Protests have raging across Iran over the last week after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman in the custody of the Islamic Republic’s morality police due to her defiance against the strict dress code. The country’s desperate effort to silence Iranian feminists has taken the form of violent responses and crackdowns of both in-person demonstrations and online activism.
Tag: Muslim Women
‘Dark Prison Mirrors the Dark Future of Afghan Women’: A Firsthand Account of a Former Taliban Prisoner
Since the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, Afghan women—many of whom dedicated their lives and careers to working for equality—have experienced a systematic campaign of violence and subjugation. Many took to the streets to protest, and in turn have been beaten, arrested, tortured and murdered. This firsthand account of Mursal Ayar’s life and arrest is a powerful reminder of our common humanity, and the duty we all share to protect the world’s most vulnerable—yet remarkable—activists.
“After those 13 days, I am like a little girl who is afraid of the night. I sleep next to my mother. The Taliban have not only taken my country from me; they have taken everything from me. My peace, my dreams, my hope and courage. I left the Taliban prison, but I could not regain what I have lost forever.”
Ms. Global: Historic Kenyan Elections; Malaysia Passes Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill; Germany Introduces Self-Determination Act
The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.
This week: news from India, Germany, Malaysia, Iran, and more.
A Year After the Taliban Took Over, Leadership Programs in Afghanistan Still Raise up Girls
In the face of Taliban occupation, young Afghan women are banding together to support each other, with the help of NGOs and leadership programs.
“Our goal is to become active and powerful women. We learn what our rights are, how we can define our rights, how we can raise our voices.”
‘My Win Is Their Win’: Deqa Dhalac Makes History as Maine’s First Black, Muslim Somali-American Mayor
Thirty years ago, Deqa Dhalac fled her homeland of Somalia, right before the start of a devastating civil war which still lingers on. Last December, she made history when she became America’s first Somali American mayor; South Portland’s 11th woman mayor (the city’s first female mayor was in 1985); and the first African, Muslim, Somali American mayor in Maine and South Portland—a city where 90 percent of the population is white.
“It says a lot when six white Americans support and elect a Black Muslim immigrant to be their mayor,” said Dhalac about other South Portland City Council members.
February 2022 Reads for the Rest of Us
Each month, I provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups. The aims of these lists are threefold:
1. I want to do my part in the disruption of what has been the acceptable “norm” in the book world for far too long—white, cis, heterosexual, male;
2. I want to amplify amazing works by writers who are women, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APIA/AAPI, international, LGBIA+, TGNC, queer, disabled, fat, immigrant, Muslim, neurodivergent, sex-positive or of other historically marginalized identities—you know, the rest of us; and
3. I want to challenge and encourage you all to buy, borrow and read them!
20 Years After the First Detainees Arrived at Guantanamo, “The Mauritanian” Depicts One Innocent Man’s Fight for Freedom
It’s been 20 years since the first detainees arrived at Guantanamo Bay. Adapted from the bestselling memoir Guantanamo Diary, The Mauritanian reveals how America’s intense need for retribution in the aftermath of 9/11 resulted in the imprisonment and torture of hundreds of Muslim men at Guantanamo Bay. More importantly, though, it highlights why President Joe Biden must indefinitely close the notoriously violent prison.
A Historic Win for Brooklyn’s First Muslim Woman Elected to NYC Council, Shahana Hanif: “This Seat Has Only Been Held by White Men”
Shahana Hanif, the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants and community organizer, made history last month when she became the first Muslim woman elected to New York City Council, one of the first South Asian reps, and first woman of color to represent her Brooklyn district.
Muslim Men, Take This Opportunity to Learn from Muslim Women
For the first time in many of their lives, Muslim men can’t go to the mosque. They can’t feel the peace and serenity, the connection with God. They must create this for themselves at home, a place that is now a hive of activity; adults home from jobs, children home from school. Muslim men are experiencing, for the first time, what women have come to expect.
Can You Deny My Lived Experience of FGM?
A new global report looks at 60 countries where FGM is practiced and may be widespread. But it happens in secret. It is not against the law, and governments do not even collect official data about it. Instead they pretend it does not exist.