom.”
— “The girl, 17-year-old Rifqa Bary, recently converted from her family’s faith to Christianity and she is worried about her family’s reaction to her change in faith”
— “‘She says her life is in danger and she could be killed in an honor killing,’ Rosa Gonzalez, the teen’s lawyer, said after the hearing. ‘Unfortunately it happens every day in the U.S.'”
— “The teen, a non-citizen, told Lorenz she was fearful that her father would send her to Sri Lanka.”
Mali: Threats of violence greet new family code offering rights for women
Mali: Threats of violence greet new family code
— “While rights groups are celebrating a newly-adopted family code in Mali that changes marriage laws and expands girls’ rights, Muslim leaders and youths have vowed, even threatening violence, to block the code from becoming law.”
— “The code – under discussion for 10 years before its adoption on 3 August – includes more than 1,100 new articles, including setting the legal minimum age for marriage at 18, abolishing the death penalty, recognizing only secular marriages and expanding inheritance rights to girls. The code must be approved by the president to become law.”