Hayv Kahraman is an Iraqi artist whose work reflects on issues of gender, looking at the victimization of women during war, and the effects of practices such as honor killings and genital mutilation, as well as alienation, marginalization, and displacement. Kahraman addresses these contemporary issues through paintings which have a classical and timeless feel to […]

Syrian women play a central role in the revolution; the BBC features the stories and experiences of several of these activist women. Egyptian anthropologist Hania Sholkamy asks whether there will be a place in Egypt for women’s human rights in the near future. Iranian women activists say “no to war”. They fear that war will aggravate violence […]

The burdens of poverty affect most, if not all aspects, of social relations. Most prominently (and unsurprisingly), women carry the greatest burden of the social predicaments that arise from a dire lack of economic security.  Women in groups hit hardest by financial strain easily become seen as sources of further strain on their families. Education […]

We’re sharing some excerpts today from a few different stories that relate to things we’ve covered recently on MMW.  Enjoy! The editors of Love, InshAllah, which Merium reviewed in February, wrote an article for International Women’s Day about the importance of listening to Muslim women’s diverse stories: There is no denying that there is subjugation […]

As a convert to Islam, I have had other Muslims ask me, particularly in settings where I have discussed Islamic feminism and LGBTQ2/S rights, whether or not I converted to be one of the “cool” Muslims that are often times presented in the media. By “cool,” people often mean not-orthodox.  (I started preparing this post […]

This post contains some spoilers. While I was visiting family and friends these past winter holidays, there was one sigh on everyone’s lips: Humsafar.  Even as I write this, I’m taking a deep breath, feeling both exhilarated and wishful, thinking about Khirad and Asher, and their various relationship trials and tribulations.  And if you’re already […]

Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and (almost) every media outlet covered “something” on women in the week leading up to it, as that is the “thing to do” on Women’s Day after all. Not all stories were very newsworthy, and many other topics I covered already recently. As such, I have left many of these articles out, but I might have missed […]

Last month, the Lahore High Court made an interesting decision: to hand over a Pakistani child, Amina Tarar, to her French mother.  The case made headlines because the child’s mother, Ingrid Brandon Burger, is a non-Muslim. Amina’s father, Abdul Razzak Tarar, had taken the child from France to Pakistan in 2005, but the parties disagree […]

Last month, Egyptian journalist Dalia Rabie had an enlightening experience when she was banned from joining her own birthday party at one of Cairo’s fancy restaurants, L’Aubergine. Rabie relates that the guy standing on the door who stopped her asked her if the fact that she is – unfortunately – wearing hijab was mentioned prior […]

Last month marked a positive milestone in Pakistan’s civil rights legislations. Transgendered citizens, known as hijra or eunuchs, were allowed for the first time identify themselves as transgendered when registering to vote. The new legislation came after a much debated constitutional case in 2008 regarding the humiliation and ill treatment of transgendered persons in Pakistan.  […]