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Women's Rights in Yemen

Yemen has been named one of the worst places for women to live. They neglect their women citizens, so much so that they might as well not be considered citizens but more as prisoners.

Women do not have the right to marry without the permission of their male guardians. However this can also mean that they can be sent off to another family through marriage at a very young age like 8 years. They also do not have equal rights to divorce or inherit things like family possessions. This is enforcing the male chauvinist attitude that men were born to control everything.

More importantly, women completely lack legal protection, which makes them more vulnerable and makes them easily "attackable" with violence, either physically or mentally.

A growing concern regarding Yemen and gender-based discrimination has been the concept of child-marriage which is not only a loss of the opportunity for an education but also the ruining of a childhood and life. Western ideologies obviously conflict with such practices but the Yemeni government allow the practice to continue and raise no concerns.

Yemen also has high rates of violence targeted towards women. Which brings up the next concern and point. Before giving women the right to vote and the right to make independent choices, the first right that should be granted is the right to protection. Women need to be safe and then they need to have access to rights which allow them to thrive in society. Right now, women are too scared to even exit their houses in fear they will be abducted or assaulted. Once they are free to roam around in peace they can prove their true power and ability and can rise up to show people they mean business.

 

Women's Rights in Syria

Once again the Extremists, ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, attack the women of Syria. Not physically but socially and emotionally. They have tightened the laws and regulations for all citizens, but have also worsened the conditions and situations of women in the country.

Though the life of a women has been bad for many hundreds of years, all of a sudden men who barge into their country and destroy things to shows their power, meanwhile claiming they are strict followers of the Qu'ran, deem themselves the creator of rules in the country.

They have further diminished their sparse rights by restricting any access to education, reducing the ability for them to provide for their families (by keeping them trapped within the confines of their home) and even obtain the basic necessities for survival. When women stood up or disobeyed, they would be further isolated even to the extent of not being able to go out, use public transportation and buy bread.

However, women and girls in Syria have it slightly better off than others in neighboring Middle Eastern countries. Syria doesn't have a state-mandated religion and it has a constitution protects freedom of religion. Along with religion, it also guarantees gender equality. However, some of the laws like ones regarding marriage, divorce and inheritance have been fashioned in a way that discriminates against women.

Prior to the taking over by ISIS and other terrorist groups, women had a lot more freedom as Syrian citizens.

“Groups like ISIS and al-Nusra claim to be part of a social movement, yet they seem more focused on diminishing freedom for women and girls than providing any social benefit... As we have seen in situations in Somalia, Mali, and elsewhere, these kinds of restrictions often mark the beginning of a complete breakdown of women’s and girls’ rights.”         

--Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch

Malala Yousafzai- Women's Rights Advocate

“Malala Yousafzai was a girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban.”

Malala’s father owned The Kushal Public School in the valley of Swat in Pakistan and despite the fact that Malala was a girl, he encouraged her to learn how to read and write. During that time, this was considered outrageous and the family was threatened by a group called the Taliban. They thought women should not go to school, and had a radical interpretation of the Quran. As a young child, Malala never understood why it was so wrong for her, but appropriate for her brothers to go to school. At the age of eleven, angered by her experience, Malala stared accompanying her father to talk shows and radio broadcasts to speak about the right of women to attend school. Being a fabulous public speaker, Malala was invited to speak in front of many prestigious audiences and met many famous people along her journey. She even wrote a blog for BBC under the name of Gul Makai, in which she talked about her everyday life and fight against the Taliban. 

The Taliban later found out who she was and on October 9th, 2012 while returning from school, 

Malala’s bus was stopped at an army checkpoint and she was shot in the head. The Taliban feared she was preaching secularism and “Western Ways.” After a dangerous operation in Lady Reading Hospital, treatment in Riwaldi Army Hospital and the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology, it was decided that due to her unstable condition, Malala was to be moved to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England. Because her family was poor, her travel and operation was funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other groups.

Due to her family’s lack of money and travel documents, an English doctor named Fiona Reynolds accompanied Malala to England. After spending considerable amounts of time with Malala, Dr. Fiona realized that her job was a risky one. She said “I felt if she'd died I would have killed Pakistan's Mother Teresa. Not often in my pampered life am I asked to put my neck out.”

Malala used her personal experiences to educate the world about the restrictions enforced by the Taliban regarding education for girls. Despite being an ordinary person, Malala brought about an extraordinary change through her courage and fearlessness. Today Malala is the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and continues to encourage girls to speak up for their education.

She tells us that “We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced.” As a community, we are lucky to have the opportunity to get an education. Malala teaches us to be grateful for that chance and to speak up for those who are not as fortunate. “I don’t know why people have divided the world into two parts, west and east. Education is neither western nor eastern, education is education and it is the right of every human being.”

Women's Rights in Afghanistan

One of the countries in the Middle East which we will be looking at is Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan is a country scorned by many Americans. Afghanistan is the birthplace/breeding grounds of Islamic terrorists groups like the Taliban and Al- Qaeda. Afghanistan is also where the U.S. just withdrew its troops. But something Afghanistan is less know for is the negligence cast upon women and girls. 

In Afghanistan, women are considered to be insignificant parts of society. They are treated as second-class citizens, sometimes even worse. Women receive no respect in such places. In fact, their government rules and society rules were tailored in way that completely ignores women or makes them stay out of the way.

These laws and rules make it seem as if women are just obstructions in society have no purpose other than staying at home and doing work inside. 

One simple example is the rule that women are not allowed to get out of the house unless they accompanied with a male member of their family. This is one of the most common restrictions amongst Middle Eastern nations who do not respect women's rights.

Women are also forced to wear "burqa" which completely covers the body. Though the original reason for the establishment of the rule was for a reasonable purpose (to keep women safe and ensure they are dresse modestly), these rule makers are taking it to many steps further and giving women no options to make their own decisions. 

You may be wondering who would create such rules and enforce it. It is the same group of people who attacked the US, and the people the we were after. None other than the Taliban. The Taliban is the largest Islamic militia group in Afghanistan. The Taliban governed Afghanistan which gave them the ability to establish rules. These Islamic fundamentalists claim that these rules are strictly following the rules of the Qur'an and following Islam, but really they are finding the "loopholes". 

In the words of some Taliban members:

"It's like having a flower, or a rose. You water it and keep it at home for yourself, to look at it and smell it. It [a woman] is not supposed to be taken out of the house to be smelled." 
-- Syed Ghaisuddin, Taliban Minister of Education

"If a woman wants to work away from her home and with men, then that is not allowed by our religion and our culture. If we force them to do this they may want to commit suicide." 
-- Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, Taliban Minister of Justice

Looking through the eyes of some women in Afghanistan:

"Because of the Taliban, Afghanistan has become a jail for women. We haven't got any human rights. We haven't the right to go outside, to go to work, to look after our children."                       -- Faranos Nazir, 34-year-old woman in Kabul 

"When we are together, everyone here is talking about how the Taliban has destroyed our lives.  They won't let us go to school because they want us to be illiterate like them."
-- Nasima, 35-year-old Kabul resident

(Courtesy of U.S. Departement of State- Diplomacy in Action)

Women's Rights in Iran

Despite having faced cultural and legal discrimination, women in Iran have managed to make significant leaps in their journey towards gender equality. Today in Iran, women have the ability to work, drive, play sports and get an education.  But what is missing from the picture are the many rights that they don't have! Believe it or not, Iranian women can neither travel without a male guardian or convey their citizenship to their children.

Women gaining the right to an equal education came from one of the most unconvincing arguments that educating women would "help raise better sons for their country." Fortunately their pleas were smart and manipulated the authorities to give in. In 1936, the enrollment of 12 women, marked the entry of women into university education. As of today, women account for well over half of university students in Iran. This is devastating to many of the Iranian conservative groups who claim that education for women could cause "social disparity and economic and cultural imbalances between men and women."

Today in Iran, women are allowed to dress as the please in private- among men they know- but must follow a modest dress code while in public. A modest dress code usually includes hijab. If you recall from the Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia post, hijab literally means a "screen," or "curtain," and in most Middle Eastern countries refers to a veil that covers the head and chest. In Iran, hijab includes the choice of chador or roopoosh and a veil. Chador is a "large piece of cloth that is wrapped around the head and upper body, leaving only the face exposed" and the Roopoosh is " a long jacket type cover worn over clothes,"-Persian Corner.

In order to get a passport, Iranian women need a male citizen's permission. After the acquisition of a passport, a woman can travel without the consent or accompaniment of a male citizen.

On the upside of things, women in Iran are allowed to play sports, a rare sight in Islamic countries. 2,500 years ago, women contributed to the creation of the game of polo, now an extremely popular sport. Today in Iranian schools, sports are offered to both boys and girls. They include soccer, taekwondo, chess, and track and field events. Unfortunately, despite the fact that women are allowed to participate in sports, if a competition's audience includes unknown males, their participation will be denied. In addition, there may only be female coaches for female athletes. The Iranian women's volleyball team, previously one of the best, could not compete as there was a lack of female coaches.