In The News

Feminist, Socialist, Muslim: Woman Puts Denmark Into Turmoil

Ian Traynor May 17, 2007
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, 25, upends many people’s assumptions about a candidate for parliament – and not just because of her age. The young social worker is a devout Muslim who declines to shake hands with men and wears a traditional headscarf, but also supports progressive Danish policies including abortion and gay rights. Her positions – and particularly her insistence on wearing a headscarf, which...

Moroccan Immigrants, Spanish Strawberries and Europe's Future

Daniela Gerson May 14, 2007
When strawberries ripen, Spanish farmers seek short-term workers who can pick the berries carefully and quickly – and then return home, rather than stay and cause any problems in European communities that have come to resent illegal immigrants. And the strawberry farmers are adamant about their employment preferences: fit woman under the age of 40 who are married and have children in neighboring...

Prime Minister Abe’s New Clothes

Alexis Dudden March 28, 2007
If the history of the world is the world’s court of justice, as 18th century historian Friedrich von Schiller suggested, then attempts to bury or deny unpleasant episodes can only fail. Since 1993, Japanese leaders have agreed to the Kono Statement, admitting that its military had forced women to serve as sexual slaves before and during World War II. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, in his post just...

Does the Prospect of Arranged Marriage and Abuse Warrant Asylum in the US?

Warren Richey March 26, 2007
The world has many policies on marriage: Some nations allow multiple spouses, some permit marriages among teenagers or same-sex partners, and others assign more power to one gender or the other. The Bush administration has asked the US Supreme Court to examine the case of a woman who left China and convinced a federal appeals court that deportation would mean she would face her husband’s wrath....

Let's Burn the Burqa

Taslima Nasrin January 17, 2007
Women wear burqas to conceal their faces and bodies from public view. Writer Taslima Nasrin reviews the history and many theories offered about the personal and social motives behind the concealment: The burqa may constrain sexual reactions from other people, or women may simply want privacy, refusing to endure any stares. Some opponents argue that the burqa reduces women to the status of sexual...

Yet Another Problem in the Middle East

December 20, 2006
Arab society as a whole suffers because of the marginalized status of its women. A series of Arab Human Development Reports, from the United Nations Development Programme, explore the many challenges facing Arab societies. Half the women in Arab society are illiterate along with one third of the men. Concern emerges in Arab societies that Western values draw women away from family roles, and yet...

Theologians Battle Female Circumcision

Amira El Ahl December 19, 2006
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 140 million women worldwide are circumcised, most living in Africa, with some also in Asia and the Middle East. Some cultures – mostly in Africa, but also in Asia – have embraced female circumcision for thousands of years, expecting it to decrease sexual desire in women. The practice is common in Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, but not in Iraq,...