Tag: Women

Gaza women and the isdal robes that shield them as war strips their privacy | Israel War on Gaza

Al-Fukhari, Gaza Strip – It’s a garment that the world may have grown accustomed to seeing Palestinian women in Gaza wearing as they flee for their lives, hold their murdered children or loved ones close for one final goodbye, or run frantically through hospital corridors hoping to find their loved ones injured, not dead.

Muslim women will recognise it as a prayer cover-up, known as an “isdal” or “toub salah”, and it is what women and girls have pulled around them at the most difficult moments that the current Israeli war on Gaza has wrought.

An isdal can be one piece that covers the whole body except for the face or two pieces with a skirt and a veil that covers the wearer past the hips. Every practising Muslim woman’s home has at least one, an essential item at all times.

In addition to prayer time, a veiled woman may pull this on to answer the door when male guests arrive with no advance notice – or even if they’re just running around the corner to buy something or stepping out to chat with a neighbour.

A wartime companion

The isdal is a comfortable item to throw on top of whatever a woman is wearing if she has to leave the house in a hurry and remain modest.

Palestinian women in Gaza need to throw on an isdal to be able to hold their murdered children close for one final goodbye. Here a Palestinian woman kisses the shrouded body of a child killed by an Israeli air raid on October 15, 2023, outside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, the Gaza Strip [Adel Hana/AP Photo]

But during the war, Palestinian women are wearing it around the clock, at home or out, asleep or awake, because they have no idea when a bomb will strike their house and they will have to run, or worse.

“If we die when our house is bombed, we want to have our dignity and modesty. If we’re bombed and have to be rescued from the rubble, we don’t want to be rescued wearing nothing,” Sarah Assaad, 44, says.

Sarah lived in Zeitoun in eastern Gaza City and has been displaced to the school in al-Fukhari with her three daughters and two sons, all of whom are teenagers.

She adds that the isdal is worn around the clock by the terrified women and girls in the school, which is crammed with displaced people.

“I have three of them, my daughters each have at least one. We’ve gotten used to this in the past 17 years of different Israeli assaults. When the first missile falls on Gaza, we put our isdals on.”

Fifty-six-year-old Raeda Hassan, from east of Khan Younis, says she has kept her isdal close throughout the many wars Gaza suffered, to the point where, she adds, she does not like the sight of it sometimes because it reminds her of violence.

A woman sits with children outside, as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strike, shelter in a camp in Rafah
A woman wearing an isdal to cover herself while fleeing sits with children on the dirt ground of a camp in Rafah as Israel’s war on Gaza continues, on December 6, 2023 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters/TPX images of the day]

“The first thing I’m going to do after the war is to get rid of this and buy a different one so I’m not reminded of the suffering of war,” Raeda says, gesturing down at her isdal.

She is also at the school with her daughters and daughters-in-law, who are all wearing their isdals as well.

In fact, Sarah says, the isdal is so ubiquitous that girls who are too young to pray or take the veil have been demanding that their mothers buy them isdals anyway.

Sahar Akar’s daughters are only four and five years old, but wanted isdals so they could be like their cousins and the older girls they saw around them.

Sahar, 28, fled to the south of the Gaza Strip with her family from Gaza City.

‘You never know what might happen’

Raeda muses for a moment then exclaims: “I don’t know where everyone gets this idea that we’re somehow prepared to be bombed.

“First of all, what does that mean? To be prepared to have your home, history, memories destroyed? Who on earth can say that’s something you should be prepared for?

“Anyway, we don’t know where the bombs are going to fall, or which home will be obliterated. We keep this isdal on so we can run out and look for our kids if they wander too far. We wear it when we run to our neighbours’ places to see if they’re OK after a bombing.

In spaces where women spend all day in crowded spaces, the all-encompassing isdal allows them a measure of privacy and soothing. Here a woman does laundry outside a refugee tent in Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip on October 20, 2023 [Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images]

“If I see my daughters or any of the family’s women without their isdal, I tell them to put it on, you never know what might happen.”

Raeda’s 16-year-old daughter Salma sits nearby, nodding vigorously and dressed in her isdal. She remembers the day in early September when she and her mother went out to the Shujayea market and she spotted a “cute” isdal she just had to have, and Raeda bought it for her.

“I love it very much and like wearing it because it reminds me of that day when we wandered in the market and had so much fun,” she adds.

“When we fled, I was wearing trousers and a shirt but I took my isdal with me so I could pray. Once we got here and I saw how crowded it was and how every single woman was wearing an isdal, I figured I should keep mine on all the time.

“It’s sad because prayer covers have happy associations also, a crisp, new, colourful veil for Eid prayers, even an isdal pulled on in a hurry to wait for your kids to jump off the school bus and tell you about their day. That’s all been ruined,” Salma continues.

For many other women who spoke to Al Jazeera, the isdal carries mixed feelings as a symbol of panic in the street as well as the quiet moments of prayer and reflection.

In wartime, the simple act of covering their heads has become loaded with a deep weight of sadness.

Palestinian women inspect the site of an Israeli raid as Israel’s war on Gaza continues, in Rafah, Gaza on December 29, 2023 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

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‘Dying every two hours’: Afghan women risk life to give birth | In Pictures News

Zubaida travelled from the rural outskirts of Khost in eastern Afghanistan to give birth at a maternity hospital specialising in complicated cases, fearing a fate all too common among pregnant Afghan women – either her death or that of her child.

She lay dazed, surrounded by the unfamiliar bustle of the hospital run by international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF. She was exhausted from the delivery the day before, but also relieved.

Her still-weak newborn slept nearby in an iron crib with peeling paint, the child’s eyes lined with kohl to ward off evil.

“If I had given birth at home, there could have been complications for the baby and for me,” said Zubaida, who doesn’t know her age.

Not all women who make it to the hospital are so lucky.

“Sometimes we receive patients who come too late to save their lives” after delivering at home, said Therese Tuyisabingere, the head of midwifery at MSF in Khost, the capital of the eastern province of Khost.

The facility delivers 20,000 babies a year, nearly half of those born in the province, and it only takes on high-risk and complicated pregnancies, many involving mothers who haven’t had any check-ups.

“This is a big challenge for us to save lives,” said Tuyisabingere.

She and the some 100 midwives at the clinic are on the front lines of a battle to reduce the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan, where every birth carries major risks and with the odds against women mounting.

Afghanistan is among the worst countries in the world for deaths during childbirth, “with one woman dying every two hours”, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, this month.

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures, from 2017, 638 women died in Afghanistan for every 100,000 viable births, compared with 19 in the United States.

That figure conceals the huge disparities between rural and urban areas.

Terje Watterdal, country director for the non-profit Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC), said they saw 5,000 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in remote parts of the country.

“Men carry the women over their shoulders, and the women die over the mountain trying to reach a hospital,” he said.

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India’s Manisha Kalyan: From a village in Punjab to European football | Football

Mumbai, India – In the quiet embrace of a small Indian village, where dreams are often whispered against the backdrop of simplicity, emerged a football prodigy destined for greatness.

Meet Manisha Kalyan, the young Indian football sensation whose long journey from the narrow lanes of Muggowal in Punjab to the illustrious stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League is nothing short of a remarkable odyssey.

Kalyan participated in athletics and basketball during her school days before football captured her heart. Daring to dream beyond the confines of her rural beginnings, she made the cut for India in 2019, at the age of 17.

Last year, Kalyan received the golden opportunity to sign with the Cypriot club Apollon Ladies. A rare chance for Indian footballers, given the country’s ranking of 65 in women’s FIFA rankings and 102 in men’s.

“I made the right decision to join Apollon because I am improving and learning new things here,” Kalyan told Al Jazeera from Limassol.

“Even before I was called up for India, I dreamt of playing abroad because when you begin playing abroad at an early age, you can improve and contribute more to the national team.”

Kalyan signed for Apollon after playing for three Indian clubs, including Gokulam Kerala, with whom she won the top-tier Indian Women’s League twice.

Known for her speed and ability to adapt to several positions, Kalyan has been recognised as one of the best Indian players in recent times.

The All India Football Federation named her the Women’s Player of the Year in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and she was also part of the India team that won gold at the South Asian Games in 2019.

Kalyan shot to fame in 2021 after she became the first Indian to score a goal against Brazil in a friendly match, which India lost 6-1.

She rates it as the most special goal of her career.

‘If you’re quiet, you won’t get the ball’

The offer from Apollon did not come as a surprise for Kalyan, who revealed she had been attracting interest from foreign clubs since that goal against Brazil.

Even though Kalyan was over the moon to receive interest from Apollon, she had very little knowledge about what she was signing up for.

“When I decided to sign for Apollon, I did not know much about Cyprus. I did a bit of research about the club and the country and felt it would be a good call. I had seen some of the matches from the Cypriot First Division and knew Apollon had played in the Women’s Champions League, where I wanted to participate,” she said.

A language barrier and some cultural differences made Kalyan’s start to life in Cyprus difficult but she slowly found her way.

“At the time I joined, I didn’t understand English as much as I do now and couldn’t talk much with my teammates, which was difficult,” Kalyan recalled.

“Now that I can speak a bit of English, I have built a connection with them. I think communication is important both on and off the field because if you’re quiet during games, you won’t get the ball. Once I started to communicate during the games, things improved.”

Kalyan’s dream to play in the Women’s Champions League came true last August when she featured against Latvia’s SFK Riga in the qualifying round. Then in September, she added another feather to her cap by becoming the first Indian to score in the Women’s Champions League when she found the net against Georgia’s FC Samegrelo in the qualifiers.

Coming on as a second-half substitute in that game, Kalyan scored a stunning left-footed goal from inside the box.

“Having the chance to play and score in the Women’s Champions League has been the best part of my life,” Kalyan said.

“I was quite happy at the time, but now I have bigger goals. I want to improve individually in the next year and perform better for India.”

‘Modern left-back’

Since joining Apollon, Kalyan has transitioned from an attacker to a defender.

In India, while playing for Sethu or Gokulam Kerala, Kalyan would feature on the wings or as a striker, but she has been deployed as a left-back at Apollon.

“She is a very good modern left-back, someone who likes to attack,” said Apollon coach Andreas Matthaiou. “In my opinion, good players can play everywhere.

“She is very fast and fires very good crosses from the left. She can run throughout for 90 minutes and technically she is good, too.”

Having taken over the team earlier this month, Matthaiou described Kalyan as a “hard worker” and a “quick learner”.

“I am very happy with her,” he said.

Indian women’s football expert Anirudh Menon believes Kalyan’s journey is already a “success story” for the country, which has seen very few women play in top-tier leagues overseas, especially in Europe.

India’s all-time top-scorer Bala Devi is the highest profile player to play in Europe, having represented top-tier Scottish club Rangers, while others have played in the lower leagues in Europe or top divisions in small Asian countries such as Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal.

“Bala Devi is arguably the best women’s player India has produced, and she got the opportunity only when she turned 30. So if she couldn’t play abroad in her prime, it was quite unlikely that anybody else could have,” Menon said.

Poor game time for women

The Indian women’s national team is ranked higher than their male counterparts, but they still receive fewer opportunities.

The Indian Women’s League (IWL) usually lasts for a month. While its current season has stretched to about four months, it still fares poorly when compared with top leagues elsewhere that run for more than seven months.

“When I played the IWL, the league would run for one month but after that, you wouldn’t know what’s next,” the lean 22-year-old said.

“If you are a part of the Indian team, you get exposure through tournaments often but the rest of the domestic players would barely get any game time.

“To become a good player, you need to play continuously – at least once a week. No matter how many times you train, you only discover your calibre and areas of improvement when you play a competitive match.”

Kalyan, who won the Cypriot First Division with Apollon last season, said she has become a better player since moving to Europe.

“The main difference between the women’s game in Europe and India is that the players in Europe have clean touches. When they receive the ball, their first touch is quite good. Even the passing is great,” Kalyan added.

“Players in Europe have a great understanding of the game –  their runs, positioning and tactics are all quite impressive. Whereas in India, the players aren’t good at their basics.”

Menon, who reported on Kalyan’s career in India, said she has improved at Apollon by playing against opponents of her calibre.

“One thing I noticed is that she is not better than everybody,” Menon said.

“If you watched the IWL, you could see that in most games, she could do whatever she wanted to … But in Cyprus, you can see that she is up against opponents of her calibre, and she is working harder than used to in India.”

Matthaiou, her coach at Apollon, believes Kalyan can build a great future if she continues to improve.

“I believe she is a player who can have a game-changing impact.”



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Who is Mallika Sagar, the IPL’s first female auctioneer? | Cricket

Mumbai, India – Mallika Sagar’s introduction to the world of auctioneering came when, as a teenager in her hometown Mumbai, she read a book with a female auctioneer as its protagonist.

“And, perhaps, a bit frivolously, I thought: ‘That’s what I want to be,’” she recollects with a chuckle.

Three decades on, Sagar finds herself at the helm of making history.

After a successful 23-year career in art auctioneering, she is set to become the first female auctioneer at the richest franchise cricket league in the world when she takes the stage at the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 2024 auction in Dubai on Tuesday.

More than 300 cricketers will go under the hammer during the daylong event, which will be a breakaway from a trend that has seen only men – Welshman Richard Madley, Briton Hugh Edmeades and India’s Charu Sharma – spearhead the event.

“It’s extremely exciting to be asked to conduct an IPL auction,” Sagar told Al Jazeera during an hourlong chat at her Mumbai office last week.

Sagar was born into a business family in the capital of India’s Maharashtra state and has lived in the city since her return, from the United States, where she graduated with a degree in the history of art.

Now a specialist in modern art and an auctioneer at a privately-owned Mumbai-based auction house, she has long been a pathbreaker on the global art auctioneering circuit. In 2001, she became the first female auctioneer of Indian origin at the international art and luxury business Christie’s.

‘All about personality and skills’

Clad in a yellow drop-waist dress and with a cup of green tea in hand, Sagar explained how auctioneering is more down to personality and skills than gender.

“You could be the most engaging male auctioneer, the most boring female auctioneer or vice versa – it’s about personality and skills.”

The 48-year-old has been responsible for wielding the gavel at both the player auctions for the Women’s Premier League (WPL), India’s IPL-style five-team franchise tournament for women.

“Sport is gendered, so to be part of something where women cricketers have a platform at the highest level and the chance to be financially independent doing what they love, was really special.”

Being one of the few female auctioneers in India, Sagar acknowledged that the inaugural WPL auction in February may have been an unwitting stepping stone to bring her to the IPL auction, a far more scaled-up affair than its WPL equivalent.

Learning the ropes – with kabaddi

Sagar’s first stint at sport auctioneering came at the eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), an Indian men’s professional franchise kabaddi tournament that ranks second behind the IPL most-watched sports league in the country.

She admits sport auctioneering “was a new world” for her, given her longstanding association with art.

“It did take a little bit of training, largely to change my approach,” she said.

So what does it take to make a good auctioneer?

“Depending on what you’re selling, you have to learn the mechanics of the auctioneering process and blend it with math, theatre and drama – all wrapped up in a smile!”

The PKL experience, she said, warmed her up for the cricket auctions.

Despite a foray into sport, steering a cricket auction at the WPL proved to be a different ball game.

The scale of operations, including the requirements of catching the producer’s cue in the ear during live broadcast, added a different dimension to the job.

‘Can’t let your nervousness take over your job’

Sagar describes a usual auction as an “unknown” as it unfolds in real time.

The ones in cricket often come with last-minute mic-ups or touchups with the makeup, frenzied bidding wars traversing multiple parties or, something as seemingly easy-to-do as figuring out where the franchises are seated based on the draw that allots them their order. Their dynamism warrants significant focus and flexibility.

“You have to be alert and adaptable,” she said. “At times, despite your best efforts, there can be mistakes. You may get a syllable wrong when calling out hundreds of names. It’s best to acknowledge the error, apologise, fix it, and move on.

“Regardless of the situation, you can’t panic. You cannot let your nervousness take over your job. Having composure as part of your skillset is a must.”

Sagar swears by exercise and yoga to refuel quietude and strength of body and mind.

“There’s nothing a downward dog or a headstand doesn’t fix,” she quipped. On auction eve, she retires early to avoid mental exhaustion during the all-important hours on the job the next day.

The bedrock of a well-run auction, in her view, is being as even-keel as possible as an auctioneer, no matter the stature of the players on offer.

“It’s important to present a newcomer with the same amount of energy as you would a star player,” she said.

Among the other non-negotiables, Sagar places the utmost premium on knowing the subject – the order of the sets of players, similar to pieces of art.

“You’ve got to pace out each name well and give it enough time,” she said. “Especially, when there’s a flurry of bids for them.

“And when the frenzy slows down, give it a few seconds and ask the room, ‘Everybody sure? Last chance if you’d like to bid?’ Whether in art or cricket, rapid changes such as a last-minute raise of the paddle or a new entrant coming in are a given. It’s your job to factor them all in.”

Has her preparation for the IPL auction been any different from the WPL’s?

“No, because the basic formats are the same,” Sagar explained. “The key is to make sure you are familiar with the names. You don’t want to destroy someone’s name who’s coming up on a platform as prestigious as this – it’s their moment of glory, after all.”

On Tuesday, as Sagar reels off over 300 such names, it will be as much her moment in the sun as theirs.

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‘We barely make ends meet’: In Italy, some women are postponing motherhood | Women

Giada, a 30-year-old writer, lives in central Italy with her boyfriend, a shop assistant also in his thirties.

After several unpaid internships, she finally secured a more reliable position this year.

As a writer specialising in science, she earns about 800 euros ($876) a month on a one-year part-time contract.

“They said they are going to renew it, but it’s a small company and everything is very unstable,” Giada told Al Jazeera.

For this reason, she is postponing motherhood.

“Having kids has never been a question for me, and my boyfriend and I discuss it as he would also like to have them. But then we think about our precarious situation and realise that becoming parents now would not be sustainable. We barely make ends meet – imagine with a child.”

Working in Italy as a woman is fraught with challenges.

The country is home to the lowest female employment rate in the European Union and a steep gender pay gap. Women are also often more likely to be employed in “non-standard” arrangements, such as part-time and temporary jobs. And it is mothers and young women who are the most affected.

“We are lucky in other ways,” Giada said. “Our families support us so we know that if we need help we can ask them.

“[But] what if I get pregnant and my company decides to not renew my contract? It is not so unrealistic that this could happen.”

Chiara, a 26-year-old social media strategist living in Padua with her boyfriend, said given their salaries, they cannot plan for a family yet.

“I left my parents’ home when I was 19 and almost immediately became financially independent by working while studying,” she said.

“All my wages have always been used for daily living, not allowing me to save any money.”

Chiara is working on an apprenticeship contract, earning about 1,200 euros ($1,314) per month.

Looking ahead, she does not expect her salary to rise by much.

“Our desire to become parents is strong, but it is never stronger than knowing that a kid deserves to live comfortably,” she said. “With groceries, rent and bills going up, while our salary remains the same, it is basically impossible to do so.

“Of course, this is not something that makes me happy: not knowing whether our financial situation will ever allow us to have children scares me, because this day may never come”.

Motherhood postponed

According to a recent Department of Health report, Italian women are, on average, older than 31 when they have their first child.

About 62 percent of babies in 2022 were born to mothers aged between 30 and 39. Those aged between 20 and 29 accounted for 26 percent of births, compared with 30 percent in 2012.

The average number of children per woman is now 1.24, one of the lowest rates in Europe. To compare, France’s rate, which is considered high, was 1.8 in 2021 while Greece’s was 1.4, according to the World Bank.

The Department of Health said the trends are partly down to a “decrease in the propensity to have children”.

While women are under less societal pressure to have children, in Italy, the biggest obstacle to motherhood for some is being able to afford it.

Official figures show that 72 percent of resignations in 2021 were submitted by women. Most of those who quit cited the difficulties associated with juggling work and childcare duties.

“Care work is still all on women’s shoulders, even for couples where both have jobs,” Chiara Daniela Pronzato, professor of demography at the University of Turin, told Al Jazeera.

While women get five months’ maternity leave, fathers are entitled to just 10 days.

Good quality and affordable childcare is in short supply. There are not enough state-run nursery places and private preschools are very expensive. Plans to use 4.6 billion euros of the EU’s COVID-19 recovery funds to build new nurseries are lagging.

“The most expensive aspect of parenthood is children’s time. Caring for them costs money,” Pronzato said. “When a woman has kids and a low salary, it is likely she would resign to take care of the family, setting her up in a state of poverty that certainly does not help the country to grow.

“Increasing the fertility rate is not important because ‘we are shrinking as a population’, but rather to maintain economic prosperity,” Pronzato explained.

“If women worked more, they could have more children, as shown by France, Sweden and Norway, where fertility and female employment rates are both high.”

Presenting the government’s 2024 budget, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has made clear her desire to increase the birth rate, announced measures for families with children, including free nursery care for a second child, the temporary exemption of women with two or more children from social security contributions, and benefits for companies that hire mothers on permanent contracts.

“A woman who gives birth to at least two children … has already made an important contribution to society,” Meloni said in October.

But Pronzato warned that while incentives could be helpful, “there should be more focus on services instead of money, as it is hard for people to trust that these bonuses will remain for a long time”.

“Building new kindergartens and offering full-time education and after-school activities in schools would rather be a more forward-looking step,” she explained.

“We should begin to consider children as precious and important to everyone, because the future depends on them, and it should be the community, the public – not the individual household – that take care of them.”

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The top 10 moments that shaped women’s football in 2023 | Football News

It was the year that saw Australia and New Zealand host the biggest and most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup, which culminated with Spain’s crowning moment as first-time champions with a win over one of the pre-tournament favourites England.

Women’s football giants United States faltered at the quarterfinal stage and several minnow nations lit up the group stage.

The World Cup was packed with high-quality action, as well as shocks and feel-good stories and culminated with the launch of Spanish football’s #MeToo movement.

Elsewhere, US Soccer delegated Emma Hayes with the job of reviving their fading glory as the highest paid women’s football coach in the world.

As the year comes to a close, here’s a look at 10 moments that shaped women’s football in 2023:

‘Ever-growing ACL club’

Months ahead of the World Cup, England captain Leah Williamson, New Zealand striker Katie Rood and several other top players were left to rue their luck after being sidelined with ACL injuries.

Rood announced the news with a post on Instagram saying, “I’m sad to say that I’ve joined the ever-growing ACL club”.

In order to understand the widespread prevalance of the injury among women footballers, Al Jazeera spoke to a wide range of experts and players, who pointed at a number of factors, including the biological differences between men and women, the difference in their kits and boots, physical stress and workload. Researchers also underlined how women’s menstrual cycles could be a factor in their vulnerability to the injury.

Player revolt precedes Spain’s historic win

Nearly a year before Spain’s glorious run at the World Cup, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) and its players were embroiled in a months-long stand-off.

The “Las 15” – a group of 15 players demanded changes to the national team set-up and made themselves unavailable for selection, directing the majority of their complaints at coach Jorge Vilda. They sought improvements in working conditions, blaming them for their poor emotional and physical health.

Later, the players entered talks with the federation and three of them, including Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, were included in Spain’s World Cup squad that landed the La Roja their first world title.

The player revolt continued after the World Cup in the wake of the scandal surrounding Luis Rubiales’s forced kiss on player Jenni Hermoso’s mouth. However, the squad agreed to end their boycott in October after Rubiales was banned for three years by FIFA and the Spanish federation promised to make “immediate and profound changes.”

When Hannah Dingley took over as the head coach of English League Two club Forest Green Rovers, albeit temporarily, she became the first woman to manage a professional men’s football team in England.

Dingley stayed at the position for two weeks but was credited for breaking the glass ceiling for young girls taking up managerial roles in men’s football.

Previously, Portuguese coach Helena Costa became first woman to coach a men’s football team in France when, in 2014, she took charge of then-league two French club Clermont Foot.

Several women have taken up coaching roles in men’s academy teams, but not many have been handed the reins of top-flight men’s teams.

Morocco shine at historic first World Cup

Football fans and experts may have believed that Morocco had done their bit by becoming the first Arab team to qualify for the Women’s World Cup, but the Atlas Lionesses were out to prove them wrong.

“It’s amazing to keep creating history,” star striker Rosella Ayane told Al Jazeera after her team made it to the round of 16 at the tournament.

Back home, from Fez to Marrakech and beyond, fans gathered in cafes, homes and on the streets to get behind the women in red and green as they took on their former coloniser France in the knockout round.

Despite their disappointing loss at the hands of the French, the rise of the Atlas Lionesses, several of whom play league football in Europe, endeared them to the football-mad African nation.

Hijab-clad Nouhaila Benzina breaks barriers

Morocco had plenty to say at the tournament Down Under as Nouhaila Benzina became the first Muslim woman wearing a hijab to play at the World Cup.

Football fans, especially Muslim women, lauded Benzina for breaking the barrier. Millions around the world watched as she stepped on the field in the hijab a month after France banned the Islamic headscarf during games.

Activist Shaista Aziz was among the scores of Muslim women who backed Benzina on social media.

“The significance of this is HUGE for many #Muslim girls and women including myself,” Aziz wrote on X.

Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina, left, and France’s Kenza Dali compete for the ball during the Women’s World Cup round of 16 soccer match between France and Morocco in Adelaide, Australia, Tuesday, August 8, 2023. [James Elsby/AP Photo]

The USWNT juggernaut comes to a halt

Most of the pre-tournament predictions and talks were centred at the US Women’s National Team’s prospects of completing a “three-peat” or an unprecedented third consecutive and fifth overall world title.

The women’s football giants began their campaign with a 3-0 thrashing of minnows Vietnam, but cracks began to show as they struggled against a strong Dutch side in their second group-stage match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Needing to avoid a loss to stay in the tournament, they earned a goalless draw against Portugal.

However, the juggernaut came to a halt on August 6 as Sweden knocked out the holders in a madcap penalty shootout (5-4). The talismanic retiring great Megan Rapinoe came off the bench to replace forward Alex Morgan in extra time but was unable to create a winner for the Americans who slumped to their quickest exit.

Debutants and minnows shine

The Philippines and Zambia made impactful World Cup debuts, recording stunning wins over New Zealand and Costa Rica. The Philippines’ win over the co-hosts, in particular, made waves back home as delirous crowds celebrated the shock win.

Playing in their second World Cup, Jamaica and South Africa were the other surprise packages as they advanced to the knockout stage.

In what was arguably the biggest moment in women’s football – and women’s sport – in the year 2023, FIFA bannd the powerful Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales from the sport for three years for misconduct at the Women’s World Cup final where he forcibly kissed Spain’s Jenni Hermoso on the lips at the trophy ceremony.

FIFA’s ban came more than two months after the disgraceful moment was televised across the world as Spain stepped on the stage to collect their winners’ medals and trophy. Hermoso reacted to the forced kiss in a social video, where she said: “Hey, I didn’t like it, eh.”

She would later file a legal complaint against Rubiales, who initially refused to step down from his post and threatened the player with legal action of his own. However, the moment and the ensuing proceedings launched Spanish football’s #MeToo movement as thousands of women took to the streets in Spain to show support Hermoso. Women’s football teams, fans and men’s national team also condemned Rubiales.

The term #SeAcabo [it’s over] became synonymous with the movement as leading football players used it to show their solidarity.

A demonstrator holds a red card reading in Spanish ‘it is over’ during a protest against the president of Spain’s football federation Luis Rubiales and to support Jenni Hermoso in Barcelona, Spain [File: Emilio Morenatti/AP]

Emma Hayes’s landmark move to the US

The USWNT’s poor run at the World Cup raised several questions about the future of the team and its management. Several players, including Rapinoe and midfielder Julie Ertz retired from international footbal

Coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned in the immediate aftermath of the tournament ouster, leaving fans and experts to wonder who would take up one of the most high-profile coaching jobs in the sport.

Last month, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was named as Andonovski’s replacement in a move that would be touted as “a breath of fresh air” and a landmark moment for the women’s game as she will become the highest-paid women’s football coach in the world, reportedly earning $2m a year – the same as the US men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter.

Women’s football in England took a big step towards after its top two leagues – the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship – decided to break away from the Football Association under the banner of NewCo – a newly formed organisation to run the women’s professional game in the country.

The change will come into effect from the 2024-25 season but the news has set women’s football abuzz in England, with former FA director of women’s game saying it had now found “its own voice”.



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Texas Supreme Court halts order allowing emergency abortion | Women’s Rights News

Case seen as major test since constitutional right to abortion in the United States was overturned last year.

The Texas Supreme Court has temporarily halted a lower court’s ruling that allowed a woman who is 20 weeks pregnant to get an abortion despite the conservative US state’s ban on the procedure.

The one-page order from the all-Republican top court was issued late on Friday and the legal battle was seen as a major test case since the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide constitutional right to abortion last year, enabling states like Texas to pass near-complete bans.

State district judge Maya Guerra Gamble, an elected Democrat, had on Thursday ruled to permit Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, to have an abortion under the narrow exceptions to Texas’s ban, since her fetus had a fatal diagnosis.

According to Cox’s lawsuit, weeks after she found out she was pregnant, she was told that her baby was at a high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates.

Doctors also told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labour would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her two prior caesarean sections, and that another C-section at full term would endanger her ability to carry another child.

Cox was 20 weeks pregnant when she filed the lawsuit, with help from the nonprofit Center for Reproductive Rights, which is believed to be the first time a pregnant woman in the United States asked a court to approve an abortion after Roe v Wade was overturned last June.

Since that landmark ruling, Texas and 12 other states rushed to ban abortion at nearly all stages of pregnancy.

The lower court’s ruling applied only to Cox and this current pregnancy and did not expand abortion access more broadly across Texas.

But the state’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Supreme Court to intervene to block Cox from obtaining an abortion.

On Friday night, Cox received a one-page order in which the Supreme Court said it was temporarily staying Thursday’s ruling “without regard to the merits”.

“We are talking about urgent medical care. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. This is why people should not need to beg for healthcare in a court of law,” Molly Duane, a lawyer at the centre said.

In an editorial published in the Dallas Morning News, Cox wrote: “I do not want to continue the pain and suffering that has plagued this pregnancy or continue to put my body or my mental health through the risks of continuing this pregnancy.”

“The idea that Ms Cox wants desperately to be a parent, and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability, is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice,” Guerra Gamble had said on Thursday.

Paxton called Guerra Gamble “an activist” and argued that Cox does not meet the criteria for a medical exception to the abortion ban.

“Future criminal and civil proceedings cannot restore the life that is lost if plaintiffs or their agents proceed to perform and procure an abortion in violation of Texas law,” Paxton’s office told the court.

He had also warned three hospitals in Houston that they could face legal consequences if they allowed Cox’s physician to provide the abortion after the lower court order.

After the Supreme Court order, Cox’s lawyers have said they will not share her abortion plans, citing concerns for her safety.

The final verdict in her case is pending.

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Women’s football set to enter lucrative ‘NewCo’ era but pitfalls remain | Football News

The Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship’s decision to break free from the English Football Association and run independently from the next season will give the women’s game a newfound autonomy and play a vital role in shaping its future, experts say, although many pitfalls and uncertainties remain.

Last week, clubs from the top two tiers of women’s football in England announced they had unanimously agreed to form a new organisation (NewCo) to lead the women’s professional game from the 2024/25 season.

The English FA has run the Women’s Super League since its formation in 2010, with the addition of the second-tier Championship in 2014. However, in July 2022, the FA announced a desire for those leagues to change from being solely owned by the FA to being an independent entity.

NewCo, a working title at this stage, will function as an independent body with all 24 clubs from the Women’s Super League and Championship acting as shareholders. The organisation will be led by CEO Nikki Doucet, a former investment banker and Nike executive.

Kelly Simmons, former FA director of the women’s game, said the formation of NewCo will provide the women’s leagues a “laser focus”.

“The FA wasn’t the right long-term fit because it’s the governing body and regulator, and there are some commercial conflicts in that,” Simmons told Al Jazeera.

“We were concerned that if the women’s leagues just rolled into the men’s Premier League, it would not have sort of the laser focus or an independent voice, and might not be the highest priority.

“So we [at the FA] all agreed unanimously that the best model would be to set up a new company that has a laser focus, a board and an executive that is solely focused on making the best decisions for the women’s professional game.”

Simmons, who played a key role in developing the women’s game in England for three decades, believes that NewCo will enable the women’s game to have its own distinct voice, free from the men’s game.

“[The women’s game] has always been wrapped up in sort of the politics of whatever is going on in the men’s game and hasn’t been able to have that voice to call out what’s needed for the women’s game publicly and sometimes put pressure on the stakeholders,” added Simmons, who is now a sports consultant.

“So I think it’s good that, now it’s away from the FA, it’s got its own voice.”

However, some experts voiced concerns that the new structure could replicate some of the problems marring the men’s game and a lot remains unclear.

‘Right time’

Women’s football has seen a rapid rise in England, accelerated by the team’s success at the Women’s European Championship on home soil in 2022.

NewCo’s formation comes just over three months after England played in the Women’s World Cup final in Australia.

Alex Culvin, head of women’s football strategy and research at FIFPRO, said the leagues’ decision to function independently has come at the right time.

“The FA in England have probably taken the women’s game as far as they could go. And so I think, the time was was right in terms of the marketability of the game,” Culvin said. “The commercial value of the game is increasing … The women’s game in England has never been more appealing.”

Culvin, a former professional footballer who played for Everton, Leeds United and Liverpool, said an independent working structure is more beneficial for the growth of professional women’s leagues in general.

“For many women’s professional leagues across the world, the country’s football federations manage the development of the league. And what you find is that there’s a consolidation of power,” Culvin explained.

“So they manage the league and the international team. And that’s why consolidation of power can sometimes stunt the growth potential of women’s football because how do you strategically prioritise one over the other?”

Culvin highlighted the importance of independent governance by citing the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women’s league in the United States that is owned by the clubs.

NWSL is among the top leagues in global women’s football and almost all US national team players ply their trade there. The league is also commercially lucrative – according to data by Sportico, NWSL teams will collectively generate $112m in revenue during the 2023 regular season. The WSL generated revenues of 32 million pounds ($40.2m) in 2021-22.

“If you look at the NWSL … it has the opportunity to grow year on year. I think, in England, having the independence and the ability to strategically prioritise the growth of the women’s league is something that hasn’t been done before. It’s important and I’m incredibly excited,” Culvin said.

The WSL now believes it can become the first billion-pound ($1.24bn) women’s football league in the world within a decade.

The establishment of NewCo, similar to the Premier League’s governance model, is anticipated to contribute to the rapid and sustainable growth of women’s football, according to freelance journalist Nancy Gillen.

“While the FA obviously wanted women’s football to grow, it is hard for the organisation to be fully dedicated to this when they also have other commitments,” Gillen said.

“It is similar to when the Premier League broke away from the Football League and FA in 1991-92, giving it commercial independence. The Premier League is now one of the most successful and profitable sports leagues in the world, so that’s where the Women’s Super League and Championship could potentially be heading.”

Simmons said the formation of a new company to run the leagues independently will also benefit women’s football in England.

“A very successful Women’s Super League helps the England team and I think one of the reasons why England has been so successful has been because the players are training and playing every day with some of the best players in the world,” she said.

“On the other hand, a strong Championship will help England because a lot of young English talent needs to get meaningful minutes in game time in competitive games maybe when they’re too young to break into the Women’s Super League.”

Revenue structure

The new company has not revealed details on the structure of its governance, but the Athletic reported the Women’s Super League clubs will receive 75 per cent of the combined revenues from the two divisions and have all the voting power on commercial and broadcast matters.

Culvin raised concerns about the power grab by the top clubs.

“For me, it is quite problematic, because, again, there’s a consolidation of power among the bigger clubs,” Culvin added. “For this new foundation, I think it’s important that there’s no vested interest in providing an undemocratic decision-making amongst clubs.”

Simmons advocated for revenue sharing with lower division leagues in the future.

“At some point, when those revenues grow, there will need to be another conversation about whether money should go further down the pyramid to the Women’s National League and the tiers below, just like it does in the men’s game,” she said.

The Athletic also reported that 11 out of 12 Championship clubs had rejected an initial agreement over voting power on certain matters regarding how NewCo will function. But after receiving an ultimatum from the Women’s Super League clubs, the Championship clubs voted unanimously in favour of the deal.

Gillen, a women’s football expert, said there is a risk of more disputes between the two divisions.

“I would really hope that all decisions would be made to benefit both leagues, but there is always the chance of the gap between the Women’s Super League and Championship getting bigger,” she said.

Meanwhile, no financial fair play rules have been announced for the leagues.

As the women’s leagues break away from the governing body, Simmons also stressed the importance of the FA maintaining a relationship with the women’s game.

“The FA will need to think through how they manage and develop the relationship with the new company to make sure that there’s a joined-up strategy, particularly across things like youth talent, talent development, and club development,” she explained.

NewCo’s to-do list

Simmons said NewCo’s first major task would be to secure a new broadcast deal for the Women’s Super League, with the FA’s multimillion-pound deal with Sky Sports and the BBC set to end next season.

Culvin suggested that NewCo should focus on establishing new licensing criteria for clubs and also emphasised the need for a review of the remuneration of players to avoid a huge wage gap between the clubs.

The former defender added that the new company should also take into consideration the recommendations put forth by Karen Carney to help improve the standards of women’s football in England.

Former player-turned-pundit Carney undertook an independent review into women’s football in England last year and published the findings in July, outlining recommendations aimed at leveraging the success of the England women’s team and establishing a pathway towards a successful and sustainable commercial future for domestic women’s football.

The British government has endorsed the recommendations and pledged its support to the FA and NewCo in the full professionalisation of the women’s game.

“While I’m encouraged by this kind of innovative sort of new governance structure of the Women’s Super League and Championship, I think there’s not a lot of information around actually how it will operate in practice,” Culvin said.

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Sexual violence still a major threat as Sudan’s conflict grinds on | Sexual Assault

Cairo, Egypt – While sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has increased notably in Sudan during the fighting that has torn the country apart since April, it has been an epidemic there long before April 15, according to Sara Musa, an activist with the Darfur Women’s Forum.

Musa and several other activists and humanitarian workers involved in Sudan were meeting in Cairo for the Sudan Humanitarian Conference at the end of November. They were there to discuss their experience working on the ground during the conflict and deliver their message to international aid organisations, some of whom were also attending.

A significant portion of the meetings discussed SGBV and the serious obstacles to tackling it, obstacles that make even accurately recording the number of attacks difficult. As Saja Nourin, head of programme for the Sudanese Organisation for Research and Development (SORD), told Al Jazeera, the Combatting Violence Against Women Unit has said that the cases they recorded are likely less than 3 percent of actual figures.

SGBV is tragically something that recurs during violent conflict, but the total lack of civilian protection in Sudan means that the rate of SGBV is almost unfathomable.

Women and girls are being kept by their abusers for days following the assault so that they cannot access medical care and are forced to carry pregnancies, Shaza N Ahmed, executive director of Nada Elazhar Organisation for Disaster Prevention and Sustainable Development, told Al Jazeera.

Non-Arab communities, such as the Masalit, in West Darfur are particularly vulnerable to SGBV, Ahmed said, with women girls being kept in sexual slavery, sold in markets, and kidnapped into forced prostitution. She added that fighters from various mainly Arab militias or the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are raping women to intentionally impregnate them.

“Women and girls in Darfur are being told: ‘After [we] rape [you], you will carry our babies […] to change the non-Arab portion within the Sudanese blood,’” Ahmed said.

In a country where abortion is illegal, the options for survivors are extremely limited and, in some cases, the social stigma has driven them to depression or worse, Ahmed said, adding that the stigma is worse when a child is born of rape.

Not a new problem

Musa of the Darfur Women’s Forum told Al Jazeera that before the war, SGBV was already a big problem in Darfur, especially in rural areas where RSF, Sudanese army fighters or other security forces attacked women with impunity.

The RSF has said it has zero tolerance for SGBV but cases of SGBV are still reported. While this has been taken by some observers to indicate a lack of cohesion in the RSF ranks, others say the militia has been successful in fighting but that there seems to be less control once the guns quiet.

In the past, there used to be community-based mechanisms and referral pathways to deal with SGBV but now, victims are left to fend for themselves, carrying unwanted pregnancies, trauma and severe complications.

“There is no access to sexual violence service provision because there are either no service provisions [to begin with] or because of the social stigma,” said one Sudanese woman’s activist, who did not disclose her name for fear of reprisal.

“All of the facilities like the hospitals, the police stations where you [could] report [violations] all stopped because of the conflict and the fighting,” Musa said.

On top of that, Musa told Al Jazeera, first responders and service providers have reason to fear for their own safety as the RSF “arrests [civilians] and gives them two options: either you join us, or you will get tortured for the rest of your life until you die”, driving most to flee for their lives.

She stressed that more support is urgently needed to prevent further violations and to help victims during the conflict. Musa and other delegates also called for comprehensive sexual reproductive health services that include family planning protocols, rape protocols, HIV medicines and safe abortions where necessary.

The widespread scale of SGBV is part of a wider issue plaguing Sudan – the lack of protection for civilians, conference delegates said. They called for more support from the international community, protection of civilians, and accountability for perpetrators of SGBV and other crimes.

Among the civilians most in need of protection are the displaced people who walk for days to escape violent fighting, hoping to find a camp to take shelter. Some manage to leave Sudan entirely, most finding refuge in Chad while some head to South Sudan or Ethiopia to the east.

Pregnant women on those routes have had miscarriages or suffered trauma, malnutrition and a lack of medical care. Children are also exceptionally vulnerable, with three to four children dying every week on the escape route from Nyala to East Darfur, Musa told Al Jazeera.

Whether outside Sudan or displaced within its borders, the civilians trying to survive amid this violence are still in danger of more SGBV unless protections are put in place.

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Ugandan woman advocates for her rights after ‘life of pain’ — Global Issues

In the first of a two-part series, Angela Muhindo spoke to UN Women ahead of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, marked annually from 25 November to 10 December, Human Rights Day.

“My life has been full of pain,” she said, surveying the green landscape where she spent her childhood in Kasese, in Uganda’s western region. “In my community, women have less power, but if you are disabled, you are even more vulnerable to exploitation.”

Ms. Muhindo, who has had a physical disability since childhood, said she has faced violence and exclusion throughout her life. Such treatment is the norm for many women and girls with disabilities, she said, noting that they also face challenges accessing education, employment and health care.

Globally, women and girls with disabilities are at least two to three times more likely than other women to experience violence.

People think that “a person with disabilities cannot get married and have children” and that “you are going to stay in your father’s home [forever] because no one is going to take care of you”, Ms. Muhindo said.

Inheritance dispute

When her parents died, a dispute over the inheritance of their property set into motion events that changed how she lived as a person with a disability.

She said she was threatened and intimidated by her male relatives over the inheritance and felt powerless to advocate for herself.

Land disputes can be a catalyst for gender-based violence in Uganda, where it’s not uncommon for widows and children to be evicted from their home after the death of a husband or father, or in the event of a separation.

The effect of this is two-fold – violence may be used to evict women from property by force, and without a place to live or land to farm, they become more vulnerable to violence in the future.

Seeking to better understand her rights, she attended a Spotlight Initiative-supported training course implemented by the National Union of Women with Disabilities Uganda through UN Women.

At the course, she learned about inheritance rights and realized that she was the sole legal heir to the property, and she gained the confidence to stand up to her relatives.

“I realized that as a person living with disabilities, I can do whatever other people can do,” she said. “I can speak up just like any other person. I can buy land, have a job.”

WFP/Marco Frattini

Disputes over land ownership can lead to violence.

Advocating for others

It took over a year, but Ms. Muhindo successfully put the land in her name. She now has a safe place to live, food to eat and earns a living from the crops she grows. She also advocates for other women in her community, including those with disabilities, and speaks about gender-based violence on a local radio station.

“I do not want other women to go through what I went through,” she said.

The Spotlight Initiative aims to eliminate violence against women and girls through comprehensive programming that addresses all the key drivers.

This includes improving laws and policies that prevent violence, strengthening institutions, promoting gender-equitable social norms and strengthening women’s movements and essential services to survivors of violence.

United Nations

SDG 5

SDG 5: EMPOWER ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS

  • End all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls
  • Eliminate such harmful practices as early and forced marriages and female genital mutilation
  • Adapt and strengthen legislation to promote gender equality and empower women and girls
  • Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership in political, economic and public life
  • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care

Globally, almost half of all married women currently lack decision-making power over their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

‘I felt empowered’

Spotlight and UN Women work with local organizations to help to change discriminatory attitudes and support those at risk of, or experiencing, violence. Since 2019, almost 300,000 people in Uganda have attended community programming on women’s rights with Spotlight Initiative support.

UN Women has also supported advocacy to change legislation that advantaged male children in inheritance and land issues. In March 2021, Uganda’s Parliament passed the Succession (Amendment) Bill, formally recognizing the equal rights of women to own land.

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking up, but after the training I felt empowered,” Ms. Muhindo says.

  • The global Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls is a United Nations joint effort with the European Union and other partners.
  • In Uganda, it is implemented by the Government of Uganda, the European Union, UN Women, UN entities for reproductive health (UNFPA), children (UNICEF), development (UNDP) and refugees (UNHCR) in partnership with UN agencies for human rights (OHCHR) and migration (IOM), the UN Pulse Lab in Uganda and civil society.
  • Since 2019, the Spotlight Initiative has supported almost one million women and girls in Uganda to access essential services.

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