Poll on World Equal Rights for Women

Very interesting but consider me a little cynical.   International Poll Finds Large Majorities in All Countries Favor Equal Rights for Women :  According to a WorldPublicOpinion.org poll, people around the world express a widespread consensus that it is important for "women to have full equality of rights" and most say it is very important. This is true in Muslim nations as well as Western nations. In nearly all nations most people perceive that in their lifetime women have gained greater equality. Nonetheless, large majorities would like their government and the United Nations to take an active role in preventing discrimination.  (Realite.EU)

Participants were asked, "Thinking about the course of your lifetime, would you say, compared to the rights men have in this society, that women now have:  More Equality; Same; Less Equality.  In the Palestinian territories,  41% for more equality, 5% same, and 51% less equality.  I suppose the response depends on what one considers equality.

If by equality one means having the opportunity to blow oneself up as a suicide bomber, then I might buy their answer.  In Kenya 80% answered women now have more equality.  In Iran 75% answered women now have more equality.

An overwhelming majority of people around the world say that it is important for “women to have full equality of rights compared to men.” Large majorities in all nations polled took this position, ranging from 60 percent in India to 98 percent in Mexico and Britain.

On average, across the 20 nations polled, 86 percent said women’s equality is important, with 59 percent saying it is very important.  Attitudes vary about whether such equality is very important or somewhat important. Large majorities said it is very important in Mexico (89%), Britain (89%), Turkey (80%), US (77%), China (76%), France (75%), Indonesia (71%), and Argentina (71%). Smaller percentages said it is very important in Egypt (31%), Russia (35%), India (41%), South Korea (43%), Ukraine (44%), and Iran (44%).  (continue reading)

I will admit I did not read the entire report, so I do not know how many men vs women participated in the survey.  I'm inclined to suspect that in certain countries women may not have answered the question honestly out of fear.  But I'm just guessing.

If you are truly concerned about women's rights, especially when it comes to Islam, Dr. Phyllis Chesler  writes "Save Women Now. The Upcoming London and Washington, D.C. Rallies Mean Muslim Women."

The group is asking people to “show your solidarity in calling for our representatives and international world bodies to recognize and act against the ideology of Islamic supremacism that is threatening women today.” The group plans to “address the global challenge of women oppressed and killed in the name of Islamic supremacism. They call for “national and international action against Islamic supremacism” to Save Women Now, and to defy those who believe that mutilation, oppression, and murder of women is an Islamic supremacist “right.”

There is also a petition which you may sign: “Save Women Now” which demands that U.S. government and United Nations representatives recognize the ideology of Islamic supremacism as a source of oppression and violence to women in America and around the world.  [snip]

“For more background on One Law for All, the nature of Sharia councils and tribunals and on whether it is Islamophobic to oppose Sharia law, see the latest interview with Maryam Namazie and Bahram Soroush on Fariborz Pooya’s Secular TV. You can also see what a Sharia judge really means for people and women in particular by watching a recent BBC TV Big Questions programme in which she participated.

Namazie and her group may be contacted at: onelawforall@gmail.com.

  (read it all here)

Surveys can be helpful but must always be taken with a huge amount of questions as to the who, what, when, where, why, etc. behind the poll-study-survey.


In Other News from Realite.EU:

Iran-Russia arms deal to continue despite US plea
The Russian foreign minister disappoints US hopes by clarifying that its military cooperation with Iran complies with international law. "These issues ... are decided exclusively within the law and Russian national regulations… We are supplying non-destabilizing, defensive weapons," Sergei Lavrov said following a meeting with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton in Geneva. […] Prior to the Friday meeting, the US Secretary of State had said that she would ask Sergei Lavrov to halt the transfer of long-range missiles from Russia to Iran.

Hamas Wants It All
The European Union has pledged $556 million in aid for "rebuilding Gaza" this year. The U.S. has pledged $900 million (most of it earmarked for Fatah). Arab nations have pledged nearly $1.5 billion, and total pledges are close to $5 billion. But delivery of this cash has been held up by the inability of Hamas and Fatah to agree on who would control the use of the money inside Gaza.

Sweden: The best Muslim state
"The best Islamic state is Sweden!" says local politician and imam Adly Abu Hajal (Moderate Party). All the important, basic principles are here. As an imam he can write a letter to concerned parents who don't want their child to sleep with somebody before marriage. "I call it to be boyfriend and girlfriend in the Muslim way," he says.

Italy Withdraws From ‘Durban II’
Italy has become the first European Union country to withdraw from next month’s United Nations racism conference, echoing Washington’s stance that it could not take part in the event based on an outcome document that attacks Israel as racist. Other E.U. members, including the Netherlands and France, have criticized aspects of the document, including what they see as attempts to shield Islam from criticism on the pretext of combating religious “defamation.”

Iran and Hamas back Sudan's Bashir
A delegation of senior Middle Eastern leaders has travelled to Sudan to express international support for Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, who is accused of war crimes in Darfur. Officials from Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah joined Syria's parliament speaker and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group for talks with al-Bashir in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, on Friday.

Italy FM delays Iran visit over anti-Israel comments
Italy Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has delayed a visit to Iran after "unacceptable statements" made by the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Italian government said Thursday. A statement from Italy's foreign ministry said Frattini's visit had been put back "in light of the unacceptable statements made by high-ranking Iranian officials against the state of Israel and the American administration."

Eight Iranian women face death by stoning
Eight women in Iran face death by stoning for adultery, Amnesty International has warned. The human rights group says the Iranian legal system unfairly discriminates against women and is demanding an immediate moratorium on the penalty.

New Hizbullah group claims credit for latest missiles fired from Gaza
A faction of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has claimed responsibility for missile attacks against Israel. A Palestinian militia termed Hizbullah Battalions-Palestine said it had fired missile strikes from the Gaza Strip. On March 5, the group said it fired two missiles into Israel's western Negev desert, Middle East Newsline reported. "This is part of the campaign, 'We redeem you Jerusalem,'" Hizbullah Battalions-Palestine said.

Comments

[Skunkfeathers]

Yeah, sure...I'll believe any poll that claims Arabs believe in women's rights.

[MK]

"I'm inclined to suspect that in certain countries women may not have answered the question honestly out of fear."

What makes you think they were even asked Debbie. The way things are in some muslim countries, it's pretty much, when their opinions are wanted, it'll be given to them.

[nancz]

men will NEVER be equal to women! HA!

i don't want to be like a man - in any way, shape or form.

[emma]

why dont squirls have equal rights,they should