[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Empowerment: a battle for both men and women
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 13:08:23 +0100
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** Beasiswa dalam negeri dan luar negeri S1 S2 S3 dan post-doctoral
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Issue No. 780
Special 2 -
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/780/sc4.htm
Empowerment: a battle for both men and women
The two battles -- for women's rights and for democracy -- are equally
important and they must be fought together. Says Fatma Khafagy*
Click to view caption
Egypt, Gamal El-Seguiny, 1967 (Mohmed Abul-Ghar's private collection)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The issue of women's empowerment has been identified as one of the major
development challenges that the Arab world continues to face. This can only
take place when gender equality is achieved and when women are able to
participate fully in the democratic process.
Experts, such as Marina Ottaway, who speak of the "women's rights trap" have
argued that a country cannot be democratic if it discriminates against half of
its population. Yet the real obstacle to democracy in Arab countries is not
discrimination against women but the fact that the entire population has only
limited political rights. The problem has less to do with giving women the same
rights as men but more with reforming the political system in such a way as to
grant the entire population the full gamut of civil and political rights as
delineated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights
treaties. In the majority of cases, when women are treated equally or assigned
important policy and legislative positions in non- democratic countries they
tend only to exert themselves in the effort to preserve their own positions and
to maintain the status quo in order to remain in power. There is no guarantee
that giving women positions of importance will bring
about democracy. In Egypt, for example, women occupy several important
positions in the media. Yet they have failed to bring about major changes in
media policies. Nor have they managed to alter stereotypes of woman in the
media. In short, while a country cannot democratize so long as it excludes
women, it would be delusional to think that giving women the same (limited)
rights as men in an autocratic setting will bring a country closer to
democracy. The two battles -- for women's rights and for democracy -- are
equally important and they must be fought together.
The battle for reform, democracy and good governance requires that both men and
women enjoy their full human rights. It remains essentially a human rights
battle. The focus solely on gender and the importance of closing the gender gap
is not the best methodology in the current context. Closing gaps is relevant
when the minority and not the majority are excluded. How to bring the majority
to the mainstream is a battle for both women and men.
Challenges Facing Egyptian Women
Gender equality and women's empowerment are up against several obstacles --
legal, economic and socio/cultural.
Gender discriminatory laws do not only violate women's human rights. They also
hinder women's participation in different spheres of life. There is an urgent
need to revoke any existing laws that discriminate on the basis of sex.
Unfortunately, gender discriminatory laws still exist in areas like the penal
code and family law. Eliminating discrimination in legislation is essential to
achieving gender equality. Laws that govern the private sphere (the family)
should be descriptive and not inscriptive and must be based on present reality.
We cannot go on assuming that men are the sole providers in families and that
they are responsible financially for their close female relatives. We cannot
continue to consider women as only mothers, wives and daughters. Women should
be treated as individuals who have full rights.
Women also face economic challenges when their economic rights are determined
only by their roles within the family and when men are not required to perform
any household chores or undertake childrearing responsibility. Rigid family
structures and male dominated relations limit the role women play and therefore
determine women's economic opportunities (such as the kind of jobs they should
take, the number of hours they can work, the proximity of the workplace to
their homes, the need for travel...etc.). Women are thus expected to take up
jobs that do not fall in contradiction with their more important role as wives
and mothers.
The strong belief that a woman's most important role is that of wife, mother
and manager of households limits women's opportunities for advancement in the
public sphere. Even when governments declare their strong commitment to
increasing educational opportunities for women and increasing their political
participation, family laws can contradict these goals and commitments by
keeping structures in place that ensure a continuation of the status quo,
making it difficult for women to combine their different reproductive and
productive roles and they therefore become invisible players in the public
arena. These laws are in many cases based on wrong interpretation of religious
mores and represent a cultural/power preservation ethos.
These social and cultural challenges are manifested in the use of religion to
subordinate women, the misapplication of law, the male domination of
institutions that implement the law, such as the justice and the police
departments, and the control of female sexuality.
Having mentioned all these challenges, do Egyptian women have opportunities to
empower themselves to achieve gender equality in Egypt? The answer is yes,
there are several opportunities that can be seized.
Egyptian women have to play a major role in the democratization process. This
requires women to be organized in civil society in such a way that makes them a
strong pressure group with defined and agreed agenda. This agenda should not
only include women's demands in the political, economic and social arenas but
also the concerns of society in general.
Women's groups must be involved in planning and implementing activities that
enlighten women as well as men from all social groups on the human rights of
women and the importance of achieving gender equality and equity. Women's
groups must work to end media programs that portray women as physically
dependent beings whose sexuality should be controlled.
Because women usually suffer more from social disparities caused by the
expansion of market economies, women's groups and NGOs in Egypt should
influence the government to draw up a comprehensive social agenda. This is
especially crucial because rapid social and demographic changes have
implications for family structure and function. More realistically, informed
family policies based on changes in family structures, gender relationships and
social security should be in place. The ability of women to combine their
reproductive role with their productive roles is an important issue.
Women's groups can work together to suggest policies that increase women's
ability to combine work with family responsibilities. They can press
institutions to adopt policies that take account of women's roles as well as
those of men.
Women in Egypt, as many women worldwide, suffer from gender-based violence that
cuts across all cultures, social classes and economic lines. Gender-based
violence -- including wife beating, honour crimes, rape, female genital
mutilation -- needs to be eradicated. They can exchange experiences and lessons
from other countries in areas such as legislation penalizing domestic violence,
police training in how to protect women against violence, and providing victims
of violence with services such as shelters, rehabilitation and housing, to name
a few. There are countries in the Arab region, such as Morocco, that have made
significant advances in family law and women's political participation.
Women's groups in Egypt should also work hard to influence the government to
ratify the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which would give women the right to
present their individual complaints internationally. This is but one of many
international instruments that should be utilized by civil society to prod
governments towards the achievement of true equality for all citizens.
* The writer is an expert in development planning
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia
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