Amidst the frenzy surrounding the upcoming Royal Wedding and what Kate will wear, Salon.com addresses a more important point: What will Middleton say? When Kate Middleton walks down the aisle to wed Prince William on April 29, spectators around the world will be hanging on her every word. And the one they’ll be listening for in […]
Author: Anushay Hossain
Anushay Hossain began her feminist career as an intern at the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) where she worked on microfinance for women and girls in her native country, Bangladesh. A University of Virginia graduate, Anushay joined the Feminist Majority Foundation's Nobel Peace Prize nominated Campaign for Afghan Women before completing her MA in Gender and Development at the University of Sussex. She spent a year at the United Nations Development Fund for Women's (UNIFEM UK) London office before returning to Washington, DC where she invests the majority of her work analyzing the impact of US foreign policy on the health and rights of women and girls around the world.
Vogue Highlights the Design of Dictators
One of the most electrifying outcomes of the recent protests in the Middle East and North Africa has been the shattering of myths about Arabs and Muslims that have for too long been fed to the West: that the women are voiceless, passive creatures apathetic about their country’s political processes. Of course now the truth […]
The War on Women Knows No Borders: Why Funding the UNFPA Matters
As new blows keep coming in the Republican domestic war on women, it’s easy to forget that they’ve also launched a global assault on women’s reproductive health and rights–but we ignore it at millions of women’s peril. House Republicans not only proposed to cut U.S. assistance to international family planning funding, they also want to […]
Italian Women To Berlusconi: Basta!
Recently I have been writing on how Arab and Muslim women have taken to the streets in political protest, shattering stereotypes in the process. Over the weekend we saw another group of women do the same, this time in Italy. Under the official banner of “If Not Now, Then When,” thousands of Italian women protested […]
Murder Investigation Opened in Bangladeshi Girl’s Death
A murder investigation has been opened in the death of Hena Begum, the 14-year-old old Bangladeshi girl who was publicly flogged after being accused of having an affair with her cousin–who actually raped her. The BBC reports that after an initial autopsy found no injuries on the young girl, Bangladesh’s High Court had Begum’s body […]
Bangladeshi Rape Victim Flogged To Death
Hena Begum, a 14-year-old old Bangladeshi girl, was publicly flogged recently in Shariatpur, 35 miles outside of the capital, Dhaka after being accused of having an affair with her 40-year-old old married cousin. According to the BBC, a village court made up of Islamic clerics and elders sentenced Begum to 100 lashes under Islamic Sharia law. […]
Middle Eastern and North African Protests Shatter Myths About Muslim Women
Anyone remember one of the most striking images to surface from Iran’s uprising last summer after the country’s so-called elections? Yes, Iranian women protesting, playing a huge role in shaping this revolt against their government. Why should people be surprised? Iranian women, who make up 65 percent of university students in the country, are also […]
My Big Fat Feminist Wedding
I never wanted to get married. Yes, I was that woman. My mom loves to tell stories of how even when I was a little girl I would bemoan how much more women do than their husbands, and how they were never even thanked for their work. As an adult I became more adamant about […]
United Arab Emirates: Where It’s Okay To Beat Your Wife and Kids
Seems like Emiratis have been working so hard over the past decade to make sure one main message gets across to the international community: We are modern, we have money, come build in our desert. Not enough water for you? We will import it in. Too hot for your liking? We will create 30 tons […]
The Best Place to Be a Woman
I had the opportunity to speak with Saadia Zahidi, head of the World Economic Forum’s Women Leaders and Gender Parity Program and one of the authors of its annual Global Gender Gap Report. It looks at 114 countries around the world and analyzes “how well they divide resources and opportunities amongst male and female populations, […]