A video created from various news clips to promote a documentary photo project I will be pursuing in January 2011. Please take a look and help support my project.
One of the most contentious issues within Islam today is the role of women in society. Conservatives endorse a narrow reading of Islamic texts to justify restrictions on women's mobility, legal rights and access to the public sphere, including health care, education and the workplace. Extremists among them use violence to impose their views.
17-year-old Rand ‘Abd al-Qader was killed in the city of Basra on 16 March 2008. She was murdered by her father, apparently assisted by two of her brothers, because she had developed a friendship with a British soldier based in the city.
The many cultures in Afghanistan have one thing in common: They shelter their women from the outside world. In order to reach the "hidden" 50 percent of the Afghan population, NATO and U.S. forces in that country have adopted a strategy used successfully in Iraq, the female engagement team (FET). The Marine version of the program was called "Lioness" training.
A year after President Obama's troop surge to Afghanistan, new poll results published yesterday in The Washington Post show that Afghans are less confident in the United States and its allies to provide security and are more willing to negotiate with the Taliban. More than half of Afghans surveyed nationwide said that U.S. and NATO should begin to withdraw troops from their country by mid-2011 or earlier.
An ancient Khmer proverb says, “A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth.” Gold can get dirty or be dropped in the mud, but it can be polished and become as shiny as new; if white cloth is dropped in the mud, it will be forever stained, soiled, and ruined. This is a sad reflection of how Cambodian society traditionally views female sexuality.
AMBASSADOR ZHARBUSSYNOVA: Ladies and gentlemen, today I am truly honored to welcome the Secretary of State Madam Hillary Clinton. Madam, all of us present here today are grateful that despite the challenging schedule and the long flight, you were willing to have this meeting with representative of the civil society and other organizations and students of the university.
