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Source: http://www.hudson-ny.org/1677/gaza-women-rights
Gaza's Women: Who Is Defending Their Rights?
(Hudson Institute New York) Khaled Abu Toameh - Over the past three years, women in Hamas-controlled Gaza have been facing a campaign of intimidation and terror that has forced many, out of fear, to sit at home and do nothing. Since Hamas seized control over Gaza in 2007, Palestinian women have been deprived of many basic rights, such as strolling along the beach alone or smoking in public. A woman who is seen in public with a man is often stopped by Hamas policemen and questioned. Female lawyers are not allowed to appear in court unless they are wearing the hijab. Women are barred from going to male hairdressers. Women who have dared to participate in public political and social events have been repeatedly harassed. Where are the human rights organizations, especially those that claim to defend the rights of women in the Arab and Islamic world?