CAIRO // Arab women played a central role in the Arab Spring, but their hopes the revolts would bring greater freedom and expanded rights for women have been thwarted by entrenched patriarchal structures and the rise of Islamists, gender experts in the countries say.
Almost three years after popular uprisings toppled autocratic leaders in the region, a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll on 22 Arab states showed three out of five Arab Spring countries in the bottom five states for women’s rights.
Egypt emerged as the worst country to be a woman in the Arab world, followed closely by Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Egypt scored badly in almost every category, including gender violence, reproductive rights, treatment of women in the family and their inclusion in politics and the economy.
Syria and Yemen ranked 18th and 19th, respectively — worse than Sudan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Somalia, which scored better on factors such as political and economic inclusion, women’s position in the family, reproductive rights and sexual violence.
Libya and Tunisia came in 9th and 6th.
While the situation is dire, some activists see reasons for optimism. For one, the revolts led more poor women and those on the margins to be aware of their rights.
“The big challenge women faced led to women’s issues being discussed on the street by ordinary women and illiterate women,” said Nihad Abul Komsan, head of the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights.
The questions to 336 gender experts invited to take part in the poll were based on key provisions of the UN Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which all Arab Spring states have signed or ratified. The polling took place in August and September.
Egypt’s ranking reflects widespread concerns about harassment, which was mentioned by almost every respondent as a major issue.
A UN report on women in April said up to 99.3 per cent of women and girls in Egypt are subjected to sexual harassment.
Samira Ibrahim, a pro-democracy protester who was subjected to an invasive virginity test while in detention when the military council was in power after Hosni Mubarak’s ousting, said “harassment is the biggest problem facing us now”.
But the ranking also indicates a surge in violence and a rollback of freedoms since the 2011 uprising, experts said.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power in Egypt, culminating with the election of Mohammed Morsi as president, angered many.
“The whole image of women during Morsi’s rule was that a woman is a mother who should be bearing children and that is the most important thing,” Fatma Khafagy, who heads the Ombudsman office for gender equality in Egypt, said.
The Brotherhood warned that a UN declaration on women’s rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband’s approval and letting her control family planning.
“Things changed after Morsi was removed — for the better. At least these threats were not there. However, I do not see much increase in women in decision-making,” Ms Khafagy said.
In Syria, ranked fourth-worst in the poll, women’s rights have been hit badly in a country torn apart by more than two years of civil war.
Many Syrian women worry about the influence of militant Islamists.
“I feel like I have to wear a headscarf,” said a woman in Damascus who joined the initial uprising against Bashar Al Assad.
Yemeni women face an uphill battle for rights in the largely conservative country where child marriage is still common in rural areas. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is also a threat. “There are voices that are trying to suppress women as in other Arab countries,” said 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman from Yemen, which ranked 18th out of 22 in the Thomson Reuters survey.
Tunisian activist and blogger Lina Ben Mhenni, who has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize, said she was worried about women’s status under the Islamist-led government.
“Islamist extremists are playing the role of religious police and exerting pressure on girls,” she said.
Last April, hardline Islamists threw stones and bottles at young women in a student hostel in Tunis to stop them staging a performance of dance and music.
In Libya, two years since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, tribal and Islamist leaders are embroiled in a struggle over the post-revolution spoils.
“I am worried that those who exploit Islam will come to power and want Libya to be like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia,” said Dina Razzouk, a Libyan rights activist.
Amal Abdel Hadi, head of the board of trustees of the New Woman Foundation in Egypt, said it was important not to feel defeated.
“The revolutions have not failed women because they gave women the chance to be there and to see that if they don’t force themselves into the space, they won’t achieve. We have to force it.”
Reuters
* For the methodology behind the poll visit: poll2013.trust.org
