Women and empowerment in the Arab world

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 2003 by Sherifa Zuhur

FAILURES

* The arrest of 47 women in a "driving demonstration" in Saudi Arabia in 1990 and subsoquent fatwa issued by bin Baz against women's driving

* Statistics showing that the practice of FGM (female genital mutilation) involves a huge number of women in Egypt alone, and the death of several young girls like 11 year old Mona Abdul Hafees due to complications following FGM conducted in public health facilities despite the 1996 ruling upholding the illegality of the procedure in such environs (Al-Krenawi & Lev-Wiesel, 1999).

* The continuity of "old" and rise of "new" versions of polygamy. It is argued that polygamous households represent only 2 to 11.5 % of the all in the region, but women and children of polygamous marriages suffer (Al-Krenawi, 2001). Moreover, in countries where polygamy has been targeted as a social ill, the practice continues--husbands however divorce their older wives and may be less likely to continue supporting them economically.

* Another fatwa approved by the same Saudi Committee (CRLO) that says women and their guardians should not be able to postpone marriages for the purpose of continuing education, since women only need a primary school education (Abou El Fadl, 2002, 224).

* The continuing valuation placed on virginity and male responsibility for female sexuality means that many women are still strongly encouraged to many instead of pursuing careers and advanced education. Others resort to hymen replacement or subterfuge to maintain their "honor." Marital kidnapping continues in rural places, as do crimes of honor in both rural and urban settings.

* The public beating and sentencing of women demonstrators in the Sudan for infractions of the dress code while acting in opposition to the state.

* Street shootings of women who would not wear the hijab in Algeria.

* The stymied campaign to legalize civil marriage in Lebanon.

* The laws in numerous Arab states which grant citizenship on the basis of the father's--not the mother's--nationality.

* Attacks by Islamists on prominent feminists, for example, Toujan al-Faisal of Jordan and Nawal al-Saadawi in Egypt.

* The defeat of proposed female suffrage in Kuwait.

* The terrible disadvantages of Palestinian girls in the Israeli educational system, due to lack of funding, the policies of separation, and discrimination which have a direct relationship to the very small number of "successes" in the list above.

It is not possible within the scope of this article to describe each of the oddly varied indicators of trends toward or away from empowerment enlisted above. We do need to understand that the complex task of changing women's status on economic, social, political and legal bases is just that--highly complicated. It is not without foes and not immune to the process of globalization, which at present appears to mean a more precarious economic situation in the region, and "culture wars" that invoke women and gender.

It is clear that efforts to improve income and living conditions (the basis of the early social welfare approach) are insufficient in empowering women unless considerations of the basic patriarchal features of society are brought into the equation and the responsibility of states to address its negative effects is addressed. Policy-makers must also take note of the backlash women have faced in their entry into public space, and coordinate vigorous efforts to continue legal reform, and enhance women's political participation.