Tag: Human Rights

Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

  

Flickr user Ammar Abd Rabbo

“It is vital that MENA countries more urgently recognize that the status of women is the key determinant to the development of their societies. This report provides important data to encourage reform in women’s rights.” 

Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan

 

The 2005 edition of the Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa is available online in both English and Arabic. The 2009 edition is currently in progress and will be published in its entirety in late autumn of 2009. However, the first installment of the 2009 edition will be available in February, covering the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates).

About the Survey

Flickr user nibaq

Freedom House’s innovative publication, Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, analyzes the status of women in the region through the prism of international standards embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The 2005 edition found that despite some evidence of progress toward equality in a number of countries, there was a pervasive gender-based gap in rights and freedoms in every facet of society: the law, criminal justice system, economy, education, health care, and the media.

 

 

 

Go HERE for full article and access to the report

CNN reports new persecution of Baha’i women by Iran

It is distressing to hear that yet again authorities in Iran are persecuting the Baha’is, surely one of the most peaceful and law-abiding of religious groups

CNN carries this report;

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian authorities have reportedly arrested several women for doing missionary work for the Baha’is, the religious group whose persecution by the Islamic republic has been condemned by human rights activists and governments around the globe.

Tabnak, a semi-official Iranian news service, reported the development but did not specify how many women were arrested or when they were seized.

The arrests took place in Kish Island, Iranian territory in the Persian Gulf, the agency said. Tabnak said some of those arrested came from Tehran and others from abroad.

“For a long time now, those who wanted to recruit young Iranian men to join the Baha’is used attractive women as bait,” the site said. “Israel has given sanctuary to the leaders of this perverted group [Baha’is] for many years, and the United States and Britain have provided them with billions of dollars to engage in propaganda.”

This news comes after the Baha’i movement reported that six members of the group were arrested in Tehran this week, including one who works with lawyer and activist Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel peace laureate. Seven leaders of the group seized in 2008 remain in jail.

To read the full article go HERE