Friday Links | December 14, 2012

While Mali is preparing itself for peace talks, or war, Malian women demand to be included in the negotations, as they are the primary victims of violence in northern Mali. Malian refugee women in Mauritania share their stories of assault and the imposition of the “Islamic” dress code.

A report by the British government finds that ethnic minority women are more than twice as likely to be unemployed in the UK than white women. The report shows that especially black women and women from Pakistani and Bangladeshi background were particularly affected; some Muslim women remove their hijab in order to hopefully stand a bigger chance at finding employment.

Tunisia was known to be the only country in the region where women had access to safe and affordable abortions; under the Islamist regime, this is changing, but according to an activist, this trend had started already years ago under the Ben Ali regime.

According to a new UN report on the status of women in Afghanistan, there is still a “long way to go.”

Reuters profiles Colleen LaRose, better known as Jihad Jane, in a four chapter series, with the first chapter focusing on her youth and background.

About 90 percent of Muslim women in Malaysia who responded to a recent survey had undergone female genital mutilation; reports are that the health ministry is planning to classify it again as a medical practice, kickstarted a debate in the country on the practice of FGM.

Nadia Sidiqi, the acting director of the women’s affairs department of Afghanistan’s eastern province Laghman has been assassinated. May she be granted eternal peace and justice.

Muslim divorcees in Nepal’s Banke district demand state facilities and special perks, similar to that of disabled and single women.

Despite the war raging in Syria, rural women on Syria’s coast from all kind of backgrounds return to the land in order to harvest the olives.

In the last two years, Khadizhat Nasibova has lost six male family members, including her husband and son, because her family follows the Salafi interpretation of Islam. In the Russian republic of Daghestan this year alone, around 800 men, ages 18-40, have been killed.

This weekend Egypt will vote on it’s controversial draft of the constitution; the loosely-worded Article 10, which concerns women and families, is concerning.

Al Jazeera profiles the four female journalists who covered the recent war in Gaza from inside Gaza.

New details emerge regarding the death of the Afghan health worker Anisa, suggest that her killing was not the work of the Taliban, but her brother denies that it could have been a domestic dispute, as her family supported her work and education.

Following a government decision last Sunday, UAE government firms and agencies are now required to employ women as board members.

Tajikistan’s government has expressed concern about the increase of HIV infections among women, and in particular among the wives of migrant workers.

A group female Afghan soldiers are now being trained to join the special forces.

Trustlaw profiles the “Queen of Galkoya” or Hawa Aden Mohamed, about her life and work in Somalia, and as a refugee.

The Australian features a very detailed story on the case of 3-year-old Rahma al-Dennaoui, who disappeared from her bedroom in an Australian suburb in 2005. Nobody has been convicted yet of the crime, but theories are plenty and her large family of Lebanese origin feels the strain of the ongoing investigation and questioning.

The custom of ghagh in northern Pakistan entitles a man to force his marriage proposal on a woman, but it expected that this practice will soon be illegal. A father who refused to obey tribal leaders, who asked him to give his four-year-old daughter away to another family according to swara custom, has been killed along with one of his sons. May Allah grant them eternal peace and justice. Elsewhere, the Afghan Women’s Affairs ministry is waging a war on the custom walwar, which requires the groom to pay a large premarital fee to his bride’s family. While this is technically not illegal, it often puts a large burden of debt on the husband’s family and consequently the young couple, which can further strain marital relations.

Libyan women’s rights activist Alaa Murabit says that Islamic law should be one of the sources for the Libyan constitution.

The Kyrgyz government has resumed the debate on the bill on bride kidnapping; the Kyrgyz Women’s Support Centre estimates that cases of bride kidnapping number almost 12,000 a year. A mock bride kidnapping in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek staged earlier this week did not result in any action from the public, despite the cries for help by the girl and the clearly illegal and rude nature of the incident.

The Guardian interviews Sayeeda Warsi on her new position as minister of faith and communities, and issues like forced marriage and immigration.

An Afghan senior judge has been taped demanding money and marriage from a young woman seeking divorce in Afghan court.

A women’s shelter in Berlin mainly offers shelter to women of Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic descent, who often flee domestic abuse and/or arranged marriages.

Now that the conflict in Indian-administrated Kashmir is quieting down, more women are taking advantage of agricultural training and resume farming.

More women in Afghanistan are opting for cosmetic surgery; nose jobs are most popular.

Saudi Arabia is slowly allowing women to work in different fields, but still only 17% of the Saudi women are employed.