Women in the Public Sphere
UAE to send woman weightlifter to London Olympics
Weightlifter Khadija Mohammad on Thursday became only the second woman to be chosen for the UAE Olympic team.
The athlete, who will compete in the 75kg category in London, was named after the country's women's weightlifters secured one place at the London Games by finishing fifth in the Asian Championships in South Korea last month.
Read more at emirates247.com
Read more about women´s rights in UAE at the new womendialogue rights map
Saudi women in the security field: Tradition vs. Necessity
The delegates at the International Conference on Border Security, that was recently held in the Saudi capital Riyadh, unanimously agreed that there is an urgent need for the employment of women in the security services, in view of what they could achieve in dealing with issues relating to female defendants in prisons.
A field study prepared by Dr. Ghada al-Tarif, professor of criminal sociology at Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University, reported that despite the need for Saudi women to work in the field of security, women are currently limited to a selection of security posts.
Read more at asharq-e.com
Egypt’s presidential hopeful Morsi launches campaign for women
Egypt’s presidential finalist Mohamed Morsi’s campaign announced a new initiative targeting Egyptian women titled “Dr. Morsi, I am Egyptian and I have a question,” aiming to lessen women’s fear of Islamist rule of the country if Morsi wins the second round of elections scheduled for June 16 and 17.
Read more at bikyamasr.com
Asharq Al-Awsat Interview: Bassima Hakkaoui
Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development and the only female minister in the government of Abdelilah Benkirane, believes that women did not enter the government for many reasons. One of these reasons, she said, is the hegemony of the male culture.
Read the full interview at asharq-e.com
Woman takes No.3 spot on most influential Arabs list
A woman now ranks third in the world’s 500 most influential Arabs published by Arabian Business.
Finance lecturer Reem Asaad, known for her campaign to get women working in lingerie shops in Saudi Arabia, is now ranked third among the most influential Arabs in the world.
Arab women are now emerging even in those charts in which gender doesn't matter and they are “virtually competing” directly with men. Women and men, intellectuals and bankers, political activists and businessmen from over 20 Arab countries were taken into consideration in the Arabian Business world’s most influential Arabs.
Read more at thepeninsulaqatar.com and about the record that 105 women make list of most powerful Arabs at arabianbusiness.com
Saudi 'Got Talent,' but no women or music
A Saudi city has created its own version of the "Arabs Got Talent" television reality show, but with no music and women banned from taking part.
Instead, competitors will be permitted to perform religious chants, recite poems and engage in sports events.
The contest is being held north of the capital in the city of Buraydah, known as a centre for Wahhabism, a strict interpretation of Islam that is followed in the desert kingdom, Al-Hayat daily reported on Sunday.
Read more at emirates247.com
Egyptian women protesters sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square
A mob of hundreds of men assaulted women holding a march demanding an end to sexual harassment in Cairo, as attackers overwhelmed male supporters and molested several of the marchers in Tahrir Square.
Some victims said it appeared to have been an organised attempt to drive women out of demonstrations and trample the pro-democracy protest movement.
Read more at guardian.co.uk
Read more in the article 'Rights groups say harassment, assault affects female participation in protests' at egyptindependent.com
Saudi women receive awards after climb to Mount Everest Base Camp
A group of Saudi women received awards on Wednesday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah after climbing up the world’s highest mountain to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, in a bid to raise cancer awareness.
The age of women climbers ranged between 25 and 50 years.The 11 climbers began their expedition on May 7 completing their trek in 12 days.The ascent to Base Camp, which is located 5,364 meters above sea level, took nine days. Then they walked down in three days.
Saudi Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud led the team in the cancer awareness campaign, which has been entitled ‘A Woman’s Journey: Destination Mount Everest.’
Al Qaeda leader's wife praises women for Arab Spring
The wife of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri praised Muslim women for their role in the Arab Spring uprisings and said the unrest would soon lead to an "Islamic Spring", according to a rare message posted online on Friday.
The letter, signed by Omaima Hassan, singled out women beaten during Egypt's unrest and lauded mothers for bringing up the revolutionaries who went on to topple four heads of state it described as "tyrant criminals".
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the undated message, posted on a website used by Islamist militants.
Syrian woman blogger gets human rights award
Syrian woman blogger Razan Ghazzawi has been honoured with this year’s Human Rights Defenders at Risk award by the Dublin-based Front Line Defenders foundation, the group announced on Friday.
Ghazzawi, who has become a symbol of the Syrian uprising, is currently on trial before a military court charged with “possessing prohibited materials with the intent to disseminate them”.