November 25th: International day for the elimination of violence against women

According to the Global Gender Gap Index 2015, released last week by the World Economic Forum, progress on closing the divide between the opportunities afforded to men and women has stalled. Gender-based discrimination remains a global phenomenon, but West Asia and North Africa (WANA) is the region with the worst overall gender inequality. Out of the 145 countries surveyed, the 16 WANA states fall in the bottom 29 rankings, with Kuwait ranking the highest, at 117, and Yemen closing the chart at 145.

Among the myriad of causal factors, widespread patriarchal attitudes are likely causing the most harm. Such attitudes not only present women as unequal to men within society, but also encourage women to see themselves as inferior. Among other things, this leads to widespread acceptance of violence against women. A 2014 UNDP report  highlighted that 90 percent of Jordanian women justify battery for reasons as minimal as burning dinner.  Moreover, 35.4 percent of women in the WANA region experience violence from an intimate partner, suggesting that gender-based violence mainly takes place in the nucleus of the private sphere: the home.

If one goes through the provisions of the WANA states’ legal systems, it does not take long to realise that women’s rights are highly under-represented, and at times, unacknowledged by law. Only a handful of countries feature laws that criminalise domestic violence, and marital rape is not recognised in any WANA state. Although rape is considered a crime in all states, it goes highly unreported due to social constraints, or due to the fear of being punished for illegal sexual relationships. Femicides (gender-based violence towards women that results in death) are common in the region. This is due in particular to the so-called ‘honour crimes’ phenomenon. Girls or women who bring ‘dishonour’ to their families, through behaviours as seemingly benign as talking to men, smoking or wanting to pursue a university education, are often killed by a male family member. Perpetrators of honour crimes usually benefit from a reduced sentence due to the socially condoned nature of these crimes.

Here the question arises: why are these states, which are so different in history, geography and politics so similar in aspects that specifically concern women? In order to understand, it is necessary to go back to the Ottomans, and their process of codification on laws. This process saw the progressive abandonment of traditional Islamic jurisprudence, in favour of European legal models. The exception was family law, which remained under the jurisdiction of religious courts, particularly Islamic. As a result, family law – and consequently, women – assumed a fundamental symbolic role of national identity, the struggle against colonisers, and religious belonging. Indeed, family law is often described as ‘the last bastion’¹  of the Islamic Shari’a.

A common mistake at this point is to believe that Islam is at the foundation of women’s rights abuses. There could be nothing further from the truth. Since its early revelation, Islam carried a message of peace, respect of human dignity and equality. However, its interpretations were codified into laws that became fossilised and were not allowed to change, when in fact flexibility and adaptation are two features of the very nature of Islam. Laws that discriminate against women today derive from early codifications of Shari’a that should have evolved and developed in order to answer to the needs of modern society. In many states, this change has not happened for two main reasons. Firstly, the sacred role of the woman within family law in Muslim communities, has not allowed the law surrounding women’s rights to evolve. Secondly, cultural practices are often mixed with religion, and are therefore not challenged because, like family law, they are considered untouchable. For example, the issue of wife beating has been repeatedly proven not to be Islamic. Yet, Muslims – men and women – still believe that it is inherent of their religion, as shown by the report mentioned above.

So, could the solution for these issues lie within Islam itself?

According to the Qur’an, Islamic teachings themselves were introduced gradually in order for society to accept them more easily. Following this philosophy of implementing change, new laws that respond to contemporary needs should be enacted gradually. However, laws should not only be reformed: discriminatory cultural practices, which have no basis in Islam, must be eradicated. Raising awareness of the true aims of Islam, and distinguishing them from unconstructive patriarchal notions are imperative for the protection of women.

At this point, it seems to be obvious to say that laws in the WANA region discriminate against women. Evidence of that is copious and can be easily found. The real issue is: What are we going to do about it?

Here is a possible answer. Firstly, worldwide women’s rights activists must stop demonising Islam. It’s not helping. It disorientates Muslim women and it gives an excuse to Islamists and conservatives to argue that women’s rights supporters are the new colonisers, who want to erase the Muslim culture. Secondly, feminists must engage with Islam, following the example of Islamist feminists, who are already arguing for legal reform within Islam on the grounds of new and contemporary interpretations. Further, it is not enough to engage with Islam. It is necessary to engage with prominent Muslim figures, who can be mediators and allies. In order to do that, the debate must take form in a common language. Currently women’s advocates and Islamists only talk through each other, addressing their own audiences. They need to start engaging in a constructive dialogue focussing on common issues – such as women’s suffering because of discriminatory practices, that have no religious basis.

The importance of grassroots movements that operate with an understanding of cultural frameworks is invaluable in this regard. Projects aimed at educating both women and men in order to alter patriarchal attitudes within society must go hand-in-hand with law reforms and women’s empowerment projects. Islam and women’s rights cannot be seen as antagonists any longer. This perspective is not only out-dated, it is exactly the kind of generalised statement that further stigmatises Islam in the West today. Let us use an alliance between Islam and women to promote their rights, eliminate biased and damaging social practices and end the unreligious violence that so many are unfairly subjected to.

1. Lynn Welchman, Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States (Amsterdam University Press 2007).