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Law>Discouraging
South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

The Taliban orders women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public

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Taliban officials announced that women and girls would be expected to stay home, and if they were to venture out, to cover in all-encompassing loose clothing that only reveals their eyes – preferably, a burka. The restrictions on women's movement and dress are the harshest that the Taliban have announced since they came to power in August. It suggested the increasing dominance of the group's hard-line leaders, who appear to be behind the extended ban on most women and girls attending secondary school. Saturday's announcement seemed to confirm the fears of many Afghans that the Taliban
South Asia | Australia | Culture

‘Hear us, see us’: a plea to the UN for Indigenous women

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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner has used a speech to the UN in Geneva to demand the federal government take action on the rising rates of Aboriginal women in jail. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women represent 2% of Australia’s female population but make up 34% of all women in prison, June Oscar told the Human Rights Council on Friday. “The root cause is that Indigenous women continue to experience disproportionate levels of trauma and intersecting forms of discrimination which cut across lines of race, gender and socioeconomic status,”
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
North America | United States | Career

Five anchors sue NY1 for age and gender discrimination

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Five anchorwomen and reporters at NY1 say the local news channel systematically shoved them aside to make room for younger faces while celebrating the long tenure of male anchors like venerable morning man Pat Kiernan. Roma Torre, Kristen Shaughnessy, Jeanine Ramirez, Vivian Lee and Amanda Farinacci – who range in age from 41 to 60 — filed an age and gender discrimination lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan federal court leveling the charges at the news channel’s parent company, Charter Communications. The women allege that since Charter’s 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable, their car
North America | United States | Law

Women’s Rights Advocates Condemn DOJ Decision to Not Defend Female Genital Mutilation Law

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On Thursday, April 25th, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) (pictured center) joined elected officials and Equal Rights Amendment advocates to condemn a recent US Department of Justice decision to not  defend a federal law banning FGM/C, to call for Speaker Pelosi to step in to defend the law, and call for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Congresswoman Maloney is the sponsor of H.J. Res. 35, a bill to restart the ratification process of the ERA. While the Trump Administration has decided not to defend the 1996 law banning FGM/C, the House or the Senate could do s
North America | United States | Law

​​​​​​​Male-Only Draft “Unconstitutional”: Women’s Compulsory Military Service

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"They are going to draft your daughters for their forever wars," Ben Domenech of The Federalist rages. This after a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that a male-only draft is unconstitutional in a surprise decision that only began to hit the press late Sunday via a USA Today report. US District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas wrote in his ruling that the “time has passed” on continued debate for women in the military, regardless of if the controversial issue of women serving in combat “may have justified past discrimination.” Miller issued the decis
Latin America | Brazil | Law

Dilma Rousseff Was Not Impeached, Legal Scholars Say

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In Brazil, Ms. Rousseff has not yet been impeached, legal scholars say. “In Brazil, the term impeachment is used only after a conviction is made in the trial,” said Daniel Vargas, a law professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. Now that Brazil’s Senate voted against her on Thursday, Ms. Rousseff will have to step aside during her impeachment trial, which could last for six months. But if she is ultimately absolved, she will not have been impeached, Mr. Vargas said.
Middle East | Palestine | Culture

How this new divorce law further marginalizes Gaza’s women

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The Higher Sharia Court Council in the Gaza Strip issued a decision Feb. 7 granting a husband the right to file for divorce if his wife subjects him to verbal or physical abuse. The ruling has angered the feminist community, because it gives the husband the opportunity to divorce his wife while denying her rights to which she would otherwise be entitled in a divorce. Prior to the decision, applying for a divorce based on verbal or physical abuse had been limited to women. This was so simply because men can divorce without providing a reason or even filing suit in court. If a wif
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
Europe | U.K. | Law

Judge’s comments on gender equality ‘show problems women face in law’

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The views of supreme court justice Jonathan Sumption exemplify what is wrong with the way women are viewed within the legal profession, according to the barrister Charlotte Proudman. In an article for the Guardian, Proudman – who faced a recent backlash after publishing her response to a comment made about her appearance by a solicitor - criticised Lord Sumption over an interview in which he said that pushing through equal representation for women at the top of the legal profession could result in “appalling consequences” for the quality of British justice. “The supreme court jus
North America | United States | Activism

Beth Clarkson, Kansas statistician, suing the state to obtain election records, says voting results don’t add up

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A university mathematician found something that didn't add up, and now she's suing the state of Kansas to make sure every vote counts. Wichita State University statistician Beth Clarkson requested Sedgwick County release election records for the recent election. This week, Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked a judge to block that request. Clarkson said the election results in some counties, including Johnson County, are impossible to audit. During a celebration for the 95th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, Clarkson said, “If we’re not bei
South Asia | India | Law

Nearly all India’s Muslim women reject ‘triple talaq’, polygamy, survey finds

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More than 90 percent of Muslim women surveyed in India want the "triple talaq" divorce ritual and polygamy banned from family civil law in the country, a study by a women's rights organisation said on Friday. The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) said its survey also showed that three quarters of interviewees wanted a ban on child marriage, indicating a need for reforms in the Muslim personal law which governs family-related issues in India. Activists say the current law discriminates against women and are calling for a well-defined Muslim law that criminalises polygamy, unilateral
South Asia | India | Law

Study: 89% Muslim women want government hand in codification of law

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Around 89% Muslim women feel that the government should intervene and help in codification of law and 86% want religious leaders to take responsibility of justice for them. This and many other findings have come out in a study conducted by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), an organisation that looks to take up rights of Muslim women in particular and women in general. Among the other major findings is that an overwhelming percentage of women (95.5%) from the sample study have not heard about the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). Formed in 1985, AIMPLB is often considered t
South Asia | Australia | Government

Muslim women ‘made more vulnerable to violence by anti-terrorism laws’

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The introduction of anti-terrorism laws in Australia has made Muslim victims of family violence afraid to contact authorities for protection, an advocacy group says. Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence was due to hear from the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights on Tuesday. The organisation said in its submission Muslim women were “invisible” in the debate over family violence. This was compounded by Muslims being made to feel their community was being targeted or treated unfairly by authorities under anti-terrorism laws.

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