Benazir calls for equal rights for women
2/20/2006
Source ::: The Peninsula

DOHA: Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, while addressing the US-Islamic World Forum yesterday, called for equal rights for women in the Arab and Islamic world and special infrastructural facilities supporting women.

"For me nothing is more un-Islamic than discrimination against women; violence against women; and terrorism," Benazir said, while speaking at a session titled "women leading change."

She said it was not easy for women to get into the centers of power all over the world. There are only 13 women senators in the US and the number of women CEOs are abysmally low.

She said women leaders could do more for the society compared to men leaders because "they are more sensitive to the needs of the people, especially women and children."

Talking about the vision for the next five years, Benazir said there was a need to set up infrastructural facilities exclusively for women, including special police stations. This is very important since most women face difficulty in going to a police station dominated by men, she noted.

She said, when she was prime minister, she had set up a bank for women which was run by women and provided loans to women. Benazir also underlined the need for more investment in educational facilities for women as well as child care facilities.

Dr Sheikha Abdullah Al Misnad, president of Qatar University highlighted the great strides that women in Qatar had made over the past few decades, especially in the field of education.

Joan Spero, president, Doris Duke Foundation in the US spoke about the women's movement in America and the evolution of women's rights there. Supporting Benazir's comments, she said the American women had to go a long way despite all what they had achieved. The speeches were followed by a question-answer session.