BANGKOK: A Philippines woman who fled Saudi Arabia and is currently receiving therapy after experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of her sponsor for 8 months recently sat down with Bikyanews.com to talk about the situation she faced and what other domestic workers from Southeast Asia can do in order to see abuse before it happens. T, who asked not to be named, said her experience is "similar" to other wome ...

DUBAI: Dubai traffic police are seeing an increase in the number of Saudi women seeking to obtain drivers' licenses in the city and other cities within the United Arab Emirates. Dubai Chief of Police Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan said police are receiving driving-license applications from Saudi women wanting to drive in Dubai and other cities, although he noted the number of requests are not particularly high. He ...

NEW DELHI: A day after Chitrangada Singh slammed reports that she and her golfer husband Jyoti Randhawa were looking to to divorce, media were ablaze with questions after she has pulled out of a local fashion show in Dubai. The Desi Boyz star was set to be the showstopper for Indian designer Archana Kocchar on May 27 at Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm. “Due to family issues, Chitrangada has pulled out of the eve ...

DUBAI: Kuwait women are hopeful that as they are being allowed to work as paramedics in the country the overall status of women in the small Gulf country will improve. Kuwait saw its first female unit graduate on Saturday. "This is a momentous day for all Kuwaitis, women and men, because it shows that we can improve as a country," 21-year-old university student Isra told Bikyanews.com. She hopes to follow i ...

CAIRO: Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, filed a memorandum to the Egyptian prosecutor-general on Sunday, asking for the immediate release of Coptic schoolteacher Demyana Emad and other Copts who are currently imprisoned as a result of a rash of case with sectarian elements. "Copts are fed up with being prosecuted on charges of evangelism and contempt of Islamic religion, espe ...

CAIRO: A statement from a member of Parliament of the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party has argued that Shia are "more dangerous than naked women" in comments that have brought on an onslaught of sardonic comments as well as anger from Egypt's activist community, who have urged the government to make it clear that discrimination will not be tolerated. According to a report in al-Ahram - a government-ru ...

DUBAI: In an exclusive interview with Australian media, Alicia Gali talked about being drugged, gang-raped and then imprisoned in Dubai for "illicit sex" in an incident that left many women in the Emirates angered and frustrated over the government's continued lack of deliverance of justice toward women in the country. "This case, I remember it like yesterday and how angry I was," Nouran Shawkat, a 31-year- ...

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) expresses its solidarity with citizen Demiana Abdelnour, who was accused of defamation of religion and whose imprisonment was extended to a further 15 days pending investigation in case no. 810/2013 Luxor/administrative. The association calls upon the prosecution to release her and discard the complaint filed against her in that regard as well as ...

LONDON: A major two-day conference on 'Supporting open economies, inclusive growth - women's role in Arab countries' will be held at Lancaster House in central London on 25th and 26th June 2013, as part of the UK's presidency of the G8 Deauville Partnership with Arab Countries in Transition. This groundbreaking initiative will bring together businesswomen from the Arab world and their G8 counterparts. It is ...

ADDIS ABABA: They call themselves Lucy and Tina. They are Ethiopian. They are lesbians. They are a couple who have been together for five years. But last week, while dancing at a local club in Addis Ababa, they told Bikyanews.com they were attacked by other women, beaten and forced out of the nightclub. The reason: they are lesbian. "The women just kept yelling at us and screaming and pushing when we starte ...