• Women in the Arab World

Women in the Arab World

This year, the world celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Last month the UN celebrated World Women Day, concurrently with a huge campaign for consideration of mechanisms for the prevention of violence against women worldwide, in addition to many activities which considered the position of women and how to improve their conditions.

The key question here is: What is the actual position of women in the Arab world sixty years after the world’s recognition of human rights issues? Does the current situation of Arab women show that they enjoy full rights? Do they still suffer discrimination and many other problems which hinder their central role in society as full partners in social development?

As a matter of fact, UN Human Development Reports and other reports of social action and human rights organizations paint a very negative picture of the position of women, particularly in terms of the high rate of female illiteracy and violence against women in the Arab world, as well as many other phenomena, such as discrimination and sexual abuse.

Before discussing the figures contained in these reports let s first look at the accident pages of Arab papers and the many programmes on Arab satellite channels which clearly show the large scale of violence against women, including the unfortunate sexual harassment phenomenon, which, in one way or another, shows the nature of women s sufferings in Arab societies in general, in addition to other phenomena, such as underage marriages, forcing young girls to marry old men and early marriages in general for several social and economic reasons, as well as the so-called honour crimes in some Arab countries in which women are killed.

Polygamy

Polygamy is perhaps the most obvious sign of violations of women s rights, and is still a sign of discrimination against women in the Arab world, particularly in view of the fact that it is no longer justified on religious grounds in accordance with Sharia, but is now often exercised without any reflection and has in many instances become almost a means for preventing boredom. In the absence of laws which defend women s rights, and the prevalence of a culture prejudiced against women, the problem has exacerbated rather than receded, with the rise in the number of educated, cultured and other girls in the Arab world. This is due to the fact that for the number of women who enjoy a climate which encourages equality, there are millions of women who do not enjoy even a fraction of these rights, including the right of education.

UN reports (Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General -2008) show, that women represent 64% of the illiterate population out of the world’s total population which today stands at 6,763,000,000, with girls 6-8 years of age accounting for the majority of 113,000,000 children who do not go to school. Another study shows that girls represent 60% of the youth do not receive any education.

The report published last year to coincide with the World Women Day contained important relevant data including from 2001 to 2005 only $5bn out of $20bn aid was allocated to sectors which clearly support the principle of equality of the sexes, as reported by OECD Development Aid Committee in the economic field. Two thirds of that amount was allocated to social sectors, especially health and education, with a very limited amount to support equality between men and women in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure and finance.

Women s development social development

The same report affirms that the drive to enhance the status of women is closely related to society s development ability, as investment in women s development doubles productivity, effectiveness and sustainable economic development. Educated women get more economic opportunities and share more actively in social life, as women s entry into the world of work with full equality with men helps eradicate poverty and achieve development. Women s education, access to resources and involvement in political life do not only improve their quality of life but also boost their societies economy.

According to World Bank estimates, a 1% rise in the number of women who complete secondary school increases per capital income by 0.3%. A woman who is educated and in good health is more capable of undertaking productive activities and earning a higher income. Investment in women, the main guardians of the coming generations, yields revenues for many decades to come. In addition, a more highly-educated women is likely to benefit more from new technologies and opportunities in the light of economic developments. Giving women a better chance of having land, loans and other resources promotes their welfare and that of their families and society and reduces the danger of poverty and broken families.

As the same report shows, most workers in low-paid, menial, part-time and temporary jobs, which do not meet social security requirements, are women. Women are usually paid 20-30% less than men who do the same job. Creating job, training and favourable insurance opportunities, particularly for small and medium-sized companies which often depend on manual work, are key factors which facilitate the employment of women. Whereas women work two thirds of working hours worldwide, they earn a tenth of income only and own nothing more than 1% of property.

These indicators show two important facts: First, women, who make up 50% of society, are a vital factor in and a principal contributor to social development, and should therefore enjoy all rights like other citizens regardless of sex. Second, any delay in gaining these rights makes different economies, especially the developing ones, suffer tremendous losses.

Violence against women

Anyone who monitors the conditions of women in the Arab world must notice the vast scale of domestic violence committed by father, brother or son, murder sometimes, early marriage which exposes young girls to many health hazards and limits the opportunity to complete their education and secure a decent social position and independence, in addition to sexual harassment in the street or at work.

The problem is, though punishable under the laws of different countries, these violations of women s rights are not made publicly known. According to a study conducted by the WHO in 2005 based on the responses of 24,000 women in ten countries, 55% - 95% of the women who suffered domestic violence did not report that to the police, NGOs or shelters, as stigma and fear prevent women from seeking assistance or fairness. It is clear that these unfortunate conditions are the result of a number of cultural and historical legacies in many Arab societies which advocated discrimination against women and denied them many rights, such as the right of education and the choice of partner and work. Accordingly, the Arab media should shoulder the heavy responsibility for bringing these facts into focus and look at ways of dealing with them. Arab curricula should also promote the values of equality between the sexes with every sense of the word.

State obligations and laws

It goes without saying that Arab governments have a commitment to its citizens to ensure such equality through educational and cultural programmes which support women s position on the one hand, and provide protection against any violations of their rights through laws which prevent such practices, on the other. These violations and practices should be punishable in accordance with the principles of human rights which all Arab countries have accepted and therefore require amending their constitutions, if necessary, to ensure these rights are enshrined therein and activating their implementation. Many cases are still being heard in Arab courts of law related to family disputes or the right of a child to acquire the nationality of his mother. This therefore requires joint Arab effort to give priority and support to this issue a far as legislation is concerned.

It’s no exaggeration to say that societies which have achieved social, cultural and economic progress have put women s development on their lists of priorities. Though Arab laws addressed the position of women only lately, they have been activated to give women their full rights in a record time, and the climate of democracy in these societies helped human rights and women s organizations create an active women s movement which lobbied governments for further political and social rights, in addition to family, maternity and children and other laws. However, the difference in awareness among women themselves is noticeable. Whereas Western women achieved full equality with men out of their conviction of this right, many Arab women regard inequality as something normal, which aggravates the crisis and makes it difficult to change Arabs attitudes to women s rights and equality.

The decency issue

The highly controversial hijab (headscarf) issue reveals this tendency to degrade women in the eyes of men and women how reject equality, and has taken a nominal form reflecting a deep desire to isolate women and undermine their role, and contradiction as to the concept of decency in contemporary Arab society. First and foremost, decency is a pattern of behaviour, and a woman who imposes respect will not be looked at as a sexual tool. Such attitudes largely help promote reactionary concepts of women, on the one hand, and hider their holding senior positions, on the other.

True, there are many Arab women in prominent positions in politics, education, economics, business, social work, arts, sport, the media, etc. In addition, there are millions of married and single women who exercise their rights and independence at work and social life, but these are the exception in the light of the alarming female illiteracy rate. It is also true that a number of women have become cabinet ministers or achieved senior academic and other ranks; however, in the meantime there are many signs which show an inexplicable decline in the number of women MPs, if any, and in some societies women are banned from engaging in certain jobs and from driving. This makes Arab women either victims or rebels against the status quo.

At the outset of their progress, Arab societies gave excellent examples of promising girls armed with such knowledge and ambition that qualified them to hold senior positions and break into fields hitherto the exclusive domain of men. However, any monitor of the overall position of Arab women today will feel, one way or another, that such women s progress is deteriorating in favour of extremists who employ fatwas to undermine the position of women and attempt to return them back to positions which seem incongruous in the light of the values of civilization dictated by cherished modernity in Arab societies and the world. It is as if the farther ahead Arab societies go in this respect, the much farther back they go in other respects. This is due to the actions of reactionary forces who spread their narrow-minded views, taking advantage of the low standard of education and knowledge, the domination of traditional cultural and social legacies, supernaturalism and indifference in the Arab world in general.

This is confirmed by documented statistics which show that according to the Human Development Report, 85% of women in Jordan and Palestine are educated, whereas only 50% of females over the age of 15 in other countries - Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Mauritania and Yemen are educated. In spite of all that, there are strong indications in some Arab countries that girls outdo boys in preparatory and secondary schools, as shown in the Human Development Report of 2005 in respect of Kuwait and Bahrain. This affirms that if justice is done and women are given their full rights in education and in knowledge in general, they will fulfil their personal and social ambitions, and if that is the case in all Arab societies, unprecedented prosperity will be achieved.

In conclusion, we cannot ignore the fact that, in spite of its specifity, the crisis of Arab women should not be looked at in isolation from the crises of society as a whole. Arab men themselves are still denied many rights and the freedom of expression against a background of a slow pace of democratization which entails establishing civil society organizations based on citizenship and full equality between men and women. The only way to achieve this and consolidate democracy and empower women is through restoration of Arab awareness in the true sense of the word. There are examples of progress around us which sometimes seem beyond our imagination.

Sulaiman Al-Askary

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