The Rising Voice of Women in the Middle East

The Rising Voice of Women in the Middle East
There has been rapid rise in the cry for women’s rights in the Middle East in recent years. For over decades, the issue of women’s rights was rarely addressed, however, today it has attracted interest of many including human right activists and the media (Brill, 1995). This is as Frances would say it, “we are not victims, but revolutionaries. What happened to us has made us stronger and we will continue.” (Keddie, 2007).
This has led to publications and debates on the same issue. There have been cases reported on violation of women’s rights and in other cases there are women who have stood up publicly in defense of their rights. This has gained root in the Middle East where Islam is the common religion. Therefore, many have taken Islam to be the cause of women discrimination in the society. Islam is the religion with the principles derived from the Quran, the Islamic holy book. It has its beliefs and how women should be treated. In most cases, especially when the west is referring to the rights of the women in the Middle East, they perceive Islam as the oppressor of women and women’s legal rights. It is worth noting however, that the Middle East comprises of Arab speaking people. This is to say that the Middle East is dominantly an Arabic based community.
Therefore, it is wise to view the case of women in the Middle East from two perspectives: firstly, the Islamic perspective, whereby Islam is the religion that is spread in the Arab countries and secondly, the Arab perspective, whereby Arabs have their culture. This Arab culture is oppressive to women especially in the 7th century. This cultural traits are carried forth to the present day Arab culture in some regions while in other regions these traits have faded with time and with social status. On the contrary to the perception of the west towards Islam in the Middle East; Islam brought liberation to women from the oppressive Arab culture. Hence, in this essay, I will look into the discussion on the ideas surrounding the ideology of oppressed women in the Middle East; as well as the free women who can work and exercise their legal rights; the changes taking place today in the Middle East and finally; how the issue of the oppressed relates with the religion of Islam. On this last point, there is close examination towards this ideology and where it was derived from; whether from the religion of Islam or from the Arab culture. One of the arguments is; if the ideology was derived from the Islamic culture; why then do Muslim women elsewhere in the world exercise their rights unlike women in the Middle East.
Like women elsewhere in the world, women in the Middle East have encountered various forms of discrimination (Brill, 1995). This discrimination and oppression is based on their gender and has continued for centuries. This sets women apart, especially women in the Middle East, making it vital to explore the situation of the Middle Eastern women. Today in the Middle East, the voice of women has been rising. This has triggered heated debates on issues such as the role of women in society. To what extent should women be engaged with the development process of the economy as well as in the political sectors? How would the change affect the traditional role and responsibilities of mothers and wives? The debate on women in the Middle East reveals struggles of some groups supporting the changing the roles of women and other groups claiming that it would be difficult for the Arab world to develop further without the necessary change on women and their roles in the society. This relates to economic, social and political aspects of development. Therefore, undermining women is undermining development.
The voice of women in the Middle East is further catalyzed by acts such as the one by the UN in 1981 that restricted all sorts of discrimination against women. The bill consists of sixteen articles forming a comprehensive guide for the social actions. IWRAW (international Women’s Rights Action Watch), in efforts to monitor the progress of the bill, came up with a reporting manual that would address each article.
One thing stands among all women despite the fact that the women in Middle East have diverse conditions and responses to their lower social and political status, the rights of women are human rights. This is because even the counter parts in the Christian background like the case in Lebanon also face similar challenges. Therefore, the voice of women through the women’s rights advocates across the globe agrees on internationalizing the rights of women as human rights. The activists and advocates for human rights argue that when little girls are given less food, less education and more work than the boy child, when women are denied the chance to travel, to vote, right to control their bodies, they are denied their human rights.
This subject is extremely important especially with the new changes happening in the Middle East where the rise of the Arab Spring has triggered inspiration on women. It is more interesting how just a few years back, it was irrelevant to conceive the idea of women engaging in the change, yet today it is evident that women have taken the front line in bringing change especially in the Middle East and the Islamic and Arab worlds. It is more astonishing to realize that the voices of women in the Middle East have gained support not just in the West but also in the Middle East. Today women are flexing their political and legal power in ways not witnessed before. They have embraced the new technology such as blogs, social media and publications as well as podcasts in order to communicate their interests and to fight for their rights. It has been challenging in the Middle East where the culture does not allow women to be empowered like in other countries. The rising voices for women in the Middle East are in fights against injustices imposed against them. Some of these cases in the Arab countries include the Pakistani case where the court issued a decision restricting women from marrying the men of their choice and that their guardians must approve the marriage; this was issued in September 1996 (Brill, 1995). Another case is in Kuwait, the same year when the parliament voted on the policy to separate male from female students in institutions of higher education. Furthermore, in Saudi Arabia, the law prohibits women from driving vehicles. In Afghanistan, the Taliban militia in the year 1996 ordered that all working women should remain at home as the girl school should be closed. These top headlines on the world media are just a few indications of the injustices that women in the Middle East go through. In most cases, these injustices are attached to the religion of Islam.
However, further investigations on the religion of Islam have no justification for such injustices on women. The findings of the legal and political injustices on women in the Middle East have triggered the influence of Islamic fundamentalists who have formed a system of gender apartheid that has turned women in the Middle East into slaves. The findings further indicate that the cruelties imposed upon women in the Arab dominant countries of the Middle East and eastern Asia have no basis on any of the three sources of the religion of Islam, namely: Quran, Sunnah (teachings of the Prophet), and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet). This therefore is the defense of Islam against the oppression of women. However, the oppressive fundamentalists misint...