The Legal and Judicial Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Parliament, has recently re-introduced the so-called “Protection of Family Bill” to the parliament with changes to articles 23 and 25 and rushed it through parliament for ratification among the political chaos in the country. This bill is ineffective to support the institution of family and is far behind the bill that was ratified some 35 years ago in 1974.
According to the new bill, polygamy is legalised and men are given further powers to re-marry without the consent or even the knowledge of the first wife. According to the new amendments if a woman contracts a terminal disease or is away from home for 6 months or is imprisoned for a bounced cheque, her husband can take a new wife. On the other hand, women’s right to divorce is very limited.
In July 2007, a draft of this bill was introduced to the parliament for the first time but faced with widespread objections by women activists and other civil rights groups. The objections focused on articles 23 and 25, where the first was given further rights to men and the second introduced tax on women’s Gift Money which is allocated to her on marriage and is women’s only guarantee and safeguard in case of divorce and maltreatment. The new bill has omitted the tax but has divided the Gift Money into ‘conventional’ and ‘unconventional’ without setting a standard for this, thus restricting the only legal mechanism women had within the institution of family.
The myths exposed in this publication come from the experiences of more than 1,600 women’s rights activists who responded to AWID’s Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms survey, as well as 51 key experts who were interviewed for the project.
Together, these women’s rights activists represent a diverse group: ranging in age from under 16 to over 65 years of age; working on different issues and affected by different religious fundamentalisms; working at local, national, regional or international levels in various regions, and in organizations that range from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to government and multilateral agencies. They include academics, human rights defenders, youth and development workers, as well as members of religious organizations.
Atiyeh Yousefi, activist in the One Million Signatures Campaign in Rasht [Gilan province, northern Iran], is currently being held in Lakan Prison in Rasht, without any reason having been given for her detention.
Five days after Atiyeh Yousefi’s arrest, her family still has no information on the arrest warrant issued for her, and have not managed to arrange a meeting with the judge presiding over her case.
Atiyeh Yousefi was arrested while seeking to give assistance to a young man who had been severely beaten by plainclothes security officers on the day of Ashura [27th December 2009].
Sexual minorities in Africa have become collateral damage to our domestic conflicts and culture wars as U.S. conservative evangelicals and those opposing gay pastors and bishops within mainline Protestant denominations woo Africans in their American fight, a groundbreaking investigation by Political Research Associates (PRA) has discovered.
Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia, a new report by the Rev. Kapya Kaoma, PRA Project Director, exposes the U.S. Right’s promotion of an agenda in Africa that aims to criminalize homosexuality and otherwise infringe upon the human rights of LGBT people while also mobilizing African clerics in U.S. culture war battles. U.S. social conservatives, who are in the minority in mainline churches, depend on African religious leaders to legitimize their positions as their growing numbers makes African Christians more influential globally.
The investigation’s release could not be timelier, as the Ugandan parliament considers the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009. Language in that bill echoes the false and malicious charges made in Uganda by U.S antigay activist and Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively that western gays are conspiring to take over Uganda and even the world.
(IRQR – Toronto, November 15, 2009) Nemat Safavi from the city of Ardebil, Mehdi P. from Tabriz, and Mohsen Gh. from Shiraz were all arrested, tried and sentenced to death in different courts in Iran, based on accusations of homosexual acts (known as "Lavat").
They were under the age of 18 at the time of arrest and have been kept in prison since then. In Nemat’s case, he was jailed for five years so that he would reach the legal age (according to Islamic law) at which death sentences can be carried out.
Human rights activists working on Nemat's behalf have determined that the authorities in Ardebil are claiming Nemat dons not even exist. Having observed many similar cases before, IRQR considers this statement to be reason for even greater worry.
Mehdi and Mohsen are awaiting their execution despite the fact that they have both pleaded innocent and have denied the allegations. There is not one single witness in either of the cases, and even the judge himself has no evidence whatsoever to prove that the plaintiffs are guilty. (According to Islamic law, the accused person would accept his guilt four times, or there would be four male adults testifying on the crime committed, before a court can legally rule on someone’s guilt.)
That March meeting launched a campaign that has led directly to today, when the Ugandan legislature is debating an anti-gay bill that would lead to life imprisonment for gay sex, and death for those having same sex relations if they are HIV positive or having sex with someone under 18. Heterosexuals would have no such restrictions. This law, which would also criminalize any human rights organizing for LGBT rights, could be passed any day.
"If the Vatican and the Italian Parliament continue to block Anti-Hate Laws, then both will have blood on their hands."
- David Christmas, GALHA Secretary
The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) strongly supports the demonstrations held in Rome last weekend, protesting against the refusal of the Italian Parliament to pass laws protecting people physically victimised because of their sexual orientation.
The bill, which aimed to provide a deterrent against the growing number of "hate crimes" across Italy , especially against LGBT people, was voted out by an "unholy alliance" of Right Wing and Left Wing politicians, with the strong support of the Catholic Church.
As well as acting to torpedo this bill, the Vatican, has been a key player in denying gay Italian citizens other rights, such as the right to marriage or civil partnerships, that are rapidly becoming the norm elsewhere in Western Europe.
MPs rejecting the bill argued that it would give "special rights" to gay people, violating the Italian constitution which requires equality for all. More bizarrely, and inconsistently, it was claimed that it would also offer protection to tendencies such as paedophilia, zoophilia, necrophilia and incest.
In response, on Sunday 18th October, protestors organised "Flash Mobs" in several key locations in Rome , acting out their own "deaths" and wearing pink triangles, to hammer home the message sent out by Parliament, that violence against gay people is not an especially urgent issue. The clear message was that, in the event of any more attacks targeting gay people, the Italian Parliament and Government will have "blood on their hands".
8:The Mormon Proposition follows the story of many LGBT citizens seeking marriage equality and never-before revealed Mormon efforts to stop them. The stories of Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones, two gay Mormon men, are the marquis players in 8:TMP. Barrick is the direct descendant of Mormon polygamist Fredrick G. Williams, known historically as the right hand man to church founder Joseph Smith.
