Women’s Rights – Omani Association for Human Rights https://en.omanhr.org Sat, 13 Aug 2022 09:36:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5 Omani Petition supporting equal Nationality rights signed by thousands https://en.omanhr.org/omani-petition-supporting-equal-nationality-rights-signed-by-thousands/ Mon, 24 Aug 2020 19:45:02 +0000 http://omanhr.org/en/?p=360 On 24th August 2020 Salma Al Harrasi thanked on change.org the 2464 signatories of the petition she posted two days earlier under the title “Changes and amendments of rules for the Omani women married to non Omanis & their children”. This petition aims to change current laws in Oman, according to which the children of Omani women are not recognised as Omani citizens, to recognise these children as full Omani citizens. In effect to make the children of Omani women and men equal in the eyes of the law. The petition was widely circulated in different social media websites and gained sympathy and support for over two thousand signatures in under two days.

Here is the text of the petition in full:

Omani women married to foreigners with permissions from the Ministry of Interior and living in Oman, with children or without, who are living as per the rules, wish to raise some issues that will help them,their husbands and children to live and continue living in Oman in a more stable life by:-

1- The right of wives to sponsor their husbands, so they can find jobs, and if husbands losses their jobs, then wives can sponsor them immediately, so husbands don’t have to leave the country, as it will create separation of the family and the children and will effect their stability and causes a lot of disturbance.

2- Exempting working husbands from being released from their jobs in Government or private unless they commit issues that will harm the country etc. And the issues to be evaluated,this is for the family stability

3- Mothers to sponsor their children and not necessarily under the father’s visa if both agree

4- Children to be given Omani nationality at any age, without waiting10 -15 years or until  are adults then request, if both parents agree and sign even if fathers are abroad for any reasons, this is for their stability and for the Omani mothers to be in peace having their children.

5- Children to be entitled of scholarships abroad as per required by the ministry of higher education

]]> A joint Appeal to UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) https://en.omanhr.org/a-joint-appeal-to-un-commission-on-the-status-of-women-csw/ Tue, 04 Aug 2020 10:15:05 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=314 OAHR and Equality Now, prepared a joint submission letter to CSW 2020. Equality Now is a non profit organisation, its mission to use the law to protect and promote the human rights of women and girls all over the world. The deadline for the NGO’s submission was the July 31, 2020.The CSW Working Group was established by the Human Rights Council at its 15th session in September 2010.The Working Group’s focus is to identify, promote and exchange views, in consultation with States and other actors, on good practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women. The Group is also tasked with developing a dialogue with States and other actors on laws that have a discriminatory impact where women are concerned. Over the years, many constitutional and legal reforms to integrate women’s human rights fully into domestic law have occurred, but there remains insufficient progress. Discrimination against women persists in both public and private spheres in times of conflict and in peace. It is a time to put women’s and girls’ issues around the world front and center, which is often fueled by patriarchal stereotyping and power imbalances which are mirrored in laws, policies and practice. OAHR and Equality Now requests that the Commission call upon Oman to change its discriminatory laws to eliminate and remedy these violation and take decisive legal and policy action to eliminate the harmful practice of FGM. If action has not been taken within one year, Equality Now requests that the Commission refer the matter to the Economic and Social Council with a recommendation that it take action in order to end the persistent pattern of injustice and discrimination against women and girls that sex discriminatory laws constitute and promote.

Read full letter:

CSW-Communication-2020-OmanDownload
]]> Oman FGM study cited in UNFPA Swop Report 2020 https://en.omanhr.org/oman-fgm-study-cited-in-unfpa-swop-report-2020/ Tue, 28 Jul 2020 08:28:32 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=298 The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population report “Against my will” issued in June 2020 cited the 2014 OAHR Executive Director’s study on female genital mutilation (FGM) in Oman. This study was the only source about FGM in Oman they referenced due to an absence of similar studies and information in this regard.

The study was referenced on pages 73 and 151 of the UNFPA report.

SWOP-2020 Against my willDownload

]]> OAHR participation in FGM report: A Call For A Global Response https://en.omanhr.org/oahr-participated-in-the-fgm-report-a-call-for-a-global-response/ Fri, 17 Jul 2020 14:35:16 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=244 OAHR participated in the international report A call For A Global Response to end Female Genital Mutilation/C. The joint report was prepared by a group of women’s rights international organizations such as Equality Now, which is an international human rights organization using the law to protect and promote the rights of women & girls since 1992 and is the International Gender Equality Prize 2019 winner. the report was also prepared by END FGM Network EU, which is a European Women’s Rights Network, consists of 30 European organisations uniting to end FGM in Europe & beyond and END FGM/C U.S Network. The report included an interview with Habiba Al Hinai, OAHR executive director who prepared in 2014 a study about FGM in Oman.

Read the full report here.

]]> OAHR Launches Mother Land Campaign https://en.omanhr.org/oahr-launches-mother-land-campaign/ Tue, 16 Jun 2020 15:29:50 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=208 OAHR is pleased to announce the launch of the Mother Land campaign on June 20, which coincides with World Refugee Day, to raise awareness about the right of Omani women married to non-Omanis to pass their nationality to their children.

]]> OAHR participate in EU parliament meeting to say ‘NO’ to FGM https://en.omanhr.org/oahr-participate-in-eu-parliament-meeting-to-say-no-to-fgm/ Wed, 05 Feb 2020 11:22:47 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=187 The Omani Association for Human Rights (OAHR) participated in a meeting in Brussels, Belgian from 3 to 4 February 2020. This meeting was organised by END FGM EU Network which consists of thirty European organisations uniting to end Female Genital Mutilation in Europe and beyond including Terre Des Femmes (TDF) .

TDF is a German non-profit women’s organisation based in Berlin, which supports women and girls through individual personal assistance and consolation, international networking, advocacy and public outreach, campaigning and lobbying, and promotion of individual projects. TDF’s core topics are female genital mutilation, forced marriage, honour crimes, women trafficking and prostitution, sexual and domestic violence.

Habiba Al Hinai, the OAHR executive director joined TDF in January 2019 as a change agent. She was and still is a part of the “Let’s CHANGE” project which is under the FGM department of (TDF). This project is co-funded by the European Union in order to overcome female genital mutilation in affected communities in the EU countries.

Al Hinai was nominated by TDF to be one of the speakers in an advocacy meetings in Brussels with members of the EU parliament to say ‘NO’ to Female Genital Mutilation by adopting a new resolution to end this practice in Europe and worldwide.

]]> URG Publish it’s report on Women’s Rights https://en.omanhr.org/urg-publish-its-report-on-womens-rights/ Sun, 31 Mar 2019 18:50:08 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=129

The Universal Rights Group, it is an independent, human rights research center based in Geneva. Published on March 2019 its report on women’s rights. The regional workshop on ‘lifting religion-based reservations to the core international human rights conventions as a means of strengthening women’s rights at national level, and the role of women’s rights advocacy groups in that regard.’ was convened in Tunisia on 9 and 10 January 2019, with the support of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia
The executive director of the OAHR participated in this meeting.
ink to the full report

]]> Basma AlKiyumi: I write in defence of my right! https://en.omanhr.org/basma-alkiyumi-i-write-in-defence-of-my-right/ Tue, 22 Jan 2019 18:31:27 +0000 http://box2339.temp.domains/~omanhror/en/?p=117 An article was published on 22 January 2019, at an Omani electronic magazine called “Al Falaq”. written in Arabic by Basma Al Kiyumi; an Omani lawyer, human rights defender and a writer. The article entitled “I write in defence of my right!”, in which she explained the extent of discrimination and harassment she is subjected to in her work, especially in the Omani courts. Al Kayumi was arrested several times including in 2012 during a demonstration demanding the release of human rights detainees at the Omani Internal Security Services and served six months imprisonment. The Omani Penal Code prohibits demonstrating under the article (137) which states:

• In riot rallies
Article (37): Any person who participates in a public place with a special gathering of at least ten persons for the purpose of riot or disturbance of public security shall be punished by imprisonment from ten days to one year or by a fine not exceeding 50 riyals. If he remains entangled after an order has been issued by a member of the authority to disperse and leave.

]]> The United Nations calls for strict action to achieve equality in the nationality law https://en.omanhr.org/the-united-nations-calls-for-strict-action-to-achieve-equality-in-the-nationality-law%ef%bf%bc/ Fri, 16 Mar 2018 09:15:00 +0000 https://en.omanhr.org/?p=616
Panellists at the CSW62 side event “High-Level event on Advancing Gender Equality in Nationality Laws” on 14 March. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

On March 15, 2018, United Nations bodies and organizations called in a press release at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to take strict measures for member states towards implementing gender equality in the nationality law.

The event was held at the side lines of the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62), which focused on the empowerment of rural women and girls.

Habiba Al Hinai, OAHR executive director was one of the panelists at the the CSW62 side event “High-Level event on Advancing Gender Equality in Nationality Laws”

]]> ِFGM study in Oman shows high prevalence all over the Country https://en.omanhr.org/%d9%90fgm-study-in-oman-shows-high-prevalence-all-over-the-country/ Sun, 17 Sep 2017 09:32:38 +0000 http://omanhr.org/en/?p=352 According to a study from Oman, female genital mutilation constitutes a widespread phenomenon in Oman in all age groups, and among women from all regional and educational backgrounds. Out of 100 women questioned 78 stated to be “circumcised” (they were asekd if had undergone “khatana al banat”). The human rights activist and statistician Habiba Al Hinai conducted the study “Female Genital Mutilation in the Sultanate of Oman” in cooperation with Stop FGM Middle East for which she interviewed 100 female and 100 male participants in hospital waiting areas, shoppings malls and fast food restaurants in the capital Muscat.

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