Middle East

Afghan Women Pump Iron in Rights Battle. [Afghanistan] They don’t wear lycra and some keep their headscarves on while they work out, but the Shafaq Women’s Bodybuilding Club represents a small revolution for women in the conservative western Afghan city of Herat.

Egyptian Reformers Taking It To the Streets. [Egypt] Women outraged by the "Black Wednesday" assault on female protesters convened a conference titled "The Streets are Ours". The Network of Egyptian Mothers held a street demonstration, urging Egyptians to wear black in solidarity with referendum-day beating victims.

Imrana to Defy Diktat to 'Marry' Father-in-Law. [India] In a bizarre order, a community panchayat in Muzaffarnagar district has ordered a young married woman to become the “mother” of her own husband by living as a wife with the father-in-law who raped her.

Effort to Stop Child Marriage Hits a Wall. [India] While India has been waging a campaign against the traditional practice of child marriage, many people here consider it a failed, half-hearted effort. The government's defeat has been symbolized by the image of Shakuntala Verma, a 48-year-old social worker who lies in a hospital, both arms crudely severed above the wrists. Verma believes her limbs were slashed by a local villager, angry at the work she was doing in rural Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India, to prevent about 20 child weddings from going ahead.

Decision on Women’s Bill Soon. [India] The Centre is close to taking a decision on the Women’s Reservations Bill, human resource development minister Arjun Singh said.

Clothing is Flash Point. [India] Selecting what to wear has become less a fashion statement than a politically charged dilemma for the city's students after university officials recommended that girls replace skimpy dresses with the more modest folds of a salwar-kameez trouser suit to protect themselves from sexual harassment.

Gender Gap Persists. [India] There continues to be a steady decline in the number of girls born for every 1,000 boys. Technology, which should have been an empowering tool, has worked against the girl child in India. It has enabled easier methods of sex selection so that the female child can be eliminated shortly after conception.

Girls Pick Studies, Divorce Husbands. [India] Four more girls, inspired by the campaign against child marriages, divorced their husbands. Fourteen-year-old Chenugapalli Susheela, who initiated the process of social change, apparently inspired them.

Political Participation Denied. [Kuwait] Last month, on the 19th April, lawmakers in Kuwait agreed to allow women the right to vote and run in local council elections - a bill that passed on a 26-20 vote, with three abstentions. Kuwaiti women were ecstatic - women have been fighting since the 1960s for political rights, in a country where women's rights are comparable to those in Saudi Arabia. With just one more session of voting to solidify the decision, and the final word resting in the hands of Kuwait's emir (Prime Minister), pro-women's rights Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, women were as close as they were ever going to be to political participation. However, parliament ended in a deadlock when 29 members abstained and 29 members voted yes, leaving the bill just four votes shy of the 33 required for it to pass. Elections were called hours after the legislation was blocked, and now Kuwaiti women will have to wait another four years for a chance to take part in elections.

Gang-Rape Victim Travel Ban. [Pakistan] The Pakistani government, which last week said gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai was free to travel, has taken away her passport.

A Victory for Pakistan's Women. [Pakistan] In a victory for human rights, Pakistan's Supreme Court has suspended the acquittals of men accused of gang-raping a villager. The victim has become an international cause celebre for her refusal to accept humiliation by her attackers and Pakistan's legal system.

Moderates Beaten in Public. [Pakistan] The crime: attempting to organize a symbolic mixed-gender mini-marathon. The stated aim of the marathon was to highlight violence against women and to promote "enlightened moderation" -- a reference to President Pervez Musharraf's constant refrain describing the Pakistani military's ostensible shift from state-sponsored Islamist militancy and religious orthodoxy to something else (just what is not entirely clear).

'Honor' Rape: Five Pakistanis Held. [Pakistan] Pakistani police have arrested five men on charges of kidnapping and gang-raping a woman in the latest of a string of so-called honor crimes.