...AS FEMALE PARLIAMENTARIANS STAGE WALKOUT OVER WOMEN'S RIGHTS. Female members of the lower house of parliament, or Wolesi Jirga, on August 20 accused their male counterparts of denying women's rights and staged a walkout from a parliamentary session, Pajhwak Afghan News reported. "There are scores of men in this house who don't want women to get their rights," said Safia Sidiqi, one of the protesting parliamentarians. Shafiqa Nuri, another member, protested the inequality between men and women in earning promotions. Sidiqi demanded the establishment of a special department within the Finance Ministry comprised of women working to end gender bias. Mohammad Sarwar Jawadi, the head of the parliamentary committee charged with drafting laws, called the deputies' boycott of parliamentary session "irrational." Jawadi said the commission deemed Sidiqi's proposal invalid and the proposed entity unrealistic, arguing that gender issues are a matter for the Women's Affairs Ministry and therefore should be addressed by that ministry.Published in: "As Female Parliamentarians Stage Walkout over Women's Rights," Jessica Coakley, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline, 22 August 2007.
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