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AsiaPolitics

Gaza women and the isdal robes that shield them as war strips their privacy

by Narges Mohammadi

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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AsiaPolitics

Taliban restricting unmarried women’s access to work and travel, UN report says

by Narges Mohammadi

In one incident, officials from the Vice and Virtue Ministry advised a woman to get married if she wanted to keep her job at a health care facility, saying it was inappropriate for an unwed woman to work, it said.

The Taliban have barred women from most areas of public life and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed after taking power in 2021, despite initially promising more moderate rule.

They have also shut down beauty parlors and started enforcing a dress code, arresting women who don’t comply with their interpretation of hijab, or Islamic headscarf. In May 2022, the Taliban issued a decree calling for women to only show their eyes and recommending they wear the head-to-toe burqa, similar to restrictions during the Taliban’s previous rule between 1996 and 2001.

In its latest quarterly report, covering October to December last year, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said the Taliban are cracking down on Afghan women who are single or don’t have a male guardian, or mahram, accompanying them.

There are no official laws about male guardianship in Afghanistan, but the Taliban have said women cannot move around or travel a certain distance without a man who is related to her by blood or marriage.

Three female health care workers were detained last October because they were going to work without a mahram. They were released after their families signed a written guarantee that they would not repeat the act, the report said.

In Paktia province, the Vice and Virtue Ministry has stopped women without mahrams from accessing health facilities since December. It visits health facilities in the province to ensure compliance.

The ministry, which serves as the Taliban’s morality police, is also enforcing hijab and mahram requirements when women visit public places, offices and education institutes through checkpoints and inspections.

In December, in Kandahar province, ministry officials visited a bus terminal to ensure women were not traveling long distances without mahrams and instructed bus drivers not to permit women to board without one, the U.N. said.

Women have also been arrested for buying contraceptives, which the Taliban have not officially banned.

The Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the U.N. report was based mostly on misunderstandings and accused the mission of ignoring or criticizing Islamic law, or Shariah.

With an Islamic government in power in Afghanistan, it must “fully implement all aspects of Shariah for both men and women,” Mujahid said in a statement.

This means enforcing rules for the hijab, male guardianship and gender segregation for women in education and employment, he said.

“If UNAMA criticizes these cases or considers explicit Islamic rulings as an act against human rights, then it is an insult to the beliefs of a people,” he said.

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CultureEurope

Singer Rebecca Ferguson tells of music industry abuse in MPs’ report

by Narges Mohammadi

The singer-songwriter Rebecca Ferguson has spoken about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her former management company as part of a new parliamentary report, which has called racism and misogyny across the industry “endemic”.

Ferguson gave evidence to the women and equalities committee, whose misogyny in music report has on Tuesday recommended the creation of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) to protect women from predatory and abusive practices in music.

Ferguson, who rose to prominence on the ITV talent show The X Factor, said that when she attempted to split from her management team, staff “were instructed to ruin my personal relationships … ignore calls from my children”, while she was told: “‘When you earn as much money as you do, you do as we fucking say’; ‘She’s good, isn’t she, we just need to break her spirit’; ‘He only wants you to perform because you’re black’.”

Evidence was also provided by the DJ Annie Macmanus, aka Annie Mac, and the Guardian’s deputy music editor, Laura Snapes, who painted a picture of a “boys’ club” where women faced expulsion and in some cases threats of legal action if they spoke out about abuses.

Macmanus told the committee about a female photographer who was repeatedly humiliated on tour by a male musician after he found out she did not find him attractive. “She couldn’t have won,” said Macmanus. “If she had gone with him, she would have been fired for being unprofessional, and she didn’t want to go with him anyway.”

Other anonymous contributors told stories of waking up with male colleagues on top of them attempting to undress them. When they challenged them they were dismissed and put in a position where they had to choose between quitting and “being able to pay my bills”.

Another woman successfully brought a wrongful dismissal case against a label but then found it impossible to gain employment in the industry. “The result being they had to pay me off, yet I, the victim, lost my career,” she said.

The committee’s main suggestion is to establish the CIISA, which would act as a deterrent by “preventing serial perpetrators of harmful behaviours going unreported”, but the committee cautioned the new body would not be “a panacea for all of the problems in the industry”.

The chair of the women and equalities committee, Caroline Nokes MP, said: “Women’s creative and career potential should not have limits placed upon it by ‘endemic’ misogyny which has persisted for far too long within the music industry.

“Our report rightly focuses on improving protections and reporting mechanisms, and on necessary structural and legislative reforms.

“However, a shift in the behaviour of men – and it is almost always men – at the heart of the music industry is the transformative change needed for talented women to quite literally have their voices heard and be both recognised and rewarded on equal terms.”

The report also criticised the use of non-disclosure agreements. Victims of sexual harassment often felt “threatened into silence” after signing the documents that prevent them from speaking about certain companies and individuals.

“Victims described to us of being told they would suffer reprisals if they failed to sign what was put in front of them, often without independent counsel,” read the report.

The misogyny in music report echoed earlier industry surveys on attitudes towards women in music. In 2022, the Incorporated Society of Musicians found that sexual harassment, racism and bullying existed on a “devastating scale” when it asked musicians about their experiences.

Source: Guardian

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Central AmericaCommunity

What would Carl Jung tell you to do with your spreadsheet of life goals? Throw it away and embrace the feminine

by Narges Mohammadi

Current debates about gender have become polarized. These divisive arguments tend to focus on narrowly defining “man” or “woman,” rather than considering archetypal underpinnings of the feminine and masculine. For psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung and post-Jungian thinkers, these concepts are crucial to understanding gender and wider cultural dynamics.

A Jungian perspective considers the feminine and masculine as concepts that are not specific to man or woman but germane to people of all genders. They are embedded in thousands of years of history, folklore and myth and their characteristics are remarkably similar across time and cultures.

Jung’s understanding, expanded on by others relates the feminine to mythical and spiritual dimensions such as the moon, soul, creativity, inwardness, darkness, chaos, intuition and (active) receptivity. A masculine energy is often associated with the sun, spirit, light, (immediate) action, aspiration and outwardness.

The feminine is neglected in patriarchal, neoliberal cultures that value rationality, action and ambition. We found this to be very much the case in a study of 15 young women starting out in their professional careers. These women set out their professional ideals in terms of upward momentum and ascension, speaking negatively of periods of stagnation and inaction. They appeared to apply linear, progressive reasoning to their work, for instance describing  as sequential “boxes to tick.”

The women in our study also appeared to shun cyclical, paradoxical thinking, which might entail, for example, embracing periods of slowness during which we experience boredom and ennui. These periods can open us up to spontaneous and unexpected possibilities.

The value of ‘nothingness’

Adopting a feminine way of being encourages us to experience and embrace periods of inaction and depression, rather than continuously pursue upward momentum and productivity. This might seem to be the last thing we’d want in professional life, but that is not necessarily the case.

Renowned Jungian analyst Mary Louis von Franz observes how in many fairy tales there is “a long period of barrenness before the hero child is born.” She reflects that in periods of depression and when nothing is happening, “an enormous amount of energy accumulates in the unconscious.” But “nothingness” or being “unproductive” is not honored in a society that values action and (quick) results.

The women we spoke with reflected on the difficulty of embracing periods of slowness in discussions of motherhood, for example. When discussing their careers and lives in the longer term, they often spontaneously discussed motherhood as something they desired. One woman described her uterus as making her “baby crazy,” explaining the sensation of a ticking clock: “I feel like the alligator in Peter Pan, the clock is in my belly.”

But for these women, maternal desire was complicated by career ambitions. Rather than embracing the paradox and value of motherhood as a meaningful journey with much to offer, most participants anxiously anticipated what they would have to “give up” in terms of their career.

The two were seen as in conflict, with early motherhood—an inward  of deep reflection—understood as undermining professional goals and work productivity. Many felt their employers were implicitly unsupportive of working mothers, not valuing the slow, deep process of intuitive learning that motherhood fosters, and offering little in the way of alternative frameworks to include or support their participation in the workplace.

Life in a spreadsheet

A feminine way of being also encourages “both/and thinking“—paradox and circularity that spark intuitive creativity. Such feminine energy embraces darkness, chaos, and spontaneous possibility. It seeks, as Jungian analyst Sylvia Perera explains: “the potential of cleansing immersion in the darkness of the unknown.” But embracing such darkness may seem out of the question in a society that lauds rationality. We are not, in short, encouraged to let life happen.

Most of us instead adopt linear, rational thinking that hinders feminine creativity. In our study, women used bureaucratic metaphors to describe their existential plans and future life events. They spoke of marriage, careers and having children in terms of “ticking boxes” and “to-do lists.” For example, one woman described creating an Excel spreadsheet to organize her career goals, such as promotions and management aspirations, and life goals (detailing by when she needed to get married and buy a house).

Planning life events as though they are “goals” turns them into markers of success or failure on a linear course, rather than rites of passage in a potentially far more cyclical life. We might, as a result, pursue such “events” at all costs. And if we don’t meet these markers, we might perceive that as “failure,” missing out on an opportunity to undergo a process of reflection that could provide wisdom and insight into the human condition.

When rejected for a promotion, for example, we could take time to reflect on why the rejection happened and how we can deal with rejection more generally. Which emotions does it provoke in us and where do they originate? The loss of the promotion can, if we allow it, open a different path—and one that is perhaps better aligned with our genuine sense of self.

People of all genders should consider turning toward the feminine by embracing periods of stagnancy and depression as vital to their development. And we could all benefit from valuing cyclical, paradoxical thinking as part of our personal growth. This involves understanding which aspects of ourselves are foregrounded, and which are the “shadowed”, unconscious parts of ourselves that we strongly deny as existing or reject, but that can significantly affect us nonetheless.

Truly asking whether we are rejecting the inner archetypal feminine (or masculine) is a good place to start. Friends are usually better at spotting our shadow characteristics than we are, and often even more effective is a skilled psychoanalyst.

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AsiaCommunity

For a friend I never met©

by Narges Mohammadi

I was engrossed in watching the stunning beauty around me when Ramieh’s familiar voice shook my heart … The promised moment came and we hugged each other with indescribable passion and the warmth of our tears caressed our cheeks!

A few days ago, we had talked on social media, and now, near the start of the Iran-Palestine game in Qatar, my eyes are eagerly waiting to meet a virtual friend whom I got to know after the Al-Aqsa operation and the increased support of female groups throughout the he international community. We have been talking for hours about our concerns and sympathies and the conditions of the resistant women of Palestine and Gaza!

So I kept looking around myself, the atmosphere around the stadium is filled with a sense of empathy with an oppressed nation whose hundred-day resistance against the brutal aggression of the Zionist regime has turned it into a symbol of patience and contentment in the eyes of the world. Most of the people who come from different countries and with different nationalities to see this game have thrown the Palestinian flag on their shoulders and displayed a strange passion and excitement with symbols of support for the oppressed but powerful people of Gaza.

A story from Jahan Banou in Qatar

A message for Palestinian women and mothers

I was engrossed in watching the stunning beauty around me when Ramieh’s familiar voice shook my heart … The promised moment came and we hugged each other with indescribable passion and the warmth of our tears caressed our cheeks!

Other familiar voices gave me a new passion and I noticed the presence of Ibtisam and Rima who were holding their little sister Shirin in their arms and I hugged them warmly and intimately. Ramieh’s lovely and active girls had the same charm just like their pictures on social media, and now our sense of friendship became more dynamic towards them!

We entered the stadium and due to the huge crowd that was there, we finally found an empty platform to sit next to each other and we were ready for the presence of the players amid the sound of drums and interesting slogans of Iranian fans in support of the people of Gaza. While holding Shirin with cheeks emblazoned with the Palestinian flag, Ramieh was chanting prayers under her breath. Ebtisam and Rima, who proudly waved the flag of their country, tried to repeat the slogans of Iranian fans with their Arabic accent!

Before the start of the game, the players of both teams observed a minute of silence in respect to the martyrs of Gaza, and with the playing of the national anthems of both countries, all the fans loudly expressed their sympathetic feelings. I looked at the hopeful faces of Ramieh and the girls and a smile bloomed on my lips!

Few minutes into the game, the first goal of the Iranians brought a new passion to the Palestinian goal and the Palestinian fans cheered as if it were a match of the Asian Games, the most friendly match is seen in the most sensitive games, and after each goal of the Iranians, a piece of Salar Aghili’s song describing Iran was played by the Qatari officials. Shirin was also ecstatic about the atmosphere of the stadium and expressed her feelings many times!

When the first goal of the Palestinian player was planted in our goal, along with many fans, there was a shout of joy and our encouraging slogans made the atmosphere of the stadium more intimate. Ramiya and the girls shouted happily and read poems in the Palestinian language with the theme of resistance and patience, and the rain of happy tears mixed with the sadness and pain of their tolerant compatriots changed our mood!

The break between the two halves became an opportunity to have a friendly chat about the current situation of the people of Gaza and Palestine and the recent events with them. The girls spoke of their active members in collecting relevant news and publishing it globally, and their hopeful outlook on the future of this unequal war calmed my heart, and I envied all their hope!

The second half of the game continued with more excitement and when I saw the excitement of the free girls and women of other nationalities who chanted in support of Palestine, the hope of the emergence of a world government full of justice and peace under the banner of Islam, which promises a Mahdavi peace for the world, is in my mind. It evoked and unconsciously I prayed for the upcoming of the promised saviour; Imam Mahdi (AS) , and the loud Amen voice of Ramieh and the girls gave a beautiful smile to our lips!

After the game, the slogans of death to Israel and the raising of the Palestinian flag by Iranian fans and other nationalities filled us all with a double happiness, and I knew that the reflection of such interesting and spectacular scenes at an international community would attract many humanitarian views; thus, with the guidance of Rima and Ibtisam, I was constantly trying to record photos and videos of various scenes of the presence of different classes of people in friendly support of the oppressed nation of Palestine, in order to perpetuate our shared memories!

After eating Palestinian food in the restaurant of the hotel they had booked, we talked again about the memories and interesting events these days in Iran and Lebanon to support the Palestinian people, and we wrote down good ideas about our new plans and ideas for a greater international cooperation of the women’s community. By pursuing them in our countries, we made the world more familiar with the stand of the people of Palestine and Gaza and to increase the anger and disgust of Israel’s barbaric attacks in the hearts of all people around the world!

She hugged Shirin, who had fallen into the warm arms of her mother from exhaustion, and wished them victory and success and a return to their motherland after the destruction of Israel, also hopefully, a rebuild on their destructed country with their zealous compatriots. Furthermore, I invited them to join us soon in our beloved Iran.

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AsiaSociety

A Friendly Competition; Harmony of Iranian & Palestinian women in Doha©

by Narges Mohammadi

A competition that was for one goal and did not recognize men and women, players and spectators, Iranian and Palestinian, old and young. A goal of humanity to declare hatred against Israel, the germ of corruption.

According to the correspondent of Jahanbanou news site from Qatar, the Iranian national football team visited the Palestinians football team in its first match in the group stage of the Asian Cup of Nations held in Qatar. The competition, which started with the appeal of the Iranian players and staff to the Holy Quran and paying tribute to the oppressed martyrs of Gaza, and the chant of “Death to Israel” by the Iranian spectators in the 18th minute, in Education City Doha, Qatar, gave this match another excitement.

This game resulted in 4-1 in favor of Iran, but the spectators were the main winners of the game. The night Iran won and the name of Palestine shone in the stadium with the support of Iranian spectators. Palestine fully reflected the Asian powerhouse’s possession and dominance in Sunday night’s Group C match, but the win doesn’t tell the whole story of a crowd that has rallied behind Palestine amid Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

The solidarity and empathy between the Iranian and Palestinian spectators and chanting of anti-Zionist slogans made this game beautifully recorded in the history of football in our country or in the history of the Asian Nations Cup.

Combining the flags of Iran and Palestine by the fans of the teams, anti-Israeli slogans, the joy of the spectators for both teams and the wish for freedom for the oppressed people of Gaza and Palestine was an important and memorable part of the intimate atmosphere of this passionate meeting of 27,631 people.

A competition that was for one goal and did not recognize men and women, players and spectators, Iranians and Palestinians, old and young. A goal of humanity to declare hatred against Israel, the germ of corruption.

One of the interesting aspects of this meeting was the solidarity and unity of pro-Iranian and Palestinian women and girls with each other. Iranian women with the Palestinian flag, Palestinian women wearing masks with the Iranian flag, commemorative photos of Iranian and Palestinian women next to each other, coming together to support Gaza, coming together to hate the child-killing regime, cheering repeatedly for the opposing team and… all these examples.

It was because of the sympathy of these women that the lens of the news cameras was stunned to bring this unity to the ears of the world. At the end of the match, the players of both teams hugged each other and gobsmacked their opponents to the ground.

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EuropeSociety

Rise in women facing domestic abuse at Christmas, English charities report

by Narges Mohammadi

Calls and contacts to helplines remain higher than pre-pandemic, compounded by cost of living crisis

Rising numbers of women are experiencing domestic abuse at Christmas, with calls to helplines still higher than pre-pandemic levels due to the cost of living crisis.

Refuge, the leading support service in England, said calls and contacts to the national domestic abuse helpline in 2023 were still far higher than pre-pandemic, with 171,490 calls in the year ending March 2023.

The charity is warning that Christmas, when there are always more incidents of domestic abuse, presents specific challenges such as social isolation and increased costs that are compounded by the cost of living crisis.

Refuge’s Sarah Berry-Valentine said: “Demand for Refuge’s national domestic abuse helpline increased by a staggering 61% between April 2020 and February 2021, and recent data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that this demand has remained alarmingly high, with it still surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

“The cost of living crisis is creating challenges that worsen the impact of domestic abuse on survivors as well. Frontline staff at Refuge have reported that the cost of living crisis is creating opportunities for, or is intensifying, economic abuse, which can include withholding funds, accruing debt in a survivor’s name and restricting a survivor’s ability to work.

“Devastatingly, the increased cost of living has also meant that Refuge is seeing many survivors faced with the impossible position of choosing to stay with an abuser or risking homelessness and destitution.”

The charity, which is running a Christmas appeal, noted that data presents the issue as being smaller than it is, as so much abuse is unreported. It has calculated that domestic abuse affects one in four women in their lifetimes, with two women a week killed by a current or former partner, and three dying by suicide. On average, it takes a woman seven attempts to leave an abusive partner for good.

Women’s Aid, which is also running a winter appeal, said it was anticipating the 15% rise it usually saw immediately after the festive period. Sarah Davidge, the charity’s head of research, said this “demonstrates just how many women have been forced to spend what should be a happy time trapped in a potentially life-threatening situation”.

“Additionally, due to many services – from GPs and pharmacists, through to offices and schools – running reduced hours, many struggle to access the help that they need,” Davidge said.

One woman had contacted Women’s Aid through its live chat on Boxing Day after ongoing emotional abuse – including threats, intimidation, aggression and emotional manipulation – over a number of years from her husband. This came to a head when he left the house on Christmas Eve saying he wanted to kill himself because she had been cheating on him. He returned and started an argument that continued on Christmas morning.

When she made a mistake at the dinner, her husband told her she was useless and stupid, that she did not care about their family, and was a “whore”. He threw a plate across the room, tore down Christmas decorations and started breaking the children’s Christmas presents, telling them, “you can thank your mum for that”.

The verbal abuse continued throughout the day, but the woman had nowhere to go, and was worried her children would be unsafe around her husband, who was drinking throughout the day. Women’s Aid helped her work out a safety plan including emergency accommodation, and supplied contact details for her local domestic abuse service.

The law firm Slater Heelis, which specialises in family law, said it had already seen the annual rise in domestic violence calls, which it said was up by an estimated 20% on last year, and 30% on 2019.

Vicki McLynn, a family law partner at the firm, said: “The ongoing cost of living crisis is without doubt intensifying an already high-pressure time of year, resulting in an even larger surge than normal of calls to us where there has been domestic abuse.

“At this time of year, we often see financial strain come into play as a real stressor and this year it is even worse, with a large number of people who are already struggling with the day-to-day cost of living getting into even more debt over Christmas.”

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EuropeSociety

One in three UK men open to having more than one partner, study shows

by Narges Mohammadi

STUDY/A third of UK men are open to the idea of having more than one wife or long-term girlfriend, according to a new Swansea University study.

In contrast, only 11 percent of women surveyed would be open to the idea of a polygamous marriage if it were legal and consensual.

Researchers asked 393  and women in the UK how they felt about a committed partnership in which they shared their other half with someone else or shared themselves.

The study asked participants about a  resembling polygyny—where a man marries more than one woman—and polyandry—where a woman marries more than one man.

Men were first asked if they would be willing to be shared with more than one  and were then asked if they would be willing to share a partner with another man.

The study, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, showed that nine percent of men said they would share a partner, whereas just five percent of women were interested in such an arrangement.

Dr. Andrew Thomas- Swansea University

Dr. Andrew Thomas, lead author of the study, said, “Comparing polygyny and polyandry directly, men were three-and-a-half times more likely to say ‘yes’ to the former than the latter, while women were twice as likely to say ‘yes’ to having more than one partner, compared to the idea of sharing their partner with someone else.”

Polygyny and polyandry are alternative forms of marriage that involve multiple spouses, and their acceptance varies across cultures. In the United Kingdom, these practices are not legally recognized or widely embraced within the mainstream culture, as the  is based on monogamy.

In contrast, certain cultures around the world historically and presently practice polygyny, where a man can have multiple wives, and polyandry, where a woman can have multiple husbands. These arrangements are often rooted in cultural, religious, or historical contexts. For example, some societies in Africa and the Middle East have long-standing traditions of polygyny, while certain communities in Tibet and Nepal have practiced polyandry.

Dr. Thomas added, “Committed non-monogamy has received a lot of attention recently. It’s a hot trend, with more and more couples talking about opening up their relationships to include other people. However, these types of relationships are far from new.”

“While most seek monogamous relationships, a small proportion of humans have engaged in multi-partner relationships throughout , especially polygynous marriage where one husband is shared by several co-wives.”

“This study shows that a sizable minority of people are open to such relationships, even in the UK where such marriages are prohibited. Interestingly, many more men are open to the idea than women—though there is still interest on both sides.”

Source: PHYS ORG

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Australia and OceaniaHealth

The sneaky breast cancer I almost missed — and how other women can look out for it

by Narges Mohammadi

The moment the tips of my fingers detected a lump in my breast, a white, cold fear flooded through me.

It was a nondescript day during the usual end-of-year chaos, so the mental turbulence of receiving the eventual breast cancer diagnosis mingled with prize-givings and school concerts.

To steady my mind, I reassured myself that early-stage breast cancer was curable, my doctors were confident and the course was clear.

So, when my surgeon told me after she had removed the tumour that there was also a second type of cancer in my breast, I fell apart.

By this point, I had undergone a mammogram and an ultrasound and there was no hint of a second cancer.

The original tumour was obvious to the touch, but neither I nor the doctors who examined me had detected any other change.

A few weeks earlier, I didn’t know there were different forms of breast cancer. Now, the disease was landing a one-two punch.

The second blow had me reeling because my doctors had no idea how big the cancer was, or where it was located.

I now know all of that is typical of this type of breast cancer — including the lack of awareness.

The second cancer I had is called lobular breast cancer.

No-one I’ve spoken to outside of medical circles or cancer support groups has heard of it.

Most women I’ve told about my diagnosis are visibly shocked to discover there’s a detection-evading form of the disease.

So, over the past few months, I’ve gone back to the clinicians who treated me and other experts in the field to find out what we know about lobular breast cancer, and how women can look out for it.

How common is lobular breast cancer?

Lobular breast cancer accounts for 10-15 per cent of all breast cancers.

Around the world and in Australia it is on the rise.

In the four years to 1990, lobular cancer accounted for about 8 per cent of Australian breast cancer cases.

By 2019, that had risen to around 13 per cent, which is between 2,000 and 3,000 women per year.

If the number of lobular breast cancer cases were recorded separately from other breast cancers, lobular would be more common in Australian women than ovarian and cervical cancer.

And yet there is only one government-funded Australian project researching lobular cancer.

The National Health and Medical Research Council said that in the past 12 years, it had only received one application that contained the term “lobular”.

Cancer researcher Dr Amy McCart Reed from the University of Queensland is working on the project.

She said there was a strong push in the US to raise awareness about lobular breast cancer and drive more research funding towards it.

“In Australia, not a huge amount of lobular breast cancer research is undertaken,” she said.

Her team is looking at the special features of lobular cancer cells to see if they can find a drug that could target them.

“We should have targeted therapies for lobular breast cancer patients because these tumours are inherently different,” she said.

How is lobular cancer different to other types of breast cancer?

The most distinct feature of lobular cancer is that it often grows in single-file strands of cells that spread out through the tissue.

This was clear to me when Professor Andrew Field — the pathologist who discovered lobular cancer in my breast — showed me images of the two cancers I was diagnosed with.

So, I took my images to radiologist Professor Mary Rickard, who specialises in breast imaging at the Sydney Breast Clinic, to find out if she could see anything other radiologists missed.

She couldn’t.

Because lobular cancer forms as strings of cells, it doesn’t always show up as a discernible shape on a mammogram.

What made it extra difficult was breast density.

My breasts happen to be extremely dense. In fact, my surgeon once described my mammogram as “like looking at a snowstorm”.

When you look at a mammogram, the white bits are the glands, ducts and fibrous tissue; the black is fatty tissue.

Women who have dense breasts, or more fibro-glandular tissue, will have more white show up on a mammogram.

Because radiologists look for changes in the shape or pattern of the tissue, cancers can be hard to spot in mammograms for women with dense breasts.

“The denser the breast, the more difficult to find a cancer generally, and lobular is more difficult than other cancers,” Professor Rickard said.

What should women do to check for lobular cancer?

Professor Rickard wants all women who have a mammogram to know their breast density, which is rated from A to D, with D being the most dense.

“We would normally recommend that anybody who has a C or D density went on to ultrasound examination,” she said.

Ultrasound imaging uses high-frequency soundwaves to examine internal structures, so it can be useful for finding tumours in dense breasts.

But Professor Rickard said this technique could also struggle to identify a lobular cancer that has grown in between the breast tissue, rather than as a mass.

“Mammograms are not sensitive for it, ultrasound is not sensitive for it,” she said.

That’s not to say they will never pick it up, but rather that women who are still worried should consider a form of imaging that uses an injected contrast dye.

Professor Rickard said MRIs and contrast-enhanced mammography detect 90 to 95 per cent of cancers.

“All tumours are more likely to be picked up by a contrast image,” she said.

Why you should ‘advocate strongly for yourself’

Unfortunately, the government does not subsidise contrast mammograms and only offers a subsidy for MRI to very high-risk patients.

But knowing your own breasts is free.

That’s why women are now recommended to not just check for lumps, but to be “breast aware”.

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AsiaConference and Meetings

COP28: Women and climate advocates driving forward change together

by Narges Mohammadi

To combat the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women, advocates at COP28 on Monday said decisionmakers must not only enact more polices that meet their specific needs but recognize the unique knowledge and expertise women can offer that can be used to support effective climate action.

This year’s UN climate conference, underway in the United Arab Emirates’ largest city, Dubai, opened its second full week hearing a diverse cross-section of women leaders and activists raise their voices to call for ending existing gender gaps and mitigating the worsening impacts of climate change on women and girls.

Prevailing gender norms, existing inequalities and their unequal participation in decision-making processes often prevent women from fully contributing to climate solutions. Worryingly, a report launched today by UN Women suggests that by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty and see 236 million more face food insecurity.

But there is hope, however, as women can – and do – play an important role in climate solutions, as was highlighted on ‘Gender Equality Day’ at COP28, where women changemakers showcased how they are driving the action.

A panel discussion on the ‘Women Rise for All’ platform was organized by the UN Office of Partnerships at Creator Hub, underscored the leadership of women in scaling up sustainable solutions aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Women leading climate action

“Women stand at the forefront of the climate battle. Whether as the scientists, legislators, indigenous leaders, youth activists, they are fighting to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius target alive,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in her video remarks.

Echoing that sentiment, Jemimah Njuki, Chief, Economic Empowerment at UN Women said: “In spite of them not having the resources, we are also seeing a lot of actions led by women and girls and if we can give them the resources – including the financial resources – to do more, I think our world is going to be better for it.”

Women panelists pointed out they will be closely tracking the progress in climate negotiations at COP28, particularly on the issue of funding for just energy transition, ‘phasing out’ of fuels and ‘phasing in’ of clean energy.

“Women continue to drive ambitious climate action more​ than everywhere, including in their communities, cites, countries and regions,” the deputy UN chief underscored.

In line with the theme of the day, events highlighted how women are bringing solutions, saving lives, and protecting livelihoods, and some of these solutions are driving change thousands of miles away from the conference venue.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said: “The rights of women and girls must be at the center of climate action, including here at COP28. We must ensure that women have a seat at the decision-making table.”

“We must strengthen inclusive decision-making so that the voices of feminists, youth, indigenous and other grassroot movements can be heard loud and clear from the local to the global level,” she added.

Climate crisis ‘not gender-neutral’

Greg Puley, climate lead for the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, head told delegated that it was a “grave injustice” that people on the frontlines of the climate crisis who were least responsible for it, too often found themselves “at the back of the line” for climate funding.

The climate crisis is not gender-neutral, he added, urging donors and humanitarians to remain “laser-focused” on the differentiated needs of women and girls in the aid response.

Pushing for real equality

Ignacia de la Rosa, a leader of the San Antero community in the Cispatá region of Colombia, has been working for several years on a ‘blue carbon’ project aimed at conserving and restoring coastal mangrove forests in Colombia’s Sinú River basin.

Mangroves habitats are natural nurseries for fish, protective barriers against storm surges, providing sources of wood for building and cooking, and offering green solutions for climate mitigation measures.

Speaking to UN News, Ms. De la Rosa observed that the pressure on mangroves due to agriculture and cattle ranching was immense in her community, and people were also cutting them down for construction and building materials.

So, a key challenge for her i sto manage the forest in a sustainable way for her community to continue receiving the benefits it offered, keep people related to their forests, have them living there and maintaining their livelihoods.

With a mix of sustainable practices of use of mangroves, she has not only protected a natural resource, that resource now also provides lucrative tourist revenue from birdwatchers and environmentalists who visit the area.

But this was not her only challenge. Speaking through an interpreter, she described how she faced racial and gender discrimination and how often in a meeting of 200 men, she would be the only women struggling for actions that could ensure conservation of mangroves.

Ms. De la Rosa lamented that things are still far from being perfect on the gender front. Indeed, while more women are represented, gender and racial discrimination persist.

“There is a still a lot that needs to be done to reach real equality.”

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