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Activism>Discouraging
Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Activism

Saudi women’s rights activist Samar Badawi appears in court

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Prominent women's rights activists including Samar Badawi appeared in a Saudi court on Thursday over charges linked to their human rights activism. Badawi is the sister of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2012 for criticism of officials in the kingdom. It was the first time Samar Badawi had appeared in court since her arrest on July 30, 2018. She was apprehended along with Nassima al-Sadah, a women's rights activist from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and Amal al-Harbi
Latin America | Colombia | Activism

Revered Social Leader and Activist Killed in Colombia

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Social leader Tatiana Paola Posso Espitia, 35, was shot twice in the head Wednesday morning in front of her house in El Copey located in the Department of Cesar when two men on motorcycles fired at the activist and fled the scene. The assassination occurred just as Espitia’s taxi driver, Wilson Ortega Palomino, arrived at her home to take the social leader to work, according to local media reports. The bad timing resulted in Ortega also being shot four times by the hitmen. He is in critical condition at a nearby hospital. The National Network for Democracy and Peace in Colombia
Europe | France | Activism

Muslim women defy ban to swim in burkinis at French pool

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Muslim women in France are disobeying the rules at a local swimming pool by wearing burkinis. In a protest inspired by US civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, they bathed in suits covering their entire bodies - apart from the face, hands and feet - in the city of Grenoble on Sunday. The Jean Bron swimming pool is among many in France that ban burkinis. Many people in the country regard the swimsuit as a symbol of political Islam and incompatible with secularism. "Operation burkini" was launched last month by members of the group Citizen Alliance of Grenoble to defend what they say is the
Africa | Sudan | Activism

Letter from Africa: How ‘cheating husbands’ are linked to Sudan’s protests

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Unprecedented numbers of women are taking to the streets to join daily nationwide protests that erupted in mid-December. Despite a violent crackdown by the security forces and reports of sexual harassment, they remain undeterred. More than 50 people are thought to have died at the hands of security agents and many have been tortured, rights groups say. Yet women make up 70% of marchers at some protests, observers say, defiant in the face of the repressive laws of the conservative, Islamic state.
Middle East | Dubai | Activism

Emirati woman begs for asylum in Macedonia after fleeing family

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An Emirati woman who fled to the Republic of Macedonia has made a desperate plea for help after her asylum request was rejected by the Balkan state. In a video posted online and obtained by CNN, Hind Mohammad Albolooki, 42, says she fled Dubai after her family threatened her when she sought a divorce from her husband. Her request for asylum in Macedonia was rejected on February 4 by the Macedonia interior ministry. While awaiting a decision, Albolooki is being held in immigration detention, where she has been since December 7, and now fears she will be deported back to the United Ar
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Iran arrests 29 women as headscarf protests intensify

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Tehran police have arrested 29 women for appearing in public without a headscarf as protests against the dress code in force since the Islamic revolution of 1979 intensify, Iranian media reported Friday. Those arrested were accused of public order offences and referred to the state prosecutor's office, the Fars, ILNA and Tasnim news agencies reported without elaborating. Chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri had played down the escalating protests on Wednesday, saying they were "trivial" and "childish" moves possibly incited by foreigners.
Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Activism

Saudi human rights activist who broke ban on women driving arrested again

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Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested again on Sunday at King Fahad International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, for an unspecified offense. Samah Hadid, director of campaigns at Amnesty International in the Middle East, has spoken out in support of Loujain al-Hathloul and against what he considers to be a travesty of justice on the part of Saudi Arabian authorities. “The Saudi Arabian authorities’ continuous harassment of Loujain al-Hathloul is absurd and unjustifiable,” Hadid said. “It appears she is being targeted once again because of her pea
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Concordia professor jailed in Iran for ‘dabbling in feminism, security’

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A Montreal-based university professor being held in an Iranian jail is being investigated for “dabbling in feminism and security matters,” according to her family. Homa Hoodfar’s niece, Amanda Ghahremani, said the Tehran public prosecutor made a statement to Iranian media on the case on Friday. Ghahremani said the family doesn’t know whether Hoodfar has been charged with a crime. She said the prosecutor’s statement was the first indication of why the 65-year-old professor has been held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison since her arrest on June 6.
International | Activism

From Peru to Kosovo, female MPs aim to end abuse of women in politics

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During her time as mayor of Lima, the Peruvian capital, Susana Villarán experienced brutal and harmful attacks and threats. She says they were designed to “diminish my image and make it clear it was not a place for a women like me to try and disrupt that male world of politics and power”. The British MP Jess Phillips began receiving online threats when she started speaking about women’s rights after winning her parliamentary seat last year. She receives daily attacks and has seen online articles in which “people wished to see me raped or come home to see my sons hanging from a tree
Europe | Turkey | Activism

International Women’s Day Rally in Turkey Turns Violent

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Turkish police on Sunday briefly detained at least one woman and fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of hundreds of people trying to mark International Women's Day in central Istanbul. The group, which gathered two days before official Women's Day commemorations on March 8 in order to draw more supporters on a Sunday, had ignored a ban on the march by the Istanbul governor who scrapped this year's rally, citing security concerns. They were seeking to draw attention to women's issues in Turkey, which ranks 77th out of 138 countries on a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ind
Asia | China | Activism

China Is Said to Force Closing of Women’s Legal Aid Center

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The Chinese authorities have ordered a leading women’s legal aid center in Beijing to shut down operations, the center’s founder said on Friday, another sign of a continuing crackdown on civil society. As word spread of the closing of the Beijing Zhongze Women’s Legal Counseling and Service Center, many women’s rights advocates expressed shock. The center was highly symbolic for having been born of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, a moment when China, struggling to be accepted internationally after the 1989 military suppression of pro-democracy d
North America | United States | Activism

These Sister Act-Ivists Grow Medical Marijuana, But Their Town Wants To Shut Them Down

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Sister Kate and Sister Darcy are on a mission to share the healing benefits of cannabis with the world – that is if their business doesn’t get shut down first. Reports Reuters, the non-religious – but spiritual – sisters have been growing and selling marijuana for medicinal purposes in Merced, California (where it is legal) for three years now. Unfortunately, their business is in jeopardy since Merced City Council issued a temporary ban on marijuana cultivation after a 6-0 vote on January 4, 2016. The nuns’ business, Sisters of the Valley, sells high-quality medicinal salves,
Asia | China | Activism

China’s most prominent women’s rights lawyer has been arrested by Chinese authorities

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Chinese authorities have formally arrested China's most prominent woman human rights lawyer, accusing her of subverting the state, her lawyer said on Wednesday, as part of a crackdown on activists who have helped people fight for their legal rights. The lawyer, Wang Yu, was taken into custody last July and accused the next month of inciting subversion and "causing a disturbance". Wang is the best-known human rights lawyer targeted in an unprecedented nationwide sweep by Chinese police last July, during which hundreds of lawyers were detained. A formal arrest usually leads to a trial and
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Was This the Poem That Sent a Young Iranian Woman to Prison?

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An award-winning poet has been taken into custody by Iranian officials after a video of her reading a poem critical of the head coverings women must wear in the Islamic Republic of Iran went viral. Hila Sedighi was arrested at a Tehran airport Thursday upon return from a trip to the United Arab Emirates, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group based in New York City.

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