Pakistan Religious Body Denounces new law that criminalizes violence against women as un-Islamic.

Pakistan Religious Body Denounces new law that criminalizes violence against women as un-Islamic. (ET).

Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam on Thursday declared a new law that criminalises violence against women to be “un-Islamic.”

The Women’s Protection Act, passed in Punjab Assembly last week, gives unprecedented legal protection to women from domestic, psychological and sexual violence. It also calls for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line and the establishment of women’s shelters.

But since its passage in the assembly, many conservative clerics and religious leaders have denounced the new law as being in conflict with the Quran, as well as the constitution.

“The whole law is wrong,” Muhammad Khan Sherani, the head of CII said at a news conference, citing verses from the Quran to point out that the law was “un-Islamic.”

The 54-year-old council is known for its controversial decisions. In the past it has ruled that DNA cannot be used as primary evidence in rape cases, and it supported a law that requires women alleging rape to get four male witnesses to testify in court before a case is heard.

The council’s decision this January to block a bill to impose harsher penalties for marrying off girls as young as eight or nine has angered human rights activists.

The new law establishes district-level panels to investigate reports of abuse, and mandates the use of GPS bracelets to keep track of offenders.

It also sets punishments of up to a year in jail for violators of court orders related to domestic violence, with that period rising to two years for repeat offenders.

Fazlur Rehman, the chief of one of Pakistan’s largest religious parties, the Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam, said the law was in conflict with both Islam and the constitution of Pakistan.

“This law makes a man insecure,” he told journalists. “This law is an attempt to make Pakistan a Western colony again.” Hmmm.....Women human rights and Islam. Read the full story here.

Iran - Mullahs have ruled the country over past three decades by imposing discrimination, torture and aggression against women.

Iran - Mullahs have ruled the country over past three decades by imposing discrimination, torture and aggression against women.(NCRI).

Maryam Rajavi calls on women around the world to defend the rights and to provide security for women in Camp Liberty and all oppressed women in Iran

NCRI - On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, saluted all brave Iranian women who have stood up against one of the most violent dictatorial regimes in the world, all women political prisoners in Ali Khamenei’s prisons, and all women around the world who are struggling against all kinds of violence, cruelty, oppression, discrimination and inequality.

She said, “Today, we remember all the women around the world who during the past year became the victims of cruelty and inequality and suffered from all kinds of violence.”

Pointing out that “Oppression and violence against women is the basis for ruling and an essential leverage for this regime’s survival”, Rajavi said: “They have ruled the country over past three decades by imposing discrimination, torture and aggression against women. Torturing and execution of tens of thousands of struggling women and girls, including as young as 13 year old girls, pregnant women and elderly mothers is only part of this regime’s record. 

A so-called religious fatwa issued to justify raping women prisoners has been the guideline for judicial, intelligence and security organs and also the torturers of the mullahs’ antihuman and anti-Islam regime for the past three decade; an ignominious record of this regime’s crimes that is unprecedented in the contemporary history of mankind.”

“Systematic violence against women consists of numerous bans in various aspects including freedom to choose clothing, right to divorce, right to travel, right to employment and many other fundamental human rights.

However, when it comes to women’s right to fight for their country’s freedom, the ruling criminals resort to all types of crimes against women who dare to stand against this regime. Thousands of imprisoned women have been tortured, and PMOI women members and those struggling against this regime have lost their lives, and all the inhumane pressures imposed against the 1,000 women in Ashraf and Liberty, are all proofs of this fact,” said Maryam Rajavi.

Rajavi added, “In the latest attack against Ashraf on 1 September 2013, 52 PMOI members were killed, including six women, and six other women were taken hostage. They are currently in the custody of Iraqi forces and are facing the grave threat of being extradited to the criminal mullahs.”

She emphasized, “Today, efforts to save the lives of these hostages and supporting the security of the women in Liberty, have become a vital humanitarian duty and especially the responsibility of the equality movement.

Many of these pioneering women have been imprisoned in the regime’s dungeons for years; and most of them have three decades of resistance experience, making them valuable assets of the equality movement.”

Referring to the fact that the mullahs’ regime has the pivotal role in imposing violence against women and exporting misogynous viewpoints to the countries of the region, Maryam Rajavi described the struggle to change this regime as an important step in eliminating violence against women in the Middle East and the entire world. 

Rajavi went on to call on women across the globe to rise in defense of the rights and providing security for the women in Liberty, and also all the suppressed women in Iran.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

Violence against women still rampant in Islamist Turkey, 802 women have died over the last five years.

Violence against women still rampant in Islamist Turkey, 802 women have died over the last five years..(TZ).

Monday, Nov. 25, was International Day to Stop Violence Against Women, and women's groups across Turkey marked the day, but statistics indicate that violence against women remains a major issue in the country.

According to official data, 802 women have died in Turkey over the last five years as a result of domestic violence. In 2013, there were 28,000 reported cases of violence against women.

The number of women who were given state protection from abusive partners or relatives this year was 4,500. Women's groups blame government policies for the worrisome figures.

Records indicate that 171 women died in 2009 as a result of violence against women. In 2010, there were 177 such deaths, while there were 163 deaths in 2011, 155 in 2012 and 136 in the first nine months of 2013.As of January 2013, more than 50,000 women were receiving some sort of legal protection, such as restraining orders.

The highest number of preventive measures against abusive relatives or partners were issued by courts in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, Turkey's most populated provinces.

The provinces where the highest number of police officers were assigned to protect potential female victims of violence were Adana, İzmir and Kayseri. No protective measures were enforced in five provinces: Bilecik, Bolu, Kars, Kastamonu and Siirt.Women's groups say Turkey's latest Law on the Prevention of Violence Against Women, adopted in March 2012, has failed, but it should be noted that there has been a 5 percent decrease in the number of reported cases of violence and cases with fatalities since the law's adoption.

In 15,000 reported incidents, offenders were forced to hand over firearms they own to security forces. Panic buttons -- emergency systems to alert police authorities in danger of potential violence -- introduced as part of prevention efforts, are being tested in pilot projects in Bursa and Adana. Currently, 22 women in Bursa and 16 in Adana have been given panic buttons by the police.

Gov't responsible for violence toward women.

Dozens of women's organizations across the country held demonstrations on Sunday and Monday to mark International Day to Stop Violence Against Women. Women's rights groups were highly critical of government policies regarding women. In İstanbul on Sunday, a large group of activists from the Women's Solidarity Platform met at İskele Square in Kadıköy, marching and chanting slogans critical of the government. Some of the protesters were wearing make-up that made them look like they had black eyes and facial bruises.

In Antakya, also on Sunday, a group of about 150 members of the Antakya Women's Platform gathered at Ulus Square where they were preparing to read a press statement. However, they were prevented from doing so by police.

The women later walked to the Yunus Emre Park. In Şanlıurfa, women from the public servants' union KESK organized a march where they protested against Turkey's high rates of violence against women. In Bodrum and several other provinces, there were many demonstrations against violence against women.

Protesters in Bodrum, who gathered at Belediye Square, wore shrouds protesting deaths caused by violence against women. A group of about 100 women, supported by KESK and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), protested on Sunday in Elazığ carrying banners against “gender and class based exploitation” at the Hozat Garage Square.

In a statement she made on behalf of the group, Birsel Dağ, a member of the Elazığ Kadın Platform, said: “The AK Party [Justice and Development Party] government's sexist policies that generate discrimination and inequality are pushing the whole of society into a spiral of violence. Today, the patriarchal oppression that thrives on the 11-year rule of the AK Party shows its darkest face in the form of violence, assault, rape, abuse and murders committed against women.”

On Monday, the Republican People's Party (CHP) Adıyaman Women's Branch issued a similar statement, accusing the government of promoting policies that contribute to violence against women. “As long as women are not free, as long as they are not adequately represented in the decision-making mechanism, this society will not move forward,” it said.In Izmir's Urla district, the Urla City Council's Women's Commission made a public statement, supported by Urla Mayor Selçuk Karaosmanoğlu. The statement condemned violence and called for an end to the physical, sexual and psychological abuse of women.

A spokesperson for the Nevşehir Bar Association's Women Rights Commission, Sema Yurtbilir Yavuz, said International Day to Stop Violence Against Women is a day to stand in solidarity against gender inequality, discrimination, domestic abuse and the mentality that treats women as if they do not exist. The Human Rights Association's (İHD) Hakkari branch also held an event.

In Manisa, members of the We'll Stop Murders of Women Platform submitted “instructions” to Manisa Governor Abdurrahman Savaş, demanding more efforts for the prevention of violence against women in the province. “Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan doesn't instruct [security forces] to prevent violence against women. Women are being killed everywhere in Turkey. Governors are not the governors of the prime minister, but of the people,” the group said and continued: “We are giving the order to protect women that Erdoğan hasn't given. We tell the governor: ‘Protect women.' You will have to confront us every time a woman is killed.”

In Didim, there was a panel discussion on Violence Directed Against Women, organized by the Didim Women's Platform. Sibel Özbudan, one of the speakers, accused the government of trying to deny the existence of women outside a “family context,” noting that inside the family is where women are abused most.

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) in a statement to mark the day called on society to fight in solidarity against violence against women. “The public authority has enacted rules and regulations that ignore women's identity and dignity,” the association said, criticizing the government's family-oriented policies.

It also said reported acts of violence against women over the past 10 years during which the AK Party has been in power have increased by 1,400 percent.Man murders wifeIn a tragic irony, 18-year-old Mehmet Emin Ç. on Monday allegedly strangled his wife, whom he had only married in a religious ceremony, to death. The victim, Songül Malkoç, was found dead by her sister after being strangled with a headscarf. The Diyarbakır Police Department has detained Mehmet Emin Ç. as the prime suspect.Hmmm....One more reason to keep Turkey out of Europe.

Turkish Male violence left 24 women and one child dead in August.

Mark the rise in Islamism and Women abuse

Turkish Male violence left 24 women and one child dead in August.(Firat)

A compilation made by bianet has revealed that male perpetrators left 24 women and one teenager girl dead, 21 raped (including young girls), 19 injured and 7 harassed in August 2013.

It turned out that 83 percent of women were slain by their husbands or lovers. 84 percent of women were battered by either their current or ex-husbands in August 2013.

The murderers were aged between 20 and 72 years old; while female victims' ages differed from 17 to 73 in August 2013.
Female murder cases were reported in the provinces of Adıyaman, Afyon, Ağrı, Aksaray, Ankara, Antalya (2), Diyarbakır (2), Erzincan (2), Iğdır, İstanbul (5), İzmir (3), Kocaeli, Mersin, Ordu, Samsun and Trabzon.
In August, men raped/attempted to rape 21 women and teenager girls across 9 cities in Turkey. 34 percent of women were raped by their acquaintances.

Following the incidents, one woman got pregnant. One rape victim woman was previously forced to prostitution and reportedly left the women’s shelter briefly before the incident.

August’s rape perpetrators included strangers (14), relative (2), family friend (2), customer (1). The rapists were aged between 21 and 53 years old; while female victims' ages differed from 14 to 45.

Most rape cases were reported in Istanbul. August rape cases were reported in the following cities: Antalya, Balıkesir, Çorum (2), İstanbul (11), İzmir, Karabük, Kocaeli, Manisa ve Muğla (2).

In August, 19 male violence against women cases were reported across 10 different cities in Turkey.
Under a court restraint order, a man assaulted his wife with a knife, while another man was released after standing trial for assault.
84 percent of women were battered by either their current or former husbands in August 2013. Other perpetrators included husband on divorce stage (3), husband (13), ex-husband (3), lover (1), father (1) and stranger (1).
Violence instruments/methods included: knife (9), battering (9), run over with a car (1), abduction (1).
Most male violence cases were reported in Kocaeli province. Other cases were reported in the provinces of Adana (2), Adıyaman, Antalya, Batman, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir (2), Kocaeli (5), Konya, Muğla, Samsun, Trabzon (2).
In August, 7 harassment cases were reported across 5 different cities in Turkey.
August harassment cases were reported in the provinces of Antep (3), Antalya, Ankara, İstanbul and Giresun, with their perpetrators aged between 19 to 39 years old; while female victims' ages differed from 6 to 35.
In August 2013, 65 cases of violence against women, murder, attempted murder, harassment, rape, injury and child abuse were reported across 25 provinces.

The distribution of 58 incidents to the regions is as follows; Marmara (26), Central Anatolia (3), Aegean (10), Mediterranean (8), Black Sea (8), Eastern-Anatolia (4) and South-Eastern Anatolia (6). Most cases were reported from Istanbul.

In 2013 so far, male violence left 122 women dead, 118 raped, 146 battered ad 117 sexually harassed.
In July 2013, male perpetrated violence had left 9 women dead, 20 women and teenager girls raped and 19 harassed. It turned out that 58 percent of women were killed by their husbands and 25 by their lovers. Murder perpetrators included husband (14), lover (6), son-in-law (2), friend (2) and stranger (1).

Hmmmm.....Another reason to keep Turkey out of Europe!

Islamist Turkey - 34 percent of Turkish men accept violence against women occasionally necessary.

Islamist Turkey - 34 percent of Turkish men accept violence against women occasionally necessary.(HD).A total of 34 percent of Turkish men accept violence against women occasionally necessary as around 30 percent says violence with a cause is acceptable, a recent survey conducted in seven cities among 3,500 men shows. A total of 28 percent men says that violence can be used to discipline women.

A total of 34 percent of men find violence occasionally necessary, while 28 percent said that violence can be used to discipline women, according to a nationwide survey initiated by the Happy Kids Association (Mutlu Çocuklar Derneği) and Kırıkkale University’s Application and Research Center for Women’s Problems and conducted on 3,500 men.

The survey, which was intended to identify the perceptions of men and women regarding violence in Turkey, is the first of its kind conducted on men, not women, Dolunay Şenol, department chair for sociology at Kırıkkale University, told Anatolia news agency yesterday.

A total of 7,000 people participated in the “Nationwide Survey on Violence against Women,” in which men and women over the age of 18 were interviewed to identify their perceptions about violence against women. The survey was carried out in Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Erzurum, Trabzon and Malatya, and each city was represented by 500 men and women.

According to the survey, 34 percent of men said “violence is occasionally necessary” while 18 percent agreed with the statement “The man is the ruler of the house and is free to use violence when necessary.” Many men accept domestic violence when there is a “good enough reason,” it showed. According to some 30.9 percent of men, violence with a cause is acceptable, while 37.6 percent expressed that some principles such as honor, decency and discipline render violence necessary.

If women “provoke it,” then violence is acceptable for 23.4 percent of men. A minority of staunchly patriarchic 11.5 percent of men declared that they have the “right to use violence” and 11.8 percent found it absolutely necessary to punish women when they cross their husbands. Şenol said both men and women must be educated to prepare for a harmonious marriage, not only women. Hmmmm......Another reason to keep Turkey out of Europe.Read the full story here.

Study Shows Nearly half Saudi women are beaten at home.

Study Shows Nearly half Saudi women are beaten at home.(E24/7).Nearly half Saudi women are beaten up by their husbands or other family members at home and many of them are hit by sticks and head cover, according to a university study published in local newspapers on Tuesday.

Surprisingly, the study found that the Bedouin men who still dwell the desert in the conservative Gulf Kingdom, are less violent than Saudi men in urban areas.

The study was conducted by Dr Lateefa Abdul Lateef, a social science professor at King Saud University in the Capital Riyadh. It involved female students at the university and some Saudi women covered by the government’s social security.

“The study showed that nearly half those covered by social security and more than a third of the female students at the university are beaten up at home,” Dr Lateefa said, quoted by the Saudi Arabic language daily Almadina.

“Husbands were found to be beating their wives more than others….they are followed by fathers, then brothers then sons…hands and sticks were found to be used mostly in beating women, following by men’s head cover and to a lesser extent, sharp objects.”

The study showed that husbands beating their wives included both educated and non-educated men and that “those dwelling in the desert are less violent with their wives than those living in cities or villages.”

The study found that the main reasons for violence against women include poor religious motives, drug addiction and alcoholism, arrogance and a tendency to control, psychological problems, poverty, and unemployment.

Related: Qaradawi Organization Wants To Be Consulted Before Islamic Countries Sign Int. Treaties about "Violence against Women" as it might 'contradict' Sharia Law.