C L O S E R

Against pornofication and sexualization – scratching the surface because you have to begin somewhere

Posted on April 25th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

UPDATE: SEE BELOW

As in some other countries such as the US there is a debate in the Netherlands about the pornofication and sexualization of Dutch society. In particular feminists have been active in this debate pointing out the objectification of women (reducing women to objects of sexual desire and moulding women into standardized models that fit the general pattern of what is sexually attractive to Dutch heterosexual men) and men (reducing men into objects that are determined by sexual lust and moulding them into standardized models of what a Dutch heterosexual man should find sexually attractive).

The debate focused on issues as ‘sex sells’ in commercial ads that are displayed in magazines and on the streets and on the degrading position of women in porn movies. As such this sexualization and pornofication of the public sphere would disturb the sexual development of young men and women. Indeed, examples abound such as in the billboard with a picture of an almost naked woman, with no head and in front or her vagina a small handbag and the posters carried the words: “lesson 84: lead him into temptation“. The explicit or sometimes implicit reference in many of the discussions that such a sexualization and pornofication leads to distorted views on sexuality and sex has been criticized and many of the arguments against this pornofication and sexualization (such as children losing their virginity a much younger age which is in fact stable for many years now at the age of 17, that girls in partiuclar feel pressured to have sex, that girls sell sex for money or some other reward which does occur but only in 1% of the girls and 1,8 % of the boys), have been refuted. Nevertheless research also shows that 15-20% has troubles in dealing with sexually charged images, that such images in videoclips do influence self-esteem of girls and that they are influenced in such a way that they feel a ‘sexy look’ (according to a particular standard) is more important and that they are less positive about their own looks. Furthermore boys are more susceptible for misogynist views after watching such images and both sexes are less satisfied with their own relations. Really problematic are the numbers for sexual force. One in six girls and one in four homosexual boys (less for heterosexual boys) have experienced sexual force or transgressions. See the research sex under 25 (Dutch).

Notwithstanding the sometimes ambivalent research outcomes we should also ask ourselves of course how do we want to represent women and men in public? This is not only a questions feminists have dealt with in this debate but also (of course?) religious groups. In particular Christian groups have been active in the current debate and lodged complaints against particalar ad campaigns. While feminists such as Myrthe Hilkens or Sunny Bergman who denounce the pornofication are sometimes being seen as enemies of the free sexual morals of Dutch society and ridiculed but also as a-sexual or anti-sexual hysteric women who need a good …, or need to have a vaginal correction and a…. (the latter three thereby in fact almost proving the value of feminist criticism), the Christian groups received another response. Christians are back into arena, Do Christians get a big mouth?, back to the narrow minded times of the 1950s and an attack on the current freedoms in a society that has been relieved from the burden of religion.

Now we have one (!) Muslim man who is on a ‘crusade’ against, what he sees, as pornographic representations of women in commercial ads. The not so trustworthy Geenstijl brings as a campaign of prudish Muslims (plural) and hate-beards referring to an article on the BBC site about a school that burned down with Muslim girls in it. The comments in the newspapers show how people see this a the result of multicultural society, the next example of how Muslims want to impose their standards, an example of a person who doesn’t belong here and example of religious (in general) intolerance and sexual frustration.

NRC Handelsblad yesterday had an article with this man showing the ad that has been censored by Tariq Abdullah by scratching parts of the ad away with his nails. It is the second ad of lingery brand Sapph (‘Dress less to impress’) that he took care off in this way.

I do it to protect the women and children who pass by. […] Women may think that they have to look like that to pleasure men.

Mr. Abdullah who appears in the article to be an older, quiet with a soft voice and an ‘old-testament’ appearance says he does not do it for himself.

I’m not a young man anymore who immediately goes to the bathroom when he sees such a poster.

When a police man stops the question is if he will arrest mr. Abdullah. The officer states that he understands mr. Abdullah’s action

According to Abdullah he acts out of

 ‘respect for God’.

He sees himself as a traveller with a message. Prophets and wise men have foretold that something is about to happen and according Mr. Abdullah this something is near and has apparently something to do with this poster. Only if we follow the path of God, and more precise the God of Islam, we can resist the danger.

The officer doesn’t do anything. Since there are around 30 Sapph-posters in Amsterdam (250 in the Netherlands) mr. Abdullah has taken up a major task and his nails do not reach much higher than the bottom of the model.

But you have to begin somewhere.

I don’t really know what to think about his actions although to a certain extent I can sympathize with it and given the fact that this is a one-man’s campaign it is certainly not worthwile to make a lot of fuss about it. According to Sapph company they are shocked about this violation of their property, Mr. Abdullah is shocked about the violation of God’s creation and the feminists are shocked about the violation of womens self-worth and agency and others will be shocked about the violation of freedom of expression and creativity.

UPDATE:
I have emailed the website GS with questions about their report on the issue. I know it is not to be taken seriously but given the impact of the website in the Dutch mediascape I think questions about how and why they portray mr. Abdullah as a hatebeard, referring to a school in Saudi Arabia that burned down with the girls in it and talk about multiple Muslims, I think questions are in order.

The editors have responded in their usual way, see also:
http://religionresearch.org/martijn/2009/04/10/geenstijl-gelukkig-is-het-geen-nederlander/
AND
http://religionresearch.org/martijn/2009/03/22/geenstijl-freak-show/

Fortunately the people who visit Geenstijl (and now also here albeit with some problems) and respond have far more interesting things to say here or by email. I will go into their reactions later in a separate entry, inviting people to respond to it.

68 comments.

"Don't think black and white…think Orange"

Posted on April 25th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues, Public Islam.

People who have seen the Dutch soccer fans at tournaments will have noticed it: much more than the national tricolor with red, white and blue, Orange is the national(ist) color. Orange refers to the color of the House of Orange-Nassau, the Dutch ruling monarchy. On birthdays of people of the royal family the Dutch flags have an additional orange banner.

And next week is Queensday, traditionally the day when the Queen’s birthday is celebrated also a day when many people (in particular those who celebrate in Amsterdam, the Hague and Utrecht) wear orange clothes.
Queensday is in many cases a celebration not only for native Dutch people but also for migrants and in particular the younger generations. This time it has led to a new initiative called the Louka. A group of students will hand out more than 5,000 orange headscarves on 30 April to promote tolerance in the Netherlands in a ‘playful’ way.

The orange headscarves will, according to the students, allow Muslim women to express their loyalty to their faith as well as to the queen.

The two students, Melissa Oosterbroek and Ben Rogmans, who initiated the action said they are annoyed by the rabble rousing in politics and in society over the wearing of headscarves.

The orange headscarves were partly sponsored by a EUR-3,000-prize awarded by the Haarlem council for the students’ initiative.

Now I don’t think a public expression of loyalty to the monarchy is necessary. One can be a republican in this country and still enjoy Queensday. Moreover I think that again such an initiative, how well the intentions may be, puts too much emphasis on Islam and on Muslims who apparently need to show their loyalty to the monarchy (and therefore to the Netherlands). Although it is meant to show that there is no inherent contradiction between loyalty to the faith and to the queen (and I agree with that) I’m afraid it will do exactly the opposite. As a Dutch male I don’t have to anything to show my loyalty to whatever institution and by focusing on Muslim women it in facts problematizes them and their loyalty. It also ignores the fact that many Muslim youth already wear orange in case of soccer championships and Queensday and my (anecdotal) impression that Orange is already a very inclusive form of banal nationalism that only requires the color Orange for people to be included in the festivities (whether one is migrant or not).

This maybe a very sour comment so let’s just think hey it is party time and when you wear a headscarf you get access to the Louka afterparty on Queensday. See also the video on Youtube (in Dutch):
[flashvideo filename=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9keJLJWIgPg /]

0 comments.

“Don’t think black and white…think Orange”

Posted on April 25th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues, Public Islam.

People who have seen the Dutch soccer fans at tournaments will have noticed it: much more than the national tricolor with red, white and blue, Orange is the national(ist) color. Orange refers to the color of the House of Orange-Nassau, the Dutch ruling monarchy. On birthdays of people of the royal family the Dutch flags have an additional orange banner.

And next week is Queensday, traditionally the day when the Queen’s birthday is celebrated also a day when many people (in particular those who celebrate in Amsterdam, the Hague and Utrecht) wear orange clothes.
Queensday is in many cases a celebration not only for native Dutch people but also for migrants and in particular the younger generations. This time it has led to a new initiative called the Louka. A group of students will hand out more than 5,000 orange headscarves on 30 April to promote tolerance in the Netherlands in a ‘playful’ way.

The orange headscarves will, according to the students, allow Muslim women to express their loyalty to their faith as well as to the queen.

The two students, Melissa Oosterbroek and Ben Rogmans, who initiated the action said they are annoyed by the rabble rousing in politics and in society over the wearing of headscarves.

The orange headscarves were partly sponsored by a EUR-3,000-prize awarded by the Haarlem council for the students’ initiative.

Now I don’t think a public expression of loyalty to the monarchy is necessary. One can be a republican in this country and still enjoy Queensday. Moreover I think that again such an initiative, how well the intentions may be, puts too much emphasis on Islam and on Muslims who apparently need to show their loyalty to the monarchy (and therefore to the Netherlands). Although it is meant to show that there is no inherent contradiction between loyalty to the faith and to the queen (and I agree with that) I’m afraid it will do exactly the opposite. As a Dutch male I don’t have to anything to show my loyalty to whatever institution and by focusing on Muslim women it in facts problematizes them and their loyalty. It also ignores the fact that many Muslim youth already wear orange in case of soccer championships and Queensday and my (anecdotal) impression that Orange is already a very inclusive form of banal nationalism that only requires the color Orange for people to be included in the festivities (whether one is migrant or not).

This maybe a very sour comment so let’s just think hey it is party time and when you wear a headscarf you get access to the Louka afterparty on Queensday. See also the video on Youtube (in Dutch):
[flashvideo filename=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9keJLJWIgPg /]

0 comments.

Imagining Women

Posted on April 14th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Much of the public discussion on women in society is about Muslim women. In particular on what they wear or should wear. Most people in the Netherlands have seem to grown accustomed to women wearing headscarves. An often written and heard statement is:

They wear headscarves but the rest of their clothing is very tight and revealing leaving little to the imagination

Exactly the type of clothing that seems leave much to imagine since the comment is abundantly present. Sometimes these type of girls are seen as ‘modern girls‘. Sexy girls, or more precise what heterosexual, white, non-Islamic men, perceive as sexy seems to be preferred and if Muslim girls only show a glimpse of that ‘we’  don’t really care about the irrational and backward headscarf, in particular if it is a ‘fashionable’ one. I know I am giving a very stereotypical image about how men or society at large likes to see its women, but now Dutch commercial television has reached a new high in portraying women on television with a so called ‘battle of the sexes‘ program: Lekker Slim (Pretty Smart). According to RTL:RTL.NL – Lekker Slim – Programma info

Six male candidats how to try to understand the female brain: instead of answering questions themselves they have to guess what answer six beautiful female candidates have given.

[…] It does not matter if the answer given by the women is correct or not; what matters is if the men guessed if the women would answer correctly or not.

Answering questions such as ‘Who is the Dalai Lama?’, Where is Ibiza’ and ‘What role played Germany during World War II?” may seem easy for the men. In pretty smart the female brain proves to be more mysterious than they think.

In this show loaded with testosteron the male couples are fighting to win a nice amount of money (the girls get presents, MdK). At the same time this is a humor loaded battle of the sexe. Because what will prevail? The knowledge about facts of these beautiful girls or the knowledge about people of the man?

[flashvideo filename=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmK9qcBHFm0 /]
The result is a show in which (mostly blonde) girls who do not have that much general knowledge produce one mistake after the other and the men laugh their pants of (the men also do not know that much, but that doesn’t seem to be that funny). The girls’ ‘dumbness’ is used for high view ratings and in the trailer their ‘dumb’ answers are used to attract people for the next show. Did anyone tell these girls (or are they actrices?) that they would be portrayed as dumb, superficial and objects of ridicule? Is this the example we want to show on Sunday evening prime time?

And if we allow TV to portray women on TV as superficial but beautiful, objects of ridicule but also sexy, do we still have reason to critique women who choose to cover themselves (Muslims or not) exactly because they do not want to be confronted with such stereotypes? Or does the fact that ‘we’ like women with headscarves as long as the rest of their clothes doesn’t leave much for imagination, mean that we also want to reduce these women into objects of sexism and ridicule?

0 comments.

Ramadan vs. Gay Krant

Posted on March 23rd, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Public Islam.

Tariq Ramadan is a guest professor in Rotterdam. I met him once, an intelligent, eloquent man. He has been accused numerous times and since ages, probably since he was born as the grand child of Hassan al Banna, of being insincere. On the one hand showing a ‘moderate’ and ‘liberal’ face towards non-Muslims while secretly having radical views and expressing these in a closed circle of Muslims. The latter face then would be his real, true face, the other just a mask. In the Netherlands this debate has resurfaced again after a gay magazine announced to ‘expose’ him.

GK.nl

In the texts on the cassettetapes Tariq Ramadan without hesitation says that ‘homosexual behaviour is a sign of an affection, a disorder and an unpoisedness.’ Many of his statements are written in the book Frère Tariq of Caroline Fourest. Ramadan denounces Fourest as a feminist lesbienne who cannot be taken serious. Al his tatements however can be found on cassettetapes meant for the Islamic constituency of the professor. Gay Krant listened to these tapes, wrote down the literal texts, and talked about it with former policitian Frits Bolkestein and writer Caroline Fourest.

The translation is mine, and also the links included in the quote.
The Gay Krant shows the controversial quotes:
GK.nl

On cassette QA 38 (timer 33:10) Ramadam says: “Dieu a voulu un norme et ce norme est “l’homme pour la femme et la femme pour l’homme” (timer 33:32) “Le message de l’islam de ce point de vue là est clair. ça n’est pas permis, ça c’est pas quelque chose qui entre dans la conception générale de l’homme.” En een paar secondes later : “L’homosexualité n’est pas quelque chose qu’on considère admis en islam”. And: “Ce comportement révèle une perturbation, un dysfunctionnement, un déséquilibre.”

On cassette QA 37 (timer 15:05) Ramadan says about women: “….dans la rue, mesure veut dire, on doit toujours avoir les yeux collés au béton.”

And on cassette QA 5 (timer 41:36) “Il y a un principe devant dieu. Si tu cherches á attirer le regard par les formes, ou par le parfum, ou par l’apparence, ou par les gestes, tu n’es pas dans le cheminement de la spiritualité.”

Ramadan gave the following reaction in a press statement:
AD mobiel – 24 uur per dag actueel nieuws

Over twenty years as an expert in Islam, I am involved in discussions and debates about women and gays in Islam. I have always defended the rights of women and I have never judged about gays regardless of my audience (Muslims, non-Muslims) and regardless the language (English, French, Arabic), or the location. The article consists of quotes that have been cut, twisted or are simply not correct. This is not to be taken seriously and is unacceptable.

Ramadan recommends everyone to read his views on his websites www.tariqramadan.com and www.vert-islam.com. The conservative liberals of VVD Rotterdam are fed up with him now (but felt that way already). The municipality of Rotterdam (that funds his chair at Erasmus University) has announced an inquiry.

Bolkestein was probably consulted because of a debate he had with Ramadan earlier. Bolkestein then referred to Fourests book but, as Ramadan at the time rightly argued, without reading the actual book. Story will continue probably. One thing I would like to know, what is the exact context of the statements, according to Gay Krant, made by Ramadan? What is the full text of his speech, when did he deliver the speech and where?

2 comments.

Face-covering Islamic robes to be banned

Posted on November 26th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

DutchNews.nl – Burqa ban extended to universities

Face-covering Islamic robes known as burqas and niqabs are to be banned from Holland’s colleges and universities, education minister Ronald Plasterk said on Wednesday.

In September, Plasterk (Labour) said the ban will only apply to primary and secondary schools. Higher educational institutions would be able to take their own decisions because they work with adults, he said at the time.

But now the minister has agreed to parliament’s wishes to extend the ban to higher education.

‘You must guarantee open communication… and be able to look one another in the eye. That also applies to higher education,’ Labour MP Margot Kraneveldt is reported as saying.

‘Absurd’

Only one or two female students are thought to actually cover their faces while attending classes. An estimated 100 women in the Netherlands wear the all-encompassing Islamic garment.

‘The burqa and niqab are absurd, women-unfriendly and get in the way of integration,’ Plasterk is quoted as saying by website nu.nl on Wednesday.

Announcing plans to ban burqas in schools in September, the minister said that teachers, parents and all visitors to schools, including suppliers making deliveries, will fall under the ban. Private Islamic schools will also have to comply.

0 comments.

Huwelijk toch maar niet geannuleerd

Posted on November 21st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Een Frans huwelijk dat afgelopen mei nog werd ontbonden omdat de
vrouw geen maagd meer bleek, is toch geldig, zo oordeelde het Franse
Hof van beroep maandag. Over dat eerste vonnis was nogal wat commotie en veel media berichtten erover evenals diverse weblogs zoals Endandit.nl, Ayaanhirsiali en Waarmaarraar. Dat is best te begrijpen op het eerste gezicht, maar de commotie en het herziene vonnis bevat toch iets waar wat vraagtekens bij gezet kunnen worden.

De annulering van het huwelijk draaide niet in eerste instantie om maagdelijkheid, maar om het feit dat de bruidegom bedrogen was ‘inzake een essentiële kwaliteit van de bruid’. Die essentiële kwaliteit betrof maagdelijkheid. Zowel bruid als bruidegom hebben destijds ingestemd met de annulering van het huwelijk.

Het vonnis riep de nodige discussie op en Franse voorvechters van vrouwenemancipatie zien het als een aantasting van de rechten van vrouwen, vooraanstaande moslims spraken over aantasting van de seksuele vrijheid en politici spraken over een aantasting van de scheiding kerk-staat. Daarbij is de focus op de maagdelijkheid van de vrouw in plaats van op een schending van vertrouwen. Opvallend is verder dat ik nergens (maar als ik het verkeerd heb, corrigeer me) de bruid en bruidegom aan het woord heb gehoord.

Misschien wat te snel en te kort door de bocht, maar een dergelijk publiek debat laat toch vooral zien dat zeker niet alleen moslims bezorgd zijn omtrent het seksuele gedrag en reputatie van vrouwen, maar dat ook voor niet-moslims het seksualiteit van (moslim-)vrouwen een platform is voor allerlei discussies over islam, vrouwenonderdrukking enzovoorts. Een veld waarin mensen zich comfortabel voelen om boos te worden en dit publiekelijk te uitten. Ik kan me immers een dergelijke discussie niet herrinneren nadat in Frankrijk een huwelijk niet doorging nadat de bruid transseksueel bleek. Is dat geen ongelijkheid voor transseksuelen? En discriminatie van transseksuelen?

Het gaat er niet zozeer om of maagdelijkheid inderdaad een essentiële kwaliteit is, maar wie dat beslist. In het herziene vonnis heeft de Franse rechter beslist dat maagdelijkheid niet zo’n kwaliteit is. Dus nu zijn twee mensen die hadden aangegeven allebei akkoord te zijn met de annulering, gedwongen met elkaar getrouwd. Saskia Dekkers van het NOS journaal geeft terecht en duidelijk aan wat de negatieve consequenties zijn voor het eerste vonnis. Wat betekent dit herziene vonnis dan? De stelling van de Franse rechter dat maagdelijkheid geen essentiële kwaliteit is, is nog steeds een inmenging in religieuze zaken. En wat betekent dit voor de positie van de vrouw dat zij tegen haar zin getrouwd moet blijven (en de man overigens ook). Kunnen ze wel om dezelfde reden echtscheiding aanvragen?

0 comments.

Huwelijk en dwang

Posted on November 6th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Important Publications, Multiculti Issues.

Huwelijksdwang vaker ter discussie – Trouw

Huwelijksdwang vaker ter discussie

Allochtone jongeren kiezen steeds vaker zelf hun partner

Het klimaat lijkt er niet naar om genuanceerd naar huwelijksdwang te kijken. Politici roepen: strafbaar stellen. Toch pleiten cultureel antropologen Bartels en Storms voor nuance in de discussie over dit onderwerp.

Cultureel antropologen Edien Bartels en Oka Storms van de Vrije Universiteit deden voor de gemeente Amsterdam onderzoek naar de keuze van een huwelijkspartner. Dat onderzoek wordt vandaag gepresenteerd tijdens de eerste landelijke conferentie ’Aanpak huwelijksdwang’ in Amsterdam, georganiseerd door kenniscentrum Movisie.

Er wordt gesuggereerd dat huwelijksdwang niet afneemt en dat er harder moet worden opgetreden. Bartels en Storms weerspreken dat aan de hand van hun studie onder groepen allochtone Amsterdammers. „Jongeren lopen sneller dan ouderen, maar ook bij de ouders is het onderwerp geen taboe meer. Er wordt steeds meer volop over huwelijksdwang gediscussieerd”, zegt Bartels. Zij heeft vergelijkingsmateriaal omdat ze ook in 2005 over dit onderwerp publiceerde.

Dit onderzoek is een verdieping: veel uitgebreider, zegt ze. Naast de Turkse en Marokkaanse groep werden ook Somaliërs, Hindostanen, Koerden, Pakistanen en Afghanen geïnterviewd.

Huwelijksdwang komt voort uit de angst van ouders voor de boze Nederlandse buitenwereld, ze zijn bezorgd over ’al die vrijheid’. Iedereen wil het beste voor het kind, keurt huwelijksdwang eigenlijk af, maar door druk van de familie is de partnerkeuze toch niet altijd vrij.

Bartels en Storms spraken met veel ’slachtoffers’ die alles behalve een sprookjeshuwelijk achter de rug hebben, maar desondanks tegen strafbaarstelling van gearrangeerde huwelijken zijn. Je gaat je eigen ouders toch niet aangeven? hoorden ze. Of: Ze hadden het beste met me voor, dat maakt ze toch niet crimineel?

Waar stopt gearrangeerd en waar begint vrije keuze? De onderzoekers spreken over een langgerekt grijs gebied. Bartels: „Strafbaar stellen zou misschien wel preventief kunnen werken, maar is juridisch heel lastig.” Het ideaalbeeld is voor veel ouders nog niet veranderd. „Turkse ouders willen voor hun zoon het liefst een Turkse meid. Voor de taal en religie, om met de schoonfamilie het Suikerfeest te kunnen vieren. Ten slotte willen ze het liefst een schoondochter van binnen de familie.”

Dat is het traditionele denken. Maar Bartels en Storms zien steeds meer jongeren die zelf hun partner kiezen, ze signaleerden de eerste tekenen van een gedragsverandering: religie wordt belangrijker dan etniciteit. Het maakt minder uit of de partner Turks, Marokkaans of Pakistaans is, als hij/zij maar moslim is. Storms: „Maar er is ook meer oog voor het belang van homogamie: een partner uit dezelfde klasse, met dezelfde achtergrond. Niet iemand uit de bergen van Marokko halen.”

Het gaat absoluut de goede kant op, zeggen Bartels en Storms, die echter ook struikelblokken optekenden. Ouders leven vaak tussen twee werelden in, jongeren in het hier en nu. De communicatie onderling is slecht. Ineens komt moeder met een kandidaat en denken de jongeren dat ze geen ’nee’ kunnen zeggen.

Daarnaast is er eigenbelang. Ouders zoeken de ideale schoondochter of schoonzoon omdat ze aan hun oude dag en hun verzorging denken. Soms is een huwelijk de enige mogelijkheid een familielid een verblijfsvergunning te geven. En tot slot de geïsoleerde gezinnen. Bartels: „Daar wordt niet gecommuniceerd maar gecommandeerd. In die chaotische gezinnen komt eerder huwelijksdwang voor. Dat zijn ook de gezinnen waar kinderen weglopen, of vaders hun echtgenotes en kinderen in Marokko of Turkije dumpen.”

’Strafbaar stellen is niet nodig, informeren wel’

Er zijn geen cijfers bekend van het aantal gearrangeerde en gedwongen huwelijken, zegt Leyla Çinibulak, onderzoeker en projectleider huiselijk en seksueel geweld van Movisie, dat de conferentie van vandaag organiseert. „Je kunt alleen betrouwbare cijfers krijgen als gedwongen huwelijken geregistreerd worden. Bijvoorbeeld in het onderwijs, de hulpverlening, opvang en bij de politie. Maar ook als dat goed georganiseerd is, zullen we slechts het topje van de ijsberg hebben. Dwang is moeilijk te meten, het gebeurt in de beslotenheid van de privésfeer en sommige slachtoffers melden zich pas na tien jaar.”

Çinibulak vindt niet dat er voor huwelijksdwang nieuwe wetgeving gemaakt hoeft te worden. Als er sprake is van psychisch of fysiek geweld of dreiging daartoe dan is dat al strafbaar, zegt ze. „En als het om zachte dwang, sociale druk of andere ongewenste bemoeienis gaat, kunnen we de ouders en familie van juiste informatie voorzien. We zullen ze wijzen op het enorme aantal wegloopsters, op de vele klachten over depressiviteit, op de hoge suïcidecijfers van allochtone meisjes, en de pogingen daartoe. In studies komt naar voren dat deze gezondheidsproblemen kunnen samenhangen met beperkte partnerkeuze, hetgeen weer kan leiden tot conflicten in families. Elk schrijnend geval is er een te veel. Dat zullen die ouders ook beseffen.”

Zie ook: Over het huwelijk gesproken en Gedwongen huwelijk.

0 comments.

CGB – Uniform en hoofddoek

Posted on October 24th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

Commissie Gelijke Behandeling – Nieuwsbericht

De Commissie Gelijke Behandeling (CGB) kreeg de vraag voorgelegd of de regiopolitie Amsterdam-Amstelland in strijd met de wet handelt door de werkzaamheden van een buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaar aan te wijzen als uniformtaak.

(more…)

0 comments.

Medisch Contact – Besnijdenis: jongens wel, meisjes niet

Posted on September 19th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

In het tijdschrift Medisch Contact een bijdrage van dr. Refaat B. Karim (plastisch chirurg Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis Amsterdam, oud-bestuurslid Nederlandse Vereniging voor Plastische Chirurgie) en dr. J. Joris Hage (plastisch chirurg, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Ziekenhuis Amsterdam, oud-voorzitter Nederlandse Vereniging voor Plastische Chirurgie). Beiden zijn gespecialiseerd in de plastische chirurgie van het genitale gebied en waren betrokken bij de voorbereiding van de gezamenlijke standpunten van de NVPC en NVOG aangaande de esthetische chirurgie van de genitaalstreek.

Ik heb hier al eerder vraagtekens gesteld bij vrouwenbesnijdenis, zij gaan in op meisjesbesnijdenis en nog een stapje verder. Zij stellen dat een breed gedragen, algeheel verbod op meisjesbesnijdenis ook de twee minst mutilerende vormen omvat: een prik of sneetje in de voorhuid of het afsnijden van een randje ervan. Bij jongens wordt een dergelijke circumcisie door de beroepsgroep én de wetgever wel aanvaardbaar geacht, maar bij meisjes niet. Deze vorm van discriminatie tussen jongens en meisjes strookt niet met de Grondwet, het Verdrag van Lissabon en de Universele Verklaring van de Rechten van de Mens. Waarschijnlijk zal er een groot draagvlak zijn om deze inconsistente en huichelachtige wijze van discriminatie te laten voortbestaan.
Collectieve rechten prevaleren in het geval van positieve beeldvorming (jongensbesnijdenis), terwijl individuele rechten prevaleren in het geval van negatieve beeldvorming (meisjesbesnijdenis). Bij meisjesbesnijdenissen gaat het bovendien om nieuwe immigrantengroepen, terwijl jongensbesnijdenis ook al onder ‘oude’ (joodse en islamitische) immigrantengroepen voorkwam.

De werkgroep Gezondheidsrecht van het Nederlands Juristen Comité voor de Mensen­rechten oordeelde dat deze verschillen juridisch gezien irrelevant zijn en dat de overheid consistent dient te handelen. Als de argumentatie die ten grondslag ligt aan het regeringsstandpunt inzake alle vormen van meisjesbesnijdenis zou worden doorgevoerd, is de enige juridisch consequente conclusie dat ook alle vormen van jongensbesnijdenis verboden zouden moeten zijn. Op grond van het gelijkheidsbeginsel is het niet mogelijk dat groepen die langer of dieper zijn geworteld in de samenleving meer (voor)rechten genieten dan nieuwelingen.

Politiek
Met de huidige discriminerende situatie kunnen we in theorie op vier manieren omgaan. Allereerst kan het algehele verbod op alle vormen van meisjesbesnijdenis gehandhaafd blijven, mits alle vormen van jongensbesnijdenis eveneens worden afgewezen. In een wereld met naar schatting 500 tot 700 miljoen besneden jongens en mannen lijkt dit geen realistisch streven.

Ten tweede kunnen de twee minst mutilerende vormen van meisjesbesnijdenis alsnog, evenals de meest voorkomende vorm van jongensbesnijdenis, aanvaardbaar worden geacht. Hiervoor werd al vóór de instelling van het algehele verbod gepleit en onlangs verdedigde Mulder deze mogelijkheid in Medisch Contact.6 7 Wereldwijd zijn immers naar schatting 100 tot 140 miljoen meisjes en vrouwen besneden. Gremia die al een standpunt hebben ingenomen, zullen echter niet geneigd zijn hierop ten dele terug te komen.

Een algeheel verbod op besnijdenis bij alle minderjarigen is wellicht een alternatief. Dit strookt met het door NVOG en NVPC ingenomen standpunt dat medisch niet noodzakelijke chirurgische ingrepen aan de genitaalstreek pas mogen plaatsvinden nadat het betreffende gebied is uitgegroeid. Dit is meestal pas rond het achttiende levensjaar het geval. Als daarnaast een verbod op alle vormen van besnijdenis die verdergaan dan in- of circumcisie van de voorhuid bij vrouwen én mannen blijft gehandhaafd respectievelijk wordt ingesteld, is het aan de volwassen vrouw of man om te kiezen voor een beperkte vorm van besnijdenis.

Ten slotte kunnen we de huidige, inconsistente en huichelachtige wijze van discriminatie tussen jongens en meisjes laten voortbestaan. Gelet op de aard van de politiek, zou er voor die optie wel eens het grootste draagvlak kunnen zijn.

Het gaat er niet zozeer om dat zij meisjesbesnijdenis willen toestaan zoals op Geenstijl.nl en LWH nogal leugenachtig wordt gesuggereerd, maar om, zoals anderen terecht opmerken, de nogal dubbele houding ten aanzien van besnijdenis van meisjes en jongens aan de kaak te stellen. Daarbij maken ze onderscheid tussen verschillende vormen van jongensbesnijdenis en meisjesbesnijdenis. De beeldvorming en de discussies worden echter grotendeels bepaald door de zwaarste vormen van meisjesbesnijdenis. Meisjesbesnijdenis komt in diverse landen voor, onder moslims, christenen en animisten (en nee dus niet alleen onder moslims, en als het om moslims gaat dan in een bepaalde regio). Vooral in sub-Sahara landen en Noord-Oost-Afrika worden meisjes besneden als ze in de basisschoolleeftijd zijn. Soms krijgen ze een klein sneetje in de clitoris (incisie), soms wordt de clitoris en een deel van de kleine schaamlippen verwijderd (clitoridectomie) en soms worden ook de grote schaamlippen weggesneden en wordt de wond dichtgenaaid op een kleine opening na voor urine en bloed (infibulatie). Nederland wordt sinds eind jaren tachtig geconfronteerd met meisjesbesnijdenis. De beeldvorming en de discussies zijn vooral gebaseerd op de zwaarste vorm. Dit is ook wel logisch omdat er vooral daarover onderzoek is gedaan; er is nauwelijks iets bekend over de medische, hygienische en sexuele gevolgen van het eerste type. Meer daar over en over dezelfde vraag als die artsen aan de orde stellen: Is de discussie over vrouwenbesnijdenis overdreven?

0 comments.

Verbod gelaatsbedekkende kleding op alle scholen

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

Het Ministerie van OCW komt met een verbod op gelaatsbedekkende kleding op alle scholen, met uitzondering van het hoger onderwijs. Gelaatsbedekkende kleding is volgens minister Plasterk om diverse redenen onwenselijk in het onderwijs:

• vanwege het belang van goed onderwijs
• de onderlinge communicatie
• vanwege de zorg voor leerlingen
• in verband met de taken van scholen om leerlingen zo goed mogelijk voor te bereiden op de maatschappij en de orde en veiligheid op school.
• Scholen die al een verbod op gelaatsbedekkende kleding hebben ingesteld, hebben dat vaak op verschillende manieren gedaan. Daardoor kan de reikwijdte van het verbod (zie paragraaf 3 hieronder) verschillen van school tot school. Het kan tot onduidelijkheid en onbegrip leiden wanneer op de ene school iets wel mag wat op de school ernaast niet is toegestaan. Daar kan ook de acceptatie van het verbod onder lijden.

Het verbod heeft de volgende reikwijdte:

• op zowel openbare als bijzondere scholen;
• op zowel bekostigde als niet-bekostigde scholen;
• voor alle onderwijssectoren, behalve voor de sector hoger onderwijs;
• op alle plaatsen waar het onderwijsproces zich afspeelt, dat wil zeggen het gehele schoolterrein, met inbegrip van buitenterreinen;
• voor alle personen die zich bevinden op het schoolterrein, dus niet alleen voor leerlingen en onderwijspersoneel;
• gedurende de tijd dat het onderwijsproces zich afspeelt.

Verder moet worden voorzien in een algemeen geformuleerde uitzondering die erop ziet dat gelaatsbedekkende kleding tijdelijk kan worden gedragen indien en zolang dit noodzakelijk is voor de veiligheid of om medische redenen; daarnaast kunnen scholen desgewenst voorzien in een in de tijd begrensde uitzondering of ontheffingsmogelijkheid voor incidentele (culturele) gelegenheden.

Voor een toelichting hierop zie de brief van Plasterk aan de Tweede Kamer

De discussie hierover op scholen is allesbehalve nieuw. Er is al een verbod voor personeelsleden op alle scholen (inclusief Hoger Onderwijs) en enige jaren geleden was er een discussie over jonge vrouwen op het MBO die een niqaab droegen. Zie hierover het artikel van Herrera en Moors in de ISIM Review 13.

1 comment.

Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – Gedumpte vrouw kan sneller naar Nederland

Posted on July 31st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Morocco.

Enter your password to view comments.

Protected: Trouw, hetNieuws| nederland – Gedumpte vrouw kan sneller naar Nederland

Posted on July 31st, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Morocco.

Enter your password to view comments.

Kennislink – Maria voor moslima’s

Posted on July 29th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Maria is één van de meest populaire heiligen. Onder katholieken is Maria bedevaartsbestemming nummer één. Zij is drie keer zo populair als haar zoon Jezus en andere mannelijke heiligen. De meerderheid van de bezoekers is ook vrouw. Toch zijn het niet alleen katholieke vrouwen die de Heilige Maagd bezoeken. Ook moslima’s vereren Maria en bezoeken Maria-heiligdommen. Vaak hebben katholieken en moslims dezelfde beweegredenen om Maria op te zoeken. Terwijl ‘het christendom’ en ‘de islam’ steeds vaker tegenover elkaar lijken te staan, hebben deze Maria-vereersters weinig problemen met het delen van hun heilige. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van antropologen Willy Jansen (hoogleraar Gender Studies aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) en Meike Kühl (MA-student aan de Universiteit Utrecht). Zij bestudeerden moslima’s in Duitsland, Turkije en Portugal die Maria-heiligdommen bezoeken.

Prof. dr. Willy Jansen en Meike Kuhl publiceerden dit onderzoek in het meest recente nummer van The European Journal of Women’s Studies (nr 15, 2008). Hun artikel heet ‘Shared Symbols: Muslims, Marian Pilgrimages and Gender.’

Het artikel is bewerkt voor Kennislink en hier te lezen: Kennislink – Maria voor moslima’s

0 comments.

Kennislink – Maria voor moslima's

Posted on July 29th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Maria is één van de meest populaire heiligen. Onder katholieken is Maria bedevaartsbestemming nummer één. Zij is drie keer zo populair als haar zoon Jezus en andere mannelijke heiligen. De meerderheid van de bezoekers is ook vrouw. Toch zijn het niet alleen katholieke vrouwen die de Heilige Maagd bezoeken. Ook moslima’s vereren Maria en bezoeken Maria-heiligdommen. Vaak hebben katholieken en moslims dezelfde beweegredenen om Maria op te zoeken. Terwijl ‘het christendom’ en ‘de islam’ steeds vaker tegenover elkaar lijken te staan, hebben deze Maria-vereersters weinig problemen met het delen van hun heilige. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van antropologen Willy Jansen (hoogleraar Gender Studies aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) en Meike Kühl (MA-student aan de Universiteit Utrecht). Zij bestudeerden moslima’s in Duitsland, Turkije en Portugal die Maria-heiligdommen bezoeken.

Prof. dr. Willy Jansen en Meike Kuhl publiceerden dit onderzoek in het meest recente nummer van The European Journal of Women’s Studies (nr 15, 2008). Hun artikel heet ‘Shared Symbols: Muslims, Marian Pilgrimages and Gender.’

Het artikel is bewerkt voor Kennislink en hier te lezen: Kennislink – Maria voor moslima’s

0 comments.

France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam | World news | The Guardian

Posted on July 14th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam | World news | The Guardian
France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam

· Expert says Moroccan lives ‘almost as a recluse’
· Case reopens debate about freedom of religion

* Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds of ‘insufficient assimilation’. France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds that her “radical” practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes.

The case yesterday reopened the debate about Islam in France, and how the secular republic reconciles itself with the freedom of religion guaranteed by the French constitution.

The woman, known as Faiza M, is 32, married to a French national and lives east of Paris. She has lived in France since 2000, speaks good French and has three children born in France. Social services reports said she lived in “total submission” to her husband. Her application for French nationality was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of “insufficient assimilation” into France. She appealed, invoking the French constitutional right to religious freedom and saying that she had never sought to challenge the fundamental values of France. But last month the Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, upheld the ruling.

“She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes,” it said.

“Is the burqa incompatible with French citizenship?” asked Le Monde, which broke the story. The paper said it was the first time the level of a person’s personal religious practice had been used to rule on their capacity be to assimilated into France.

The legal expert who reported to the Council of State said the woman’s interviews with social services revealed that “she lives almost as a recluse, isolated from French society”.

The report said: “She has no idea about the secular state or the right to vote. She lives in total submission to her male relatives. She seems to find this normal and the idea of challenging it has never crossed her mind.”

The woman had said she was not veiled when she lived in Morocco and had worn the burqa since arriving in France at the request of her husband. She said she wore it more from habit than conviction.

Daniele Lochak, a law professor not involved in the case, said it was bizarre to consider that excessive submission to men was a reason not to grant citizenship. “If you follow that to its logical conclusion, it means that women whose partners beat them are also not worthy of being French,” he told Le Monde.

Jean-Pierre Dubois, head of France’s Human Rights League, said he was “vigilant” and was seeking more information.

France is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, roughly half of whom are French citizens. Criteria taken into account for granting French citizenship includes “assimilation”, which normally focuses on how well the candidate speaks French. In the past nationality was denied to Muslims who were known to have links with extremists or who had publicly advocated radicalism, but that was not the case of Faiza M.

The ruling comes weeks after a controversy prompted by a court annulment of the marriage of two Muslims because the husband said the wife was not a virgin as she had claimed to be.

France’s ban on headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools in 2004 sparked a heated debate over freedom and equality within the secular republic. The French government adheres to the theory that all French citizens are equal before the republic, and religion or ethnic background are matters for the private sphere. In practice, rights groups say, society is plagued by discrimination.

The president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has stressed the importance of “integration” into French life. Part of his heightened controls on immigrants is a new law to make foreigners who want to join their families sit an exam on French language and values before leaving their countries.

0 comments.

France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam | World news | The Guardian

Posted on July 14th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam | World news | The Guardian
France rejects Muslim woman over radical practice of Islam

· Expert says Moroccan lives ‘almost as a recluse’
· Case reopens debate about freedom of religion

* Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds of ‘insufficient assimilation’. France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds that her “radical” practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes.

The case yesterday reopened the debate about Islam in France, and how the secular republic reconciles itself with the freedom of religion guaranteed by the French constitution.

The woman, known as Faiza M, is 32, married to a French national and lives east of Paris. She has lived in France since 2000, speaks good French and has three children born in France. Social services reports said she lived in “total submission” to her husband. Her application for French nationality was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of “insufficient assimilation” into France. She appealed, invoking the French constitutional right to religious freedom and saying that she had never sought to challenge the fundamental values of France. But last month the Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, upheld the ruling.

“She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes,” it said.

“Is the burqa incompatible with French citizenship?” asked Le Monde, which broke the story. The paper said it was the first time the level of a person’s personal religious practice had been used to rule on their capacity be to assimilated into France.

The legal expert who reported to the Council of State said the woman’s interviews with social services revealed that “she lives almost as a recluse, isolated from French society”.

The report said: “She has no idea about the secular state or the right to vote. She lives in total submission to her male relatives. She seems to find this normal and the idea of challenging it has never crossed her mind.”

The woman had said she was not veiled when she lived in Morocco and had worn the burqa since arriving in France at the request of her husband. She said she wore it more from habit than conviction.

Daniele Lochak, a law professor not involved in the case, said it was bizarre to consider that excessive submission to men was a reason not to grant citizenship. “If you follow that to its logical conclusion, it means that women whose partners beat them are also not worthy of being French,” he told Le Monde.

Jean-Pierre Dubois, head of France’s Human Rights League, said he was “vigilant” and was seeking more information.

France is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, roughly half of whom are French citizens. Criteria taken into account for granting French citizenship includes “assimilation”, which normally focuses on how well the candidate speaks French. In the past nationality was denied to Muslims who were known to have links with extremists or who had publicly advocated radicalism, but that was not the case of Faiza M.

The ruling comes weeks after a controversy prompted by a court annulment of the marriage of two Muslims because the husband said the wife was not a virgin as she had claimed to be.

France’s ban on headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools in 2004 sparked a heated debate over freedom and equality within the secular republic. The French government adheres to the theory that all French citizens are equal before the republic, and religion or ethnic background are matters for the private sphere. In practice, rights groups say, society is plagued by discrimination.

The president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has stressed the importance of “integration” into French life. Part of his heightened controls on immigrants is a new law to make foreigners who want to join their families sit an exam on French language and values before leaving their countries.

0 comments.

What is a prostitute?

Posted on July 14th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Via Culture Matters I came across an interesting article of Lisa Wynn in American Sexuality Magazine: What is a Prostitute? In Egypt the oldest profession isn’t just a sex-for-cash exchange.

It took me a long time to understand what Egyptians meant when they said “prostitute,” and during the first year of my anthropological fieldwork, I was plenty confused. Every time the word “prostitute” came up in conversation, I listened carefully to try to understand the context and how it was being used. It seemed to have to do with behavior, dress, social class, and sexual experience. But it wasn’t until I could finally shed my own cultural preconceptions about prostitution fundamentally being tied up with money and sex that I finally understood what my Egyptian friends meant.

[…]

What is involved in defining a prostitute in Egypt, then, is a complex moral judgment about a woman’s social behavior, the number of her sexual partners, the extent to which she submits to familial controls over her social life, and her loyalty to her current romantic partner. Nationality comes into play in the examples above because of the way it overlaps with class and power in the Middle East […]

Read also the interesting discussion about the article at AlterNet.

0 comments.

Protected: Fadila Blue Girl Molenbeek – Ophef over weervrouw in België

Posted on June 18th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Enter your password to view comments.

Bibliotheek Breda // Debat met als thema feministische moslima’s

Posted on June 14th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Bibliotheek Breda // Home » Actueel » Nieuws » Debat met als thema feministische moslima’s
Debat met als thema feministische moslima’s

Welke rol dicht de Islam de vrouw nu écht toe? Hoe staat het met het moslim feminisme? Kom en praat mee!

Woensdag 18 juni organiseert Bibliotheek Breda in samenwerking met statenlid Nora Kasrioui en de commissie PaVEM een debat met als thema feministische moslima’s.

De avond start om 19.30 uur (inloop v.a. 19.00 uur) en vindt plaats in de Centrale Bibliotheek.

Programma:

* Openingswoord:
Monique van der Velden-van de Voorde, echtgenote van de Bredase burgemeester
* Introductie:
statenlid Nora Kasrioui en commissie PaVEM
* Lezing:
de bekeerde Nederlandse moslima en schrijfster Ceylan Pektas Weber. Cisca Dresselhuys (onder voorbehoud) reageert op deze lezing.

Hierna volgt een debat over feminisme onder moslima’s. Er wordt een vergelijking gemaakt tussen de dominante feministische stroming in Nederland (in de volksmond ‘Opzij-feminisme’ genoemd) en feministische moslima’s in Nederland.

Gespreksleider: advocate Famile Arslan

Tussendoor verbeelden leden van de commissie PaVEM in korte toneelfragmenten het leven van een moslimvrouw.

0 comments.

Bibliotheek Breda // Debat met als thema feministische moslima's

Posted on June 14th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Bibliotheek Breda // Home » Actueel » Nieuws » Debat met als thema feministische moslima’s
Debat met als thema feministische moslima’s

Welke rol dicht de Islam de vrouw nu écht toe? Hoe staat het met het moslim feminisme? Kom en praat mee!

Woensdag 18 juni organiseert Bibliotheek Breda in samenwerking met statenlid Nora Kasrioui en de commissie PaVEM een debat met als thema feministische moslima’s.

De avond start om 19.30 uur (inloop v.a. 19.00 uur) en vindt plaats in de Centrale Bibliotheek.

Programma:

* Openingswoord:
Monique van der Velden-van de Voorde, echtgenote van de Bredase burgemeester
* Introductie:
statenlid Nora Kasrioui en commissie PaVEM
* Lezing:
de bekeerde Nederlandse moslima en schrijfster Ceylan Pektas Weber. Cisca Dresselhuys (onder voorbehoud) reageert op deze lezing.

Hierna volgt een debat over feminisme onder moslima’s. Er wordt een vergelijking gemaakt tussen de dominante feministische stroming in Nederland (in de volksmond ‘Opzij-feminisme’ genoemd) en feministische moslima’s in Nederland.

Gespreksleider: advocate Famile Arslan

Tussendoor verbeelden leden van de commissie PaVEM in korte toneelfragmenten het leven van een moslimvrouw.

0 comments.

Protected: BN De Stem – Meisjes licht besnijden 'waanzinnig idee'

Posted on May 29th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

Enter your password to view comments.

Protected: BN De Stem – Meisjes licht besnijden ‘waanzinnig idee’

Posted on May 29th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Multiculti Issues.

Enter your password to view comments.

Malika El Aroud – Oum Obeyda

Posted on May 27th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Blogosphere, Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, ISIM/RU Research, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Religious Movements.

Belgian woman wages war for Al Qaeda on the Web – International Herald Tribune

Belgian woman wages war for Al Qaeda on the Web
Belgian’s online jihad reflects rise of female extremists

By Elaine Sciolino and Souad Mekhennet
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

BRUSSELS: On the street, Malika El Aroud is anonymous in an Islamic black veil covering all but her eyes.

In her living room, El Aroud, a 48-year-old Belgian, wears the ordinary look of middle age: a plain black T-shirt and pants and curly brown hair. The only adornment is a pair of powder-blue slippers monogrammed in gold with the letters SEXY.

But it is on the Internet that El Aroud has distinguished herself. Writing in French under the name Oum Obeyda, she has transformed herself into one of the most prominent Internet jihadists in Europe.

She calls herself a female holy warrior for Al Qaeda. She insists that she does not disseminate instructions on bomb-making and has no intention of taking up arms herself. Rather, she browbeats Muslim men to go and fight, and rallies women to join the cause.

“It’s not my role to set off bombs – that’s ridiculous,” she said in a rare interview. “I have a weapon. It’s to write. It’s to speak out. That’s my jihad. You can do many things with words. Writing is also a bomb.”

El Aroud has not only made a name for herself among devotees of radical forums where she broadcasts her message of hatred toward the West. She also is well known to intelligence officials throughout Europe as simply “Malika” – an Islamist who is at the forefront of the movement by women to take a larger role in the male-dominated global jihad.

The authorities have noted an increase in suicide bombings carried out by women – the American military reports that 18 women have conducted suicide missions in Iraq so far this year, compared with 8 all of last year – but they say there is also a less violent yet potentially more insidious army of women organizers, proselytizers, teachers, translators and fund-raisers, who either join their husbands in the fight or step into the breach as men are jailed or killed.

“Women are coming of age in jihad and are entering a world once reserved for men,” said Claude Moniquet, president of the Brussels-based European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center. “Malika is a role model, an icon who is bold enough to use her own name. She plays a very important strategic role as a source of inspiration. She’s very clever – and extremely dangerous.”

El Aroud began her rise to prominence because of a man in her life. Two days before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, her husband carried out a bombing in Afghanistan that killed the anti-Taliban warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud at the behest of Osama bin Laden. Her husband was killed, and she took to the Internet as the widow of a martyr.

She remarried, and she and her new husband were convicted in Switzerland for operating pro-Qaeda Web sites. Now, according to the Belgian authorities, she is a suspect in what the authorities say they believe is a plot to carry out an attack in Belgium.

“Vietnam is nothing compared to what awaits you in our lands,” she wrote to a supposed Western audience in March about wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Ask your mothers, your wives to order your coffins.” To her followers she added: “Victory is appearing on the horizon, my brothers and sisters. Let’s intensify our prayers.”

Her prolific writing and presence in chat rooms, coupled with her background, makes her a magnet for praise and sympathy. “Sister Oum Obeyda is virtuous among the virtuous; her life is dedicated to the good on this earth,” a man named Juba wrote late last year.

The rise of women comes against a backdrop of discrimination that has permeated radical Islam. Mohamed Atta, the Sept. 11 hijacker, wrote in his will that “women must not be present at my funeral or go to my grave at any later date.” Last month, Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s second in command, said in an online question-and-answer session that women could not join Al Qaeda.

In response, a woman wrote on a password-protected radical Web site that “the answer that we heard was not what we had hoped,” according to the SITE monitoring group, adding, “I swear to God I will never leave the path and will not give up this course.”

The changing role of women in the movement is particularly apparent in Western countries, where Muslim women have been educated to demand their rights and Muslim men are more accustomed to treating them as equals.

El Aroud reflects that trend. “Normally in Islam the men are stronger than the women, but I prove that it is important to fear God – and no one else,” she said. “It is important that I am a woman. There are men who don’t want to speak out because they are afraid of getting into trouble. Even when I get into trouble, I speak out.”

After all, she said, she knows the rules. “I write in a legal way,” she said. “I know what I’m doing. I’m Belgian. I know the system.”

That system has often been lenient for her. She was detained last December with 13 others in a suspected plot to free a convicted terrorist from prison and to mount an attack in Brussels. But Belgian law required that they be released within 24 hours because no charges were brought and searches failed to turn up weapons, explosives or incriminating documents.

Now, even as El Aroud remains under constant surveillance, she is back home rallying militants on her Web site – and collecting more than $1,100 a month in government unemployment benefits.

“Her jihad is not to lead an operation but to inspire other people to wage jihad,” said Glenn Audenaert, the director of Belgium’s federal police force. “She enjoys the protection that Belgium offers. At the same time, she is a potential threat.”

Born in Morocco, raised from a young age in Belgium, El Aroud did not seem destined for the jihad.

Growing up, she rebelled against her Muslim upbringing, she wrote in a memoir. Her first marriage, at 18, was unhappy and brief; she later bore a daughter out of wedlock.

She was unable to read Arabic, but her discovery of the Koran in French led her to embrace a strict version of Islam and eventually to marry Abdessatar Dahmane, a Tunisian loyal to Osama bin Laden.

Eager to be a battlefield warrior, she hoped to fight alongside her husband in Chechnya. But the Chechens “wanted experienced men, super-well trained,” she said. “They wanted women even less.” In 2001, she followed her husband to Afghanistan. As he trained at a Qaeda camp, she was installed in a camp for foreign women in Jalalabad.

For her, the Taliban were a model Islamic government; reports of their mistreatment of women were untrue. “Women didn’t have problems under the Taliban,” she insisted. “They had security.”

Her only rebellion was against the burka, the restrictive garment the Taliban forced on women, which she called “a plastic bag.” As a foreigner, she was allowed to wear a long black veil instead.

After her husband’s mission, El Aroud was briefly detained by Massoud’s followers. Frightened, she was put in contact with the Belgian authorities, who arranged for her safe passage home.

“We got her out and thought she’d cooperate with us,” said one senior Belgian intelligence official. “We were deceived.”

Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière, who was France’s senior counterterrorism magistrate at the time, said he interviewed El Aroud because investigators suspected that she had shipped electronic equipment to her husband that was used in the killing. “She is very radical, very sly and very dangerous,” he said.

El Aroud was tried with 22 others in Belgium for complicity in the Massoud murder. A grieving widow in a black veil, she persuaded the court that she had been doing humanitarian work and knew nothing of her husband’s plans. She was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Her husband’s death, though, propelled her into a new life. “The widow of a martyr is very important for Muslims,” she said.

She used her enhanced status to meet her new “brothers and sisters” on the Web. One of them was Moez Garsalloui, a Tunisian several years her junior who had political refugee status in Switzerland. They married and moved to a small Swiss village. There, they ran several pro-Qaeda Web sites and Internet forums that were monitored by Swiss authorities as part of the country’s first Internet-related criminal case.

After the police raided their home and arrested them at dawn in April 2005, El Aroud described extensively what she called their abuse.

“See what this country that calls us neutral made us suffer,” she wrote, claiming that the Swiss police beat and blindfolded her husband and manhandled her while she was sleeping unveiled.

Convicted last June of promoting violence and supporting a criminal organization, she received a six-month suspended sentence; Garsalloui, who was convicted of more serious charges, was released after 23 days.

Despite El Aroud’s prominence, it is once again her husband whom authorities view as a bigger threat. They suspect he was recruiting for the feared Christmastime attacks last December and that he has connections to terror groups operating in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

The authorities say that they lost track of him after he was released from jail last year in Switzerland. “He is on a trip,” El Aroud says cryptically when asked about her husband’s whereabouts. “On a trip.”

Meanwhile, her stature has risen with her claims of victimization by the Swiss. The Web site Voice of the Oppressed described her as “our female holy warrior of the 21st century.”

El Aroud’s latest tangle with the law hints at a deeper involvement of women in terror activities. When she was detained last December in the suspected plot to free Nizar Trabelsi, a convicted terrorist and a one-time professional soccer player, El Aroud was one of three women taken in for questioning.

Although the identities of those detained were not released, the Belgian authorities and others familiar with the case said that among those detained were Trabelsi’s wife and Fatima Aberkan, a friend of El Aroud and a 47-year-old mother of seven.

“Malika is a source of inspiration for women because she is telling women to stop sleeping and open their eyes,” Aberkan said.

El Aroud operates from her three-room apartment above a clothing shop in a working-class Brussels neighborhood where she spends her time communicating with supporters on her main forum, Minbar-SOS.

Although she insists she is not breaking the law, she knows the police are watching. And if the authorities find way to put her in prison, she said: “That would be great. They would make me a living martyr.”

Basil Katz contributed reporting from Paris.

0 comments.

Arabs campaign for women to "Take off the Veil"

Posted on March 10th, 2008 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues.

Arabs campaign for women to “Take off the Veil”
A group of Arabic websites and blogs have launched an international campaign against the Muslim headscarf (hijab), arguing the move is a response to what they see as “intellectual terrorism” practiced by strict Islamic groups and individuals.

The campaign is called “Take Off The Veil”, and was launched March 8, 2008 to coincide with International Women’s Day.

0 comments.

« Previous Page — Older » « Newer — Next Page »