Global Roundup: Australia GBV Rallies, Hong Kong Trans Activist, Women Under Kafala System, Afghan Women Documentary, England Queer Muslims
Global Roundup: Australia GBV Rallies, Hong Kong Trans Activist, Women Under Kafala System, Afghan Women Documentary, England Queer Muslims
Curated by FG Contributor Samiha Hossain
Some protesters at the Perth rally called for a change in the way Australians talked about violence against women.(ABC News: Herlyn Kaur)
Tens of thousands of Australians have gathered in cities and towns around the country, rallying against gender-based violence (GBV). 27 women have been killed as a result of GBV so far this year – almost double when compared to the same period last year.
In Perth, hundreds of people took to the streets to join national calls for an end to gender-based violence, and mourn the loss of the lives of women at the hands of men. Clinical psychologists Lee Goddard and Carmel Cairney attended the march and said using more appropriate language to describe the violence was vital in addressing systemic issues.
Calling it male violence, or men's violence, makes it necessary for men to pay attention and take responsibility, whereas both domestic and gender violence minimises it. We had such high hopes in the 70s when we were protesting and hopeful about the advancement of women rights and some have advanced. But violence against women is worse than ever... shocking. We should be ashamed as a nation. -Carmel Cairney
Chants of "we won't take it anymore" and "no more violence, no more hate" rang through Brisbane's CBD as thousands marched through the streets. Lesley Synge said she was marching as a victim of sexual assault and domestic violence herself and stood with all attendees in what she described as a "real show of strength."
In Bendigo, hundreds of men and women gathered at Rosalind Park in the city centre to protest. Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria chief executive Kate Wright said she wanted to see real action from politicians following the rallies. She added that her organisation had been overwhelmed by demand for its services in recent years.
What we don't want is more talk, because we know what we need to do. We need to see systemic change … where we see intervention orders actually being held up, we don't want to see breaches being treated as minor. -Kate Wright
On the Gold Coast, women's and children's shoes sat on the grass as people gathered to serve as a visual reminder of the victims of domestic and family violence.
It is a visual representation of some of the people, women and children, that have been killed as a result of domestic and family violence. It is a reminder that it is not just a number, not just a statistic, but behind each number represents somebody that is no longer here. -Melissa Venville, organiser
In the Victorian town of Cobram, where 49-year-old Emma Bates was recently found dead in her home, hundreds gathered at a rally. Organiser Ash said both culture and language needed to change when talking about GBV. She said men are often defended while women are vilified and questioned at times for their behaviour. Men were encouraged to join the nationwide rallies and Ash called on more to make a stance against violence.
It is not fair to be asking women how we can reduce violence because it is not our responsibility … we have been fighting this for far too long. I am tired, I am angry and I'm not doing it anymore. We need men to do it. We don't need you to just call it out… we need you to offer support as well. -Ash
Henry Tse, who won an appeal to change the gender on his ID card, poses Monday with a mock ID card outside the immigration tower in Hong Kong after receiving the new document.Vernon Yuen / AP
Henry Tse won his appeal over the government’s refusal to change the gender on his ID card in February 2023. Previously, Tse was not able to make the change because he did not undergo full gender-affirmation surgery. Last year, the city’s top court said the government’s policy was unconstitutional in a landmark ruling, arguing it imposed an unacceptably harsh burden. The judgment prompted an easing of rules earlier this month.
Tse’s victory is seen as an important step forward for the city’s LGBTQ community, many of whose transgender members consider the operation unnecessary and risky. After obtaining his new ID card, Tse told reporters that life has not been easy since he lodged a judicial review in 2017. In addition to the legal challenges, he has also faced obstacles from the government and attacks from others.
What is normal for many people has finally become normal for us. -Henry Tse
Tse said bank staff told him he did not match his ID card and asked him to resubmit documents. He also could not change the gender on his travel permit to mainland China, which caused him a delay when crossing the border. Immigration officials searched their computer for 15 minutes, he said, before finally letting him enter.
Tse, after receiving his new ID card, said he would start changing his other documents, including his passport and bank details. The activist, who was previously active in sports, said he might sign up for a gym membership too. He called it a “return to normal life.”
A woman carries her suitcase in Beirut before her return to Sierra Leone. Domestic workers in the Middle East can be criminalised for running away, even when they are escaping from a dangerous situation. Illustration: Getty/Guardian picture desk
A Guardian investigation has gathered testimonies from 50 women who are, or were, working as domestic workers under the Gulf’s kafala system. Their testimony reveals a section of society operating under appalling conditions facilitated by the state’s employment apparatus. Women domestic workers, generally excluded from labour protection laws by working in private homes, are heavily dependent on their employers. Even in states where kafala laws have been amended or reformed, as in Qatar after the 2014 UN report, little has changed and women report conditions that experts say amount to forced labour. All of the women interviewed worked seven day weeks and had passports confiscated by their employer. Many reported being subjected to violence and sexual abuse. Most had to pay recruitment fees to get their jobs. All names used in the article have been changed.
Beatrice was 21 when a recruiter – a man from her community in Liberia – told her she had been awarded a scholarship to study in Oman. When she arrived in 2021, she was put to work.
The job is tough. You clean, wash the car, wash clothes. We don’t have any vacation. They beat you; they starve you. We are dying – we need help. -Beatrice
According to Bernard Freamon, a US law professor and human trafficking expert, kafala gives a “veneer of legality to slaveholding.”
The kafala system facilitates slavery because it keeps people from having any rights. It keeps them under an absolute regime of control. It enables the citizens of the country to have huge amounts of leisure and not do serious work. It creates a caste system, where mostly brown, dark-skinned people are running the society in terms of labour but not getting any benefit. -Bernard Freamon
Five domestic workers in Qatar told the Guardian they were unable to leave their employers; three say their employers said they would have to pay them if they wanted to be “free.” Jasmine has tried to get help from the Philippine embassy in Qatar to leave her employers of eight years who are holding her passport and ID card and have demanded 13,000 riyals (£2,800) for permission to leave their house. This is an impossible amount of money for her.
I want to leave them for good and apply for a job in a country where I can have time off at the weekend. I’m so tired from working without a day off. I think about killing myself because I’m so stressed. Every day I cry because I feel so hungry and so tired. -Jasmine
It is not uncommon for domestic workers in Middle Eastern countries to die or go missing. Their families can rarely access justice, or sometimes even get clear answers on the cause of death. In October, the Guardian exposed the case of Vergie Tamfungan, a 39-year-old mother from the Philippines who died in unexplained circumstances at a UAE recruitment agency and whose family could not afford to repatriate her body. The UAE authorities intervened and returned her body to her family in the Philippines after the Guardian’s report.
An Unfinished Journey is a documentary about 4 women leaders who fled Afghanistan fighting against gender apartheid.
After the Taliban took over in Afghanistan in 2021, four women — parliamentarians, ministers and journalists — were stripped of their positions of power. Resettling in Canada, the documentary An Unfinished Journey (part of the 2024 Hot Docs Festival in Toronto) documents their continued fight for freedom for women, women's right to education, and pressuring international power to force the Taliban to reverse gender apartheid policies.
Co-director Amie Williams has been living in Greece since 2018 and found out that a group of women airlifted out of Kabul were set to arrive in Athens. She met them through the Melissa Network, an organization for migrant and refugee women in Greece. Moving the production to Canada, following three women on their journey, eventually adding a fourth in Canada, Toronto-based co-director Aeyliya Husain was particularly attracted to telling this story.
I'm interested in women's issues that show my cultural background and about women that shatter the stereotypes and tropes of Muslim women. I met with the women as they started to come here to Canada, ... and then we eventually started filming with them. -Aeyliya Husain
Homaira Ayubi served four terms in the Afghan parliament and we see her attending protests and meeting politicians in Canada. Zefnoon Safi, from Laghman Province, has a 20-year political career, but had to come to Canada without two of her daughters, who remain trapped in Afghanistan. Nargis Nehan was a minister who worked closely with Afghanistan’s ousted president Ashraf Ghani. Journalist Nilofar Moradi had openly criticized the Taliban in her work, and resettled in Ottawa with her husband, six-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter. Throughout An Unfinished Journey, we see these women mobilize a community, crafting a real call to action for women, and governments, all over the world.
A lot of the women, in the film say, we're not just fighting for rights for women in Afghanistan, but for women all over the world. We need to fight for returning education to young girls, allowing women to go out of their homes, they're basically being erased from public spaces and this is really dangerous. -Aeyliya Husain
Participants of Zula Rabikowska's 'Habun' project (Image: Zula Rabikowska)
London-based Polish queer photographer and visual artist Zula Rabikowska's 'Habun' project documents young queer Muslim communities. “Habun” is the Arabic word for love, and this project focuses on young queer Muslim people in England.
The people Rabikowska spoke with told her that some Muslim queer people distance themselves from “traditional” cis-heteronormative spaces because they are either pushed away by their religious community or family and that sometimes their relationship with faith is compromised. Participants of the project shared stories of hope, fear, discrimination, love, and acceptance. They also discussed their experiences of faith, coming out, taboos, and their relationships with family, culture, and religion. Some embraced Islam only after later accepting they can be both Muslim and queer. Some discussed the support and acceptance they received when coming out to their families and friends.
Asad is a HIV and STI outreach and testing coordinator.
When I was a kid, my parents forced me into football. I wanted to go to drama school, but I wasn’t allowed. I was living in a shell — a mould made for me. I have greatly changed since then. I am free to be who I am and sometimes I would rather wear a skirt or a dress. When I was growing up, I simply didn’t know gay or other LGBTQI+ people existed. There was a gay Muslim character on EastEnders, but when this came up, my parents would quickly flip the channel. In Urdu, the only words for LGBTQI+ people are derogatory. -Asad
Sara is an actor and teacher who discussed the complexities of the queer Muslim identity.
Lots of people have a preconceived idea of a Muslim, and sometimes I am reluctant to share my faith with some other queer people. People need to understand that Muslims come in all shapes and gender identities. I have a complicated relationship with faith. I question if I should be a Muslim because there is so much homophobia and transphobia and this has led me to question the morality of my own faith at times. -Sara
Writer Kamala’s chosen name was “Natalie” at first to create distance between Kamala’s culture and religion. Later, “Kamala” was inspired by Kamala Khan in the Ms Marvel series, she was Marvel’s first Muslim protagonist.
I am excited to be on this path of self-discovery, I am excited and happy to have found my community, and even by the hormone treatment. After years of losing friends to homophobia, I finally feel at home. -Kamala
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.