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 When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.


Alan Kurdi
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 3 , 2024
<<Park in Milan named after Alan Kurdî
A park in Milan has been named after Alan Kurdî, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose image made global headlines after he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea along with his mother and brother.
News Center- A park in Italy's Milan city has been named after Alan Kurdî, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose image made global headlines after he drowned on September 2, 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea along with his mother, Rihan, and brother, Galib. Many people, including Nurgul Çokgezici, a Professor at the Scuola Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici Prospero Mose Loria (UNIUMA), attended the opening ceremony of the park. In 2011, Alan Kurdi and his family fled from Kobane to Turkiye due to ISIS attacks. On September 2, 2015, Alan Kurdî and his family boarded a small plastic or rubber inflatable boat, which capsized about five minutes after leaving Bodrum in Turkiye. His dead body washed up on the beach.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/park-in-milan-named-after-alan-kurdi-35313?page=1
Related story:

Alan Kurdis' soul is with Allah
<<Alan Kurdi's aunt: 'My dead nephew's picture saved thousands of lives'>>
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35116022


8 journalists sentenced

Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 3 , 2024
<<8 journalists sentenced to more than 6 years in prison
Eight journalists have been sentenced to six years and three months in prison over terrorism charges while three journalists have been acquitted.
News Center- The hearing of the trial against 11 journalists, who were arrested on October 29, 2024 as part of an investigation based in Ankara and released from prison on May 16, was held Wednesday at the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court.
The court ruled the acquittal of three journalists, Habibe Eren, Ceylan Şahinli and Mehmet Günhan.
Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Diren Yurtsever, MA reporters Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Emrullah Acar, Zemo Ağgöz and Deniz Nazlım and Jinnews reporter Öznur Değer have been sentenced to six years and three months in prison on charges of “membership in an illegal organization>.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/8-journalists-sentenced-to-more-than-6-years-in-prison-35315?page=1

Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 3 , 2024
<<Syrian teen killed in racist attack in Antalya
17-year-old Ahmet Handan El Naif, a Syrian refugee working in Antalya, was stabbed to death.
News Center- Racist attacks against Syrian refugees that began in Kayseri after a Syrian national was accused of sexually harassing a girl have spread to many cities in Turkiye. 17-year-old Ahmet Handan El Naif, a Syrian refugee working in the Serik district of Antalya, was stabbed to death by three people on Tuesday at noon. According to the Graffiti News, Ahmet Handan El Naif was stopped by three motorcyclists while walking in the neighborhood at noon. He was first beaten by a motorcyclist and then stabbed to death. Three men identified as R.O., Y.Y. and I.O. were detained following the incident.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/syrian-teen-killed-in-racist-attack-in-antalya-35312?page=1


Silence
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 3 , 2024 - by JINO DIREXŞAN
<<'Silence increases violence and harassment against women in the streets'
Women's rights activist Mahosh Khani thinks that silence increases violence and harassment against women in the streets, calling on women not to remain silent against <violence and harassment.>
Sanandaj- Women are subjected to violence and harassment everywhere; at home, work, in public. Women are also subjected to violence and harassment in the streets. Mahosh Khani, a women's rights activist in Sanandaj, thinks that women do not trust their society due to violence experienced by them in the streets.
'Women are taught to fear'
Violence in the streets is used to put women under social oppression, she said. <Instead of supporting women to overcome crises faced by them, society teaches women how to fear. The crimes committed by men against women are ignored due to the patriarchal mindset and women are blamed even if they are subjected to these crimes.>
'Women remain silent due to lack of support'
A reform in education is a must to eliminate violence against women, Mahosh Khani said, stressing that she had been also subjected to harassment in the streets many times. <Women remain silent when they are subjected to violence and harassment in the streets because they are afraid of being blamed and labeled. They are afraid to speak out because they think they will not get support from those around them. Men drivers harass women in the streets by honking horns and turning on the headlamps. Women are subjected to verbal or physical harassment in public transportation.>
'Silence normalizes violence and harassment'
Mahosh Khani emphasized that silence against sexual harassment and violence in the street causes the increase in violence and harassment in the streets. <There is no mention of sexual harassment in the Islamic Penal Code. However, Article 224 of the Islamic Penal Code is specific about rape and according to this article, if proven in court, the defendant will be sentenced to death,> she said, stressing that silence normalizes violence and harassment in the streets. <Women should not remain silent against violence and harassment in the streets.>
She subjected to harassment while going to work
Sahar M., who works as a secretary in an office, is subjected to harassment every day while going to work. <No matter what I wear, street harassment never stops! Men drivers honk horns and turn on the headlamps but I have to remain silent and ignore them.> >>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/silence-increases-violence-and-harassment-against-women-in-the-streets-35310


Sivas Massacre commemorated
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 2 , 2024
<<Victims of Sivas Massacre commemorated
Thousands held a march in the city of Sivas to commemorate 33 artists and writers, who were burned alive in the Madımak Hotel on July 2, 1993.
News Center- 33 artists and writers, who were burned alive in the Madımak Hotel on July 2,1993, have been commemorated in Sivas on the 31st anniversary of the Sivas Massacre. Thousands, including the members of the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSAKD) and the Alevi Bektashi Federation (ABF), gathered in front of the Hacı Bektaş Veli Association and started marching to the Madımak Hotel. Holding the photographs of the killed artists and writers, they chanted slogans such as <Those who set them on fire founded the AKP>, <People were burned alive, where are the criminals?> and <The light of Sivas will never go out>. After the march, the names of the victims were read.
The march was held with the participation of Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-chairs Çigdem Kılıçgun Uçar ve Keskin Bayındır, Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan, Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Ozgur Ozel, Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP) Chair Erkan Baş, the members of Alevis' organizations, political parties and NGOs.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/victims-of-sivas-massacre-commemorated-35309?page=1


Peace Mothers
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 2 , 2024
<<Peace Mothers: Biji berxwedana zindana
Members of the Peace Mothers' Initiative protested the isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan at Turkish Parliament by chanting <Biji berxwedana zindana (Long live the resistance in prison)> slogan.
Ankara- The members of the Peace Mothers' Initiative went to Ankara to make the voices of political prisoners demanding <Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question> heard. Before issuing a press statement in front of the building of the Constitutional Court of Türkiye at 3:30 p.m., they attended the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Group Meeting at the Parliament. They protested the isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan by applauding and chanting <Biji berxwedana zindana (Long live the resistance in prison)> slogan. The members of the Peace Mothers' Initiative will issue a press statement in front of the Constitutional Court of Turkiye in Ankara at 15:30 with the participation of DEM Party Co-chair Tulay Hatimogulları.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/peace-mothers-biji-berxwedana-zindana-35308?page=1


Racist attacks in Kayseri
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 2 , 2024
<<Racist attacks started in Kayseri spread to many cities
Racist attacks that began in Kayseri after a Syrian national was accused of sexually harassing a girl spread to many cities last night. Syrians cannot go out due to the racist attacks targeting them.
News Center- Racist attacks that began in Kayseri after a Syrian national was accused of sexually harassing a girl spread to many cities of Turkiye last night.
Adana
Syrian shopkeepers closed their shutters in the Kocavezir and Mirzaçelebi neighborhood of Adana’s Seyhan district. A group of motorcyclists holding Turkish flags tried to enter the neighborhoods; however, police did not allow their entry. The group chanted the <We do not want Syrians> slogan.
Hatay
A group of people attacked the shops belonging to Syrians at Çarşamba Market located in Hatay's Reyhanlı last evening. Syrians closed their shutters and went to their homes. However, a group of people gathered in front of the Reyhanlı Municipality at around 9 p.m. Holding Turkish flags and chanting racist slogans, they set the shops on fire. Police blocked all roads leading to the municipality.
The racist attacks that erupted in Reyhanlı spread to Hatay's Kırıkhan district.>>
Read more here:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/racist-attacks-started-in-kayseri-spread-to-many-cities-35305


Suzan Oso and Şerin Ahmed
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 2 , 2024 - by HESNA MIHEMED
<<Call on international organizations to take action against violations in Afrin
Members of Kongra Star call on international organizations to take an urgent action against rights violations in Afrin by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions, stressing that women and girls are subjected to crimes against humanity.
Shahba- The Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions continue to commit crimes against humanity in the areas controlled by them. In Afrin, 130 people, including seven women and children, were kidnapped, two women and two children were killed and two girls were raped by the members of the Turkish-backed factions in the first five months of 2024, Afrin News 24 reported by compiling news from local newspapers, news websites and news agencies.
In an interview with NuJINHA, Suzan Oso and Şerin Ahmed, members of Kongra Star, said that they resisted to return to Afrin.
'We have endured all difficult conditions to return'
Suzan Oso had to leave Afrin to protect her children from the invaders. <We have endured all difficult living conditions to return to Afrin,> she said.
<We have continued to resist for an honorable return to Afrin since Afrin was occupied by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions. In Afrin, women and girls are killed, tortured and raped. Due to the occupation, there is no security and stability in Afrin. Children, especially girls, are deprived of many of their rights, especially their right to education. Girls cannot go out because they are sexually abused by invaders.>
'Parents marry off their daughters to protect them'
Suzan Oso recalled that a girl was recently raped by the members of the Turkish-backed factions in Afrin and said, <It was not the first or the last! The rate of child marriage is on the rise in Afrin because parents marry off their daughters to protect them from the members of the Turkish-backed factions. I call on all international organizations, especially women's organizations, to take an urgent action in order to stop practices that ignore women's rights in the occupied areas.>
'Rights violations should be made heard'
The Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions commit crimes against humanity in Afrin every day, Şerîn Ahmed said, stressing that women and children are the most subjected to rights violations in the occupied areas. <They aim to destroy the will and existence of women. The ongoing rights violations in Afrin will be never accepted or ignored. We call on international organizations to send a delegation to Afrin in order to document the rights violations. Rights violations in Afrin should be made heard all around the world. We call them to protect the rights of the people, especially women, of Afrin.> >>
Source incl. video:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/call-on-international-organizations-to-take-action-against-violations-in-afrin-35303


19th Zilan Women's Festival
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 1 , 2024 - by YUSRA AL-EHMED
<<19th Zilan Women's Festival held in London
The 19th Zilan Women's Festival was held in London on Sunday with the motto, <Towards women's revolution with the slogan of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi>.
News Center- The 19th Zilan Women's Festival was held in London on Sunday by the Jiyan Women's Council with the motto, <Towards women's revolution with the slogan of Jin, Jiyan, Azadi>. The members of the Refugee Workers Cultural Association (GIK-DER) and the Socialist Women's Union (SKB) and hundreds attended the festival.
'We will strengthen our struggle with the spirit of Zilan'
Kurdish women respond to the patriarchal mindset, capitalist modernity and fascism with their courage, heart and ideology, Turkan Budak said in her speech at the festival. Stressing that they will strengthen their struggle with the spirit of Zilan (Zeynep Kınacı), she said:
<The struggle of many revolutionary women such as Beritan and Zilan has paved the way for the women's freedom struggle to reach millions across the Middle East and for the women’s revolution that took place in Rojava. We once again express our absolute gratitude and respect to all our martyrs in the person of Martyr Zilan. Once again, we vow to ensure the freedom of leader Apo.>
Call for participation in the campaign
<The historical action of Comrade Zilan has showed that the path to freedom is leader Apo (Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan),> said the speech made on behalf of the European Kurdish Women's Movement, calling for the participation in the <Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question> campaign. Women participating in the festival chanted many slogans such as 'Jin, Jiyan, Azadi', <Martyrs are immortal> and <Long live leader Apo>.>>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/19th-zilan-women-s-festival-held-in-london-35298?page=1


Women of Hasakah
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 1 , 2024 - by DELAL REMEZAN
<<Women of Hasakah: Humanitarian organizations should take action against water outages
The Turkish state uses water as a weapon against the people of Hasakah by stopping the Alouk water station from pumping drinking water. Women of Hasakah call on humanitarian organizations to take action.
Hasakah- The Turkish state has stopped the Alouk water station, a crucial source of drinking water for the people of Hasakah, from pumping water since Serekaniye (Ras al-Ayn) was occupied by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions in 2019. Due to the ongoing water outages, the Water Directorate of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) dug water wells for the residents of Hasakah and displaced people living in camps on June 3, 2023.
'Water has been shut off for more than 10 months'
<The Turkish state has been stopping the station from pumping water since it occupied Serekaniye,> said Fatima Al-Damen, Co-chair of the Water Directorate of AANES in Hasakah. <It uses water as a weapon against the people living in Hasakah. Water has been shut off for more than 10 months.>
'The people of Hasakah have become dependent on water wells'
The people of the city have become dependent on water wells in the village of Shumuka and water tank trucks, Fatima Al-Damen noted, stressing that water wells and water tank trucks cannot meet the growing need for water. <Water supplied from water wells is undrinkable, being used only for washing clothes or dishes. Most people buy drinking water from water tank trucks but they are dirty.>
'We distribute water every morning'
The Water Directorate has nearly 64 water tankers and civilians have nearly 800 water tankers; however, they are insufficient to meet the water needs of the people. <Water obtained from unknown sources leads to intestinal problems and skin diseases among people. As the Water Directorate, we have taken urgent steps to meet the water needs of the people. We distribute drinking water to people every morning through communes. We also distribute water to institutions providing services to people, schools and hospitals. However, available water is insufficient for everyone. The AANES has been working on a project to dig more water wells.>
'We have been suffering from water outages for five years'
Tufaha Al-Khalifa, a resident of Hasakah, told NuJINHA that they have been suffering from water outages for five years. <We cannot buy drinking water from water tank trucks because it is very expensive. We demand a radical solution to the ongoing water outages in the city. I call on humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to provide drinking water to the people.> >>
Source incl. video:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/women-of-hasakah-humanitarian-organizations-should-take-action-against-water-outages-35297?page=1


Kurdish women in Qamishlo
Jinha - Womens News Agency - July 1 , 2024 - by ZEYNEB ISA
<<Kurdish women receive education in their mother language in Qamishlo
Thanks to the revolution in Rojava led by women, people from different nations and religions have been building together. <Our language is our identity,> say Kurdish women receiving Kurdish education in Qamishlo.
Qamishlo- Following the revolution in Rojava on July 19, 2012, people from different nations, religions and ethnicities began to build a common life together in North and East Syria. One of the most important gains of the revolution in Rojava is that children have the right to receive education in their mother language at school. The Kurdish people, who were subjected to a policy of assimilation by the Syrian government, now speak, write and read in Kurdish everywhere. The Democratic Union Party (PYD) has started providing Kurdish courses to women in the Qidurbek neighborhood of Qamishlo city.
'Our biggest dream was to receive education in our mother language'
In an interview with NuJINHA, Rodin Isa (38), a resident of the neighborhood, talked about the oppression of the Syrian government and the change they experienced after the revolution. <Before the revolution in Rojava, the Syrian government banned all languages, except Arabic. We were banned from speaking Kurdish in public spaces and at schools. Our biggest dream was to speak our mother language and receive education in our mother language.>
'We have our own schools'
Following the revolution led by women in North and East Syria, Kurdish people began to receive education in their mother language. <Thanks to the ideology and the philosophy of leader Apo (Abdullah Ocalan), the Rojava revolution took place,> said Rodin Isa. <Now, Kurdish people receive education in their mother language and women play their roles in all facets of life. We have our own schools. Teachers who teach us the Kurdish language are very valuable and precious to us.>
'Our mother language is proof of our existence'
Calling on everyone to learn their mother language and teach their mother language to their children, Rodin Isa said, <I call on everyone to learn their mother language because 13,000 people sacrificed their lives for this cause so that Kurds could have an identity. We should teach our children Kurdish so that they can be pioneers for the next generations. Our mother language is proof of our existence and identity.> >>
Source incl. video:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/kurdish-women-receive-education-in-their-mother-language-in-qamishlo-35296

Jinha - Womens News Agency - June 28 , 2024 - by YUSRA AL-EHMED
<<'The Kuwaiti authorities must end wave of repression against critics'
The Kuwaiti authorities have been escalating the repression of critics throughout 2024, by prosecuting and imposing prison sentences on individuals, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
News Center- Amnesty International published a statement on Thursday calling on the Kuwaiti authorities to end the wave of repression against critics. Over the past six months, Kuwaiti authorities arbitrarily imprisoned at least seven people for publicly voicing their views and opinions, stripped Kuwaiti nationality from at least nine individuals, and prosecuted a parliamentary candidate for criticizing the system of government, the statement said, stressing that this wave of repression was accompanied by Emir Meshal Al Sabah's decision on 10 May 2024 to dissolve the newly elected parliament and suspend parliamentary government and elections for up to four years. <The spike in prosecutions of activists, human rights defenders and parliamentarians because of their critical statements about the government demonstrates that the Kuwaiti authorities are escalating the clampdown on human rights, including the right to freedom of expression,> said Devin Kenney, Amnesty International's Researcher on Kuwait.
<Kuwaiti authorities must immediately end this chilling wave of repression. No one should face prosecution or imprisonment simply for criticizing the government. The authorities must immediately release all those detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights and drop the charges against them.> >>
Source:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/the-kuwaiti-authorities-must-end-wave-of-repression-against-critics-35293


Female painters in Raqqa
Jinha - Womens News Agency - June 28 , 2024 - by YUSRA AL-EHMED
<<Female painters in Raqqa portray women to record their experiences
Rasmiye Al-Arslan and Sahar Abdel Rahman, two female painters in Raqqa, portray women to record their experiences.
Raqqa- Fine art is a visual art forming painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking by using materials such as pencil, plaster, stone, wood, and clay. Rasmiya Al-Arslan and Sahar Abdel Rahman, two female painters in Raqqa, a city in northern Syria, think that fine art plays an important role in recording women's history.
'Fine art is like a mirror reflecting past and present'
Historical events have been brought to the present by artists through fine art, Rasmiya Al-Arslan said. <The events in the past have been transferred through the ages by paintings. Drawings and symbols on the walls of caves and temples have many messages. During the period of kingdoms, the paintings reflected how the kings ruled and the rituals and culture of that period. If such drawings, considered a historical heritage, had not existed, the revolutions, crises, wars, what the world was going through would not have been known.>
She focuses on women's resistance in her artwork
I try to record the suffering, injustice, unfairness and male violence experienced by women through my artwork, Rasmiya Al-Arsan told us. <In my paintings, I focus on the problems and resistance of women in society. I portray women who break the restrictions imposed on them to achieve their dreams and goals.> Rasmiya Al-Arslan believes that female artists play an important role in recording the struggle and experiences of women. “We pass down their struggle and experiences to the next generations through our art,> she said, calling on girls and women not to give up despite oppression and obstacles.
She depicts the past in her paintings
In her speech, Sahar Abdel Rahman indicated that women were known as leaders, warriors and wise in their societies in the Neolithic age. <However, their leading roles in societies gradually disappeared following the emergence of the patriarchal system. In my paintings, I depict how women were in the past, their roles and status in society.> Painters play an important role in passing down the resistance of women to the next generations, Sahar Abdel Rahman emphasized. <Throughout history, women artists have played an important role in their society by focusing on the power and leadership of women. Fine art encourages women to return to themselves.> >>
Source incl. video:
https://jinhaagency.com/en/art-and-culture/female-painters-in-raqqa-portray-women-to-record-their-experiences-35292

The Guardian - June 25, 2024 - by Ahmad Ahmadi*, Zahra Nader and Farshid Aram*
<<Afghan girls accuse Taliban of sexual assault after arrests for 'bad hijab'
Reports surface days before UN summit on Afghanistan that will exclude Afghan women and debate on women’s rights. Teenage girls and young women arrested by the Taliban for wearing <bad hijab> say they have been subjected to sexual violence and assault in detention. In more than one case the arrests and sexual abuse that young women faced while in custody earlier this year led to suicide and attempted suicide, reporters from the Afghan news service Zan Times were told. In one case, a woman's body was allegedly found in a canal a few weeks after she had been taken into custody by Taliban militants, with a source close to her family saying she had been sexually abused before her death. The UN say that many women were detained by the Taliban for <bad hijab> in December 2023 and January 2024, following a Taliban decree that women must cover themselves from head to toe, revealing only their eyes. At the time the UN called the arrests <concerning> and girls and women told the Guardian they had been subjected to beatings and intimidation while in detention. Now the girls and young women are coming forward to report that they also faced sexual violence and abuse by the Taliban police, with devastating consequences. The family of 16-year-old Zahra* said she and another teenage girl were arrested in a shop in west Kabul in December 2023. The Taliban bans women from parks. Her mother, Somaia*, says Zahra and her friend were detained for two weeks before being released. When she came home, Zahra was <not the girl who had left home two weeks before. I ran and hugged her, but she cried and said, 'I am dishonoured.' For the rest of that day, Zahra didn't eat or talk,> her mother said. <She only sat in a room and cried. I couldn’t dare to ask about what had happened,> she said. Amina*, a 22-year-old medical student, said she spent three nights in a Taliban prison after being arrested in January 2024. She said she was interrogated by an older man who asked her about her menstruation and whether she was married or not. <I fell at his feet and begged him, 'Please, kill me but don't harass me',> she said. <He said: 'Since you are keen to die, I will kill you, but before that, let us have fun with you.' <Then he started touching my private parts,> Amina said. <I fainted twice during the interrogation, but every time, he poured cold water over my head.> Amina said what happened to her happened to every girl taken to that interrogation room and left alone with the man. <[Now] I can't sleep at night, I am so scared, and every time I see the Taliban soldiers, I faint,> she said. <I have tried to kill myself twice. Once I took all of my mother's medication, but my family took me to hospital. Every time I remember that they touched me, I can't bear living,> Amina said. For Zahra, the ordeal she said she had faced in prison proved too much for her to bear, her family said. <In the middle of the night I woke up and noticed Zahra was not there. I woke up my husband and we started looking for her in all the rooms.
My husband found her dead body,> said Somaia. <She had hanged herself.> Marina Sadat was detained by the Taliban 'morality police' in December. Zahra's death was not the only tragedy linked to the Taliban’s arrest of women over how they wore their hijab. In December 2023, a 23-year-old university student from the same neighbourhood was also reportedly arrested by the Taliban. Marina Sadat had been on her way to the Farabi Institute of Health Sciences, where she was studying midwifery, the only educational option available for women in the Taliban's Afghanistan.
Twenty-two days later, people who know her family say her battered body was found inside a sack in a canal in Kabul's Paghman district. Zan Times reporters were told that she had been sexually abused. <It is just brutal that a young girl goes to university and her dead body comes home,> one interviewee told the journalists. On 4 January a spokesman for the Taliban’s ministry of vice and virtue told the Associated Press that the women who were arrested <violated Islamic values and rituals and encouraged society and other respected sisters to go for bad hijab ... [i]n every province, those who go without hijab will be arrested.> After condemnation in Afghanistan and abroad, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, later denied that arrests over <bad hijab> had taken place. In response to the allegations of sexual assault of young women in detention, a Taliban spokesman also denied there had been any arrests for <bad hijab> and said: <The issue of rape is not at all possible because there is not just one or two people [in the room with a prisoner] and when there are three people, such a crime would not happen ...[this is] a very sensitive issue for the Taliban. I am sure such a thing did not happen.> The reports of sexual violence and assault against women and girls in detention comes as the Taliban are expected to attend a UN conference on Afghanistan in Doha on 30 June, where the UN has confirmed that no Afghan women will participate and women's rights will not be discussed.
* Names changed to protect the identity of interviewees and writers based in Afghanistan>>
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jun/25/afghan-women-girls-accuse-taliban-sexual-assault-after-arrests-bad-hijab-suicide?utm_term=667c377f53a18fe59f2b080faa79850e&utm_campaign=GlobalDispatch&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=globaldispatch_email

The Guardian - June 21, 2024 - by Tom Levitt , Annie Kelly and Zahra Joya
<<Shutting Afghan women out of key UN conference to appease Taliban 'a betrayal'
Group allegedly demanding Afghan participation in Doha meeting this month be limited to men and that women's rights be excluded from the agenda
Excluding Afghan women from an upcoming UN conference on Afghanistan would be a <betrayal> of women and girls in the country, say human rights groups and former politicians. The Taliban are reportedly demanding that no Afghan women be allowed to participate in the UN meeting in Doha starting 30 June, set up to discuss the international community's approach to Afghanistan, and that women's rights are not on the agenda. Since taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have restricted women's access to education, employment and public spaces. In March, it was reported that they would reintroduce the public flogging and stoning of women for adultery. The Taliban did not participate in UN talks earlier this year, with the UN chief Antonio Guterres saying at the time that the group presented a set of conditions for its participation that <denied us the right to talk to other representatives of the Afghan society> and were <not acceptable>. Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said: <Excluding women risks legitimising the Taliban's abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the UN's credibility as an advocate for women's rights and women's meaningful participation.> In trying to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table now, the UN was giving in to their demands to exclude women's rights, said the former Afghan minister of women's affairs Sima Samar. <This situation is an indirect submission to the will of the Taliban. Law, democracy and sustainable peace are not possible without including half of the population of the society who are women. I don't think we have learned anything from past mistakes. <As one of the main changes, the people of Afghanistan should protest against discrimination, especially against women. Because this is not only the problem of women, but the problem of every family and every father, brother, child and husband,> said Samar. Habiba Sarabi, another former minister of women's affairs in Afghanistan and the country's first female governor, said the international community was prioritising engagement with the Taliban over women's rights. <Unfortunately, the international community wants to deal with the Taliban, and that is why their own agenda has always been more important to them than the women of Afghanistan, democracy, or anything else,> she said. Heather Barr, from Human Rights watch, said: <What is happening in Afghanistan is the most serious women's rights crisis in the world and the idea that the UN would convene a meeting like this and not discuss women's rights and not have Afghan women in the room is beyond belief. <The only plausible explanation is that they're doing this to get the Taliban to the table, but for what? Already, three years of diplomatic engagement has produced nothing and all this does is set an appalling precedent, emboldens and legitimises the Taliban and hands them a huge political win. It is a betrayal not just of Afghan women but all women around the world.> The UN has been approached for comment, but in response to questioning on the involvement of Afghan civil society representatives it reportedly said arrangements for the conference were ongoing.>>
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jun/21/shutting-afghan-women-out-of-key-un-conference-to-appease-taliban-a-betrayal?utm_term=667c377f53a18fe59f2b080faa79850e&utm_campaign=GlobalDispatch&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=globaldispatch_email

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