Tara Abhasakun, Author at Uncommon Ground Media

Mounir Baatour, Tunisia’s First Openly Gay Presidential Candidate, Speaks to Tara Abhasakun

July 12, 2019 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

Tara Abhasakun, joined by Dan Fisher, interviews Mounir Baatour, Tunisia's first openly gay presidential candidate. Read more

“The Vagina Monologues” to be Performed in Bangkok for UN

June 22, 2019 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

A women's rights activist group called Bangkok Rising will perform "The Vagina Monologues" for the United Nations on Tuesday. Read more

Emma Thomas’s Fight to End Sexual Assault in Muay Thai

April 3, 2019 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

After surviving an attempted rape by a Muay Thai trainer who worked in the gym where she trained, Emma Thomas fights to end sexual assault in the sport. Read more

Yemeni Baha’i Says Hamed Haydara’s Recieved Unfair Appeal Hearing, No Verdict Yet

January 3, 2019 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

Yemeni Baha’is say that Hamed Haydara, a Baha’i sentenced to death one year ago, received unfair treatment by a judge in an appeal hearing on Monday. A Baha’i in Yemen told Conatus News that Hamed Bin Haydara, a Baha’i sentenced to death by Yemen’s ruling Houthi party Ansar Allah since January 2018, received unfair and […] Read more

YPJ Fighter Talks Life and Loss In The War Against ISIS

October 29, 2018 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

Hanna Bohman discusses fighting alongside leftist Kurdish militias against ISIS, and the YPJ’s proclaimed mission of democracy and women’s liberation. First of all, I’m sure you are asked this question a lot, but what inspired you to move to Kurdistan to fight with the YPG against ISIS? I truly believe that you have the most […] Read more

Asia Bibi’s Final Hearing is Tomorrow. Don’t Let Her Be Executed

October 7, 2018 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

Tomorrow, Asia Bibi has one final chance to prove her innocence, or be sentenced to death. The world must scream in her defense. Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman accused of blasphemy in 2009, is scheduled for her final appeal against execution on Monday. Bibi was accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad after a dispute […] Read more

Yemen’s Potential Baha’i Executions Mirror Revolutionary Iran

September 19, 2018 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

International pressure stopped Iran’s executions of Baha’is in the 1980s. Today, it can do the same thing for Baha’is in Yemen. The world must not let another teenage girl die. The date was June 18, 1983. A seventeen-year-old girl was publically hung in the middle of a polo field in Shiraz, Iran, during the night. […] Read more

Iranian Baha’i Forced to Choose Between Exile and Imprisonment

July 15, 2018 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

A Baha'i man in Mahabad, Iran, is being forced to choose between exile and imprisonment, due to his religion. Read more

The Growing Tide of Violent Rhetoric Against Baha’is in Houthi Yemen

May 1, 2018 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

Yemen’s Houthis incite violence against Baha’is on social media. On March 23, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdel-Malek Al-Houthi made a speech in which he called the Baha’i faith a “satanic” movement that wished to “wage war” against Islam. On the same day of Al-Houthi’s speech, Houthi activist Ahmed Ayed published a tweet stating “we will […] Read more

Iranian Dreams: Exiles Describe Their Ideal Iran

April 9, 2018 | by Tara Abhasakun | 0 Comments

We asked four Iranians, persecuted for varying religious and political reasons unable to return to their country what their ideal Iran looks like. The recent protests in Iran have sent a clear message that Iranians are unhappy with the state of their country. From economic policies to strictly enforced religious laws, Iranians are fed up […] Read more