Global Roundup: Iraq Women Protest, Nepal Advocate for Survivors, Thailand Woman in Politics, Germany Trans Muslim TikTok Star, Montreal Trans Rights March
Global Roundup: Iraq Women Protest, Nepal Advocate for Survivors, Thailand Woman in Politics, Germany Trans Muslim TikTok Star, Montreal Trans Rights March
Curated by FG Contributor Samiha Hossain
Activists demonstrate against female child marriages in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, 28 July 2024 (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP)
Women and children's rights campaigners in Iraq have pushed back at proposals that could enshrine sectarianism in family relationships, hand more power in family matters to clerics, and open the door for child marriage to be legalised. On 28 July, a group of activists – including campaigners from the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) – gathered in Baghdad in opposition to the draft bill. They held placards reading "the era of female slaves is over" and "No to the marriage of minors".
The amendments to Law No. 188 of the Personal Status Law of 1959 have been heavily promoted by the Coordination Framework, a coalition of conservative Shia Islamist parties that form the largest bloc in parliament. Yanar Mohammed, president of OWFI, told Middle East Eye that the Coordination Framework were trying to push the "archaic" laws as a means of distracting from their own failings, including "huge corruption". She added that OWFI and others were building a "coalition" to try and prevent the bill from passing through the parliament and defend the current law. A number of Iraqi female lawmakers, including members from different factions, have meanwhile formed a coalition in opposition to the amendments of the Personal Status Law.
Their most efficient tool for this distraction is to terrorise Iraqi women and civil society with a legislation that strips away all the rights that Iraqi women gained in modern times, and force archaic Islamic sharia on them that regards women as bodies for pleasure and breeding, and not as human being[s] with human rights. -Yanar Mohammed
The 1959 law was passed under the government of Abdul-Karim Qasim, a leftist nationalist who brought in a number of progressive reforms, including increased rights for women. Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, however, rightwing political parties in the country have attempted to roll back these rights. Previous versions of the bill have included rules preventing Muslim men from marrying non-Muslims, the legalisation of marital rape, and banning women from leaving the house without their husband's permission. The latest version is considerably less explicit, but campaigners fear its passage will allow religious authorities to introduce the rules through their establishment of the Personal Status code.
They would further entrench gender inequality and put vulnerable individuals at greater risk,.. We urge policymakers to reject these proposals and instead focus on strengthening protections for women and children. -Tamara Amir, CEO of the Iraqi Women's Rights Platform
Photo: Pete Pattisson
tw: rape
Devi Khadka, 44, has lived multiple lives; as a rebel fighter, a parliamentarian and now, a fierce advocate for Nepal’s survivors of wartime sexual violence. Her story is now being told in a new documentary called Devi, by Nepali film-maker Subina Shrestha. The film follows Khadka’s remarkable efforts to build a survivors’ movement in Nepal and hold officials and politicians to account. Khadka herself was violently beaten and raped by officers when she was 17 years old and the police were after her brother, Rit Bahadur, a local Maoist leader. For years, she was left traumatised, shamed and broken. Yet she has refused to let it define her.
I need to speak up because it’s the only way to get justice. I have the right to refuse many things, but I do not have the right to stop sharing my story. -Devi Khadka
The film is also the story of a country struggling to face up to its past. The war ended in 2006, and in 2014 a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) was established to investigate the “gross violations of human rights and crimes against humanity” committed by both sides during the conflict. Yet the process was widely criticised for allowing amnesties for serious human rights violations and was accused of being designed to “legislate an escape hatch” for those who should have been held accountable for wartime abuses but who had taken on positions of power in the new government. A decade on, there has not been a single successful prosecution under the act. The process has utterly failed survivors of sexual violence, says Khadka. She says rape survivors were reluctant to come forward and those that did were treated badly; some were publicly exposed, others were not believed.
After her assault, Khadka joined the Maoists and, as the war raged on, rose up through the ranks to become a platoon leader. Then, in 2002, after her brother was killed by government forces, Khadka took on his political role within the Maoist party. Then, after the peace deal with the government in 2006, she stood in the first national elections in 2008 and won a seat in the new parliament. Khadka has been accused of failing to speak up for conflict-era rape survivors while in office, a charge she accepts – adding that the Maoists got “disconnected” after gaining power.
With the fight for recognition and justice going nowhere, Khadka realised the stories of the survivors of sexual violence were “being erased from history”. She spoke out about her own abuse and work with other survivors, and now leads two survivor organisations, documenting wartime rape cases, lobbying for medical treatment and financial support and organising fellow survivors to demand justice through the TRC. Her efforts may be beginning to pay off: in 2023, the government tabled a bill to amend the transitional justice act, which, among other measures, would categorise the rape of non-combatants during the conflict as a “serious violation of human rights”, which would not be eligible for amnesty. Despite this, and other amendments such as guaranteeing reparations for rape survivors, rights groups still say that the amendments don’t go far enough and the bill “risks perpetuating impunity”.
Society needs to change its view of rape victims. Currently, victims are running away and hiding, while the culprits are free and enjoying power. This is just the opposite of how it should be…If I lose hope, I won’t be able to continue fighting for it. And I believe we will get justice. If not for this generation, then the next. -Devi Khadka
For the last 15 years, Pateemoh Pohitaedaoh has been working for Thai women in the deep south by providing counselling, coordinating with government organisations, and helping with recovery following loss. She entered politics in the hope that this would allow her to play a role in solving problems in her homeland, especially those related to women’s issues.
The founder of the Women for Peace Association (WePeace) and a mother, Pateemoh knows all about loss and the heartbreak of losing loved ones in a senseless conflict. She recounts losing several brothers to gunshot wounds and how it affected her family. Understanding that receiving support from those who have been through the same traumas is more impactful, she started WePeace, an organisation supporting women affected by the conflict in the southern border provinces.
People think that leadership roles belong to men […] Becoming a politician was even more challenging than I had imagined. Photos of me were edited to show me nude, then posted on social media and in Line group chat rooms of which all the communities’ leaders were members. These attempts to discredit me did not only affect me. Don’t forget that I have children and they are affected too. -Pateemoh Pohitaedaoh
The methods used to discredit Pateemoh did not stop with doctored images. Lies were constantly published attempting to show her as unethical and implying she was going against Islamic principles. Pateemoh shared a death threat she received: “If you want to live, quit politics”. Candidates in Muslim neighbourhoods usually give speeches in mosques, especially on Friday when all men must attend the Jummah or Friday prayer. As a woman, Pateemoh was not allowed to do so. The same taboo applies to local tea houses, where men go and talk about social issues, politics and daily problems.
Women can talk and share their visions on the bamboo bench, however. The bamboo bench, known as krae in Thai, functions the same way as a tea house. It is a space where women can get together in the evening after finishing their daily chores and share stories of their household with others. The women also talk about politics, social issues, daily problems in the community and women’s problems. Pateemoh said the biggest problem women experience is intimate partner violence. On the bamboo bench, Pateemoh regularly finds a space where she can talk and be listened to by women.
As a former educator, Pateemoh sees the importance of educating women and this she is achieving through WePeace. The organization now has around 781 volunteers in the three southernmost provinces. All have suffered losses as a result of the conflict. Being victims once themselves, they understand the feelings such losses cause and the benefits of receiving help during those hard times.
Berfin Celebi, third from right, attends an event at the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Berlin. Photo courtesy of Berfin Celebi
Berfin Celebi, a 27-year-old transgender woman and a Muslim, goes by @kurdischekween on TikTok. She uses the platform to start discussions with her 100,000 followers about LGBTQI+ rights and Islam. Pinned to Celebi’s TikTok page is a video of her and a friend in a busy Berlin square, waving a huge Kurdish flag with a difference — either side of the yellow sun are the instantly recognisable rainbow colours of the LGBTQI+ Pride flag. As well as provocative stunts such as the flag, she creates informative videos on queer theology that discuss different interpretations of the Qur’an. She answers questions about her transition journey and how to deal with homophobic or transphobic family members, often starting her videos with the greeting “Salam Alaikum, sisters!”.
Celebi shares how growing up, religion was both a source of joy and a source of tension for her. Aged 20, she visited a Pride parade in the nearby city of Cologne and got chatting to a drag queen. The drag queen from Cologne became one of Celebi’s closest friends. Through her, she became part of an LGBTQI+ community, which she now calls her “second family”, and started performing. She slowly started opening up about her identity on social media, with posts including drag makeup looks based on the colours of the Kurdish flag. In 2022, she moved to Berlin, came out as transgender and started chronicling her experience of transitioning.
People would tell me, ‘You can never be a real Muslim’...I still see the world in an Islamic way…When I pray, I can still feel Allah. So I don’t want to give this up just because of what other people think. -Berfin Celebi
Then, in 2023, Celebi was invited by one of Germany’s more progressive Muslim houses of worship, the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque, to perform at a drag event. The mosque, which opened in 2017, allows men and women to pray together and does not require women to wear head coverings. This was the first place of worship in which Celebi felt truly safe and comfortable. Celebi now works with the mosque to deliver workshops in schools about Islam and LGBTQI+ rights.
Celebi decided early on that she would not delete the threats or hateful comments on her posts as she wants everyone to see the hate queer Muslims receive regularly. She continues to post content she knows some people will find provocative in the hope that she will start conversations. The negative messages she receives are balanced by the positive ones and she believes that queer Muslim representation is growing stronger.
Photo: CTV News
In Canada, hundreds gathered for the 10th annual Trans March in downtown Montreal last weekend.
It's crucially important to be here today specifically with all the issues that have been coming up not only in Canada but worldwide concerning trans rights. -Maria Arcobelli Sacco, attendee
Trans activist Celeste Trianon says trans people are deserving of the same rights as everyone else. Trianon points to the current transphobic discourse surrounding an Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, who has been facing intense scrutiny after false claims began to circulate that she is trans.
People started just assuming that someone was a trans person, and they were completely dehumanized. So imagine how it is for someone who is part of the community. -Celeste Trianon
With the rise of anti-trans sentiment at home and abroad, some attendees found comfort in being surrounded by a crowd of pink, blue and white flags.
For me, it's affirming. I think I'm still in the process of trying to express myself as genuinely as possible, so seeing other people who are already going through that process is very encouraging. -Ana Araujo, attendee
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Samiha Hossain (she/her) is an aspiring urban planner studying at Toronto Metropolitan University. Throughout the years, she has worked in nonprofits with survivors of sexual violence and youth. Samiha firmly believes in the power of connecting with people and listening to their stories to create solidarity and heal as a community. She loves learning about the diverse forms of feminist resistance around the world.