Excerpt from an article by Canadian journalist Stephanie Nolen, who recently moved to India after being posted for several years in South Africa.
Men stare at me incessantly, with an assessing curiosity that is not friendly. Young men follow me in the street, even when I am carrying my young son. When I'm alone, they call out to me, or make sucking noises. In India, it's known by the dismissive term “Eve teasing” – it's pervasive, unrelenting sexual harassment by strangers.
I don't yet know whether I get more of it, as a visible foreigner, or less than an Indian woman would get in similar situations, but it's alienating and unpleasant regardless. New friends here tell me it can, if you're unlucky and caught alone, easily escalate from harassment to assault. One foreign journalist colleague, walking with her male colleague, also a foreigner, was recently set upon – at noon in a crowded market – by young men who groped her so aggressively, she had to run away and, a week later, had livid, purple bruises from the “fondling.”
Sub-Saharan Africa, of course, is no bastion of gender equality – I covered horrific incidents of mass rape, child marriage and female genital mutilation. Yet somehow I am reminded more incessantly of the sexism here. It started when I signed our lease, and had to provide either my father's name or my husband's. I've had to adjust to the fact that every repair person, shopkeeper and many potential staff members utterly ignore anything I say to them, waiting for the voice of authority, my male partner, to tell them what they really ought to do.
In a country where only a generation ago it was virtually unknown for women to work outside the home, young Emirati women such as Nadia Zaal are stepping into business leaderships positions with confidence and commitment.
Zaal, who is only in her twenties, is the CEO of Zaya, an Abu Dhabi-based, family-owned realty company.
"I think women today are living in golden times and all you need is belief and dedication.
"Women are taking up the top and the most coveted positions in the professional field. It all boils down to what you believe in and how focused you are on realising your dreams. If you think positive and are aware of what you want in your life, it will manifest."
Queen Rania of Jordan joins others around the world in calling for a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis at a Unicef news conference. Video was posted to YouTube on January 5, 2008.
A Canadian woman has launched a lawsuit against Google Inc., demanding
that the company reveal the identity of the people she says posted
offensive statements about her on a blog hosted by the U.S. technology
titan.
Liskula Cohen, a 36-year-old fashion model who appeared on the covers
of the Australian Vogue and W magazines in the early 1990s, wants
Google to hand over the name of the anonymous blogger who posted a
series of unflattering photos and comments about her using the
company's Blogger publishing service.
Queen Rania of Jordan campaigns worldwide for understanding between cultures. This is from her YouTube channel.
Dim lights
Queen Rania's YouTube channel is dedicated to breaking down stereotypes
about the Arab and Muslim worlds and to bridging the East-West divide. Click here to find out more.
I don't yet know whether I get more of it, as a visible foreigner, or less than an Indian woman would get in similar situations, but it's alienating and unpleasant regardless. New friends here tell me it can, if you're unlucky and caught alone, easily escalate from harassment to assault. One foreign journalist colleague, walking with her male colleague, also a foreigner, was recently set upon – at noon in a crowded market – by young men who groped her so aggressively, she had to run away and, a week later, had livid, purple bruises from the “fondling.”
Zaal, who is only in her twenties, is the CEO of Zaya, an Abu Dhabi-based, family-owned realty company.
A Canadian woman has launched a lawsuit against Google Inc., demanding
that the company reveal the identity of the people she says posted
offensive statements about her on a blog hosted by the U.S. technology
titan.
