Thought you'd be interested in this piece. Sarah Shourd is one of three hitchhikers who have been detained in Iran since July 31, 2009, and the last story she filed was published this morning at Women's eNews, thanks to the her mother Nora, who has been actively working for her release: "Syrian Women Reflect on Rare Political Victory." (reprint policy here)
Sarah is not a professional journalist -- she is a teacher-activist who was in a peaceful region of Iraq that is increasingly popular with Western tourists, and was able to capture an incredible story of women's rights groups in Syria who were able to turn back what could have been the most devastating blow to women's rights in Syrian modern history. "The only rights a woman (would have had) under this law is to food and shelter from her husband."
On the heels of the Laura Ling/Euna Lee arrest, the acclaimed publication of Half the Sky, and recent NY Times piece on women's rights dividing Saudi Arabi, it is a deep concern that these daring reporters and activists who are bringing these untold stories brought to light are not forgotten. It has been more than 10 months since the hitchhikers were captured -- information can be found here http://freethehikers.org/. I hope you will consider writing about this, or sharing the story online.
The Women's Media Center has experts available to speak about the hitchhikers as well as the moving piece on Syrian women's rights:
Rita Henley Jensen is Founder and Editor in Chief of Women's eNews, which has built a reputation among freelance writers as an outlet for coverage of women in the Middle East. A prize-winning investigative reporter and a former senior writer for the National Law Journal and columnist for The New York Times Syndicate, Jensen founded the news site in 2000 and launched the Arabic version in 2003. Women’s eNews has won 32 journalism awards relies on independent journalists—many like Sarah Shroud who try their hand at journalism while traveling and many who are experienced professionals—to report and write its news stories unavailable anywhere else. To view her full bio and video visit: http://bit.ly/dvbZdt
Sarah Shourd's mother Nora is also available for interview.
Best,
Rebekah
Rebekah Spicuglia, Program Director
Women's Media Center
rebekah@womensmediacenter.com
(212) 563-0680 ofc
(415) 290-2970 cell
Twitter: rcspicuglia
womensmediacenter.com
Amplifying women’s voices. Changing the conversation.
1 comments:
You can also find an interview with Sarah Shourd, from 2 weeks before her arrest, where she talks about her work with Iraqi refugees, here:
http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/en/safeworldfilm.html
And an indepth interview with Sarah's mother, Nora, here:
http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/en/the-forgotten-prisoners.html
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is anything we can do to help,
Chris
Founder, Safe World for Women
campaign@asafeworldforwomen
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