Abortion
House OKs Peace Corps Abortions; Libyan Activist Slain
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The Republican-controlled House committee approved an extension of abortion coverage to Peace Corp volunteers. Also this week, a human rights activist in Benghazi was assassinated.
Contraception
Pakistani Climbs for Change; Syrian Refugees Assaulted
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Samina Baig, the first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest, is planning to climb to the summits of seven major peaks for women’s empowerment. In Lebanon, female refugees who escaped Syria’s conflict say they have been sexually harassed.
Arab Spring
New Middle East Needs Fusion of Islam and Feminism
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As the Middle East reconfigures politically, post Arab Spring, women are fighting for their rights, but not at the expense of their faith, says Isobel Coleman in the new preface of her book “Paradise Beneath Her Feet.”
Arab Spring
Two Years Later, Arab Women Weigh Ongoing Risks
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Two years after the start of the Arab Spring, Hajer Naili interviews three post-revolutionary women about the increasingly radical Islamist forces that are smothering their hopes. “I don’t even know what their aims are,” says one woman.
Arts & Culture
Libyan Congress 17% Female; Profits Up, Wages Down
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[[image-with-caption:{ “caption”: “A woman casts her vote in Libya’s July elections.”, “credit”: “Credit: Samia Mahgoub/United Nations Development Programme”, “url”: “http://womensenews.org/sites/default/files/51_UNDP_Libya_GNC_Electins_Woman_elated_to_cast_her_vote_Samia_Mahgoub.jpg”, “width”: 576, “height”: 400, “alt”: “A woman casts her vote in Libya’s July elections.”, “align”: “” }]]
elections
Libyan Elections Give Women a 17% Starting Point
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Women’s representation in Libya was bolstered by a “zipper system” calling for male-female parity in parties’ lists of candidates. In a surprise, a liberal coalition edged out Islamists. “Women don’t want to wear the niqab,” says a women’s rights leader.
Politics
Libya Liberation Speech Raises Hackles on Polygamy
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Libya’s long-awaited declaration of liberation excluded female voices and raised questions about how the tide might turn on matters of family law. The country’s interim leader faced immediate backlash for endorsing a return to unrestricted polygamy.
Work
Libyan Women Challenge Mindset Created by Tyranny
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Libyans have lived under a dictatorship for over 40 years and the effort to think and act freely doesn’t come easily. In Benghazi, a small women-led group called Express is waging a psycho-social effort to “Get Rid of the Gadhafi Inside You.”
Politics
Gadhafi Said to Order Forces to Rape Villagers
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Victim testimonies and recovered material from Moammar Gadhafi’s loyalists point to the widespread use of rape as weapon of war in Libya. Hundreds of women have given testimony; some of which has reached the International Criminal Court.