2024: Dec wk4 P2 -- Dec wk4 -- Dec wk3 --

 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.

A society without female doctors or medical workers is doomed
France 24 - December 29, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<Taliban leader bans windows overlooking places 'usually used by women'
Afghanistan's Taliban leader has ordered that new residential buildings are constructed without windows looking onto <places usually used by women> and said that existing windows with such views should be blocked to prevent <obscene acts>. The Taliban's supreme leader has issued an order banning the construction of windows in residential buildings that overlook areas used by Afghan women and saying that existing ones should be blocked. According to a statement released late Saturday by the Taliban government spokesman, new buildings should not have windows through which it is possible to see <the courtyard, kitchen, neighbour's well and other places usually used by women>. <Seeing women working in kitchens, in courtyards or collecting water from wells can lead to obscene acts,> according to the decree posted by government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on social media platform X. Municipal authorities and other relevant departments would have to monitor construction sites to ensure it is not possible to see into neighbours' homes. In the event that such windows exist, owners would be encouraged to build a wall or obstruct the view <to avoid nuisances caused to neighbours>, the decree states. Since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, women have been progressively erased from public spaces, prompting the United Nations to denounce the "gender apartheid" the administration has established. Taliban authorities have banned post-primary education for girls and women, restricted employment and blocked access to parks and other public places. A recent law even prohibits women from singing or reciting poetry in public under the Taliban government's ultra-strict application of Islamic law. It also encourages them to <veil> their voices and bodies outside the home. Some local radio and television stations have also stopped broadcasting female voices. The Taliban administration claims that Islamic law <guarantees> the rights of Afghan men and women.
Source: (AFP)>> https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241229-taliban-leader-bans-windows-overlooking-women-s-areas

The Guardian - December 25, 2024 - Patrick Wintour in New York
<<Taliban to be taken to international court over gender discrimination
Afghanistan would have six months to provide response before ICJ would hold hearing
The Taliban are to be taken to the international court of justice for gender discrimination by Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands in a groundbreaking move. The move announced at the UN general assembly is the first time the ICJ, based in The Hague, has been used by one country to take another to court over gender discrimination. The case is being brought under the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, which was adopted by the general assembly in 1979 and brought into force in 1981. Afghanistan, prior to the 2021 Taliban takeover of the country, ratified the convention in 2003. In the first legal move of this type since the Taliban took over, it is expected that Afghanistan would have six months to provide a response before the ICJ would hold a hearing and probably propose provisional measures. Advocates of the course argue that even if the Taliban refuse to acknowledge the court’s authority, an ICJ ruling would have a deterrent effect on other states seeking to normalise diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Signatories to the ICJ are expected to abide by its rulings. There has been concern that the UN has held talks with the Taliban in which women's issues have been excluded from the agenda in an attempt to persuade the Taliban to attend. The initiative has the support of three female foreign ministers: Penny Wong from Australia, Annalena Baerbock from Germany, and Mélanie Joly from Canada. It is also being backed by the Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp. In the latest round of suppression in Afghanistan the Taliban have decreed that Afghan women are prohibited from speaking in public, prompting an online campaign in which Afghan women sing in protest. At a UN side event this week the actor Meryl Streep said: "A female cat has more freedom than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not." The countries involved in the litigation say they are willing to negotiate with the Taliban in good faith to end gender discrimination, but will, if the necessary stages prove fruitless, seek a hearing at the ICJ.
Last month, the Taliban published a new set of vice and virtue laws that said women must not leave the house without being fully covered and could not sing or raise their voices in public. Streep spoke alongside Afghan activists and human rights defenders, who called on the UN to act to protect and restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. Asila Wardak, a leader of the Women's Forum on Afghanistan, said that the system of what has been described as gender apartheid being imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan, was not just an Afghan issue, but part of the "global fight against extremism". Akila Radhakrishnan, strategic legal advisor on gender justice at the Atlantic Council thinktank, said: "This case, by centering violations of women's rights not only has the potential to deliver much needed justice to the women and girls of Afghanistan, but also forge new precedents for gender justice." >>
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/25/taliban-to-be-taken-to-international-court-over-gender-discrimination.htm

The Guardian - December 6, 2024 - by Ruchi Kumar and Zahra Joya for Rukhshana Media
<<Taliban move to ban women training as nurses and midwives 'an outrageous act of ignorance'
Afghan students and activists condemn halt to medical courses amid warnings of women dying from lack of healthcare. The Taliban's ban on Afghan women attending nursing and midwife courses has been condemned as "an outrageous act of ignorance" by human rights organisations. The official decree detailing the ban has not been shared publicly, but several media reports confirmed that the order was announced at a meeting of the Taliban public health ministry on Monday and communicated to training institutes soon after. Nursing students and medical trainers from Kabul and the provinces confirmed to the Guardian that they had been informed by their institutes that their courses had been suspended. "I was preparing for a test on Monday night when I received a message from my teacher about the closure of the institute," said Sahar*, a 22-year-old nursing student.
"I couldn't stop crying," she said. "This was my last hope." A group of female students in Herat province gathered at the governor's office in Herat on Thursday to protest at the closure of health science institutes, chanting "We will not give up our rights" and "Education is our right." Another medical student and activist from Kabul said: "A society without female doctors or medical workers is doomed." International agencies and human rights organisations joined Afghan women in criticising the ban and raised concerns about women's rights to education and the impact on women's access to healthcare. Samira Hamidi, an Afghan activist and campaigner for Amnesty International, said: "This is an outrageous act of ignorance by the Taliban, who continue to lead a war against women and girls in Afghanistan. This draconian action will have a devastating long-term impact on the lives of millions of Afghans, especially women and girls. In a country like Afghanistan, where people are bound to traditional and cultural practices, women in most parts of the country are not allowed to be checked or treated by a male doctor. With this ban, it will mean there will be no more midwives, nurses, female lab and medical personnel to serve female patients," she said. Heather Barr, at Human Rights Watch, said: "If you ban women from being treated by male healthcare professionals, and then you ban women from training to become healthcare professionals, the consequences are clear: women will not have access to healthcare and will die as a result." Maternal healthcare in Afghanistan was precarious even before the Taliban takeover, and the country ranked among the lowest for maternal safety, with 620 women dying for every 100,000 live births in 2020, compared with just 10 in the UK, according to the World Health Organization. According to data from UNFPA, the United Nations’ reproductive health agency, Afghanistan needs an additional 18,000 skilled midwives for Afghan women to get adequate care.>>
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/06/taliban-afghanistan-ban-women-training-nurses-midwives-outrageous-act-ignorance-human-rights-healthcare.httm

The Guardian - March 28, 2024 - by Ruchi Kumar and Rukhshana reporters
<<Taliban edict to resume stoning women to death met with horror
Afghan regime's return to public stoning and flogging is because there is 'no one to hold them accountable' for abuses, say activists
The Taliban's announcement that it is resuming publicly stoning women to death has been enabled by the international community's silence, human rights groups have said. Safia Arefi, a lawyer and head of the Afghan human rights organisation Women's Window of Hope, said the announcement had condemned Afghan women to return to the darkest days of Taliban rule in the 1990s. "With this announcement by the Taliban leader, a new chapter of private punishments has begun and Afghan women are experiencing the depths of loneliness,' Arefi said. "Now, no one is standing beside them to save them from Taliban punishments. The international community has chosen to remain silent in the face of these violations of women’s rights." The Taliban's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced at the weekend that the group would begin enforcing its interpretation of sharia law in Afghanistan, including reintroducing the public flogging and stoning of women for adultery. In an audio broadcast on the Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan last Saturday, Akhundzada said: "We will flog the women ... we will stone them to death in public [for adultery]. You may call it a violation of women's rights when we publicly stone or flog them for committing adultery because they conflict with your democratic principles," he said, adding: "[But] I represent Allah, and you represent Satan." >>
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/28/taliban-edict-to-resume-stoning-women-to-death-met-with-horror.htm

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