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Culture/Society

When Transphobia Blocks Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence


Posted by syahirah on 09 May 2016 / 0 Comments
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Trigger Warning: This post contains discussion of underage rape and of transophobia Four months ago, the Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times ran a few articles on a case involving Malay Muslim transgender man Zunika Ahmad, 39. He had been charged with 20 counts of sexually penetrating a girl, a minor who was between the age of 13 […]

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Culture/Society

Fatal sedition: Noor Farida Ariffin kept in line with rape threats


Posted by syahirah on 11 Jan 2016 / 0 Comments
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I recently became aware of rape threats made on social media towards Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, a well-respected former Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands. Also a lawyer, she was the co-founder of Sisters in Islam, a local non-governmental organisation for women’s rights, and is the spokesperson of a local group of prominent Malays called G25. […]

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Friday Links


Posted by samya on 03 Apr 2015 / 0 Comments
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Tajik state television has aired a documentary that alleges that prostitutes in the country have been wearing Islamic veils to earn more money.   Once a month, Muslim women gather in a bright open space inside a brick building near downtown Los Angeles. They come for jumu’ah or Friday prayer. This “all women’s mosque” has […]

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Entrenching Stigma: Malaysia’s Cross-Dressing Law


Posted by syahirah on 08 Jan 2014 / 1 Comment
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2013 ended with another decision, somewhere in the world, to entrench the persecution and ostracisation of a minority group. I’m referring to a new syariah law introduced by the Pahang Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MUIP) in early December 2013, which would imprison for a maximum of one year or fine up to RM1000 (USD […]

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Culture/Society

Mak Nyahs: Transgendered Muslims in Malaysia


Posted by syahirah on 10 Dec 2012 / 0 Comments
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Mak nyah is the term that transgendered women in Malaysia use to identify themselves. Mak means ‘mother’, and nyah is derived from the literal meaning of ‘running away’ to refer to ‘transition’. Khartini Slamah, a well-known 49-year-old activist and counselor to other transgendered women, explains how and why this term came about in the late 80s, […]

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Culture/Society

Facing Mirrors: Iranian Filmmaker Explores Trans* Identity in Iran


Posted by sharrae on 04 Oct 2012 / 0 Comments
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Transgender identities and trans* embodiment are topics that are generally ignored within many communities, and the Muslim community is no exception, and transgendered people are oftentimes pushed to the margins. Art, film, music and other forms of artistic expression, unlike more fixed modes of understanding, can often open up a conversation that communities and individuals […]

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Welcoming Intersections: How Pakistan’s Recent Changes in Civil Rights Legislations Bring Us Closer Together


Posted by diana on 06 Mar 2012 / 0 Comments
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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.  […]

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Between Worlds: Jilbab and Transgender in Indonesia


Posted by alicia on 01 Feb 2011 / 0 Comments
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It is a scene that wouldn’t be unfamiliar in France or Belgium: a woman’s hijab is snatched away by strangers on the street from her head despite her protest. She is told she shouldn’t wear it, or rather, she has no right to because her wearing it mocks other women and femininity itself. But it […]

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A Flash of Lightning: “Bijli”


Posted by merium on 02 Nov 2010 / 0 Comments
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The film “Bijli” opens with an off-key rendition of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s haunting Sanu Ik Pal Chain Na Aave.  The poetry of the song describes a man who cannot find a moment’s peace without his beloved.  Some might consider this analogous to Bijli’s predicament as a woman trapped in a man’s body: constantly ill […]

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