Aliaa Dawood on the current backlash against women’s rights and personal status law reform

Meant to post this when it came out, but here is Aliaa Dawood’s op-ed in Al Masry Al Youm on November 8, 2011 about how backlash against the recent personal status law reform was inevitable. Unfortunately, changes to women’s personal status (like gaining the right to divorce without proving fault known as khola3 and extending the age of child custody to 15) are being identified with former first lady Suzanne Mubarak, who was the head of the previous National Council for Women and Children.

It seems that activists and lawyers pushing for these changes behind the scenes probably needed Mubarak’s support to pass the legislation, because it was an actual viable channel for reform. Despite this, I’m sure many of those same activists had serious issues with the Egyptian government and Mrs. Mubarak’s stamp on all legislation related to women and children.

Aliaa Dawood is a professor of mass communications at AUC and she presented on feminism in Egypt at the AUC Social Justice Conference in May 2011.

Quick recap: June 20 Blog/tweet against sexual harassment day

Lots of action yesterday during the blog/tweetathon against sexual harassment!

Harassmap collected blog posts here  (there are almost 150!)

It was heartening to see all the participation and I’m hoping all this energy will be directed toward other future efforts. I’ve collected some tweets that seems to capture some of the sentiments that were repeatedly expressed on June 20th:

frustration and debunking “justifications” for harassment

ghazalairshad: I want the right to walk where I want, whenever I want–whether inhijab or not. #endSH #Egypt @harassmap

ghazalairshad: Egyptian police/army officers should be the ones *protecting* me from street harassers, not the ones harassing me! #endSH #Egypt@harassmap

nourikam: #EndSH It really has nothing to do with what you wear. I walk the street in quite conservative, loose clothes. we need an attitudechange.

nadyashanab: what a woman wears should not be an excuse for sexual harassment of any kind - if u dont like what u see look in the otherdirection #endSH

ending victim-blaming

nawarabelal: No matter who is being harassed its not her\his fault #EndSH

LeilZahra: Women are not victims, they are not responsible, nor guilty. Focus should be on strong & decisive response to harassers. #endSH

fighting for equal rights and treatment

DinaSabet: Until men begin to view women as their equals, rather than objects, sexual harassment will persist in #Egypt. #endSH.

MAswad: The debate of masculinity vs. femininity is so freaking outdated. Now there is something called HUMAN. Period. #GetOverIt #EndSH

3awadalla : Why do we want to end sexual harassment and violence?Because we want to dignity and safety for all Egyptians! #EndSH

NadaAbdElAziem: I got the right to walk down the streets w/out being harassed or offended & so do u!! So, I’m defending that right & so should u!! #endSH

calls to action

Gsquare86: We need anti- sexual harassment #graffiti on Egyptian streets #endSH cc: @ganzeer

joellehatem: The absence of a law criminalizing sexual harassment encourages such behavior http://bit.ly/lCRGwT #endSH #Lebanon

LaSoubrette: Take action , get involved lets cause a fuss ! talk to others , report your harasser make it know that its unacceptable #EndSH

3aasy: two, men MUST stand up to other men who SH, ESP in the street & amongst their friends: men need to say NO, men need to STOP! #endSH #Egypt

Izbella: We need serious laws with swift implementationagainst the crime #endSH

beyond Egypt 

Elhwwary: sexual harassment is a global phenomenon,not exclusive for Egypt#Endsh

Any particular tweets that felt were especially powerful? Feel free to send them my way!

Blog and tweet about ending sexual harassment and gender violence today!

Today is Blogging & Tweeting Day Against Sexual Harassment & Gender Violence in Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon and Syria. Official hastag is #EndSH

Really seems to be an outpouring of thoughts and support online – the hope is to direct this energy into changing the rampant harassment that we face every day. Nazra for Feminist Studies and HarassMap are holding a joint meeting to discuss what comes after this day of blogging/tweeting/sharing. Tues, June 21, 44 Talaat Harb St. , Cairo

Hit it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170454286351470

June 2 Meeting – Pathways for Women in Democratic Transitions

Bachelet is back! I guess she really likes Egypt.  Pathways Middle East Hub is co-hosting this UN Women roundtable on June 2 in Cairo aimed at discussing how we can bring gender justice to this period of democratic transition in Egypt. Lots of speakers who have worked in government and on political participation in Egypt and abroad (especially Latin America), including a keynote from UN Women director Michele Bachelet. Hania Sholkamy and Mariz Tadros from Pathways will be discussing building strong women’s movements.

Feel free to email me for the draft agenda and registration form at khallez@aucegypt.edu

Gender justice and making the law work for women – materials available

Materials (papers and presentations) are now available online from the 18th Annual AUC Research Conference whose focus this year was “Social Justice: Theory, Research and Practice”.  The conference was very timely, considering all the recent political and social change in Egypt, and was even more successful than past AUC research conferences. I highly recommend checking out the keynote speech by Mahmood Mamdani.

Additionally, Pathways researchers put together a panel called Gender Justice and Making the Law Work for Women, chaired by Hania Sholkamy, which contained the following presentations:

1. The Social relations of social protection: Gendering the welfare regime (Hania Sholkamy)
2. Informal work and social justice: Including the poor in Egypt’s democratic transition (Heba Gowayed, Mahmoud Hazzaa)
3. The Limits of law: Reforming Egyptian family laws and the question of gender justice (Mulki Al-Sharmani)
4. Political power and women’s quotas in Egypt (Sawsan el Sherif)

Again, all of the presentations are available on the AUC research conference website linked above. 

Two sessions on gender in the upcoming AUC Social Justice conference in Cairo

AUC’s annual research conference will focus on “Social Justice: Theory, Research and Practice” this year. The conference is open to all and the first day (May 3) will be held in Oriental Hall at the downtown campus and the last two days (May 4-5) will be held out at the AUC new campus . Keynote speakers are Mahmood Mamdani and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim – both great!  We are trying to provide transport for everyone who wants to come so please RSVP at justice@aucegypt.edu

Session #2: Gender Justice and Making the Law Work for Women (May 3)

Organizer: Hania Sholkamy

1. Feminist social protection: Conditional cash transfers in a Cairo slum (Hania Sholkamy)
2. Women in the work-force! How empowering is work for women?  A Look at the gap between legislation and the lived reality (Heba Gowayed, Mahmoud Hazzaa)
3. The Limits of law: Reforming Egyptian family laws and the question of gender justice (Mulki Al-Sharmani)
4. Political voice and women’s quotas in Egypt: The Journey to parliament of four women in the 2010 elections (Sawsan el Sherif)

 

Session #8: Gender, Family and Social Justice (May 5)

Organizer: Helen Rizzo

1. Why Egyptian feminists have abandoned women’s rights discourse (Alia Dawood)
2. Sexual harassment: The Oppression of women on the streets of Egypt: An Analysis of Hostile Sexism and bias about sexual harassment (Emily Weddle, Habiba Helmy, Mona Amer, Baland Jalal)
3. A Capability approach to female entrepreneurs and social justice (Anette Cerne, Ahmed H. Tolba)

Please check the facebook event page for more details and updates!

Sexual violence, again and again

The international media FINALLY published pieces (here is the BBC article) on the detainment and torture – and “virginity tests” – of protesters who were forcibly removed from Tahrir on March 9!

Additionally, there is the story of the Libyan women, Iman al-Obeidi, who tried to speak to reporters in a Tripoli hotel this weekend about how she had been detained and raped by 15 government troops. Hotel staff aggressively ushered her out of the hotel and prevented journalists from helping or talking to her.

These two stories highlight how sexual violence is a tool in the arsenal of weapons that ruling powers use against women to silence them and assert their authority and power.

Egyptian Activistas + training today!

Newsweek ran an article on a three Egyptian activists, one of whom I have the pleasure of knowing and she is indeed a pretty amazing person, on March 6. Two days before the downer that was the Million Women march. Would be interested to hear their responses to what happened on March 8.

Also, there will be a seminar at the Mahmoud Mokhtar museum in Dokki to train activists to raise women’s political awareness. Trainer: Dr. Mohamed Hamza (Therapist and Life Coach). Click here for Facebook event page.

Workshop Agenda:

1-Principles of the revolution, their aims and outcomes.
2-Mastering communication skills.
3-Approaches to freedom of expression and positive thinking.
4-Approaches to legitimately demanding rights.
5-Concepts of Multi Political party system.
6-The importance of individual role in society.

 

I won’t be able to make it but supposedly a webcast will be made available…

Director of UN Women meets with activists and scholars in Egypt

My colleagues Hania Sholkamy, Ali Atef and Heba Gowayed attended a closed round table discussion on March 20 with the Director of UN Women, Michele Bachelet,  entitled: “How Can UN Women support young Egyptian women in the democratic transition: A vision for the future.”

Ali and Heba responded to the questions “How can UN Women support young Egyptian women –  areas where the young Women could play a role with the UN WOMEN to support the insurance of women involvement in the democratic transition in Egypt?” by emphasizing the importance of South-South information exchange, unions for women working as informal labors as a channel to securing rights and entitlements and the importance of gender mainstreaming in security sector reform.

Everyone confirmed that Dr. Bachelet is a badass, but I suppose we already knew that before! Not only was she the first female Minister of Defense in Latin America but she later became president of Chile. She left that office in 2010 with extremely high approval ratings (as Chilean law prevents the president from serving two consecutive terms) and then was appointed head of UN Women by Ban Ki-Moon in September 2010. She is a staunch supporter of social protection and providing the poor access to health care and affordable housing, among other things.

Looks like @hindelhinnawy was there, tweeting some of Dr. Bachelet’s motivational one-liners. Check it on Le Twitter if you are interested.

Sharaf seems responsive to women’s demands

New PM Essam Sharaf has been a decent guy so far in my books. Thanks to the much-needed help of my faithful office buddies ( colleagues, if you are feeling in the mood for a professional shout out) Heba Gowayed and Ali Atef, here is a copy of the Masry Al Youm article (Arabic) about Sharaf announcing the formation of a new representative committee for women, translated into English:

Activists welcome Sharaf’s initiative for the establishment of a representative committee for women and demanded the abolition of the quota

A number of women leaders welcomed the announcement of Dr Essam Sharaf, Prime Minister, for the establishment of a new representative committee for women, under the Cabinet of Ministers, which would support the role of women in all aspects of life. The women leaders demand the necessity of forming a real women’s union, and the abolition of the women’s quota to avoid discrimination against men or women.

Shahinda Maqlid, a member of the Egyptian Women for Change movement, said to Al-Masry Al-Youm, that this initiative was good and was an alternative to the High Council for Women, which was headed by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the former president of the republic. She was observant of the necessity of establishing a women’s union that encompasses the greater number of political and social powers from all ages for the development of society that are not members of a particular political party as was the case with the previous regime.

Maqlid demanded the necessary introduction of an unconditional representative roster which permits all constituencies representation in the Egyptian Parliament during the coming period and which would benefit women, Copts, fellaheen, and workers alike. She was critical of the quota for women which determined a certain percentage of seats for women in parliamentary elections.

Maqlid assured that women had a distinctive role in the events of the January 25^th revolution in many governorates of Egypt, in addition to continuing political battles for decades to protect the rights of the fellaheen and in supporting the real estate tax collector sit-ins and also different protests in demanding political and social rights.

Margaret Azer, secretary general for the Democratic Front Party, supported Maqlid in the necessity of the representative committee having an effective role in recruiting supporters for women as a real alternative to National Council of Women including all political movements and intellectual cadres and political leanings and different constituencies within society to play an educational role in society.

Azer said to Al-Masry Al-Youm that the establishment of a representative committee for women must be a temporary phase and through which awareness can be raised of society of the role of women and their capabilities toward the progression political, intellectual works and the elimination of the idea of “women’s quota” and anything that can put women in allocated positions, and establishing a “representative roster” with the condition that women on this roster have secure footing, indicating that representative roster will allow all sectors of society the chance for participation and will eliminate under the trend of thugs, businessmen and bribery in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Azer asked for the reformulation of elements of the constitution to highlight the role of women so that she is represented in all dimensions of life, critical of the marginalization of women during the previous phase through their representation in ministries, especially in the creation of the most recent ministries.

Kareema Hefnawy, member of the Egyptian Women for Change movement and the Kefaya movement, rejected the establishment of a representative committee for women because she considers this as if the society is bestowing charity to women by giving them their rights as opposed to men. She insists on the necessity of changing the views of society towards women, which is what would help her in getting rights without resorting to the establishment of a representative committee for women or a national council for women, that holds meeting in famous hotels without taking strong measures to benefit women.

Hefnawy indicated that specific councils for women will lead after a brief time to a type of “cronyism” and will provide superficial services as was the case in the past. She advocates for the abolition of the women’s quota and against discrimination and for giving women the opportunity to compete in free elections.

She demanded the necessity of equal opportunity between women and men, especially in the formation of ministries and not only giving women the ministries of housing and motherhood, childhood and social security.