Tag: women empowerment

  • No transport for women travelling without hijab, male relative: Taliban

    Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership has announced that women who seek to travel long distances should not be offered transport if they are not wearing hijab and are not accompanied by a close male relative, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

    The guidance was issued on Sunday by the country’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir told AFP: “Women travelling for more than 72 kilometers (km) should not be offered a ride if they are not accompanied by a close family member.”

    Previously, the government had also called on women TV journalists to wear hijabs while presenting. They also directed people to stop playing music in their vehicles.

    Taliban also banned women from acting in dramas due to which they received immense backlash.

    Since August, the Taliban have been imposing severe restrictions for women in the country despite promising the fulfillment of their rights.

    However, activists hope that the Taliban’s battle to gain international recognition and get aid flowing back into Afghanistan will lead to them making concessions to women.

  • US embassy nominates ASP Amna Baig for prestigious award

    US embassy nominates ASP Amna Baig for prestigious award

    United States embassy has nominated Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Amna Baig for International Women of Courage award. She was nominated during an event held to mark the 30th anniversary of the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” campaign, hosted by US Embassy Charge d’affaires Angela P Aggeler.

    Amna Baig is in charge of the law enforcement’s Gender Protection Unit – a government initiative to facilitate women and transgender individuals in their fight against discrimination and injustice. 

    The award recognises women from around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.

    “Even though gender-based violence is pervasive, it is not inevitable,” Charge d’affaires Aggeler said at the event. She also added that it was in this spirit that the embassy nominated ASP Baig for the award.

    “It can and must be prevented. This is why we take this time each year to reinvigorate our efforts against gender-based violence and to call for greater collective and individual action to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women.”

  • Afghan women make up half of BBC’s 100 women list for 2021

    The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has listed its 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2021.

    This year’s theme – ‘women who are hitting “reset”, playing their part to reinvent our world after the global pandemic has forced so many of us to reassess the way we live.’

    This list is devoted to half of the women from one country – Afghanistan. As recent episodes in the country have made headlines and left millions of Afghans questioning their future, rights groups have spoken up in fear that women freedom could be eroded for the foreseeable future under the Taliban.

    From women who work for girls’ education in Afghanistan to the women who portrayed Afghan women in the movies. The list includes:

    Some of the Afghan women on the list are anonymous.

    From women who work for girls’ education in Afghanistan to the women who portrayed Afghan women in the movies. The list includes:

    Pashtana Durrani- a teacher dedicated to innovation in education with a focus on girls’ rights. She has established schools in Kandahar.

    Razia Barakzai- since the Taliban she has been actively involved in marches in Kabul.

    Leena Alam- is renowned for her appearances in feminist television shows in Afghanistan.

    Sahar Fetrat- feminist activist Sahar Fetrat was a young refugee.

    Basira Paigham- working for LGBTQ+ rights in Afghanistan.

    Roya Sadat- first female director to emerge from the Taliban era in Afghanistan.

  • Saudi Arabia launches first-ever women’s football league

    Saudi Arabia launches first-ever women’s football league

    The Saudi football federation has announced the launching of the first edition of a women’s football league at the end of this month.

    The launch of the league is a part of a programme set up by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation in 2017 to support women’s football as women’s sport was long frowned upon in the country.

    Federation chairman Yasser Almisehal said the creation of a women’s league was “an important moment” for the federation.

    Sixteen teams will take part and the matches will take place in three cities — the capital Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam.

    Those who qualify will be able to play in a knockout competition which will be held early next year in Jeddah.

  • After marriage, women can keep their father’s name on CNIC: NADRA

    After marriage, women can keep their father’s name on CNIC: NADRA

    Chairperson of The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Tariq Malik, while addressing the concluding session of the 14th Annual Rural Women Conference, has said that Women now free to retain their father’s name on CNIC after marriage.

    The chairperson said that NADRA is abolishing an “unofficial policy” that made it compulsory for women to replace their father’s name with their husband’s name on their computerized national identity cards.

    He clarified that there was no official policy by NADRA that made it compulsory for women to change their surname after marriage, Dawn News has reported.

    Earlier you were required to get a new card with your husband’s name on it. That restriction has now been lifted.

    “We are breaking down this policy and women now have the authority to register themselves with their father’s or husband’s name…It’s their choice and not of a man’s,” said Malik.

  • Minar-e-Pakistan incident: Ayesha Akram says Rambo responsible, Rambo denies accusations

    Minar-e-Pakistan incident: Ayesha Akram says Rambo responsible, Rambo denies accusations

    The victim of Minar-e-Pakistan incident Ayesha Akram — in a supplementary statement — has nominated her associate Amir Sohail alias Rambo, for planning to go to Minar-e-Pakistan, Dawn News reported.

    Rambo in a video statement has said that he did not plan to go with Ayesha that day but that he went with her after someone else backed out. He continued by adding that what happened at Minar-e-Pakistan was neither his nor Ayesha’s fault.

    She also accused Rambo of making obscene videos of her and blackmailing her. “I have been giving half of my salary to him,” she said, adding that Rambo —along with one of his partners, Badshah — had been running a “TikTok gang”. Rambo has been arrested, Dawn reported.

    A video went viral on social media in August that showed a woman being sexually assaulted by a large group of men at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on August 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day. The incident was later confirmed after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered. The incident sparked nationwide protests.

  • Usman Mirza threatened to gang-rape victim if she did not have sex with her friend

    The police has submitted a challan in the the Islamabad couple harassment case. The challan submitted at an Islamabad sessions court states that there are seven accused in the crime. In addition to Usman, the others are Farhan Shaheen, Hafiz Ataur Rehman, Adaras Qayyum Butt, Rehan Hassan Mughal, Umar Bilal and Mohib Bangash.

    The woman’s statement recorded in front of the magistrate states that that Usman Mirza and the other suspects threatened to gang-rape her if she did not have sex with her friend while they filmed it. 

    “I was frightened because of their threats; they tortured me and forcibly removed the trouser of my friend,” the woman stated, adding: “The accused persons then forced her to perform a nude dance in front of them.”

    “Upon my refusal, he [Usman] started beating me. He slapped me and forced me to walk nude in front of his friends,” the challan cited the statement of the girl as saying.

    The man and woman were being blackmailed by Usman Mirza. “The men extorted Rs1.15 million from the complainants,” the investigation officer told the court. Out of the Rs. 1.15 million, Rs600,000 was taken by Mirza and the remaining amount was distributed among other suspects, he added.

    The police have forwarded the mobile phones of the accused for forensic analysis and requested the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

    Usman Mirza was arrested on July 7 after the disturbing video went viral on social media where he could be seen torturing and assaulting a couple. He was also seen stripping a woman in the video.

  • Self-defence classes for women introduced by Islamabad Police

    Self-defence classes for women introduced by Islamabad Police

    Islamabad Police announced a one-month comprehensive self-defence course for females, which includes physical training, armed training and assault course.

    The classes will be three days a week from 4pm-7pm and cost Rs 30,000. The registration is currently open via an online application form.

    The course offers all women to develop the ability to defend themselves and to initiate a culture of resilience among the female community of the country.

    Recently, Lahore police reported that the registration of sexual harassment and assault cases has increased up to 300 per cent in the city.

  • #DoNotTouchMyClothes: Afghan women reject Taliban’s dress code for women

    #DoNotTouchMyClothes: Afghan women reject Taliban’s dress code for women

    Afghan women have started an online campaign using the hashtag #DoNotTouchMyClothes to challenge the Taliban’s conservative female clothing rules. Many Afghan women shared pictures of their colourful traditional dresses.

    Dr Bahar Jalali, a former history professor at the American University in Afghanistan, used hashtags #DoNotTouchMyClothes and #AfghanistanCulture to reclaim Afghan women’s traditional clothes.

    While posting a picture of herself on Twitter in a green Afghan dress, she stated: “This is Afghan culture. I am wearing a traditional Afghan dress.”

    Referring to the women who wore long, fully veiled black gowns, covering their faces and hands at pro-Taliban rally, she tweeted: “No woman has ever dressed like this in the history of Afghanistan. This is utterly foreign and alien to Afghan culture. I posted my pic in the traditional Afghan dress to inform, educate, and dispel the misinformation that is being propagated by the Taliban.”

    After that, women across Afghanistan started posting pictures of themselves.

    This campaign was also in reaction to a video in which many women holding a pro-Taliban rally in the capital were seen saying that Afghan women wearing make-up and in modern clothes do not represent the Muslim Afghan women and we don’t want women’s rights that are foreign, reports BBC.

    Afghanistan’s Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani said that universities will be segregated and veils made mandatory for all female students. Earlier this month, the Taliban announced an all-male interim government.

  • ‘Asliyat pe utar aatay ho’: Mahira Khan slams a troll with a befitting reply

    Actor Mahira Khan has given a befitting reply to a troll under a post of journalist Maria Memon that she shared on her official twitter handle.

    The Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay actor shared a video of Maria in which she was addressing the plight of women in Pakistan and shared her take on the laws.

    A netizen left a reply under the Raees diva’s re-shared video: “Dubai dubai hy pakistan pakistan hy madam g.”

    “Farq yeh hai ke dubai mein jail hogi, yahaaan nahi. Wahaan jurrat nahi hai, yahaan asliyat pe utar aaatay ho,” wrote Mahira while replying to the netizen.

    On the work front, Mahira will be seen next in the forthcoming telefilm Ek Hai Nigar in which the Humsafar actor is set to play the first female Lieutenant General of Pakistan, Nigar Johar co-starring Bilal Ashraf.