The position of women in Islamic countries has greatly changed in a few decades, with access to education, birth control and jobs. But each advance is resisted and attitudes are harder to change than laws. From Morocco to Iran, women - secular, liberal and Islamist, sometimes alone, sometimes together - are challenging traditions, demanding greater rights, reinterpreting the Koran and Muslim history.
The Nobel Peace Prize attributed to Mrs. Shirin Ebadi - the first time for a Moslem woman – made the world focused on the fight of Iranian women for equal rights, in a process which can appear as the sign of a significant progress in Iran. But President Mohammad Khatami considered it “not such important”. He added to the disillusion of Iranians. Besides, the legislative elections of February 2004 have consolidated the seven years of failure in reforming the islamo-theocratic regime.
Moreover, Morocco adopted at the beginning of 2003 a new law on the family (moudawana). This reform stands out, because it founds the equality of rights between men and women. Morocco is the second arabo-Moslem country to do so, after Tunisia. Behind an appearance of opening, the king Mohammed VI since 1999, exercises an absolute power and, except this law on the family, the democratic improvements remain limited. Population, like in Iran, is depoliticized, disillusioned with the government. It is not the only common point. Just like Iran, Morocco is an Islamic State. The king is at the same time head of State and religious head, "commander of faithful" (Amir Al-Mouminin). The practicing of the Islamic rites is obligatory for the Moslem women, even if, last year, the Ramadan resistants were not troubled by justice.
In Iran as in Morocco, progress intervened inside the Islamic structure, through the ijtihad (individual study of the religious sources) and the tafsir (exegesis of Koran). Women played an active role. They are defined as militant women's rights: the majority, especially in Morocco, reject the term of "feminist", that they consider too restricted, because it refers to an History which is not their; these women represent a large range which goes from Islamism to secularity - another word which puts ill at ease numbers of them in the two countries.
It is hard to be a woman in the Arab and Muslim countries. Of course, it depends on the country, but in general women suffer from serious and various problems. In the Constitution, it is said that women don’t have the same rights than men concerning a lot of domains, such as marriage, heritage, … Besides the legal aspect of the inequality, women suffer from traditional practices. They are said to be inferior than men, thus they are treated like children. Some are obliged to wear the Hijab –the Islamic dress. Can we say that these practices are cultural and so they can’t be criticised without falling in a Western Universalism? Do they undermine the women’ moral ad physical integrity?
Anyway, one of the most striking phenomenon is honour murders. Some women in the Arab and Muslim World are killed for having sex outside of marriage.
http://marketing.byu.edu/htmlpages/ccrs/proceedings99/witkowski.htm
What is the symbol of the wearing of the Islamic dress –hijab-? The hijab can be imposed by male religious or political authorities (Talibans in Afghanistan) because of to a religious conservatism. But there are many other reasons for wearing of Islamic dress: to symbolize an opposition to western countries or to dominant, secular political establishment such as in Turkey. What are the religious determinants and social meanings of Islamic dress?
We shouldn’t forget that there is considerable variation in dress behavior of Arab women, across and within countries: Muslim women do not constitute an undifferentiated mass.
A survey of Arab women in Lebanon and Kuwait was done in order to better understand gender and consumption in the Arab world.
The researchers have found three propositions, which can be summed like that: Lebanese wear less Islamic dress as Kuwaitis and more cosmetics and jewelry. Religiosity seems to be less important in Lebanon than in Kuwait. Arab women wearing Islamic dress are perceived as more traditionally Muslim than Arab women wearing Western dress. The Lebanese respondents were more Western than the Kuwaitis in dress behavior because they perceived Arab women wearing hijab as more likely to embrace traditionally Muslim social and gender relationships. The Lebanese would like to be seen as more career-oriented, more materialistic, and more individualistic.
Ce que symbolise le port du hijab varie selon le pays et les personnes concernées. Il est obligatoire dans certains pays, mais peut dans d’autres contextes symboliser l’opposition aux pays occidentaux ou au pouvoir politique séculier comme c’est le cas en Turquie. Les femmes musulmanes ne constituent pas une masse indifférenciée. Un aperçu des femmes arabes au Liban et au Koweït permet de mieux comprendre le port du hijab dans le monde arabe.
http://polyzine.com/arabwomen.html
In the Middle East, girls and women are killed by their relatives to save honour. These women’ crime is to have had premarital sex or to have done adultery act, sometimes only on the basis of rumour. The relatives think that their honour has been soiled, and the only way to prevent the contempt for their family to keep spreading is to kill. The unchaste woman is considered as a threat. The extent of honour killing is difficult to estimate, except in Jordan, where the statistics show that these killings regularly claim 25 lives a year. Government officials tend to treat the issue as taboo, at least in response to queries from foreign journalists. Most killers receive light punishment because of the sense of empathy, which is built into judicial procedures. An explicit exemption in Jordanian law, for example, allows a man who kills a female relative surprised in an act of adultery or fornication to be judged "not guilty" of murder. Men kill women in the name of God. But these crimes are occurring because of ignorance of Islam: it teaches that religious authorities, not family members, and that any punishment be deferred until a considered judgment be the judges is reached. In addition to that, the Prophet Mohammed said “Treat your women well, and be kind to them". The era before Islam's arrival in the 7th century is called “Al Jahiliya” or the Age of Ignorance. But its traditions of cruel justice have survived in Arab folklore and culture. And so honour killings are not committed only by Arab Muslims: the small minority of Arab Christians in Egypt, Jordan, or Lebanon commit also this kind of killings.
Au Moyen-Orient, des filles et les femmes sont tuées parce qu’elles ont eu des rapports sexuels avant le mariage ou parce qu’elles ont eu des rapports sexuels avec un homme autre que leur mari. La famille voyant son honneur sali, la seule manière d'empêcher le mépris d’autrui est le meurtre.
All the studies show that development could only be reached if people are educated. After the independences, Arab countries have tried to make better their education policies. Concerning women, a significant improvement took place, however it is still insufficient.
A need of feminine workforce exists, but women still have difficulty in studying and finding a job. Even if mentalities are slowly changing, sex parity is far away.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/awomeduc.htm
The population of the Arab world today is around 150 million, and women comprise half of the total population. Expanding and improving educational opportunities for both men and women is necessary to reach political, social and economic development. The illiteracy rate among Arab women was very high at the independence because the colonial powers were not interested in expanding educational facilities. With political independence education received a big boost. It expanded enormously on every level in a very short time. Enrolment jumped from approximately one million in 1950 to over eight million in 1975. The ratio of female enrolments to the total registration increased from 30 percent to 36 percent and the greatest expansion occurred at the first level. But there is a lot of disparity in the Arab world: oil producing countries are better able to allocate substantial amounts of money for expanding educational facilities. Indeed, the majority of Arab countries still exhibit a high degree of disparity in educational opportunities for male and female on the secondary level. Concerning the college system, today practically all Arab states, with the exception of Oman and Djibouti, have developed it. At university, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing have attracted a large number of Arab women. It is known that education of women is the most powerful weapon for improving their status as well as the most potent force of social change.
L’éducation est la clé du développement dans le monde arabe. Celle-ci, négligée par les puissances coloniales, est devenue une priorité après les indépendances, notamment l’éducation des femmes. Cependant celle-ci reste encore trop faible. Le primaire est le niveau le plus développé, alors que le collège et les études supérieures demeurent assez fermés aux femmes malgré les progrès réalisés. En outre d’importantes disparités existent entre les pays arabes. Ainsi les pays producteurs de pétrole allouent beaucoup de fonds à ce domaine et obtiennent de meilleurs résultats.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2356895.stm
Arab women are often perceived in the West as victims of oppression. But recently there has been an important shift in Arab attitudes. For instance, the Gulf state of Bahrain allowed women to vote in 2002. In the Middle East, women's business networks have increased, with the blessing of Arab first ladies. More and more people in these countries are interested in women’s issues. For example, a summit in Amman launched the Arab Women's Organisation (AWO), under the auspices of the Arab League in order to study the conditions for women and aim to harmonise laws across the region. The literacy rate for women in the Arab world has increased threefold since 1970. And now, the worsening economic situation in the region leads to a need for women to enter the workforce. The number of women in Bahrain's labour force increased from just over 5% in 1971 to almost 40% in 2001. However, half of Arab women remain illiterate and segregation of the sexes still exists. Saudi women represent 50% of the population, but only contribute to 3% of the economy. Many of them remain ladies of leisure.
Ces dernières années, un changement important s’est déroulé dans le monde arabe. De plus en plus de personnes, associations et responsables politiques, s’intéressent aux problèmes d’éducation et d’emploi des femmes. Depuis les années 70, le taux d’alphabétisation des femmes a triplé dans la région. Aujourd’hui, les problèmes économiques entraînent un besoin de main d’œuvre féminine. Ainsi « au » Bahrain, le taux d’emploi des femmes est passé de 5% en 1971 à 40% en 2001. Cependant, les inégalités persistent et il demeure rare que les femmes accèdent à des postes à responsabilité
Muslim women do not follow a unique pattern. While some are subjected to the male and social dominations, others fight for the promotion of their rights. These women share the vision that there is no conflict between Islam and fundamental human rights.
By the way, in her article, Shere Hite proposes to go pass the usual debate between “religious tradition” and “Western modernity”. The most important is the willing of women themselves to make better their situation.
In Morocco, feminist associations have claimed to a new status for women since the independence. With the coming of Mohammed VI in 1999, these demands have been heard and a new Moudawana is about to be adopted soon. There were some resistances in the Moroccan society ; and today nobody knows if the Moudawana will be totally implemented.
Promotion of the woman rights can be supported by associations and by personalities such as “first ladies” (Rania of Jordania) or women implied in politic and social life of their country. For instance, Shirin Ebadi plays a great role in Iran since years. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children. She received indeed the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.
http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/2003/ebadi-bio.html
Shirin Ebadi was born in Iran in 1947 and she spent her childhood in a family highly educated.
She became officially a judge in March 1969, after having studied Law. She obtained a doctorate with honours in private law from Tehran University in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman in the history of Iranian justice President of Bench of the City Court.
With the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Shirin Ebadi was given clerical duties instead of her position as judge. As she protested, she was promoted experts in the Justice Department. But she wasn’t satisfied and so she retired earlier. Unemployed, she wrote several books and many articles published in Iranian journals After some years limited in the houselife, she obtain a Lawer licence. She could defend many cases, for example the families of the serial murders victims or child abuse.
In addition, she has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children. She gives academic conferences and seminars on human rights in her country, and beyond its borders. She also has represented several journalists accused or sentenced in relation to freedom of expression. She obtained the Nobel Peace Price in 2003.
Shirin Ebadi est née en Iran en 1947 et a passé son enfance dans une famille très instruite. Elle est devenue officiellement juge en mars 1969, après avoir étudié le droit. Mais avec la révolution islamique en 1979, Shirin Ebadi a perdu sa fonction de juge. Elle est devenue avocate, écrivain, conférencière, … Elle s'est concentrée particulièrement sur la lutte pour les droits de la femme et de l’enfant. Elle a obtenu le prix Nobel de la paix en 2003.
According to Shere Hite, there is a false debate between “tradition” and “western secularism” in Middle East. The European countries aren’t the models concerning women, except in Scandinavia where a woman can have high political duties.
The real choice that women have to make is between a hierarchical authoritarianism in which religion, men or family prevail and a situation where women control their own destiny. In the Iraq of Saddam Hussein, and because of Saddam’ secular conception of Islam, women were, for example, allowed to go to University. But what will happen now in the new Iraq?
Shere Hite propose de dépasser le débat “tradition religieuse” contre « sécularité occidentale » et de le remplacer par un autre débat, avec d’une part les femmes dominées par l’autoritarisme et d’autre part, les femmes qui agissent pour contrôler leur destinée, en Irak comme ailleurs.
To attempt : essayer
Commander of the Faithful: commandeur des croyants, c’est la plus haute autorité de l’Islam
Contempt : mépris
Enrolment: immatriculation (dans le sens d’inscription)
Houselife : vie contrainte à rester à la maison
To implement : mettre en œuvre
To launch: ouvrir, lancer
Moudawana : code du statut personnel (appelé aussi code de la famille) au Maroc
To query : mettre en doute
To be retrained: être recycle
Scholars : érudits
Threefold: par trois, triplé
To undermine : porter atteinte à
Workforce: main d’oeuvre